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top_secret

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  • City
    San Diego
  • State
    California

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  • Immigration Status
    Naturalization (approved)
  • Place benefits filed at
    National Benefits Center
  • Local Office
    San Diego CA
  • Country
    Philippines

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  1.    EatBulaga reacted to a post in a topic: Approval Rates for K-1 Visa Processing
  2.    TBoneTX reacted to a post in a topic: N400, 3 year rule - Getting ready to file
  3. top_secret
    Amazon, eBay, etc do have the new version flash cards. They seem to be using the terminology "128 Questions" to designate the difference from the previous 2008 questions. Additionally, my wife found the civic question practice videos and mock test videos on YouTube to be a fantastically useful resource. There are many different ones. Just do a YouTube search for "128 Civics questions". I went with my wife to her interview. I just sat in the waiting room but when the agent came to the door and called my wife to go back to her interview he asked her by my full first and last name if I was her husband in the application and acknowledged my being there. I took it that he had just reviewed the application, recognized me from the pictures we submitted and did make note of the fact I showed up.
  4.    top_secret reacted to a post in a topic: Updating citizenship status with SSA in 2025
  5.    Dashinka reacted to a post in a topic: My wife's N400 denied because we filed 88 days early (corrected version) (Merged)
  6.    cluelessinny2 reacted to a post in a topic: Denied at manila interview
  7. top_secret
    I know for sure that Philippine Airlines will allow pregnant passengers to fly at up to 8 months as long as their OB-GYN will sign a simple form that states they are fit for travel. As far as the 221g, the best course of action is to give the embassy whatever they ask for as quickly as humanly possible, wether the applicant should have needed it or not.
  8.    MarJhi reacted to a post in a topic: K1: What can we do to show proof of relationship in our next visit together.
  9.    rbv_shard reacted to a post in a topic: Traveling to PH with Expired GC + I-797 Extension (I-751 & N-400 Pending)?
  10.    pocccco reacted to a post in a topic: Traveling to PH with Expired GC + I-797 Extension (I-751 & N-400 Pending)?
  11.    Edward and Jaycel reacted to a post in a topic: Approval Rates for K-1 Visa Processing
  12.    appleblossom reacted to a post in a topic: Approval Rates for K-1 Visa Processing
  13.    Edward and Jaycel reacted to a post in a topic: Traveling to PH with Expired GC + I-797 Extension (I-751 & N-400 Pending)?
  14. top_secret
    There are statistics for B visa refusal rates and the Philippines has ~31% refusal rate. (~69% approval rate) https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/RefusalRates/FY25.pdf But the ~31% refused for B visas are probably mostly the same demographic as allot of typical K1 visa applicants. I don't think there are any refusal rate statistics for K1 visas but US Embassy Manila has a reputation for being one of the easiest in the world for K1 approvals. I think that almost all denials going through Manila involve some glaring deficiency in requirements or very blatant ineligibilities. Any genuine case should sail through there pretty easily if the paperwork is in order.
  15. top_secret
    I never noticed how much I tend to wear the same clothes when traveling until I started going through a bunch of photos from a number of different trips looking for evidence. 😅
  16.    top_secret reacted to a post in a topic: Philippines CFO How Screwed Am I?
  17.    top_secret reacted to a post in a topic: Philippines CFO How Screwed Am I?
  18. top_secret
    My wife and stepdaughter traveled to the Philippines several times while they had extension letters. You should be fine. Every day NAIA probably sees dozens of US Permanent residents traveling with expired green cards and extension letters. Everyone from check-in agents to Philippine immigration knows all about extension letters. It's common and no big deal. Amongst the handful of Filipino green card holders who have had any trouble with US Immigration recently, I think they all had criminal history in the US. (no matter how minor or long ago). "Ordinary" Filipino green card holders are traveling trouble free.
  19.    top_secret reacted to a post in a topic: PCG SF
  20.    top_secret reacted to a post in a topic: PCG SF
  21. top_secret
    If you are staying in the Philippines it is possible to process a ROM at the DFA ASEANA office in Manila. https://consular.dfa.gov.ph/report-of-marriage/ It still gets forwarded to the relevant consulate for processing but it can all be handled with an in person visit to the DFA office in Manila. I believe they will also provide a certificate of filing too which would make CFO happy.
  22. top_secret
    There's a reasonable chance it would make it through NVC as is and if not, the worse that would happen is they reject it and then you would have to fix it anyway. So there is not much downside to submitting what she has. It would probably get documentary qualified. However, US Embassy Manila is generally much more strict than NVC about NBI Clearance names. So even if it sails through NVC just fine, she almost certainly needs to get a new updated one before the day of her interview. It MUST include your surname. USEM would accept it as "single" including her married name with your surname listed as an AKA. OR as "married" listing your surname as "husband's name". Even if she never used your surname and never plans to, USEM still requires it in the NBI Clearance.
  23. top_secret
    I don't know of anyone who has actually, really, been denied exit by CFO but I have seen very significant delays, hassles, hardship etc created by CFO. They can be very difficult so it is often easiest to appease them and just file the ROM. The NBI Clearance must include your surname as either "husband's name" OR as an AKA, wether your wife ever used it or not, because under Philippine law she is entitled to use it if she likes. As a legal name she it entitled to use it must be included on the NBI Clearance somehow. A ROM for a Utah online marriage is filed with the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco and can be totally filed by mail from anywhere in the world that has functioning mail. https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/civil-registry/
  24. top_secret
    NVC and US Embassy Manila should be fine without a ROM. Her NBI Clearance is ok as single but it must list her married name, including your surname, as an AKA. Not filing a ROM is not an issue for US visa issuance but you can expect very significant blowback from Philippine CFO which their immigration requires to exit the country. Unless there is a very strong legal or philosophical reason to go against the Philippine government, the path of least resistance is to get one filled. Additionally, while there is no requirement that she ever uses your surname, if she ever does want to use your name it will be a thousand times easier if she could change her Philippine Passport BEFORE her interview and that would require a ROM.
  25. top_secret
    If your wife naturalizes in 2026 one could argue that if the MIL had any immigrant intent at all, she would just have your wife sponsor her immigrant visa. Since she hasn't and doesn't want to, it is evidence she only intends to visit. In any case, a change in your wife's citizenship is a "change" in her mother's overall life circumstances. Parents with kids in the US do seem to have better odds for B2 visas than most in the Philippines. Having a US based kid does defacto make them well off by Philippine standards. Factors like age or if MIL and FIL are still together might make a difference (???)
  26.    top_secret reacted to a post in a topic: Passport update
  27. top_secret
    As far as dual citizenship. It is very easy for her to reclaim her Philippine Citizenship at a Philippine consulate in the US. In her case that is probably something she should look at. As far as money, my primary concern would be how much she really understands financial matters. Sometimes people who have not grown up exposed to managing money become easily exploited in the Philippines if they suddenly fall into having a big chunk of assets to manage. I would tend to trust US institutions to offer a little more protection then Philippine institutions. Maybe consider putting something on autopilot with Schwab or Fidelity and let her access it with an ATM card. Put some kind of checks and balances in place though. Educating her in financial matters may be important too.
  28. top_secret
    If she is in the US, all Philippine passport renewals require an in-person appearance at a Philippine consulate or at a consular outreach event. Appointments must be made online here https://passport.gov.ph/ . If she married in the US they would also expect her to file a Report of Marriage. This could almost certainly be filled concurrently with the passport renewal so she could be counted as married and use her married name if desired on her new passport with only one trip to the consulate.
  29. top_secret
    www.PSAHelpline.ph is a private contractor officially sanctioned by PSA (under threat of lawsuit) so they are legit and depending on the provence and how reliable her address is for delivery they would generally take 1-2 weeks. They deliver genuine PSA certified copies. Christmas and New Year's may cause some delays.
  30. top_secret
    The Philippines requires you to have an onward or round trip ticket. Philippine immigration never checks, but it is the airline from the US you will have an issue with. If you have a one-way ticket the airline will almost certainly request to see your onward or round trip ticket at check-in in the US and would deny you boarding if you don't have one. If you really don't know your return date so don't have a return ticket yet, one solution for onward ticket is the morning you check-in buy a ticket online for United Airlines, Manila to Guam. Present it to the check-in agent as onward ticket when requested. Cancel it as soon as you have your boarding passes. It's cancelable online without penalty for 24 hours. No need to worry about immigration in the Philippines. You just need to make it past airline check-in in the US. Once you are in the Philippines it is easy to extend your stay as long as you need by paying the fee for visa extensions. You could extend you stay up to three years.
  31.    top_secret reacted to a post in a topic: Is it realistic to hope to get a passport within a week of oath?
  32.    top_secret reacted to a post in a topic: When to expect new SS card after N400 approval?
  33. top_secret
    Well I figure I'd come back and update the timeline on this thing since although it was approved on July 28 we still do not have the citizenship certificate yet. After the July 28 approval, the status changed again on August 19 to "Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled'. Although at 12 y/o she does not need to do an oath so I assume that would just consist of showing up and being handed the certificate. No further updates until October 10 when the status changed to "Oath Ceremony Notice Was Mailed" and then the following day a pdf copy of the notice appeared under the documents tab with a scheduled appearance at the local USCIS field office October 29. So from approval to printing and handing over the certificate is an additional 3 months. So final timeframe is 7 1/2 months. The State Department completed essentially the same task issuing her passport in less than 24 hours for 1/6th the cost. Looking at USCIS's Facebook page is seems that in previous years they try to make some kind of USCIS Halloween costume party for children receiving certificates of citizenship at the end of October so we will see about that. Honestly, it seems a bit odd tying Halloween and citizenship together somehow.
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