BadAmmoWitch

The ROM is required by the Philippine Government and it legalizes an overseas marriage under Philippine Law.  It is unimportant to the US Government or for US immigration purposes, other than it would be necessary if your wife wanted to change to your name prior to her visa, green card and social security card all being issued in her maiden name.  If you plan on having little or no real interactions within the Philippines in the future, it is probably of little value and doesn't really matter.  If the Philippines may play a more significant role in your future, such as if you want to retire there, own family property there, etc ect, it would be more important because it could affect your rights as a spouse of a Filipino citizen in the Philippines and might often come up in any kind of dealings with the Philippine Government.
 
Edit to add.  The name changing aspect applies to CR1/IR1 cases.  K1 applicants could just change their name during adjustment of status with a US Marriage Certificate so less important in K1 cases.

Yes and yes. My 2 sons are both dual citizens and have both passports.

While you have nothing to worry about with the Balikbayan visa program since your child and or you are able to stay up to a year. I would try to make the time to register the birth of your child in the Philippines and get their passport while there. Just make sure that you bring all of the required docs with you.

Hello! Former Filipino Citizen here - I think as long as the child/spouse is travelling with the Filipino Citizen, they are allowed entry for up to One Year from arrival (providing proof of marriage/birth certificates to establish relationship);
You can refer to the Philippine Embassy post about "Balikbayan (Returning Filipinos) Program" for more information as well
https://philippineembassy-dc.org/visa/
 
(Balikbayan Program applies to Former Filipino Citizens with Foreign Passports / Filipino Citizens with Green Cards / Oversease Filipino Workers and extends to their spouses/children)
 

WOW. I cannot believe they are asking for a pathway to get daughter here so can overstay her visitor visa and become illegal as well

My fiancé and I originally applied for the K1 visa, but we were denied because I didn't visit her within the past two years (COVID and I'm in the military, but I seen her in 2019).
I went to visit her December 2022 and met someone who is also in a Long-Distance Relationship (LDR). He told me that his girlfriend came quickly on a tourist visa because you move the appointment date if someone cancels. I decided to apply for a tourist visa on her behalf in order to get her here quickly. Also, because it's easier for her to travel (self-employed) than it is for me and I own a home and car, so the expenses are cheaper.
Now, she is 22 and just graduated from a Human Resources course. She lives with her parents and has never left the country. How do I prove that she will not immigrate to the US? Below is what I suggested she say.
My family is here, and I plan to get married in Brazil. My fiancé is a Soldier, and I don't want him to get in trouble if I overstay my visa. Also, I plan to live with him one day and get a job. I can't get a job or become a citizen if I overstay my visa. I just miss my fiancé and it's easier for me to visit him, than it is for him to visit me. We plan to get married soon, but that visa will take forever to process so we also want the tourist visa so we can visit each other while a determination is made. I only plan to visit him two-three times a year because I also have a crochet business in Brazil that takes up a lot of my time.
Additional Information: I seen her 2019, and twice in 2022. I will see her next week again making it 4 times total.

She will be interviewed by the US Embassy in the Philippines, assuming she currently resides in the Philippines.  I think you will be hard-pressed to find a Philippine Embassy within the Philippines, since there are none, so whatever TikTok said isn't even possible, or was misunderstood.
 
Also, CFO is not conducted by the embassy.  It is a class required by the Philippine government for Filipinos that will exit the country.  The passport stamp is also old news.  Now they issue a digital certificate.  The CFO interview can be similar to the embassy interview.  Take the same documents to CFO that she took to the interview.

I can totally see my wife's family going through this. When we had her despedida/engagement party, it seemed like the entire town showed up.

I can totally see my wife's family going through this. When we had her despedida/engagement party, it seemed like the entire town showed up.

The two shippers we use do not require a packing list.  We go there respective websites, print the shipping label and that's it.
 
We ship lots of things.  We built a house so we shipped household items, clothing, food stuff, gifts, etc.  My wife is also an online seller, so she ships anything she has sold.  

I can totally see my wife's family going through this. When we had her despedida/engagement party, it seemed like the entire town showed up.

My wife sent approximately the contents of a small warehouse in 5 extra large balikbayan boxes simultaneously.  Apparently 5 boxes sent together constitutes "one shipment".  The paperwork was accomplished with all the precision, accuracy and attention to detail you would normally expect in the Philippines.  I don't speak Tagalog but I surmised the LBC driver who arrived to pick up the boxes was coaching my wife on what she could or could not write down on the paperwork. The short list I saw somehow nowhere near matched the sheer quantity of the boxes.  Even I was skeptical that shipment would go through without trouble as it seemed to somehow push the envelope little bit but lo and behold all 5 boxes appeared on the other side trouble free.

FYI, with chocolate will likely arrive in some sort of a melted state as these containers get hot during transit.
 
 

I have been sending BB boxes through LBC for almost 15 years. First bit of advice, ignore the person you spoke to at LBC. I have never asked or been told that I am limited to 12 of anything. But, if nothing else, say you are sending 36 shirts. List as 12 Boys shirts, 12 Mens shirts. 12 womens shirts. See what I mean? The do not check your boxes anyway. I have sent many things that I either did not list or listed incorrectly. For chocolates, the best deal is the big bag at Costco. I don't know how you can 15 of those in a single bb box. I have sent computers, laptops, cash, jewelry, etc. and never had a problem. If you list them they will want to charge you extra. Bottom line is no one is going to open your box and search it.

Topic moved from Moving to the US forum to Regional discussion: Philippines.

Found it! Thank you.

Correct, evidence of a bonafide marriage isn't needed with the i-485. Many of us didn't send any evidence, only the marriage certificate. You can if you want to, of course. 

This is wise advice. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain that to me! I will submit the additional forms with the I-485.

This is wise advice. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain that to me! I will submit the additional forms with the I-485.

-Aside from the I-485, do we need to file any additional documents due to my wife's unauthorized stay? NO
-Please confirm: we do NOT need to file I-130, correct? NO if u are married within 90 days 
-Throughout the I-485, there are fields to enter my wife's A number, but I don't see this anywhere in our documents. Am I missing it? if she never got A number, live it blank
-I-485 item 22 asks for her non-immigrant visa number. Her K1 visa has two numbers that look like possibilities to me; what are the criteria for this number? Should I just list both? usually the red color one on the bottom of the visa
-Filing fees are $1140 for the I-485 and $85 for biometrics. Do I submit separate checks, or a single check for $1225? single check is fine
-I was under the impression that we needed to submit lots of evidence of continued relationship, but the I-485 instructions don't mention any of that. Should I submit evidence anyway? yes submit it all. anything joint account is better.

There's way more forms to be filed with I-485. You do not need I-130, but need forms like I-131, I-765 and others.
 
Please check the guide for more info:
 
 
She likely doesn't have it yet, leave blank.
 
 
Search images in Google for "K1 visa number". There's good images showing where it is.
 
You can submit as single check, but make sure amounts are correct.

These are free forms when filed with I-485.
 
I strongly encourage filing them even if your wife doesn't have any plans for work or travel.
 
Few times a month I see messages on this forum asking: "My spouse needs to travel back home because his / her mother got sick etc."
 
Don't make this mistake! Her relatives can get sick or there may be other emergency requiring her to leave the US temporarily. It cannot be done if she doesn't have Advance Parole. Her I-485 will be abandoned if she doesn't have AP. So file for it.
 
EAD may be useful for various reasons, not just for employment. It can be used as ID and to do any financial stuff at banks. In this economy you never know if she would need or want out of boredom get a part time job at Starbucks.
 
Do not make your wife's life harder by not filing these forms.
 
GC may take 1.5 years to get approved. At least with AP and EAD, which usually come in 6-8 months, she'll have a chance to live life.
 
P.S I'm nobody to give this particular advice, but I'll leave my $0.02. I-485 is filed by immigrant or on their behalf. It's a good idea to share the knowledge with your wife and set her expectations right regarding immigration. She should understand the process, the questions on forms etc because she's likely going to be interviewed with you for AOS. You guys need to have transparency and prepare for it together.

If you married within 90 days of her arrival, you do NOT need an I-130.

Hey everyone. My fiancee got her K1 visa and we successfully made it home to the USA last night, but we had some scares along the way.
 
Our flight out of Manila was Sunday morning at 9:30 am. About 6am, we took the elevator down to check out of the Airbnb and get a taxi to NAIA. The elevator then got stuck and powered down on the 5th floor. This is somewhat of a nightmare for me, and I was picturing us missing our flight. I was already sweating, now stuck in this tiny, hot elevator for who knows how long? I can't imagine the elevator techs in the Philippines are going to be easy to conjure at 6am on a Sunday. I sounded the alarm from inside the elevator, and finally one of the residents on the 5th floor woke up and got security, who opened the door from the outside. We were only stuck for about 30 mins.
 
We made it to the airport and proceeded to go through the initial security checkpoint with all our bags. The security officer noticed something in the scan of my fiancee's bag, and pulled us aside to investigate. One officer started filming everything on his phone, which scared me a bit. They emptied and searched the bag, but came up with nothing. Then they re-scanned the empty bag and now noticed a second suspicious item. In the liner (!!!) of the bag, accessible via zipper that she or I had never opened, the security officer found two 9mm bullets right in front of my eyes. 
 
I bought this bag, a typical medium-sized piece of luggage, in the Philippines for my fiancee in 2019, and it was never out of her possession. I read stories online about airport security planting bullets and then extorting money to let the traveler go. Airport security involved a police officer, who grilled us for about 30 minutes. They ultimately believed us and let us go. We know that someone planted those bullets, but we can't figure out who or when.
 
We made our flight with a little time to spare, but I got a few gray hairs out of it. Everything else went smoothly, and hallelujah, we made it home.