gretchen_darren

Questions regarding the k-1 visa process and I-131. Just wondering if it would work. Anyone have any answers?

package is going courier today. Should be there tomorrow. So I will know what is going on in a week or two. crossing my fingers and toes, hoping for the best.

yes, I love her. Taking her to jollibee was the best I could do for american food besides pizza hut and mcdonalds in butuan. I was staying in gingoog city since it was the closest to her village. I was extremely happy to get home to "american" food again. She stayed with me at the hotel. this was a chance to expose her to "western" civilization and see if her and i could live as a couple. How we got along. Plus spending time with her family for all of us to get to know each other. I did not like Jollibee, but in comparison to other coices, it was probably one of the safer options in the city to eat at.

when the embassy interview comes up, I am taking her and her parents via airplane (a taste of flying for her, see if she gets airsick) to manila to expose her more to my way of life. to show how she will be living. Manila is more another major step up from where I was staying near her village. My motel room was larger then her family's house. There will be much refinement to teach her over time, including knives are for cutting up food, not spoons. But the biggest thing is, I felt so spoiled by her when I was there. I was never, ever far out of her sight. being loved like that after being unloved for years, you can't help but wish for some blessing from above for managarap angel ko (angel without wings).

Thanks again for the replies. I want to state i am not trying to invent something or make something up to just get in line or expedite the process. The travel advisory warning issued by the US embassy, states no government offical can go into the area without US Embassy approvals (in effect the area is off limits). From the embassy website: U.S. Government employees must seek special permission for travel to Mindanao or the Sulu Archipelago. Travelers to these areas should remain vigilant and avoid congregating in public areas. Some foreigners who reside in or visit Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago hire their own security.

I understand how everyone else is feeling, there are many many dangerous places in the world today. But when you see children just flocking around you waiting for food, wanting just a morsel of what you do not eat. Always hungry. How can it not move you to tears? I saw so many children, so many adults, who just wish for a good meal every day. And the talent in that village was greater then most talent I have seen of people across the world. And yet I konw many of them will never get a chance to even utilize their talents. Poverty is poverty no matter where you are. The poverty, the lack of food, then the debt people are having to incur to survive, jsut survive, is terrible. Imagine having no food, no money, and having to buy rice, buy food on credit. Hoping another catach will come in, so you can purchase food. There are no refrigerators or freezers there, no milk that I saw, things are stored in containers in the open, unrefrigerated. In order to even drink water, they have to buy distilled water or boil water. they cannot even cool water after boiling it. some places have no electricity at all, or jsut one outlet for a while house. Many houses there are 15 feet by 15 feet for 7 people or more. YEs. there are places where people live in pverty all over the world. But when was the last time you heard of an area where a bus boming killed 10 people, all of the people in a village slept on the floor, many houses had dirt floors, people woke up and went to bed hungry, food was sold on credit, bathing is done out in the open under your clothes, hot water does not exist, refrigeration is non existent except for in a store, no one in the village has gone to college or can afford to,

the family has never been outside of the area they are in. 1) they never have been to mcdonalds or jollibee until I took them. 2) going shopping is a rarity to them. 3) there is nowhere to send while waiting, all of the family pretty much lives in the village from what I know. 4) the furthest I know of them going is butuan or cagayan de oro. 5) I am having her get her vaccinations now, I will be paying for all of these. 6) I also paid for her cousin to take her exams for graduation.

Thanks for the replies so far. Yes, I do not know of the expedite will be approved or not. However, her situation HAS changed since meeting me. 1) she lives in the Mindanao region of the Philippines. there is a US Embassy travel advisory for this area. (northern end, but still part of the more fractured part of the Philippines. 2) I was the only American to visit the village in the last 2 years. 3) she does not cross the river to talk to people, it just so happens one of the mothers from the village lives here in town with me. We net online due to relatives living close by me. 4) I provided her a laptop, cell phone, and passport already to provide means to communicate with her, and provide support for her and her family. 5) as for gumming up the works, well, let's just say that is america. there are always exceptions to rules not rules with out exceptions as in many other countries. 6) As for sitting untouched or in a separate batch, etc. It is your responsibility to follow up, not their responsibility to let you know. 7) I have provided food for her and her family since we have started dating. Her dad insists she talks with me each and every day. They did not have separate rooms in the house until I provided money to them. The whole village, as well as those along the route (jeepney and bus) now know her and I are engaged to be married. It was a common conversation every day when going back and forth. 8) I bought her the first dress she ever owned 9apart from school uniform) 9) the engagment party was 37,000php.

Question: has anyone ever asked the Embassy for help in expediting a K-1 application from the start? My finace is in the Philippines, in a very poor purok, nowhere near an urban section or town. To get to her village, you have to cross a river on a raft. I emailed the embassy requesting help while I am finishing my paperwork to file this week. I am in hte process of writing the cover letter now requesting expedition based on humanitarian, and extreme emergent situations. I am also planning on contacting my senators/state representatives requesting assistance. I thought I knew poverty until I saw the village. The village made a campground look good. It was very much off the beaten path for anyone but pinoys.

Cheers,

Darren