Alona_Dan

Wow!!  We filed in March 2018 and my wife had her interview in Philadelphia on Jan 24th.   After going through posts here I decided to check the USCIS site and my wife is having her oath next Friday Feb 8th in Philadelphia!!!!   Have faith people...it will happen soon. 

Olenka....Keep us posted.  My wife successfully interviewed in Philly on Jan 24th.   Wondering how long it will take for the oath.  We live in the Scranton area.

Have faith.  My wife just interviewed last week after filing in March 2018.  We are in Philadelphia from the Philippines.

Really?  I did not know that.   Thanks for the link.  I just read up on it.  That's a load off my mind, now I only have to worry about my wife.  Love this site...thanks again.

Sorry if this was covered before.  My wife and I are happily married for 4 years now and she is now eligible for citizenship.  She had a son prior to marriage that I have since adopted.  How do I apply for our son's citizenship, he is only 10.  Do I fill out an N-600 for him?  Can I mail them both together?

^{Basically anything harvested locally whether it be fish, chickens, pork, vegetables or fruit is cheaper. Labor itself is cheaper like carpentry, auto repair (labor) and yes massages. Anything imported is outrageous. Try going to a hardware store and buy a 2X4 piece of lumber...ouch!!}

We live in the Scranton PA area and go to Jersey City to the Phil Am store and then drop our boxes off at Makati Express. Global also has a store there, along with 2 Filipino Restaurants, a Jolibee, and a Red Ribbon bakery. Makes a good day trip every now and then.

Welcome to the US and to PA!!! Hope you have winter coats ready for her, it's been a cold winter. There are a few Filipino stores in and around Philly but I found it best to go out to Jersey City. We ship our Balikbayan boxes from Makati Shippers in Jersey City. It's $48 for a jumbo box (the last 2 were 100 pounds or more each), if you ship from Philly count on paying $90 for the same box. Worth the trip plus there are 2 Filipino groceries right next door with fresh fish from the piers and cheap! On top of that there is a Jolibee restaurant 15 minutes away. If you're not familiar with Jolibee, she is. These are good things to know with the new wife. Congrats!!!

It can take a long time under normal processing. When the last typhoon hit Tacloban I know they were giving priority to those people (and rightfully so). I really hope this one is not as severe and we are watching it closely for our relatives. If you can't get to Manila early, the best thing to do is to try and contact them immediately after to see if there is any emergency type openings. We're hoping for the best...good luck

I did mine last Jan 2014 and it took about 4 weeks to get it to Cebu. The flow after the interview they send it to the US for processing. The passport from the US is shipped to Manila where it then goes through a QA check before it is sent out. If you're in Manila it could be 3 weeks. Getting ours in Cebu took a few extra days but it was still very prompt.

I also saw the port congestion story today...big bummer. I sent out boxes in the middle of Oct and now we're thinking they won't get it till Jan or Feb. We used LBC all the way from Pennsylvania and going to Cebu. That in itself probably adds 3 weeks versus a California to Manila box.

My wife and 2 kids went through St Lukes and everybody came out clear. No extra tests required. I was there with them however, maybe that made a difference.

I booked one way tickets for myself, my now wife and our 2 kids on Orbitz from our apartment in Cebu last year and left with no problems at all.

Don't stress out over it. Enjoy Cebu, I loved it there. My wife is from up north near Borbon.

If the baby is born in the Philippines there is no K2 process as Hank indicated. They would need to file for CRBA that's assuming the baby is from the US citizen petitioning the fiancée. If the father is not a US citizen, then the K2 applies.

Another advantage of being born in the Philippines is automatic dual citizenship. The baby can have a Philippine passport and during the CRBA process will obtain a US Passport.

The decision may come down to timing of the K1 if the application if already in progress. If K1 gets fully approved (interview and all) and she is still pregnant and safe to travel, then there may not be enough time to wait for the baby and then go through the CRBA process without her K1 expiring...know what I mean?

Just some of my experience:

I wasn't married to my son's Mom at the time of the interview so not sure lack of marriage mandates a DNA test. I did not need one. I was in Manila for the interview with my son and my fiancée who was also processing her K1 at the time. Luckily the CRBA and K1 interviews were a day apart.

I also applied for passport at the same time because I was planning on departing soon after. I had everything I needed in hand within 3 weeks. I was staying in Cebu at the time with mom and the passport came from the US to the embassy in Manila where it was reviewed for accuracy then it was shipped to our door step in Cebu.

We filed ours on April 16, 2014 and it was transferred to Missouri. We just received our permission to work and travel parole card about 3 weeks ago. Yesterday we got a snail mail notification saying my wife may be exempt from the interview process?? Anyone hear of that?? Then it said that processing time could be 6 more months......arghhhhhhh Why do I pay taxes..... I told her next time fly to Mexico and walk across the border... it's much easier.

Anyone....Anyone??? Bueller?? Bueller??

That's the thing...I don't see why they would give you a 221g pending CRBA, the 2 processing are not really tied. I'm not even sure in normal circumstances if the Visa processing would be aware of the CRBA. In our case they were because I went to the Visa interview with our (CRBA) son and chatted with the American interviewer. Still, Alonas Visa and her other son (K2) went through without delay.

Saw this topic back 3 years ago so it's been quiet for a while.

Anyone out there in or headed to Pennsylvania??

We are near Scranton in the northeast area....

Our K1 visa actually processed in parallel with our sons CRBA. Unique circumstance maybe as the interviews for K1 and CRBA were only a day apart. We got the K1 first and the CRBA a week later. Lucked out...everything went through first time.... All are home in the states now enjoying summer in Pennsylvania.

Good luck...you got the right advice on the evidence portion of it....

We did our sons CRBA in Manila in Jan 2014 and it took about 3-4 weeks to get it delivered to our apartment in Cebu....definitely not 6 months. The passport actually comes from the US, goes to the embassy in Manila for a QA check, then gets delivered.

Thanks for the information here--it is quite comforting to know that this can be done just by obtaining a Philippine passport as well for my son, who was born abroad and we obtained his US passport. I have a question--I have filed a K1 petition (waiting for NOA2), but wondered if you paid visa fees, got medical, etc., for child with US passport as part of the K2? I am having trouble finding specific information on that here at visajourney. It seems unnecessary, but wanted to check to see if you or anyone knew. Thanks in advance for any help.

Not really sure what you're saying here but DO NOT try to submit a K2 for your child who is a US citizen. I will not work. You will be wasting money and time. I went that route by mistake and was denied at the interview and had to go the CRBA route. Thankfully they were sympathetic and I got a CRBA appointment the next day and was approved. I basically wasted the visa fee and St Luke's fee for my son but we are all home in the US now so all is good.

I'm curious. Did you present both passports of the dual citizen to both immigration kiosks, Philippines and USA? If so did they need both? Maybe you presented the Phil for Phil and the USA to US officials. Can you give a little more detail. Thanks

I presented both passports when departing the Philippines in Manila. When I arrived in the US I only gave my US passport and indicated he had a Philippine passport if needed.

_{Often times I called and dialed the extension only to hear, "no one is available at this time" or it would ring and ring. I ended up dialing zero and talking to the operator and told them I cannot seem to get through and asked them to forward me. Sometimes that worked better but not 100% successful. Just something to try if you want}

I just left with my son on Feb 24, 2014. Dual citizen, 2 passports. No clearance needed...just showed up at the airport with both passports and away we went. Home in good ol' Pennsylvania now........