EmelyNJoel

My brother in law is working as an overseas worker in Saudia Arabia. His contract is up in December and he'd like to visit my wife and our family.

Would he process the visa in Saudia Arabia but at the Philippines consulate there? Or should he wait to go home to the Philippines and then attempt to process from there?

I will be going to look up requirements next. This is just in case there are some shortcuts since he's not current in the PI.

Thanks in advance, and thanks again for helping Emely and I out 9 years, and two daughters ago!

joelb

I understand and respect everyone's comments on this, and both sides have merit. However, life isn't fair.

It doesn't kill me this wasn't an option for myself and Emely, and like others, if a way to do it quicker was available I'd have probably done that.

But as we see from some of the train-wreck postings, dragging things out a little might help weed out some of the less well thought out matches.

Just saying....

joelb

Thanks for the clarification!

She's here, we've been married nearly 2 months, and the I-94 expires in 5 days.

We have already filed for AOS, EAD, and AP, and completed the Bio Appt.

At this point, it's pretty much just waiting for the Feds to do their paperwork.

joelb

What is the real difference between the expiration date of the I-94, vs the expiration date of the VISA itself?

When did you receive the interview appointment letter?

Was your case transferred to California or any other service center?

The paper NOA, and the biometrics letters all arrived yesterday, the 13th

We (Emely and I) just sent her packet on the 1st of September. have the electronic notice, but not the paper notice yet.

How close do you live to her Embassy. (there is one in DC, where I live) But this may not be easy for you to get to. But I know you can renew passports there. Check them on the web.

http://www.embassyofindonesia.org/consular/konsuler.htm

hope this helps

Does the NBC normally process 485s? We live in Washington DC.

Also the AP and EAD were filed at the same time, and show arriving a day earlier, and are already in Initial review....

My fiancée is at SLEC right now too. I just dropped her off about an hour ago. we're staying right across from the embassy. There is some construction going on. Maybe that has something to do with your problems getting through?

Um, if you were in business for yourself. (like I am).

And your fiancee/wife had a degree in your line of work. (Like Emely does)

And you had your business partner fly over with you to meet said recruit (my business partner, who's also filipino, did)

And you intend to hire her as soon as it's legal for her to work in the US (I do)

You MIGHT, and I say MIGHT, be able to legitimately say it was a recruiting expense.

AAPL

imho, is a better bet

If a stranger of a forum says you sleep with ferrets, it doesn't affect you, your life or what you'll have for breakfast.

Ooooo never sleep with ferrets.

A friend slept with a ferret in the military. One Sunday his bit him on his personal privates trying to get his attention.

It got his attention.

(said jokingly, but that is a 100% true story)

Most rules are written for typical situations, not the outliers.

So when I say that 'most' people try to capture special moments on 'film' with their families, I think that is a true statement.

When I say that 'most' couples happen to have documents which tie them together with their spouses, I think that is also a true statement.

(think mortgage, rental agreements, loans, birth certificates, marriage certificates, travel receipts from trips together)

When someone doesn't fit the typical mold, or differs from the norm, that is reason for a little extra scrutiny. I say this as a former child abuse/neglect investigator for the State of Kansas.

The less like the norm they are, without reasons for not being closer to the norm, the more skepticism increases.

That is human nature, not to mention training to notice things out of place or norm, which sharpen as one continues in investigative roles.

Now, I don't know the reality of your situation. I don't care if you get your visa or not, it doesn't affect me to the best of my knowledge.

But I'd rather life treat you well, than treat you poorly, just on general principles.

I have found that life treats *me* much better, the better *I* prepare for what challenges might lay ahead of me. Chance favors the well prepared.

So, take stock of what everyone is saying, accept that we are trying to help. (even me).

Start re-reading the posts as though they were offering good advice. (they are)

Start acting on those posts.

Prayer can't hurt.

Good luck.

*I get my answer a week from today, so we'll see if I have followed my own advice well enough for my fiancee's visa to be approved or not.

Thanks so much for the great ideas VJr's

3 days and a wakeup.

Besides going to the Mall of Asia (which is really, REALLY big). What would be worth spending time with my mahal in Manila?

The point is don't do anything on the back, that would be visible on the front.

...but it's a complete waste other than making you feel better.

And if you overload the USCIS, you slow them down getting to the next applicant, and I don't know any of us who wouldn't have liked to get OUR paperwork processed faster.

My entire application was 24 pages. I got an RFE because 12 of those pages were my Divorce Journal, not a one page Divorce Decree. So 13 pages would have done it. I met Emely through here sister who lives near me. I proposed on my first visit. Visited again before the RFE was received. And have proof of that trip. I'm leaving a week from tomorrow for the K1 Interview. you don't need to have a lot of documentation. Give them what they ask for. don't over load them. But have a real relationship. DON"T lie about anything. if you do you're hosed. So from my experience, you don't need tons of papers to prove your relationship. Just have a real one, and I suspect things will work out fine.

We've had problems getting the Malaysian police Good Conduct Certificate. So my fiancée and her brother in law are in Manila right now, to go to the Malaysian Embassy to do battle with the bureaucrats to obtain said certificate!

Love you Emely!

Thanks everyone. I'm a planner, I like to know what I'm up against, even though she isn't here yet!

Chance favors the well prepared mind.

How hard is it to request specific travel outside the US while waiting on AOS/AP/EAD paperwork ? We would like to travel back to the Philippines for a second wedding there next April so her family can be present.

Thanks in advance.

A large part of the problems facing us as a country and many of us as individuals is that we've been spoiled by the media to want sound-byte style answers to complex situations. Lots of answers sound great when you first hear them, people in positions of power hire professional writers to do just that, write amazing sounding responses, to enable them to move on to the next question. The problem is those type of quick, great sounding answers often lack the substance to really fix the problems they are so easily fired off against.

We get used to these kind of quick answers because we see them on the news all the time. So we want quick answers to OUR problems. The issue is, there are no easy answers to most of our problems. None of us want to hear that, but it's basically true.

We want immigration easier so we can be with the one we love. Makes sense. But how often have we heard a story of some man or woman being taken advantage of by someone who was deceitful about their true purpose in coming here. Remember this is AFTER all the screening.

Id write more, but my fiancee just got online. So you know where MY priorities lie.

We met on Facebook after her sister gave each of us the other's contact info. If I scroll back far enough, I can read our entire chat history. Our first contact was July 27th, 2011. With a little luck,we'll get married on the one year anniversary.

Hey Guys, after my fiancee and I attend her Visa interview, I'm planning on spending 3-4 days with her family and friends in Mindinao. Does anyone have any advice on where to stay in Pagadian?

It's hard to tell from trip advisor and the various other hotel services, so any personal opinions would be preferred to 'marketing'

Thanks in advance,

joelb

Hi VJ's

I was dumb and now need your help.

I am having problems with Malaysia getting my fiancee a certificate of good conduct. She's already applied on their website, but got a phone call from some official trying to tell her she doesn't need it.

We know she does. and I did a search about 2 weeks ago and found a link to a US Gov Document designed to be given to other countries explaining the need for a background check, and I think the requirement to provide one under some common agreement.

I was going to bookmark it and just never did.

So, if someone knows where that link is, I'd really really appreciate it if you could post it as a response.

My fiancee is travelling to Manila on the 24th to go to the Malaysian Embassy there, and it would help if she had before she left.

Thanks in advance.

Joelb