Mogambi

I think the case where you will be living with his mom, your chances are better. Also, yes, in your case it would probably help a lot for him to be there, to explain that he's just graduating, that you will be staying with his mom while he starts his career, etc.

Also to improve your chances, have her fill out the I-864 and get it notarized if need be, and that will maybe help too.

It appears maybe that different countries, the medical is good for different periods of time?

In the Philippines, the medical is good for six months. SO your visa will be issued to expire six months after the medical. Which means, no one in the Philippines would ever get a visa that is good for six months, since you have to have your medical BEFORE your interview, so everyone's visa will be for some period of time less than six months. Ours was good for four months, because we had our medical two months before the interview, since we then had to wait much longer than we were led to believe to get our police clearance from Thailand.

Bring your Birth Certificate to the NBI and explain it to them, and ask them which name it should be issued under. EIther way you should be OK, since your birth certificate lists both names.

Name problems seem very common in the Philippines, so just document it as best you can, I think you'll be fine.

Well if he as no job, and no income, the I-134 certainly isn't going to be accepted at ANY embassy.

My point is, if he prepares his own I-134, and has no income, but has a letter from his mom promising him a job, it might look mighty suspicious is all. Worth a shot for sure. But the timing might just seem a bit suspicious I mean.

Also sorry if my reply was snarky. But a few things. Having a letter, from his mom's company, promising a job, isn't going to be worth very much to the consulate or embassy. They are going to want to see previous income, last years tax return, so a vague promise of future work, from his mom, isn't going to be very strong evidence I'm afraid. I'm not saying it won't help, but it might not be enough.

I agree with the other woefully uninformed of us here (really, your fiancé didn't help with that comment) that filing an i-864 along with the I-34 might help if you try and get them to take a co-sponsor. Unfortunately it seems the Asian countries are much less likely to accept them.

You could try both, have his mom co-sponsor AND have her write a letter if she really intends to offer him a job in the states.

I'm still not sure it's enough. But if you go the CR-1 route and get married before, then they are required to take a co-sponsor.

You should probably start the process of getting another one, but if your interview comes up before you get it, just bring the one you have. That way, in case they tell you you need a current one, you are already in the process of getting it, and you won't have to wait as long.

It might be that they accept it fine. I mean, if you haven't been BACK to that country since it was issued, no chance you could have admitted any crimes in that country right? So no way a new police report would show anything different. That would be the logical decision.

BUT, that doesn't mean they won't see that it has expired and demand another one.

But I believe they want to see one within 6 months usually, so even if it's expired by Malaysian standards, perhaps the embassy won't really care.

But again, wise to go ahead and start the process to get the replacement, just to minimize any possible delays.

Wow, your quick response to your fiancé's posting and the tone of your voice makes it pretty clear that you DO intend to lie and fake an employment that doesn't exist.

Hey, good luck with that!

And WE'RE the uninformed ones? Gee, thanks boss. Yes, why don't you move along since you clearly know everything, and us ignorant rednecks will just sit around drinking moonshine...

Not too bad it sounds like if all the numbers are real.

Well aside from the fact that it seem like you're a reckless pothead (ahem)...

You probably need to consult a lawyer, as it's not clear since the alcohol and pot charges were dropped, if the other charges are still related. You'd have to guess wrong and have it come back to haunt you.

Also wonder if the underage charges matter now, or if they've been expunged from your record.

But these are things that a good immigration lawyer will know how to handle.

It was probably denied because it's not really considered an emergency that your daughter be included, as much as you'd like her to be. That's not grounds for an expedite. If you get your NOA2 in October, doesn't that seem like plenty of time? That still gives you 7 more months before your daughter turns 21, or do you have to have her visa some time before her birthday?

Calling your congressman or congresswoman won't hurt though!

Glad to hear things went well. To all the people here saying it's no problem to come and visit your fiancé while waiting for a K1 application, be CAREFUL to say such things. It's NOT automatically true that you can visit.

In fact, MANY people are turned away and denied entry here if the customs person suspects at all that perhaps you intend to stay in the US, and having a fiancé here is a good reason to want to stay.

It's very irresponsible to say 'oh it's no problem, I heard someone else did it'.

You might get away with it. But it's a pretty expensive proposition if they turn you away and put you on a plane home!

Someone recently posted that August 24th was the soonest they could get, except that there were some interviews available still like in one week.

People are canceling interviews, so every day the amount of available slots would change. I agree, just get your MNL case number, pay at BPI, and the next day you can create your account and schedule your interview. Only when you're on that screen will you see what times are available.

Also, why wouldn't you just renew your passport? You're going to still want it here in the US since it's going to be past April 2013 before you get your greencard, and you're still going to need your passport to travel!

You would be wise to renew your passport before you come to the US. Perhaps you can even just renew it now, and then it will be good for five years?

If you renew, does your passport number stay the same in the Ph? If so, then it shouldn't be any problem.

Ah, well yes, now I know what AWA is and can only imagine how difficult or next to impossible it's going to be.

Yes hopefully he filed a K3 and not a K1. The K1 will do you absolutely zero good!

But if he told you to file a 'fiancé' visa, then maybe he did file a K1, which is so ridiculously stupid you should demand your money back.

Unless it's his intention that should the K1 be granted, you just lie about being married and do it again here in the US? I don't get it.

At least from the Philippines, we were required to generate a document called a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) that shows that my fiancé has no record on file of being married. If you have to produce something like that from your country, and then at the interview they would see you're married, and instantly deny the K1.

And you will have wasted 8 months.

The person you hired is an idiot.

Probably you need to talk to an immigration lawyer. Overstays and/or deportations are about the most serious violation that can hinder the K1 process. Don't mean to scare you, but you're going to need professional help on this one. You overstayed more than a year. That was a huge mistake, I know you were young. But yes, there are absolutely sure to be repercussions.

No matter what your immigration person said, it will be documented that you overstayed more than a year.

As others noted, voluntary departure is better than deportation, but both still have repercussions.

The chance is too high you will get turned away at this point if you try to visit, it's not worth the risk. And since his injury isn't life threatening, the likelihood that they're expedite it are slim to none. As it should be. I don't mean any offense, but this isn't an emergency that warrants an expedite. That might sound harsh, I don't mean it to be, I'm sure any of us in your situation would want to get on a plane and get here, but we don't have that luxury.

If you want to try a tourist visit, be prepared that they not let you in, being as far along in your visa.

I don't know much about rice, but I will say this as I've been leaning about things in the Philippines. First it sure seems to me that whenever anyone there is presented an opportunity, they get somewhat blinded by other aspects of it. So we've had so many people offer us business opportunties there, like land especially, farmland, rubber plantations, rice fields, coconut trees, etc. Of course in all of these, I never believe whatever they tell me I can earn every month. There's simply no way. The other thing of course is that whatever number someone tells you, will never include all the 'expenses' that go along with that!

70,000 to 1000,000 is a HUGE amount of money for someone there, and you have to ask yourself, if someone could really have made that, why on earth would they sell that land for only an amount they could have made in nine months! If you could really make that, they would be keeping it.

Then again, and I know I'm stereotyping, but Filipinos seem more susceptible to believing that there is some great opportunity where maybe there really isn't one. This is not surprising in a poor country, everyone wants to find the bargain, the great deal.

A hectare is about 2.5 acres, not particularly huge, but I'm sure there is income to be made, probably not nearly as much as you might have been led to believe, but over time, if it's handled right, it should generate some sustainable income, and that's a good thing, especially once your fiancé is here, her family can hopefully at least sustain themselves. That's what we keep trying to do as well, help my fiancés family have a sustainable income.

I wouldn't purchase another just yet, that's still a fair amount of money (about $10,000 right?) so you might want to make sure this one pans out.

Also, not prying, but why have you been waiting three years for your visa?

I think a tourist visa to Japan is very hard for Filipinos. When I looked, it was nearly as hard as a tourist visa for a FIlipino to visit the US. Had to show bank accounts, land ownership, etc. It's not like many of the asian countries there that you can enter easily.

Might suggest if Japan is too hard to get a visa, you can as a Filipno enter Hong Kong or Singapore without a visa, and both of those are super fun places too, I took my fiancé to both and we had a great time!

I'm glad it all worked out for you, but isn't the lesson here simply to READ the instructions? I mean, no offense, but how on earth could you have screwed it up that badly? How could you be confused about how to answer the question about if you have ever been convicted? Why did you think you didn't need to answer it?

So yes, thanks for posting how to make corrections, because of course it's bound to happen from time to time.

Recently, there was a similar thread, but in that one, the person claims they didn't even make any of the corrections, and they were STILL approved. I have no idea how it's possible, but some people are just lucky I guess.

Anyway, congrats!

Might be a smart idea to prepare better for your interview

Medical is good for six months. Also be aware, the expiration date of the visa will be six months from the date of the medical, and not six months from the date your visa is issued. So if you do the medical and then have delays at the interview, etc, your visa will be for less than six months. Usually not a problem for anyone, but just for your information.

I'm self employed and well above the poverty limits too. I just sent in last years return, and tax transcripts of the two years before that. No bank statements at all. Didn't have any problems.

No need for the Philippines report, she just needs to go the NBI center and tell them she needs clearance for travel abroad to the US.

Not sure about Japan. Some countries requite the embassy letter. On the US DOS website this is all it says about getting Police Clearance from Japan:

Applicants Outside of Japan: Former legal residents, former illegal aliens, and Japanese citizens, should apply at the nearest Japanese Consulate. Processing time: Two to three months.

SO she should just go to the consulate or embassy and get the process started. They'll tell her what she needs!

Yes you can cancel two times, and schedule a third time without penalty. And you have to cancel your interview, but you can reschedule the next one later.

Be aware that your NOA2 will have an expiration date on it, if your medical isn't done by then you may have to have the embassy extend it another 4 months, I'm not sure the procedure, but I believe it's no problem to extend your petition while you wait for your medical, if you need to.

Remain strong, it's no fun to have this delay, but even if they find something like TB, you will have to undergo some treatment, but it won't keep you from getting your visa, just delay things a bit until you are ready to come over!

Good luck!

Recently there was a thread here from someone unable to file the I-34 alone, because his tax returns only showed 11k in income. Although he admitted he had a bunch more income that he never declared on his taxes

Now he's screwed because he can either 1) refile his taxes claiming all that income, pretty much admitting fraud, 2) get a co-sponsor, but he was filing for a country that rarely accepts them....

So play by the rules, it might come back to haunt you.

And really, you can get EAD in maybe 3 to 4 months, so once you're here, you can wait.

But if you want to work in your home country, of course absolutely nothing against that at all. But yes, bring an updated G325A form with you to your interview so it's current.

Also good luck! Finding a job in the Philippines isn't easy!

I had hoped to go, but even though I wasn't there, my fiancé had no troubles. She said the Philippine's lady who screened them wasn't super friendly, but the CO was super nice, laughing with her, very friendly.

I don't know that it has much of an outcome on the decision to grant the visa or not. It shouldn't. But if you have something 'iffy' or something you're worried about, being there probably doesn't hurt.

I suppose being there makes it clear that you're willing to spend the money to be there, the likelihood of it being a real relationship is greater. But my fiancé said that most of the people there didn't seem to have their fiancé with them.

So for sure it's not crucial.