jeff and rowela

If you are a small clothing size you might want to bring a few extra pairs of jeans. Jena had a hard time finding jeans that she liked here and ended up buying several pairs on our first trip back to Phils.

Thanks for bringing that up. My wife is 4 ft 10 inches and she is having a hard time finding a US size to match (even in Petites). We sometimes have to go to the junior and children section because the pant legs are too large in adult sizes.

You didn't keep a copy of the DS-3025? Always keep copies of EVERYTHING.

We kept the original and mailed a copy. But it wasn't until after we mailed it and got the RFE that we realized that the form stated it was incomplete.

Good thing it didn't go into the food.

Haha...she was working on food prep for the next day and we checked the containers just in case. All we know is that it was there during lunch time and wasn't at the end of her shift.

They already have their MNL #

Agreed. We didn't wait for the packet either. After we received the MNL number, you can download the packet from the US embassy in Manila website and we scheduled an appointment over the phone.

Did you originally include the DS-3025 with the AOS packet, or did you send in the I-693 with the AOS packet?

If the DS-3025 is the vacinnation record from St Luke's we sent that with the AOS packet....the I-693 was used when we got the request for evidence and mailed that with the request for evidence notice. However, if you were to get additional vacinnations in the USA before submitting the AOS packet, do you have to send both the DS-3025 and I-693 with the AOS packet?

I wasn't a fan of LAX when going through (mainly because of the transportation issues between terminals at the time). Have you tried San Francicso? They have a monorail system that's easier to board with all your luggage.

I forgot about stopping if you have your menstruation. That stressed my wife out more than anything (the worry of whether her exam date was going to fall on her menstruation day or not.)

Thanks. I know I'll be going back before her interview to visit, so I'll wait to get those items together until after the I-129 is sent off. I will get her to fill out the bio information, good idea suggesting a cafe - I didn't even think about that.

I'll be staying in 3 different places that I booked online, no hotels. Hopefully the receipts from them will be good enough. I booked 2 through a web site called AirBnb.com and 1 though a web site the property owner created (I'll ask for receipts when I check in). And I'll have my plane tickets, the plane tickets I purchased for her, and plane tickets with me and her flying together. I'm currently shopping for a new digital camera, so I will be able to get good pictures of us together. I don't feel comfortable relying on my iPhone camera and I would be even less comfortable handing it to someone asking them to take our picture.

It'll be a neat experience for ya. If you're over 5'10", you'll look like a giant. Are you going through Cebu, or Manila?

Contact the airline to make sure it's ok. I used Philippine Airlines and I contacted their USA number to make sure, becuase I was worried about the same thing, but she was able to fly without any problem from Cebu to San Francisco. I met up with her there because she's not used to bigger airports and I was afraid she was going to get lost on the connecting flight

Hi,

I'll be traveling to the Philippines in about a month and I plan to propose to my girlfriend (if the time feels right) while we are in Boracay. In the event that she accepts my proposal I want to start working on the I-129F immediately.

- First Question: What should I get from her while I am there.

Based on the guide: 1) Passport photos, 2) a signed letter of intent to marry (within 90 day visa) from her, and 3) pictures of us together.

Is there anything else?

I was a little paranoid with my 129F, but when we had our engagement ceremony, I included a document which stated that they witnessed me proposing marriage (and had them sign it). We also had photos of the ceremony and everyone in a group photo.

Definately do your biographical information together while you're in Philippines (can't remember if she needs yours too), but we did ours at an internet cafe and printed it out on the spot.

If you have your application for financial support ready, print it out before you go, and give it to her when you arrive in Philippines. She'll need that for her interview. It's not possible for her to print it out there, because it needs to have your signature on it, so if you forget it, you'll have to mail it later on.

Save all your receipts for the plane ticket, if you're staying anywhere like a hotel. I bought the engagement ring in Philippines with an inscription on the ring itself, and kept the jeweler receipt for the I129F.

Good luck!

Before my wife came to the US in 2008 I spent 3500 US dollars on a ring and gave it to her in Manila. She never put it on orless I was with her on the trips I took there because of the robbers. Its not safe so dont do it. She waited until she arrived in the US to put it on.

My wife wanted an engagement ring that we purchased in Philippines (about $250, in which I was willing to spend more but she didn't like it. Even with that small diamond, she was afraid to wear it in public (and she was in Cebu). In USA, she started a job in food service and lost the diamond in one of her gloves that she didn't realize. So now she doesn't wear her rings except on the weekends.

I'm not sure how it works with IR Visa. My wife came under a K1 visa. We had to submit our vacinnation record with the application, so I guess it depends on whether USCIS wants it.

Don't be scared. Look at your vacinnation record to see if it has a note of being incomplete. Like a previous poster said, it's not very common to have a followup exam in USA, so I wouldn't worry about that either. Just make sure the vacinnation record is complete, but if not, the worst that will happen is that you'll get a request for evidence and once you get the vacinnation, they'll start processing your case again. The major delay for my wife came with the followup exam, which most people don't have.

I can't remember what vacinnations they were(happened back in 2010), but I think she received 2 or 3 of them in USA which were on St. Luke's list that she should have received in Philippines.

Did she got her CD sealed from St.lukes?

Yes, but it looked like it was Xrays only. She didn't have any other paperwork than the vacinnation record (which we didn't realize was incomplete) and the CD. We didn't mail the CD with our green card application, but they were suddenly able to produce a report of her examination with the 'need followup appointment in USA' highlighted that we never saw before.

Yeah...just a routine medical checkup costs 1,050 peso ($25) or more.

Bring a box of your favorite noodles. The local Asian shop in USA might not have your brand.

Also, if you're running out of luggage space, consider maybe leaving your sweaters and buying new ones in USA. This is only because you're not used to USA winters, and our sweaters might be thicker than the ones you own. Check with your fiance on the winter temperature where he lives.

I probably said it wrong earlier, but just trying to make people aware so when they go to St Luke's, they can ask if they need additional vacinnations or medical exams when arriving in USA. If my wife knew about those issues, we could have taken care of it before we submitted the green card paperwork, and not had any request for additional evidence.

It's a lot less stressful without those RFE's

Just wanted to share my wife's experience with St. Luke's and obtaining her first green card in the USA.

With the St. Luke's exam, you pay a fee to have the exam and different vacinnations. While trying to obtain my wife's 1st green card, it was then discovered that she had not received all the shots that she should have received. This was not told to her and we received our first 'request for evidence' from USCIS, where we needed to pay additional money for a civil surgeon to see her, and even more money to get vacinnations that we already paid for her to have at St. Luke's.

With the St. Luke's exam, medical documents are given to US immigration without you having to handle it yourself. I'm not sure if this is the same documents that are stored on the CD that you receive, or some other method. With those medical documents that she never saw, they wrote that she needed to have a followup appointment upon entry to the USA. They did not tell her this (or at least not made it clear to her that she needed to have any followup appointment at all), so we had a 2nd 'request for evidence' to see civil surgeon over an OB/GYN issue.

Guess what...US Civil Surgeons do not handle OB/GYN, so not only did we have to pay additional money for a second visit to the Civil Surgeon, we then had to pay extra money for the OB/GYN that we were referred to.

We eventually got everything worked out, but our processing was delayed about 5 months due to issues at St. Luke's. If only they gave her all her shots and didn't write down that she needed a followup appointment.

My wife's long term plan is to get her US Citizenship next year and then we'll travel to Philippines every now and then to visit. Does she need anything other than her US passport to re-enter the USA?

Congrats, Salt...I just checked mine and nuthin'

But hopefully the next few weeks will bring good news.

My wife filed her I-751 in February and we were hoping to start moving into another apartment in late November. We haven't heard anything from USCIS except the biometrics and the case status shows nothing other than it being received.

Should I continue to move, or go month-to-month until the GC is in hand?

I think I sent about 6-7 photos. I stayed away from wedding/honeymoon photos because of getting the 2-year card already, so I focused on photos that included me, my wife and other family members of mine on different occassions throughout the last 2 years.

You'll have to apply for your 10 year GC, but then you'll be able to apply for US Citizenship 3 years after the issue date of your 2 year green card.

Sorry to hear that you're considering a divorce. Hopefully it was just something that was said in anger and that you guys will work it out.