Dhilman2

Book flights in the name on the passport. Carry the marriage certificate as evidence of name change .. it links the passport name with the GC name    

Because it bypasses the entire system of security checks in the home country that is done there by the embassy and USCIS has to do it from here which ties up the federal system(s) that have to search for answer(s) and security checks from foreign governments  Doing this involves several branches of the federal government
for one a tourist does not have to provide a criminal report and medical exam so all the paperwork that would have been done from homeland now has to be done from here and is much harder to do especially from governments that are poor record keepers 

I will update this since I called the US Embassy in Manila and share my answer. I was told by the phone staff that answered my call the reference number is in fact the receipt number listed on the printed out receipt. If this helps someone thats what is all about. Dave

Thanks Chancy, I used the "Immigration option" and it's ready.. thanks for your suggestion.
 

Tell her to go to the street markets, and quit the fancy malls.. $700 a month is about $400 to much after living in the Phils for 18mons. Its imo its about "keeping up appearances.."
 

Im a filipina and married to a white guy. Before I married my husband I told him what he's getting into in terms of the culture part supporting my family. At the same time, I told my parents and family I'm ONLY gonna help them if I'm able, if it's within our means, and after we pay our own bills. I think there should be a balance because we can never get rid of that culture of paying our family and parents back. But at the same time the family should not be demanding. And if necessary, I will make things right by telling my parents it's too much and I don't want to support them anymore because they're being so ungrateful and demanding. So that being said it's really up to you and your wife, for me $700 per month is A LOT! To give you an idea a regular job will make you around $200-$300 per month depending on which location in the Philippines, and if you work in the government which we view it as "the stable job" then you get around $400-600 per month. 
 
I bought my family a car and give them money here and there so I probably spent around $500-$1000 per month but that's because me and my husband's work is better now.
 
But 4 years ago we only sent them around $100-$200 a month because we struggled financially. 
 
For me if my parent/s is that toxic and demanding? I'm sorry I probably won't cut her off but instead of her $700 demand per month I'll probably send her $100 a month. I don't know it's just me. I love my family and parents so much but there's a fine line between RESPECT and TOXIC BEHAVIOR. 

My fiance (still waiting on NOA2) is still in the Philippines. Here is a breakdown of her monthly expenses, and she is living comfortably.
 
Her rent for a clean 2 bedroom in a nice, decent neighborhood in Makati is $260 per month. 
 
Electricity and gas bill totals another $100 per month on the high end. 
 
Food I am not 100% sure because she has 6 to 8 family members living with her, but by herself it wouldn't be much, she loves to cook and she doesn't like to eat out because she knows she can cook a better quality meal for a lot less. If she would spend more than $150 a month on food I would be surprised, but I will throw that number in just to be on the safe side.
 
Miscellaneous expenses like transportation and load for her phone, probably not more than $40 per month.
 
Add all of this together and we are looking at $550 per month, and that is on the HIGH END for her and that food budget feeds a large group. I think maybe your mother in law may have high living standards or may even want to show off to her friends. If my fiance can live and eat pretty good with 6 to 8 people living with her at any time for $550 a month then there is no reason your mother in law can't live well by herself on $700. If anything you should give her a pay cut😁
 
**By the way, I know all of these numbers because for 8 or 9 months they were all out of work because they were locked down completely, then again for another few months later on. I took care of the expenses until they returned to work and she gave me a meticulous accounting of every peso that was spent, showed me every receipt.**

It's emotional blackmail, preying on the Filipino mentality of putting family first.
 
@Timona accurately described what happens to some parents whose kids make it to the US. That $700 remittance is likely being used to keep up appearances to local friends and family. 
 
I am a Filipina. I also despise such behavior. If my parents ever said anything like that to me, I would cut off communication pronto. And to underscore my point, I would stop the money transfers. If they apologized, I would restart sending them a bag of rice a month. 
 
Your wife needs to draw firmer boundaries or the behavior is never going to stop. Filipinos have an extremely hard time saying No, especially to family, so the two of you need to be fully aligned with what is and is not acceptable financial support.

I think in every culture there are a few parents that lives off their children and lay a guilt trip on their children. 
 
I'm a parent and I would never say to my children they owe me everything just because I raised them. My parents would go out of their way not to inconvenient me and always gave me financial help even if I don't need it. 
 
 

$700 is a lot of money in third world country like Philippines. This was my monthly paycheck, after taxes, from a gas station that I used to work at for 30 hours a week while at University.
 
Engineers with 8 years experience earn $1000 per month in Kenya. Your MIL isn't even an engineer. 
 
What I think is happening is she now wants to maintain and show upscale status in the neighborhood being that her children are in the US. This is so common amongst parents in third world countries whose children are abroad. They demand, even if they did not even pay a single dollar to get you to US. Basically, your struggles got you to US and when they (parents) woke up and realized that you're in US, they now start using you as pension. 
 
Well, cut the ungrateful person off. Let her stretch $0. You and your wife owe her nothing. Birthing someone shouldn't guarantee entitlement. Your wife didn't ask them to birth her nor for them to engage in Adam and Eve, the scenario that brought her to existence. The highlighted should be your wife' clap back to her mom, should MIL entitlement reach unbearable levels. 
 
 I loathe such kind of mentality. 

Thank you for your comment Jorgedig.  "Simple appears to mean normal, not demanding of the luxuries in life. ie: Happy to live a simple life. (In comparison to what is seen in many others)."
 
In the Philippines, and any Filipino(a) here, please correct me if I'm wrong, is not a put-down.  Many women say "I"m a simple person, and it means that I'm not high-so.  

You're coming from a place of hurt and pain. I get it. But you're generalizing Filipinas in a way that sounds like both you and your wife had expectations of each other that just didn't match reality. You expected a "simple" woman, and it sounded like she expected a "good" provider. It seems that you both resent each other for not living up to those expectations.

It sounds like your wife never drew firm boundaries with her family when it came to money or family support. Before getting married, did you ever have honest, direct discussions with her about how much money she would send home? What were your backup plans if someone in her family had a financial emergency? Exactly how many people were you expected to support back home? What were her expectations about the wedding? How much time did you spend in the Philippines and how much did you know about Filipino culture before you married? 
 
These are all things that the two of you should have talked about seriously before getting married. Or maybe you did, but the priorities changed. In any case, it sounds like a lot of built up resentment on both sides -  yours and hers.
 
I'm a Filipina, and kuripot (cheap), and I still send money regularly to my family because I have a shared responsibility with my siblings to take care of an aging father. Emphasis on shared. But I've set clear boundaries with them: you are only getting X pesos a month, because I'm married now, and I have my own priorities, and they do not include supporting everyone back home. My siblings have their own jobs, emergency funds, insurance and investments, and we all share expenses with supporting our aging father. I was up front with my husband about this while we were dating, and we had our financial plans in writing so that it was always clear.
 
 
 
 
Also, any woman, Filipina or not, whose husband accuses her of infidelity on social media, is not going to be happy.
 

You had me until this.  Your saga sounds like you are a disgruntled customer.
 
Why not look for a partner for their own merits, rather than someone from a specific country who you assume will be "simple"?

They are supposed to be serving "we the people". I think its time we were more vocal about this wait. Working 4hrs a day when people need their lives take off hold is not the answer. Write your Congress representatives. 
 

If things are not good, do as you plan. Work on it and then get the visa. No point spending money on something that may be a waste of time. Are there 4 visas you need or just yours? 
 
Now as a mother I would not take my kids to the US when my marriage maybe falling apart.
I can only see all sorts of trouble. He boots you out keeps the kids (if they are USC the courts may never let them move back to the UK). Not  horrible if you want to stay in the US but horrible if you are trapped living in a place you hate. (just my train of thought not saying this would happen)
 
If he wants this to work then he needs to step up too not just you working on it. It takes two. If you saying this is your 2nd time around is with him, do as you planned and think long and hard. 

Coming to the US on a non-K1 visa with intent to marry, adjust status, and stay in the US is fraud.
 
Coming to the US on a non-K1 visa with intent to marry and return is just fine.
 
Also, you could marry in your fiance's country or a third country (Denmark is frequently suggested as a country that's relatively easy for two foreigners to legally marry in, and seems like would be relatively convenient given a Finnish fiance); that's fine as far as US immigration is concerned.
 
/doing any of this may be tricky right now due to COVID-related travel restrictions
 

That is not correct. You could get married in Finland and file for the CR1. I’m not 100% sure but I think technically he could come under the visa waiver, get married, then depart. All you’re doing by adding the K1 visa process is adding $535 fee plus round trip tickets for him plus an extra 7-12 months of waiting time.

Also keep in mind that the name "Rapid Visa" is very misleading, as they can do nothing to speed up the process.  If anything, using them will slow it down because it creates one more step in the process that those of us who do it ourselves can skip.  If you use them you'll still have to get all the documents, and provide all of the information needed for the petition.  Most VJ members will recommend doing it yourself for these reasons and save the money for trips to see each other during the process.  Good luck!

I hired an immigration attorney, also because my fiance is busy with work and thought hiring someone to do so would be easier
and guess what? you still need to gather every documents by urself
the only thing the attorney, and her legal assistant, does is to ask more details of everything ( more pic for proof of relation, more details for financial support)
we did had our application approved in one go, thanks to the attorney (maybe)
but before that, my fiance had to stop by their office almost every week, to drop off more file they found needed. and when they finally decided they had everything, they ask if we want to use express service or USPS.  
we paid over 2000 for the attorney, and the fee doesnt cover delivery fee! 

I had my interview  TODAY (emphasis added). Pretty self explanatory 

It may not make sense to you but how I interpret it is if they look at the cases they completed 2 months ago (we know they were working with a skeleton shift) and they multiple it by the total number of cases they currently have it would take 32.5-42 months if they continued at the rate they were processing cases 2 months ago... which would lead me to believe whenever they have full staff working again these processing times would drastically decrease.

It's possible that they recently found they still had cases THAT OLD, and decided to finally work on them. 
When it comes to processing times, they use the oldest case they're working on to calculate. It does not mean every case will take that long. 

Not to hijack this post or anything, but I didn't even realize that was an option to look at those lists... You learn something new everyday! AND look at all those approvals from just the past few months amid all the unknowns, it makes me heart happy ❤️❤️ ❤️❤️

that is just a list of VJ members who have not yet had paperwork worked on and approved / it does not mean they are disapproved as you are thinking / it means USCIS will be working on them (future) and for some it takes longer than others 
 

That list you are seeing is based upon data users have provided. VJ has no way of knowing if any particular user's case was approved or not unless you tell them. They don't even have the receipt number to look that info up.
 
Unapproved means "not approved".
"Not approved" does not mean "denied". It only means it has not been marked as approved by that user.