miSSingMyBabyMuch

I was in Greenhills a while ago and i bought 5 pairs of pearl earrings with different colors. Apparently, I was thinking of pasalubongs too for my future family. And i happened to read this post before I went to Greenhills. I got a great deal. I only paid Php380 for the 5 sets of earrings. Me and my fiancee already bought pearl earrings there before and he's the one who told me that for you to know if the pearls are real is too scratch the pieces together then you will see a powder. And when you wipe it, the scratch will disappear. I did that to all of the pieces that i bought. They said it's fresh water pearl. So i guess it's the same as the cultured ones?

Wow that is a good deal. Php380 for 5 earrings, that's a sweet deal. I heard about the rubbing of the pearls to make sure it's real or not. I am not sure if that means its cultured or not but Im really wary about the authenticity of it. Thanks for the feedback though, appreciate it as always.

how about your wedding dress?...wedding dress here are very expensive.You can go to Divisoria they have a good deal.

my friend in Las Vegas rented wedding dress for $350.In Divisoria you can buy it for only $50.I'm just suggesting girl

Hi sis. We won't have a big wedding yet and we'll probably just go to a courthouse and get married there. I am thinking of just buying a simple white dress, not really like a wedding dress or gown but I do agree about it being cheaper here. The price of a simple dress in the States could be equivalent to a wedding gown here that's beaded and well sewn. I will definitely check out Divi for some finds. Thanks sis!

My Fiance just Came to the U.S. She brought many T-shirt for my family members. They had pictures of things like

Jeepneys, trikes etc. even some from Boracay. For my sisters kids she bought hello kitty purses and watches. For my son she

brought a very nice superman t-shirt and a small backpack and swimming trunks. They probably will not expect anything from you but will be pleasantly surprised my simple little gifts. My family was very appreciative of her thoughtfulness.

Regards

Your fiancée Kathy and I were on the same interview. I didn't get to meet her but I'm friends with her friend, Marissa. Anyway, the shirts sound good. I will definitely bring some.

matching sarongs for the inlaws.

Thanks for the suggestion.

dried mangoes. and if you have some money - pearl earrings. ill be getting my bf's mom some pearl(black) set [necklace. earrings. ring?]. its not that expensive here but hella expensive there. youd be surprise with the price diff. thats what i always bring to my USC friends.

Yeah I was thinking of pearls too. I have a question though. The pearl shops in Greenhills, do you know if they are real pearls or just cultured? I don't wanna give my mom in law fake ones coz for sure she'll know. Thanks for the suggestion!

Some American are picky eater and they always watch how much calories they take per day not like Filipino/Filipina most of the time we careless what we eat lol

Bring something that doesn’t stink (tuyo/pusit/bagoong or etc lol).

My suggestion bring some peanuts, dried mango (my America co-worker loves that), century tuna, they loves crackers (sky flakes), try corniks (not sure if they will like it lol) oh yah maybe some pumpkin seeds.

best of all as long that your safe they careless what you brought them(only pinoy loves pasalubong lol) be safe dear!!!!

LOL Definitely not planning on bringing the ones that stink even though I love tayo and pusit so much. Thanks for your response! I appreciate it.

I bought a native wallet for my mother inlaw and also for my sis inlaw,i wanted to buy them a native bag but it wont fit in my luggage anymore coz i have this wedding dress,banner,16 pcs native wedding souviner,i know sounds crazy (lol)...i was so excited for my big day...and i also bring Goldilocks Polvoron,Dried Mango they loved it!... Have a safe trip,God bless!...

I bet you were excited for your wedding. Getting a wallet instead of a bag makes a lot of sense especially when you don't have enough space. Thank you for the well wishes and the suggestions.

Are your future-in-laws Filipino too? just buy them Goldilocks Pulvurons and Muhlach's Enseymada oh wait, those are what I want LOL

Congrats and good luck!

LOL I think that's what I want too. No, my fiance's parents are both American.

Thanks for the suggestion though. I think they'll love the pulvuron.

Hi sis..I bought a really nice native bag for my fiance's mom and will be bringing some Pili nuts from here..he took some with him when he came back to the States and they absolutely loved it..hope this helps! Have a safe trip and congrats on getting your visa..

Thanks sis. I'm thinking about the bags too. Sarap ng Pili nuts. I'm sure they'll love it.

Hello PI forum,

I will be traveling to the States soon and I am looking for suggestions on what I can bring my in laws when I do. I've talked to them on Skype numerous times but this will be our first time meeting in person. Can you guys share (especially my Pinay friends) what gifts or pasalubong you brought with you to the States?

Thank you all!

I brought my fiance's 1099 because I don't have his W2 and my visa got approved. Ask yours if he has that. My fiance is also self employed.

Thank you.

Hopefully there are no more delays and this is a just a phase before the actual release.

Hello all, I had my interview last August 15. The interview went great and the consul congratulated me and specifically said that she will grant my visa. When I went to the 2go window, they didn't give any white form 221g to me. The guy on the window even said, Ma'am your visa is approved. Please wait for 2go to deliver it to your home address (that's what I specified as my delivery preference)

I know the visa takes time to be delivered. I am in no way rushing the visa but I got worried when I saw a post here on VJ about a member being approved and then finding out later on that they need more documents or them being on AP. Their interview date was a day before mine. So I called today and talked to an agent from US Embassy and the agent said my visa is on the final stage of processing. Are you guys aware what that means? Should I be worried?

Any insights would be appreciated.

I just called and was told the same thing. My interview was last August 15 as well. I was told they are still processing my visa and it is still at the consul's office. I got confused so I asked if that means I am on AP and she asked if they gave me a white paper form, I said No. She then ask what the consul said and I said she congratulated me and told me my visa was approved. And the agent just said, so yun, you're not on AP. She sounded like she was rushing me off the phone. Any way, I will ask my fiancé to call instead and see if they'll be nicer to him and give more information. This is so frustrating. I thought the stress of waiting is over after the interview, I guess not.

Wow that's 3 months. Was your friend put on AP? Did they ask her to submit additional documents? Ask her to call US embassy for an update on her case.

Anyone here who has travelled recently from Manila to the US (or your fiancée)? Can you recommend and possibly give contacts of the travel agencies you used to book your flights? For those who did book online, what airline did you guys get a good price on?

Been looking through the whole VJ site for some recommendations but some dated back 2010. I was wondering to get recent experiences.

Thank you in advance for sharing!

I agree. Probably best to talk to someone from the embassy.

Read through the reviews and member's sharing their Interview experiences so you know what to expect. This one great review I've read by Mar and Esp:

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?trim=no&cty=&cnty=Philippines&page=3&dfilter=5&topic=

You'll be fine. I only visited my fiancée once and she was approved. Just prepare her on what she can say if ever the consul asks so she can answer it confidently.

Ema tried talking to a girl at Reliable last week and then on the yahoo chat last night. The girl said she had sent an email to her last week, but never did. The girl then logged off while Ema was talking to her.

I sent St Raphaels a email last night using their feedback form, but I haven't heard anything back yet.

I talked to Reliable Services as well but the price they quoted me is almost the same as if I booked it directly on the airline website. I have also sent an email at St. Raphael's but has not gotten a response yet. St. Raphael's seems to have great prices on their homepage.

Talked to both of them, but ended up working with St. Raphael's. This one I can speak for as being legit and we got the deal on 1st time immigrant as advertised. They worked with us as our process getting through the sputum and waiver issues caused delays, the St. Raph was as flexible as possible and took out much stress from the process. Two thumbs up on them!!

Bob

How much did you end up paying? Where is your fiancée going?

Me and my fiancé are looking up different airlines and their prices for her trip out here in the next coming months. We go directly to the airline website. We're now considering going through some travel agencies mentioned in this forum before. Can you guys share any of your experiences especially if you've used one of these agencies below:

http://santraphael.com/home.php

http://www.reliabletravel.com.ph

What I am worried of is if they are legit and if there won't be any issues if we do book with them. I hear they also give good discounts to first time immigrants. Is this true?

Thanks for your replies!

I am not sure how to respond to your inquiry but are you saying your daughter won't be listed in any of the forms as if she doesn't exist? I see how you are worried since your parents adopted her. Do you plan on bringing her to the States eventually to be with you and your fiancé?

Keep the faith guys I know for sure that she wil not just going to let it go or to get denied for sure she will do her best and the rest would be God.I will include her to my prayers and hope everything will be fine with her,is she a filipina well I know she wont let it happen I never seen a filipina who just lose its game without fighting for it!!!! :) well this is MAI anyway!!!!

Thank you for the encouraging words. It will definitely mean teh world to me to have my fiancée here, thanks for the prayers!

It is my personal knowledge and experience that the visa application and interview is a win/lose process. You can always reapply and do the process all over again. What is your concern? I will assume that you have provided all of the required documentation/evidence required, right? What is your concern?

Sid

Thanks. I am worried about my financial situation right now. I only started working on the latter part of 2011 so the income on my tax documents are really low. But my current annual income now is within the poverty guideline, I'm just afraid they will start grilling my fiancée about it. I hope my employment letter is enough evidence.

Hope everything works out good for your interview. My faincee's interview is next week too. Good Luck!

I know it's bad to think of negative things but at the same time, I wanna be prepared for the worst.

What will be our options if ever the interview doesn't go well and my fiancée's visa gets denied? For K1 visas, do we get a chance to reapply? Do we wait for a couple of months and have another interview scheduled (just like waiting for another 6 months if you get denied with a tourist visa)? Do we start all over again on the K1process? Can I marry her and get a spouse visa instead?

Thanks all for your helpful suggestions. My fiancee's interview is next week so I'm crossing my fingers that's don't even have to reconsider all these options.

Hi, the US embassy in Manila does mail it to both petitioner and beneficiary. My fiancée and I both got the same letter from them. The weird part is not everyone gets this letter. Some are even already here in the States and never got anything

Does this mean that the beneficiaries with interview scheduled today have to reschedule and follow whatever available schedule they have online? Wow that's a big set back because I've heard earliest date is last week of September. How sad for them, another delay.