Mae and Jack

We will be spending Christmas in the Philippines and New Years back in the US. WE have to travel around Mae's school scedule so that was the best way for us to do it.

awww.....thank you so much all of ou are so kind and sweet...and i think we have a consulate here in houston texas..thank you again

hi thank you again,,,and i think texas have a consulate ver in houston,,thank you very much again and again

I am sorry to tell you, but you are under the jurisdiction of the Consulate in Los Angeles. That is where you will need to file your renewal in person. You can check their website for any outreach program. If you are going to renew in your spouses name you also need to have filed the Philippine report of Marriage. That you can do by mail.

We received the Green Card in the mail yesterday. Thanks to everyone on the board who made our journey fairly easy. And congratulations to all those who have also been approved. And of course good luck, and and hoping for speedy approvals for those who are waitng.

The report of marriage can be filed at the Consulate in South Florida.

This is the link you can use from the Embassy in Manila.

http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwha009.html

The Consolate is actually called the Philippine Consolate of South Florida because it is located in Fort Lauderdale. The woman on the phone is correct, they do not do passport renewals. You do need to contact Washington, DC. This is what is not clear. If you have the green passport and want to renew that, it can possibly be done by mail. But if you are required to now get the new machine readable passport, that requires a personal appearance at the Consolate in Washinton, DC.

We arrived at MSP. The entire processing took 20 minutes. And it took that long because the CO had never done a K1 and had to call a supervisor over to learn the process.

Saturday, May 29th, we received the EAD Card in the mail (very pretty card). An hour later got a text from USCIS, (yes, on a Saturday) AOS card production was ordered on May 28th. Will let you know when we actually receive the card.

You need to go to this link, Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC, and read the requirements and download the forms.

http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/index.php?page=consular-services-dc/faq-dc/#passport

PASSPORTS

What documents should I submit if I wish to renew my passport?

The regular requirements for the renewal of passports (for holders of green passports) are:

1.Original old or expired passport;

2.Accomplished passport application form (affix left and right thumb marks on spaces provided in the presence of a Consular Officer) and affidavit of immigrant status;

3.Three (3) recent photos (4.5 cm x 3.5 cm), ROYAL BLUE BACKGROUND, taken in a photo studio or professionally taken within the last six months before application;

4.Photocopy of passport data page;

5.Photocopy of permanent resident card, work permit or record of landing; and

6.The passport processing fee of USD$50.

If you are holding a brown passport, you should submit the documentary proof of your complete middle name (original and one photocopy) in addition to requirements A to F. You may present your birth certificate, baptismal certificate, landing papers or your driver’s license as the documentary proof of middle name.

Applicants should also submit a self-addressed US registered Mail, FEDEX or UPS envelope for the release of their passport along with the regular requirements.

And if you have not done so, you also need to complete the Report of Marriage. That information is on the same website.

You didn't mention this, but I sure hope she has her CFO stamp. Other than that it is all routine at the airport.

It is well worth the $350.00 to $400.00 they want in our area for driving lessons. My health and sanity are worth much more than that. Also, they schedule all of the required testing and even accompany her. For me, its a bargain.

Received notice that card production was ordered today, May 7th, for EAD.

Sorry, forgot to add, when my friend explained this to his wifes church, and of course made a "small" cash donation, the meeting part was no longer an issue. By the way, originally they wanted them to have 6 months of meetings.

Ummm you are already married, so it would be just a reaffirmation ceremony. When Mhay and I got married we did have to do an interview with the priest and he wrote a letter of recommendation for the Arch Bishop of her province and we had to go to get him to sign off on the wedding. (this was for a mixed religion marriage...I'm not catholic...yet)

No it's not just a reaffirmation of ceremony. The catholic church do not recognize the civil wedding as a valid marriage that is why they have all these requirements which everyone has to comply with (regardless whether civilly married or not)...actually they have different sets of requirements for mixed-religion marriage (like what you and Mhay had) and for couples who are both catholics, they also have other (additional) requirements if one of the couple is a foreigner.

Congratulations by the way on Mhay's visa approval

I hope you are not having the same confusion my friend and his wife had. In fact the Philippine wedding will not be a "legal" wedding, it will be ceremonial only to comply with religious practices. But once you are legally married in the US, you cannot legally marry again. The following is a requirement for a foreigner to marry in the Philippines.

Any foreigner who wishes to marry in the Philippines is required by the Philippine Government to obtain from his/her Embassy an "Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry" before filing an application for a marriage license. As you are already married you cannot meet this requirement. To do so would mean you would have to lie under oath and say you are not married to an embassy CO.

Another word: Tagaytay

One word for Tagaytay...BORING.......But they do have beautiful pineapples.

That's very good, you'll likely not need an interview at your field office now, and the processing of the conditional greencard should be pretty quick overall. I'm surprised they did that before the biometrics appt. even took place.

Congrats!

I was very surprised. I didn't think there was any way it would get transferred this fast. But we are still preparing all of the necessary paperwork for an interview. We are not going to assume anything. It's better to be prepared.

Checked the USCIS site today. Our I-485 was transferred to CSC on March 26th. No update on EAD or AP.

Received the letter for biometrics appointment. Scheduled for April 7th. Seems strange since we never received hard copies of our NOA's.

Sent AOS, AP, and EAD on March 1st. Received at Chicago on March 4th. Email receipt was on March 11th and the check was cashed on March 12th. Hope this goes as easy as our K-1 visa went.

Another issue was my Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle which it turns out was never built to USA EPA standards so no way it could be registered in California. I could import it but it could only be used off road.

Apparently the Japanese build bikes for Canada different (faster) than the one for the US.

So I ended up selling both the gun and bike in Canada before I left

My girl is bringing her Harley with her in a few months that should be ok...

What could be more American than that!

Just about all car and motorcycle build different exhaust systems for California vehicles. California emmision standards are different than the rest of America. So your Harley might not meet their standards.

Air21 delivered the visa to our house in Subic this morning at 10:30am. We will be going to Manila for the CFO seminar next week and our flight to the States is on October 28th. Thank you again to everyone who contributes to this website.

We attended the interview yesterday. Our appointment time was 8:30am. We arrived at the embassy at 7:30am. Because of the preperation from this website we had no real surprises. After finger scanning, Mae met with the prescreener. I couldn't see what was going on but I was getting nervous because she was taking a long time. When she moved back from the window a little, I saw she was laughing out loud. When she came back to the seating area she told me it was just like having a conversation with a new acquaintance. They were laughing about some of our photos and the fact Mae has a college degree in Automotive mechanics (dont ask, its a long story).

The only slight surprise was that when Mae was called for the interview, they immediately told me to go in with her. I was under the impression that the petitioner wasn't usually invited into the actual interview. He swore Mae in and asked her how we met. He asked me why I was in the Philippines back in 2006 when we first met. He then asked me about my previous marriage and children. He asked about our wedding plans and when we would leave the Philippines. He then said we were approved and congratulated us. We were done by 10:30am.

Thanks to everyone on this website for your contributions.

Thank you for the replies. We will definitely go to St Marys. And yes marriedtomrg, that was us. We were approved also. Congratulations to you.

I know that CFO requires the copy of divorce papers. The embassy for the interview was satisfied with only the final judgment which is only 3 pages. I have been told that the CFO will insist on the entire package which is over 20 pages, and I will have to get someone to the courthouse in the States to get it for us. Does anyone know if this is in fact the case?

This is the exact quote taken from the US Embassy Manila website.

4. NBI CLEARANCE: Applicants aged 16 years and older must have a valid Record Clearance for Travel Abroad Purposes from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Clearances should be in the applicant’s current name, birth certificate name, maiden name, married name, and any aliases or nicknames ever used, including different spellings of all names ever used. An official letter of explanation from the NBI is required for any notation of “No criminal record”, "No pending criminal case” or “With derogatory record.” NBI is located along Taft Avenue in Manila. You may contact NBI at (632) 523-82-31 to 38. For immigration purposes, an NBI clearance is considered valid only for one year from the date it is issued.

So having travel for US is not a requirement.