SemperAye

I just got this message today after adding a household member. No solution yet.

My bad! I thought an F1 was a type of I-130, but ya, he’s an F1.

I guess this isn’t really accurate then?

Hey! Thanks for the reply!

I think our concern is that they stopped notifying him that he was still in line, implying that he’s no longer in line… or are we reading into it too much?

Greetings VJ!

My wife’s cousin’s case I-130 has been “documentarily complete” at the NVC since March 16th 2021 according to the last text message the NVC sent on March 18th 2021. They also said in the same message that they’d follow up every 60 days to let him know he was still in line, but that hasn’t happened. I’m assuming this was a COVID thing, but has anyone else experienced this? He doesn’t know what to do and family is unhelpful! I feel so bad because it’s been over 10 years since his entire family immigrated and he was left behind at 18 years old. By the time they filed the first i-30 he was over age and had to file again

Any advice would mean the world and I’ll pass it on!

Thank you!

4 minutes ago, Chris Duffy said:

Question

 

Which half is Filipino and which half is Kano?

LOL...

So I entered this country on a bb visa, converted to student visa, then the fso at my school told me I should just do a 13a visa to save myself money every year. My classmate yesterday asked me if I knew if I would then be charged the local domestic tuition rate, or if the school would continue to charge me an additional fee (double)? I think this is a good, valid question, although I think I already know the answer lmao! Anyway, before I go and make a fool out of myself by asking my school, what are my chances of being charged as a local moving forward? Do I have any ground to stand on? Thanks!

Article 364 of the New Civil Code states that ‘[l]egitimate and legitimated children shall principally use the surname of the father’. It was established in the case of In re Adoption of Stephanie Nathy Astorga Garcia (G.R. No. 148311.  March 31, 2005) 3^rd div Sandoval-Gutierrez J that the use of the mother’s surname as middle name by a legitimate child is merely discretionary. In other words, in registering the name of a child, the child’s name may or may not bear the mother’s surname. By way of exception, the use of a middle name or the mother’s surname is mandatory only in the case of descendants bearing identical first names with ascendants under Article 375 of the New Civil Code.

10 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

You do know that there isn't an actual law in regard to this it is all just usually made up by the civil registrar that may or may not agree with doing what you did. 

 

My asawa came from Davao and I asked her when we had our first child together if she wanted to follow Philippine traditional naming. She said "why would we do that, we are in America na so we will name out child what we want". We have since gone through and made our two children dual citizens with no problem from the embassy. 

 

So don't mind that stupid person and go ahead in life with no problem. If you choose to get a Philippine passport then do it on this end in the USA.

LOL thanks. I did find info on Art. 375 that states that the maiden name of the wife is not required as a middle name, I also found another answer here too: 

"updating and closure of this issue.

After multiple visits to DFA in Pampanga and San Fernando and were told her name 'wasnt allowed'. We were told to go to Bureau of Immigration (BI) for her Philippines Certificate of Citizenship. You can only do this at the main office in Manila.

Wife and baby go up to main BI office to get this paperwork handled and were told it takes 6 months. Since my wife is just finishing up her medical exam in the next couple days, the 6 month visa validity period was an issue so BI told us that we would end up having to pay ~30k peso for the childs...sigh.. 'tourist visa' dated from birth up until Feb 2017. They also told us "why dont you just take her US passport to DFA and get her PH passport", which we've tried at the provincial DFA branches previously to no avail.

Wifey goes off to main DFA office in Manila and gets the babys passport taken care of in about an hour. They saw the name, and asked if she was ok that the baby did not have her maiden name, wifey said it wasnt a problem and passport application was approved. They didnt ask if the baby has a CRBA/US passport and we did not disclose that info either.

Policies/regulations/laws are inconsistent not only between different government organizations but between different branches as well. Thanks for all that replied in assistance, thankfully this is finally resolved!" -Shayney08

Needless to say, we'll probably just do it in the US like you suggested. As for the proof of Philippines citizenship to avoid exit fees, she was born here, will have country of birth Philippines on her US passport so it shouldn't be an issue, but will get the certificate of citizenship to be on the safe side. Anyone have experience with exit fees in this instance? Peace!

On 10/18/2016 at 1:03 PM, cristina16 said:

Naming standard in the Philippines is: First name - given name; Middle name - Mother's maiden name; last name- father's family name. That is as per Philippine standard naming, the same problem encountered by some Filipinos born in the US that didn't use their Filipino mothers maiden name. That is as per family code of the Philippines.

Art. 174. Legitimate children shall have the right:

 

• (1) To bear the surnames of the father and the mother, in conformity with the provisions of the Civil Code on Surnames;

You can fight DFA on how come PSA/ NSO allowed the name of the child knowing the law. Since changing the name is not your option, you have to settle not getting a Philippine Passport for your child.

According to Art. 375 of the new civil code, the use of a middle name or the mothers surname is mandatory only in the case of descendants bearing identical first names. So you don't even have to have a middle name for your daughter here in the Philippines, you can write N/A, or you can use whatever name you like.

We find it extremely hard to believe that the many half Filipino's we know back home , born in the US with a "made-up" name would not be able to get a Philippines passport without doing a name change.

Hello everyone,

I'm here in the Philippines and trying to be proactive as the lady at the civil registrar here in Mandaue City, Cebu told us that our child will "have a hard time to get a Philippines passport because her middle name is one that we made-up and not her mothers maiden name, that its the law when it comes to Philippine passports." She said that "she had two clients that had trouble because of this," and asked us if we wanted to amend our daughters name!  No we are NOT changing our daughters name just to have a Philippines passport, we get to choose our daughters name not the Philippines lol.... Of course it tradition here in the Philippines to name your child's middle name the mothers maiden name, but the mother is also a dual citizen and so we opted for "American" citizenship on the certificate of live birth.  I couldn't find any information about any real actual law in this regard. I talked to my dual citizen classmates here in the Philippines, and some of them have "made-up" middle names on their passports so I'm wondering how they were able to do this? Why would the hospital, and registrar even allow us to put whatever name we wanted if it was against the law...I don't really care at the end of the day because we will be getting a US Passport anyway, and could try applying for a Philippines passport at the embassy in the US, but I want to know if anyone else has been though this IN THE PHILIPPINES with success. Again I have not even tried yet to get my daughters passport, I just want to go in there with ammo if they give me grief. I know that people here often confuse tradition with laws, its the chismis effect  Any help would be appreciated, Salamat!

I'm in the same boat ATM..not sure how to do this. Right now I'm guessing that you just start the letter off as:

Dear Commissioner,

.....

??????????

the BI has a list of commissioners..not sure who it's supposed to be addressed to...lol

1.) Yes fly out and return the next day. No Problem

2.) I am not sure. Check with BI. I think they will extend you if you are still enrolled in school. Extensions are one year at a time.

thank you

If you get you Philippine Passport before you leave, even if you entered not yet being a dual citizen, they will give you a PP on your passport and you will not be charged anything. If you got a student visa, then you would also not be charged for those months you had a valid student visa as I understand it.

So everyone is telling me that no matter what I do, no matter what visa I get, I can only stay in the Philippines for 3 years without leaving. Two questions:

1.) How long does one need to stay out of the Philippines before re-entering for another 3 years of visa extensions? I understand that balikbayans can just fly out and come back, but what about others?

2.) BUT WHAT ABOUT STUDENT VISAS!? I mean...college is at least 4 years!? Are Student Visa's the exception to the 3 year rule?

Thanx in advance!

I forget to mention, if you are dual citizen before you fly to the Philippines, then you do not have to pay the $35 travel tax when you depart the Philippines, UNLESS you stay for more then a year, then you have to the 35$ regardless of what passport you use. So in our case, we couldn't even save the 35$ by applying for dual now because we are staying much longer then a year

UPDATE:

After looking at all the documents carefully, I wanted to post a clear answer to my question in case anyone is still confused:

Since we are both entering as balikbayans, we can stay in the Philippines for one year. They will stamp us both balikbayans upon arrival. My wife will have one year to file for dual citizenship, if we do not accomplish this within the year, then we must fly out of the country to lets say Hong Kong and back to get another 1 year balikbayan visa. That doesn't apply to us though because I will be converting to a student visa, and my wife will be filing for dual citizenship ASAP upon arrival in Manila. Once she files for dual citizenship, at the BI, they will NOT stamp her US Passport "PP" for indefinite period of stay. The newly issued Philippines passport that she will receive (or any other document in section 1), will serve as proof of citizenship and indefinite stay, making the old balikbayan stamp mute. Instead, this "PP" stamp is issued upon departure when the validity of proof of Philippine citizenship is determined (i.e. new Philippine passport, IC card, or original copy of CRPC). We shall be cleared for departure without surrendering any certificate, permit or proof of payment imposable immigration fees.

I hope this help anyone in our boat. Sure it would all be easier if we just filed for dual citizenship at the PI embassy in DC or LA, but it's not practical for us right now. It irritates me when our Filipino friends tell us that we "must file for dual here in the US, or we will have to pay fees upon exiting the Philippines because we overstayed," it's just not true!

For your reading pleasure: http://www.immigration.gov.ph/images/Issuances/2014/march/sbm%202014-015.pdf

Thanx Tahoma, this has the info I was looking for!

Upon determination of the validity of the presented proof of Philippine citizenship, the Immigration Officer shall affix the “Departure” stamp on the passenger’s foreign passport and indicate the presented proof Philippine citizenship as follows: a.“PP” – for valid Philippine passport; or b.“RA 9225” – for IC or CRPC.

She will travel on her U.S. passport. However, when she arrives in the Philippines and leaves the Philippines, she will show both passports.

That's what I thought, I think we just have to pay the travel tax and we're good to go. Then next time it will not be as complicated because we will not be staying for 3 years

Section 215 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1185) requires U.S. citizens to use U.S. passports when entering or leaving the United States unless one of the exceptions listed in Section 53.2 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations applies. (One of these exceptions permits a child under the age of 12, who is included in the foreign passport of a parent who has no claim to U.S. citizenship, to enter the United States without a U.S. passport, provided the child presents evidence of his/her U.S. citizenship when entering the United States.) Dual nationals may be required by the other country of which they are citizens to enter or leave that country using its passport, but do not endanger their U.S. citizenship by complying with such a requirement.

So it must be ok to leave PI with a PI passport and just show your US passport upon re-entry into the states I guess. Does the Philippines require dual citizens to leave with PI passport, or is that just make it cheaper I thought when you purchased international tickets you had to put your passport number on the ticket order form, and that passport had to be the passport that you where reentering on.

When your wife exits the Philippines in 3 years, she cam use her Philippine passport... pay her travel tax of $35... and enjoy the flight home with you.

Most times I would agree, but they are staying 3 years

Wait a minute Hank you just opened up another can of worms lmao... how on earth can she re-enter the United States using her Philippine passport? Doesn't she have to use her US passport to be let back in to the US, I thought this was law? Are you saying that when we go back home we should enter her Philippine passport number for the tickets and show only her Philippine passport? I can picture the American officer asking for a US Visa...

Also, is there some type of benefit to using a PI passport upon exit over a US passport? Damn there is so much to all of this...after I figure this all out I'm going to make a YouTube Video about it.

Well it isn't a dual citizenship certificate... But... ya... that is sort of it. the balikbayan stamp is ... moot.... citizens don't need it. Citizens can't over stay. Once your wife re-affirms she can stay in the Philippines FOREVER and she can stay in the USA... welllll..... FOREVER at her whim...

Ok thanx Hank....I just was worrying that the stamps were bible or something that had to be changed or else we would run into issues

That link isn't about over staying... it is about DUAL CITIZENSHIP... citizens can't over stay in their own country........

So in that case, I take it she shows her new PI passport (and possibly the dual certificate) along with her US passport (that had the original balikbayan 1 year stamp on it) upon departure back to America and she will not be charged for overstaying.

Follow the link I gave you

This one? http://www.cfo.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1362%3Adual-citizenship&catid=145%3Aintegration-and-reintegration&Itemid=833

It didn't say anything about over staying the original balikbayan visa on the US passport, but according to the link I posted previously if she shows both passports and her dual certificate upon departure, she will not have issues leaving or paying for overstaying. Maybe that certificate is what they use instead of re-stamping the us passport upon getting dual citizenship.