top_secret

In the past it was possible to complete CFO without an actual visa on hand. Historical posts may be referring to that. Currently, CFO seems quite strict that an applicant must have an actual physical visa on hand to schedule CFO. The upside is that there no longer seems to be any problems getting CFO scheduled in the short term immediate future once someone does actually have a visa.

It seems the local Costco here in Southern California has jumped on the Christmas in September bandwagon. Perhaps Filipino management?😄 The gigantic display of Christmas items is already occupying the prime floor space in the front of the store.

A trip to Iran would also add a red flag on her passport and travel history that could definitely draw unwanted scrutiny later on. It could lead to denials programs like Global Entry, problems on security clearances, secondary inspections at later entries, etc. I'd vote for meeting in Turkey or maybe Georgia.

You can also submit an online inquiry here https://ph.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visa-inquiry-form/ . What does her case status show on CEAC?? You mention your mother had an interview a year ago and had a "high volume of 221g requests". Were all the 221g's responded to in a timely manner and have you remained in contact with the embassy over the last year?

To me the greatest vaguary remains, the "3 years of marital union before applying" requirement. I have seen a relative handful of cases denied for not meeting that particular requirement, despite the 90 day window, and many many more that were approved. I have looked for the actual text of the law, rule or policy of the "90 Day rule" that would exactly apply to the "3 years of marital union" requirement and have not found an explanation to my full understanding so far.

Without delving into politics, I 'think' that was somewhat common 4+ years ago and the actual examples you heard of may not be recent.

It's USCIS who issues Green Cards. NVC or even the Embassy has no authority over whether a Green Card is CR1 or IR1.

Unless you have a lot of experience driving in third world conditions I concur driving is a bad idea. I drive there myself so I can't tell anyone not to do it but at least be very certain you know what you are getting into. There are NO traffic controls in most places. Not a stop light not a stop sign, no lines on the roads, have to cut across four lanes of bumper to bumper traffic to get where you are going, etc etc. Parking is usually a big problem. Grab, trikes and taxies are incredibly cheap. Grab is phone app based similar to Uber or Lyft. Some airports have a Grab kiosk in the arrivals area that would call one for you but I'm not sure about CDO. You should place a high priority on having working mobile data. Either roaming on a US plan or you can get cheap prepaid eSims in advance or if you phone won't support eSims they have free(ish) SIM cards at the airport. Get Grab set up and the acct verified, credit card approved all while still in the US. Honestly, for a late night arrival on a first ever trip to the Philippines, at least check with your hotel how much it costs to have a driver waiting for you with a sign in arrivals. It will probably cost twice what a Grab would charge but is probably still ridiculously cheap and provides piece of mind and lowers stress. Be careful making tight schedules. The Philippines is a "tight schedule averse environment". A night time arrival at CDO is almost guaranteed to be significantly delayed. The two hour layover in Manila is doable but still a little risky if the arrival and departure is all in Terminal 3. It could be almost impossible if there is a terminal change and separate tickets.

Just a copy of the biographic page, certified by whatever agency that issued the passport.

Just fold it back over the stapled corner. Unstapling it might be considered to invalidate the apostle.

If it were me,,,, I would amend it just to be safe but I wouldn't delay filing N400 based only on that. More than likely USCIS wouldn't even question it and if they did, you would have a filed amended return you could show them that you have corrected it properly.

You have revived a very old thread so much of the information above is outdated. To get the details you are requesting for a ROM filed with the Philippine Embassy in Paris you would e-mail oca.crd-eu@dfa.gov.ph with a scan of the ROM the Embassy returned and ask them if the "Transmittal Details" are available yet. They would usually reply in one or two business days. That is what PSA is asking you for.

Judges certainly have been known to order the more monied spouse to pay the legal expenses of the less monied spouse. But that is a divorce court issue not an immigration issue. If one spouse was literally going to be put out with no immediate means of support even being possible I imagine a judge would probably order that too for at least the immediate short term. Assuming the guy has any common sense he definitely should shoulder whatever costs and living expenses are involved along with repatriation until she gets resettled. Beyond that it doesn't seem like either of them has much to loose or gain from having lawyers involved. If it's California(?) it's just a summary dissolution which is pretty straightforward DIY.

Coordinating two people meeting in Manila for the first time arriving from seperate flights all on a 2 hour layover could be a little bit tight timewise. Delays are very common at MNL. Is it all from the same terminal????

I saw one recent anecdotal account of someone who DID get a same day oath in San Diego with an afternoon appointment. I also saw someone state they were told there is no same day oath in San Diego on Fridays if that has any relevance. Good luck!!!😀 and do please update your experience for other San Diego applicants still waiting.

Brides taking their husbands surname is a pretty widespread practice in multiple cultures and countries across the world. It's hardly a Philippines government conspiracy. I suspect that most filipina brides want to take their husband's surname and the few that don't want to, don't have to. The Philippine Government charges $25 for the ROM and P950 for a new passport. OTOH, the US Government charges $415 to change the name on a Green Card once it's been issued. Which of the two government is the more financially predatory?

It's totally up to the consul at the interview. If the interview is next week and you don't have the originals, at least bring copies.

If the birth certificate is late registered there should be a second page with an "Affidavit for Delayed Registration of Birth" which would list when it was registered. You will definitely need an original PSA copy of your Birth Certificate at your interview. No exceptions on that. If you do not have the one you submitted to NVC then get a new one, upload it to CEAC and bring that to your interview. You need to bring ALL of the original documents you submitted to NVC to your interview. DQ just means that NVC thinks you have all the correct documents. It's the Embassy that approves or rejects the originals.

There were some SLC timelines on Reddit from couple of months ago showing about a 1 month wait for an oath ceremony. I haven't noticed any reports of same day oath at that particular office.

I wonder if this would impact US Embassy Manila's apparent severe constraints on Immigrant visa interviews for spousal visas. Earlier this year they had been interviewing over a thousand EB-3/EW applicants a month, while at the same time interviewing only like two hundred CR1/IR1 applicants a month with a year long backlog. If they would shift that extra thousand a month interview capacity towards spousal interviews for a few months maybe they could maybe clear out a bit of their huge backlog.

That's what ours says too. It is also the same on the approved and closed I-751 case so I assumed that is just "normal". I am intrigued by those who seem to have some kind of date associated with it rather than just "true". Are these dates that don't correlate with anything outwardly visible?

Whether or not you need additional evidence in the case of a late registered birth certificate is up to the individual consul at the interview. It may also depend on just how late it was registered. Two years late registered and a friendly consul may not require any extra evidence at all. 10 years late registered and/or a strict consul might issue a 221g for more evidence if you don't bring any with you. A Baptismal Certificate is one type of additional evidence you might submit in the case of a late registered birth certificate but it is never a requirement. For many Filipinos they could easily get a new copy of their Baptismal Certificate from the local parish where they were baptized. If you can't get that, there are other types of evidence that you could use too such as school records, old ID’s, etc. My wife was 5 years late registered. She got her baptismal certificate by actually messaging the Facebook page of the local parish in the province where she grew up. They found it in their records and let her sister pick up a new copy for her. Then her sister went by her old high school and they still had her form 137. (I noticed that she failed English😆) Her elementary school issued a letter on DepEd letterhead stating that her Form 137-E was destroyed by a typhoon but certifying that she had attended that school as a child.

The whole issue does not apply much to a foreign spouse. It is the Filipino Citizen that is required by the Philippine Government to report an overseas marriage. What the foreign spouse does is not much concern to the Philippine government and they have no jurisdiction over a foreign spouse outside the Philippines. My own opinion is this. If the neither of you have plans for maintaining significant ties to the Philippines then it probably makes little difference. If you feel that your marriage is likely to end in divorce then it is very beneficial to the Filipino Citizen spouse NOT to file it. If either of you ever think of retiring there, having a bank account there, drivers licence, business, property, etc etc etc, it will be an issue that could constantly come up at every dealing with the Philippine Government and it is probably easier just to file it. Plus, juggling multiple names on multiple travel documents is doable but kind of a hassle.

BPI ATM's will let you do 20k if you hit "other amount" and then key it in manually. I never got shut down so far doing two 20k withdrawals back to back. I haven't tried pushing it past that. HSBC ATM's might give you 40k but there's not so many of them. Schwab also gives you some amount of free wire transfers if you are talking big bucks but someone needs a local bank account to receive.

She doesn't even need a Philippine Passport at all for the I-751. A scan of the new passport would be a good identity document with the name change. I don't think there is any specific requirement to update USCIS if the foreign passport changes.