TravellingNomad

i use to use this N.E.T.

i think for new customers the per minute rate for manila landline is 13 cents per minute with a minimum of $20 reloads when your credits run out. if you sign up using this service, you can login to your account and check usage. it will list the numbers you called using this service and for how long you talked with that person at that number and how much they charged your loaded credit.

i now use BayanTel. they have a spin off of their family ties program (which they call "half family ties"). since my wife already uses bayantel all they needed to set up was a local access number for me to dial here in the U.S. and it's $25 one to sawa talking (really unlimited). but it's locked in to the 1 bayantel number you're gonna call. i tried to check my account if i can view usage...but all i can do is pay the monthly bill on it. but let me contact them to see if there's a way to obtain calling records from my account. will let you know.

thanks Inky for the input. the signatures are actually in black ink. so i went ahead and emailed the wife a completed form. she's going to send hardcopies via courrier. gonna tell her to sign it in blue ink.

but i figured out what they wanted. this is what happened. when i was completing the I-130 back in Feb, i read in one of the instructions (can't remember if i read it online or the instruction page) that all we needed to indicate on forms were mine and my wife's name and address and signature. so that's what we did. i think they are wanting us to really complete the form with all the other information on it. so hopefully, with the completed form and a blue ink used to sign it...things will go forward when they receive it.

they also asked for passport size pictures. that im guessing because the size requirement for passport photos are different in the Philippines and here. U.S. passport is a 2x2 while Philippine passport photo requirement is a little smaller in size (seems like 1.5x1.5).

hi everyone,

i received a letter yesterday from USCIS stating that i have until August 13 to send back the forms they sent. the forms were the biometrics form for me and my wife. but the clincher, it's the same signed forms that i mailed along with my I-130 back in February. it's actually a copy (from what my mom had described over the phone). my mom said that everything was filled out and had the signatures of my wife and I. so i don't know what they are asking for. if the forms were completed and mailed with my petition, im not sure what they want me to send back.

any input would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

no it wouldn't change your filing date. that's what i did earlier this year. i filed the I-130 for my wife and two kids back in Feb of this year. June i became a citizen. i contacted USCIS after obtaining citizenship and upgraded from LPR to a USC petition. the rep i spoke with said that the filing/priority date will not change. the only thing that will change is that your petition will be changed from immigrant petition to immediate relative.

tsaka pala bawal magpasok ng tubig sa boarding area ng gate ng flight mo. if i remember correctly, nung pabalik kme dito in May, meron mag-asawa ng kasama toddler nila...pati yung tubig pang-gatas ng anak nila hindi pinatawad...kaka-awa yung bata kse gutom siguro kaya iyak ng iyak. so make sure meron ka crackers for your anak just in case maguton sya. pero ang problema when she gets thirsty and you have to buy her something to drink. pag lumabas ka ng boarding area nyo after going through security check...you'll have to do the whole process again going back in. kaya ang ginagawa ko lagi...i just wait until probably 30 minutes (depending on how many people are still in line to go through security) before boarding before going through the boarding gate security.

THANKS!!!Kaming 2 lang ng baby ko di kami susunduin ng dad niya kaya lahat gusto ko na malaman base sa experience ng iba para alam ko lahat ng gagawin lahat ng pupuntahan lahat ng babayaran..Yah magdadala nalang ako ng extra money para sure lahat!

one advice ko syo since you're travelling with a young child, wag ka mag-japorm ng suot. meaning, tone down on your accessories and wear a pair of shoes that you just slip on. k'se you're gonna go through 3 security checks/xray checks. right when you walk in through the door, going to the boarding area and the last before being let in the area where you're boarding gate is. diyahe pag marami ka alahas na suot and you sneakers na you have to keep taking on and off and tie shoe laces...LOL.

make sure magdala ka ng extrang pera nyo. kse baka mamaya magutom kayo ng anak mo or mauhaw kayo. at least meron ka pambili ng pagkain/tubig sa boarding area. and like i said...bring cash kse they don't take credit/debit cards. nakaka-inggit naman kayo. malapit na kayo magkasama as a family. kme ni bossing 14 years na mag-kahiwalay. but im hoping sana by next summer sinusundo ko na rin sila sa SFO. sa bay area ba kayo titira? if so...hindi ka mangungulila kse madami pinoy sa bay area.

nobody had the same situation as me?...where the petition started as an LPR and then a few months later was updated to a USC petition?

the DFA systems should be networked to each of their regional offices. but have your fiancee call DFA manila to verify if they have the case. have her ask the DFA for status and for the expedited passport issuance. she can just tell DFA manila that she's having a hard time getting info from people at her local office.

My daughter is already a US Citizen but of course she is a Filipino Citizen as well,do I have to pay for her travel tax too?? I have both her US and PI Passport.

show mo na lang yung US passport ng daughter mo. but don't forget...even though you're the only one to pay travel tax, all three of you will have to pay for the terminal fee of P750 each (you'll be able to pay in $ as well kung wala kang dala Peso).

have a safe flight kabayan!!

I have no problem with mexicans coming here for a better life. If I were poor and living in mexico I would do the same. I mostly believe immigration rules are far too reaching , each person that applies should be approved and given a chance.

"from a Third World country with relative ease"

I wouldn't say its relative ease, its very expensive, takes a long time and not guaranteed. In fact, its so expensive to apply to come to the usa I don't know how most people are able to do it

although i agree with you about the cost of having to come to America has severely increased over the years...what makes you think was the cause of that? and the reason why open borders wouldn't work is because of, as one member said, NATIONAL SECURITY. and why is it that hard to enter legally? because the federal government want to make sure that the person coming into the United States will not be a burden to the taxpayers. although the law needs to be enforced when it comes to immigration, there will always be that room for abuse as well. i work for a state agency and you know how many illegal immigrants commit fraud by filing false on the job injuries and get worker's comp benefits? once the claim has been filed, it's smooth sailing for the said illigal immigrants. they just have to wait for the money in the mail and not work anymore until the benefits run out for them. and what does this do?...it increases premiums for those who does things by the book. as newton said...for every action...there's an equal reaction.

Can I just ask, why you need the green card itself, if the stamp and the visa on your passport states that it can be your green card for a year,

I think you just need the SS number, pls enlighten me if I'm wrong on how I understand it ...... thank you very much.

yes you're right...the stamp on the passport will suffice. i forgot that customs put that stamp on there. no need to enlighten you my friend. just because i did not mention the passport...did not mean it will not be suffice. but if OP does gives that copy...i suggest that when she gets the actual GC so they won't ask her for it after a year.

I don't remember paying the travel tax when I left the Philippines in 2005. I only payed the terminal fee. Is this travel tax something new?

yeah i don't remember paying any type of travel tax (excemption cert or otherwise) when i went back home in 2005. but since my trip starting 2007, for the excemption certificate fee. maybe i've been paying it before but just haven't noticed it.

if you are leaving the philippines with k1 visa you arent exempted to travel tax but your daughter is since she is a US citizen... also you both have to pay P750/each for terminal fee.. i left the philippines in 2007 with k1 visa and i had to pay travel tax.. 2 yrs later i went home for a vacation, they didnt ask me to pay travel tax since i am a GC holder, i was only asked to pay 200 pesos for travel tax exemption certificate or something like that which i thought i had to pay the full amount of P1620....

her problem would be...she would still not be a GC holder by the time she leaves. so she won't have that to show to them.

OP...my advise is call PAL and ask them how much travel tax you would pay in your situation.

if she feels like there's something fishy in her dealings with DFA CDO, she needs to file a complaint to the correct authority (management). but the problem with that is, the person she complains about might put her in his/her "smoke up"list...making the processing intentionally longer to get back to your fiancee for complaining. if i was her, i would just fly back to Manila and deal with the DFA main office. as far as how long it would take to get a replacement passport, she can request to file for an expedited passport. it'll still take a couple of weeks, but not as long as 8 weeks.

Thanks for the respond. So it is just ok for them to wait till i get my GC and SSS even for a month? Does it means when they responded to my job application they can also call me for an interview?

employers for the most part are very understanding. if they know your situation, im pretty sure they'll tell you before you can start, you need to give them copies of the GC and (sometimes SS card). and yes, they can call you for an interview. you actually wouldn't need to show these documentation until you are hired and start filling out paperworks.

hi kababayans,

here is my situation. back in February, i filed the I-130 for my wife and kids for an immigrant petition. received NOA1 around the first week of March saying my petitions have been received. fast forward to June. i became a citizen and called USCIS to update my petition to a citizen petition. received letter end of June saying that it's been updated.

now my question is...did my priority date change? how long do i have to wait to expect the approval letter? i did check and the petition for my wife was touched on 07/09/2010...but my kids...the last update date was when my petition was upgraded.

any input?

***warning...long read***

the bible said "love thy neighbor"....so i married her. our story:

i met my wife when i was about 9 years old when i was still in the Philippines. i actually didn't meet her meet her, but her family moved into the neighborhood into her grandmother's house down the street. the first time i saw her, i already really liked her. i would always say hi to her..but she was mataray and didn't say anything back. then after about a year or so, my whole family migrated to the US. almost almost 10 years go by and i decide to go back to the Philippines to study for college. but i did not stay at our old neighborhood...but i go back to our old house (my cousin lives in it) whenever my cousin comes back (he's a seaman) and hang out with him and the people from the neighborhood. each time i saw my wife's cousin, i would ask him about her...how she's been and ask him to tell her i said hello. and each time i saw the cousin, i would ask what she said and he would say nothing. so i just thought she was still mataray (she still is actually...LOL), so i just let it go.

after a year of being back....one of my visits to my cousin, his wife told me that somebody was walking down the street towards the house. i didn't think nothing of it. and then i saw her walk through their gates!!! she came over to bring mail for my cousin that was delivered to their house by mistake and to use their phone. and all i can do was smile. yup!!...was tongue-tied when i saw her again. i was like...wow!!...she's grew up really pretty!!...LOL. but sad to say, she didn't say anything to me. so when she was walking out...my cousin asked her if she knew me. she looked at me and smiled...and said no and asked who i was. so my cousin told her who i was. we said our hellos, asked me how long i was gonna be at my cousins, and told me to swing by their house on my way home for a short chit chat.

didn't end up going home that night but i did go to her house and chatted with her...'til about 3 in the morning. and it just started from there! when she found out how long i've been back she was asking me why i didn't come by sooner to say hi, i told her i kept asking her cousin about her. she said he never said anything to her.

sorry guys for the long story....but me and the wife never get tired of talking about those times we started dating.

OP...the only way i know you'll be exempted from the travel tax is if you are not a filipino citizen. your husband and daughterwill not have to pay the travel tax but you will have to. so make sure you bring enough and then some! because once you go to the boarding area and you guys get hungry, the stores in that side ONLY takes cash. advice ko lang syo...pay your travel tax first before going to the check-in counter...para hindi ka pabalik-balik. right after you go through the first security check sa front door, the counter right in front of you will be where you need to pay it. be sure to get your passports and tickets ready because they will ask you for that. yung terminal fee mo you pay that pag papasok ka na sa boarding area.

no you don't call here is the steps you go to USCIS website and you creat an account and then you can add your case number to your portfolio after you do that you should see last updated that is what we call a touch is the date has change under the update box the you have been touched

argh!...you beat me was going to try to update my post and say i figured it out. just logged into my USCIS account. thanks for the reply...really appreciate it!!

hi guys...not a March filer, but i did want to ask one question. I keep seeing on people's timeline/posts date when their I-130 was touched after filing. how can you find out this information? do you have to call USCIS? and what do you ask?

also no properties...our house (along with the houses of wife's brothers and sister) is on a big parcel of land that the wife's mother own. and we never really bothered with buying any properties because the plan had always been for them to eventually be here with me. just took longer than we anticipated to be in a financial situation for it to happen.

thanks for the replies.

yeah as far as financial co-mingling, we didn't start a joint account both over there and here until earlier this year. but i do have a a big stack (10 years worth) of printouts/receipts from the money remittance place i use to send money to her. but even with that, im worried they might question it. mainly because even though i've been sending money for ten years through this account, my wife didn't actually update the her name on it until a few years ago (probably about 4 years ago). i started using this account to send money before we got married.

also...there was a gap of five years (from March 2000 thru April 2005) that I was not able to go home to see the wife my son (only 1 child at that time) due to financial difficulties. will they question that? but since 05, i have been home each year though.

Hi guys and dolls...

my petition for the wife and kids are at the beginning stages...but my wife and I are already trying to prepare everything that we can think of. we have been together for 14 years. i see members posting indicating that the consul asked them for letters and pictures...but if i look at their timeline, they are newlyweds.

my question is...since we've been together 14 years (married for 10 years), will my wife need to bring our pictures and letters that she's accumulated throughout our 14 years of being together?

any input is appreciated.

weather-wise...wouldn't really matter where you are at in the Philippines. around this time is the start of the typhoon/monsoon season over there. so whether you are in davao or in manila, you won't get spared once the rainy season starts to go in full swing.

can we use these calling cards as evidence of ongoing relationship?

you might be able to on this service... http://www.netinternet.net/residential/DialAround_service.html#

you have to sign up and can re-charge in $20 increments online or by calling their customer service. no expiration on your credits/minutes. no hidden fees. i think it's 12 cents per minute calling a landline. call quality is great (from my own experience). and when you sign into your account, you have a link on usage. and it will give you a list of the number(s) you dialed/called using your account and how many minutes you talked with that person at the number you called. i used to use this until i found another calling service that works for me for my wife's bayantel line in the Philippines.

yeah i wouldn't worry about it. i went to go see the wife and the kids a couple of months ago (wife really didn't make it a choice for me...LOL) and when i got back, i just told the interviewer about the trip and that was that.