top_secret

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.

Well since we will be mailing our packet tomorrow I guess it's time to start a September 2023 thread. Our 90 day window started the last week of July but we were out of the country last month so we put it off until we got back to avoid any surprise biometric appointments or missed notices. It looks like we will be sending in.... G-1450 credit card authorization. G-1145 E-notification. I-751 of course. Copies of their green cards, front and back, and passports. Copies of California Real ID Driver Licenses for my wife and I plus California Real ID card for my stepdaughter all at the same address. IRS tax return transcripts of our 2022, 2021, and 2020 joint US tax returns. Statements from our joint checking account showing joint ownership of the account and direct deposits of both of our salaries plus payments of bills in each other’s names. However only the last 5 months. Prior to that we had separate accounts and just shared expenses. Dated photographs of our family together in numerous places at intervals throughout our time together in the US, plus photos of my almost 80-year-old American mom meeting her Filipino in-laws on vacation in Manila. Copy of a California car title showing joint ownership and two years joint car registration. Copies of various car insurance notices and proof of insurance listing both drivers, covering almost the entire period they have been in the US. Copies of both of our 401K’s beneficiaries with each listing the other spouse as beneficiary. Copies of our Visa, Mastercard and Discover credit cards showing joint accounts. Copies of various club cards and membership cards showing joint accounts. Copies of various airline boarding passes and receipts for vacations we took together. Copies of my stepdaughter's continuous registration from our address in our neighborhood’s public elementary school for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. The school registration lists both of us as emergency contacts with full authorization to pick her up from school. Copy of my stepdaughter's California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress test results showing two years results with her living at our address and enrolled in our neighborhood public elementary school. Paystubs for my wife periodically throughout her time in the US showing her continuous presence at our home address. We’ll be double triple checking everything this evening and probably send it by Priority Mail flat rate mailer ("if it fits, it ships") to Phoenix drop box in the morning. I'm hopeful that is good enough, however notable deficiencies would include not having any joint lease or other paperwork associating both names with the house. All of our health insurance is separate since my wife and I each get it from our employer and neither plan is any good for adding the step-daughter so we just pay her insurance separately out of pocket. No kind of joint utility bills or anything like that and as I mentioned only the last 5 months have we had a joint checking account. I also didn't bother to get any affidavits from anyone. I guess we will find out if it was good enough in like 2025 or something.

https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/uscis-redesigns-green-card-and-employment-authorization-document