ryandgracey

It has been nine months since I last saw Stephen and now finally, he will be seeing my country for the first time! Im excited and nervous at the same time. The past 9 months of the relationship has been through phone conversations, chat and webcam thingy that I was beginning to think that it will be like that forever. I was so comfortable with that set up as it has been like an everyday routine. And now, it feels like I am a fan, about to meet my favorite celebrity for real. Shall I say, Wow! You look much better in person! Haha!

Anyways, he is very down to earth and up for anything... any suggestions on where to take him?

Yun lang...just want to share. Enjoy the rest of the long weekend guys!

I know exactly how you feel. Ryan and I had spoken to each other thru emails, chats, phone calls for more than a year before he came to see me...and he says it was the best decision he ever made in his life. I was excited and nervous at the same time and the very moment we came face to face it was magical. I am very sure it will be the same for you.

We did not go around much as he preferred to stay home with me and my daughter. He had only less than 3 weeks of vacation leave. We were engaged within 9 days of his stay here and that weekend, we went up to Sonya's Garden in Tagaytay. Is a bed and breakfast place and it was around July when we went. Is very serene there and set teh perfect scene for our little getaway. Took him for a boat ride to Taal too. But be careful of the boat contractors by the roadside. If they see him, they will give you a steep price. We were given 5T and it was too much so we went to another. When we did, the first one ran after us and brought the price down to half. I asked for 2T and he agreed. Bora would be fine or bohol but with the fickle weather, well, I don't know.

Anyway, I am happy for you. Enjoy every second of yoru togetherness. The best of luck and happiness to you. And God's blessings too!

champorado na punong puno ng gatas hehehehe tsaka ano pa ba? uhmmm 'yung binatog gusto ko din, mga kakanin, tsaka 'yung tuyo sa davao na kung tawagin namin ay goodbye head kasi kapag pinirito natatanggal agad ang ulo

paborito ko rin ang goodbye head n tuyo nanz...meron yan dito manila...kaso bihira lng...

champorado na punong puno ng gatas hehehehe tsaka ano pa ba? uhmmm 'yung binatog gusto ko din, mga kakanin, tsaka 'yung tuyo sa davao na kung tawagin namin ay goodbye head kasi kapag pinirito natatanggal agad ang ulo

waaahhhh! gusto ko din ng binatog.. wala akong makita nyan dito sa amin..

gurl dito araw araw may naglalako tuwing 3pm, naka ready na ako minsan nyan

ang mahal naman ng binatog ko kung manggaling pa ng davao.. kelan ka pupunta ng manila? pasalubong naman oh! binatog..

gurl saan ka sa manila? pwede ba ipa-fax ko na lang ang binatog? 10 pesos lang magpa-fax dito eh

hindi puede fax.. e-mail mo na lang.. Cavite ako eh..

fax?????????????email???????????picture ba yan??? hehehhehee

waaaaaaaa bigla nmn ako nagutom d2...gusto ko 2loy ng favorite ko n arroz caldo n madami roasted garlic chili flakes and calamansi...

super dami n ng menu ko...maganda na business ito...hahahahhaha

Champorado with freshly cooked tuyo...YUMMY! :D:D Tapos sundan ng halo-halo, complete with ube and leche flan, nata de coco and kaong, langka at saging, sago at gulaman...man, i am going to miss these

So...say both the I-130 and the I-129F get approved at the same time and we decide to still go the K3 route, when we arrive in the US, can we go on with the I-130?

My sentiments exactly.. esp when i heard about one vjer (kasabay ko pa medical & interview, K1 din with 2 kids)whose kids are undergoing 6 or 9 months ba yon na TB treatment sa US now. Positive sila uli sa skin test, tapos negative uli sa xray (pinaulit both kahit they only had medical May 12-15 then left P.I June 1-- wala pang one month medical result nila). According daw sa dept of heath doon, kelangan itreat yong latent infection-- which I think is just the false TB infection caused by BCG nong kids... hayy .. I told my fiance I would really demand that they give my kids QFT-G TB test on top of the PPD. So far those who got that were not recommended for tb treatment, I am really hoping that will also hold true for my kids when we get there.Btw, dagdag mo na din yong paghuhubad na part ng medical sa conditioning mo sa baby mo. Some kids had issues with it before. Good luck uli.

So it is my understanding that these kids with positive PPD...they are given that standard 6-month therapy? Or i-Xray pa sila?  And does this treatment have to be done here? 

I don't think my baby would have problems with being examined by a doc.  It's those injections, whether they be vaccines or blood extractions......(sigh)

I don't have an appointment date yet nor notification of any sort, but I want to start preparing for everything. I don't want to hit a snag of any sort. I am supposed to be reviewing for the US licensure exam but my mind is pre-occupied with all these things. Oo...excited kasi ako

Lapit na alis nyo....Good luck....good luck...God bless.

USC hubby 35. Me, 37 going 38 next month. He is mature beyond his years though and we agree on a lot of things. Practically read each other's minds, too. Married just 8 months but it seems we have been always together. Life is good

Thanks guys. I can sort things easier now. Yes, I had imagined myself lugging all those materials along with the official important documents...ouch indeed! And I would have my child with me too! I guess I just want to make sure that nothing is amiss.

Speaking of children, will my daughter be questioned too? She is 5 years-old.

She'll probably be asked: what is your name? how old are you? Is she your mother? who is this? (while prescreener or consul points to your husband's picture)....

BUT then again, they wont even bother to ask her anything.. prescreener or consul would probably just look at your daughter and then ask you, is she your daugther? what is her name? how old is she? how does she feel about your husband (if he is not your child's biological father)

My kids are are 10 & 8.. and basically the prescreener only asked them their name and age and the consul didn't bother to ask anything, he directed all his questions to me.

They don't grill kids so don't worry about it. Just make sure your baby have something to occupy her time while you will be waiting for your number to be called and also bring a little food and drink for her (liquids are ok as long as you keep the seal tightly intact before you pass the guard)... and also don't forget to bring pictures of you and your child when she was a younger like newborn, 1yr old, 2yr old, 3yr old.

I am sure you will both do great! Good luck and God bless always.

Thanks dbears. That helps a lot. I had been conditioning her for both the interview and the medical. Basically told her that we need to do these so we could go to Daddy's house. She is a bit hesitant with the pending injections though and asked if she could just get them from her doctor. I told her that she couldn't, of course. Hopefully, she would not put up much of a fight when it comes to that.

Can't understand the PPD thing. First of all, most Filipinos will have a positive PPD test because, well, they are in a place where TB is prevalent. Secondly, is it NOT the gold standard for diagnosing the presence of TB; an AFB culture would. I should know this as I had screened patients for PTB. I guess their protocol is different....mga praning

Good luck to you too!

Thanks guys. I can sort things easier now. Yes, I had imagined myself lugging all those materials along with the official important documents...ouch indeed! And I would have my child with me too! I guess I just want to make sure that nothing is amiss.

Speaking of children, will my daughter be questioned too? She is 5 years-old.

We're in Troy OH, about 2 hours south on I-75. If you don't see many from the VJ family, don't fret because you'll find plenty of company here in Ohio. There are many, many Filpinos here in the Lima/Sidney/Dayton region. We're members of the local Fil-Am society in Dayton. There is a similar group in Lorain County Ohio. My asawa arrived in America in April 2007 and were still bumping into Filpinas who continually connect us to new social circles. Seems like there's always a party somewhere!!!

My husband is from Dayton so that I will be joining him there. He met someone at work who told him about the existence of a Fil-Am society in Dayton and he has been invited to a chariy dinner slated for next month. He looks forward to making some acquaintances there. Apparently, he is starting this so that I would not be so homesick.

I have relatives in the northern part too.

I decided to have my medical exam yesterday even though i just had a hard cough and colds.It went alright but when i got the result this afternoon,it turned out that i need to undergo a sputum test,i never knew about it until the medical staff explained it to me,she said that i need to go there for 3 consecutive days between 6-8:30 in the morning to do the test and they will just be the one to call the embassy to re-sched my interview date.this is so disappointing,i always had a yearly PE but never had this before.i was told that it'll take 2mos to get the result ,does it really have to be that long?

i thought it'll just be a few weeks away and me and my fiance will be together again,now it'll take more months.sometimes i think life is unfair but oh well,what can i do.

I'm sorry to hear this. They're checking for TB I suspect. I don't know if that's true about how long it takes to find out the results, but if they're going to call the Embassy, I'm sure they'll do so if it does take that long.

Someone here said you're not supposed to go to Medical with a cough or cold? Whoever told you that? The testing that the OP is having done has nothing to do with the fact she has a cough or a cold. Now, maybe I'm wrong, and the physician is alerted to possible problems if someone does have a cough or cold, but wouldn't you want to know ahead of time if you had a problem and undergo treatment?

I hope that the sputum tests come back without any problems.

Thinking of you!

I'm sorry you have to go through that. Yes, they are checking of pulmonary TB. I believe they are doing what we call a sputum AFB smear to check for the TB bacilli and it is normally done for 3 consecutive days. Am not sure why it would take two months though as one only needs a microscope and some special stains and should be ready in a week or so. Unless they are trying to grow whatever it is they find. TB bacilli are hard to grow and if they do grow, they usually take a long time to appear. The Philippines is practically TB country so that they are not taking any chances on the disease finding its way out to the US, hence the strictness when it comes to anyone with a cough or cold.

Meantime, focus on getting yourself well. You will be united with your man sooner or later.

Hi guys...

Just how much proof should be presented in providing evidence of our relationship? I've got hundreds of photos, approximately 873 pages of YM chats (legal size paper, back-to-back...and that is just from May 2007 to May 2008), about 300 emails, 4-inch thick stack of letters/cards, the guestbook from our wedding reception as well as the financial details of it, joint bank accounts and credit cards. Oh...and a 128-picture wedding album. My husband and I had been debating a bit on this issue, especially with the chats. We need some insight.

Anyone?

tiiiiinnngggggggg! Congrats! i am so happy for you. i know you were so down and upset with your interview but look at now???!! your visa is in your hands na! God is so good

Congratulations and the best of luck to your new life! Sana I get to be as lucky as you and all the others who have gone on to be with their beloveds. So go on and be happy!

Hello! We are looking for other couples who started the K3 process in late July and early August or mid-August even....or anyone who will file in August for that matter......We sent our file for I-129 in July and got our NOA1 on August 1, so are we considered August filers? We sent our I-129 on August 7th I believe and we did not get our NOA1 yet. Will anyone be so kind as to be our tracking partners?

Samir & Mahitab

Sure, we'll join you. We filed for I-130 last July 28th and got our NOA1 which was dated July 31st on August 1. We will be sending our I129-F in a couple of days, thanks to the oh-so-(in)efficient Philippine postal system

Hi there ryanandgracey..thanks for answering my question regarding parent consent.

Well,me and my fiancee has a 2years old daughter...she's a US Citizen now,she acquired her citizenship from his daddy just last month and I got her US Passport already...so she dont need to attend CFO and medical and no visa needed for her.

One more question...about the photocopy of passport?Should it be the front only or copy of whole passport??

Thanks.

Well, i just had the front photocopied. That is the more important...yung makita nila yung face mo and other more pertinent details. Now, if you had travelled outside the Phils, it would not hurt to photocopy those pages too.

There will be a general orientation then you would be broken up into groups, depending on what your destination will be for a short orientation then you will be interviewed one at a time. Php250 for the counseling and Php400 for the certificate at CFO.

A note of importance (believe me!): Before you bring your yellow PRISM certificate back to the CFO office, do photocopy it at PRISM already...well, there is one beside PRISM. Walang malapit na xeroxan sa CFO. I had to take a 10 minute pedicab ride to and from CFO to the nearest copier and it was not a fun ride.

I will be getting married next month in Phill. and filing petition for my wife with married name. However her Phill. passport is in her maiden name, I guess she will have to apply for a new passport. Anyone can help answer what to do?

Well, if you are getting married, then why not just renew her passport (even if it has not expired yet) in her married name right after the wedding? You will need an NSO copy of your marriage certificate. But the thing is, you will not be able to get that till, say about 6 months. After your wedding, soon after your marriage is registered, get a CERTIFIED true copy from the local registrat authenticated by the NSO on security paper. You may want to get a few copies as you will need those in filing your petition/s.

Also, she will need to get a certificate from the Commision for Filipinos Overseas prior to renewing her passport or leaving to join you. See www.cfo.gov.ph ( if i am not mistaken). I just did these last friday...was not a pleasant experience as I did not know till then that i could not renew my passport in my married name without it. Thankfully, i had all pertinent documents with me.

Advance Congratulations and good luck!

hello, can i ask, how long the passport renewal??? (the sooner the better) and if i can renew my passport even its not exprired yet?, Thanks

Usual wait is 14 days. I had mine done thru my cousin's travel agency. Apparently, since the new passports are machine-readable, you may need to make a personal appearance, more so if you are renewing your child's visa (if you have a child, of course). Also, passport renewals for fiancees or spouses of foreign nationals now require a CFO certificate before they grant you a new passport. And you will not be allowed to leave the country without that certificate too.

You still have a lot of time but go ahead and get to it.

Thanks Ting..ask ko lng san ako kukuha nung form para sa CFO?Pagpunta ko na ba ako bibigyan dun?

At saka need ba ng parent consent?Kelangan ko din ba magpa-reserve?I mean magpa-schedule?

saka nila na yung form bluemist sila magbibigay

parent consent waaahhhhh di na ata yung 18 lang ata ang hinihingian di ko sure ah!

ilang taon kana ba? ask ko lang

ting kelan ka babalik dun sa st mary euphrasia??

balik ako pag nakuha ko nayung visa ko tapos punta kagad me cfo hehehhehehe

para sa certificate at sticker

ting, they should've given you the certificate already. I was also asked about my husband's divorce but was not asked to show papers. Depende yata sa mag-iinterview sa yo kasi yung ibang interviewer, hinanapan pa yung applicant ng pictures kahit nga matagal na sila magkasama.

Anyway, bluemist, no consent form needed. Basically, this certificate is needed even if you are just applying to the passport, ke mag-mimigrate ka o hindi, basta's your spouse or fiancee is a foreign national, kelangan mo. Will affix the CFO sticker pag may visa na. And DO NOT lose the certificates from PRISM and CFO kasi pang-habang buhay mo kelangan yan. Kahit may visa ka and a plane ticket, if Philippine immigration does not see those papers, di ka paaalisin. If you have a child traveling with you or later on, basta below 13 years old sticker lang and kailangan with the visa, of course.

Hi Ria ...im glad you post your medical experienced here...just wanna ask because i got also a daughter 5yrs old...is that really their ways of giving the shots to a kid 6 shots in one time????wow ...kawawa naman ang bata nyan hindi ba pwede tatlo lang sa isang araw then ang tatplo sa sunod naman na araw? how many days natapos yung medical nyo?

We went in August 6. Kids are given tuberculin skin test first. If its negative, then they wont do Xray anymore. If positive, they have to do the Xray. My son is 3 years old by the way. And then physical exam. That's it. With us kasi, we have blood exam to know if u have HIV and then urine test to know if you are pregnant, physical exam for evidence of delivery, vaginal warts, hemorrhoids, scars etc. Our result will be the next day but with the kids, checking of tuberculin skin test is after 48 to 72 hours so they will ask you to come back after two days. If negative, you proceed to immunization. If positive, then Xray... then there will be 3 readers who will read the Xray. If you are lucky, you get the result on that day. If not, they will ask you to come back the next day. In our case, we got the result at 6:30pm already (August 7).

At the immunization interview, the first assessment was only 4 vaccines will be given to my son then they double checked so it got to six. I brought his immunization record and there were some that were already given that they did not accept. One reason was, the vaccine should be given when he was one year old. My son's bday was april 29 and the vaccine was given april 8. And I was like, "Ok, so it was 20 days earlier before he turned one... was that a lot of difference? And the doctor said yes. In as much as I want to get a second opinion, I felt like ok fine cuz I read in the internet that getting the same vaccine wont hurt you.

Now, about the six shots....hmmm...up to now, Im still bothered with my decision. I think you can have two each day. In my case, the doctor said its fine. There are kids who went thru six injections and they were fine. I was the first to get the vaccine... and I felt nothing! So I was thinking, its not that bad. And there was this kid whom my son befriended there and they were of the same age. He got five shots, screamed and cried, and after that he was ok. My son was next, six shots, screamed and cried and then he was ok. But the thing is, he got traumatized.

Hi. I, too, have a 5-year-old daughter with a low pain threshold who refuses to go back to her original pediatrician simply because each visit to her means another shot. How exactly do they administer the vaccines to children? How do they do the Mantoux (tuberculin) test? I had to struggle to keep my daughter's arm straight for what had been the one time she had to have a blood exam. Come to think of it, there were 3 of us (2 med techs) who had to hold her down, so that I know that there are going to be problems should she need to have either the skin test or the additional vaccines.

Also, is it advisable then to go and have the medical exam done as early as possible prior to the interview date? I am a newbie here and I have paid notice to the timelines on here and it seems that medical exams were done within just a few days till the interview date.

BTW...the best of luck to you...both for the interview and to your soon-to-be-new life.