EatBulaga

@Edward and Jaycel 1. Yes, file I-485 while the I-94 is still valid (within 90 days of entry). K1 visa is only good for 1 entry, and becomes invalid after US entry or past expiry date. Yes, the I-485 NOA1 is proof for "authorized stay" while waiting for AOS approval. As a general rule, sooner you send in the I-485, the better. 2. DS-3025 copy within 1-year of filing the I-485 is sufficient to be included in the I-485 filing. That does not mean USCIS may not request an I-693 RFE later, or USCIS may send you a Courtesy email saying you do not have an I-693 in your petition. You can choose to complete the I-693 if you are not sure the DS-3025 was compliant/complete, but most wait till an RFE before going thru the I-693.

Yes. Hand write in any fields as necessary.

Congratulations on the Global Entry and the name change. Your wife should still travel with the marriage certificate to link the names along with the GE card, passport and green card. The only difference is that on return from an international travel she will go through the GE line instead of the regular CBP immigration line. The GE officer may or may not ask to see the documents. My wife has yet to be asked to show the marriage certificate or the GE card. And I've only been asked 1 time to show my GE card. Since she recently updated her foreign passport to the marriage name, we plan to update her GE with the new passport so she won't need to travel with the marriage certificate anymore Also a word of warning about customs declaration with GE. Since GE are Trusted Travelers, one condition is that you know the customs law and responsibility so you volunteer your customs declaration. In other words, the GE officer most likely will not ask you if you have anything to declare. You declare through the kiosk, or you voluntarily hand over the customs declaration form to the GE officer without them asking for it. If you do not, and you are caught with undeclared or illegal imports somewhere down the road, your GE can get revoked along with fines or even confinement by the CBP.

We didn't have multiple pages divorce decree. So our ROM paperwork is not too bad with the LA Philippines Consulate. It took us about 6 months to receive it after sending in the application.

If these instructions apply to you, https://vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/instructions-registration-retain-vietnamese-citizenship then best make sure your Vietnam paperworks are in order. If Vietnam still recognizes your Vietnam citizenship and passport, then just use your Vietnam passport to enter Vietnam. And return to US with your US passport. No visas needed. Make sure you upload both your passports to ALL the airline(s) for your flight(s) and connecting flight(s). This will make your gate/boarding checks much easier.

My wife had passport in maiden name and green card in marriage name. Global Entry was in maiden name to match passport and was told to update the Global Entry whenever the passport name is updated to marriage name. Just need to go to nearest GE office, no appointment necessary. She traveled with our marriage certificate to link the names, no different than without GE. She just needed to present the marriage certificate to GE if asked, no different than going thru CBP Doesn't matter when the name changes. The passport name still needs to be changed afterwards and then updated for GE. Currently, Mobile Passport is only for US passports. Foreign passports with green card can still get GE. Sounds like airline(s) ticketing system issue rather a passport issue. May need to have airline(s) manually update your name to match the passport. Keep in mind not updating your name to ALL connecting airlines systems for a flight can still have issues with the ticket name. GE will match to your passport name. Yes, getting GE interview is the biggest obstacle in the process. Enrollment on arrival is an option provided that your international flight arrival time and airport coincides with the GE office schedule.

@Noname93 As others have mentioned the advantages, I too recommend as well, and documented some of the things to watch out for when applying for Global Entry at https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/799684-global-entry-with-conditional-green-card/ Also, apply soon since the Global Entry fee will increase in October 2024, from 100 to 120 https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-announces-trusted-traveler-programs-fee-changes And for someone going thru the visa process, both petitioner or beneficiary, the Global Entry is an extra background check, which may be beneficial since CBP, TSA, Homeland Security, USCIS, etc. are all interconnected if not integrated. If you have a clear background, clearing as many of the checks may be an advantage to expedite other checks

What is odd? I'm not sure how it compared to the previous?

Did USCIS cash the check of the fee payment?

The VJ data for Advanced Parole is at https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/apstats.php We got AP in the EAD combo card, which took 191 days for us.

Someone that received the same email as mine from March 2023, posted in the thread that they just resubmitted their DS-3025 and were approved. https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/798091-request-for-form-i-693-courtesy-email/?do=findComment&comment=10840726 It was a risk they were willing to take.

Yes, we were approved shortly after if you look at our Timeline or Profile->Our Story. Someone else was also approved shortly after by re-submitting their DS-3025. So who knows what's really going on? I also called USCIS about our I-693 Courtesy Email and got no new info. https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/798091-request-for-form-i-693-courtesy-email/?do=findComment&comment=10823551 Here are my thoughts about the I-693 medical. USCIS reserves the right to question if the DS-3025 overseas medical is compliant/complete or not regardless if it is in the validity period or not. And USCIS can do so by requesting an RFE for the I-693 medical. So by not doing the I-693, there is a chance that you delay the process with an RFE. By completing the I-693, the DS-3025 overseas medical is overridden and the medical would not be the issue to delay the petition. In our case, we did our K1 over the pandemic and we were willing to do anything to speed up our approval. The I-693 medical cost us an extra 540, and the US Civil Surgeon did spot a missing vaccine that my foreign spouse needed, so we probably pre-empted an RFE and saved some wait time?

@salamismiley we had something similar with the Atlanta Field Office with the Great I-693 Courtesy Email of March 2023: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/798091-request-for-form-i-693-courtesy-email/ And the wait time with the Atlanta FO at the time was about 36 months. The Courtesy Email is not an RFE so your choices are: 1) ignore it, or 2) follow thru with the instructions. We chose #2 if for no other reason but to interact with the FO in hopes of getting feedback sooner. Others chose not to for various reasons from not wanting to pay more for the I-693 medical to insisting their DS-3025 overseas medical were compliant. The FO did not have to send you a Courtesy Email and you wouldn't be the wiser until an RFE. The Courtesy Email is to just let you know what they like to see probably without having gone thru any of the cases yet, and give the petitioner a chance to upload any incomplete documentations in hopes of reducing the number of RFEs to be sent out later which could further slow down the overall caseloads.

Well you seem to contradict yourself about living in the Philippines to remarry for the sake of contradicting yourself. Can't help you with that. Yes, CR1 also has to removal conditions for the green card so background check for criminal history do matter despite you saying you don't have to disclose criminal history. For K1, criminal history does matter in the I-129F and in the I-485. So in both cases, criminal history do matter regardless if you disclose to USCIS or not. So both are contrary to what you said if your intent is to hide the criminal history. And I don't even know what you are talking about no waiver for multiple petitions. USCIS will find out either way. I have no problem with either the pros or cons of the ROM. But you contradicting yourself or saying false statements about criminal history just confuses the issue if not yourself as your posts show.

Well you are in the wrong thread. See the title. Go create your thread.

Maybe you didn't understand? Philippines passport name change requires the ROM.

For someone with "zero plans to live or retire in the Philippines", looks like you are making plans already? For CR1 and K1 paths, you do have to disclose criminal history at some point like on the I-485. And if your intent is to have multiple petitions, USCIS will find them. Sounds like you are advocating illegal means which are not recommended on Visajourney? I see no benefits to the US citizen for not having an ROM if your intent is a bona fide marriage. If your intent is not a bona fide marriage, then you might find more loopholes having an undocumented cross the Mexican border and seek asylum?

One option when not having the ROM is the Philippines spouse can always go back to the Philippines and re-marry easily since she is still single in the Philippines. It's up to the US citizens to determine if that is favorable or not for unforeseen cases like if one gets incapacitated, what keeps her from draining your savings and moving back to the Philippines to start a new life? Then again if this is a far-fetched scenario not worth considering, then no need to continue with this thread?

@DELTAFOXTROT Yes, Philippines passport renewal to marriage name requires the Report Of Marriage. https://philippineembassy-dc.org/e-passport-renewal/ See the Additional Requirement for Change of Family Name. Assuming for a moment that she got her US Citizenship, but her Philippines passport is still in her maiden name, she still needs to repatriate with the Philippines Embassy for dual citizenship. https://philippineembassy-dc.org/e-passport-renewal/ See the Additional Requirements for Dual Citizens. At the time of repatriation for dual citizenship, why would she want to claim her maiden name (with no the ROM) and not her marriage name (with ROM) if only to re-marry later in the Philippines? One reason I can think of for the ROM is for claiming inheritance in case of a Philippines citizen's death. The foreign spouse with ROM can claim inherited properties in the Philippines, but can not buy properties. And foreigners can not inherit Philippines property from foreigners. Also, the children can claim the legitimacy of the parents in the Report of Birth with the parent's ROM. For example, a foreigner married a Philippines citizen. Philippines citizen died and the foreigner inherited the Philippines property. The foreigner died and the non-Philippines or illegitimate children can not claim inheritance of the foreigner's Philippines property. However, the Philippines legitimate children can claim the inheritance of the Philippines property from the deceased foreigner parent. This was what someone told me before so this is second-hand interpretation. Someone who is more knowledgeable about Philippines laws may want to fact check me?

@top_secret @OldUser So we have an update and a question for all who are knowledgeable about passport renewal and name change. The update is that my Filipina spouse received her renewed Philippines passport with her marriage name in the mail. But she is still waiting for the Philippines voter registration. So we are several months away from filing the I-751 for the AOS Green Card. I noticed that the I-485 has a field for the passport number, but the I-751 does not. The question is do we need to update with USCIS her new Philippines passport number before we file for the I-751? Or how do we even update that information with USCIS? Or do we not need to update the passport number with USCIS? Thanks

Yes. You need an SSA account to set up an appointment to your local SS office. https://blog.ssa.gov/save-your-place-in-line-with-mobile-check-in-express/

https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf Parents SSNs are just identifiers for your application. Yes write them in if you know your parents' SSNs. Yes put your mother's name at her birth. Yes if you have a certificate of naturalization, then you select US Citizen. Yes, best to set up an appointment with the SSO. Depends on the specific SSO if they allow walk-ins. Best to bring your naturalization certificate, ID and old SSC and explain that you want to remove the DHS restriction or to update your status to US Citizen.

Thanks to @top_secret @RufusDawes for the tips above, we went to the Consular Outreach here in Atlanta to update my Filipina spouse's passport name change. We met many fine folks who drove in from all around the southeast just for this outreach. Here are some things that might interest others who may need to do the same. 1) In addition to organizing all the required documents for a passport renewal name change, https://philippineembassy-dc.org/e-passport-renewal/ registering and scheduling is highly recommended and the spots get filled up fast. https://www.passport.gov.ph/ Even though the outreach site says walk-ins for passport renewals are welcome, we met a couple from out-of-state without an appointment and they told them to wait till the end of the day to see if the spots become available. 2) For the "Original or notarized copy of proof that the applicant is still a Filipino and one (1) photocopy. Such proof may be, but not limited to, a green card, visa, notice of action, work permit, or dual IC.", we made 2 photocopies of the green card (front and back), and wrote on top "This is a copy of the actual I-551, Permanent Resident Card" and signed and notarized at a UPS office for $10. Also, took the actual green card for the passport officer to verify as well. 3) The consulate officer will try to push the Philippines voter registration as part of the passport renewal. Technically, that is separate and not required. But bureaucratically, just go along with it because the passport will already take 6-8 weeks. The last thing you want is to piss the officer off to where your passport application goes to the bottom of the pile or lost. The passport officer probably gets more credit for more voter sign-ups. This was what another Filipino told my spouse while waiting in line so she went ahead and registered to vote for the Philippines as well. Plus, the voter registration provides a 2nd valid Philippines ID name change along with the passport. For those who have ever tried to name change in the Philippines, having 2 IDs already makes the next ID change easier. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Or can verify? Or have other recommendations? Thanks.

@Hughughug333 Absolutely ask your husband to use a computer to sign up and learn some online courses. If you don't have a driver's license, study for the written exam. Study Khan Academy's Personal Finance and Financial Literacy courses. You need to understand the US tipping culture, taxes, Social Security, etc. Take this time to learn a skill. Also, try some coupon or cash back, gift cards apps like Ibotta, Fetch, etc., but make sure you don't get more than 600, otherwise, you have to give your SSN and then it becomes work income, which you can not have while AOS. Think of this as a career hiatus that many would love to have.

I don't think @Gabriela Gaghana registered a name change on the Texas Marriage Certificate registering the married name same as the maiden name? If that is the case, they should fill out the I-485 with the same name as what is on the Texas Marriage Certificate to avoid any name confusion later? As @OldUser recommended, to use whatever name is on the Texas Marriage Certificate and do the name change at N-400 may be less confusing?