JL818

Thanks everyone. So I found out the reason for the delay is that due to the APEC Summit, the was yesterday or the day before was considered a national holiday and no processing was performed. I checked it again today and it has now gone through

Yes, the DFA has a mailing service. The California Board of Nursing specifically told me that the red ribboned document must come directly from the DFA and not be mailed by some other person or third party.
Yes, the letter for verification should be sent along with the red ribbon document.
@Cameiram

Yes, despite the rest of the messages here claiming that red ribbon is not required, we've confirmed directly multiple times from the California Board that we definitely do need to obtain the Red Ribbon for the California Board of Nursing.
It is a huge pain because you will either need to show up to the DFA personally to process your Red Ribbon or you will need to have your family, friend, or other agent do it for you. It was a royal pain for us because my wife's family is from a province 3 hours from Davao, so we had to drive and fly over her mother to Manila in order to perform the processing. In addition to that, in order to have someone do the processing for you, you will need to get a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) in order to authorize that person to do it on your behalf. 
 
Here's the process:
1. Request your school to send their transcripts and diploma to DFA for authentication. If you attended a public college, I believe that the school can send the certified true copy to DFA directly. If you attended a private college, the school will need to send the certified true copy to CHED for certification, authentication, verification (CAV). The CHED will then forward the documents to the DFA.
2. Your school/CHED will provide you with a claim stub to pick up your documents from the DFA. On the claim stub it will state the pick up date.
3. You will need to determine who will pick up your DFA on your behalf.
4. Draft a special power of attorney (SPA) to authorize your pickup person to continue the DFA processing on your behalf. Your embassy's website will have a template to help you get started.
5. Get the SPA consularized (i.e., notarized) at your nearest Philippines embassy/consulate. Go to the embassy website to determine what identification you will need to bring. You will definitely need to provide evidence for any differences in your identification (e.g., a marriage certificate to bridge the difference between your maiden name and married name). You will also need to bring two witnesses to observe you signing the SPA document (Do not sign the SPA in advance! You must sign it in front of the representative at the embassy and your two witnesses!)
6. Mail the original copy of the SPA back to your authorized person, including photocopies of valid state-issued identification (they will need all this at the DFA). I would do this through a reputable carrier like DHL, FedEx, UPS. Expect to spend anywhere from PHP 2,500 to PHP 6,500+. If you send it through the regular postal mail it will take much longer to arrive and may even end up lost in the mail due to PhilPost being terrible.
7. On the date noted in your claim stub, have your authorized person go to the DFA to "pick up" your red ribbon documentation. "Pick up" is in quotes because the California Board does not actually allow you to pick up and then mail the documentation yourself. The documentation MUST be mailed from the DFA to the California Board DIRECTLY or they will reject it. Make sure you bring money to the DFA for the processing (processing fee of PHP100 and mailing fee of at least PHP 2,000).
 
In total, this is how much we personally spent to process this one stupid requirement:
- Fee paid to school for processing: $70
- Driving and parking to SF embassy for SPA: $50
- Mailing SPA via DHL: $100
- Travel expense from Davao to Manila: $200
- Hotel for 2 nights in Manila: $80
- DFA processing fee + mailing back to CA BON: $40
Total: $540
 

Yes, despite the rest of the messages here claiming that red ribbon is not required, we've confirmed directly multiple times from the California Board that we definitely do need to obtain the Red Ribbon for the California Board of Nursing.
It is a huge pain because you will either need to show up to the DFA personally to process your Red Ribbon or you will need to have your family, friend, or other agent do it for you. It was a royal pain for us because my wife's family is from a province 3 hours from Davao, so we had to drive and fly over her mother to Manila in order to perform the processing. In addition to that, in order to have someone do the processing for you, you will need to get a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) in order to authorize that person to do it on your behalf. 
 
Here's the process:
1. Request your school to send their transcripts and diploma to DFA for authentication. If you attended a public college, I believe that the school can send the certified true copy to DFA directly. If you attended a private college, the school will need to send the certified true copy to CHED for certification, authentication, verification (CAV). The CHED will then forward the documents to the DFA.
2. Your school/CHED will provide you with a claim stub to pick up your documents from the DFA. On the claim stub it will state the pick up date.
3. You will need to determine who will pick up your DFA on your behalf.
4. Draft a special power of attorney (SPA) to authorize your pickup person to continue the DFA processing on your behalf. Your embassy's website will have a template to help you get started.
5. Get the SPA consularized (i.e., notarized) at your nearest Philippines embassy/consulate. Go to the embassy website to determine what identification you will need to bring. You will definitely need to provide evidence for any differences in your identification (e.g., a marriage certificate to bridge the difference between your maiden name and married name). You will also need to bring two witnesses to observe you signing the SPA document (Do not sign the SPA in advance! You must sign it in front of the representative at the embassy and your two witnesses!)
6. Mail the original copy of the SPA back to your authorized person, including photocopies of valid state-issued identification (they will need all this at the DFA). I would do this through a reputable carrier like DHL, FedEx, UPS. Expect to spend anywhere from PHP 2,500 to PHP 6,500+. If you send it through the regular postal mail it will take much longer to arrive and may even end up lost in the mail due to PhilPost being terrible.
7. On the date noted in your claim stub, have your authorized person go to the DFA to "pick up" your red ribbon documentation. "Pick up" is in quotes because the California Board does not actually allow you to pick up and then mail the documentation yourself. The documentation MUST be mailed from the DFA to the California Board DIRECTLY or they will reject it. Make sure you bring money to the DFA for the processing (processing fee of PHP100 and mailing fee of at least PHP 2,000).
 
In total, this is how much we personally spent to process this one stupid requirement:
- Fee paid to school for processing: $70
- Driving and parking to SF embassy for SPA: $50
- Mailing SPA via DHL: $100
- Travel expense from Davao to Manila: $200
- Hotel for 2 nights in Manila: $80
- DFA processing fee + mailing back to CA BON: $40
Total: $540
 

go to allnurses forum and find international section, at one time they had every answer anyone needed to know about nurses coming from Philippines and California BON specifically.
 
Last I knew the Cali Board of Nursing does their own creditianal evaluation for the education part

Did you ever call the California Board Of Nursing or look on their website for their requirements?
 
I have done a few applications for Texas and California (8 years ago), everything I needed was on the State BON website, if I had any questions I just called them and got clarification.

Your fiancee's story does not really make sense to me.
She worked in Singapore for a decade but has no savings? From a previous post you mentioned that she does not support her own family but only works for herself. Yet she is a small spender?
- In Singapore she was probably making around $500 to $600 a month (sounds small to you and I, but is a LOT for someone from the Philippines). Most people working there will send back the surplus to their families, but you mentioned in another post that your fiance does not do this.
- When working as a maid in Singapore, toiletries, food, housing, and other living expenses are provided by the employer, so I don't understand your statement about how all her salary was used on such items.
- Even if she wanted to treat herself to the occasional meal outside of what was provided by her employers, the average meal in Singapore is around $2-4 USD.
- The subway system in Singapore is among the best in the world and covers pretty much the entire country (you could get from one end to the other in about an hour). There should generally not have been a need for her to take the cab, unless she was a big spender or poor planner. Cabs are a last resort in Singapore, even for someone who makes 15x your fiancee's salary.
I found it odd that you said that your fiancee is afraid of taking jeepneys and other common forms of public transportation there. Everyone in the Philippines takes this type of transportation and rarely cabs (they are usually a final option) because they want to save money (taking a cab would cost many times more than a Jeepney). I have not met anyone who refuses to take a Jeepney out of fear, and I have been throughout the Philippines.
Finally $200-$300 a month is a very decent sum of money over there. That is around the same salary that a registered nurse makes over there in a month, much less a retail worker.
Please don't take this post the wrong way, but I do think it's important for you to ask your fiancee some tough questions and corroborate her responses with other Filipinos you know.

^ This. A cover letter is not required. It is a nice to have and highly recommended for organization purposes. Therefore, whether it is signed by one or both or not at all will not affect your application.

Your fiancee's story does not really make sense to me.
She worked in Singapore for a decade but has no savings? From a previous post you mentioned that she does not support her own family but only works for herself. Yet she is a small spender?
- In Singapore she was probably making around $500 to $600 a month (sounds small to you and I, but is a LOT for someone from the Philippines). Most people working there will send back the surplus to their families, but you mentioned in another post that your fiance does not do this.
- When working as a maid in Singapore, toiletries, food, housing, and other living expenses are provided by the employer, so I don't understand your statement about how all her salary was used on such items.
- Even if she wanted to treat herself to the occasional meal outside of what was provided by her employers, the average meal in Singapore is around $2-4 USD.
- The subway system in Singapore is among the best in the world and covers pretty much the entire country (you could get from one end to the other in about an hour). There should generally not have been a need for her to take the cab, unless she was a big spender or poor planner. Cabs are a last resort in Singapore, even for someone who makes 15x your fiancee's salary.
I found it odd that you said that your fiancee is afraid of taking jeepneys and other common forms of public transportation there. Everyone in the Philippines takes this type of transportation and rarely cabs (they are usually a final option) because they want to save money (taking a cab would cost many times more than a Jeepney). I have not met anyone who refuses to take a Jeepney out of fear, and I have been throughout the Philippines.
Finally $200-$300 a month is a very decent sum of money over there. That is around the same salary that a registered nurse makes over there in a month, much less a retail worker.
Please don't take this post the wrong way, but I do think it's important for you to ask your fiancee some tough questions and corroborate her responses with other Filipinos you know.

Your fiancee's story does not really make sense to me.
She worked in Singapore for a decade but has no savings? From a previous post you mentioned that she does not support her own family but only works for herself. Yet she is a small spender?
- In Singapore she was probably making around $500 to $600 a month (sounds small to you and I, but is a LOT for someone from the Philippines). Most people working there will send back the surplus to their families, but you mentioned in another post that your fiance does not do this.
- When working as a maid in Singapore, toiletries, food, housing, and other living expenses are provided by the employer, so I don't understand your statement about how all her salary was used on such items.
- Even if she wanted to treat herself to the occasional meal outside of what was provided by her employers, the average meal in Singapore is around $2-4 USD.
- The subway system in Singapore is among the best in the world and covers pretty much the entire country (you could get from one end to the other in about an hour). There should generally not have been a need for her to take the cab, unless she was a big spender or poor planner. Cabs are a last resort in Singapore, even for someone who makes 15x your fiancee's salary.
I found it odd that you said that your fiancee is afraid of taking jeepneys and other common forms of public transportation there. Everyone in the Philippines takes this type of transportation and rarely cabs (they are usually a final option) because they want to save money (taking a cab would cost many times more than a Jeepney). I have not met anyone who refuses to take a Jeepney out of fear, and I have been throughout the Philippines.
Finally $200-$300 a month is a very decent sum of money over there. That is around the same salary that a registered nurse makes over there in a month, much less a retail worker.
Please don't take this post the wrong way, but I do think it's important for you to ask your fiancee some tough questions and corroborate her responses with other Filipinos you know.

Your fiancee's story does not really make sense to me.
She worked in Singapore for a decade but has no savings? From a previous post you mentioned that she does not support her own family but only works for herself. Yet she is a small spender?
- In Singapore she was probably making around $500 to $600 a month (sounds small to you and I, but is a LOT for someone from the Philippines). Most people working there will send back the surplus to their families, but you mentioned in another post that your fiance does not do this.
- When working as a maid in Singapore, toiletries, food, housing, and other living expenses are provided by the employer, so I don't understand your statement about how all her salary was used on such items.
- Even if she wanted to treat herself to the occasional meal outside of what was provided by her employers, the average meal in Singapore is around $2-4 USD.
- The subway system in Singapore is among the best in the world and covers pretty much the entire country (you could get from one end to the other in about an hour). There should generally not have been a need for her to take the cab, unless she was a big spender or poor planner. Cabs are a last resort in Singapore, even for someone who makes 15x your fiancee's salary.
I found it odd that you said that your fiancee is afraid of taking jeepneys and other common forms of public transportation there. Everyone in the Philippines takes this type of transportation and rarely cabs (they are usually a final option) because they want to save money (taking a cab would cost many times more than a Jeepney). I have not met anyone who refuses to take a Jeepney out of fear, and I have been throughout the Philippines.
Finally $200-$300 a month is a very decent sum of money over there. That is around the same salary that a registered nurse makes over there in a month, much less a retail worker.
Please don't take this post the wrong way, but I do think it's important for you to ask your fiancee some tough questions and corroborate her responses with other Filipinos you know.

Your fiancee's story does not really make sense to me.
She worked in Singapore for a decade but has no savings? From a previous post you mentioned that she does not support her own family but only works for herself. Yet she is a small spender?
- In Singapore she was probably making around $500 to $600 a month (sounds small to you and I, but is a LOT for someone from the Philippines). Most people working there will send back the surplus to their families, but you mentioned in another post that your fiance does not do this.
- When working as a maid in Singapore, toiletries, food, housing, and other living expenses are provided by the employer, so I don't understand your statement about how all her salary was used on such items.
- Even if she wanted to treat herself to the occasional meal outside of what was provided by her employers, the average meal in Singapore is around $2-4 USD.
- The subway system in Singapore is among the best in the world and covers pretty much the entire country (you could get from one end to the other in about an hour). There should generally not have been a need for her to take the cab, unless she was a big spender or poor planner. Cabs are a last resort in Singapore, even for someone who makes 15x your fiancee's salary.
I found it odd that you said that your fiancee is afraid of taking jeepneys and other common forms of public transportation there. Everyone in the Philippines takes this type of transportation and rarely cabs (they are usually a final option) because they want to save money (taking a cab would cost many times more than a Jeepney). I have not met anyone who refuses to take a Jeepney out of fear, and I have been throughout the Philippines.
Finally $200-$300 a month is a very decent sum of money over there. That is around the same salary that a registered nurse makes over there in a month, much less a retail worker.
Please don't take this post the wrong way, but I do think it's important for you to ask your fiancee some tough questions and corroborate her responses with other Filipinos you know.

Yes, as long as you can prove you have a genuine relationship, you don't need a mountain of evidence. My application was approved with only 5 photographs and a plane ticket showing that I visited my fiancee.
I don't think that you will have issues proving your relationship, but you might want to consider giving it more time to work it out. It's probably not the greatest thing that she is still with this guy purely for financial reasons, and as Russ&Caro mentioned, I would be careful.

Thanks you all for all your helpful responses. I have an update on my original inquiry:
I checked with the benefits person at my company and my plan does not consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition and coverage begins the day that I elect the benefit upon getting married.
As many have mentioned, we are also not required to have a SSN at the time we sign up for her coverage. The SSN is something that can be supplied after we have it.

Thanks you all for all your helpful responses. I have an update on my original inquiry:
I checked with the benefits person at my company and my plan does not consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition and coverage begins the day that I elect the benefit upon getting married.
As many have mentioned, we are also not required to have a SSN at the time we sign up for her coverage. The SSN is something that can be supplied after we have it.

Thanks you all for all your helpful responses. I have an update on my original inquiry:
I checked with the benefits person at my company and my plan does not consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition and coverage begins the day that I elect the benefit upon getting married.
As many have mentioned, we are also not required to have a SSN at the time we sign up for her coverage. The SSN is something that can be supplied after we have it.

Thanks you all for all your helpful responses. I have an update on my original inquiry:
I checked with the benefits person at my company and my plan does not consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition and coverage begins the day that I elect the benefit upon getting married.
As many have mentioned, we are also not required to have a SSN at the time we sign up for her coverage. The SSN is something that can be supplied after we have it.

Thank you all for your responses. I am following up with my benefits manager at my company to see whether the pregnancy will be covered even though it is pre-existing. In addition, I am checking if only the marriage is required or if I will also need a SSN.

I don't see wrong with this. In fact, it would probably be a good thing. However, to avoid confusion, I would include a cover letter that states what additional documents were enclosed and the reason for providing them.

I don't see wrong with this. In fact, it would probably be a good thing. However, to avoid confusion, I would include a cover letter that states what additional documents were enclosed and the reason for providing them.