pamawemo

Update: my wife received her 10-year green card July 31. Her N-400 interview was today and she passed with flying colors. Her oath ceremony is this Thursday. It has been a long road - we did everything on our own- and we are so happy this journey has had a happy ending. Good luck to everyone who is in the home stretch. 

I have not been following along on this but thought I would post our good news. We applied for ROC Feb. 25, 2022 and received written NOA

March 1, 2022. Biometrics were waived March 28, 2022.

We applied online for N-400 on March 13, 2023 and received immediate NOA. Biometrics appointment was scheduled for April 5 and our N-400 interview (which we assume is a combo) is scheduled for August 6. Hoping all goes well.

February 2022 filer here. Our biometrics appointment was waived on 3/28 - we saw that notice online - but did not receive an email or snail mail letter. Do we need it?

44 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

 

DON'T mess with the passport while in the Philippines,  your wife needs to keep her old passport for travel so the names match in the ticket and passport.

 

She will need to make sure to carry a copy of your marriage certificate as the name on her green card won't match the passport.

Yeah, I knew as soon as I asked the question it wouldn't make sense. But thanks for the reminder about the marriage certificate. Her green card expired in May but we have the I-797 for the ROC which I know we need to have along with the expired green card. Anything else we need to travel over there (and get back)?

2 minutes ago, Adventine said:

No, the plan doesn't make sense. You'd have to pay the passport renewal fees again, find an appointment date/time in the two weeks that you're there, and hope to God the new passport gets delivered in time... Only to end up with a passport in the married name that doesn't match the return ticket you already booked in the maiden name.

 

Thanks. That's kind of what I deducted but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. The wasted trip to Chicago still leaves a sour taste. I guess not totally wasted because we did renew her passport, just not in her current name.

We tried changing my wife's name on her Philippine passport (to her married name) last year in Chicago and did not have the right ROM documentation. She renewed it in her maiden name as it was expiring.

We are flying to the Philippines for two weeks next month. Does it make sense to try to get the name change done there or fly back to Chicago sometime in the future? The airline ticket is in her maiden name, of course.

1 hour ago, Bugs said:

 

Well the ROM hoops you went through were still necessary, otherwise the PSA wouldn’t have anything to give you.

 

I went through this twice, with both the Report of Marriage and Report of Birth (of our child).  I went through the serbilis site for the PSA document of the ROM, got it in the mail several months later, which was just a photocopy of the ROM with an official PSA stamp.  When I tried with the ROB, the serbilis site wasn’t accepting credit card payments at the time, so I had to wait until we traveled to the Philippines again to go in person to get the PSA on it - line took all day too.

Several months? Did you use the FedEx option for delivery?

My wife is now thinking she will authorize her sister to get a copy in person over there and send it to her. Does that seem likely to work?

Just now, Chancy said:

 

Yes, no escape from ROC.

 

Note also that the countdown for the 3-year rule for eligibility for N-400 filing starts from the "Resident since" date on her GC, not the date of her US entry.  So she will need to file for ROC first.  Then she can file her N-400 when she is eligible based on the 3-year rule, even if her ROC is still pending.

 

Thanks, that makes sense. We have about 9 months to get that all figured out. More paperwork - yay.

12 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Why 8 years?

My bad. I always confuse that 2-year/10-year green card situation. She should qualify for the "3-year rule" - is that right? So many rules. I've been away from VJ enjoying normal married life. Yesterday's snafu brought me back like a slap in the face. Need to brush up again.

So she will be in the US for 3 years in March of next year. Her green card expires In May of next year. Do we still apply for Removal of Conditions?

12 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

Yes, that will work.

 

If she doesn't attempt another passport renewal, when she gets her GC (I assume she will want it listing her married name), she should travel with a copy of your marriage certificate.  Booking tickets will still need to match her passport name.

 

Good point. She does have her 2-year GC in her married name; Real ID is also in her married name. I have a feeling we will work to get the passport changed but will wait for an outreach so we don't have to travel quite so far. Thanks.

8 minutes ago, Joe Kano said:

This is just another reason why we never did ROM nor my wife tried to get a Philippines passport in her married name.  She is a few months out from getting her US Citizenship, we will just wait and deal with US system and not the 3rd world backward practices of the Philippines.

Does she just travel with her Philippine passport in her maiden name? I guess we would have to book the ticket in her former name. Doable I suppose. We are early in the process so US Citizenship is more than 8 years in the future.

Thanks, everyone, for all the good info. We will follow up with all this advice in mind. What a crazy day it was!

3 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

^ This.  ROM at the consulate with jurisdiction is a necessary step to get what is really required for passport renewal -- the registration of the foreign marriage into PSA's records.  The reason DFA is fine with just the ROM paperwork if less than a year old is that they don't expect PSA registration to be completed within a year of filing ROM.  After a year, the PSA Advisory of Marriage should already be available.

 

Got it. We would have gone last year with our ROM paperwork if it had not been for covid so probably would have been ok. 

3 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

If your wife wants a Philippine passport with her married name, ROM is really required.  That's because there's no way to register foreign marriages directly with PSA, other than through the ROM process at the consulate with jurisdiction.  So your ROM filing was not useless.  Just get the required document from PSA using the link posted by @top_secret.

 

My wife and 5 other women who had the same issue were brought to an office where a verbal battle ensued. lol. I was outside waiting, of course. She said they were told to go to an office on the 14th floor to reapply for their ROM but the office was closed. Any idea what that was all about? In the end, she renewed her passport in her maiden name but is not happy about it.

I looked at the link above and am confused about how to receive the PSA Advisory of Marriage. It mentions needing your own FedEx account. What does that entail? 

Lastly, the officer told her that she must apply for the new passport within 2 months of receiving the PSA Advisory of Marriage. Is that true and what if there are no appointments? 

20 minutes ago, payxibka said:

You will really go "sideways" when you see what you get from PSA.   Exactly what you have in your hand,  with the addition of a stamp or two.

Oh, can't wait.

17 minutes ago, top_secret said:

The consulate sends the original report of marriage to PSA who registers it in the Philippines Civil Registry.  Then you can get a certified copy back from PSA any time you want.  I suppose them requiring you to get an new copy from PSA would be conclusive proof that the registration with PSA part is completed and it actually, really got registered with PSA and wasn't lost, or a forgery, or is still sitting in a file cabinet in the consulate, or some PSA employee never got around to registering it.  

Thanks. Silly us, we assumed when we went through all the ROM hoops, the ROM we received from the consulate would be the real deal. 

16 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Just an aside,  I see Chicago is starting to do outreach events.  Maplewood has been typically in August.   Watch the website to see if they are going to schedule one this year.

I saw they were doing one in Missouri for Missouri residents only. Where do you watch for potential outreach events in the area? Thanks.

51 minutes ago, payxibka said:

It's asinine but if your ROM is more than a year old then it cannot be used.  I ran across this information a little while ago jyst before I drove from Minnesota to Chicago 

Asinine is one word for it. I still don't know why we went through all of that ROM filing if we can't use it!

1 hour ago, top_secret said:

Sounds like they just want a new copy from PSA, not an original copy from the consulate.  If it was registered with the consulate over a year ago it should already be registered with PSA.  Just order a PSA copy here.  https://www.psaserbilis.com.ph/

Thanks.  Will they issue an original PSA Report of Marriage, which is what is required?

I really thought that is what we already have (the extensive paperwork and cash fee still fresh in my mind!) when we applied for this after our marriage. Why did we go through all of that if it doesn't do anything for us?

So we just blew a day traveling from MSP to Chicago to get my wife's passport renewed and issued in her married name at the Philippine Consulate. We had everything indicated on the instructions but my wife was told her ROM (original and photocopy) were expired. They sent her away and told her she has to reapply for her ROM, come back to Chicago and reapply for the passport. The officer circled #2 below and told her to reapply. She argued that she had applied for the ROM in May 2019 (we were married 5/17/19) because she was supposed to do that within a year. She was also under the impression that when she filed the ROM with the consulate, it was also filed with PSA. Wrong? And with covid, passport renewal was suspended last year so it's not like we could have gotten there within a year if we knew the ROM expires.

So what is the difference between filing for ROM through the Philippine Consulate and a PSA Report of Marriage? She wasn't alone - five others had the same issue during the 20 minutes she was there.

The officer circled #2 below. Can anyone clear this up for us?

A. For applicants who want to use their married name for the first time: 1. For applicants married in the Philippines, original and photocopy of Marriage Certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA, formerly NSO); 2. For applicants married outside of the Philippines, original and photocopy of the Report of Marriage (ROM) issued less than a year by the Philippine Consulate where the marriage took place. If ROM is more than 1 year old, bring original and photocopy of PSA Report of Marriage.

I think you can edit your timeline, no? 

In any event, have you called USCIS Contact Center at (800) 375-5283 and requested an emergency advance parole? I don't know if they consider compromised mental health as an emergency but you would need pretty compelling evidence from her dr. I would think. My wife was terribly homesick and depressed her first several months (even up to her one-year mark) but we got through it. Hopefully, your spouse is on some good meds, sees her therapist regularly and the two of you have great communication. WhatsAp also got my wife though a lot of difficult times as well as meeting new friends and spending time with my family. She got her license after a year and a half and has a great job that keeps her busy and happy.

I understand and sympathize. Leaving everything and everyone to come to this country is not for the faint of heart. Good luck.

I am confused by your timeline. It looks like your wife has been here for 10 1/2 years? Is that correct?

We requested an expedited EAD/AP for my wife but it was for employment purposes. There is a process that does not involve anyone at the state level. She had a job offer and I had my salary reduced causing financial hardship and she was granted an expedited combo card after petitioning USCIS. 

13 minutes ago, Q2018 said:

Wow that took a long time for you to get it in hand.

Now I'm starting to worry a little bit. My interview went really well despite my previous CCP issue. I'm concerned if that issue is going to take extra time for reviewing...

We never did find out what the delay was. At our interview, the officer said everything looked good but that they were waiting for our packet. Which didn't really make sense but since she was so positive, we figured we would see "approved" within a couple of days/weeks. Never anticipated 3 1/2 months. But as I said, it's all in the rear view mirror now. 

Good luck and hope you hear on your approval very soon.

7 hours ago, Lilian Denis said:

Yes I also have the same question. They separated my spouse and I for the interview today. Everything seems to have gone well but we have no idea if we got approved or not. How long does it take after interview to know if one got approved or not?

We waited for what seemed like forever. Our interview was Jan. 27 and we received notice the green card was being produced on May 12. We were not separated at the interview and felt everything had gone really well. But then, nothing. It was hard waiting that long - especially when we were reading that others were approved right away. But it all came through eventually. Good luck.

And congratulations to the other MSP-STP folks who have made it through the process.

22 minutes ago, shawtysoo said:

Anybody got green card recently??

Crazy that you should ask! We just got an email notification that my wife's green card is being produced. Our interview was end of January and case has been under review since then. So happy to have this step behind us. Good luck to those still waiting.

Our AOS interview was 1/27 - still under review - and can't inquire about it for another 3 months. My wife's EAD/AP expires in August. Should we be renewing the combo card or do you only renew the EAD? I am confused about the timeline and process for renewal. Thanks.

10 minutes ago, payxibka said:

My wife has a friend in the same situation as well.  There error was not to apply for EAD or AP.  What POE did you enter via?

Seattle. Our AOS officer said she had not received our K1 packet yet but everything else looked good as far as our AOS application. Makes me wonder if our K1 packet is lost? It seems like it should have been at the MSP office since we were approved 2/19 and our AOS interview was 1/20. Also, our EAD and AP was all approved. Guess we are just frustrated since there are no real explanations given and we can't ask about it for another 4 months. 

43 minutes ago, payxibka said:

180 days

Really? So six months will definitely take us close to the renewal timeframe. Guess we just need to stay on top of those dates.

Wish we knew what the hold-up is. We left the interview feeling good about it all and the interviewer said she had everything she needed - was just waiting for our K1 packet which I thought was weird but she said it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. Ugh.