andrea4prez

Got it! Wish us luck that once he gets his citizenship, we can at least get his mom's approval / DS230 before the sister turns 21...

I will prepare everything now, just the waiting and suspense is killing me hehe...

Thank you!

You're welcome..

If your hubby should send in an I 130 for the sister.. that would be him filing for his sister ( awaiting time of 15-20 yrs). If you want her to be included with the mother u have to add her as a derivative child under 21 on the mothers application.. I dont remember how the I130 looks but i think there is a section for the mother to list her children. Write the sister's name on the I130 form and also send her birth certificate in with the mother's documents. Read the guide for Citizens filing..

As i said before, you and your husband cannot delay and should use every form of electronic communication to get the correspondences quickly.. Wish you all the best

Thank you very very much for your reply!

? Does the sister need her own I-130 too ? or just do it thru his mom's petition?

Hey Andrea, I would advise you to get all the documents prepared for your hubby to start the filing process for his mother as soon as possible. I know it takes sometime to get the citizenship certificate but seeing the best way to get your husband's sister there quickly is by letting her come with the mother.

You have to send in the petition for the mother instantly (and you will send in your sisters information (her birth certificate along with the mother as a child under 21 years old (a derivative))as soon as you get the citizenship.. (please call and find out how you can go about doing this, so that you will know what to do).

What will happen is that after filing for your mom and hopefully the NVC moves fast enough to send out the package to her that contains the AOS fees payemnt and DS230 forms etc.... The DS230 form (check if this is what they call it still) is very important for your sister here..There is a section that asks for the beneficiary (hubby's mom) to put the names of all her children-those who will come with her and those who will not be coming with her) Ensure that the sister's name is written in the section that says children under 21 who will accompany the mother now(beneficiary).. the sister will be treated as a derivative.. fill out this form and pay the fees ASAP! AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! just stressing the soon.. so that these can reach the NVC and a visa number be provided for both the mother and daughter, before she turns 21.. the mother (or whoever, you or the husband) completing the DS230 form MUST include the daughter on it and send it in to the NVC with the fees and everything they asked for as quickly as possible. Paying all the applicable fees, so a number is given before she turns 21...

This is a very close filing seeing that the office may take some time to respond to your petitions and YOU (the persons involved in the process) do everything quickly and dont delay. It seems you will have to probably use the electronic system for filing if it is available in your country. You can check this out just go to the USCIS website or the NVC website..and dont be afraid to call...But if you dont delay your husband's sister could get to migrate with your mother. If however things dont work out and your husband should file for his sister.. she will have 15- 20 years wait... Hope i helped.. I am posting a linkf or you to read also.. and you can search this site its very good!

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/A1en.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/B1en.pdf

Good day everyone!

I just hope you can shed light on what's the best thing to do regarding my husband's situation.

He will be a citizen by April next year.

He plans to petition his mom and sister who will be 21 on November 2013.

What would be the best way to go? Should he petition Mom first and once Mom gets here she will in turn petition her daughter? The only thing that we are worrying about is the sister would be 21 by then if it will take more than 6 months from April to petition his mom.

Thank you!

Green card holders can only petition for their spouse or children. You have to become a USC before you can petition either your parents or your sister. Your parents will fall into the IR-5 category, and the waiting time is about the same as spousal visas - around 8 months to 1 year. Siblings, on the other hand, have numerical limits on the visas given out each year. The current priority date for the F4 category form the Philippines is still January 1989, which means you have 20-ish years, including the wait for you to become a US citizen.

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5692.html

I hope you can help me...

my hubby will be a USC before the year ends or hopefully early 2013...he wants to petition his mom but the thing is she has a sister who is 19 years old...what is the best thing to do? will the wait for a minor child be 20 years too?

hi guys!

I need some advice on what to do about my cousins situation...

she filed for her husband last 2010 when she was still a green card holder....

today my cousin will have her oathtaking...

what do we need to do now regarding her petition? does she need to call or write them a letter amending her petition saying she is a citizen now?

any input will be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

hi guys!

I need some advice on what to do about my cousins situation...

she filed for her husband last 2010 when she was still a green card holder....

today my cousin will have her oathtaking...

what do we need to do now regarding her petition? does she need to call or write them a letter amending her petition saying she is a citizen now?

any input will be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

napansin ko kadamihan ng sobrang chismosang pinay eh yung mga nanay na pinetition ng anak...na hindi naman nagtratrabaho. siguro trabaho nila yung magchismis

true true true!!! i have first hand experience sa ganyan...

super matanong...ok lang kung ako lang ang tanungin pero pati sisters and cousins ko na first time niya lang naman na-meet...she even asked how much salary nila and how much papadala daw nila sa pinas na $ hahaha...tapos when we all met up for lunch, dumating anak niya bigla naman humarap sa akin tapos sabi tignan mo bag ng anak ko vuitton yan, mahal hahahahaha

Yea I completely Agree with you! Depending on what season it is You can get Flights from LAX Twice a Night! usually at 700PM and 1000PM leaving for Manila. And Like you said they stop for an hour in Honolulu or Guam for refueling and of course the Non-Stop Flights. belive me its a lonnnnnggg Ride but its worth it and like you said, Flight Staff is very Considerate and treat you very good even in Coach. 16 Hours and you there. by the planes leaving at night you ready to sleep anyway and thats a large Portion of the Flight right there.They have everything to entertain you that you can imagine. they also have "GPS" navigation

that have graphics that show you a little Plane and the Philippines and where you exactly at in regards to the PI and how far you left LAX, showing the USA. Its great! and like you mentioned they have their own terminal not with NAIA 1......... Love it!!

yup, around 14-15 hours i think and thats long but the planes ive been in since 2009 and last year, your own tv gives you lots of choices, like games and even MP3 music to listen to while sleeping and the movies are new too and since its PAL there's 1 filipino movie shown...so they try to keep you entertained and fed well too hehe

now that you mentioned the little plane graphics where they show where you are exactly that actually adds to my excitement like " just a thousand miles and im there hahaha "

yup, that's the biggest bonus for me flying PAL is their own terminal!!!

What are you saying, denial isn't just a river in Egypt?

funny!!!

Very very nosy no? Pati nga minsan, boyfriend/girlfriend mo height, weight, eyecolor nila

Dito nga sa amin, meron isang bahay ng Pilipino..ang gara ng labas ng bahay...parang out of place tuloy sa neigborhood. May mga fountains siya ang all...pero yung kapitbahay nya simple ang front yard, ka kanya may fountain, statues...

balita pa, kapag may occassion nilalabas ang Ferrari.

yup, nosy nga...actually, nosy is just putting it mildly...hehe...

more on pakialamera hahahaha

hahahaha...Ferrari is for the bisita's viewing pleasure only hahahaha

No problem with the Filipinas I met here. Pero some are competitive (who has more comfortable lifestyle), others are judgmental as if you won't last long here in the US and something might go wrong with your immigration stuff.

But, I don't mind. I do what I think is right and as long as I don't intend to hurt other people, that's fine. I think.

I kinda agree with you on the competitiveness... i noticed too that it's like a status quo here in California that women, mostly Asians should have like a Vuitton or Gucci purse hehehe and you are up there when you drive a Mercedes Benz or BMV hehe.... just my opinion

have you encountered Filipinas you meet for the first time asking if you are green card holder or US citizen or sometimes even to the extent of asking what do you for a living and how much you make?

Congratulations!!!! Hope you will like your job and Good luck on your future endeavors

just want to share...My hubby got here Feb 2, 2010 (CR-1) and he got his green card two weeks after...We were like wow that was fast and Alas when we saw the green card, they spelled his name wrong haha... So, when we asked for a new one... it took them until 2nd week of March to give him his new card and two weeks after he got a job as an IT guy here in Cali...

I 2nd that! PAL is Great!

Been flying with PAL since 1996 (LAX-MNL, MNL-LAX).. although some of their planes are not that new anymore compared to others, what I like is the non-stop flights, with occasional hour stop overs at Hawaii or Guam...The staff are polite too..Also, what I like about flying PAL is you arrive there early in the morning so you still have more time to spend with your hehe.... their flights to MNL are at 9pm and your arrive manila around 7am...which is good for me coz i usually leave on Thursdays, give me time to work that day still and arrive morning of Saturday which give me time to rest and go out Saturday night right away hehehe.... their flight to LAX is usually around 9PM too and arrive here around same time 9PM too.

Most of all, I like that they have their own terminal NAIA, when you arrive and leave Manila, only PAL passengers use that 1 terminal...it's not that crowded and you are in and out of the airports, fast...

i tried Cathay before but only to HongKong and although I liked the plane and service, i hated that the terminal was so busy, crowded, hot and kinda dirty too... going to immigration to and from was a nightmare.

Thanks for the prompt reply and suggestions. I just heard somewhere that consular officers aren't asking/looking for such types of communication (facebook, YM, skype) during the interview. But yeah, that's how we communicate. So I was just confused of what evidences will I provide them.

I have pictures with me, us hubby & wifey together, with my family and his family, wedding pictures and other pictures through out the relationship. But we don't have letters & cards with postmarked envelope (almost all were done electronically ). We weren't able to go in trips coz I was working as a nurse during the time he was here. I'm afraid that what I have will not be enough to satisfy the consular officer.

I think you have enough proof, no need to worry!

Good luck!

@Harvey-your advice is very convincing. Bohol, Alona Beach it is. I'm not into partying and I don't like the fact that Boracay is filled with so many tourist that I would miss the opportunity to mix with the locals. Thanks. This is my second trip there within six months.

i agree! i enjoyed Boracay when i was younger and enjoyed the party scene hehe

Bohol and Palawan are a good place to go!

When we went to Bohol, we opted to stay not near the beach...

We stayed at the Bohol Tropics Resort. They offer the tourist spot tours and a service van to pick us up from the airport and drop us off too. Also, they gave us the same service van when we decided to go Panglao beach on one of days there. It was easier for us because we got to explore the beach and Tacloban city too. The prices are okay and the stay included breakfast. Check it out, you might like it too.

Actually, you might be right about her having a kid as a good proof of strong ties in the Philippines, along with some other information she might have said during the interview. As I said in the my earlier post, consular officers don't usually ask for supporting documents so the decision is based primarily on what transpired during the interview. Supporting documents are not submitted with the application form, the applicants bring these documents with them during the interview so there is no way for the consular officer to find out the applicant's specific financial status.

Thank you!

I asked her again and she said she was not asked to present any documents to prove her financial status. She was just asked those simple questions in my earlier post and that's it. She was lucky in my opinion.

The USA is not rolling in money because we give it all away to other countries!

Before Karen came here I looked at moving to the UK.

I did not like the VAT of 20%.

I did not like gas being over $9/gal.

I did not like the attitudes based on what class heirarchy you are or where in town you are from.

I did not like the power that social workers had to rip families apart.

I did not like the lack of customer service in shops and stores.

I can go on and on.

But then Karen came to the USA.

She loves Root Beer which does not exist over there.

She loves that people are nice in all the shops.

She loves that she can carry a pocketknife and not be arrested for it.

She loves that taxes are so low because she does not pay for everyone else's health care.

She loves that the sun is out 300+ days a year.

I can go on and on.

Then again I have a cousin who moved from Redondo Beach to Leeds and he loves it. To each his own.

We are in the Inland Empire, southern CA, near Redlands. Victoria Gardens is a nice place, we all ought to have a reunion there sometime and share stories. :-)

good idea. I live in the Condos in front of Victoria Gardens so that would be a good place to go hehe

The business is the strong ties, not the 18yrs old daughter and perhaps the documentation was presented already during the application. It is owned by her husband so technically she owns it as well. She will also go through background check, verify he documents presented and at times agent will come to the area and ask the neighbors, like what they do in bank loan application. Everyone's got a kid here so you cannot refer that as a strong ties.

I was just relating what happened to my MIL and not telling the OP that having a kid is a good proof of strong ties. It's case to case basis and she got lucky. She brought a letter from the bank and proof of her husbands business but she never presented it all during application and at the interview. The business is under the hubby's name and he was not present during the interview or not even trying to get a tourist visa too.

I dont think she went through background check and there is no documents presented to verify. I might be clueless but I didnt know agents go to the area and ask neighbors. As is, her interview that time was a Tuesday by Saturday she got the Visa.

Wow, I did not realize my use of Nanay instead of Mother or MIL on the Philippines forum might cause a conflict like it did. It was certainly not my intent. My apologies for not being more clear in my original post.

I do appreciate all of the information from everyone. Our intent is to do just as a few of you mentioned in other posts, to have my wife's mother be there to comfort and teach my wife who is 29 but will still a first-time mother. Yes I am sure she will help with the baby as any grandmother would, but I have no intentions of hiring her as a nanny. My wife and I (and my MIL) want her to come as it is a big event for us all and will help my wife feel better as all of my family live hundreds and even thousands of miles from us. There won't be much support from that side. Admirably, family (and extended family) are a very big deal to Filipinos and with just me and maybe a few friends we have here, it will be all the harder on my wife. Having her mother here would help her immensely.

For the visitor's visa, I don't suppose my MIL having a husband, 87 year old mother and other children count as valid reasons she will want to go back to the Philippines? My MIL is certainly not rich and I am not sure if the substantial farm property is in my MIL's name or her mother's name. Ownership of things in the rural province seem to be a lot different than they are in Manila or other big cities.

Thanks for all the advice and information.

my MIL got her 10 year multiple entry visa last April 2011, I recently gave birth too so she was here with us not as a NANNY but as a MIL wanting to be with her first grandchild and also assisting me since I am a first time mother. Let's just say we got lucky because my MIL is a fulltime housewife, never travelled abroad or even rode a plane. She just said that her hubby has a business and hubby is supporting her. The consul asked her during the interview, you are going to California to visit your son? and she said YES and then consul asked what do you do? She said she is helping her hubby with their business...then that's it. She even brought bank papers to show their money in bank and even paperwork to prove that FIL has a business in the Philippines, but consul did not ask for it. My MIL does not even own any property in the Philippines. The strong ties that my mom showed why she will be back to the philippines is that she still has an 18 yr old daughter studying back home.

Thanks for the tip. Will check it out.

What about places to eat? Does anybody know of a good place to eat? I know lechon Cebu is really good. I don't intend to get a whole pig but does anyone know of a restaurant that serves lechon Cebu as a meal?

we stayed at the Plantation Bay and we loved it...the place has everything but I suggest only eat there when there is the Filipino fest or something where there are shows and there is buffet hehe coz the food are expensive.... when we explored the city, plantation bay had a service vehicle and driver who acted as tour guide who brought us to all the tourist spots (church and stuff) for a fee...

we usually ate out for brunch at a restaurant close by, the name was Maribago grill..the food was excellent and cheap too!

My fiancee has a B.S from St. Paul University Quezon City in Hotel and Restaurant management but i cant figure out if her degree is valid in the U.S or if her schools accreditation is valid here for transfer of credits i just dont know anything lol

this is too coincidental, my sister in law just came here last May and she is a graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Management from St. Paul University, MANILA. She is now working for Crowne Plaza hotel in Anaheim as a Guest Service Rep. I asked her if it was an issue when she applied for the job that she graduated from the philippines. She said, they read her resume and asked for her original transcripts and then they made a copy of it and that's it...she got the job.

in my opinion, the school accreditation and transfer of credits is only needed if you will be going back to school...

the job where I am in now. i wrote in my application that I had a B.A. degree and they just asked for proof. i even gave them a copy not a certified true copy...

hey there!!! are you still in Rancho Cucamonga, California? I am from Rancho too since 2005...

EDIT : Where in Rancho, do you live?

If you dont have work permit yet, you can volunteer with the city... http://www.cityofrc.us/services/eoe.asp

or you can go to Victoria Gardens mall just to walk around or go the library there...

there are also a lot of seasonal job openings in the City...

Hi,

I have been here in the US over a year now and i still havent made friends, i am still not working so i dont really go out much other than with my husband.

I am really struggling to settle, i get home sick and miss my family alot.. I do not drive so im limited and i still dont know my way round properly. I feel kinda intimadated, i feel like a littlw mouse in a big maze and dont know what to do.

I am from a small town in England and now i live in a city, its hard to get used to everything being so far. They is alot of thing i hate here,and i really wounder how ppl can live here.. again im always comparing to back in England ( somethings do seem better over there, things i class as important like medical issues ) .

Iv created this forum in hoping to find/make friends and that feel the same way i do, I know im not alone on the way that i feel. When you have know one thing all yr life and then suddenly its all different its hard, its harder also when u hate alot of things too here.

I really hope things get better.

hey there!!! are you still in Rancho Cucamonga, California? I am from Rancho too since 2005...

hi just a question, my mother in law arrived her may and she was allowed to stay until 11-17-2011... how do we go about extending her stay for just 1 more month? She just wants to attend my daughters bday party on 12-03-11 and leave the week after. Thank you!

Can someone help me please?

Thank you!