TravellingNomad

as far as getting one way tickets from Manila to US, try either St. Raphael's Travel as posted above or another good on is Reli Tours. I bought my tickets with St. Raphael's Travel about 2 weeks ago. unfortunately, they don't do online booking or ticket payments. so if you plan on using a credit card, the cardholder has to come into their office in person to process the card. i was weary at first about dealing with a travel agency i can't personally walk into, so i had my wife go to their office in Greenhills to talk to the agent i was corresponding with. i was working with Tessa from St. Raphael's and she was very helpful to my wife and i. i was communicating with her via email and she responded within 24 hours. i recommend them for 1st time immigrant ticket purchase.

Well you are married to the NATURAL parent of this child for 2 or less years correct.? IF yes - the spouse is required to file conditions and so you/he will file to remove conditions and the child as well. Their case is cased on the bond.

but if married for more than two years, no conditions to be removed, yeah? the child automatically acquire citizenship upon entry to the US, right?

the hubby buying a pre-paid calling card here in the US and giving you the info to use that calling card is the best and cheapest option. your hubby can buy a $5 calling card. using your globe for roaming calls will cost you a pretty penny.

atlas shipping is a good shipper for balikbayan boxes. i've used them a few times before. the boxes each time was delivered within 3 weeks. of course it will help if you call your local branch to ask them what day the next shipment sets sail to go to the Philippines. they have a cut-off date that they must have your box by a certain day to be in the ship that week. like here in northern california...if i was going to send a box, they would need to have my box by tuesday (if i remember correctly) so that i can leave with the ship friday. if i miss that cut off day, it stays in their warehouse another week until the following friday.

why don't you ask him about what he thinks about you just moving to australia where he's at? just to see what he says. if he tries to change your mind with some out of this world excuse(s)...be very wary. because if his main goal is really for the two of you to be together...he would not care which country you guys will be in...just as long as you are together. besides...it's not like australia is a terrible place to immigrate to and live in with your SO.

Well, sorry I didn't really express myself clear enough

Of course by October she'd have to leave again, since she needs to go to her interview and everything in Russia. But if they get married in Feb. then they should be almost through with the visa process in October anyways. So what if they get married, she travels to the US with her husband and leaves for Russia to go the interview and the medical and then come back to the US? Would that be a problem?

the problem is, they want to travel to the US together after getting married with the wife using her tourist visa. after arriving in the US, their plan is to stay in the US for good. OP never mentioned anything about his SO just visiting and then leaving the US to go back any where for interview or medical before the tourist visa expires. there's the misrepresentation problem.

like Wayne and Claudia said...you can keep running the scenario of what if's. but what immigration will only look at is the INTENT of the individual/couple.

not in the nursing field...but does have friends that are nurses. i've seen them look at this website beofre...so looky here ---> Natinal Council of State Boards of Nursing - NCLEX Examinations

brought to you by the Philippine consulate from D.C. Dual-Citizenship for Pinoys

for your SO...he may need to consult with the Dept. Of State. because from what i remember, the US does not recognize dual-citizenship for it's citizens...but turns a blind eye on it if the individual decides to get a dual-citizenship from another country...but i stand corrected on that remark.

Interesting that when all of the relatives/neighbors gather for food/conversation/eating/card playing that some of the pot/winnings from each hand went into a jar to help with the costs.

yeah that's called a "tong". you are correct...the family does use it towards the cost of the funeral. mostly for the food, drinks/coffee, snacks they feed to the people during the wake. and the family is supposed to use the tongs they get during the wake for nothing else except for the cost of the funeral...whatever it may be. it is bad luck to keep the money and spend it for yourself.

what i had my wife do was wait until towards the end of the NVC process (around when the immigrant visa application form is submitted). she brought a copy of her NOA2 letter to the medical. if you're waiting for a letter before your SO gets the medical done, it'll be when you receive your interview appointment letter in your email. that letter will state on there what's needed to be done.

I filed and got my wife her ITIN with no problems, The only thing is, if you are planning on getting a refund, you may not be able to cash the check or even direct deposit until your wife is in the country and you can add her to your accounts.

My bank (US Bank) refused the direct deposit and would not cash the paper check even if I sent it for her signature. They said since she is not on the account they cannot accept the check. Your bank may be different, but I was told that was the law.

So I got to put the check in my safe for almost six months before we could deposit it. Which was really annoying since it would have paid for her plane ticket here.

i had this problem before too when i applied for my wife's ITIN 2 years ago. my bank agreed to do a one time deposit after i explained the situation. but what the teller (BofA) advised me was to deposit the refund check via the ATM. so when the next refund check (had a few that came because of filing ammendments for a few years) came in the mail, i did what the teller told me to do and deposited it through the ATM machine. Didn't have any problems.

but OP...as far as the ITIN application is concerned, when your husband submits the application for an ITIN with his tax return, it'll take a bit longer (but not too long) for his tax return to be processed. because when IRS receives his return with an ITIN application, they send it off to one of their office in Texas that processes ITINs...and from there, they'll process the return and issue the ITIN number.

it actually depends on when in the month NVC completed your case. NVC starts scheduling your interview during the 2nd week of each month to schedule for the next month. if your case is completed after the 2nd week of the month, you'll have to wait for the next month when they start scheduling again. so if for example your case was just finished today, NVC is already done with scheduling interviews for this month. you'll have to wait for the February scheduling. the February scheduling will be for interviews for the following month of March.

as far as how long before USEM receives your packet, i'd say about a week minimum. just depends on when they send the paperwork off with the courier.

As my wife is an excellent cook, I told her about your post...and that your fiance doesn't like sinigang. Keep in mind I had never had sinigang, so guess what we ended up having for dinner that night? It wasn't nearly as sour as I thought it'd be, and the soup broth goes good over the rice.

I'm *really* going to miss these wonderful meals (I leave the Philippines on the 28th)

the sourness of the sinigang actually depends on the person eating/cooking it. i myself like it sour. but when i cook for the wife and the kids, i lighten up on the sinigang mix.

and as far as the balut goes...there are actually ones that has barely the chick in it. you just have to get the right magbabalut.

to keep in line with the topic...three of my favorite dishes are adobong sitaw, binagoongan pork ribs, and of course, pinakbet!!

Are you serious? Is this the 1950's? Last time I checked women now have the right to vote, and have even run for President. If I told my wife that since I'm the man I make all the business decisions unilaterally, she'd probably kick me in the hoo-has. While this approach might work if you were living in the RP married to a province girl, I don't see it flying here in the States.

i agree. when it comes to anything that concerns our family (me, wife & kids), regardless of what it is...i don't stand up and pound my chest to let the wife know that i make the decisions. the both of us make decisions by discussing the situation. if my decision isn't the same as hers, we talk some more until we come to a middle ground we can agree on. what's the point of asking the wife's opinion if my decision will be the only option to be followed?

some guys just need to start realizing that in a marriage, both husband and wife need to make the decisions concerning any situation.

to OP...im glad you and your wife has talked about the problem. your wife is still at that stage where she is adjusting in terms of where to put herself when it comes to you and her family. that's why when you thought she was mad at you, she was actually frustrated at the situation her family back home put her in. just let her know that she can always talk to you whenever she has any problems. also tell her that she needs to stand up to her family and talk to them about what they did and are doing with the money you and your wife sent to them.

and last but not least....THANK YOU FOR THE SACRIFICE YOU MAKE EACH DAY AND SERVING YOUR COUNTRY!

yeah i went into a bit of a depression spell a few years back...but my bills still got paid and my mails were still opened and looked at. the wife needs to suck it up and step up to take care of things while husband is away.

you will receive your passport in the courier envelope. the embassy keeps your passport because they have to put a stamp on it. all you have to do now is to just wait for the visa to be delivered.

Congrats!

hence that's why i said to verify with st. luke's. because when my wife talked to them, she was told that if everything was ok with the medical, then the medical was valid for 60 or 90 days is what she was told.

again...this is what st. luke's told my wife...so maybe the people she talked to over there didn't know what they were talking about.

one thing to consider is that the medical has a validity period. if i remember correctly, st. luke's told her that if everything is ok with the medical results, the medical is valid for 60 days. have your SO call st. luke's to ask the validity.

what the last two posts said.

my wife was not told that the visa was approved. the consul just gave her a piece of white paper and told her to wait 'til her name was called at some window. that window was for the visa delivery. but the delivery can take anywhere from a few days after the interview to a couple of weeks. just depends on when they print-out the visas.

Does any one know here how long will it takes for me to receive my visa? I would like to know the time frame so I can plan ahead in buying my plane ticket while it's still cheap

congratulations!! visa delivery could take anywhere from a week to a couple of weeks.

thanks for the quick reply. my HR person told me that i will have 90 days from the start of coverage to submit the info. hopefully we get the info in the mail before the 90 days are up.

hi everyone. i am already trying to get things ready for the arrival of the wife and kids next month. i have already spoken to our work's HR regarding getting them added on my medical. i was told i can add them outside the enrollment period (HR person used some term but i forget what she said hehehe) when they get here. she told me that they would need to have SS numbers.

my question is...will they find out what their SS numbers will be when they are processed at the immigration at their POE?

Part 1 lang pipirmahan nila.

If you want, feel free to add your timeline here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/289135-ir-5-timeline/page__p__4383774__fromsearch__1#entry4383774 so we'll be able to see how everyone's doing.

kse yung part 2, sa embassy pipirmahan yon after getting sworn in by the consul.

Hi thekfc. I am a CR-1 applicant and right now, I'm waiting for my case to be completed at NVC. I'd like to ask from where you got the appointment letter, NVC or US Embassy Manila? Is it through email or snail mail?

don't even bother waiting for the appointment letter to get to you via snail mail prior to your interview date. NVC will send a copy of it anyways to the email that's on file associated with your case number. the family's interview appointment letter hard copy came in the mail a day or two after the interview date.

thank you for the info it really great help for me i'll be going to SLMCEC next week. just wanna ask i havent rec any NOA2 is it very impt to bring that?i only have may interview date, passport, 2x2 pic..is it possible for me to undergo medical without NOA2? thank you...

your petitioner should've received your NOA2 from the USCIS when they forwarded your case to NVC. ask your petitioner to email you a copy of it so you can print it out and bring it with you just in case they ask you for it.