john&louella

Always something to learn here.

How did your fiancé enter the US on a K1 without first going through the embassy interview a pre requisite of which is a med check at SLEC?

I'm confused.

a whole medical exams since my previous medical exam at St.Luke was still valid upon my AOS application,that was in 2009.

Hi my family are travelling to Philippines for at least 24 days of stay.

-We are all US Citizen and was told we can stay maximum of 30 days without needing the balikbayan visa, how true is this?

-also, we will be needing a hotel to stay for the night before we catch our next flight in the morning bound to province, any recommendations?.

i'd prefer a decent, safe hotel that very closeby the airport.

-airport fees etc?

thank you.

I believe the locator number is what you will need to provide if you happen to check your status update. You can check your passport status online to see whats going on with your kids application. Got mine and kid in 3 weeks and 4 days and that is not expedited.

Try contacting the local parish where you intend to do the renewal of vows. I think you should look up which particular denomination the church you got married in belongs to. That's they key. If it's under the Roman Catholic church, then it should be easier. HTH

I know for sure it is not under Roman Catholic Church, yeah we will try to ask our local parish church. Thank you for the help.

The requirements are quite extensive. My wife knows the details much more than I do, but it involved almost a year of back-and-forth between you and the church administrator, followed by months of paper digging and event coordination.

The fastest and easiest way to pull off a Catholic wedding is to ask for a "Convalidation" ceremony. You are already civilly married, so the requirements are less. However, these ceremonies usually lack the glamour and pageantry of a wedding ceremony.

pete_falcone,

There is no way we can do all those hooplahoops meeting all the church requirements. I'd prefer a simple solemn wedding ceremony, so we are doing it exclusively for family and close friends. Actually it feel kinda funny having "wedding" again, silly it may sound I am only trying to pull all of these together just to make an aging mother smile. I think i will take the Convalidation route

thank you.

You need to file a Report of Marriage so you can renew your passport into your married name. Also to have an NSO marriage certificate.

The Philippines will recognize your US marriage so technically, you don't need to get "married" again. What you'll do in the Philippines is a renewal of vows.

I am now a USC with US passport. I skipped those parts because my Phils Passport expired close enough to gain my citizenship, travelling to Washington DC to renew my passport is way more expensive than filing for citizenship. So I chose the pratical way. Maybe I will go ahead and file a report of our marriage so I can have a copy of Certificate from NSO.

I will ask my family to ask about "renewal of vows".

Salamat apple21

Check page 2 of the Regional Forums, Philippines, for a similar thread called, "K1 and married already. Planning to get married again in PI. any suggestions?". Lots of good info for you already there.

Thank you Sirliner, I will try to find that. Have a good day!

- Baptismal Certificate

- Confirmation Certificate

- Marriage license

Those are the basic requirements for a church wedding.

Did you file a Report of Marriage Contracted Abroad?

thank you apple21.

No I did not do that Report of Marriage.

I came here in the US under K1 Visa and got married(2006), we had a Chapel Wedding presided by pastor,I dont remember what denomination. We picked the place becase we liked the chapel and location close to his family members. We were both Catholic when we got married. Now we are planning a visit to Phils next year with maximum of 3 weeks stay, our main goal is enjoy the visit with my family since it is my son's first time meeting them and 3 weeks is very short stay.

But also we want to have a simple church wedding there, majority because we would love to have our family celebrate with us with our blessed married life. But if its gonna be complicated, we can just drop the wedding and just enjoy fullest our vacation by not going through the circus hoops and loops of church's requirements and etc.

1. Anyway, does any one of you ever experienced this, both US citizens had a Catholic Church wedding in the Phils?

2. what can we and we cannot have or do during the wedding ceremony?

3. requirements?

We just renewed my wife's passport last month.

1) You can report both your marriage at the same time. Not sure about the kids but it seems like you should go ahead and do it.

2) Your Husband and baby can come in. You will be going to a building across the street from the main embassy. There is no security to go through. While we were there husbands and kids were coming in and out the entire time.

3) You can ride in a cab without a car seat or at least I saw it done. The metro is very clean and safe so if you want you can use that.

4) We stayed in Old Town Alexandria and rode the metro in. We stayed at the Crown Plaza for $119. You will be arriving in DC so the embassy row makes sense. While we were at the embassy another couple said they stayed at another Crown plaza just a few blocks from the embassy. They said it was nice and it was the same price.

5) Wow too many places to suggest. We did a night tour on an open air bus that stopped at some of the main places. Might be good with a baby to avoid some of the walking. Up to you. Found one Filipino store outside of DC but that was it for us.

BTW the guy at the Embassy said they are busier on Monday and Fridays. They open at 9 and he said to arrive at 8!30 am, We arrived much earlier to beat the crowds but ended up not having any. Hope this helps. Have fun!!!

Thank you guys, this helps a lot. First time to travel without having our own vehicle and plus with a baby so so many things for us to plan ahead and consider. I really appreciate it, thank you so much!

Hello Kabayans!

my passport is going to expired Feb. 2012, won't be travelling to Washington DC till March or April 2012.

questions are:

1)REPORT of MARRIAGE- mostly say it is ok to just report our marriage together at the same time I turn in my application for my new passport with my married name on it, I wanna do it this way, since i dont want to risk of losing our original copy of Marriage License/Contract,is this a good idea? should I also go ahead report the birth of our son? is this important? and why?

2)PHILS. EMBASSY- Can my USC husband and 18 months old baby enter the Phils.Embassy with me? how long does it take to have my application turned in? how long.. like for hours?

3)CAB-We will be travelling by train from NC To Washington DC(cheaper and plus for the experience) what it is like to have a 18 months baby to ride a cab when we get there to Washington DC? carseat? No carseat? or just ride train?

4)HOTEL- we had thought of staying at Embassy Row hotel? anyone stayed here before? or maybe if you know a better affordable place that is accessible for train stations, a walking distance from Phils. Embassy will be great!

5)TIPS- any tips? for places to see at Washington DC, OR Restaurants that serves Pinoy Foods? (drool)

Salamat ng marami sainyong lahat! (Thanks!)

anyone who's scheduled for an interview next week particularly on the 23rd? i am excited for my interview and nervous. i hope my visa gets approved so i can be with my fiance soon! for those who have taken the interview lately, what can i bring to the embassy and what are not allowed inside? can i bring a little snack inside? also is it true that we cannot bring mobile phones inside? i hope not. because that will be hard. is the Embassy full of applicants everyday? do i really need to go there very early?

i had my interview back in 2009 so i dont know if there are any changes.

what can i bring to the embassy and what are not allowed inside? you can check USEm Manila website

can i bring a little snack inside? i dont think so i'd say no

also is it true that we cannot bring mobile phones inside? i hope not. because that will be hard. definitely NO don't even try to bring if you have nobody with you waiting outside,and never leave your valuable thing to a stranger

is the Embassy full of applicants everyday? YES

do i really need to go there very early? early enough for you to be there before your appointed time, I was there an hour before my appointed time. was there at 6:00 am got out at 7:15 am with a big smile

goodluck

Hi everyone

I checked the embassy of the Philippines website today particularly the outreach program schedule. I am glad they have a schedule in GEorgia on Nov. 5th. but i do not have any idea when they will post the address and the time on their website. So i can be able to make an appointment and won't miss it.. If anybody here knows please let me know. I need to renew my passport here and not to go all the way to WAshington.

Anyway, I just can't get this part >>>>>>Send the e-mail request/application for appointment to the Embassy e-mail address:

It would be nice if i can see a sample of the request/appointment to the embassy here.:help:

Thank you all..

Hi, I am on the same shoes and is planning to go to Washington early next year, but it would be a lot better if I do not need to go all the way to Washington to take care of the renewal of my passport and report of marriage. I checked the Washington Dc Phils. Embassy Website but can't find the announcement. I would love to just go to Atlanta outreach since I am from NC just more or less 4 hours of driving from here to there. Thanks.

One more thing...Report your marriage to the Philippines Consulate which has jurisdiction over the location where you were married.

Thanks Tahoma! glad to know about this,I appreciate it.

In March of last year my gal renewed her passport and reported our marriage at an consular outreach location, I think that is what they call it. This is how we did it: I visited the USA Philippine embassy website and found out which consulate served my location, and it is the Washington, DC embassy. I then learned that when I joined the email list for the Washington, DC location, I started getting all of the press release emails. Well, during early March the embassy stated sending out email(s) giving date, time, and location(s) of upcoming consulate outreach location(s) and what could be done at the outreach location and what was needed to accomplish each task. FWIW, I live in southeast Georgia, and my gal and I went to an outreach event event just outside of Atlanta. A 200-mile drive versus a 900+ mile drive to Washington, DC.

The problem, at that time, for me was learning of an outreach location after all of the appointment slots were already filled. Again, at that time, the consulate website would remove the outreach location "announcement" and email and from its website as soon as the appointment slots were filled. Joining the embassy website eliminated this problem and it was a very interesting event to attend and observe, the consulate outreach event.

Yeah, you gotta make a person appearance for the passport renewal so the consulate people can take your photo. The biggest thing for the ROM is having 4 pictures of each spouse and, of course, the approximate size and the form. I saw some couples with pictures but without the form and was given a copy of the form, had to obtain and pay for 4 copies of the document, fill it out, and return the borrowed copy. Shoot, I even knew of less than 10 people who showed up without appointments get taken care of at the end of that day. But, I wouldn't count on it happening to you if you show up without an appointment, better to see it happen or not to someone else first...

Regards,

Sid

For carton025: thank you so much Sid for the information, yeah I looked at their website for what they call an outreach here in our state but it is way farther than if we are going to drive to Washington,lol. So I guess we'll just go directly to their office. Whoa I will keep in mind about bringing those forms all filled up. I really do appreciate you for sharing your experience. Hope you have a wonderful day. Louella

Where do you live? Check out the outreach calendar on the Phil embassy website in your jurisdiction, they travel to various locations so you don't have to.

You can report marriage and get a new passport at the same time. ROM is $25, and passport is $60 + $19 for pre-paid shipping from embassy folks, or you can buy your own before you get there. I would ensure it is trackable, however. It will take up to two months to get your new passport.

thanks DavenRoxy, i appreciate it.

Call your local philippine consulate in your jurisdiction. I think they can help you re-new your passport.

will do, thanks QP & Thomas

HELLO KABABAYAN! HELLO WORLD!

Hi, was doing my homework about to renew my Philippines passport that is about to expire January 2013. I am currently residing here in the US and my Removal of Condition is on process(February 2012 Filer).

On the website I am looking at now says:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR PASSPORT RENEWAL

1. Personal appearance is required in all cases (including applicants who are 65 years old and above and minors who are below 18 years old). Application by mail is no longer allowed;

is this for correct?

oh yeah, we did not report our marriage to Philippines Consulate, I found out it is quite a requirement to renew my passport, because my old passport is under my maiden name.

Thanks! Hope everyone is having a good day

Hi VJers

I finally got my biometric appointment letter in the mail, I would to like to hear from you guys if you can recommend a good decent hotel in Greer,S.C. because there is where I am going to have my biometric taken. I have 5 months old baby that is gonna be with me on that day,it is ok to bring bottled formula, right? and or formula powder in a container?

thank you, i hope to hear from you guys. I'll appreciate it!

It can take up to 30 days to get a biometric letter. It is completely dependent on your local ASC center and how they are operating. You cannot go by other peoples " biometric timelines ".

You are correct - you cannot go for biometrics without a biometric appointment - even if you are to try an early walk in you must have an appointment letter.

Thank you, I am soooo getting impatient

I am just anxious to plan our trip to visit our grandparents and for my 5 months old baby meet his great granddaddy.

It's been a month and a week after I sent it,I can't wait to be done with this process.

Thank you, have a good day

I know how you feel but you can't do anything but to wait. You can't do biometrics without the appointment letter, you can walk-in biometrics thou whenever you have your appointment letter and do it earlier.

thank you, yeah I am getting impatient and worried, hopefully it will be in the mail next week

you have a good day!

Is there anyone here who sent there I751 last Feb.9,2012 and no biometric appointment letter yet?

sent mine ----------Feb 9

they received it----Feb.11

cheque cashed-------Feb.13

NOA1----------------Feb.17

Now I am getting worried because was looking at others timeline and most of them are scheduled a month or a lil bit over after they sent their packet. Should I worry? if not here soon, when should I call them?

Oh yeah, if I do not have an appointment letter yet I cannot go there to have an advance biometric, right?

thank you.

Opss sorry for the confusion I forgot to update my status of what I filed for, my bad!

yeah i mean my 2yr greencard is about to expire.

Thank you all for the replies, i appreciate it!

Most people don't get biometrics till about a month after filing. Just be patient.

oh i see! thank you Inky

Hi I am Louella,

my visa is going to expire on March 25 2012,

I mailed my I751 application last Feb.9. (VSC)

received my NOA1 Feb.14...well, it's been 2 weeks since then but I have not receive any letter for my biometric appointment, I have seen on others timeline that they have scheduled for theirs.

How soon after your NOA1 did you receive letter for your biometric?

I am just wandering if there is a reason for me to worry.

Thank you, hope you're having a good day.

Just ignore the online status...

1. You need to apply for your removal of conditions 90 days before your 2 year green card expires.

2. Yes you have to notify them of your new address within 10 days of moving using the 'aliens change of address' form, can be done online or via mail.

Thank you so much!

Hello VJ Members!

I have several questions to ask,i hope I can get a response to this.

First, my 2 years residency card was approved last May 2010...as far as the EAD and AP applications when I checked the case status at the USCIS Website EAD is pending and AP is denied. I was once told to just ignore the results of them since my AOS was approved and I received the card. I am wandering if having pending cases such as EAD will cause conflict or whatsoever?

Second, I want to know what is gonna be the next thing to do before my 2 years residency expire, what to apply next? I made my homework and have an impression that I should apply for Lifting of Condition? am I correct? since I am not qualified yet to apply for naturalization/citizenship.

Lastly, we are planning to move on to a new place same state just different area...do I have to report my change of address? And I made my research that I can do it online and free of charge(good thing!)

I am hoping to hear from you guys,kindly please help me.

Have a nice day.

Thanks

misisB