Ron and Rhea

Appreciate all help, you all don't know how much. I will have to decide on which way to go...I know the intent is to see if someone has been bringing in a lot of wives in a short time? I'd hate to sorta waste a 129F as I know you only have a few of them to use.

Thanks RK...you guys are great and yes that is how we are approaching it.

JimVaPhuong, thanks for the very helpful info, however, as it was sooo long ago, I have no idea if it were the 129F or a 130, again, over 31 years ago, I was but like 19 yrs old...I mean we married in the Philippines, I remember going to Manila once or twice to do paperwork..... She arrived a few months after me to the states, however I do not even recall her doing any paperwork in Cali to get her green card, but she had one until she became a citizen a few years later.....

So, now I have to figure out if it were a 129F or 130...hmmm

Meant 325A

The more professional it looks the better it goes. My opinion

Got your PM...this is what I was sorta asking...good point. Its just you can't save the fillable forms it says, but as long as I don't totally reboot laptop the forms stay, so I will wait for the info and type the rest in.

Thanks

Finished up the G35A and the 129F, I filled them out on my laptop and printed, looks so much better. My question is on each of those forms there are one or two spots I have to get answers to, ie: call moms and ask her the birth place of my father, etc.

I wonder if it would be better to just wait to print up the entire letter with typed info, or to print and just hand write in the dates for those few blocks?

You are welcome. Just wait until witing for your NOA2 [NOA2 = VJ-speak typically describing Form I-797 indicating I-129F petition approval); the passing months will feel like millions of years (OK, slight exaggeration--maybe only thousands of years )! -RK

I can imagine....its so difficult not being with her as it is....at least we are down to this part, hopefully the last 6 months or so, till she is here. I hope.

just sharing our experience. i hope u can get something from it. my fiance had filed a CR1 before for his ex-wife. we are all from the phils. after 13 years and 8 months of marriage...they filed for divorce. after more than 2 years of being single again, we met. and he filed for a k1 for me. we hired an agency and there were a lot of mistakes. among those was they forgot to answer question no. 11 in the 129f form. so, we got an rfe for that. what the agency did...they just checked the box "yes" and sent it back. that was a bad move. we realized we should had sent supporting documents for our answer. so for that we had a 2nd rfe " IMBRA RFE" due to the fact that the USCIS didn't know whether or not the previous petition was for spousal or fiance. what we did... we researched and studied what would be our next course of action be. we really didn't know what to do. we thought that was our last chance with the USCIS.so, we made a waiver for IMBRA...inspite that my fiance didn't file for K1 before. there is a limitation for the number of K1 petition a USC can file in his lifetime.this is the one that is covered by the IMBRA law. it was the advice of everyone, that eventhough we're not covered... we should make a waiver. so, that's what we did. we also sent the NOA2 of his exwife, the divorce decree again, the letter from NVC for his exwife. Thank God...my fiance still kept these through the years. now, we made everything on our own and then, we let the agency review it for any suggestions from them. but the agency said...everything looks good. and to God be the glory... our petition got approved.

now, as we looked back, we cud say, we should have sent the supporting documents along with that 1st rfe. we wouldn't have had received the 2nd rfe. there's nothing wrong to be overkill. as long as we're always prepared and ready.

hope our experience could help you somehow. by the way... my fiance is not from the service. but nevertheless... it's a the same process, right?

Thanks Rene, there is no way I will be able to get the A# and such, as my X wouldn't even have that info. I won't ask her because she will know why and I know for a fact she will not know, so I won't bother....I will have to go with what others have said, 'unknown'

and by the way for the A#... my fiance went to hi ex-wife's house to ask for it. even she forgot her A#. so what we did, we put "lost/unknown" in the box.

That is what I will do...do you think the year or the month/year would help, or just unknown/lost..?

Thank you so much RK...its not lying, its saying the truth. And it was a million years ago, (ok 31, seems like a million).

I do know the paperwork was done July/Aug 1980, I wonder if I should put that in there with the unknown for the A#

Thank you so much RK...its not lying, its saying the truth. And it was a million years ago, (ok 31, seems like a million).

You did the paperwork though?

If it were me, I would just put as much info as you can remember. They are looking mostly for people that have filed many times recently.

Hopefully someone that has been in your shoes before will chime in.

Scott, man that was like in 1980...I know we married July 22, 1980, and she came out Dec 1980...and A# and such, no idea. Thanks for helping me.

It also says according to your quote " alien fiance or husband/wife"

You probably don't have all the info, but you would have 2 know about when & where you filed.

If the military took care of the visa, then there is something you should be able to get by using the FOIA. I take it you don't talk to your ex at all?

I don't know how the immigration process was back in the 1980s, so I can really comment on how you would go about getting the info now.

You're right....I know when we were married, and she flew out a few months later...I do talk to her, often, but I can assure you, she will not help at all, lol. The military didn't take care of the visa...

Did you bring your ex-wife to the US? If so then you filed for her and then the answer would be yes and you need 2 put the info. If you guys just married and lived outside the US then your answer would be no.

Yes she flew here a few months after I did...it was in 1980, how on earth would I find that info out.Its says, "alien fiance'....she wasn't my fiance, does that matter? I was active duty military then too.

Of course my fiance is done with her forms and all the things she needs...lol...I am filling out the 129F...I was married to a Filipina, we are divorced, (actually the official papers were due in the mail last week now they said this week coming up)...so I can't put that date in yet, section 9, however in section 11, Have you ever filed for this or any other alien fiancé(e) or husband/wife before? if so, If "Yes," give name of all aliens, place and date of filing,A# and result. Now my X wife and I married in Olongapo City, but we were married in the Philippines, so this is a NO...? I hope so because I would have NO way of knowing the, 'if yes' question...it was so long ago.

Welcome Ron

You should get your fiancee in here to. I'm assuming she's on the internet. If she has a facebook account, I know a lot of the pretty ladies from the Philippines talk about they process on there and give each other moral support. This is a bit of a stressful process on both sides.

Hey Caryh, she is very internet savy, however her laptop bit the big one, so she is getting a new one. She has access via her phone, or her moms computer and of course internet cafe's....I will make sure she knows what you shared, thanks.

Ron--

Welcome to Visa Journey! This is RK, the USC petitioner for my Filipina fiancee, Inday. I saw your query and all responses you received in the K1 forum. Glad you were satisfied with the responses and glad you took up the recommendation to visit the Philippines forum. I am relatively new to VJ myself but I can tell you that even though I tend to have an eye for detail, I would have been very, very much lost without the advice, knowledge, and experience of the members of this VJ community. You will surely want to avail yourself here of the golden nuggets of experience specific to a visa journey associated with the Philippines (not to mention some quite entertaining threads!!) Most of all: welcome, glad you have joined VJ, best of luck and good wishes on you and your fiancee's own personal visa journey!!

--RK

Thanks RK..I too have a keen eye, but I am never above getting advise from others who have 'been there, done that'...

Hi Ron, my name is Dan and I'm a Filipinaholic

I must be too, haha.

Hi! Welcome to visajourney! I must say even the people at CFO recommends people to join Visajourney. lol

CFO, another acronym I need to look up, lol

Welcome to the Philippine Forum. your one stop shopping place for questions about going thru the process in Manila. best thing about shopping here, it's is free...

Yes I've found that out. My fiance is getting online here to use this great site and to get this done right. Thanks.

Have you sent in your paperwork yet?

No, I posted on the K1 forum, our story. I went to a lawyer on Wed, told the bill just to get finace' here is 4600.00, then another 4k for paperwork here. I was LOUDLY told DON"T DO IT....but we are getting everything together and will file asap.

hello welcome to vj

Hey, thanks.

Update: Talked with g/f and she totally agrees to save the money for more important things...pretty much anything other than lining the pockets of a lawyer. So we are steaming ahead on our own, and with the help of my new friends on VJ....She is sending me her docs on monday, via FedEx...luckily I can send things to her, and anyone else, via Fed Ex, with a 75% discount as I work for the airlines and its an agreement our company has with Fed Ex.

Hi! You don't need a lawyer unless your case has huge red flags. You seem to have sufficient intelligence to fill out and compile all the necessary documents. It's pretty straight forward. Follow the K1 guide on this site. It's very helpful. http://www.visajourn...content/k1guide Good luck to you both! Save the $4000 and have a special wedding.

Hey Mandy, yes thats what we thought too...As I said before, my fiance has way more intelligence than me, and also as another poster reflected, better looking too, haha.

Just make sure her AOS is done or have an AP before she takes advantage of those cheap fares.

Oh yea for sure....

Just want to introduce myself on the Philippines area of this forum. I posted a question on the K1 board and its 4 pages long..lots and lots of great advise, one was to come here as my fiance is Filipina.

My name is Ron and hoy to you all.

Plus to follow up on my previous post..I work for the Airlines, so I fly for free or deep discounts, so my fiance will get same benefits when we marry...so she can fly back home several times a year if she wants.

F1 OR K1?

Lawyers are for troubles.

Yea they already got me on that..I keep saying F1..its a K1...and there are no troubles in our deal.

If you're going to fill in forms and print them out, it's better to do it from the USCIS.gov website, as they have the latest versions of forms. Being a government department, forms change all the time.

One thing worth remembering: Make sure you make three copies of your entire packet. One for yourself, one for your lady, and one as a file copy. As you go through each of the immigration stages (Adjustment of Status once you are married, Removal of Conditions after 2 years as a green card holder, Citizenship) you will need to keep the NOAs as they are required as part of the next packet. Embassies can lose paperwork, so the file copy is your backstop if, for any reason, the original goes astray.

Something that helps a few people along the way: Have a planner (of sorts). Note down what needs doing and try to put them in order. The guides here will give you good instructions, but if you have a dated planner, you know when things are coming up - like the police report, CENOMAR, the medical, the interview, gathering of ongoing relationship evidence, picking up her SSN on arrival, AoS/EAD/AP (more acronyms to become familiar with!).

Perhaps the one thing we forget in our excitement to get through this process as soon as possible, is that your lady will miss a great many things about home once she arrives in America. It's all go-go-go until she gets here and then it's a big anticlimax where she is in a new place with new customs and everything seems overwhelming. Make sure your fiancee spends time with her loved ones, takes lots of photos, familiarises her friends and family with some sort of online video call system (Skype, Yahoo, MSN .. whatever floats her boat) and builds a lot of memories to bring with her. Those are the things that will give her comfort when she's stuck at home, unable to work, until her EAD or Green card come through. Have her go through her beloved possessions to determine what she wants to gift to others as a memento and what she chooses to bring to build her new home. It'll keep her busy, at the least.

Wishing you a speedy journey.

Wow, such helpful info...I appreciate it so much. 3 copies, a date planner is a great idea as well...I know what you're saying about my g/f missing her family and friends. I've been down this road before, a long time ago. My first marriage, (and only unit I marry Diana), was to a Filipina, we were married 30 years, so I know how this move can affect relationships on her side. Needless to say I know lots and lots of Filipino's here in Md and I know Filipino culture very well....

Oh ok Tahoma...I am waiting for her to get up as its like 430am there..so we can go over the new game plan...