jm302music

During the week it's around $50. I didn't realize it was so inexpensive. I stayed there two nights on a weekend. Quiet and easy to get to. Ocean Park, Rizal Park, Intramurus all within walking distance. If you like malling, Robinson Manila is less than 100 php grab away. i recommend to everyone. They should comp me a room. 

Wow!  I like your suggestion even better than I like my suggestion!    Might have to choose that one for our interview!  It does cost more than Bayview, but I like the fact that it's on the same side of Roxas as the embassy.  Looks super nice, too.

Child 12 and under only need to register to get the sticker.  Your fiancee can attend the GCP seminar anytime (appt required).  Then when both passports w/visa are in hand return to CFO to get the stickers.
 
 http://cfo.gov.ph/gcp.html
 
http://www.visaconnection-philippines.com/cfo-orientation-seminar.html

How old is her son?  Children under 12 do not need to attend the seminar.  You need to register them and when you pick up your Fiancee's sticker, you can fill out the necessary paperwork for the child and can get sticker same day.  

Hi, Scott!  That's great news!  Her son is only 7, so that makes the process a bit easier.

Thanks for the help!

Joel

Congratulations!  Please post here later after you get through successfully (notice I'm sending you positive thoughts there  ).  That will be helpful information for the rest of us to know that you're okay with such a slight mishap.
 
All the best to you both!
 
Joel

Here>   https://cfo.gov.ph/gcp.html

As an update, CFO never even looked at her birth certificate.  Only looked at her passport. 
 
Embassy interview was today.  I attended and she passed.

It's not like they just met and then four days later decided they were going to get married! They had already spent hundreds (or even thousands) of hours communicating through Skype and other channels before their physical visit.
Being in this same situation myself, I would argue that the hundreds of hours of virtual interaction are much better proof of true love than the physical time together. Being apart physically forces us to connect with each other emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It's impossible for us to mistake physical passion for true love, which many couples do when they are together physically all the time.
The beautiful physical connection in person is the icing on the cake. Yes, it's delicious, but it isn't the true substance of the relationship. That true substantial loving relationship can only come through heart-level connection, which is the connection we are forced to make when we have only virtual interaction.
Joel

Duterte reminds me of the brainless bullies from high school. Always abusing smaller/weaker kids, while running their mouths and picking fights with bigger kids just to prove how tough they were. It's an unfortunate fact of life that there are people like that in this world, but it's really awful when one of them becomes a world leader.
He may very well be courting China and Russia because those are countries where it's perfectly acceptable to assassinate political rivals and execute pesky journalists asking too many questions. With us, he has to deal with annoying Pollyanna conversations about things like "human rights" and "rule of law". With Russia and China, those meetings are probably more along the lines of "Bullying Best Practices". smh
It may be a year or more before I can afford to bring my fiancee and her son here to the USA. I admit that I'm pretty concerned about what the situation may be there when I can finally try to get them out.
Joel

Duterte reminds me of the brainless bullies from high school. Always abusing smaller/weaker kids, while running their mouths and picking fights with bigger kids just to prove how tough they were. It's an unfortunate fact of life that there are people like that in this world, but it's really awful when one of them becomes a world leader.
He may very well be courting China and Russia because those are countries where it's perfectly acceptable to assassinate political rivals and execute pesky journalists asking too many questions. With us, he has to deal with annoying Pollyanna conversations about things like "human rights" and "rule of law". With Russia and China, those meetings are probably more along the lines of "Bullying Best Practices". smh
It may be a year or more before I can afford to bring my fiancee and her son here to the USA. I admit that I'm pretty concerned about what the situation may be there when I can finally try to get them out.
Joel

You could very well be right but I dont think so. The other foreigne who i still believe is american as it says in the title most likely doesnt know about the OP at all and thinks shes on a tourist visa. The reason I say that is because you are describing a very dedicated and loving person that would go to those lengths to be with a bf. I just cant see her being that type of gf to anyone. Maybe the OP will chime in. Im just curious is all. Either way I hope she gets whats coming to her

Exactly my thoughts when I read the first post. Now that he has talked to the family she is fully aware that he knows everything so that likely wont happen now. She WILL contact you again. Im sure of that. Remember that you have the power now. You hold the key to her legal existence in the US. Play your cards well and plan your next step when she does contact you. The chances are that the other guy also is unaware of you. He probably thinks she is here on a tourist visa. Im curious if you got a license plate number. Did you follow them? Im pretty sure I would have. Can you contact the other guy just to warn him? 50/50 chance he is clueless.
Ive been the victim of a couple of filipina scams so i can feel your pain. Keep your head up. It gets better. Trust me. Heres my thoughts to you. Dont look in the philippines again. Its a gamble and as you know the house always wins.

So I am confused, you are waiting for her at the airport and get a text from her that immigration will not let her in. Why would you go right home to talk to her when you are at the airport? I would have been heading in to speak with someone about this and get my fiancee through or a reason why she was denied entry. Something smells rotten in Denmark.....

Its not your timeline, its under your profile > edit profile > profile settings, scroll down to the bottom > Immigration info > Change Place benefits at field and save changes. That will change it on your profile.

Joel, that was my intent also, i jumped the gun and went warly with the proposal
Randy

I thought so, I was there in April, beautiful resort, that is the beach outside the dining room? I couldn't see the condos on the hill on my he left, so wasn't sure.
Randy

I hear what you are saying. I moved here last November and thankfully things have worked out well in regards to my move/job. However, im finding that my new wife and I are arguing more and more about petty little things, and I have deduced its just down to difference of personality, bringing up and general way of dealing with things. I do sometimes feel lonely here. I am not that close to my family in the UK and my wife is extremely close to hers. When we argue, she goes to her family but I have no one, so it kind of makes me feel alone and defenseless. I am really considering counselling just to take the edge off the first year of marriage. I think with a neutral third party, we can better understand how to deal with each other.
Im sure a lot of people who move here feel alone when their spouse has friends and family here to comfort them. Unfortunately I have not made many friends yet, so it is hard when we argue and she runs off to her family and Im left to be alone
I really do feel the first year will be the move difficult, both in the move and in marriage. Try to push through it and keep you head up. Im really trying to stay as positive as possible because I do know this is what I wanted, it just requires a little more patience as you have lots of other factors that get involved.
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Hey, JessDak, I'm very sorry to hear about your situation. It's stressful enough just accomplishing the monumental task of being together in the first place. Adding marriage difficulties on top of that just makes the situation so much worse.
I URGENTLY recommend marriage counseling right away. If your wife doesn't agree to go, then go by yourself. Having a (professional) listening ear to talk with about these issues will give you much more hope and happiness. Even if somehow the marriage doesn't last, you will at least have gained some new life happiness tools out of your conversations with the counselor.
My fiancee and I are already planning to go to counseling right away when the day finally arrives that she can move here. We both realize that she will experience some level of sadness and stress over the extreme culture shock, separation from her family, ongoing immigration tasks and costs, etc. Counseling just provides such an excellent framework for discussing things that are sometimes difficult to discuss at home.

If I may share a bit of my wife's story. There wasn't a huge culture shock for her because it was Germany to Texas. Luckily, I live in Killeen, which is right next to Fort Hood (largest military installation in the world). Translation = Shortly before my wife received her Visa, she started meeting local (to me) Germans on Facebook. About 3 weeks after arriving here after POE, she started to meet some of these women in person. She would meet them weekly. She's been here about 1.5 years now & is still in contact with some of those original Germans she met. She also has met countless others & has established quite the nice little social network which even includes a couple friends. That was a huge part to her adjustment.
Yes, in the beginning she couldn't work & it was hard. She tried to keep herself busy. She didn't have a car, so needed rides & stuff while I worked. That's where her social network came in. I have met many of these women & their spouses & they are generally good people. They helped keep her busy in the beginning & helped her transition. A debt I can never repay. Also, all of my family came around to be supportive. Even those who initially rebuked it came to saw that my wife was a good choice & they had nothing to worry about.
If you can develop a local social network, it will help you feel more at ease. In turn, when you're more at ease, I think your wife will lighten up some as well. Also, communication between the 2 of you is huge. My wife and I never argued but we had many disagreements & still have our moments. But we always talk it through to move past it. Never let issues linger unresolved.

With all that's going on, no wonder you're both feeling stressed and down. My advise will be to talk to each other. Get through the hard times together, don't let them tear you apart. Tough times should make you stronger as a couple. Talk about how you both feel, what's bothering you and how you can get through it together.
It seems money is tight but I would really try and focus on AOS. The faster you can get your EAD, the faster you can find a job and contribute financially.

It takes time. When my husband got here, we had that same problem. We have decided to do marriage counseling which has helped immensely. It's a lot of change. Even for people who live in the same country, same state, and same town when you move in with somebody it's totally different. So now take in cultural changes, personality traits, moving away from your family, adjusting to a new life for both of you, the fears you both have, it's normal. You guys have to learn how to manage the fights and not let the fights manage you. It sucks, but you're not alone. You have your VJ family.

I'm in Minnesota, too! It's a wonderful place to live It's completely normal to feel stressed and a little unsure after moving to a whole new country with all new people and not being able to work or support yourself. You need to give it time - you only just arrived! Until you can file AOS and begin working, find other activities to take your mind off things. Minnesota is FULL of great things to do, and there are tons of ways to meet new people. As for your spouse, just sit down and have a conversation about how you are feeling. When I moved to Mexico to be with my husband we had a conversation about the adjustment process and how things were going... Not only did it bring us closer, but it helped us to make a plan to help in my adjustment process and strengthened our relationship.
Now, when my husband gets here from Mexico (CR-1 visa), perhaps we can all go out to celebrate
Keep your chin up! And make sure you have the conversation with your wife - while it may seem pretty clear that moving countries is a big challenge, it's not always the easiest to grasp, especially if it is new for the both of you and she is having struggles as well. Be sure to ask how she is feeling about things, too.

Several years ago my husband (then fiance) came on a K1 visa. The adjustment was super difficult. He went through severe culture shock, there was a struggle with my parents, planning a wedding and some financial issues. I felt 100% responsible for everyone's unhappiness and it put a real strain on our relationship. Ultimately, he decided to go back to his country and we would continue our relationship leading to marriage. I can't say it was the smartest decision we made when we look back on it, AOS and his ability to work would have changed the situation, and just waiting it out. We ended up marrying in his country several months later, and I decided to go live with him. We had a son and later filed for an IR-1 and recently came back to the states. When he came he was able to get a job almost immediately, nothing very lucrative, but it contributes wonderfully as a joint income and it makes him happy and he feels more productive. We are MUCH happier, I think a huge part is for us was spending that time married together in his country and putting everything else to the side ! I know this isn't ideal for everyone, but it worked for us. Good luck to you.

Definitely finding an outlet to talk is good; also check around and see if there are some free marriage support resources near you in MN! A lot of churches, etc. offer these, and they can be helpful even if you're not religious (my fiancé isn't, and we're doing one right now). It can help both of you adjust to married life, living together, etc. in ways that are constructive and positive.
And maybe doing some kind of regular thing on your own will help you explore/adjust gently? Is there a Bahamian expat online community you can find? Can you join a weekly book club or other meet up group? I know the first few months I was living with my fiancé in his country, I was driving him CRAZY because I was crazy because I had nothing to do, no schedule, and no motivation to leave the house. Making a routine for myself (even a once a week thing) helped.
But mostly, just take a deep breath, know that you can talk to people here, and believe that it's going to be OK. Marriage is hard! But it's rewarding, so hang in there.
(And you guys might want to have a semi-serious discussion about taking the 'd-word' off the table, even in jokes. That's a joke for people happily married 20+ years, not for anxious newlyweds.)