spicynujac

Tea, primarily due to the HUGE variety one has, from black tea to oolong to chai to earl grey to peppermint to green to kombucha. Coffee is fine, but it's all essentially the same, outside of black coffee and milk+coffee. I toured the Uji region of Japan that produces its teas, and learned that there are about a dozen different teas they make from the same green tea plant, depending on sunlight, drying, roasting, and fermentation. And tea didn't even originate there (China). And that's just one type of tea plant. Types of Tea | Learn about Uji Tea | Kyoto Prefectural Tea Industry Chamber

1) Definitely one from an EU country. The ability to live and work anywhere in any EU territory may be the single best passport feature in the world. Also allows you to bypass the new fingerprinting and visa fees Americans must pay to visit EU! Spain gives visa free travel to 175 countries, and is currently ranked #2 passport in the world, and has some benefits in some South American countries so I'd pick that one. 2) One from Japan as it will allow generous visitation rights to most Asian countries, and the ability to live in Japan! Singapore would be similar. China if you are playing the long game and want to help out your decendants, as they are a rising power. 3) I wouldn't really need a third passport if I had those 2, but if given three, I would pick one up from Switzerland, just because it's one of the most difficult countries to obtain citizenship, is a neutral country, and would give great social benefits living there. Possibly UAE for a totally different lifestyle. United Arab Emirates is currently ranked as the #1 best passport, has the highest number of visa free countries, and no income tax, so that's probably the best single passport to hold, particularly if you want to live there. I don't know the entitlements for UAE citizens, but I assume it is similar to Qatar, where you get income tax exemption, free utilities, subsidies for marrying and having a family, a large stipend, money for a house, superb social benefits, etc. Also my US passport is rather powerful, but if I didn't already have one, I wouldn't want one (encumbers you with global taxation on any income you make, lack of social services, etc.). A good strategy is to collect passports from regional cooperative areas, such as European Union, Southern Common Market, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, perhaps even UK for Commonwealth access, now that it's no longer an EU country.

Ah, that makes sense Ah that makes sense, since our instructions said wait and your interview would be scheduled for you (!?#!) but it wasn't and no instructions were given on self scheduling! Bottom line, check the forum here for the best info. If it wasn't for this forum, we would have wasted MONTHS waiting by following the official instructions. Pretty frustrating to get misinformation direct from the US gov instructions!

In our case In Manila? We scheduled our own appointment as one was never "given" to us. Maybe things have cleared up by now, but a few months ago, there were *two* websites as they were switching over to a new scheduling system, and the instructions had a bunch of misinformation telling you to go to the old site, which was still there and semi-functioning, but wouldnt issue you an appointment, and had no info about the correct site, and I ONLY got a successful date by trying for several days after lots of reading the posts here. I *believe* the old/bad site is ustraveldocs and the correct one is https://www.usvisascheduling.com/en-US/ but you should confirm that. Also waiting times vary by embassy (and even our experience in Manila in May might not be very applicable today). The Manila embassy is notorious for switching around priority and processing of different visas. At that time they were focusing on fiance visas, which were not a priority in the past. See these threads for more info. Also note that you will be scheduling TWO dates on the calendar.

What we did: Legal / civil ceremony was performed over a Utah video call (fast, cheap, easy). Religious ceremony was performed at the Cebu Cathedral over a year later. Wife entered as an IR-1 permanent resident with 10 year renewable green card. Bonus: NO additional fees or interviews will be due until US citizenship! Here's a tip: Most of the people you see getting married on the beach, even in the USA, are *legally* married in a separate process before or after that ceremony. The beach wedding is just the social / religious component of the marriage (to us, the most important one!) A couple of others above suggested the Utah civil marriage. It's what we did and still looks like hands down the best approach. You can be legally married in about a week for about $75 through Utah if you apply today (shoutout to Universal Heart Ministry who did a fantastic job officiating). That takes care of the legal requirement for immigration, and a ceremony can be done anywhere / anytime you want to satisfy the social and religious components (I'm not downplaying these--we did not consider ourselves married until this was done--but the US State Department does, so we immediately filed for our immigration paperwork and had our ceremony a year later!) You can get legally married any number of places around the world, including the Philippines or even a third / neutral country, but there may be fees, requirements, interviews, blood tests, documents, waiting periods, etc. Utah makes it as fast and easy as driving through a Las Vegas wedding chapel. Much faster, easier, and cheaper than a wedding would be in my home state, in fact. If a religious / social ceremony is important to you (and if not, it will almost certainly be important to your bride!), planning for a fun, memorable, and special ceremony can be a great way of passing the time during waiting for immigration processing. We had our ceremony over a year after our legal Utah wedding certificate was issued, and it kept my wife busy and the waiting game far less difficult. It sounds like you are possibly already with her in the Philippines so maybe this is less important, but still a factor to consider. Just remember, you can file your spouse's visa petition (form I-130) immediately after legal/civil marriage, as long as you are both physically present together during the ceremony (if not you must physically meet as husband and wife before filing). While it stinks having to start a new process, I think you'll be happier getting a superior spousal visa in the long run. If anyone if Philippines asks why you have a Utah wedding certificate already, just say it was easier / required / whatever for US immigration purposes. The priests involved in our ceremony had no problem with it (one of them did grill us a bit in the church premarital interview, but I suppose that is their job!). I would 100% go this route again. One of my American groomsman said it was the best wedding he ever went to and wondered what we spent. He said in the states it would have been a $100,000 ceremony. I spent less than 1/10th that!

"VJ Member Timeline: No Timeline Found!" You could have a reasonably accurate estimate of the processing time if you filled out your timeline... Takes 2 minutes. First thing I did upon joining the forum.

Interview is essentially the LAST step. Did you receive anything asking you to schedule an interview? If you haven't filed the DS-160, that's essentially the FIRST step in the visa application (until then you were just in the waiting period to PETITION for a visa. Kind of confusing I know). Nonimmigrant Visa for a Fianc(é)e (K-1) It seems like you are in "Second Step: Filing for the Visa" So the next big step is submitting the DS-160. I went spousal visa which is a different process but I'm sure others can chime in if you have any questions in filling out that form. But the first step is to file your "VISA APPLICATION" document which is the DS-160 for fiances or DS-260 for immediate relatives / spouses. And begin collecting all the documents in the list above.

It's CHRISTMAS SEASON!!!! (If you are married to a Filipina) haha! I've never gotten a plastic tree before (and sold Christmas trees every year as a Boy Scout) but I think I will buy one this time because our real trees won't stay alive for 4 months! (hopefully they aren't tariffed to the same price as a live tree) I was unaware of this tradition until last year when someone posted it, but I can assure you it is 100% TRUE! Are any of you celebrating / decorating this early? Yeah I know we have Halloween and Thanksgiving coming still but... I'm not gonna argue!

Civil Registry/Consular Mortuary Certificate – Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco A copy of both passports is required. That would prove Filipino citizenship. I will PM you the contact for a Reverend Chris at Universal Heart Ministry who officiated our virtual wedding and was fantastic (he charged us about $10 more than a state of Utah bureaucrat charges and it was a lovely ceremony).

@yuna628 Agree. When my wife tried to open an American retirement account, she needed to print and mail her application with a copy of her social security card. No big deal, the account took a few days to open instead of a few minutes doing it online (we could have also showed her card in the branch in an hour or so but mail is more convenient and there was no rush). Wherever you are having trouble establishing an account, you should show them your physical social security card. I think you are overcomplicating the issue. I've never dealt with a "barcode" or visited / called the SSA for anything other than at my father's retirement date (my wife got her social security card in the mail automatically after she immigrated). Your number is valid once you have your physical card in hand. The SSA office is correct in that there is no "verification" of them. Technically it's not even supposed to be used for identity verification (that used to be printed on the cards themselves) so if someone is giving you a hard time about that, I would just look elsewhere. As far as a joint user on a credit card, I opened one in my dog's name several years ago... obviously he doesn't have a social insurance number (for those wondering, I received $50 for doing so under some funny promotion). Maybe try doing business at a local establishment versus one of these automated big companies where they use AI chatbots and don't know how to handle real customers (try a local credit union).

Based on our experience, I strongly recommend you do the online civil marriage (assuming both parties are ready) IMMEDIATELY. The clock for IR-1 starts ticking from WEDDING date, not filing date. There is a great advantage in entering the USA as an IR-1 permanent resident. No additional fees to the US Gov. No additional meetings or appointments or forms to file. Green card shows up automatically within 4 months. Social security card shows up automatically within weeks. 10 year permanent resident card, meaning you never need to renew it assuming spouse becomes a US citizen within those 10 years. Spouse can freely travel in and out of the country and work (she is going back home next month which would have been impossible under a K-1). Far cheaper than the fiance K-1 or even the similar CR-1 visa. We did the online marriage route, then met again in person (a *requirement* before filing your case), then waited a year before our form I130 began processing. At that point we knew the ball was finally rolling and began planning a nice church wedding in the Philippines, with all the pomp and circumstance (highly recommended if you are religious) and all this planning really took our (especially her) minds off the wait. During this time you can also work on CFO requirements, getting a new Philippine passport issued in her married name (strongly recommend this--it is the cheapest and easiest way to change her name--do NOT wait until you are in the USA), and can do the required medical test in Manila. By the time the visa was received, we decided to wait about 6 weeks so that we were married 2 full years before we entered the USA (CR-1 becomes an IR-1). We planned the wedding date on this 2 year anniversary, and then had a nice Filipino honeymoon too. Then when you enter, you are no longer Conditional CR-1, but a superior IR-1 immigrant. Plus there are generally US income tax advantages to being married for tax years 2025 and 2026... The immigration process was not fun, but after reading other's experiences (which I did a LOT of before deciding on this path), I'm very happy we picked this route.

Absolutely! I would bring it up at any interactions you have prior to entry.

The electric chair?

Charles Schwab Investor Checking has a debit card with free international ATM fee rebates and no foreign transaction fees. So when I withdraw money at a Filipino ATM, and the screen says I will be charged 250 PHP as a foreigner, my bank pays that fee instead of me. And of course direct debit (non-cash) payments are handled in the foreign currency with no fee/markup (using the published VISA exchange rates). It basically gives you a local bank account in the local currency while traveling. Getting one of these cards is a great long term solution, and one I've been using for about a decade traveling across the world. Short term I would just send her some cash and have her exchange it at the airport if it's just small amounts for meals etc. You might even be able to do this in advance at the departure airport. Or just pack a lunch. American airport food is pretty terrible. I've been amazed at how affordable it is to send money via Western Union from the US to M'Luihillier (barely more expensive than using my bank's free international wire transfer service!). Alternatively you could look into buying her a prepaid card in the Philippines using an international network.

What is your reason for moving to the US? If you are relocating concurrently with your wife's permanent residency, what are the terms and details of this relocation (when, why, how, where, etc.)? At the very least you need to eliminate all the reasons an immigration officer can deny you, and if you are not living in the US and don't show any documentation of a permanent (long term) move there, you haven't met this qualification. Filling out your timeline would help.