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EatBulaga

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  1. It should not matter. But if you want "extra insurance" to avoid "future problems", you might consider applying for Global Entry. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry GE will document your passport, id and green card, and you show up for an in-person interview to verify all those are you so that your documents and names are verified prior to the Port Of Entry immigration entry and the GE line is usually faster than the regular immigration line. You can check out our GE experience at https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/799684-global-entry-with-conditional-green-card/
  2. Yes. If you travel with US passport only-entry to Philippines and exit Philippines with US passport would have cleared that situation. But that eliminates the advantage of the dual passport, which include unlimited stay without visa, etc. For the problem case, because the airline only had the US passport info since the flight was booked with US passport ONLY, but the entry was with the Philippines passport. If the US passport did not show Philippines entry and US embassy does not have a record of the US passport entry, the airline assumes a US passport irregularity to maybe even a fake passport which the US may not accept on entry. And in which case, the airline assumes the cost to fly the traveler back to the departure country. So to avoid such cases, it is probably best to include both passports to all the connecting airlines for your international travel.
  3. I've been reading posts about other travelers with dual passports, including US-Philippines. Oddly enough, it is the airlines that give the most hassles. I've come to the conclusion that it is best to give the airlines both passports information on booking. Airlines are financially responsible for any travelers who can not be cleared to travel to the destination, and suck up the cost returning the traveler to the departure country. US or Philippines don't care if you have passport from the other country as long as you have valid entry. And it is often the gate agent or the boarding agent who makes the decision to allow a traveler to board or not. So the more information you provide the airlines before the flight, the more information that the gate agent can pull up to avoid any confusion. One post that reported a problem was that they booked with a US passport ONLY, but entered the Philippines with the Philippines passport. So when it was time to depart the Philippines, the airline flagged that the traveler's US passport had an irregularity and would not allow the traveler to board even though the Philippines immigration was cleared. The airline referred the traveler to contact the US embassy to clear the US passport irregularity, but the US embassy had no record of the US passport entry since the entry was with the Philippines passport. I think it took a missed flight to clarify everything, but it could be a hassle that could be avoided if you provide the airlines with both passports when getting boarding passes, or if the airline portal allows it to upload all visa or relevant traveling documents information before travel.
  4. Hello Green Card holders interested in Global Entry, After getting conditional approval for the GE, we were fortunate to get a GE interview at our nearest airport in about a month. We read cases where some are still waiting for interviews 6-12 months out. My foreign spouse only has a 2-year Green Card and was approved for the Global Entry, so these are some lessons learned that are probably true for 10-year Green Card holders as well: 1. Getting a convenient interview date and location can be a little tricky and is the hardest part of the whole process. You have to keep checking back almost everyday to see what opens up. We first scheduled an appointment at another location farther away but within our date limits in hopes of re-scheduling later if nothing opens up. And we noticed that more locations/date were opening up whenever we go back to try to re-schedule. I read one advice that CBP releases new interview location/dates every first Monday of the month. I think we checked on a Tuesday after the first Monday of the month to get our preferred interview location/date. There is also the Enrollment On Arrival option if you already have an international travel, but you need to arrive at a Port Of Entry with a Global Entry office during their working hours, so that will require some flight scheduling if you plan to do that. 2. My foreign spouse's passport name (maiden name) did not match the green card name (married name). Even though she showed the GE agent our marriage certificate, the GE agent said that she may be pulled aside for more questioning at the Port Of Entry. We thought the GE agent could maybe upload the marriage certificate to avoid any confusion, but the GE agent said they could not, but they will issue her a GE card anyways with the understanding that she may still get questioned at the POE. Carrying around the marriage certificate during travel for passport-green card name mismatch is the usual procedure anyways but hopefully, the GE line will be shorter and more efficient than the regular immigration line when the time comes to enter from international travel. Thinking back in hindsight when we were uploading document information for the GE application, the site did allow us to upload other documents like a second passport, etc. besides the standard passport, driver's license, and green card. And we should have uploaded our marriage certificate then because now the only way to update new documents is thru GE agent. And since the GE agent chose not to accept the document then we are stuck with the potential questioning at the POE. 3. To follow up on the passport name and green card name mismatch, the GE agent did say whenever the foreign spouse updates her foreign passport to the green card name, we can take it down to the GE office without the need for scheduling an interview and they will update her GE with the new passport name. This also makes me think that GE offices are maybe open to walk-in interviews if they are not busy? Because they have to accommodate for Enrollment On Arrivals anyways? But that may be hit-of-miss depending on how busy they are? What we observed was that most people with interview appointments were in-out of the office within 5-10 minutes. Since my foreign spouse had the special case of name mismatch, she was in-out in 15 minutes. Ideally, GE is supposed to do the background check and approve low-risk international travelers for the faster immigration processing thru the GE line. And the scheduled interview is really just to verify in-person your passport information along with the immigration status, and driver's license (REAL ID). The reason I got my foreign spouse GE was that we hope it will be less immigration hassle at entry. But I'm getting the feeling that GE does not guarantee lesser hassles, but maybe a shorter line?
  5. I've seen a COURTESY EMAIL notice for I-693 where the applicant re-uploaded the DS-3025 and was approved. https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/798091-request-for-form-i-693-courtesy-email/?do=findComment&comment=10840726 If you got the RFE for I-693, then I would do as the RFE says. Not complying completely with the RFE risks abandoning the AOS application or AOS denial and starting over.
  6. 1. Both can be sufficient. But as a general rule for myself, any electronic pdf statement printout is better than screenshot printout as supporting documents for I-864. 2. Do you have a US state driver's license with the US mailing address? Pic or converted to pdf print are both fine. 3. Not necessary, but if you have a voter registration card, then printout of that is better. What are the most important for the I-864 are the proofs of US income or US employment or US assets. Current pay statements, IRS tax transcripts (joint filing if married), property deeds, etc.
  7. Congrats! Were both your I-485 interview and I-751 interview waived?
  8. Not working or being unemployed or doing non-profit work is okay for the I-129F. But there is a question in I-129F or I-134 about if the K1 beneficiary has ever been a public charge? So my guess is that if the K1 beneficiary is unemployed and had public charge because of unemployment then that may be considered along with the K1 petitioner's means to support the K1 beneficiary from the I-134.
  9. See the guide for list of documents https://www.visajourney.com/guides/adjustment-of-status-k1-k3-visas/ Your total fee is still 1225 unless you are 79 or over. https://www.uscis.gov/i-485
  10. Congratulations! You can help others by filling out your Timeline, which updates the VJ stats pages
  11. I've only heard of one case where the CBP agent didn't know the procedure to open and inspect the sealed envelope. The K1 called USCIS to inquire what to do with the envelope, and USCIS told them to immediately go back to the airport to drop it off with the CBP. There are supposed to be other documents inside the sealed envelope besides the medical like police report, etc. so all those are supposed to be with the USCIS already when you file the AOS. Yes, good thing that you kept the envelope sealed. I read posts that in the near future this passing of the sealed envelope procedure will be updated to electronically transferred.
  12. Wait...whoa...you had the brown sealed envelope this whole time? which was supposed to be picked up by the CBP at the POE to forward to USCIS? And the current officer accepted it to put in the file? This is highly irregular. I'm guessing the officer is elevating the review to a superior since this is highly irregular. Ideally, the brown sealed packet is reviewed by the CBP at POE, and then forwarded to USCIS. Not sure what will come of this? Do keep us updated.
  13. Yes, you can stay outside of US as long as you want as a US citizen. Just remember to file your taxes each year and the FinCen FBAR if your foreign account is above 10K.
  14. Does Qatar allow visitor visa to work? It's okay for K1 applicants to be at a 3rd country as long as they don't break any laws or don't commit any fraud. They may need to get a police report from the 3rd country for the K1 interview. I believe the K1 applicants need to list or update all the countries in the I-129F they've been to for the past 5 years and need to have police reports from each of those countries. In fact, my K1 beneficiary interviewed at a 3rd country while legally working at the 3rd country and had to get police reports from her home country and the 3rd country.
  15. So you were married 10 years ago in the Philippines? I think you have to get your Philippines marriage annulled or divorced before getting married again in the Philippines. I don't think Philippines weigh the American divorce as much as the current Philippines marriage status? What I mean is that you can use the American divorce as evidence in the Philippines annulment process. You are divorced in the US but still married in the Philippines until annulment. And you won't be able to marry again in the Philippines until you are eligible to marry again. That is my understanding.
  16. For the I-485, I-864, I-131, and I-765, this is what we did. Supporting documents include the original marriage certificate, and everything else can be copies without the need to sign and date. You can include in your cover letter the list of documents like: Original I-485 (signed and dated), Original Marriage Certificate, Copy of Birth Certificate, Copy of Passport, Copy of Passport Visa, etc. And mention in the cover letter that you can provide the original documents of any copies if USCIS requests it. I have seen suggestions of writing the name and A-number on the back of all the copies like you do for the photos, but I don't think it is required.
  17. I think I saw some posts of good movements for April-June 2022 on Reddit. Then the Title 42 expiration happened where 1000 agents were reassigned to handle the cases. So that might be slowing down the progress?
  18. You are not permitted to work without EAD or green card. It doesn't matter if the work is remote or for foreign companies--it still counts as work in the US and foreign income is still income. If you do work without EAD or green card and not report it, then that constitutes fraud.
  19. I don't have an accountant recommendation. But I do recommend that you also file the FinCEN FBAR, which is not related to the IRS tax implications. FinCEN is Dept of Treasury who tracks the flow of currency. https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html Not filing the FBAR can result in freezing your overseas accounts.
  20. According to wikipedia, the largest Albanian communities are in NY, NJ, Mich, or Mass. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_Americans Other places with sizeable Albanian communities are greater Cleveland, Ohio area, Illinois, Conn, or Paterson, NJ. Fairview, NC, has a high percentage as well as Hamtramck, Mich. I would think the lower cost states among those are Mich, Ohio, Illinois, NC.
  21. If your marriage certificate is from Texas, then you need to file from the Houston consulate. https://houstonpcg.dfa.gov.ph/index.php/downloads
  22. We did not get the Online Access Code with our AOS NOA1. We were able to request it at the USCIS site, and they emailed it to us. See our Profile->Our Story or Timeline to see the sequence of events.
  23. You can submit the AOS that you have and wait and see if USCIS requests the I-693 RFE? Or you can go ahead and get the I-693 medical and submit with the AOS?
  24. Is this an official RFE? Or just a courtesy notice? If it is an RFE, then you must get the I-693, or you risk abandoning the AOS. If it is just a courtesy notice, then you can wait and see if it turns into an RFE, or you go ahead and get the I-693 medical which overrides the DS-3025. We got a copy of the DS-3025 from the overseas doctor. You having a copy of the DS-3025 is irrelevant to how USCIS approve the medical. https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/799273-k1-aos-have-ds-3025-and-received-rfe-for-i-693-medical-documentation/?do=findComment&comment=10833637 USCIS still reserves the right to request the I-693 medical regardless of DS-3025.
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