How can I enter Philippines?

[oldmunchi 1]

I'm engaged to a filipina. How can I get in to see her? It's been almost a year and a half. Can we go to a mutual country and be married and then I can enter with her? What steps do i need to take to get in? I'm sure you guys can appreciate how hard this is for us to be away from our love of our life for so long. I'm wondering if anyone here knows a procedure I can go through to get entry into the country? Any help would be appreciated!

[payxibka 10,044]

2 minutes ago, oldmunchi said:

I'm engaged to a filipina. How can I get in to see her? It's been almost a year and a half. Can we go to a mutual country and be married and then I can enter with her? What steps do i need to take to get in? I'm sure you guys can appreciate how hard this is for us to be away from our love of our life for so long. I'm wondering if anyone here knows a procedure I can go through to get entry into the country? Any help would be appreciated!

 

Have you ever visited the Philippines regional forum?  The forum for this kind of question. 

 

Even after marriage, you still need to secure a visa.   

[JFH 12,189]

*~*~*country-specific question moved to regional forum*~*~*

[top_secret 2,075]

3 hours ago, oldmunchi said:

Can we go to a mutual country and be married and then I can enter with her?

Me and my Filipina wife DID get married in Costa Rica in December.  That part can be done.  I 'should' be able to get a Philippine visa and be eligible to enter the Philippines now, and I will tackle that hurdle in a month or so when I have a bunch of other paperwork in order.  I haven't tried yet.  I am also filing an i-130 for a spousal visa to the US for her, but that is of course a time consuming process.  If you are hoping to get married and then return to the Philippines together on the same trip, that becomes more complicated as you would have to get married, get the paperwork in order, apply for a visa at a Philippine Embassy or Consulate, etc.  (Philippines Embassy in Mexico City has consular jurisdiction over Costa Rica for example)  A time consuming process dealing with bureaucracies in more than one country.  Realistically I'd think it would take a couple of months to go from a Costa Rica wedding, to having possession of an actual Philippine Visa as the spouse of a Filipina.  But if you are in it for the long haul, it may be the quickest option?  I don't really see how else you would be allowed into the Philippines right now.  I guess it also depends on how much time and money you have for the necessary travel.

[oldmunchi 1]

8 minutes ago, top_secret said:

Me and my Filipina wife DID get married in Costa Rica in December.  That part can be done.  I 'should' be able to get a Philippine visa and be eligible to enter the Philippines now, and I will tackle that hurdle in a month or so when I have a bunch of other paperwork in order.  I haven't tried yet.  I am also filing an i-130 for a spousal visa to the US for her, but that is of course a time consuming process.  If you are hoping to get married and then return to the Philippines together on the same trip, that becomes more complicated as you would have to get married, get the paperwork in order, apply for a visa at a Philippine Embassy or Consulate, etc.  (Philippines Embassy in Mexico City has consular jurisdiction over Costa Rica for example)  A time consuming process dealing with bureaucracies in more than one country.  Realistically I'd think it would take a couple of months to go from a Costa Rica wedding, to having possession of an actual Philippine Visa as the spouse of a Filipina.  But if you are in it for the long haul, it may be the quickest option?  I don't really see how else you would be allowed into the Philippines right now.  I guess it also depends on how much time and money you have for the necessary travel.

Thank you for your insight. Congradulations on your marriage and honeymoon in Costa Rica. I can imagine the pain of that separation after that, and I am there with you brother. We can hope that perhaps they may open up soon. We also are at the nvc stage of a k1 Visa that we submitted in I believe 03/20. So approaching a year and still haven't heard anything from the nvc even recieving it. I am trying now to get employed as a work from home customer service person, as I'd like to live over there with her. 

[top_secret 2,075]

9 minutes ago, oldmunchi said:

We also are at the nvc stage of a k1 Visa that we submitted in I believe 03/20. So approaching a year and still haven't heard anything from the nvc even recieving it.

That further complicates the situation, since a marriage at this point would cancel the K-1 and you would be back at square one with a CR-1 petition.  Yet no one can even predict when USEM will start up K-1 interviews again and being a fiancé will not get you a Philippine visa either.  There is allot of uncertainty there.  We changed our plans from K-1 to CR-1 for all of those reasons.  BUT, if we had already had a year invested in a K-1 application we would probably stick that out.  Maybe your best option is just spend some time together in a neutral third country. 

[oldmunchi 1]

1 minute ago, top_secret said:

That further complicates the situation, since a marriage at this point would cancel the K-1 and you would be back at square one with a CR-1 petition.  Yet no one can even predict when USEM will start up K-1 interviews again and being a fiancé will not get you a Philippine visa either.  There is allot of uncertainty there.  We changed our plans from K-1 to CR-1 for all of those reasons.  BUT, if we had already had a year invested in a K-1 application we would probably stick that out.  Maybe your best option is just spend some time together in a neutral third country. 

Yeah we will keep the k1. But we think we want to live in PH. Life in US isn't all its cracked up to be. Neutral third country might be a good option, yeah. 

[top_secret 2,075]

3 minutes ago, oldmunchi said:

Yeah we will keep the k1. But we think we want to live in PH.

If you plan to live in the Philippines then the K1 is not really appropriate anyways as that would definitely tie you to the US for quite some time.

[oldmunchi 1]

2 minutes ago, top_secret said:

If you plan to live in the Philippines then the K1 is not really appropriate anyways as that would definitely tie you to the US for quite some time.

Just keeping the options open seeing as we already submitted that a long time ago. Will see how things evolve in the coming months 

[payxibka 10,044]

39 minutes ago, oldmunchi said:

. So approaching a year and still haven't heard anything from the nvc even recieving it.

And you won't.   NVC only sends something when the file gets dispatched to the consulate. 

[oldmunchi 1]

33 minutes ago, payxibka said:

And you won't.   NVC only sends something when the file gets dispatched to the consulate. 

What's it look like, six months or so after that point for the visa issuance? 

[payxibka 10,044]

Just now, oldmunchi said:

What's it look like, six months or so after that point for the visa issuance? 

The communication from NVC is an email (letter) advising you that the petition has been shipped to the consulate.  It includes the new casefile number to be used for the application at the consulate.   

[NoMansLand2020 298]

3 hours ago, oldmunchi said:

Yeah we will keep the k1. But we think we want to live in PH. Life in US isn't all its cracked up to be. Neutral third country might be a good option, yeah. 

Life in the Philippines isn't all it's cracked up to be either. Take a look at how they have handled the pandemic. Restricting people of certain ages from leaving their homes. Only allowing people to leave their homes with a pass.. And one person at a time. You have less freedom there than you do in the US. 

[RO_AH 1,619]

1 hour ago, NoMansLand2020 said:

Life in the Philippines isn't all it's cracked up to be either. Take a look at how they have handled the pandemic. Restricting people of certain ages from leaving their homes. Only allowing people to leave their homes with a pass.. And one person at a time. You have less freedom there than you do in the US. 

Just like in America some states have been much more restrictive than others, in the Philippines some areas are more restrictive than others. I built a house in the Philippines. Do you know how much I paid for a building permit and how long I had to wait for it? Ummm I didn't because I didn't need one. My wife has a store. She sells alcohol, beer, and pretty much anything else she wants. Do you know what kind of liquor permit she needs? None. Do you know what restrictions she has on what time of day she can sell alcohol? None. 

 

It's fine if you choose to see all of the negatives of the Philippines, but there are 2 sides to every coin. America is supposed to be the land of the free. But in a lot of ways they are much more free in the Philippines.

[Adventine 3,187]

11 hours ago, oldmunchi said:

I'm engaged to a filipina. How can I get in to see her? It's been almost a year and a half. Can we go to a mutual country and be married and then I can enter with her? What steps do i need to take to get in? I'm sure you guys can appreciate how hard this is for us to be away from our love of our life for so long. I'm wondering if anyone here knows a procedure I can go through to get entry into the country? Any help would be appreciated!

A neutral third country seems to be the best option right now. It depends on how much time both of you can stay overseas. 

 

You can choose to get married, but you'd nullify your K1 application and have to start over with the spousal visa. And you would still need to apply for a Philippine visa before entering the country.

 

You mentioned you're applying for a WFH job so you can come live with her here. My fiancé did the same thing last year. It worked out pretty well, even with the pandemic, but it sure was a shame that we weren't able to travel domestically or internationally like we planned.

 

Life in the Philippines can be great. It can also be horrible. It depends on where your fiancée is located and what your idea of a "good life" is. The same as anywhere else in the world, pre- or post-pandemic, life is (relatively) easy for those who have the means. Life is very, very hard for those with relatively few resources. 

 

I had to do a lot of errands today in the Makati central business district. Things are more or less functioning normally. I saw people of all ages outside, hanging out in restaurants, playing in parks, doing errands together. Virtually everyone wears face masks and face shields.