Steve2022

Oh yeah, and then there is the email we got from the Embassy, which I think is what we should really pay attention to: " Congratulations on your upcoming immigrant visa interview Please read and follow all application and interview preparation instructions for immigrant visa applicants on the Embassy’s website at https://ph.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/ and complete Form DS-260/DS-160 at https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/ prior to the visa interview. You must scan, upload, and submit into the CEAC Portal (using your login) the requirements listed below. Please see attached instruction on how to scan and upload your documents. Note: If your civil documents and affidavit of support forms are not scanned, uploaded, and submitted into the CEAC portal by your interview date, your appointment may be delayed or cancelled. Civil documents: Birth Certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) (if born abroad, your original birth certificate & translation, if applicable) Marriage Certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) For married applicants and unmarried applicants at least 18 years old and above, a Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) or Advisory on Marriages issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Proof of marriage termination (death certificate, annulment documents, divorce) -IF ANY For applicants who are 16 years old and above, a Police Clearance issued by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Police Clearance from other countries. Please check (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country.html) and search for the country where you have previously resided. Look at the information provided in the "Police Records" section. NOTE: For the police clearance and CENOMAR/Advisory on Marriages requirement, please include all the names you have used (alias or A.K.A). Signed I-864 from your petitioner (https://www.uscis.gov/i-864 ) Certain IR2, IR3, and IH3 applicants who benefit from the Child Citizenship Act, as well as IW and IB applicants must submit a form I-864W (https://www.uscis.gov/i-864w) signed by the Intending Immigrant (or U.S. citizen parent or legal guardian if the immigrant is under 14 years of age). If applicable, a signed I-864A from your petitioner’s household member (https://www.uscis.gov/i-864a) Latest Form 1040 and W-2 from your petitioner and household member, or Latest Tax Transcript from your petitioner and household member (https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript) Signed I-864 from a qualified joint sponsor (https://www.uscis.gov/i-864 ) If applicable, a signed I-864A from your qualified joint sponsor’s household member (https://www.uscis.gov/i-864a) Latest Form 1040 and W-2 from your qualified joint sponsor and household member, or Latest Tax Transcript from your qualified joint sponsor and household member (https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript) Proof of status in the United States of your sponsors (Copy of LPR card / U.S. Passport) Immigrant visa applicants who have not paid the visa processing fee at the National Visa Center should pay with the Embassy’s Consular Cashier. The schedule of fees is available at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/fees/fees-visa-services.html. Complete your medical examination with St. Luke’s Extension Clinic prior to the visa interview. You may visit https://slec.ph for more information. You must register your delivery address online at http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/ph-iv-documentdelivery.asp before your visa interview. Failure to register a delivery address prior to your appointment date will result in delayed delivery of your passport and visa. Please bring your delivery address confirmation page at the time of your visa interview. All applicants must bring a printed copy of the DS-260/DS-160 confirmation page, and valid and old passports with valid U.S. visa (if applicable). All original documents must be presented at the time of the visa interview. Please be advised that petitioners will not be allowed entry to accompany applicants for the interview proper. If your medical exam is not complete or you will otherwise be unable to attend this appointment, you may contact us directly at https://ph.usembassy.gov/visas/contactus/ when you are ready to proceed and your appointment will be rescheduled.  Section 203 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides that an applicant's registration for an immigrant visa be terminated for failure to apply for the visa within one year following notification of the availability of such visa.  Your case will remain open and you will be able to reschedule your appointment for one year from the date of your scheduled interview. Sincerely, Immigrant Visa Unit Consular Section U.S. Embassy in the Philippines "

YES this is exactly my problem, because the link you linked above says one thing, and then the US Embassy in the Philippines says something entirely different: https://ph.usembassy.gov/visa-update-preparing-for-your-immigrant-visa-interview/ "NOTE: There is NO NEED TO BRING the petitioner/sponsor’s affidavit of support forms and financial documents, however these documents must be uploaded into the CEAC portal prior the interview." Oh, wait a minute, it said civil documents. That does not include financial documents, I think??? We have our interview next week, so, starting to feel pressure. What I need to know (and maybe I should put this in a different topic, but I was trying to find the info before posting) is do we need to include financial documents for 2021 taxes? I filed an extension, and so did my joint sponsor. Also, I should provide new bank statements for the past 6 months, correct? I already provided them but by now they're almost a year old. And my more important question is: DO I NEED TO UPLOAD THESE NEW THINGS INTO THE CEAC?????? THANKS!!!!!

I'm finding some information that says the purpose of the NBI clearance must be "travel abroad", but these seem to be older posts and there is nothing on the ph.usembassy.gov website that says the NBI clearance must be a "travel abroad" clearance. My wife's NBI clearance states "multipurpose" and also it expires about 2 weeks after the interview. Does any of this matter? Will they accept "multipurpose" for the interview and what about the CFO? Does she need an unexpired clearance to enter the US? Thank you.

That's why I suggest you call the main number, and when you get a human, tell them you have a 221g and would like to speak to an agent. You can call the main number and get a human in probably under an hour, depending what time of day you call. If you have to, tell them you submitted an inquiry but the response was extremely vague. However, I agree with RO_AH. I think the cover letter is the most important thing. If you submit that along with the extra financial papers, I think you should be good. But it would be better to hear it from the horse's mouth. You haven't even tried, you might be able to talk to a proper person about it. Another option is to call the NVC. You can definitely get an agent in under an hour who might know something.

I have been shocked recently to hear some repeat some obvious and (in my mind) very false propaganda that they have apparently been exposed to. Things are not much better in the USA with respect to availability of reliable unbiased news these days. I do not argue a whole lot because it isn't worth it, and they may well figure out the truth sooner or later on their own. If we Americans were such oppressive colonizers, worthy of lumping in with the Spanish, then why did we Americans free the Philippines from the Catholic Church and give them their first elections in 1907, sharing the Gift of Democracy that we were so fortunate to have been given? Did we keep Japan as a territory to tax after they were conquered? No, we gave them the Gift of Democracy, because that is all we ever wanted to do. Not conquer, not colonize permanently, and only as much as required to share the Gift. The seed of Democracy cannot grow in infertile soil that does not even know the Rule of Law because of centuries of oppression. A certain nation-state which I shall not name is now working feverishly to overthrow democratically elected governments and replace them with dictatorships. They have had successes. Bot accounts on social media is how they do it. Let's hope they won't be successful here. I can understand Filipinos who just want to feel safe and secure from the hold-up men and other criminals, who really should be fed to the fishes in Manila Bay. What good is due process when you can't hire a taxi without fear of being extrajudicially robbed? Who can criticize others for their choices when we all have a God-given right to self determination? But I do wish the Philippines had remained an American protectorate for longer, so that their Democracy might have been more assured.

Apparently the relevant law was passed in 1991, and it was based on "principles stated in the Philippine Constitution". https://www.duranschulze.com/the-60-40-equity-rule-on-owning-a-business-in-the-philippines/ However apparently I didn't know what I was talking about becuase it says right there that if the company invests 200k then they can fully own their business. I read Duterte got that lowered to 100k already. But isn't there still a ban on land ownership? So you can own the building, but you can't own the land it is built on. I'm guessing there are barriers to ownership that I don't know about yet that make it impractical, but I haven't figured this out yet.

My wife said that times were not bad when Marcos was president. People had jobs and could earn a living. But WHY might this have been the case? Apparently they banned foreign ownership of most everything with the new 1987 Constitution that SOMEBODY concocted after they kicked Marcos out. What company is going to build a factory they can't own? Or branch out into a country where they can't control their new subsidiary? No wonder there are few jobs for poor Filipinos. The only people who profit from this arrangement are the oligarchs, as it keeps the cost of labor low. Duterte was only able get rid of the foreign ownership ban in a few industries, telecoms, airlines, and shipping. Let's hope Marcos can make more reforms like this and that he doesn't choose to usurp democracy like his father. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/05/the-grim-reality-behind-the-philippines-economic-growth/275597/

Are you sure they won't consider it? Maybe they will, or maybe if you just get a different official to look at it, they will. I think you can ask for a different official, that should be allowed. But first you should provide some extra info. If it were me, I'd be calling the Embassy and holding however long it took to get some answers from a human being, and possibly I'd be camping out on their steps until I got some answers about what exactly they want. I am reminded now that Rapidvisa had me write a self-employment letter. Here is the template pdf they gave me: self-employment_letter.pdf I'd do up one of those and add in there what your net worth is.

I guess it is just the way the US Embassy there is run? I pulled this from the rapidvisa website: "every single embassy and country has different rules, and it's at their discretion. The Philippines is one of a small number of embassies that do not accept joint sponsors for the K-1 fiance visa. They actually require you to meet the income requirements on your own, and if you cannot do that through employment, then you can also use assets in some cases. And even that falls to the discretion of the consular officer, as to whether or not they'll accept assets, and what type of assets they'll accept."

We were delayed 3 months extra at NVC because the reviewer wanted "every single 1099 and w-2" uploaded separately from the tax return. They had already been provided, but as part of the tax return. They wanted each income source uploaded as a separate file, I think is the rule. Rapidvisa botched the initial upload, but I guess I can't complain because I only paid them $650 in total. Rapidvisa also required I provide 6-7 months of bank statements. Sometimes I think they knew what they were doing.

Perhaps some documents from Experian that show what your total debt is and credit score might be helpful? I would call the embassy main number and just hold until you get a human being. Or wait for better answers from this forum. You should also provide every 1099 (and w-2, which seems like you don't have) and form 1041 (if applicable, probably not) you have available. Not sure how you got through NVC without providing all of your 1099s, separately uploaded to CEAC. And your full tax return. And 6-7 months of bank statements.

I'm sorry, I just remembered that you can't use a joint sponsor for a fiance visa in the Philippines. The Philippines government doesn't allow it. Probably too many spouses that got stuck with some good-for-nothing that doesn't work. So I would suggest you get a net worth statement signed/validated by your bank or a lawyer or something, to prove that your assets minus liabilities are above the minimum threshold, or find out exactly what sort of documentation they need to prove your assets. That or get married and jump back to the end of the line with a new I-130. Good luck.

I wonder if your situation is somewhat similar to mine. I was told by Rapidvisa, my agent, that my income from a trust fund was not considered to be "sustaining income". I suppose money from buying/selling stocks would be much the same. That income is not considered reliable or reproducible. So it seems like there is some discrimination against people who don't work for others or have non-traditional revenue streams that they aren't used to looking at. After Rapidvisa told me this about the "sustaining income", I decided to just get my sister to be the joint sponsor, so that I could be assured that there would be no problems. She has a regular job where she gets a salary. This way their head can't explode from looking at the financials. Still, if you have assets that are more than 3x the income requirement, then I don't see how they can deny you. I would call the embassy and ask for reconsideration. Maybe the consular agent is new and needs to be trained. You might get a lawyer to appeal the decision, but it may be easier to just get a joint sponsor.

I do not think you should expect 3 weeks. First of all, it depends what kind of visa you're interviewing for, which you didn't tell us. The fastest commonly encountered visa would be the spousal, yet recently (a few weeks ago) it took 4 months after DQ for us to get the interview letter on our IR1 visa. I think they may process spouses of veterans or service members faster, and other civil servants, but this is pure speculation, I don't know that they do this. Rapidvisa, our agent, told us back in December that it was taking 1-5 months right now. Other people on this forum have reported that recently (last couple of years) they got their interview letter for spousal visa in 1 month only after DQ. During the pandemic, they had suspended processing of fiance visas and most other visas, so they had more time to focus on spousal. Now, they're processing all kinds of visas again, so there will be a backlog they're trying to get through.

I will be there, so she can just take my passports, old and new, in with her. We'll also have air ticket reservations printed out. I'm not organized enough to have kept track of most of my boarding passes. I did try to, but usually lost them anyway. Only thing I'm good at is remembering the password for my email, where all the flight reservations are stored.

This is fresh in my mind, because I had a conversation yesterday with a friend who recently filed his I-130. His accountant told him the marriage wasn't "real" until his spouse arrive in the USA. This is lazy and bad advice. What I found out is that even if you are married only 1 day, you still have to file as married. This sucks because if you don't have an ITIN for your spouse, you won't be able to deduct many things because you'll be forced to file "married filing separately" or else apply for an ITIN, which may be a futile move. You can amend your old returns later, if they're not older than 3 years, after your spouse has an SSN, so you can get your deductions later. I told my friend what I myself had already learned, and then my friend asked his immigration attorney, who advised that yes, he must file as married. Why? Because them's the rules. Our grandparents and great-grandparents voted to allow this when they ratified the 16th amendment. At that time it only applied to 1% of the population, so they thought it was a good idea. Also "married" should look better than "single" when the NVC looks at your documents. Here is a link from H&R Block, a respected tax preparer: https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/resource-center/filing/status/married-to-non-resident-alien-status/ Pro tip: if you use fileyourtaxes.com, you'll be able to file as "married filing separately" without having an ITIN or SSN for your wife, and you'll be able to file ELECTRONICALLY. This is critical because if you print the return and write in NRA in the SSN blank, and mail it in, as TurboTax and FreeTaxUSA.com tell you to do, then you'll be waiting probably 6 months before your return will be processed and you can get a tax transcript. If you file electronically, you'll have the tax transcript in 21 days. If you're using an accountant/preparer, be sure that they understand how critical it is that your return be filed electronically.

Thank you. I stayed 2 weeks after we got married, and I visited her twice more since we got married, braving pandemic restrictions and all, for a total of over 5 months spent together since we got married.

Hi, I'm a US citizen, and as such, I am culturally used to a certain right to privacy. The US Supreme Court has ruled over and over that we have a right to Privacy. Some people use social media conversations as "evidence" for the Embassy interview, but it is my understanding that this is not required, although it seems to be more required for fiance visas. We're already married, not doing a fiance visa, so I'm trying to tell my wife that our social media conversations are not actually any of their business. Furthermore, we don't even have them going back to the start of the relationship. I was trying to quit facebook at some point so i deleted my account. Facebook is an evil time waster. Turns out it is impossible to function in the Philippines without Facebook, even government agencies expect you to use it. We might have some old Skype conversations, not sure how far back. Our original conversation was on dateinasia dot com, and since my wife deleted her account there, there is no way we can prove that, as when she deleted her account, our conversation disappeared from my account. So I'm just here to ask, should we be worried about providing social media conversations for her interview, or is this not something to worry about? We have a lot of pictures going back 5 years, arranged with date stamps, and I have airline tickets to show that I visited the Philippines 5 times to see her. And the records of remittances since we we got married. I think that should be enough? Thank you.

No. I advised her just send a letter to the courthouse where the divorce was filed, and tell them she wants to contest the divorce. That will force him to hire a lawyer, or pay her off so she can afford a lawyer to get the divorce recognized.

Well, I don't know, but the Army said she was entitled to some support each month. If she were in Texas, she'd be entitled to half his disposable earned income, while she is married. Not after being divorced. But cost of living is less in Phils. The Army already made him send some specific amount last month, but he sent nothing this month. He did not adopt her daughter. He has a daughter of his own, and he has already moved on to a new girlfriend. 2.5 years. She's not a money grubber, she just wants it to be over also, but I want to see her at least get her lawyer fees in the Phils paid for. She quite her job because her husband said to, and filed her own I-130 and NVC package, so she's not a dummy. Spent all her savings during the visa process. She helped my wife with some of her documents. She hasn't voluntarily signed anything, but within about 3 weeks he can get the divorce in Texas, if she does nothing and he is on the ball.

So I have a Filipina friend, a friend of my wife, and so the friend is going through a divorce. She's been sent divorce papers, nearly 2 months ago. She is still in the Philippines and the marriage was aborted (divorce papers filed) during the NVC stage. The husband is a servicemember in the Armed Forces, and repeat infidelity was involved. The soldier was even demoted over it. But it is my understanding that under Texas Law, where the papers were filed, she is still entitled to 1/2 his pay after taxes as a dependent, during the time they were married, and she shouldn't sign any divorce papers until she has had a hearing in court. The remittance records over the last 2.5 years show paltry sums to support her and her daughter (who is not a daughter of the soldier, who is on his 3rd marriage). So my question is, how much of a case does she really have, and what is the best way to go about getting an attorney, and can she find an attorney to work for no money up front in Texas? She would like to just have enough money to pay a Filipino lawyer to recognize the divorce, and enough for the Agent fees to go work again in Korea, where she met him. I think if she presents a little resistance, she should be able to get a reasonable settlement. But maybe I'm wrong. I have little knowledge about these things, so I ask the community.

Thank you. We just planned for day 4 travel home. That way I don't have to worry about her traveling at night.

We just got our Interview Letter after almost 4 months of waiting after DQ. IR1 visa. Unfortunately my wife got the Sputnik vaccine, which is not WHO approved. So what should we do about that? Now we're planning the trip for my wife to visit Manila early, before 2 weeks before the interview. How much time should she schedule for that? Is 3 days enough? For example: Day 1: Fly to Manila, travel to hotel near SLEC, and sleep. (please make hotel recommendations, if you know) Day 2: go to appointment Day 3: go to rest of appointment to finish medical Day 3: Travel back to airport and Fly home to Cagayan de Oro. (is there time to do this, or should we plan for her to fly home on Day 4?)