US Immigration from Philippines

Hello,
I live in Seattle and sent my I-129f packet to the Texas Service Center. I understand what they do regarding check forms, making sure information is correct, and I have paid the right fee. When this is completed, where and when do they send it off to another service center? If so, which service center (California, Vermont, or Nebraska)? I am also aware of the workload shift to the various centers.

Thank you in advance for your help and advice!

Regards,
Step

My K 1 application was approved on 12 March 20. It has been at Ready Status at the Manila Embassy since 13 April 20. We have still not received an

appointment letter. Now I find my application has expired. The Embassy says that they will make a case by case decision on expired cases, but I am concerned as to how they will process my file with no appointment letter and a case with no status? Oh, my MNL case number does not work now. I have to use the D 160 confirmation number.

I started this week gathering all my documents to request a 9A Philippines visa based on a foreigner having a Filipino child. I thought I would start a thread to put my experience out there and for others to avoid any mistakes, as I can tell you, with all of the new COVID "rules", its a confusing process.

After gathering all the documents (which I have more than required), I wrote to the Philippine Consulate New York as I had a question on the affidavit confirming that the child is still in the Philippines (and this applies if you are getting a visa based on a spouse still in the Philippines) that the "legal guardian" needs to sign an affidavit, have it notarized, and then they will need to mail this to you in the US. Yes, it takes forever just for these steps. The issue I have is I am the legal guardian of my son but they need the documents that are still in my condo in Manila that show Im the legal guardian and then I guess I notarize my own document that my son is still there I will need to do either of two things: 1) Request new documents from the Philippine government showing this legal aspect and I do not know how long this will take or 2) Have my fiance travel all the way to Manila just to get those documents and then have mailed to me. It is hard for her to do this as she is working.

Documents I will be submitting:

• Duly Notarized Form 2A
• 2 passport size photos (only one is needed but Im submitting two different ones just in case) Signed name on the back.
• Certified copy of PSA birth certificate of my son
• Booking Confirmation of the two nights hotel while awaiting the results of the COVID test
• Company of my company ID (not required but why not)
• Airline ticket itinerary
• Photocopy of sons Philippine passport (I confirmed with the Consulate that this only needs to be a copy, not certified if you have the PSA certified copy)
• My last salary payment
• My Work Number: The company I work at does not issue employment letters, they use a company called My Work Number which verifies employment and salary. I am not sure if this will be acceptable and if anyone has submitted this please let me know. With COVID and everyone working remotely, it would take weeks or even a month to get someone in the office who could sign an actual employment letter and they stated they dont do these anyway
• Brokerage Account details and balance
• 401K Account details and balance
• Payroll Roll Bank Account
• Charles Schwab account balances (if you dont have a Schwab account, I highly recommend this. Free ATM withdrawals while overseas and a ton of other perks).
• My Employment Data Report from The Work Number. I am trying to submit excessive financial info in case they acutely want an employment letter.
• Money Order (I was submitting the $90 1 year visa, but I learned today the Consulate is only do the single entry visas for up to 90 days). Expedite is $40 total. Note on these visas and the same pre-COVID rule applies - after 59 days you need to do an extension and they will extend it for 31 days at that time. However at 90 days, you need to leave the country.
• Self addressed stamp priority mail envelope. Do not use FEDEX. They state this in the instructions
• Open item is the affidavit that my son is actually in the Philippines. This has been the point I have made all along to the US government and the Philippine government that I AM the legal guardian. This is why I had originally asked for an expedite of the K1 for my fiance as this delay was effecting my sons school and I was the one responsible for him anyway. Still no response from them. Its almost November so its safe to assume my son will miss at least half of the 2nd grade, possibly all of it. But I hear he is becoming good at video games.

My next steps are to get this affidavit to prove my son is in the Philippines and then expedite for the visa. I have already purchased my ticket for November 26th but can cancel that for a fee.

The frustrating thing and I told the Consulate this, is that notarizing documents in the Philippines is a joke. When I used to walk to work in Makati, every morning there would be 5, 10 or so vendors who set up a little sidewalk stall and were "notaries." You paid 150p and they would stamp it and sign the document. No ID was ever required. It was a joke. When we would close rental contracts for expats moving in the Philippines, we would literally sign the leases and the notary forms when we had free time, then take a huge stack of them to a notary, and they signed and stamped them all, never asking to witness the signature, never asking for ID.

Once I get the notarized affidavit, I will mail my packet to the Consulate. Ill send another update on that process. I still hold out hope I can meet the November 26th departure date.

Hello,

I would just like to ask if it is necessary to submit my Philippine passport as a proof that I will change my surname into my husband's surname?

Or our marriage certificate will suffice? I am having a hard time getting a slot on renewal of my Philippine passport because all slots are always taken. I have been checking every day just to get a slot.

Thank you in advance

II was told to change my mailing address on my USCIS account, but it will not let me. What am I doing wrong, the only edit allowed is the phone number. We need to change the mailing address for my husband.