top_secret

That should be fine as far as the US Immigration is concerned. However, if you are planning to travel to Mexico by air, some people have had issues with not being allowed to board flights to Mexico without an actual physical green card. There is some ambiguity from Mexico about whether any type of temporary green card is a valid substitute visa for Mexico and people have had inconsistent results, mainly from the airlines, as to whether they are allowed to travel to Mexico or not.

It would not be a problem. Just bring along the marriage certificate too. Also, they always say it will take 8 months for a processed ROM to be available from PSA but in fact less than 2 months is more realistic. You can check the status on it being sent to PSA by periodically e-mailing oca.crd-us@dfa.gov.ph with a copy of the ROM the consulate returned to you and asking if the "transmittal details" are available yet. If they respond with the "transmittal details" you can use that to get a copy from PSA.

It all goes electronically to the embassy. K1's and any other non-immigrant category that requires a medical still get yellow packets in Manila. Those people should get it when they receive their passport with visa. For CR,IR, Fx and any other immigrant categories it's all electronic.

Getting a Schengen visa for a Filipina is about a category 5 headache. As I mentioned, it is VERY paperwork intensive. It can be done but it is not easy. You need a DETAILED day by day itinerary. I suggest keeping it very simple and basic, involving only the country you are applying at. You could always change your mind later. For the visa application we submitted an itinerary for the Netherlands, sightseeing a few days in Amsterdam, a few days Rotterdam and the Hague. We googled "top tourist attractions in the Netherlands." and pretty much listed that. Then after she had the visa ,we totally changed our mind and spent a couple days in Amsterdam, then few off to Rome and Paris. She should enter through the country that gave her the visa. Technically she should apply at the embassy of the country where she will spend the most time but point of entry is the only place where it would be questioned. You need confirmed hotel bookings for every day of the itinerary. We did them on booking.com with big chain hotels that have free online cancelation without penalty. She needs an airline ticket for the visa application. Actually both of you together if you are sponsoring her. I booked a dummy award ticket with frequent flyer miles that had penalty free cancelation so she submitted a real ticket. Other have used services that make dummy booking for a fee. She needs to buy health insurance that is approved for Schengen travel and covers her stay. That's not really that expensive. Plus all the financial paperwork etc etc. It is a HUGE pain in the ###. Allot of wealthier Filipinos tend to pay travel agents to prepare their paperwork for Schengen visa applications. I do not have any recommendations there.

That is an incredibly common situation. It should not be any problem.

My wife got a Schengen visa on her own in the Philippines before we were married and another one just recently as a LPR. She was initially denied by France so she went embassy shopping and upon doing some research we found the Netherlands is the most "Filipino friendly" Schengen country by virtue of the lowest denial rate for Filipino passports, longest stay allowances, and largest raw numbers of visa issued to Filipinos. However, if your plan is to visit the olympics then you should probably still go with the french embassy even though we had a bad experience there. Of course even with the French denial we still visited France using the Netherlands visa. Schengen applications tend to be very paperwork intensive. For income and assets just list yours and highlight that she is your wife so those are family assets and family income. Make her an authorized user on some credit cards since that demonstrates she has independent means to support herself while traveling. Pay close attention to all the other requirements like plane ticket, hotel bookings, detailed travel plan, insurance. She will have to go to Manila and visit the VFS Application center for biometrics and to submit the application.

Typically on an I-130 you expect to see "Notice of Action 1" (NOA1). The action taken at NOA1 is that the case has formally been received by USCIS. Later on you get "Notice of Action 2" (NOA2). The action taken at NOA2 is hopefully that the case has been approved.

My wife is constantly trying to take over my side of the bed.

Hard enough? https://www.ebay.com/itm/196117469746

CFO has never been to concerned by age gap by itself but they have been known to give younger applicants a little closer scrutiny. Just go in there prepared to talk confidently about your relationship. The counselor may judge you by if they think you know what your are getting into with your relationship. If you seem responsible and mature they shouldn't give you any problems. In general CFO has been allot easier to deal with lately. After the total meltdown they had last summer they seem to have settled down a bit. No recent complaints about them that I have heard.

If your full maiden name on the NBI Clearance is exactly the same as it appeared on your original PSA birth certificate AND your husband's surname is listed AND your civil status is listed as "married" then you do not need an AKA. If your parents were married when you were born then your father's surname would be listed as "FAMILY NAME", your first name(or first names if more than one) would be listed as "FIRST NAME", your mother's maiden surname would be listed as "MIDDLE NAME" and your husband's surname would be listed as "HUSBAND'S SURNAME". If your names on the NBI Clearance exactly match that and there are no annotations, corrections or alternate usage on any of your documents then you DO NOT need an AKA.

Her other ID's being in her maiden name is not a problem. CFO would automatically understand the difference between married and maiden name and would not expect ID's to be updated.

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.

Nothing is "normal" about interview scheduling at US Embassy Manilla these days, but receiving dates scheduled by NVC is consistent with what they have done the last few months, with the recent mass-expedite of IR1 and IR2 cases being a seemingly more one off event. It's notable that IR5's were also included in this round of NVC scheduling with similar DQ dates. IR1's and IR2's were most likely excluded from this round of NVC scheduling by virtue of that pool being depleted by the recent mass-expedite. It's great to hear that CRs were not totally passed by. The referenced statement was completely correct when this thread started and when written in February 2023. A CR/IR-1/2 case documentarily qualified January 12, 2023 should have been included in the mass expedite that occurred the last week of January 2023 and would have been able to self schedule an interview at that time. But what a difference a year has made. Cases that became documentarily qualified January 2024 probably still have a few more months to wait. At least is is hopeful they seem to be addressing the backlog they accumulated during 2023.

Congratulations!! It's just nice to finally see some movement. After 8 months wit ZERO visajourney members getting spousal interviews at US Embassy Manila, nine have now updated their timelines with recent or imminent interviews. Those who still having trouble scheduling interviews just keep checking. Twice this last week they opened up a few more dates which were quickly snatched up. Speculation is that 1:00PM to 2:00PM Manila time is when they have recently released more dates. Also, anyone who has an interview date scheduled but cant get a date at Saint Luke's, apparently they are taking walk-ins without appointment if they have an interview scheduled in the next 10 days. I remain totally baffled by what USEM is doing.

I have given up on trying to figure out what US Embassy Manila is up to> they seem to be wildly thrashing around on scheduling with no rhyme or reason February's visa statistics are out and for an embassy that should be one of the busiest on the planet for spousal visa, US Embassy Manila managed to accomplish only 67 IR1 visas and only ONE!!!! CR1 visa in the whole month of February. The most recent mass expedite encompassing only IR1's and IR2's while passing over CR's with older DQ dates is yet a new previously unseen twist. US Embassy Manila continues their streak of being nonsensical. I guess if I were CR1, I would take note that in February and March, around the 8th or possibly the second Friday of the month (??) NVC had been sending interview letters to all CR's and IR's, including IR5's, going by DQ date. IR5's were also not included in the recent mass expedite so one could speculate that if NVC does still send out a batch of interview letters this week, it would encompass CR's and IR5's who were DQ from late May 2023 forward. That is a group that should be depleted of IR1's and IR2's by that mass expedite so maybe it could advance a few months?? Or, USEM could just do something completely random that is impossible to predict.

Interesting. As of about a year ago they had dropped the previously existing requirement for the Affidavit of Explanation. It seems it is back.

US Embassy Manila will convert "ñ" to "n" anyways, so as far as they are concerned it's the same. It shouldn't be a problem.

Legitimation of your birth certificate is not the same as being late registered. The only effect it has on US immigration is that it may have changed your surname to that of your father's(?). If it did change your name, you may need an AKA using your mother's surname on your NBI clearance.

The government of Japan has made it mandatory that all Japanese tourist visa applications in the Philippines will go through "accredited travel agencies". Their primary role is to make sure the paperwork is all in Japan's very specific order before it goes to the Embassy for visa approval. It's a cash cow for the accredited travel agencies and they would not do anything to jeopardize their standing with the Japanese embassy. If they are really on the "accredited" list they are legit. Japan is unique among G7 nations in that they routinely grant tourist visas to Filipinos who meet their more or less reasonable standards. Jump through their hoops and she actually really gets a two week single entry Japan visa. Most other G7 nations the outcome would be different. It's alright, so just play along with an accredited travel agency. We did a total of 5 times and every one a success. The last two, 5 year multiple entry Japan visas.

The Mexican government is very ambitious on the extension letter issue. You won't find an authoritative answer about if an extension letter is acceptable or not because there isn't one. I have heard of several specific first hand accounts of persons being denied boarding by the airline for flights to Mexico due to having expired green cards and valid extension letters. I have heard multiple accounts of persons successfully boarding flights Mexico with extension letters. I have not heard of a single case of Mexican Immigration making an issue of extension letters, or any problems with airlines or US immigration returning to the US. It seems to be specifically a crapshoot with the gate agent when boarding a flight to Mexico and if you make it on the plane at all you are fine. There seems to be no way to achieve certainly other than having a Mexican visa.

Even though they say to, don't bother having PSA send it to the Embassy. The Embassy has a high chance of losing it or will take an extra hour searching for it. Just get it yourself and bring the original PSA copy to the interview.

They should have gave her a results date to return. Generally, if there was bad news they would call her back early. If she made it all the way to her results date with no bad news, it is reasonable to assume it will be negative and she will be good to go. Maybe one extra day for a psyce evaluation if she was tagged for that.

It's important to separate US immigration law from state adoption law or US Military regulations. For immigration it's incredibly clear cut. US Embassy Manila and the Philippine government are in complete agreement that the mother of a child born out of wedlock needs nothing from the father to take her child anywhere in the world she wants to. Case closed. Adoption in the US is not part of the immigration process and the legal requirements will be very State specific. Likewise, US Military regulations have their own standards that may differ from what mom needs to immigrate with her child. If your wife's lawyer is a Philippine lawyer(?) he would be irrelevant to the process since there is no dispute in the Philippines. Maybe he's trying to file a case for profit. If he is a US lawyer he may be talking about state adoption laws that differ from US Immigration laws.

It is only required of the US Citizen sponsor if they were born in the Philippines and have lived in the Philippines for a year as an adult. If you want one for a souvenir you can order it delivered in the Philippines for P430 (~$8) from https://www.psaserbilis.com.ph . Order a CEMOMAR and if married you will receive AOM.