ilovecookies

sorry i can't help you but i do wish you well on your visa journey!

i am younger than my husband by 15 years and got approved.

congratulations on your good news. please share with us all the paperwork your mom took with her to the embassy when u have time. i'm sure you're excited to see her.

Hi Guys,

Just got back from Manila a few days ago (after being gone for 5 years). My heart is broken. We are considering moving back to the Philippines. Any advice on how to start? Please point us to the right direction. I have become a US citizen, didn't retain my Philippine citizenship.

Thanks for any help!

i was flipping channels when i saw it. oh my gosh i miss the philippines so much.

my friend was under AR for almost two years, then out of the blue, got her visa so don't lose hope!!!

i hope you get the approval!!

i think you can send in your application for citizenship by december 09 this year. if this is wrong, don't worry, someone else will come along and correct me best wishes!

yesterday i got my oath ceremony confirmation letter in the mail! it'll surely be on Nov. 12, at 12.15 pm. yayyy!

i love my interviewing officer, it's official! hehe! she was the best!

congratulations! i hope you have a nice experience. my oath taking was sort of chaotic, i was in such a bad mood i didn't even bother with pictures, only got a few and in them i was frowning. hahaha!

we sent copies of the last 3 years' tax transcripts and just a copy of my birth certificate

i brought a lot of snail mail and phone bills with me to the interview

of course it is natural for the girls to feel nervous/anxious about the whole process. the best thing to do is look up the philippines forum here at visajourney, it helped me a lot to know what to expect. make sure the girls know A LOT about your relationship, and bring a lot of evidence with them. practice the interview with a friend, they do the "rapid fire" kind of questioning. above all, tell them to be honest with their answers, avoiding "uhms". unfortunately nothing about the whole process is easy (from K1 to citizenship) but i think the hardest part for me was the k1 interview in the philippines. everything else after that was not too hard because my hubby was with me (it calms your nerves). best wishes guys!!!

i didn't apply for the expedited service, and actually got my passport in 10 days (applied on a wednesday and got it the following week friday). if you want to be safe of course go for the expedited service. the certificate of naturalization came in the mail 2 days later.

thank you very much for the clarification...my hubby and i are living together so i think ar11 is fine it shows the confirmation number in it..we decided if we didnt hear anything by february 08, 90 days before my extension expire I will file for n-400...i hope anyone here tried this kind of arrangement and become a citizen without a problem, please tell me if it is possible

yes i filed for citizenship (and am now a citizen) while my I-751 was pending. i had no problems!

Personally, we'll be bringing copies and originals of every document we have ever sent to USCIS. It's so easy to do - it's a no brainer.

this is exactly what i did - i brought every single thing i ever gave USCIS (from k1 visa to n400). i am so glad i did....a lady before me didn't have anything with her, and when she came out of the interview she was disappointed and looked for something in her purse.

So how do you know this in advance? Simple, you don't know and prepare for the worse, even brought spare passport photos, they have been known to lose those as well.

yup i brought extra passport photos too....and because they didn't need it, i used it for my passport application! better safe than sorry!!

why does she have a protection order against you? USCIS might check on that!! as far as i know, you have to be of "good moral character", so i don't know how that will affect your case.

anyway i am sorry your marriage is not working out and wish you the best on your citizenship journey.

it depends how much time and what kind of case you have. ours was straightforward, so we did it ourselves, from k1 to citizenship. this forum helps a lot if you have questions!! my friend used a lawyer, and hasn't gotten rid of him since. they need to go through the lawyer for everything!! and they are paying a lot of money. we have the same case (k1, no complications) but i got approvals without a lawyer.

so sorry to hear your sad news....stay strong.

congratulations on getting your visa. i am sure you are excited like heck, like i was a few years ago. an advice i can give you is to spend a lot of time with your friends and family, make each day count, build lasting memories and eat a lot of your favorite filipino food...although if you're going to live in LA, they have a lot of filipino restaurants anyway.

make sure you bring extra copies of your birth certificate, your college transcript and diploma. leave some blank sheets of paper with your signature at the bottom, in case your mom needs it for something (my mom used it to get my tax rebate and close my credit card account).

congratulations!!

3 years from entering the US is when you can apply for US Citizenship.

NO only persons that can do that are ones entering the USA on an IMMIGRANT "GREEN-CARD" CR-1 or IR-1 visa, because the date of entry is the date of residency.

K-Visas are NOT Green-card visas, so the date of residency is the date the I-485 for AOS is approved, this can be months to YEARS after entering the USA.

very accurate info!!!

well being an expert on waiting....(note my I-751 timeline...never got a letter for anything except the 1st notice and fingerprinting)...i would say...try to forget about it. i waited and waited for a letter about the lifting of my conditions for over a year ...when some people who live here in milwaukee got it in a few months...mine didn't come at all after a year!! nothing!!! so please try to forget about it....so when it comes, it will be a pleasant surprise!!!

well everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and again i am basing mine on my personal experience. i was one of those applicants that carried a whole stack of evidence with me (after reading how some officers asked for bank statements, tax returns, employment letter, etc). i am glad i did, because the officer asked for my current employee ID (wow i am so glad i had that in my purse or else i never would have thought to bring it with me). he also saw my hubby sitting next to me in the waiting room (we constantly look into each other's eyes and hold hands hahaha). a lady that was interviewed before me came out very disappointed, and was given a sheet of paper which she showed her husband. they were looking for something in her purse. this couple didn't have any paperwork with them. when the officer came out to call me, they approached him and was pointing to the paper. i guess he needed to see something else because then the couple left.

ok thanks so much!!! i did find out it will cost more than $1000 for the whole process....oh oh oh

yeah it seems pretty redundant (and so is this answer LOL) but when i went to the interview i brought all the documents i used for the I-751. I included a lot of the same evidence for my N400, assuming USCIS people don't have any of my paperwork. I guess the more evidence you have, the better!