jskibo

10 minutes ago, Bill Oxner said:

Nice Tip Thanks for the heads up

 

Do you know if they are back to normal in Philippines regarding mask? I was there in May till July and some places wanted mask and proof of vaccine to enter malls.

 

Are they letting US Citizens enter the US Embassy in Manila on the consular yet?  

 

I assume they will still hold your electronics if you enter as a US Citizen?

I was there November thru January. Mask required on the plane and kind of in the airport and the few government offices I visited but not really enforced (as if it was around ears and pulled under chin no one wanted "nosebleed" to talk to me about it). 

In Cavite, Bohol and Puerto Princesa some folks wore masks in malls, I and family didn't and we had no issues. 

I didn't go to the embassy as we are done with that fun. 

Headed back two weeks from today to bring my MIL here as she finally got her visa (PD was 7/9/2009). Long story 😃

You can keep looking for earlier after you book. My niece booked in January and got a May date, then a week later found a mid April date and another week later found an open March 31 date. 

12 hours ago, Laklakerns said:

Hello, im having an issue with filing my mom’s petition. My birth certificate still had her maiden name so im going to submit her marriage certificate however, her middle initial in the marriage certificate is incorrect. Will i have issues when submitting that?

Has similar issue with inlaws marriage license. They had the names of the mothers flipped so both parents had the wrong middle initial. Didn't catch it on FIL and there were a few RFEs for NBI with AKA. One for other middle initial then another for full other middle name. 

When mother in law had her interview we had the extra NBI with AKAs ready and no RFEs, visa issued last week. 

Could always be worse, took a year to correct MILs original birth certificate that said she was Male 😁. More fun in the Philippines 

18 hours ago, Scott12579 said:

My wife has never had TB before and just had to do sputum. From the people I know personally every woman that has children had to do sputum testing and the few I know that don't have any kids passed with no sputum. They seem to get most people for it because they use cheap xray film. Serious incompetence over there

No Sputum for my wife with kids. 

Both parents popped. FIL got though, MIL did treatment then another medical which shockingly required yet another Sputum. Over a year after first medical she had her interview Thursday.  (Of course she took an NBI copy and not original so had to LBC that in yesterday)

Great info in here. Following but still three years out. We just got back from two months over there setting up banking at a few places (BDO easy, BPI made us wait a week for permission). Also bought some land in Palawan and a couple condos in / around manila. 

I was paying 129P for 8GB for 7 days with allNet unlimited calls and texts on Globe prepaid.  That's about $2.20 a week or $10 a month.  Slightly less if you buy discount loads using Gcash.  Less than half what I pay for my heavily discounted Tmobile Military plan.  

Converge Fiber service was 1650P a month for 50MB service.

While sending her 1000p to cover the costs is probably not cost effective with fees, if you managed to do that and you still lacked communication then you might have your answer.

He's talking about the UAE visa.

Try here:

https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visa-and-emirates-id

I'm in PI now.  I use Tmobile, but it can be pretty slow in some areas (was in Bataraza, Palawan a week ago).  I have a dual sim Pixel 7, so I run a prepaid globe sim.  There's no end to the plans you can get here (and for very little).  Some of the choices include unlimited data, but only for a handful of services that you have to pick from a list, other's just data that everything consumes and as other have said, some are little to no data and just texts or calls.

I have been using a 129PHP (roughly $2.50) promo plan with 8GB data, unlimited  all network calls and text for 10 days.  But there's at least 70 plans in the Globe app to choose from and every day I get 1 to 2 texts from globe with other promo plans.

(Also have a SMART Sim just in case I get stuck somewhere with poor Globe service.....Less than $1 for a prepaid sim)

On 12/17/2022 at 4:38 PM, Steve & Erma said:

@jan22 are you saying that he will have to file an AOS and I-130 for each kid and his wife?

 

I know the oldest is 19 right now and the others are 2-4 years behind her. They were married August 2016 in Australia. I am not sure what your definition of custody is as they have lived together since before he and his wife married. I believe the adoption was finalized this year. Lastly, I believe the bio dad has nothing to do with the kids and I would assume he signed off. I will pose these questions to him and get back to you but I believe I am pretty close to my answers.

 

@jskibo can you answer Mike's questions, I am interested in that info as well.

Yep the part I missed was my step-daughter was already here on a CR2. Didn't include a copy from f the green card with her passport app though. 

6 hours ago, Mike E said:

This is a strange one.  Indeed when one adopts, the child gets a new birth certificate.  My first wife was a U.S. citizen born in the U.S. and was adopted as an infant. There was nothing on her birth certificate that indicated  she was adopted 

 

If these kids get U.S. birth certificates after being adopted, I suspect  when an attempt is made to get them passports, the state department will push back on the late registration of the birth certificates 

 

This seems to be process:  https://www.uscis.gov/adoption/immigration-through-adoption/family-based-petition-process

 

I would get legal advice before trying to bypass I-485 / I-130. 

Legal adoption by US Citizen will give them citizenship if they are in US and in your custody.

I adopted my step-daughter, she was issued a KY birth certificate that states she was born in Philippines.  Only other difference on the BC is it has a cryptic reference to the court order number at the bottom.

Used that birth certificate to get her US passport.

The reverse is a pain as Philippines won't recognize the adoption until its filed with the court in the philippines, requires an apostilled copy of the relevant sections of the KY adoption law as well as the court finding of facts and adoption order.

Took 1281 days from filing to visa for father in law. Mother in law case filed same day and still waiting on visa.  😃

Filed July 2019. One parent complete after 1281 days. Second one clock still ticking with Feb 2023 interview.  

55.60 yesterday at the money changer. 

6 months unless it's issued after a sputum Culture. 

Just looked at a flight I had been tracking on Google, Went from $1537, to $1917 to $2500 in the last three weeks.  

We ended up burning miles (75k each) for the four of us Thanksgiving through mid January

Manila current wait time shows 470 days for an appointment 

If you're concerned on losing 13A status if she passes before you, why not get an SRRV visa then?

Wife had a combo interview pre-covid.  Me and the kids were in the room for both parts, but for the N400 they told me not to say anything during the questions.

16 hours ago, Celebi said:

Hey everyone.

What's the best way to remit money to the Philippines nowadays? My mom has a dollar account with BDO.

Would bank-to-bank transfer be better in terms of taxes/ fees/ exchange rate?

 

If you're sending to a dollar account then the whole "who has the best exchange rate" doesn't apply.  Bank to Bank transfer would work.  

She won't be getting a divorce in the Philippines.  Unless your friend files here she's stuck on that point.

My MIL popped positive and has just finished her treatments.  She was up everyday at 3am to take a bus to Manila for the treatment but a bit easier since she's in cavite area. 

Now waiting another two months for results of new culture before she can finish the medical and get the interview.  

All this fun for us started July 2019. 

I had thought SLEC will only accept the treatment through them and not accept it being done elsewhere.  

I've seen a few rent apartments in Manila while getting the treatment if they lived too far away. 

Good luck and hope it works out well for both of you. 

Have a great trip. 
 

we are going in November as well. Staying until mid January since it’s been five years.  

17 hours ago, Chris2870 said:

Filed IR5 for both parents on Feb 28 2022…anyone else waiting?

July 2019, so yes