pwk86

We were in same boat and just got back from Dumagete City

My wife Philippines passport was also in her maiden name but green card is in her married name

The tickets were in her maiden name

At time of entry handing them the passports usually they will ask for her green card not a big issue .

i did everything in her married name, hope its ok

We had no issues returning when we left the US. On the return, the INS officer simply glanced at her passport and concentrated on her green card. he scanned and then handed her card back and "thank you". We were done. We made sure to have marriage license and her AOS approval letter just in case but was not needed.

Your wife need not have to go to the Phils to renew or change her passport. The Philippine embassy has an outreach program where officers travel to various cities in the USA to renew or change passports, report marriages or births etc. Just check the website for updates and cities to visit. Just be sure to check the embassy consulate that serves your area. We are in Fla. so ours is the washington dc office. Looks like your consulate is San Fran.......

http://www.philippinessanfrancisco.org/

i did everything in her married name, hope its ok

My wife is from the philippines, she has had her green card now for a bout 6 month. She wants to go back to the philippines for a visit. The only concern we have is that her passport is still in her madin name, not her married name. So i assume all she need to do is carry a certified copy of our marriage lisence with her. she would get her passport changed to her married name while in the philippines but she will not be there long enough to do that.

Am i correct that this is all she needs and should not have any problem traveling to, then from the philippines back here???

thanks all

here is a dumb question that i have read the awnser to before but cant find it. My wife is here on a k-1 visa, we recently sent out her AOS packet. So what do we call this limbo status that she is in now while waiting for the AOS???? And if she was ever approached by some kind of person with athority and asked for her ID, her visa is expired now as is her I-94. what would she or I tell them?

Is it common for a person on a k-1 visa to receive their AOS with out an interview? Ive heard it is possible, but just dont know how common it is.. thanks

thanks everyone, was just curious. had a friend that arrived at lax the other day, took her almost 3 hours to get through all the lines of immigrations and customs.

Question for you fiancees and former fiancess that have already entered the USA. Once you landed at your POE, how long did it take for you to complete the POE process????

ive never had to book a flight for someone that is not here. my fiancee got approved at USEM yesturday so now need to look at travel arraingement. would the best way to do be to book her flight online or through my local travel agent then email her the itinerary? i assume this would be fine since everything is ticketless these days.

my fiancee has her interview tomorrow at 8:30am,, what time should she get there? real early like 6am or close to her appt. time?

same here pwk86.

i have been wondering too, since they already have the mnl# on their database and since the paperworks havent arrived, they kept telling me to call after 2 weeks or wait for their notification.

has your fiancee taken her medical yet?

i finally got ahold of nvc, they told me the case was forwarded to manila on jan 15, called embassy, lady said they still processing from nvc. kinda cofusing, but she just said to wait for the letter, they also said have to wait til elgible for interview before she can do medical.......hurry up n wait again

Do you have the MNL-number assigned from the NVC? If so I suggest if you have not already call the embassy after you pay the fee and a pin and ask them if it is recieved. I did not wait till the letter was recieved, I used the post that showed how to track when the information left the NVC and arrived at the embassy. After waiting 2 days I called the embassy and was able to schedule the interview. Hope this helps. God bless on the journey.

right, i have the MNL number, ive called the embassy 3 times already. they said the paper work has not arrived

I recieve a letter form nvc dated Jan 16, it state they recieved my approved petition and it would be forwarded within a week to the appropiate embassy, which is Manila. As of today Manila still hasnt recieved. looking at everyones times lines it seems this is taking long. Should I be worried?????? should i be expecting anymore letter from NVC??????

Also, just curious as your reason to wait on the K1 application process. If this is your 3rd visit, then you have already met the requirement to meet in person (as long as it was since Feb 2007). Now if you need that time, or documents from the US, to complete the process, then that's one thing. But if it were me I'd go ahead and get a start on this instead of waiting the 3 months - you'll have plenty of wait time later! Good luck!

ok, my situation is, the last time we met in person was april 06. she has been in the annulment process since them. and OMG it takes forever in the phils. but it has been granted so now just waiting for the final certificate. ok so we both have previous marriages. we both have children. but will not be bring her children for a while like maybe a couple year(father will not Allow). she has no criminal record or anything like that. so that is the reason im still waiting. need the final annulment documents. need her name changed to her maiden. and need to meet in peron again.

I took personal law in college, but I still retained an attorney.

I actually found Visa Journey after I had started the process with an attorney, but before our I-130 was filed and fired my attorney because he was moving too slow and I could see I could get things done faster myself. EVERY PERSONS CASE IS DIFFERENT!

MY ANSWER to the question of If you retain an attorney or not? is that you decision should be based from your personal situation and comfort level with doing it yourself.

READ THE GUIDES - Then look at YOUR OWN INDIVIDUAL circumstances and decide.

YOU SAID...

"I plan to start the k1 visa process within the next 3 months after i return from the philippine to meet requirment for having met in person in the last to year (btw this will be our 3rd meeting)."

From what I read, why wait until you get back to file? File now and have your NOA1 sitting in your mailbox when you get backto the US -

If you decide to use an attorney, there are THOUSANDS of them that "SPECIALIZE" in immigration and you can fill out everything online then they tell you what you need to do, print your filled out forms, check them over, mail them back to you so you can sign and send...

(Personal Experience... Stay away from ATTY Michael S. Solomon - Slow Moving and Expensive)

OR you can save a few thousand dollars by READING THE GUIDES and downloading the forms for free fill them out in Adobe yourself, print them and mail them...

If you can read and understand English and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS then MY PERSONAL OPINION is that I don't see why anyone can't DYI just as fast as an attorney can or even faster.

DON'T LOOK AT ANYTHING ON THIS SITE AS FACT - IT IS REFERENCE MATERIAL BUT THE ANSWERS ARE HERE IF YOU LOOK ENOUGH... DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS

ok, my situation is, the last time we met in person was april 06. she has been in the annulment process since them. and OMG it takes forever in the phils. but it has been granted so now just waiting for the final certificate. ok so we both have previous marriages. we both have children. but will not be bring her children for a while like maybe a couple year(father will not Allow). she has no criminal record or anything like that. so that is the reason im still waiting. need the final annulment documents. need her name changed to her maden. and need to meet in peron again.

Also, just curious as your reason to wait on the K1 application process. If this is your 3rd visit, then you have already met the requirement to meet in person (as long as it was since Feb 2007). Now if you need that time, or documents from the US, to complete the process, then that's one thing. But if it were me I'd go ahead and get a start on this instead of waiting the 3 months - you'll have plenty of wait time later! Good luck!

ok, my situation is, the last time we met in person was april 06. she has been in the annulment process since them. and OMG it takes forever in the phils. but it has been granted so now just waiting for the final certificate. ok so we both have previous marriages. we both have children. but will not be bring her children for a while like maybe a couple year(father will not Allow). she has no criminal record or anything like that. so that is the reason im still waiting. need the final annulment documents. need her name changed to her maden. and need to meet in peron again.

I want to thank everyone for there replys. I am thankful for everyones opinion either way they feel i should go. I have done lots of reading, and still have lots to do so i can made an educated decision. thanks again people, and more opinions are welcome

I plan to start the k1 visa process within the next 3 months after i return from the philippine to meet requirment for having met in person in the last to year (btw this will be our 3rd meeting). Do the people here on VJ feel it wise to retain a immigration attorney or service for this process?