Mrs Thor

This is the cover letter of our application. Hope this could help as your guide and checklist when you submit yours. Go to the USCIS website to get their forms and read their instruction booklet. Try watching videos in YouTube like Immigration Guru to help you assemble your packet. 

My husband and I recently had our interview. The officer did ask additional evidences even if she was very nice to us. Does the petitioner have a personal bank account that is currently used? You can let the benefeciary become joint owner of the bank account.
My husband and I provided joint utiliy bill as our evidence and Costco joint account. Hope this helps!

omgg that means a lot to me! it's good to know i am not alone going through new things!

Omg! This is so me!! I am in the same shoes like you. I was a teacher in the Philippines too but I work in a nursing facility here in North California. I will send you a direct message so we can get in touch 😊

My status just changed an hour ago. I should get a mail with the scheduled date soon. I’d say this came sooner than I expected considering how slow Houston applications have been lately.
Good luck everyone!

Are there Filipino teachers here who teacher in America as a public school teacher? I know that recently a lot of Filipino teacher are hired to come and teach. Can anybody share their experiences?
 
I got my bachelor's degree in the Philippines and I had it evaluated to be at par with the American education standards. I also passed some tests such as CBEST, etc. I was wondering how hard was the adjustment to teach in a new culture and new environment? Even if we do speak English, Filipino English can be different than American English, so did this affect you to communicate and interact with your colleagues and students? Was the paperwork such as lesson planning or IEP making difficult and different? 
 
I hope someone could share some tips because even if I know I am qualified, I still sell my self short just because I don't have enough experience in teaching and I don't want my students and my colleagues to see that I am not capable to teach. I am also small and short (typical Filipino who looks like a teenager but is 27 years old already), so most people whom I met would think that I am very young like a highschool student. My voice is very soft that it's hard to know if I am taking a command. Definitely need to develop my confidence. Thank you for those who respond!

Had our interview today. I brought a copy of the entire package plus updated evidence. The officer didn’t ask for any of it. She had a copy of the entire package in front of her and just leafed through it and asked us to confirm certain information she chose from the I130 and I485 (confirm birthdates, SSS, previous addresses, previous employers, yes/no questions regarding criminal history). At the end she just asked a few questions like how we met and if we had a big wedding or not. Our case is pretty straightforward though and she commented about how clean and correctly filled out the forms were so she didn’t need to make any corrections. She didn’t ask for additional evidence and we were approved on the spot. At the end of the day, it just depends on what kind of officer you get. Some will ask for more evidence, others will focus more on personal aspects of your relationship. Some are just focused on specific details of your application which might be questionable.

You do not need to take the completed forms, but it would be a very good idea to go through them again, and carefully note what has changed as the IO will update the form at the interview.
 
You should take all the evidence you submitted with the forms, including new evidence since the date of submission.

i was wondering if i have to still include our i485, i130, i1864, i765, and i131 copies that we sumbitted including the evidences and the entire packet? Cause I have to print all of these forms again and it would make the package very very thick.
 
my interview would be this February 5. thanks for your response!
thank you!

similar to the package but add new stuff.
 
when is your interview? we adjusted directly, so little different than you, but we had to go to the doc 2 x ( a week apart) then they mailed the stuff back to us (add another couple of days). we could have picked up in office but it was almost 2 hours away and we were not in a rush.

I believe you have to have her trasncripts evaluated to be at par with the education standard in California. Then I think she also has to pass the NCLEX test, too! 

awesome! that's good to know. i will definitely bring my i94 and marriage certificate to have my SS change from F1 status to AOS. Thank you!
thank you for your comment! yes, my new EAD has my new married name. will definitely start working on with this! thank you again!

The SSN should remain the same. SSN is not a requirement for work; lack of SSN might result in delay of payment:
 

I came here on a k1 but when I changed my name on my SSN card. I took my passport With my maiden name,i94, marriage certificate and card on my maiden name. They photocopied all of those and I received the new card in 2 weeks. 

For OP’s parents, likely faster for her to naturalize & then sponsor them.

True.
 
However, if there are minor children who are eligible derivative beneficiaries and grandma is alive, then the F3 path may be worth considering.

Yes - no harm in leaving the F3 in place. The other concern with that route though (apart from time) is health of the sponsor.  I’m a firm believer in having backups wherever possible for immigration. Stuff happens.

Unfortunately, there is nothing a lawyer can do to help.  Your family has to wait for a current PD.
 
The current PD for the F3 category from the PI is June 1, 1998.  Guessing; your family has another 8 years of waiting.
 
 

Unfortunately I don’t think there is anything a lawyer can do, it’s a case of having to wait for their PD to become current... 
 
perhaps have her children try the B2 route and make a short visit...? It’s not uncommon for people to do this, without having to immigrate... I’ve personally done it

Also I believe if the petitioner dies prior to the I-130 being approved, the petition is automatically revoked.  

Lawyer will happily take your money and inquire for you. Don’t bother 

Unfortunately, for that category, absolutely nothing can be done to speed it up. They have to wait.

Nothing a Lawyer can do.
 
They have to wait for their Priority Date to become current.

Agreed...nothing can be done to speed it up. It’s just a waiting game.