GarLeb

So we are in the home stretch now.  Wife and stepdaughter just successfully made it through Saint Luke's relatively unscathed.  Well, my wife survived her round of Russian roulette with Saint Luke's x-ray machine.  The odds are similar.  ~15% of Filipinos loose to that x-ray machine, and 16.66% of folks would loose a round of Russian roulette.   Daughter got SIX shots plus a blood draw.  Two shots in each arm and one shot in each leg.  Poor girl, I don't think she knows there will be another round of shots in a few months in the US.  The wife only got 4 shots.
 
Saint Luke's was the last major hurdle.  The interview is October 5 and we feel prepared for that.  Since we just only filed the I-130's March 8 of this year it's looking like just under 7 months total from start to finish.

Whatever it takes to get this show rolling again. If the U.S. Embassy/Philippines wants everyone tested that comes in then let do it and get reopened. My prayer is that October 1 signals an answer to all our prayers. I'm ready for NVC to forward out package and process our visa. 

There is a number attributed to discovery in the Milligan v. Pompeo K-1 lawsuit being being thrown around of 6,000 to 8,000 approved K-1 petitions for the Philippines, documentarily qualified and stuck at NVC.  I have not found the actual source of that number though so it remains hearsay, but it is a backlog entirely consistent with actual number of K-1 visas issued since the pandemic began vs the average number of K-1 visas issued monthly before the pandemic.  It is also entirely consistent with yours and other couples wait times for K-1 interviews here and elsewhere.
 
Actual numbers of K-1 visas issued are published here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/nonimmigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-nonimmigrant-visa-issuances.html
 
There is a fantastic web site someone created that scrapes the actual numbers from the state.gov website and averages the numbers of visas issued monthly in the 2 years before March 2020, to arrive at a "normal average". Then compares it to the actual number of visas actually issued after March 2020 to arrive at a theoretical 'deficit" of visa issuances.  Basically it shows that in the two years before March 2020 US Embassy Manila averaged 470 K-1 visas a month and in the months after March 2020 US Embassy Manila averaged about 50 K-1 visas a month.  They increased to a whopping 150 K-1 visas this July.  August number aren't out yet but will be interesting to see.  But by that theoretical measure US Embassy Manila has actually issued 6,900 fewer K-1 visas than they would of at their historical average rate.  Again, a theoretical measure of the backlog, but entirely consistent with other estimates.
 
https://visawhen.com/consulates/manila/k1
 
That visawhen.com website is really awesome if you understand where it is getting its numbers from and the limitations of it's predictions.

For C2A/F2A there were almost no visas at all issued for over a year but now showing a significant increase in numbers being issued.
 
https://visawhen.com/consulates/manila/c21f21

Yes you can.  I have a long story and I filed both K-1 with two K-2s and a CR-1 with two CR-2s.  They have been here for over 2 years and we filed ROC in April.
 
You will need a separate I-130 for your step daughter.  If you didnt become a citizen yet she would have been a derivative on your future wife's I-130.  Not sure why the LPR has more rights than the citizen but it really isn't worth thinking about.  You will need 2 petitions.
 
My step son got married a couple weeks ago via Utah County.  I have been tracking it pretty closely.  I have spoken to dozens of people who have been able to get their 9a visa to visit the Philippines as a spouse (including one couple who never met so they couldn't file K-1  -  they married before they met and he got his 9a).  There are also a hand full of approved ROMs filed in San Francisco.  Looks like the Philippines recognizes the Utah marriage as does the rest of the world.  We havent filed ROM yet and since he is still a Philippine citizen he doesnt need the 9a.  We are all going to the Philippines in October and November (Step son on Oct 1, step daughter on Oct 20 and my wife and I on Nov 6).  We will see if we can get the marriage reported while we are there.  My new daughter in law is due any day and that is why they elected for the online marriage instead of the Philippine marriage when he visits.  It also saved him the family planning seminar and the 10 day wait as the marriage is announced.  It took 30 minutes and they even gave us links to the videos so we have their wedding video saved.
 
I can tell you that since I did the K-1 and spousal, the spousal was BY FAR a much better visa to get.  We married in Manila and filed as soon as we got the PSA marriage certificate.
 
As far as same sex, the Embassy will treat you like any other married couple.  You will never have a PSA marriage certificate but that wont impact the spousal visa.  CFO may be a challenge.  Keep a thick skin and you will get through it.

Depends on the state.  Some states require a BSN.  Becoming a Registered Nurse is no easy task, by any standard.  It was more difficult than anything I faced during my 20 year career in the military as a missile maintenance technician & ICBM missile launch crew member.....but Nursing is extremely rewarding. 
 
-Retired Registered Nurse with practice in Labor & Delivery, Home Health, Adolescent Psych, Adult Psych
 
 

I work in a large domestic and international health care provider with hospitals in the Northeast as well as Europe and Asia.  We actually have openings for several thousands nurses because it can be nearly impossible to find them.  We employ a little over 100K people with many of these health professionals.  If you know nurses in the US looking for a job, PM me  The tightening of immigration requirements over the last 4-5 years has really hurt health care organizations hiring for medical professionals.  This includes doctors as well.  We are opening 5 hospitals in China, with the first to open next year and to find specialist doctors in the US is also nearly impossible.  We are looking to fill those positions by Europeans.
 
I joined the organization just after I left the Philippines and just before Covid.  I recommended to help fill the shortage of nurses, med tech, etc etc positions to look into the Philippines, although from working there I knew the challenges they could face.  One of the recruiters told me that they no longer recruit from the Philippines as it was too much of a hassle.  Key issues were candidates mis-representing themselves, being qualified on paper but unable to perform the job when hired, difficult processes to follow with DFA just to get people out of the Philippines to work, etc etc etc.  If I was in a hospital on my death bed, I would still like to have nurses etc from the Philippines as I feel most have a unique ability for empathy.  

Right there with you. Another way to look at it is - is any of this under any of our control? If not, then it's easy to let these thoughts go. But seeing as how you have options, that makes it more difficult to decide. I 100% understand how you feel. Hopefully you'll be able to sort things out  

Hi, @hopefulfor2021. Unfortunately, we are not together - he's in the U.S., and I'm here. Yeah, I agree the CR1 route looks to be the most appealing and beneficial choice right now. But for now, we've decided to wait a bit, see how things go by the end of this year to early next year. We are, however, still also considering and researching how to get married outside the Philippines (and also figuring out if I'll even be able to get out of the Philippines, given I'm a single female). Although we would have wanted to get married here, I thinks it's nearly impossible with all the arbitrary lockdowns and quarantines. At this point, we feel like we're experiencing analysis paralysis, weighing all pros and cons and worrying about "what if we do this, then this happens? What if we get married, then the K-1s suddenly go faster?" type of things. It's all just so confusing, stressful, and overwhelming. But reading these forums and your and other members' thoughts certainly puts things in perspective,  clarifies a lot of stuff for us, gives us comfort, and makes us feel less "alone" regarding this situation, so thank you all for sharing your opinions.

Well, to follow up my own previous post.....  Just now, like 45 minutes after I posted that.  Wife and stepdaughter simultaneously received Interview Letter e-mails scheduling the interview for Oct 5.

No one know, and as stated above this is all on the Philippines Government since they have pretty much had the country on lockdown for the last 18 months.
 
There is no light at the end of the tunnel for them opening the country back up any time soon.  One thing the Philippines Government has proven since they locked the country down back in March 2020 is they can and will double down on a stupid plan and keep on doing it even though it has proven ineffective. 
 
If I wanted to bring my partner to the USA it would be with a spousal visa.

No one really knows.  Embassy has no clue as the Philippine government has the country in lockdown.
 
Immigrant visas are being processed, every so slowly (once again, thanks to the Philippines being in CONTINUAL lockdown) but they are being processed,
 
Should you start over with an IR/CR-1 spouse visa (immigrant visa)?   It isn't a shift over, it is a DO OVER if you decide to get married and start the spouse visa process.

There are other things to consider as well. We have no idea when Philippines will open up for tourism again. At least if you get married you can go see her. If you decide to go the CR1 route, I would advise a online Utah wedding,. That would allow you to go there the fastest and file the fastest.

You may want to follow @top_secret and see when they come up for an interview.  Also if you search his posts there are plenty of details if you want to meet in a 3rd country and switch to a spousal visa.  I believe they were debating on the K1 or even switched from the K1, met in a 3rd country in December last year and filed for the CR1 in April this year.  I may have the months off by a little, but the timeline is close to that.  They are just waiting for an interview which likely will be this year.  Plus, they will no longer have to adjust status and apply for work and travel permits.  The work and travel permits are taking upwards of 10-11 months, plus the adjustment of status interview could be years.
 
USEM processed 149 K1s for the month of July which was triple from previous months but still behind the 500-600/month pre pandemic.  August numbers should come out on the State Dept site around October 1 or 2nd so you may want to check that as well.  As others have stated, its a crapshoot if you switch over especially now, but I would estimate 1 year for the CR1 to process, maybe a little shorter.

As others said, there is no estimate.  I can imagine that many relationships have probably ended because of this uncertainty. The marriage route as opposed to the K1 might be sound advise if you were just now thinking about starting the visa process, but the fact that you've already been in the K1 queue for a year... for all you know, staying on your current course might get you to the finish line sooner, as opposed to going to the back of the line for a spousal visa. No one really knows.