US Immigration from Philippines

I'm applying for the IR1 Spouse Visa to bring my wife from the Philippines to the US. We married in 2019 in the Philippines. I have some questions regarding how best to file the Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. Thank you in advance.

1. "Online filing vs mail"
Is it better to file online or by mail? I was planning to file paper copies by mail but the USCIS website says they are "transitioning to electronically processing", so maybe the process will go faster if I file online. The new fees are less for online filing which suggests they prefer online filing.

2. "Evidence of U.S. citizenship"
I have my U.S. birth certificate and U.S. passport.

3. "Evidence of permanent residence"
I have my Electric bill, Internet bill, Voting record, Bank account, Drivers license, Car registration.

4. "Evidence of family relationship"
I have a Marriage certificate from the Philippines. I have not yet registered our marriage in the US. Do I need to?

5. "Evidence of the bona fides of the marriage":
What is the strongest evidence for proving our relationship is genuine, and how much is needed?

5a. "Combining finances"
I have 2 deeds with both our names on the deed showing we own 2 pieces of real estate in the Philippines. I also plan to send a copy of my 2023 federal tax return showing that we file "Married filing Jointly". (We do not have a joint bank account because the bank requires I be in the Philippines for at least 4 months.)

5b. "Affidavits"
I have 2 affidavits from friends attesting to the bona fides of the marriage. I understand affidavits don't carry much weight but I thought it might help to include them anyway.

5c. "Time together"
I've visited my wife 13 times over 7 years with a combined total of 17 months being together in person. I was planning to list each trip and for each trip to include:
* dates of travel
* purpose of visit
* 2-4 pictures from each trip
* copy of passport stamps
* flight itinerary, boarding pass if available

5d. "Copies of communication"
While apart we communicated by Facebook messenger. I plan to provide several screenshots of our chats over the 7 years. Not sure how many. Maybe 2-4 screenshots per year?

5e. "Receipts for money sent"
I send money for her monthly budget. I can provide receipts for moneys sent but I saw in another post that proof of my sending money is not helpful.

6. "Proof of legal name change"
I'm not sure if this applies to our situation. Neither of us were previously married so our names have remained the same since birth. My wife did change her last name to mine on several accounts after we got married (her national ID, her bank account, her TIN). I was planning to include copies of those to show she changed her name to mine, but I'm not sure if that's helpful or not.

7. "Church wedding"
We had a Catholic wedding at my wife's church. Catholic requirements for marriage are more strict than for civil weddings. I thought it might help to mention that in my petition, but on the other hand some people have an anti-Catholic bias so it might be better not to mention it.

Hi, Filipino beneficiary here,

On DS-160, there is a part that asks for employer phone number.

My current employer only does employment verifications through email (no phone no. at all), and my past employer s supposed phone number for employment verification is just, let s say, broken. Doesn t pick up at all.

There s this link that says for questions that do not apply to you, you can answer Do Not Apply. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/forms/ds-160-online-nonimmigrant-visa-application/ds-160-faqs.html

In my situation I feel it is fair for me to use the Does Not Apply answer, but can anyone provide any similar experience or insight? This is a rather uncommon situation and Im aware employment information is not as important on K1, but just wanted to make sure by asking. Thank you.

As a background, I am a Philippine national/beneficiary with a pending F1 immigrant visa case (priority date July 2014, documentarily complete December 2022). More than a year ago, I found a job in Poland and relocated there, obtaining a temporary resident permit.

In my case, given the backlogs of the US Embassy in Manila, will transferring my case to the US Embassy in Warsaw be beneficial in at least speeding up the interview scheduling process when my priority date will be current? What are the recent experiences of some users here in transferring their visa cases from one embassy to another and what was the timeline?

I understand that the family based F1 immigrant visa category has not been progressing much, if at all, these past two or so years. I know I will still have a lengthy wait until the visa will be available (been waiting for almost 10 years already).

Hi, Filipino beneficiary here.

On DS-160, under Previous Work/Education/Training Information, it asks for course of study for my senior high and junior high experience. I attended grades 11-12 for senior high and grades 7-10 for junior high.

What I plan to enter for junior high course of study is academic, and for senior high, I am torn between vocational and Accountancy Business and Management (ABM), the strand I took here in the Philippines as a senior high student.

I appreciate any insight. Thanks :).

My wife came to the US with her son (my step son) on a CR1 visa and they have both gone through removal of conditions. We are getting ready to file for naturalization and I am unsure how to include my stepson in the process. It is my understanding (correct me if I am wrong) that we just file for her naturalization then when she completes the process we file some paperwork for my step son. It is also my understanding from what I am reading on the state department website that my wife might have to complete her naturalization before he turns 18 in order for him to derive citizenship from her. The problem is he will be turning 17 next month and it is my understanding that naturalization is averaging over a year to process. If my wife starts the process before my step son turns 18 is that enough or does she have to complete the process before he turns 18? Worst case if my step son will not be able to derive citizenship from my wife what does the process look like for him and when do we start it?