robmd

hi gud day. i would like to ask if how much did u pay for exit fees in BI without phil. passport. thanks!

I don't really remember exactly, but I think we had to pay 750 pesos. I would ask somebody else that has done it more recently though.

That is what is bad about the DNA test. It is decided by whomever is conducting the interview at that time and it almost seems random. We had to have one done last year when we got my daughter's CRBA, and yes it was expensive. I have seen others that haven't had to, maybe because both parents were living together in the foreign country. The reasons vary, and there is no set standard, just the opinion of that one person on that particular day.

My wife lived in Laguna for a while before coming to the US. She lived in Santa Cruz (I think it was Santo Angel Central), then after the floods in 2009 she moved to Victoria, then Pila before coming here.

Interview was a success....got myself nervous for nothing.....the officer was very nice....she didn't even need to see any of the originals....she asked a few standard questions, then asked for a couple photos and a couple other pieces of documentation showing that we reside in the same house that she could place in the file. We gave her a couple medical and dental insurance statements

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Whew...just got the birth certificates in the mail today...talk about cutting it close. The interview is actually tomorrow.

I'm feeling more comfortable about what we are bringing now. Everybody's birth certificate, marriage certificate, a lot of pictures, and insurance statements with her name and the kids' names. One thing that is still bothering me is an original copy of my divorce decree from a previous marriage. It is not where I thought it was. I have copies, but I have to take another look around tonight to find it.

Thanks

We had ordered my wife and kids' birth certificates from the Philippines several weeks ago. Of course, our interview is on Thursday and we are still waiting for the birth certificates.

What is worse? Canceling an interview or not having all of the documentation?

On the topic of documentation, we really don't have anything such as bank accounts or bills with both of our names on it because she is still waiting for her social security card to come in the mail. We have pictures, birth certificate of the child we had together, but not much else.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

We got an interview for my wife and step-kids on 8 Jun. How much proof of a marriage do we need? We have one child together, so we will definetly bring her birth certificate. We could bring pictures as well. However, we are still waiting for her SSN card so that we can open a joint checking account.

When we applied for her SSN after she arrived on a K-1 visa, it was never delivered in the mail. After waiting for about a month and a half, we went back to the SS office and they told her that they sent a card, but it may have been lost in the mail. They did give her the #, but could not issue her a new card until she got an EAD or GC because she had already been married and the visa had expired. Now that she has her EAD, we went back to the SS office and tried to get a new replacement card, but they said we would have to wait 4-8 weeks for the card to arrive because it had to go through a verfication process due to her last name being different on the EAD.

What other types of things will we need to "prove" our marriage? Will I have to add her name to utility bills just for this? Do we really need anything else?

CFO Manila

Citigold Center, 1345 Pres. Quirino Avenue

corner Osmeña Highway (South Superhighway)

Manila, Philippines 1007

Tel. Nos.: (02) 561-8321 locals 101 to105, 200 to 204, 300 to 304;

400 to 404, 500 to 505, 600 to 604, 700 to 703

Fax No.: (02) 561-8332

E-mail: info@cfo.gov.ph

Website: www.cfo.gov.ph

http://www.cfo.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=323&Itemid=33

Definitely no worries. Our daughter turned 5 the day before flying to the US in September. School started a couple days earlier here and the cut off for kindergarten was age 5 by 1 Oct. She didn't speak any english and it would have been easy to just wait until the next year, but we enrolled her in school right away. Our school doesn't have ESL, but they have a speech therapist, but I think all she needed was the other kids! I couldn't believe how fast she was picking things up. Our son is 3 and it took him a little longer, and I think that is because he wasn't exposed to all of the other kids speaking english at school. Now they both speak english as well as any other 3 and 5 year old! The bad thing is they don't really speak tagalog or visayan now, although I think they understand it when mama gets angry. I wouldn't worry about any extra schooling. Once immersed in the language, kids will pick it up quick. I'm not one for just sticking kids in front of the TV all day, but childern's TV shows will help a lot too. That's where the 3 year old has picked up a lot.

It looks like you already got it taken care of, but for anybody else that may have the same problem...we got both NOA appointment notices for biometrics for her AOS and EAD on the same day. The EAD notice had her middle name misspelled, but the AOS notice was correct. That tells me that it was somebody manually typing them in and not automatically generated. We didn't even notice it. At the biometric appointment, they noticed it, and corrected it on the spot.

We got our text message notifications today that the applications were received. Than for the replies. I just need to learn to be more patient.

I wanted my wife to have TFC but wasn't ready to make the switch to satellite. However, I found something better. TFCko (TFC on demand). http://www.tfcko.com/aboutTFCKo/index.html It is a set top box that connects to your internet and your tv. It is updated daily with the newest shows. I think its better than the satellite/cable versions because it is demand meaning there is a lot more content to choose from. You can go back weeks on a show to catch up. The package costs $29.99/month. I got it during a promotion where all other fees were waived.

I sent our AOS package on 23 February and it was received on 25 Feb at the Chicago office. The check I sent with it still hasn't been cashed, and we still have not received any notification via I-797 or text message or anything.

At what point should we really be concerned and who should I contact then? I'm getting s little nervous now.

Thanks

The children are 5 and 3 years old. I only paid the child's fee for each of them and no biometrics.

Thanks for your responses.

I sent an AOS package for my wife and 2 children. It was received on 25 Feb, but we still haven't gotten our NOA and the check has not been cashed yet. I thought I had read somewhere that you could combine the fees (I-485 and biometrics) into one payment. However, after I sent it, I read somewhere that said they had to be separate. Is it possible that is what is delaying it?

Thanks,

Rob

I have flown Delta quite a few times and have a ton of frequent flier miles with them (enough to get a couple automatic upgrades to first class, even when not wanted). I have only had one bad experience with them. Of course, the one and only time had to be when bringing the family from PI to US (me, wife, 5 yr old, 3 yr old, and 11 month old). Plane broke down in Nagoya Japan. Normally not a big deal, but what went from a couple-hour delay, turned into an overnight delay, then to a "we are leaving immediately, please line up to board", then "oops, we were wrong" and back to an overnight (where their organization in getting everybody into hotels and such was a disaster), to checking into a cramped Japanese hotel room with 5 people and a lot of bags at 9 pm after traveling since 4 am that morning (and a fire alarm waking the entire hotel at 2 am), to opening only 2 baggage counters for an entire 747 to check in an hour and a half prior to their revised scheduled take-off (everybody knew the night before we wouldn't be leaving then, and we were right). We were given new connections and I was ensured that I would still be sitting with my family even though we were under separate reservations (when I purchased the tickets they told me that they cross referenced the 2 itineraries so that they would be attached). When the plane took off 1 hour late (as expected), most of us knew that we would miss our new connections. The flight crew informed us that Delta was already rerouting everybody and would have everybody's new boarding passes ready upon arrival in Detroit. After clearing customs, we were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't over and everybody had to wait in line for 2 ticket counters to print everybody's new boarding passes. I have been on a few flights were they literally have a table set up at the gate giving everybody their new boarding passes. When we finally got to the front of the line (over 1 hour later), I was informed that I had received an automatic upgrade to first class!!, but it was on a different flight then the family. Finally got that straightened out (caused us to wait for a later flight) and finished our journey.

Sorry, just venting a little bit, but other than that one trip, I haven't had any problems with them. I couldn't believe that of all the flights, that had to be the one that was so screwed up.

Thanks for your quick replies!

I cannot find an official NSO website to order documents and have them delivered to the US. Has anybody used another service? Just looking for something reliable and not too expensive. Thanks.

I don't post here much, but I did find a ton of useful info here. My fiancee, our kids, and I just arrived in the US on Wednesday. It was supposed to be Tuesday but we had a nightmare of a journey with delays and other things. No problems with the visas, just a minor scare with the kids CFO stamp in Manila. We couldn't find the 2x2 pics we needed. With all of the visa/passport photos we had to get, we had a few extras. Luckily I found them in my carry on after Delta had already retrieved our checked bags from the plane. The rest of our problems were all Delta related with delays, hotel accommodations, re-booking, etc. What made it all worth it was finally getting home.

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the valuable info. I'm posting this in this forum, because this is where I got 90% of what I needed.

Thanks all,

Rob

An update...we got our CRBA last week. On Monday she tried to get our daughter's Philippine passport, but they told her she needed to come back for an appointment on 14 Aug. Problem is she will still be on visiting her family in Mindanao then and we already have plane tickets to come here on Sept 7. So now we are going to have to go to the Immigration offic, then try to get her Philippine passport at the Embassy in NY.

Really hoping there are no problems. Thanks for the help again.

I actually ended up just sending her the money. It was a little more expensive, but now I have peace of mind the they were purchased.

Her family is leaves near Cagayan de Oro. I'm working on getting the tickets for them to come here to NJ late Aug or early Sep.

I could send her the money, but sometimes you get better deals online.

Thanks for the replies. CP prices weren't too bad, so I may look at using them.

Thanks again.

My fiancee and kids are planning on going back to Mindanao for a couple weeks before coming to the US. I want to buy the airline tickets online through Cebu Pacific or Philippine Airlines. Has anybody ever done this before? If so, which airline did you purchase the tickets through? Last year I had looked at buying Superferry tickets online for her mother to come visit her. However, their website stated that if you used a credit card to purchase the tickets, you would have to either show the credit card or a photocopy of the credit card when picking up your tickets to help prevent fraud. Obviously I don't want a copy of my credit card floating around the Philippines if I don't need to. Do the airilines have the same type credit card policies?

Thanks in advance for any help.

I'm hoping my fiancee will be here in August, assuming our daughter's CRBA is delivered soon. I live in Burlington County, near Philly.