Kevo

Flew EVA once LA-Taiwan-MNL and back.  Nothing sticks out to remember, so it must've been decent.  

Not sure if they still do this route, but my favorite flight was with Philippine Airlines from/to LAX, direct flights with no transfers.  A quick stop in Guam to refuel but didn't leave the plane.  

Worst one is China Airlines.  Bad food and long layovers in Shanghai, which is a bad airport that requires you to process customs for connecting flights.  Their customs is overcrowded and hectic.   

I PCS'd to Japan with my wife who was a GC holder and still a Philippine citizen at the time.  She obviously couldn't get an official no-fee passport then.  You must be listed on your spouse's orders to be permitted and given SOFA status.  You will need a valid passport from your home country and your GC.  

I believe the Foreign Clearance Guide spells out requirements.  

This was in 2018, so make sure to check with the local personnel PCS team and check out the current FCG requirements.    

These are luxurious compared to the banyos in my wife's village.  A hole in the ground surrounded by cinder blocks that go up about 5 feet is what I get when we visit.  After a few days you adjust/adapt and it's no big deal.  

On 6/13/2018 at 8:30 AM, JackleDos said:

My question is, however, for those of you who have done it, how do they reply to your request? And how long does it normally take for them to make their decision? My worry is, since I don't have a fax machine, I had a friend of mine use his at his office. Do I need to have him keep an eye out for a return fax? Or will they email, mail, or call me when they've made their decision? I've read somewhere that they'll only respond if its approved, so if its denied, I'll just never hear back from them. Is this true, as well?  Any guidance on what to expect would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks again,

Jack

The way I found out that our K-1 was expedited was when I got an email and text saying the application was approved.  There was no notification of the expedite request decision.  

If nothing happens within a couple weeks call them.  

On 3/17/2019 at 2:05 AM, Michael1993 said:

Hi, I am a DoD civilian a need to provide evidence of my income for the CR1 visa I am sponsoring.

 

It says here that I must submit the following:

 

 

If you completed Form I-864, I-864A, or I-864EZ and the income reported on this form or your tax transcript reflects income below the poverty guidelines for the year the form was submitted, submit evidence of your income. This can include the following documents:

It goes on to list what you quoted.  Is your income below the poverty limit? 

Also, if I were you I'd follow instructions on the USCIS website, not the State Dept.  

On 3/17/2019 at 3:08 PM, NavyReserveUSA said:

@Kevo she was told to submit additional documents after Interview so we gave them all the lease documents, utilities even her medical documents showing appointments at the Naval Hospital Jacksonville and I even gave them my orders, copy of my CAC but then they said since you file taxes in Ohio you are resident of Ohio so your N400 application is denied you can request a hearing but that cost $700 dollars and then you can chose to go in front of a District Court Judge. 

I will be talking to an RLSO and I plan to go to Office Of Senator Rubio but I feel so terrible that they flat out denied the application as opposed to asking for more documentation. Man I tell you Civilians treat us Military folks and our family like dirt. This was not how it used to be.

Anyway, I file taxes in Ohio as I have a tax preparer there and my wife is a dependant (joined tax) so how will she file Florida tax if I am filing in Ohio. So she will file a separate tax in Florida?

I guess my mistake was on our Tax documents we should have used Florida address instead of our house address in Ohio. The USCIS personnel was very rude with my wife.

$700 for a hearing, it's not much different than just re-applying.   Your MPF or whatever Navy calls their personnel office may have a person that deals with immigration issues for active duty.  Maybe they'll help with spouses, worth a try there too.   

If I remember right federal taxes were filed joint and we filed separate for state taxes.  

On 3/16/2019 at 5:13 PM, Roel said:

Military spouses can claim their sponsors State for tax purposes. 

Unless things changed in the 2 years since I retired this isn't correct - possibly some states allow it, but not the ones I was stationed in.   

4 hours ago, FilAm24 said:

how long do you guys think before we can receive the new passport once  apply for a renewal? thanks

http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/philippines-dc/consulate-finder-dc/

Phone numbers listed, they should be able to answer.  Also, I'd ask them first if you plan to go to one not in your jurisdiction.  

On 3/5/2019 at 11:39 PM, emmacaitlin said:

That's what I always understood too - Thanks for the clarification! Is there a better number to call to ask about this military checkbox or do I just have to keep going through the USCIS tiers and hope I get a human not reading from a script?

My wife and I moved to Japan in Oct last year (I'm US civilian DOD employee).  She had her naturalization interview last month and she said they calculated all her time out of the US and did not include the time we were in Japan due to being on my government orders.  

When we updated the address we didn't check the military checkbox. 

I believe that the military spouse is supposed to file in the state they are residing in.  The military member can maintain the residence in their home of record state (or any state they move to or any state they previously have been stationed in).  I'm not a tax expert, but I think she should've filed state taxes in FL even if you file as an OH resident.  When I was active duty that's what I did, because OH doesn't tax military pay.

That said, I don't have an answer for your question.  If I were in this situation I would talk to an immigration lawyer.  A Congressman staff member may be able to get an answer too as they have access to higher level USCIS employees instead of talking to a phone employee that will only quote basic vague rules that you can find on their website.  

At what point in the process was she denied (initial filing of the N-400, interview)? 

On 3/11/2019 at 9:56 AM, Scott and Mhay said:

Mhay had her interview on Friday.  Everything went well.  There was some confusion because the officer couldn't find my orders when we got stationed to Italy, but she went back in and checked again.  She found them and gave us the approval letter.  Now we are waiting on the oath ceremony appointment.  The site updated and estimated 3 months for that.  More to come.  Hopefully it is way off for the appointment.  The officer said we should see that letter in the next 2 weeks.  Everything is almost all the way over.  Salt Lake City has really taken this long for the naturalization process.

 

SLC is slow.  Their naturalization ceremony wasn't what I'd call inspiring - I was expecting someone like an elected official or judge to speak.  Nope, just the SLC USCIS director and a 5 minute taped speech by President Trump.  One good thing though was it was quick, we were in and out in about an hour and a half.  

Here's a pic of the backdrop for the ceremony.  They had US & Homeland Security flags that were too tall for the ceiling, so instead of shortening the flag staffs they took out the ceiling tiles.  I thought it was fitting for this agency.

5 hours ago, santiagosilva said:

 

 

Only because it seems other threads have dried up, or ppl have stopped updating their status / visiting VJ,  I'm curious; - Are the ppl who haven't been accepted yet on this list, really still waiting? (just for my own peace of mind.)

Someone merged the Phoenix lockbox with all the others.  Also someone changed all the bio appts to blue, which was to show that the person walked in before their scheduled appt.  

After that I just stuck to updating my timeline.  

On 12/6/2018 at 4:05 AM, sos & ogs said:

Just like the termination of DACA, the cruel family separation policy, and the Muslim Ban, this proposed rule criminalizes immigration and represents an extremist attempt to close America's doors to all but those with financial means.

I'm not familiar with the proposed regulation you're referring to.  But you got it all wrong on the others mentioned, so I'd guess you probably got it wrong on this one too.  

The expedite rules may not apply to you, but if I were you I'd call.  A lot.  The worst that can happen is that they'd say no to the expedite request. 

I called a few times before they expedited my case years ago.   The first few times I got the run-around, no real answer.  The last time I finally got in touch with someone willing to help.  Once the case was expedited things happened FAST.  

As fast as things went, they were just in time because I deployed about a month after she got her 2 year GC.  

It seems USCIS employees aren't all on the same page, it's a luck of the draw sometimes on who you talk to.  Sometimes you get the person who will just read verbatim info that you can find on their website, and sometimes you'll get someone that actually wants to help. 

2 hours ago, Hank_ said:

Never insinuated that country of birth noted on a passport shows former citizenship .. that is all you.

 

Ok, if you say so.  Not sure why you would mention it in the first place - especially with the context of the conversation.  I guess it was just a random fact that you threw out there for no apparent reason.  

1 minute ago, Hank_ said:

Then their passports are correct .. so not sure what you are trying to say.    But you confirmed exactly what I said; that the country of birth is listed on the passport.   (that doesn't mean they are German citizens)

 

 

~~

U.S. passport also shows their country of birth    

Two of my kids have Germany listed on their passports for country of birth - and neither are, or ever were, German citizens.  That doesn't prove citizenship or former citizenship.  An old passport, as the consulate office listed, would.  

It seemed as if you were insinuating that the US passport could be used to show former Philippine citizenship, vs an old/invalid passport, because it shows the country of birth.  My point is that the country of birth doesn't necessarily mean, or prove, former citizenship.  

3 hours ago, Hank_ said:

 

Passports in themselves do prove citizenship, as those are only issued to citizens of a country.   Your two kids passports  - Sounds like DOS messed up the passports and you should get them corrected.   That is a TYPO for sure! 

Not a typo, they were born in Germany.  

4 hours ago, Hank_ said:

U.S. passport also shows their country of birth    

Two of my kids have Germany listed on their passports for country of birth - and neither are, or ever were, German citizens.  That doesn't prove citizenship or former citizenship.  An old passport, as the consulate office listed, would.  

14 minutes ago, Toforo said:

It doesn't matter if you have an old expired passport or one that's no longer "valid"  and you keep it - it's no longer valid, not even for identification purposes - Try to USE it and it's trouble.
Being a FORMER citizen doesn't give you any "former citizen" rights.
 

Returning Balikbayans or former Filipinos may enter the Philippines without a visa and stay for a period of one (1) year, provided that they have a passport valid for 6 months beyond the intended stay in the Philippines and proof of former Philippine citizenship (e.g. old Philippine passport or NSO-authenticated birth certificate). Foreign spouses and children traveling with the Balikbayan will enjoy this privilege.

http://www.vancouverpcg.org/q-a-visa-q01-needvisa.html

I was just referring to the statement made that said the Philippine passport is gone.  They do get to keep it, and I believe they can use it as proof of being a former citizen for Balikbayan stamp purposes.   

5 hours ago, Hank_ said:

The moment your wife completes her Oath for U.S. citizenship her Philippine citizenship is gone .. along with the passport.

 

As long as you have no plans to travel in the near future I would suggest to wait on the renewal of the Philippine passport until after completing Dual Citizenship

I don't think this is correct.  My wife's filipina friend just got her citizenship about a month ago and she said she got to keep her passport.  My wife has her oath on Monday, so I'll let you know if they take it or not.  

On 1/17/2019 at 6:21 AM, Kevo said:

My wife is scheduled for a 21 Feb interview in SLC. 

 

However, very frustrated with USCIS as we moved to Japan for a federal job and they were supposed to transfer her case to USCIS Seoul and obviously haven't.  Also, the Seoul office hasn't answered any of my emails for the past two months to verify they received the needed paperwork to transfer the case to them.  

 

USCIS sucks.  

We finally got an answer from USCIS Seoul after contacting my congressman - they only do interviews/oaths for military members and their dependents.  So, we are spending a small fortune and going back to Utah for her 21 Feb appointment.  The congressman's office was in contact with the USCIS SLC director and they said they will try to accomodate our request for a oath/certificate shortly after so we can return to Japan a few days later.  Crossing our fingers that they keep their word this time.  

On 1/17/2019 at 6:28 AM, JaEnglishGirl said:

Oh wow...that sucks all right!

Will your wife be able to make it back here to attend the interview?

And then I guess AGAIN for the oath ceremony....

If it comes to it, she'll travel to SLC for the interview and oath.  

Not sure if they'll take her Philippine passport or let her keep it, so she may have to get a passport too before returning.  

On 1/17/2019 at 6:51 AM, JB63 said:

Hi Kevo 

I am just wondering did you do the change of address via My USCIS or the Form AR-11 ? I changed my address via My USCIS but I am afraid their system is not working properly and did not update the change yet even if I see the new address on the website.

 

I hope they will be able to fix the situation asap. 

 

I updated the address on the USCIS website and called them.  

I've asked my representative for help, hopefully they'll be able to get USCIS in Seoul to respond.  

My wife is scheduled for a 21 Feb interview in SLC. 

However, very frustrated with USCIS as we moved to Japan for a federal job and they were supposed to transfer her case to USCIS Seoul and obviously haven't.  Also, the Seoul office hasn't answered any of my emails for the past two months to verify they received the needed paperwork to transfer the case to them.  

USCIS sucks.