mikeandlani

Im in the same boat as you are, teresa and angela. I used to be a corporate lawyer in the Philippines, now i'm temporarily a homemaker here in VA. i read over the VA Bar Association and found out that to take the Bar i would have to be certified by an ABA accredited school, hence, i'm thinking of taking a LLM course here in VA, with IP specialization, just so i can have that much needed certification. Since education is a bit expensive here in the states, i'm planning to work as an IP para-legal to help finance my education, that way i won't get to burden our joint finances as much and get to learn the US legal system in the process. I've read some firms/organizations likewise have education benefits for their employees, which makes it more of an attractive option for me. I know it wouldn't be the same as working back home, being used to giving out orders instead of taking one, but one has got to do what has to be done under the circumstances.

Goodluck to all of us in finding a job closely related to what we have been used to back home.

hi! you really can't book online for MNL-US you would have to go check with a Philippine travel agent for that. i remember my friend mentioning that there is a restriction on KE's outbound segment, hence no internet booking allowed. i can give you my travel agent's email address so you can inquire through her if you want.

Yes I would appreciate her email address Thanks

hi! you can get in touch with andrea at andrea.carcha@gmail.com. she's an agent for Adkins Travel based in Manila. Goodluck with the rates.

if your flight is outbound Manila and your ticket is purchased overseas, the ticket holder should be able to present the credit card used to purchase the e-ticket or a photo copy of the same. this is the current practice in the philippines, due to the high incidence of identity theft/credit card fraud in North America, its to verify if it was indeed the card holder who purchased the ticket.

identity theft/credit card fraud is likewise the reason why a US issued credit card cannot book through any Philippine based airline e-ticket facility.

Dude, check this link:

http://www.koreanair.com/local/na/gp/eng/tp/sd/eng_tp_sd.jsp

You can indeed select Manila to LA. Due diligence is required here. I cannot do it for you.

Due diligence? You CAN NOT make a reservation at the link you are giving. I invite you to or anyone here to go to the reservation page and tell me they can see Manila to Los Angeles and get a price for a ticket.

hi! you really can't book online for MNL-US you would have to go check with a Philippine travel agent for that. i remember my friend mentioning that there is a restriction on KE's outbound segment, hence no internet booking allowed. i can give you my travel agent's email address so you can inquire through her if you want.

gave my notice after i got my visa in hand, which is 2 months before my resignation takes effect. my boss didnt forward it to our HR until my last day of work (took my terminal leave on my last month)

I was just looking for tickets for My Asawa to come here on NWA.

If you go to more search options and enter resident of Philippines it gives you about $150 price difference

Just an FYI

...or you can just have your asawa buy through a philippine based travel agent and ask for a first time immigrant rate. i inquired from my travel agent as my friend's fiancee is flying on the 14th and got a $979 one way ticket on NWA for MNL-WAS route.

they asked for my BC too! i told them i didnt bring it with me since it wasnt required from their website. they said it was necessary to check on my DoB. so i had to go back the next day (yesterday) and finally applied for one. i was advised that i'd be getting my card in the mail within 2 weeks.

lesson learned, just to save on the extra trip, might as well bring your BC, Passport and your immigration papers with you when you go visit your friendly local SSA office

i had 200 plus some loose change in my wallet for the trip. bought some Royce chocolates at the Nagoya airport to bring home to my in laws as well as for my and hubby's consumption on the plane ride. those chocolate potato chips are great! YUM! anyone flying in to DCA on board NW? you think you can buy some royce chocs for me? LOL

brought all my dollar currencies with me too, no sense in leaving them in the PI.

my prayers go to everyone who are still waiting for your visa delivery. edp333 i sincerely hope your wife gets her visa soon, you guys have been waiting since the 2nd week of february...let's hope the new month brings some good news.

thanks for all your responses. will head to my local SSA to apply for one.

i've been waiting for 3 weeks now for my SS card to arrive, imagine my surprise when what i got on the mail today was my 2 year green card ... would you guys suggest i go visit my local SSA to file a new application, or should i wait a few weeks more?

congratulations! it sure gives hope to us new immigrants. goodluck on your new position and God bless.

For as long as the citizenship of the petitioning spouse is foreign, even if he or she is previously a Filipino citizen, the Filipino partner is required to undergo the CFO Guidance and Counseling Program.

I know this but David's wife just wanted to change the name on her passport. There's no CFO requirement for that.

There's only a CFO requirement when you're emigrating abroad. So.. when Davids's wife gets her visa, she'll need to go attend a CFO seminar. As a matter of fact, one of the rquirements for a CFO seminar is a visa.

http://www.cfo.gov.ph/emig_manila.htm

What if David's wife dont have a visa yet? My wife certainly dont have a visa yet and she should not be able to attend a CFO seminar. But knowing how things work in the Philippines, I have no doubt my wife can attend the CFO seminar even without a visa IF she wants to.

But the point is and original topic, to change your name to your new married on your passport, a CFO seminar is NOT required.

It IS. The requirement on the DFA website stating that all you need is personal appearance as well as MC on NSO SECPA is the general rule. An exception to that will be if you are married to a foreign national, then that's where the CFO certificate kicks in as additional documentation. Once you have taken the CFO seminar you no longer need to take it again for your visa application. You just go back there for stamping after you have your visa in hand.

Noel, if your surname is Filipino sounding, i can only guess that the DFA personnel failed to notice your citizenship in your MC which is why your wife wasn't required to present her CFO certificate. Prior to our visa application, i was contemplating on having my passport amended to reflect my married name, however, i was advised by my travel agent (she noticed my husband's citizenship, notwithstanding that its a common filipino surname) to go attend a CFO seminar as the DFA requires the certificate to process the amendment. Hence, i opted to retain my maiden name in my passport--will just renew the same using my married name in 2010. And yes, i did get to attend the CFO seminar prior to leaving Manila, as it is a philippine government pre-requisite prior to immigrating...it was waaay cheaper if i did it earlier for the passport amendment though...

if you want spanish cuisine in quezon city, try alba's they have 2 branches in quezon city--eastwood city in libis and another in tomas morato. they have an all you can eat lunch buffet. last time i checked (this was last month) it was at 500Php/pax. here's the site: http://www.alba.com.ph/home.htm

another option would be kamayan, for crossover all you can eat buffet (filipino, japanese and american cuisine) at about the same price as Alba.

we had our civil wedding performed by my cousin, who's a judge in Makati. it was her gift to us, so we paid nothing. we had our mini reception in Lutong Macao in Jupiter St., spent 15,000 for 30 guests including bottomless drinks. i guess the 3,000 quote is the standard rate--just make sure it includes filing fee with the local civil registrar, so can get your certified copy of your marriage certificate after your boracay trip.

congratulations and best wishes on your forthcoming wedding.

Congratulations! have a safe trip to the US. spring's coming, when are you flying in?

congratulations to both of you! may your respective SOs have a safe and uneventful flight. God Bless!

are there any other fees or taxes???? I got the flight booked online.. we cant

print e-tickets, something to do with two airlines... continental told me to just have her

go to the counter and give her confirmation code... I was reading an old post where they

could tax her for foriegn bought tickets??

if you bought the tickets online, your fiancee needs to go the PTA counter at the airport and pay for the Php1620 travel tax. add the Php750 terminal fee and she's all set to fly to you.

may she have an uneventful trip.

best wishes on your future life together.

Congratulations! both on your mom's visa approval and your forthcoming wedding!

its the custom's declaration form. =)

i got in with my hubby last March 3, 2008 via Detroit. no questions were asked by the CB Officer (i guess because hubby was with me). a fingerprint of my forefinger was taken and was asked to sign a form. save yourself some time and go to counter 37 or the special processing counter. we lined up at counter 41 and after looking at our passports were told to go to counter 37.

have a safe trip everyone!

congratulations! hope you get the visa delivered soon.

Congrats with the interview. i hope you get the results of the document verification soon!

i suggest you gather all the pictures that you have together. no emails were asked from me during my interview, just photos of me and my husband together.

Congratulations!

May love and happiness continue to fill your life together. have a safe trip to the US.

do we need document verification ? we got married here april 10, 2007 i thought document verification is only for those who are filing i-129f ...do you have any idea what verification all about????

thank you for your sincere reply ....God bless you all..!!

yes you do. i suggest you pay for it as soon as you get your medical and interview schedule. quoted hereunder is the advisory from the USEM website:

"Applicants whose visa eligibility is dependent upon their marital status (i.e. K-1, K-3, CR-1, IR-1, F-1 and F2-B categories) will normally need to have their documents verified through the National Statistics Office (NSO) before the U.S. Embassy in Manila can issue the visa. Those with a delayed birth or death certificate or only local civil registrar copies of such documents may need to have their documents verified.

In order to avoid unnecessary delay in the visa issuance process, the U.S. Embassy in Manila strongly encourages applicants in the categories mentioned above to pay the document verification fee prior to their immigrant visa interview. Payment can be made through any Metrobank location. The cost of the document verification is P650 per applicant. For specific instructions on how to pay the document verification fee, please click here. If you are unable to pay for the document verification before your immigrant visa interview, you may be asked to pay the fee on the day of your interview. Please note that if you pay on the day of your interview, there will be a delay of one to two weeks in the processing of your application."

here's the link for the payment instructions: http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwfdelb.pdf

congratulations! may you have a safe trip to the US!