top_secret

You order a CENOMAR from PSA. If PSA has you recorded as single you will receive a CENOMAR. If PSA has you recorded as married you will receive an Advisory on Marriages. Whatever you receive from PSA is what the embassy wants to see.

Did you check the documents tab in your online account? We had one notice that was delayed and not available online. I was successful getting "Ask Emma" live agent to e-mail me a pdf copy of that missing notice.

It won't affect the K1 at all. We submitted evidence highlighting our trip to Europe, including the visa and matching passport stamps, as relationship evidence with our spousal petition. Your fiancées previous B2 denial won't affect the K1 either. She must declare it honestly on the DS160 but they won't ask questions about it and if anyone did ask, she was "denied due to insufficient ties to her home countries". That's the same reason everyone is denied B2 visas. They gave her a slip of paper that said so. No need to elaborate further. Just a note on the Schengen visa. Denmark has the second to highest denial rate for Schengen visa applications in the Philippines. The only Schengen country with a higher denial rate for Filipino passports is Finland. Before we were married my wife applied twice for Schengen visas. She was denied by France so we went embassy shopping and after some research discovered the Netherlands is traditionally the most generous with Schengen visas in the Philippines. She was approved by the Netherlands a few months after the France denial. Also, be aware that the Schengen visa process is a fairly arduous, paperwork intensive effort for Filipino passports. It can be done. We did it. But Schengen visas are not easy with a Filipino passport.

It will also have your spouse's name, and marriage is a legally valid reason for taking your spouse's surname in the US. But the passport you bring the day of your interview is what really determines the name that goes on your visa, green card and social security card. So you would mainly want to look at what the requirements are for changing the name on your passport in your country.

At every point where USCIS, NVC or the embassy asks your name, they will follow up by asking ALL names you have ever used. As long as your documents match one of "ALL names" it is fine. They know people change their names during marriage. It is not the slightest problem. You could change at any time during the whole process up until the day of your interview. The name on the passport you bring to your interview is the only one that really matters because it will go on your visa, green card, social security card and from those, all the new documents spawned during immigration to the US. So it is highly preferable that it is the name you really want to use. If you are married and choose to change to your spouses surname, filling the I-130 is as good a place as any to start using that name. You can change your passport later as long as it's changed before your interview..

We had uploaded our 2023 IRS tax return transcript about a month before our cases was approved. I could not say if they even looked at that and I can't imagine it would have made any difference, but I can very affirmatively say that uploading additional evidence did not cause any kind of delay.

It's more an issue were you might rightfully be annoyed rather than worried. It's probably something simple like they randomly chose to verify some document with PSA. Which would of course get verified according to Filipino time. If the embassy asks for anything respond immediately. Otherwise it is probably all good and will resolve on its own before long. Even though it seems really long.

On NBI Clearances the embassy is very strict about all possible name combinations being covered. They are not strict about marital status on the NBI Clearance since they rely on different documents to determine that. Your former husband's surname should suffice for including your former married name. Having it as an AKA is double extra good above and beyond what you need but certainly can't hurt.

The US will accept the divorce decree without it being recognized in the Philippines. If the Philippines still considers you married then your NBI Clearances will stay as married. US Embassy Manila is known to accept incorrect marital status on a NBI Clearance with concrete proof of why it incorrect. IE, divorce decree. Your former husband's surname on your NBI Clearance seemingly completes the list of possible name combinations you may have, so if there are no corrections, annotations, or any other alternate names on any of your documents you shouldn't need an AKA. The embassies website is not quite clear on why an AKA might be required. The example above seems fine as is. The embassy will also accept your Advisory on Marriages incorrectly showing you as married in combination with the US divorce decree. They know about that marriage but they still want to see that there are no other marriages they don't know about. CFO might or might not give you a hard time about it. But the worst they can do hassle you or make up some extra requirements. In the end they still have to let you go.

I would also just mention that international treaties and court orders aside, mom has defacto absolute control over her children in the Philippines. If she chose to dispute you on her turf you might find yourself in a much weaker position than the US.

To very specifically answer the direct question.. If the children are not Filipino citizens then I am pretty sure their visa status will be directly the same as their foreigner parent or guardian. The Philippines does not have a student visa category for minors that is separate from their parent. Almost anything to do with a non Filipino citizen minor will be dependent on the patent's status. I do not believe children would need anything more than a valid extended tourist visa to attend a private school at the parents expense but I would verify that with the school.

I have formally been yelled at by a Filipino immigration officer for going through the Filipino line with my wife. We were very affirmatively sent away to the back of the foreigner line. I suspect we just encountered a BI agent with a bad attitude and we probably would have been wrong no matter what we did. But at least for us, it seemed to set a president that we should use the foreigner line together so that's what we have done since with no further issues. Your mileage may vary.

I would not worry. It's still well within the range of "normal". Every time the date updates it means someone at the embassy did something so it at least proves they have not forgot about you. Most of the time cases in Manila get issued within a day or two of a successful interview, but but sometimes seemingly normal looking cases take up to two weeks for no outwardly apparent reason. It will be "issued" soon.

No problems issuing the visas or traveling. AOS I 'think' people have had mixed experiences. I heard of one case where they were asked to repeat the entire medical in the US because they couldn't find a Civil Surgeon in their area who would sign off on only the vaccination by itself. I didn't hear the resolution on that case if they actually really had to do it. I saw one case where they got a RFE for proof of vaccination. In any case it is not any kind of show stopper but it could still come up.

After you marry you can take your spouse's last name if you choose to. Some states would also allow you to change your middle name according to Philippine customs. Some states would not allow you to change your middle name. So it depends on the state for middle names. I don't think there are any circumstances where you can change your first name by marriage. It would require a legal name change by the laws of whatever state you are living in.

For IR2 and other immigrant categories I believe Saint Luke's is now issuing blanket waivers due to unavailability of vaccine and that more or less settles the issue once and for all as far as immigration is concerned. You step son should be fine. What's different for K1 and K2 is Saint Luke's can kick the can down the road so the visa gets issued and the applicant can come to the US, but vaccination requirements for adjustment of status is a separate issue.

Saint Luke's will waive it so no problems as far as the visa is concerned. You may still have to get it later in the US to complete adjustment of status.

Many couples choose to do an online marriage and then later have a renewal of vows religious ceremony in the Philippines to provide a big event for family and friends to witness and celebrate the marriage. It can be a big church wedding like affair but if already married online it cannot be a second formal civil marriage. It would be HUGE mess for immigration purposes too. Worst case is the embassy could make you annul the second illegal marriage before they would issue a visa, which would take years and cost lots money in the Philippines.

I would also add that "Courtly" is merely acting as an officiant for an ordinary Utah online marriage. They charge $499 plus government fees for the service. Alternately, The Utah county clerk offers online marriage ceremonies for $35 plus government fees if you go straight to the source rather than dealing with a middle man. https://www.utahcounty.gov/dept/clerk/marriage/ceremony.html

You are fine. The US will recognize a legal Japanese divorce. It is not necessary for it to be reported to or recognized by the Philippines.

If you have a two page marriage certificate then the US needs both pages. Number of pages in and of itself is meaningless and no big deal. But the US absolutely requires "all".

Green Cards arrived by surprize today. Of course USCIS status had not updated to shipped, but oddly even the normally reliable USPS Informed Delivery did not detect the incoming Priority Mail until after they were actually delivered to our mailbox. An interesting but inconsequential detail is that the expiration dates on the cards differ by three weeks between my wife and stepdaughter. My stepdaughters card expires 05/01/2034 which correlates with the I751 approval date and is the expiration date one would expect. However, my wife's card expires 04/10/2034 which is good enough for us but I can't think of anything that date would correlate to. It does not match the approval notice or any USCIS activity that I am aware of. It is a seemingly random expiration date. 4/10 is 2 days after we returned from traveling in the UK and Schengen area if maybe that generated some kind of activity??? But hey, we are happy with it. Just odd the date difference. Both of their "resident since" dates are the same and correct. We successfully updated Global Entry with the new expiration dates online. Previously trying to enter the extended expiration date of the expired cards did not work online. Though they had successfully entered the US through Global Entry with expired cards, extension letters and a brief stop with a friendly CBP agent. Final timeline: 9/6/2023 -- I-751 packet mailed by USPS Priority Mail. 9/8/2023 -- Packet received by Phoenix lock box. 9/12/2023 -- Credit card charged. 9/21/2023 -- Received extension letters and online access codes. 9/30/2023 -- Received notices of biometrics appointments. 10/2/2023 -- Biometrics appointment date. 10/2/2023 -- Wifes case status changed to "Actively Reviewing" 5/2/2024 -- I-751's Approved 5/2/2024 -- Status "We are producing your new card" 5/10/2024 -- Status "We produced your new card" 5/13/2024 -- Both cards arrived Next stop N400 at the end of July.

$60 for mom and $35 for each kid included with moms application to reacquire Filipino citizenship.

Newark/New York City https://www.rathburn.net/visa/usa/usa.html

It would be a line item on the receipt about $28.XX-ish (P1620 converted to dollars at whatever rate they used). Whether it is included or not would depend on how you bought the ticket. Note, that on mixed reservations including Filipino residents who are subject to the tax, and foreign resident passengers who are NOT subject to the tax, it is best if it is NOT included and instead paid at the TIEZA counter at the airport. Because, typically airlines would either include it or exclude it for all passengers on the same reservation. So, if I were included in the ticket then the non residents on the ticket would be paying it unnecessarily. If paid at the TIEZA counter then only the Philippine residents pay. Also, once your family members immigrate to the US they are no longer subject to the tax on future visits. But they still have to go to the TIEZA counter and show their green card to get their exemption.