EatBulaga

That sounds like a bank reference letter, which a bank officer usually signs. A bank reference letter is equivalent to your employer's HR providing an employment reference letter stating when you started working, your current salary, etc. Depending on your bank or the bank officers, they may or may not have time to fulfill your request in time (within 10 days) for you to include in the I-134. Our bank was able to fulfill my request and get it to me the next day, which I was able to include in the I-134. I made extra copies as I also included it in the I-864. The bank reference letter is not a hard requirement, depending on the consulate, but it certainly does not hurt your case to have it. If you can not get the bank reference letter for the I-134, you can at least have it for the I-864 with the I-485.

@Dominic828 I would go thru the CBP list of prohibited and restricted items and make sure that you or the K1 beneficiary do not enter with them. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go/prohibited-and-restricted-items One anecdotal story that was going around for a while was a K1 bride wanting to bring a plant from her home country as a gift to her to-be in-laws. The plant and K1 bride were denied entry by the CBP.

@smilingstone US employers understand some of the logistics of USCIS immigration since they must abide by the same laws when hiring. To show potential employers that you are not just sitting around doing nothing while waiting for work authorization, you can earn professional certifications or licenses like real estate license, driver's license, food handler certification, AI certification, etc.--many of which have minimal fees or costs or even free. I recommend that all new immigrants learn all of the Khan Academy Personal Finance and Financial Literacy courses, and supplement with any other materials to get a good understanding of the US money culture, like taxes, tippings, Roth IRA, etc. One recent K1 beneficiary that my foreign spouse was keeping in touch with got her EAD within 6 months of US entry and followed the strategy above. During the 6 months, she got married, filed for the I-485/I-765, got her motorcycle license, learned enough about the US money culture, etc. After she got the EAD, she applied and got hired with UberEats delivering food and now makes a pretty good living for herself and her husband.

So you did not have an I-751 interview? Do you have an N-400 interview scheduled?

Are you still at I-129F NOA1? Why would you need an Advanced Parole? As for expedited criteria, if you can justify your situation using one of the accepted criteria, such as humanitarian reasons, then you have the best chance for approval. https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-guidance/expedite-requests Most are more worried about the EAD expedite than the AP expedite.

When is your last evidence or proofs of meeting physically in person?

"how good the Filipino parent has it in the Philippines"--is bank balance not one of the measure?

Yes. Does the consulate or CBP not care how much are in the bank accounts?

She will bring some cash, but she will stay with her daughter and son-in-law for food, lodging, transportation, travel insurance and some other expenses.

Having a bank account shows some ties to assets in the home country and financial stability. She is in a position to save for the travel--if more bank balance is expected by the consulate, then more time is required to save up for the travel. According to ChatGPT, proving financial stability is one of the DS-160 questions proving ties to the home country. Merits of the visit is seeing family. But if the foreign traveler does not have sufficient financial, then consulate may assume the purpose of visit is to work, which is grounds for denial. Deepseek has an interesting result: 200K PHP to 500K PHP for 1-2 week visit. 500K to 1M PHP for 1 month visit. If the travel cost is subsidized by US family, then the US family proof of bank balance of 500K.

Many of the YouTube B2 guides suggest collecting evidence of ties to the home country. Whether verbally or backed by documents, how to best prepare for the consulate interview?

I understand. We are her family reason to visit the US, however we can help her to prove that. How much do most Philippines B2 visas need in their bank accounts to prove they have ties back to their home country and have enough to visit families in the US?

The purpose is to visit us. We can provide a letter of sponsorship if that will help. But we were wondering how much do most Philippines B2s have in their bank accounts for the US consulate to approve with strong ties to home country?

My wife's Mom is trying to start the B2 tourist visa application. She has property in the Philippines and receives her husband's monthly pension. About how much should she have in the bank account?

We sent off for the ROM, 2022-07, and received back the Philippines LA consulate filings and PSA copies, 2023-02. 🤷‍♂️

In case the N-400 is applied under the 3-year rule (for example, Jan 10, 2026, but I-751 48-month validity to Apr 10, 2029), but USCIS delayed the processing with the interview after April 11, 2028, does the case automatically become a 5-year rule N-400 petition? Does the N-400 NOA1 (for example, Jan 10, 2026) override the validity of the I-751 48-month NOA1 (valid till Apr 10, 2029)? For example, if I-751/N-400 is delayed beyond Apr 10, 2029, the N-400 NOA1 is the overriding proof for legal status? With the processing of cases slowing or delayed, these questions may not be as hypothetical in the near future?

@saied I would think having an attorney in case is better than not? At least she can request to the CBP to speak to an attorney if needed. The Trump travel ban list doesn't really have any specific restrictions at this time. But that does not mean, it may not in the near future I know of a US citizen recently travel to South Sudan (Orange list) and back with no issue, and a green card holder travel to Pakistan (Orange list) and back with no issue. They were able to book the flights with no restrictions and clear CBP at US entry.

Iran is on the red list of US travel ban countries, whatever that means. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/us/politics/trump-travel-ban.html Given the current political climate, I would do a few of things before she travels to prepare for her US entry: 1. Get her Global Entry. Yes, green card holders are eligible for Global Entry. https://ttp.dhs.gov/ Pay the 120. Getting the interview is the biggest challenge. Consider Global Entry as a US entry pre-check or pre-scrutinization in hopes of lessening any hassles at the CBP entry. You can read our experience getting Global Entry at https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/799684-global-entry-with-conditional-green-card/ 2. Get an immigration attorney handy in case you need to call them if she does get pulled into secondary inspection, even with Global Entry. 3. Make sure she has all the right documentation for US entry, like the green card, marriage certificate, immigration attorney's number, passport, REAL ID, etc. As @Crazy Cat said, lots of cases with no issues. But you can do the 3 things if you want to pay a little more for peace of mind, given the current political climate.

This may or may not be related to your situation, but if you can turn your 50K revenue business into a high-value investment in the US, then you can be considered for the EB-5 https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program Also, I knew a guy once with another pathway (EB or L1?) who had an overseas business and opened a US office. As an executive of his own company, he got the L1 https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/l-1a-intracompany-transferee-executive-or-manager

You have to backfile your annual tax returns for 2021-2024, to find out how much you owe. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/us-citizens-and-residents-abroad-filing-requirements Most people fall under the foreign income exclusion limit so they don't owe anything. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion Also if you have foreign bank accounts that hold over 10K US total equivalent at anytime during the year, then you also need to file the FBAR. https://www.fincen.gov/report-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts The consequences for not filing the FBAR if your total balance is above 10K are that your foreign accounts can be frozen by the US government. If your foreign incomes were below the exclusion limit, then I'd go ahead and backfile DIY. If your foreign incomes were above the exclusion limit or if you have exceptional circumstances, then I'd get a professional ASAP to backfile to see how much you owe and pay before the penalties get overwhelming.

What is the exact message with the numbers redacted?

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/12/nx-s1-5395067/first-group-afrikaner-refugees-arrive Not to sound political, but apparently USCIS does have the resources to speed up processing if required. Meanwhile, regulars like us continue to wait. Any thoughts or reactions?

If i was you, I would join both April and May threads. The more posts you read of others, the more you know what to expect. I had spent months reading VJ posts before I joined VJ and had the confidence to file our own visa process.

Yes. When the consulate receives the case, the CEACStatTracker changes to "Ready".

The charts are the data of wait times for each step in the K1 process. https://www.visajourney.com/times/k1-fiance-visa-historical/ If you don't know the K1 process steps, read thru the VJ guides steps. The interview is the last step. K1 step by step https://www.visajourney.com/guides/k1-fiance-visa/ K1 flowchart https://www.visajourney.com/guides/k1-fiance-visa-flowchart/ K1 tips https://www.visajourney.com/guides/k1-fiance-visa-tips/ If you read thru my Warsaw example, you would have reached the link for the data of days between the NVC step to the consulate interview https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/794226-nvc-past-case-approval-timeline-no-welcome-letter/?tab=comments#comment-10780534 Poland seems to be currently at 112 days based on data from 2 cases. https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/stats.php These should be plenty of links for you to start your prudent planning.