top_secret

CFO seems to have settled down considerably since their little meltdown last summer. Recently people seem to be getting through their process pretty easily and there have not been as many complaints as there were previously. CFO may ask for a copy of your divorce decree and apostilled Utah marriage certificate but cases similar to yours or even more complicated cases where it was the Filipino spouse who had the unrecognized foreign divorce still seem to be getting through CFO with no huge hurtles. US Embassy Manila seems well acclimated to Utah online marriages too and you should not need to expect any concerns there. Your planning seems sound. Though not strictly necessary, assuming your new Filipina fiancée has never been married before, you could probably even still register the new Utah marriage with the San Francisco consulate and have all of her paperwork in order with PSA and legalized in the Philippines.

I presume you mean beginning adjustment of status from a K1 visa and receiving an advance parole document. That would definitely address two of the greatest hurdles. Even just getting past Philippine exit immigration attempting to leave the country, and any transit issues in the US. I'm not aware of any countries where having an advance parole document would lift visa requirements they may have on Philippine passports. There are several countries where having a US Green Card may lift visa requirements. Mostly in the Americas and Caribbean. Visas are certainly much easier to qualify for with US status and a US spouse with US income but the vast majority of countries that require visas For Filipinos will still require her to go through the process even with a US green card. Any time you go anywhere you still have to check the fine details of any visa requirements and transit conditions. Philippine passports remain severely challenged and routinely face restrictions that US passports do not. As far as advice here, I think people are making assumptions in the context of a young Filipina making a first international trip from the Philippines, prior to having any kind of US visa. Conventional wisdom is to make that trip as simple as possible just to get that first stamp in her passport. Unless she has a good job, money in the bank, a college degree and/or a rich family she would have trouble with Philippine exit immigration leaving alone and would almost certainly need you to meet her in the Philippines and escort her. Even then the two of you will undergo a lot of intrusive scrutiny from Philippine Immigration about the trip. After that you want to be very certain about conditions for Philippine Passports wherever you go. Palau or Fiji might be good choices, being mindful of transit requirements getting there. Most major airport hubs in Asia allow visa free transit for Filipinos. Tahiti seems extremely difficult due to the US transit issue. No matter where you go, plan on meeting her in the Philippines and going together from there.

That's what we concluded too.

In the case of name change due to marriage it would generally be the Marriage Certificate. It seems that if the marriage occurred before the green card was issued then the name on the green card must be changed first. If a marriage occurred after the green card was issued then SS could accept the marriage certificate being different from the green card.

I think I found the definitive answer to this question specifically as it relates to Social Security numbers. From the Social Security Program Operations Manual Systemhttps://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110212001

It should not make any difference receiving or traveling on a K2 visa. If they raised the issue at all during adjustment of status it's nothing serious. I'm guessing the US would be much less strict about some spelling error on her existing vaccine record and would probably accept it as is.

There's a check box on the N400 form, both paper and online, asking if you would like USCIS to notify Social Security of your new US Citizen status.

For use it was a single I-751 package that covered both wife and stepdaughter. From the single package and single I-751 they automatically assigned my stepdaughter her own separate "I-751A" case number and separately sent her extension letter and all the notices you would normally expect.

Effective August 19 there will be HUGE increases in the cost of the medical exams at Saint Luke's. The fees for ages 15+ increases from P18,540 to P28,250. A whopping 52% increase to nearly $500. Below age 15 the price is raised from P11,400 to P13,910. A 22% increase. They are attributing the increase to a policy change extending IGRA TB testing to all adults. Although the increase is substantially more than the cost of IGRA testing even in the US and they had been doing IGRA testing profitably for all child applicants for years at the previous child's price. Not to mention how far out of line it is with the costs of any type of normal medical care in the Philippines. If there is any bright side, presumably this would replace their infamous x-ray machine and reduce the number of applicants being unnecessarily sent for sputum testing.

You can try the call center, though I'm not sure they have access to any appointments that aren't available on the ustraveldocs site. The way you get locked out of the ustraveldocs site if due to refreshing to frequently and possibly they have some limitation on how often you can log in per day. You are correct, the web site is awful. They have some kind of primitive system in place to theoretically thwart people using scripts or bots there. Using a slow motion approach when using the website seems the best way to avoid getting locked out. Limit and space out the number of logins and leave a substantial amount of time between clicking refresh. There is a Facebook group chat specifically for IR5 applicants looking for interview slots for US Embassy Manila where they share any time anyone sees any slots open. To get in that, join the FB Group "IR5 US VISA PROCESS" and then message the admin there "Di SabLan" asking to be added to that group chat. As far as Facebook groups go, that one seems well moderated. To the best of my knowledge they have not opened any August slots at all for anyone yet so presumably before long the whole month of August would open up at once.

For the Philippines it is very easy to get a certified passport copy and that's what we used successfully for the ITIN. We were married in Costa Rica but no first hand knowledge of how passports work there. However, for Costa Rica it mentions "Certificación de Pasaporte" here. Under "Información Importante:" https://www.migracion.go.cr/Paginas/Pasaportes-y-Permisos-de-Salida.aspx It seems it is initiated by e-mail so perhaps they might be able to answer questions. certificaciondepasaporte@migracion.go.cr The IRS has their official timeframes here under "Other forms" https://www.irs.gov/help/processing-status-for-tax-forms

I won't make any predictions but I do believe this coming week will be telling. Based on the last few months there should be a new round of NVC scheduling. They are clearly fully into the entirety of the backlog and last month virtually did nothing. Last month you could attribute the lack of progress to the IR mass expedite working through the system. This month there are currently 600+ appointments open in July. At minimum, unlimited open appointments means the IR mass expedite is cleared and no longer a factor. I feel the progress you see in this next week will clearly define where the embassy stands dealing with their issue going forward.

Who are "they" and how specifically was she notified of this requirement?? (I'd hazard to guess that notification of this requirement arrived via Facebook group chat)

CFO changed their policy as of last year sometime to strictly no CFO appointments unless you have an actual visa on hand.

I'm pretty sure they still can even if the child is already an adult. However, you would have to check with the consulate to get a definitive answer.

Mom can just include her children with her application when she reacquires Filipino citizenship. File a petition to include the children and pay the $35 fee. https://newyorkpcg.org/pcgny/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Petition-for-Inclusion-of-Dependents-Under-RA-9225-1.pdf Only necessary for children born after a parent naturalized to the US but before they reaquired Filipino citizenship and therefore was not a Filipino citizen when the child was born. If a parent was still a Filipino citizen at the time of the child's birth in the US, they merely need to file a Report of Birth with the consulate to claim the child's Filipino Citizenship.

Yea. BI will definitely look at your combo card. The combo card show's you are resident in the US. They only time they ever look for CFO is if you are leaving for the first time with an immigrant visa. Since you are resident in the US you will never need CFO again.

So whenever it gets approved and sent to NVC you can just not pay the fees for up to a year, if you need longer than that, once you do pay the fees you have another year to start submitting documents. Theoretically you could delay it indefinitely as long as you remain in touch with NVC. When you are ready to proceed just complete the NVC process.

I found this recent case in a Facebook group.

I did see one recent case with EXACTLY the same circumstances (filed I90 instead of I751, notified of their mistake at N400 interview), where the officer held the N400 open, expedited approval of a hastily filed I751 and still allowed them to naturalize on the original N400 within a month or two. I'm guessing they had a very gracious officer and not every one could expect such luck but that was one success story. I'll look and see if I can find that case. I don't remember if it was here or elsewhere.

They wont ask for CFO again. Also when you go to leave make sure to stop by the TIEZA counter and ask for your travel tax exemption. Bring your marriage certificate to explain the name change.

This is a recurring problem for Filipino children with naturalized parents in exactly this situation. There have been several people here in the past who had this issue. I don't recall any of them coming back to update their outcomes or resolution though. I'm assuming from the circumstances that you were not married to the child's biological father but he did acknowledge paternity and is listed on the child's birth certificate.(???) The strict legal answer is that you have sole parental authority under Philippine law and the US accepts Philippine law on the issue as valid since the child was born there. The more practical issue is convincing the clerk at the passport office of that. My own idea would be to apply for the child's passport at US Embassy Manila if you are ever on vacation there, simply because US Embassy Manila is fully knowledgeable about Philippine custody laws and almost certainly wouldn't give you any grief over the issue. DS-5525 is another possible option too. The DS-11 instructions say If only one parent/guardian can appear in person with the child, you must also submit one of the following Evidence of sole authority to apply A written statement (made under penalty of perjury) or DS-5525 explaining, in detail, why the second parent cannot be reached Maybe you could try citing the relevant Philippine law in a written statement since it is the actual legal justification.(??) The main problem is finding a sympathetic clerk at the passport office who is willing to listen. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1987/07/06/executive-order-no-209-s-1987/ EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 209 THE FAMILY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES TITLE VI CHAPTER 1. Art. 165. Children conceived and born outside a valid marriage are illegitimate, unless otherwise provided in this Code. Chapter 3. Art. 176. Illegitimate children shall use the surname and shall be under the parental authority of their mother, and shall be entitled to support in conformity with this Code.

Is your case status "Ready". If so, you proceed with payment, DS-160, medical and schedule the interview. US Embassy Manila is not always so helpful notifying you what to do next. It would not be unusual for them to just leave you hanging to figure that out by yourself.

At least the most important part was accepted. Under the new fee structure it's cheaper/easier to refile the I-765 online.

Where in the process is her case at now? If it has not completed NVC yet you can delay it there until you are ready to proceed.