pearlmark

I love this topic! ok, our story is really long so go get yourself some popcorn and something to drink

I met my husband in the war zone. I worked in a military base in Baghdad, Iraq. I worked in a beauty shop there and my husband was a regular customer of my co-worker.Let me explain how life was over there. I'm not trying to sound conceited and arrogant but when a female is in a military base, the ratio of man to woman is like 1:150 and especially our job in a beauty/barber shop where we meet a lot of different people, and I can say I met "my share" of ratio. It's like,when you walk outside,every guys act like Jim Carrey in the mask when he saw Cameron Diaz walking and his eyes got big and his jaw dropped and his tongue rolled out. Oh man! guys were crazy! Everybody say they're single, blah blah blah! Most of them just try to hit on you,give you gifts just to get you in bed. So i was like,"Ok, whatever, I am here to work and make money for my family back home. I just listen to their BS and let it out on the other ear as they leave. So 2 years of living like that and met a lot of people, I never expected that I will meet my "then future husband" there. It's just so hard to talk about love in that place because of all the people who lies. There's a lot of ladies who went home pregnant because their soldiers and contractors boyfriend's deployment was over and they were left with the broken promises of marriage and responsibility . I try not to take guy's words seriously because I didn't want to end up like them. I'm not trying to sound too smart cause I also had 1 relationship there were my ex was married back in the US and I didn't know. Glad that the 1st base I worked at was really strict and don't allow guys and girls together outside unless they are both soldiers or work on the same company. When I moved to a different base, it was more free to hang out and be friends with others.

And so enough for the base life, my husband was a regular customer of my co-worker and I think my co-worker have a crush on him too.I do his haircut to from time to time but we never thought we'll become close because we were just barber-customer relationship. Every thursday night is the karaoke night in the MWR ( its the recreation center there) and I love to sing so I go every week. It's my day off too so I go there early cause it's a little long of a walk. One night my co-worker called me and said she invited Mark to karaoke and he have a truck and he'll drives us there. They picked me up and went to the MWR. There, we met some of our friends too and we just hang out in the billiard area(I can play pretty well and we played with everyone), but my co-worker( she's 35 yrs old single lady) don't know how to play and I guess she felt left out, she went to chat with another filipino(her co-kapampangan) that works there. We weren't really thinking, We were just having fun playing pool with others while we were waiting for my turn to sing on the stage. When it was time to go back, she's not talking anymore and I was like, I didnt do anything wrong, I just enjoyed the night, you're the one who suggested it. Same as when we went there, i was sitting in the backseat because I he was "her" friend and regular customer, I'm just here for the "fun". When we got home, he secretly gave me his phone,you know, so I could save my number in there. So I did without thinking of anything. I just thought maybe he wants to talk about her and why she's awfully quiet.

Next days, I see him around often and we became friends and my co-worker still not talking to me or him. Weeks passed and I guess we're already dating because we see each other everyday but we weren't really serious. He just divorced recently and I don't want to start expecting anything cause I dont want to get hurt. I even broke up with him a few times. Our relationship was on and off. After 8 months of on/off dating, he proposed to me. I said "how can I believe you?" , "what if I go home and you don't keep your promise?" , I dont want to go home and lose my job, I still dont have any savings. I dont want to be heart-broken and literally broke at the same time. I still need to help my family. What he did, he bought a non-refundable ticket to the Philippines to prove that he's going to come and see me. He gave me a copy of his divorce decree and he filed for a fiance visa for me. And I accepted his marriage proposal.

I also tried my best to prove him that I'm not after his citizenship, I started controlling my earnings, and I let him keep it for me so I can learn how to budget my money and not send my family everything. I saved about 20K $ before I had to go back home and wait for him to get me and he put it in a bank and its in his name.. My friends tells me I'm crazy about giving him my money but I trust him and our relationship. He went to the Philippines twice, for a vacation and to pick me up so we can come here to the US together.When we got married,we put all our savings together and all in our names. And now,here we are,been together for almost four years and happier than ever .

P.S.- my co-worker started to talk to me again a week before I go back to the Philippines. She said she's not mad anymore for "stealing" him..

I hope my story is not to boring or too long. I just want to share.

We split things up too. I haven't done dishes because SOMEONE won't use the dishwasher and won't let me either Crazy Filipinas I swear I guess makes extra cabinet space at least

that is funny! just like me. I've never used the dishwasher not because i dont know how but because its for lazy people.

in our house I do everything while my husband plays call of duty on PS3. For him to actually do something without me asking, I just get mad and he'll stand up and cook him food and do his own dishes. but that's just me acting mad. I dont care doing everything,and what I mean of everything is from laundry and ironing everything, cleaning the house and br, cooking to dishes,cleaning outside, EVERYTHING. And my husband always tells me I dont have to do it all but I feel that I should because that's how I was raised and I think its the wife's duty. I dont know about other people but I'm happy to do it for my husband. I'm also flattered whenever my husband talks to other about us and me and how am I a keeper. ( he was married once before)

Hi! I've read everyone's posts and I would like to give you some advice.

1st. about going to the Philippines, 1000$ should be enough if its just going to be for food and some dates but no traveling or 'mini' vacation. that should be plenty. But, if they are expecting for some extravagant outings,then that would be hard. I saw others post about tickets too,they are right about it and it can be pretty pricey. I suggest no wedding yet( if its still in the story).

2nd.about her going to japan as a dancer, Everyone in that 'kind' of thing says that its only gonna be like this,like that...blah..blah.. but in my experience,( I've tried that, even applying with a band, as an overseas worker) everything they say doesn't really happen..she will be 'training' in a house with other girls but it's not really a school but more of a house run by a 'mamasan' (the person who owns or with business with the bar in japan) and basically make them practice and practice then when some Japanese comes to the Philippines,they will audition (wont even dance,just standing in line) with VERY daring clothes and whoever the Japanese picks, then they will process the visa thingy. if she gets to japan,then that will be another story.. I really admire your devotion for her and I just hope she just choose to stay and use what she studied in college for. in the Philippines,once you go abroad as an "entertainer" it will leave her/him a bad label( can be treated like prostitutes or strippers) for a long time. I'm sorry for some harsh words but that's how a lot of people are and i just want to let you know about reality in our country out of concern. I hope everything turn out good and good luck on your relationship.

I agree with everyone who suggested asking help from congressman or senators. i just got my gc in the mail yesterday and will heartly thanks to our congressman.please check my profile and my old posts if you need some advice on writing your congressman.i wrote there all the details of what ive been through waiting for my aos and i hope it help you too.

but now I have a question in mind.. After we wrote the congressman, I just receive the update saying they ordered a new card for me. why from "initial review" my case status jumped to "document production or oath taking" ? I didnt get any email saying I was approved or anything.no welcome letter or whatsoever either.. Is that normal? I got so excited of the fact that I can get my gc but didnt realize there's something wrong..please anyone enlighten me.

but now I have a question in mind.. After we wrote the congressman, I just receive the update saying they ordered a new card for me. why from "initial review" my case status jumped to "document production or oath taking" ? I didnt get any email saying I was approved or anything.no welcome letter or whatsoever either.. Is that normal? I got so excited of the fact that I can get my gc but didnt realize there's something wrong..please anyone enlighten me.

Congrats !! My case has been pending since Sept 09 and I would like to contact my congress man but to be honest i have no idea how it work or how i can contact them. Could you please give me and advise. thank you

What we did is we search which congressman covers our district and in his website,you can see their forms to fill up for whatever reason you need their help for. (funny thing is I thought It doesn't matter which congressman to write as long as he is from our city but I was actually wrong when we got a call from that office telling us that it should be the other one so we just ask them to forward it to the other guys office). So anyways, just make sure its the right one for your district to avoid delays cause by days of forwardings and mailing stuffs..To continue, I filled up the form with my husband's infos (cause he's the usc) and we wrote a letter in a different page cause its pretty long and explained about our problem (that its been taking too long,blah,,blah..) and I also include a copy of the transfer notice i got from uscis. If you're not sure what to write, you can search about it,some people wrote some examples.that's what i did too.i hope it helped.

Hello everyone! I thought I should share the good news to you. Applied my aos back in September 2009,and got transferred to CSC in january. And since then, I've been waiting and more waiting.. But today, I got a message that says my case has been updated finally!!! We wrote our congressman 2 weeks ago and I guess he really helped a lot. We asked for his help to inquire on behalf of me and here's the answer. USCIS case status said my case is in card production and just give them 30 days for the card production. I dont care for the 30 days now because its a good 'waiting' time.

I am so happy! happy! happy! happy!

for those who are still waiting and their case been going on for more than 6months, I suggest go ask some help for your congressman or senator.calling the hotline didn't do any help to me.May everybody get good news like me too and everyone have a great day today!!!

Im on the same boat and we just recently wrote our congressman to inquire about it on behalf of us and we're currently waiting for answers. Its a hassle for us to schedule an infopass because the closest office to us is 2 1/2hours away..calling them didnt really helped us. I guess we'll just keep our fingers crossed that our congressman can do something about it.

I tried calling because It's been months that I have been checking my status online and others said maybe I should call because they dont update it online all the time.But I'm going to write our congressman here for some help.. Thanks for the reply anyways.

Hi everyone.. I have a few questions regarding the receipt number of my I-485. Today I tried to call the uscis hotline and when it says type the receipt number, i kept typing my MSC-*** number and it kept telling me that the number I typed is incomplete..And i dont think I can put the letters with the numbers..My question is which numbers should I put? should I try putting the Alien number or what should i do? I tried it for 3 times every call and it just kept saying the same thing. Thank you for the future answers! It will be much appreciated.

I just want to first encourage you to have faith, God always work it out. I can hear the frustration in the tone of your letter, and to let you know that depends on what kind of aos you file it can take up to two years, your i130 is usually 6 month max. This is my thoughts to you stop checking the online status and either make an infopass appt, or call the customer service # when ask to enter your receipt bypass that option and hit 3 which will take you to a live rep ask to speak with a supervisor or to be transfered to the csc office, they are usually ok with it just express yourself like you did in your letter above. remember the 1800 # then 1 then 2 then 3 and have your receipt # ready and also be prepared to answer question. My aos was ready for interview in 3 months of submission and if it was me who was waiting that long I would be worried too. keep the faith God always make a way and I hope this bit of info help.

I applied for aos based on marriage..i came here with K1 visa and got married before 3months.thank you for the encouragement. I'm trying to be patient, its just its really hard. I try not to compare mine to others too but I just cant help but wonder why mine have to be like that. I even know people from california who got married by paying military people to marry them and even get to pick the date when they want to be interviewed but mine is a real relationship but this is what I get.

Hi to everyone! To anyone who happened to experience what I'm going through.. My aos was filed back in sept of 2009 and been transferred to CSC in January 2010. Up to this date whenever i check my case online, it still says "initial review". It's going to be 5months and still no changes. Has anyone here wrote their congressman for help? Did the really helped something? And as for writing, can somebody help me about what to tell them and do I have to indicate CSC or just USCIS for the agency the issue involves?

Is there anyone here who has been waiting as long as me? What's up with CSC?It's just so frustrating to hear others who applied later getting approval in a matter of 3 months. I guess they have loads of luck in them.I wish I have some too.. I can't help but wish my case wasn't transferred and just got an interview if I knew its going to take forever..Is my case still on timeline of aos processing? Everyone's answers will be much appreciated.. Thank you in advance.

filed mine sept 20, 2009 and it got transferred to csc january 20,2010, and up to this day,there's still no changes..its still says "initial review". we already sent our rfe back in nov '09 and we're planning to contact our congressman for some "help".

its been 4 months since mine got transferred and still no changes.

mine got transferred last january 20 and still no changes either.

I'm the same. We filed mine sept 20,09, got transferred to csc jan 20, 10, and still waiting

I am on the same boat.sent aos sept 20ish, got transferred to csc january 20,2010 and until now no changes, no updates.

I'm in the same situation.I sent my application back in october too and it was transferred to csc 3 months ago and until now there's still no changes. I guess we just need a lot more patience. I know its not fun but we're not the boss.

We are in the same boat..We filed for my aos late sept 2009 and it is still "initial review" too from after it was transferred to csc last jan 20. Im trying to be patient too because I really can't do anything about it and calling them doesn't really help either.Let's just pray it finish soon. I know how you feel.

Hi to everyone!..I'm just wondering, does anybody here knows what's going on with uscis?I mean,are they so packed with cases that it takes really long for a case to be approved?

We filed for my aos in late-sept 2009 and i already got my ead,had the biometrics.sent rfe response.change of address and confirmation..Then I-485 was transferred to csc on jan 20,2010,and since then there are no change in my status.no touches,no emails. My questions are, does a case go back to start when it get transferred to another office? how long does it usually take for an i-485 to get approved from the time that it got transferred? and last, is there anybody here that is experiencing the same thing i am experiencing? thank you for all the future answers.

february is almost over but still no changes.

Based on my experience, there's a lot actually that I like about the U.S and there are that I don't. And also having been to different places (U.A.E Kuwait and Iraq) I can say that it made it compare things too.

THINGS THAT I LIKE HERE:

I like how the traffic goes here, its far from perfect because of some dumb drivers but it's much better than RP's flow. They actually follow rules. I like how the government actually exist and justice being served. I like how they preserve history and all that stuff. I like how courteous and open-minded people are.

THINGS I DON'T LIKE: how the food have so much flavor on it but actually don't taste good. ( Like someone I know talks about his wife's amazing fried cabbage when in fact it was just sliced cabbage burnt with some cooking oil..It's crazy! where's the nutrients on that?). I don't like the reality tv shows. Especially about some dumb kids teaching other kids to be dumber. Excuse some of my not-so-nice words.

Thank you for all the answers, it made me feel good a lil bit. I just can't help it. I also got an rfe last nov and we sent a reply right away...ead came on dec 2. and after that,no changes until it was transferred to csc this jan 20..I just hope i get my gc before april because we're going to california for a whole month for my husband's work. and i dont want it to be like i will have an interview and i will have to fly back..thats a waste of money for the tickets.

I'm new here and I need some answers. We filed for my aos last mid-september and I already got my ead card.last jan 20, i got a message saying my case was transferred to csc. C nanyone tell me how long it will take before i get my gc?? I've been looking at everyone's timeline and most of them got their gc already. I know I'm being impatient but I can't help it. It's just feels forever.

Thank you for all the future answer.