Highmystic

Yes, not expedited. She is not going to the Philippines until later this year.

Just a note of celebration! Wife's US Passport got here today, after 12 weeks and one day since they received it. Talk about timing! Her DL's was to expire today and could not renew without a Green card which they kept at the ceremony, and the certificate we had to send in for the Passport. Great timing!

My wife lived in Japan and Malaysia (I think Japan was just under a year though), she had a friend there in Malaysia who got it for her and mailed it to the Philippines, but it took a couple months. Perhaps you have a friend in those places to act on your behalf.

Another option, you could go to the Philippines, spend time with him and his family, get married there, and apply for a spousal visa.

A little late at this point, but in the future, anything that gets mailed (especially something like the originals of Birth Certificates, Passports etc, best to send it Certified mail, return receipt requested, so someone has to sign for it. At lest least, send with a tracking number so you know it arrived. Case in Point, we have to turn in my wifes' original Naturalization Certificate for her US passport. The post office said it would be returned by regular mail. Regular Mail? I asked "what if it gets lost"? and she said,, "oh, that don't happen" LOL... If lost, it's like $500 to replace it, plus the cost of the trip.

Is the married route still longer timeline but less money and bypass some other things with the I129F ? My wife, (Philippines) did not want to go the "married" route due to a short time we had known each other and would have looked "pushy". But since the OP has a few years under the belt, I'd agree that the I130 would be a money saver. And the wife would have a lot of her stuff waiting at the airport, right?

I guess it wouldn't hurt to find your Federal Senator from your State and let his/her office know about it. Sometimes they do good,.

Yeah, our 5th Anniversary is Monday, Valentines day Tuesday, her birthday on Wednesday! Busy week! LOL

Took about an hour and a half for the ceremony, but it was great! Phoenix Court House! About 100 people from 27 different nations for their Citizenship. She is now a full fledged Citizen! From Start to finish, 6 yrs about. We will have our 5th Anniversary this Monday the 13th. Now it's on to the SS department to get her Social Security card updated, and get some pictures for her to file for her US passport. Then we are done done done! LOL I want to give a shout out to all the wonderful people on Visajourney who have answered my questions over the years! Could not have done without your support and knowledge! Awesome people, you know who you are!!! Peace to all!

Check out the gov site. I don't know if your trip would qualify as "urgent" https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html

We did the Las Vegas USCIS, for her Bios, and when I contacted USCIS, "they" assigned my wife to the Phoenix USCIS. We did not ask to be transferred, they transferred her case to Phoenix. We just had gotten a notice to go to Phoenix instead of Vegas. Sure it's a longer drive, plus a hotel, but worth it.

Some places are slow, due to staffing I guess. We waited over a year for the first interview (Las Vegas, 90 minutes away). I emailed them via the USCIS site, Stating that people had already gotten their interviews who filed months after our filing date. They moved us to Phoenix (nearly 4 hrs drive) but got it done. I'd suggest emailing them and hope for results. BTW, we stayed with the Phoenix USCIS and we got her 10yr card (without an interview). and just went down for her Citizen interview. Heading down again in 4 days for her Oath!!!

I hate when I remember wrong! LOL but it happens

Kudos for your Step Daughter with stepping up and creating a better life for her to be able to get the visa! She should be very proud of her hard work!

After reading the comments back and forth, it seems not it is not a viable option. If you are serious about a relationship, I think you will need to take a 10 day vacation and go visit her. Then you have a choice, if you want to proceed, you can file for a fiancee visa, or get married there and file for a spousal visa. Both takes a long time but the spousal visa (as I've read in the past) may be the longer but easier path. Either way, it will run thousands over the next few years.

Sometimes it gets strange! Wife received her 10 yr card out of the blue in the mail.. 2 weeks later she gets a letter that she is approved and her card will be sent soon.. Go figure.

Update: Wife passed with flying colors! On to the Oath Ceremony Feb 10th. Then for the Passport. And any "i" to dot and "T"'s to cross.

Hi All! Wife has her Citizenship interview in two days, going for that 4 hr drive tomorrow to be there on time. Anyways, she heard that sometimes both husband and spouse can be interviewed separately. I am the Husband, born in the US,, she is the Immigrant. I think that perhaps they may do that "if" they have a reason to suspect fraud or something along those lines. Due to the fact, she is making me dress up! LOL... Anyone (citizen spouse) have to be interviewed or questioned during your spouses Citizenship interview? As a side note, she's been studying since we filed so I know a whole lot more that I had forgotten about Civics.

We also included her 401K and life ins that I am beneficiary and She is mine. Vehicle insurance listing both names as well as title and registrations with both our names. I think all in all, we pumped in 25 scanned documents.

Thanks for the info! Didn't think the interview was too long.. but the wait.. LOL

Maybe I can all and have here appointment moved to Vegas. It would be very very difficult to stay more than 3 days. I have a business I would have to shut down while we wait and wait.. Thanks for your response! Appreciated. Question... How long did the Interview take? We planned on spending 2 nights, because we need to visit the Apostille just 8 minutes away.. Her apt is at 11, and if it does not take long waiting also, we can get to the Apostille later that afternoon and head back.. I'd rather do the round trip in a single day than stay for days..

Wife has her appointment or Citizenship end of January in Phoenix, AZ.. It's a 4 hr drive, so we are getting a hotel room for a couple nights. I've read that many times, the Oath is scheduled for another day, and sometimes very short notice. I would HOPE that the Oath would be the same day but if not, we will have to make the trip again on short notice. It would be great if it got scheduled in Vegas which is only 1.5 hrs drive. My question is, in Phoenix, is it customary to wait on the Oath or normal to do it the same day? and if delayed can it be scheduled in Las Vegas for the Oath? It's great that the USCIS has these civics testing on Youtube! She watches them for hours every day. I am lightly surprised of the things even I didn't' know, or forgot! LOL

I'll have to do some more research on this. What is the $10,000 deposit for? For the Philippine gov or for me to draw on if needed? I do have a pension.

Yes, I am the USC and my wife the Filipino Citizen, she has her 10 yr card, and already filed the N-400. She arrived in Jan 2018 and we have been in the US all this time. Just looking in to retiring in the Philippines in a simple rural area.

Hi Everyone! Been awhile! My filipina wife and I are approaching our 5th anniversary. We had applied for her US Citizenship. We are talking about retiring in the Philippines, on some farm land in a year or two. I've been researching all the paperwork needed for spousal immigrant Visa because I want to be ahead of the curve before (and when) with filing on time. She says because I am a spouse I can have my name as co owner of the property. Doesn't matter to me one way or the other. My question is.. What is the situation if my wife passes before me? Do I need to leave at the end of the immigrant visa? Is there actually an expiration date for the immigrant visa? Just want to get my ducks in a row. Thanks for reading!