Cody&Razely

Shipped a package via DHL from US to Libon, Albay. So, shipping to province is not an issue. DHL has a hub in Legazpi.

DHL is better on the Philippine side of things than say UPS or Fedex.  They have more locations in more provinces than the other two. 

Ive mailed documents and credit cards from the US to the Philippines through UPS and FedEx over 15-16 years, never had any issues ever with custom forms, fees, etc etc.  Dont list you have a credit card though on the form just for security purposes.  Just list everything as documents.  
 
DHL is fine as well and tends to be a little cheaper.  They actually partner with LBC and Ive never had issues with LBC either when it was connected to an international shipment. 
 
If you mailing by UPS, their "hub" is way out in Pasig so if your package is going to Manila and nobody is home, it could require a trip to the hub to pick it up, they only make 3 delivery attempts.  
 
I just had two packages with documents sent from Manila to the US and from time of mailing to receiving was 4 days.  That was through LBC/DHL.
 
 

I recommend DHL as well. They are less expensive than FedEx and I have used them successfully. They will help you with any forms that you need to fill out. DO NOT use USPS. USPS goes through the Philippines postal service which sucks and they will most likely demand more money in order to pick up the package.

lol, yeah, we jut got so many conflicting stories from people and also I mean this is the Philippines come on lol, where nothing is every what anyone says it is, even the laws are mere suggestion at best in some cases and finite in others and it seems no one knows which is which lol. But yes now we know for sure first hand.
 
Yeah, I will definitely update with our experience + any helpful tips

You might try DHL for shipping, i think u can track through them or fedex but only up to the point it gets to the Phils after that you are SOL.
my wife sent me a package which was duppose to be to me in 15 days which i payed for took over a month from her in the Phils to me in the states.

If I had already filed a K-1 petition I would definitely stick it out.  I couldn't predict when USEM would resume full scale regular interviews but consider that in normal times they do as many as 14,000 B1/B2 interviews in a month.  There were days when they were conducting 1,000 or more visa interviews of all types in a single day.  Whenever they do decide to resume, I would assume clearing a K-1 interview backlog would have priority over B1/B2 interviews and I'm betting that when they do start, USEM could clear an enormous K-1 interview backlog a whole lot quicker than some people might think.  Quite possibly with a bias towards approval from rushed cursory interviews. The question being, when will they actually start in earnest. 

Your letter did not have to be notarized?  If you didnt need this, its needed now.  I know when they first started having Foreigners go back based on spouse/child in the Philippines, a picture of the spouse/child in the Philippines with a dated newspaper was OK.  Seems they moved from that, to the letter by email, to the letter having to be notarized.
 
The lady I talked to in NY Consulate kept telling me to just follow all the requirements in the web-site, but I asked her how I could do that when she had already given me two requirements that were not even listed. 

and neither is an inbound test required for costa rica as of Oct. 26th and on Nov. 1st will be open to all nations as it was Pre-Covid Panic er sorry I mean "pandemic" darn auto correct  lol

Keep us all updated on how all the travel goes! 

I updated my profile a few weeks ago, but when it came to the timeline I had no idea on alot of the dates, etc.  
 
The best I have is:
 
I-129F was mailed around August 21st 2019 or so from Manila to USCIS. We received the letter to schedule an interview around mid-March 2020.  It was dated Feb 24th but it took about 3 weeks to receive.  In mid-March there was only a few days before the embassy had shut and we had not done the medical yet.   The visa was paid sometime in April I believe. Medical was done 3rd week of August 2020. I was living in Manila when the I-129F was mailed and didnt return to the US until January 2020, its one of the reasons we never checked on the status as there wasnt a rush at the time.  Since I had not worked in the US in the past 10 years, I didnt know how difficult it would be to find a job, but luckily at that time there was quite a few positions in the line of work I do so it only took about 5 weeks.  So the job started mid-February and thats when we started to look at the process again and the same time the letter from the Embassy was received. 
 
If not for COVID, we would have had our interview sometime around 3rd week of March to first week of April 2020. 
 
 

Hello,
 
Just going to let you know fiance received an expedite for her K1 out of Manila.  Not sure if its from the emails I sent them a month ago with no response, but her interview is scheduled for December 3rd.  Not sure if it was because I wrote complaining about my son missing the school year or not, hes not part of the K1.  No one is allowed to attend the interviews except the applicant.  
 
I finally got all of the papers today for myself to apply for a Philippine visa and as long as I get that, Ill still fly back on the 26th of November. 

Great news. Could you share that website? I've looked at some and the most I've seen is "Asian countries" where they list some but not the PH. 
 
Maybe we'll all have a party in Costa Rica ?
 
Thanks
Jamey

Your routing looks absolutely valid for a Philippine passport.  DOH flights get a little extra scrutiny by PH exit immigration since Qatar is a common destination for people seeking work, and booking a ticket through DOH and then jumping ship in DOH is a thing.
 
I came up with another option that may be a little cheaper.   Turkish Airlines flies MNL-IST-BOG for ~$1600 RT, with just one (long) layover. Istanbul is a really nice airport.  Filipinos are admissible without visa in Colombia.  You could meet there and travel to Costa Rica together on separate tickets.
 
We may do the same but to Panama instead of Colombia.  MNL-IST-PTY on Turkish Airlines is $1400.  And PTY-SJO flights are cheaper and shorter than from Colombia.  My fiancée could do that because she already holds both a multiple entry Korea visa and multiple entry Japan visa, either of which Panama will accept as a substitute visa for Filipinos.  However without substitute visas I think a Panama visa visa would be needed.  Not needed for Colombia or Costa Rica.

Not correct.  We actually did this in August.  PCR test was P4500 (~$90), she stayed at approved quarantine hotel "GoHotels", which was P1800 (~$36) a night.  Test results were delivered within 24 hours but since it was an evening arrival and the test results arrived the next evening she stayed a second night in the quarantine hotel.  With negative test result she was free to go home with instructions to self-quarantine until it was 2 weeks from arrival but no actual enforcement or monitoring of self quarantine, though she did comply with that.  She lives elsewhere in Luzon and a family friend was able to drive to and from Manila to get her home with no issues at all.  Getting back home in some other provinces might be a much larger issue.

This is fantastic news.  I had been looking at Costa Rica as a possible third country to marry in since Costa Rica has very easy marriage laws for foreigners.  No residency, translating or apostille requirements that I am aware of.  Costa Rica still had the travel ban on Filipinos though so that is very good news that they might be lifting it.
 
You may have one challenge yet to overcome.  Getting it ticketed in such a way that a Filipina can get to Costa Rica.  Most options for Philippines to Costa Rica transit through the US or Canada and that is no bueno on a Philippine Passport.  It looks like Lufthansa flies Frankfurt to San Jose Costa Rica and Philippine passports CAN transit without visa through 'most' European countries (UK, and France being notable exceptions).  Something like Manila-Istanbul (on Turkish Airlines) Istanbul-Frankfurt-San Jose (on Lufthansa) would be an easy way in on a Philippine passport but it would have to be all on one ticket. I'm looking at this myself and am not seeing bookable online tickets.  You may have to go through a travel agent to get it ticketed. Or if you have a big stash of frequent flyer miles anywhere, award tickets might give you flexibility you cant even buy.   I think it's going to take two airlines on one ticket no matter what you do.
 
If you come up with a solution for booking the ticket I am interested in Costa Rica myself.  I'm working on the same issue.

It's not that serious. The CDC estimates survival rate is 97% - 99.5%. 

Philippines will still require those leaving to be quarantined for 14 days when they come back. Those facilities are upwards of 100 USD per day 

and neither is an inbound test required for costa rica as of Oct. 26th and on Nov. 1st will be open to all nations as it was Pre-Covid Panic er sorry I mean "pandemic" darn auto correct  lol

and neither is an inbound test required for costa rica as of Oct. 26th and on Nov. 1st will be open to all nations as it was Pre-Covid Panic er sorry I mean "pandemic" darn auto correct  lol

and neither is an inbound test required for costa rica as of Oct. 26th and on Nov. 1st will be open to all nations as it was Pre-Covid Panic er sorry I mean "pandemic" darn auto correct  lol

Aaaaand a COVID test is no longer required for outbound travellers
 
Time to book that holiday!

lol, yeah, we jut got so many conflicting stories from people and also I mean this is the Philippines come on lol, where nothing is every what anyone says it is, even the laws are mere suggestion at best in some cases and finite in others and it seems no one knows which is which lol. But yes now we know for sure first hand.
 
Yeah, I will definitely update with our experience + any helpful tips

@Cody&Razely Glad to know it's re-re-re-confirmed that CFO stickers are NOT needed for simple tourist trips abroad.
 
Good luck and let us know once your fiancée manages to travel!

Sooooo, My fiancé (after 4 days of sweating unnecessarily about it lol)  Did as the CFO told her to do in the first place and skipped the part where the Visa upload was required completed the rest based on the information of what will be her eventual need for CFO (K-1Visa which is still pending "At NVC) and got her Seminar within hours with no email asking for any more information. But Upon going into the seminar (which is not a seminar but simply they give you a phone number and a time to call and then you listen to someone talk for 20+ min) the CFO counselor was very nice and gracious but told her that she did not need and would not be issued a CFO certificate because she did not have a visa of any kind (not that a visa is required to get a CFO) but that because she is technically traveling only for tourism and is not coming to my home country to do so, then she can go anywhere else in the world she wants to and meet with anyone she wants fiancé or not with no CFO cert. 
 
So I was hoping she could get it just for in the future and to make things smoother at the airport but no such luck. 
 
Also, Yes she will be fully prepared I will be sending her the following. (as was the case with our I-129f I like to bury nosy people with mountains of docs lol)
Affidavit of Undertaking / Guaranty Notarized and Apostilled by the Attorney General Affidavit of Support & Sponsorship Notarized and Apostilled by the Attorney General Declaration of Support with Invitation Notarized and Apostilled by the Attorney General My Bank Transcript issued on a bank stationary signed by the branch manager for the last year with totals, deposits, averages, etc... My Employment Verification listing my employer, my standing with the company, my hire date and my salary My last three years of IRS Record of Account transcripts My last 6 months of pay stubs An Authorized User Credit card in her name to my credit account at my bank A large sum of money to her bank account, a few thousand $ My Credit report in full My FBI Criminal history  Signed & Dated letters of statement Attesting to my character and the credibility of our relationship from various family members listing how they are related to me and how long they have known me Signed & Dated letters of statement Attesting to Her character and the credibility of our relationship from various family members listing how they are related to her and how long they have known her 12 pages of photo's of us together in person just us and also us with her family at gathering and at home 12 months of conversation transcripts between me and her and screen shots and photo's of us video chatting Round trip tickets full Travel & Medical & Covid Insurance Pre-booked accommodations for the entire duration Negative RT-PCR Test Results etc... there's some more but I forgot what else lol As well as printouts of legal outlines for exiting BI Law, IATF Exiting Guidelines, the Law allowing Apostille in stead of Consulate Authentication, etc... 
 
Should be fun, wish us luck lol