kaye

do i still need police clearance from the places i stayed while i was in america? i previously had a J1 visa and lived in maryland for almost 2 years (oct 29, 2006-may 31, 2008)...

i was hoping it would only be an NBI clearance from the Phil. coz i don't know how to get a police clearance and i am already back in the phil. i dont have any criminal records in america and never had any speeding ticket or whatever.

thanks!

Yes Kaye.. you need to request a police certificate from the U.S.A because you live more than 6 months on the states. I think you can request police certificate online or via mail. You just need to check what are the requirements and the payment that your goin to pay. Search for the website of Foreign affairs divison of marylands. And as for here in the Philippines you've been staying more than 6 months. You are also required to have a police certificate and NBI clearance. hope this info could help you. If you have some question feel free to ask me...Good luck....

thanks for the info i will try to research on that and still police clearance here in quezon city phil? NBI clearance wont just work alone for my philippine address?? i just find it so devastating getting stuff from government offices in the philippines.

Yes, first time immigrant gets a 20% discount from PAL, but I can't find on the website how to apply. If you go with PAL, and buy ticket online with credit card, they require the passenger to have the card at check-in. Also, some of the online discount sites will not allow one way ticket sales... not sure why.

Another note: I just checked again on Kayak.com for Manila to Atlanta, end of November and fare with tax and junk fees is <800.00 one way. Also, some carriers give better rates if you fly on Wednesday or Thursday.

when you get tickets thru a travel agent they would ask you what visa you are using and it is given that k1 should only purchase 1 way ticket to usa. try checking prices directly at some airlines coz october is off peak to travel usa-manila vice versa and october is cheaper compared to other months but promos usually for roundtrip airfare.

anyone knows airlines that still fly from manila to usa with 2pcs 70 lbs. check-in luggage without additional cost? i know almost all airlines changed their luggage allowance to 50 lbs.. too bad filipinos travel with too much pasalubongs and filipino food and add it up for a girl who brings her whole closet with all her shoes and bags also.

I didn't see any Oct 08 posts yet, so here it is. Here is for all the filers of 10/08, rants, raves, stressful, and happy times begin. Good luck to everyone!

Im sure there are other Oct 08 filers your just the first to post best wishes to you.

i guess i count in as october coz my fiance sent the paper works sept 22 and they cashed the check oct 7 with a reply that uscis got the papers oct 3. we have not yet received the NOA1 hardcopy but was last touched i guess oct 8. hopefully everything would go smoothly and fast.

For everyone who applied for the B1/B2 visa that got denied the consul always say to re-apply again..they give this colored slip i think blue if they deny you for a tourist visa and yellow or white if you are given a visa. If you really want to try to reapply for a tourist visa there is a big risk because it really depends on the point of view of the consul reviewing the docs on hand and the status of the person applying for a visa, even the mood of the consul. but you can take your chances by sending a letter that you are inviting the person for a visit and try to make a tentative roundtrip airline booking wherein he can write those details in the forms just make sure the visit would be i guess a month. You guys can also indicate in the letter that you don't have plans of getting married yet and the reason why the k1 got expired without using it. but don't keep your hopes up it is really very hard to get a tourist visa.

A friend of mine (together with her sister and dad) had their interview last oct7 for a tourist visa and she was denied. Her dad who was a surgeon was the only person given a visa 10yrs multiple entry and they told her she can reapply gave her a blue slip.

I have a tourist visa since april 2005-2010 but never used it yet....i personally had a chance to go thru the hassle of the interview stuff it was really complicated based on the other people i saw getting interviewed. Good thing i was well travelled and it was supposed to be my 3rd travel to usa to tour and visit relatives, gone to australia,thailand, china, canada and hk. i wasn't given a hard time. They just asked me to show my old passports to check my previous travel abroad. No other docs was asked to present but they asked me about my employment like how much was my salary. They also asked me who was paying for my trip i told them it was my grandmother.

I also applied for a j1 visa dec 2005 and was given one already delivered by delbros had my passport with visa on hand but after a week the embassy called me up (7 of us in the group we were supposed to have our training in a hotel at washington DC) were all asked to go back at the embassy, they got our passports and marked cancelled without prejudice in our j1 visa. They also told us to reapply with giving us a reason that the program was like cheap labor. What the heck it was a training and we were all aware of that (but wasn't cheap labor for us actually good money compared to salary in manila). the company who sponsored us filed a complaint against the consul and we found out that it was the consul's 1st month working at the embassy in manila and that it was his first job, fresh grad from college i think. The company also got a letter of apology from a high positioned consul asking us to reapply again (which the company needs to pay again the application fee, go thru the process again and call for an interview appointment) too bad the company cancelled the program coz it already caused them a lot of money paying to get us in usa for our 18 month training. To bad also for me coz i already made a lot of winter clothes shopping in manila coz it was on sale, packed my clothes coz i was only waiting for my airline ticket. I Will never forget that horrible and traumatizing experience at the embassy.

Got a j1 visa again Oct 2006-May 2008 sponsored by another company and was given a j1 visa this time but i was at the embassy (6am-4pm) the whole day wherein the people i was in the same company left already with approved visas. I think they were doing a thorough background check on my cancelled j1 visa. Good thing i was able to undergo training met a guy and fell in love, he became my boyfriend since april 2007 and we got engaged just this august 2008. I went back to the philippines june 2008 coz my program ended and he went back to the philippines (by the way he is also filipino) to visit me again and proposed and that is the reason why i'm part of this forums. Just wanted to share my experiences at the US embassy in manila....and i'm here again to go thru a process of getting a visa hopefully it would be easy.

Well the bagoong i brought back was home-made packed in a tupperware type container. I dont think that it would have been allowed in if it had been discovered. And for sure that calamansi was way off limits. You cant find it here though, does anyone know if real calamansi can be purchased at any markets in Los Angeles? I still have some seeds maybe ill try growing a tree.

My wife resides in LA. She can't find calamansi anywhere. She just relies on friends who have grown calamansi trees.

i remember some of my relatives during the (1990's) would bring in homemade stuff by my grandparents like bagoong, atsara, burong isda, other smelly stuff they put it in big powder milk cans and seal it with a soldering gun.

My aunt has a calamansi plant that grows real calamansi in rockaway,NJ i asked her where she got it and said she bought it years back at NYC chinatown. When i was there i saw a guy selling calamansi plants, sampaguita and rosal at chinatown. i bought the plants (sampaguita and rosal only) and brought it with me to baltimore. i transfered it to a bigger pot and left it outside the house coz it was summer then but now my fiance told me that the plants are again inside the house coz its getting cold already and they are bigger also and still with flowers. yes those plants like calamansi would grow there and the vendor told me it came from florida. The calamansi was really cute and the fruit itself is a little bigger compared to the ones i see in manila.

The NOA1 has arrived, so I guess the clock is operating and we're underway.

wow! my fiance sent his papers sept 19 and i kept on bugged him to check his bank. they cashed the check oct 7 and got the case # on the check and browsed for the case status. uscis received it oct 3 but til now he never got the hardcopy yet of noa1. just wishing it could be a month to get the noa2 hahaha

I probably shouldnt say this because i dont want to give anyone ideas but last february I brought a zip lock bag of calamansi and some of my mother in laws ohhhh sooo good bagoong in my carry on, i dont endorse doing so though every ten feet after de-planing there were signs that said DECLARE IT DUMP IT OR GO TO JAIL. my spinchter muscles were puckering a lil. I doubt ill ever do that again! but dang that bagoong was tasty!

you can bring bagoong like the canned barrio fiesta, meat products like argentina or pure foods corned beef as long as it is canned. my fiance just went back sept 8,2008 with those stuff and they just asked him and he declared it and was okay. He also brought with him Tanduay rum. i forgot about the meat products and my fiance brought with him 10 dozens of goldilocks ensaymada 2 doz of those were the hamonado (with ham) luckily he was able to bring it in (i totally forgot about that hamonado) he was happy i should have sent him those floss from bread talk coz he was addicted. my fiance is filipino and he loves those stuff. when i was also in usa (april 2008) my mom visited me and brought smoked fish coz i was craving for those tinapang salinas but it was vacuumed sealed it was also okay as long as it is not smelly. Freeze it and wrap it in newspaper then pack it in your check in luggage before you leave for the airport.

i also know someone who brought in pirated cds..everything was confiscated and she was asked to pay $300.

do i still need police clearance from the places i stayed while i was in america? i previously had a J1 visa and lived in maryland for almost 2 years (oct 29, 2006-may 31, 2008)...

i was hoping it would only be an NBI clearance from the Phil. coz i don't know how to get a police clearance and i am already back in the phil. i dont have any criminal records in america and never had any speeding ticket or whatever.

thanks!