NoMansLand2020

ditch the lawyer / he doesn't know the process
you are a long way from doing the I 134 and at that time your income will be a lot different / maybe 2021 instead of 2020

Philippines Govt is turning into a dictatorship. Absolutely absurd to keep people locked inside under MGCQ. It's not only causing physical damage but psychological damage and not good for the well being of anyone. 
 
Children are really suffering now and it's not necessary. The idiotic Govt response is that they can watch TV and play with their electronic devices all day long. Hogwash. The inability for them to attend school is very detrimental. How many families can afford laptops? Especially those who have multiple school-aged children. The clases aren't staggered, so many end up missing out. The Internet is probably the worst in the world, bases on my experience and unreliable. 
 
My fiancée's family has a neighboring family that has a young daughter who has multiple sclerosis and is unable to get around much. Prior to the pandemic she was using a walker and making good progress with going outdoors and even starting to walk somewhat unaided. Because of these stringent requirements of children having to stay indoors, her muscles have atrophied and she can barely walk ten feet. 
 
A few days ago her father took her outside to get some exercise as their family was desperate as they have noticed a major decline in her health. They were confronted by a policeman who ordered that her father take her back indoors per the MGCQ guidelines. Her father tried explaining why they were outdoors, but the police would have none of it and went as far as to taunt the little girl until she started to cry.
 
When her father stood up to the police and asked him knock it off, he was hit with some type of club and nearly lost consciousness. He needed help from another neighbor to get himself and the daughter home. The next day he was arrested for disobedience and failure to follow police directions to take his daughter inside. Being the only adult in the home that works to support his family of 6, they don't have any money for food or anything else. 

Philippines Govt is turning into a dictatorship. Absolutely absurd to keep people locked inside under MGCQ. It's not only causing physical damage but psychological damage and not good for the well being of anyone. 
 
Children are really suffering now and it's not necessary. The idiotic Govt response is that they can watch TV and play with their electronic devices all day long. Hogwash. The inability for them to attend school is very detrimental. How many families can afford laptops? Especially those who have multiple school-aged children. The clases aren't staggered, so many end up missing out. The Internet is probably the worst in the world, bases on my experience and unreliable. 
 
My fiancée's family has a neighboring family that has a young daughter who has multiple sclerosis and is unable to get around much. Prior to the pandemic she was using a walker and making good progress with going outdoors and even starting to walk somewhat unaided. Because of these stringent requirements of children having to stay indoors, her muscles have atrophied and she can barely walk ten feet. 
 
A few days ago her father took her outside to get some exercise as their family was desperate as they have noticed a major decline in her health. They were confronted by a policeman who ordered that her father take her back indoors per the MGCQ guidelines. Her father tried explaining why they were outdoors, but the police would have none of it and went as far as to taunt the little girl until she started to cry.
 
When her father stood up to the police and asked him knock it off, he was hit with some type of club and nearly lost consciousness. He needed help from another neighbor to get himself and the daughter home. The next day he was arrested for disobedience and failure to follow police directions to take his daughter inside. Being the only adult in the home that works to support his family of 6, they don't have any money for food or anything else. 

Philippines Govt is turning into a dictatorship. Absolutely absurd to keep people locked inside under MGCQ. It's not only causing physical damage but psychological damage and not good for the well being of anyone. 
 
Children are really suffering now and it's not necessary. The idiotic Govt response is that they can watch TV and play with their electronic devices all day long. Hogwash. The inability for them to attend school is very detrimental. How many families can afford laptops? Especially those who have multiple school-aged children. The clases aren't staggered, so many end up missing out. The Internet is probably the worst in the world, bases on my experience and unreliable. 
 
My fiancée's family has a neighboring family that has a young daughter who has multiple sclerosis and is unable to get around much. Prior to the pandemic she was using a walker and making good progress with going outdoors and even starting to walk somewhat unaided. Because of these stringent requirements of children having to stay indoors, her muscles have atrophied and she can barely walk ten feet. 
 
A few days ago her father took her outside to get some exercise as their family was desperate as they have noticed a major decline in her health. They were confronted by a policeman who ordered that her father take her back indoors per the MGCQ guidelines. Her father tried explaining why they were outdoors, but the police would have none of it and went as far as to taunt the little girl until she started to cry.
 
When her father stood up to the police and asked him knock it off, he was hit with some type of club and nearly lost consciousness. He needed help from another neighbor to get himself and the daughter home. The next day he was arrested for disobedience and failure to follow police directions to take his daughter inside. Being the only adult in the home that works to support his family of 6, they don't have any money for food or anything else. 

What country are you dealing with?  There are 2019 filers for some countries still waiting... Including myself. There are and will be backlogs for some countries who aren't processing visas to those who are doing limited processing. 

What country are you dealing with?  There are 2019 filers for some countries still waiting... Including myself. There are and will be backlogs for some countries who aren't processing visas to those who are doing limited processing. 

It's affected pretty much the entire world. US citizens are only able to enter a couple dozen countries or so at the moment.... Almost a full year since borders were closed. 
 

Have you heard about the pandemic,  the world has changed.  Philippines is requiring visas for EVERY non citizen for about a year now.

Face shields on jeepneys and taxis have been required for quite some time.   Same with malls, but maybe it was not an absolute mandate 

Have you been living under a rock?  I want to say before Dec 15 but don't have a source 

Do have kids or want kids? That's probably the only deterrent for us. My fiancée has two young kids and we want several more. I think they will have more opportunities here in the US than the Philippines and I don't frankly think the Philippines would be a great place to raise them.

I was born and raised in the US but have spent about 25+ years living out of the country and just recently returned last year to the US to do this K1 visa.  Ten of those years were spent working in the Philippines.  When the Philippines was just another tourist country to myself, I enjoyed my time here, however once I started working and had responsibilities to my job and to get things done, it was a whole new ballgame.  I see the country in a while different light and not necessarily in a favorable way. 
 
If you are going to work remote in the Philippines there are a few things to consider.  Your going to need 2 internet providers at your home for when one is down or unstable, you can use the other.  Youll need a 3rd provider (your mobile phone provider) as a 3rd option for last resort of a hotspot.  Also, if your here on a 13a (marriage visa) you can legally work, BUT thats under the premise that your paying taxes to the government which are absurdly high with nothing in return.  I work in Global Mobility so about 35% of my time was spent working with Philippine immigration moving expats into the country.  Before COVID, Immigration was trying to find a way to collect tax etc on all the mobile workers in the country.  Actually, many countries are trying to do this.  This is on the afterburner for now until the COVID situation improves, but expect that to come back to the table in 2022 or 2023. 
 
If ever you move into the direction of managing a team locally, this is where the burnout could come.  I wont go into specifics, but its very challenging leading a team locally, to put it mildly.  I moved thousands of expats into the country and all of them were excited for their new assignment, however after 2 years or more, whenever they were ready to repatriate home or move on to a 3rd country, more than 95% of them were completely burned out.  
 
I still feel like a foreigner in the US having been gone so long, but I agree with your assessment in alot of ways on the country.  One of the biggest things that stood out between 10 years of not visiting was the increase in the have's and have nots.  Also the deterioration of the education system has been another surprise, especially the K-12 grades.  I still feel universities in the US have a huge quality advantage over most every country.  Then you can go into small things such as why does everyone have to say something when you get on an elevator, why are there so many "fees" to do just about anything, etc.  For me the hardest part will always be the general lack of understanding on foreign affairs etc. 
 
Given all of that, I would take your time and clearly evaluate what and where you want to work etc.  The grass is not always greener on the other side.  Of all the countries I have worked in, Im most impressed by the workforce in Singapore, Hong Kong and Iran but Singapore and HK tend to have a high cost of living.   
 
 

Do they spell it PANGIT?

I was married to a native Russian speaker for 6 years. I understand most spoken conversations and sometimes even think in Russian. No previous exposure to the langusge. My wife now is from Mindanao. Zamboanga Del Norte. I can say Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Thank You in Bisaya. I fear it is not going to get better. It just doesn't stick. Beer will always be piva to me))) Good Luck)

Is anyone aware of any US based institutions where I could enroll in a Cebuano language course? My fiancée is from Mindanao and of course she and her kids speak Bisaya as do her family members. 
 
I speak Spanish, English and some Catalan, so I don't believe I'd have too much trouble learning a new language. 
 
I'd much much rather take a class(es) as opposed to using one of those goofy apps or websites that only teach basic phrases and words and don't focus on grammar and sentence structure. 

This entire thing is a mess and I don't know who is to blame. These lockdowns are pointless in my opinion. People under 15 or over 65 still not allowed to go outside. My fiancée's two young children.. 5 and 7 have only been outside of their apartment a few times in the past year. I can't imagine the psychological and other effects this is having on people. 

I have similar situation with your fiancee, it is me and my daughter alone, we do everything together since I got pregnant.  Except when her daddy came to visit us here in the Phils.  I have family issues and conflict with my parents, I asked something to help me with that I know they can but they just ignored me, they did not take me seriously, lied to me, thrown bad comments to me.  I was basically disappointed because I thought they would be there always for me to help me with whatever. It's about money issue. I have worked for 12 years but got nothing left in the end including the maternity assistance that I got from SSS. I gave everything to them as a family and when I got pregnant, my priorities have changed, was thinking of saving whatever I earned at work as a supervisor during my pregnancy but instead of helping me, they became the person who were just hiding from inside maybe bec I am with a foreigner. They asked for money from me which they never did, they only waited for me to send money to them, I always had a project for them every year and the last project was a car payable for 5 years which I had been paying for 4 years before I got pregnant. I am disappointed, I always thought they are different from the parents' of others.  They never visited me on my pregnancy, I can go on and on but in the end I chose to stay away and focus on my baby.  I am not with a foreigner bec I want to keep sending money to them.  With this experience, I realized that my parents don't know me. 
Since my bf went back to US, I use grab app to buy groceries online and order food when I like to like jollibee or mcdo etc for 3 months now, I use shoppe or lazada to buy her toys, new clothes and shoes.
You are right there are disadvantages when buying groceries online but I am like be okay with it because overall my experience is good, very convenient to me.  Everything now is online for me, I don't have money on hand, I use Gcash app to pay in 7-eleven.  They let children in but have to wear a mask.  My only worries is when I get my requirements for visa like police clearance and in doing medical exam, I have to bring my 2 year old daughter with me, been thinking of a good excuse when the time will come.

This is another thing that drove me out of the Philippines after more than a decade.  This type of attitude is all too prevalent across families in the Philippines.  Not just families, but within friends, the workplace and on and on.  Crab mentality at its finest and I could write a book on that.  In alot of ways, Filipinos love to see their friends, acquaintances, and to some extend their family members fail. 
 
Did anything replace Honestbee when they stopped in the Philippines?  They use to work closely with Rustans in that 2015-2019 range.

Go for it but you aren't alone with this situation.   The children are not US citizens or even stepchildren of a USC.  The US government won't step in because they don't have standing.

Like you said you don't know the situation. Families are not always willing to help out. A lot of times they cause nothing but problems. My fiancée ended up moving last year several hours away from her family because she was tired of the negativity and constant drama that she and her kids were subjected to on a daily basis. They are doing much better now. 
 
She's in an apartment and from what I know it's mostly vacant. Most of the people living there are the construction workers. Because of the pandemic, it's been hard to get out and socialize and meet people. It's the same situation all over the world. 
 
The Philippines has created a problem by not allowing people of certain ages to go places. They aren't solving anything by keeping people indoors. It's only adding to the problem. 

Misamis Oriental

My spouse is a teacher at DepEd high school grade, I can tell you pretty much no learning is happening or has happened for the last 10months. She only has 2 online classes a week and 1-3 kids show up out of 25. The homework packets are a joke. If the students or parents complain that the teachers give a bad grade they just change it. Whole thing is a joke.
 
Jordan

They are in CDO, which is still under MGCQ. In person school is not happening and we enrolled them in an online private school based out of Manila. 

That code for "pangit gurls need not apply"

This entire thing is a mess and I don't know who is to blame. These lockdowns are pointless in my opinion. People under 15 or over 65 still not allowed to go outside. My fiancée's two young children.. 5 and 7 have only been outside of their apartment a few times in the past year. I can't imagine the psychological and other effects this is having on people.