Joseph C

May as well just apply for the licence once she gets here. I could have got it all in one day but our insurance wouldn't cover my home licence so I got the permit first to get coverage and then went back to drive. My home licence was irrelevant to the process. The only other country licence that does matter here is Canada. If you're Canadian in most state you can just trade it for your state licence. In Iowa they make you do the written and driving test, most states do that.

It would be cheaper and easier (IMO).

I'm just worried how long it would take. When I got my license it was a 3 or 4 month wait between taking the written test and the first available driving test, which I took on the other side of the state due to availability.

Since then they've added this 8 hour course to the requirements, which is no big deal, but they've also closed half of the DMVs.

I called them up and they said that the international license won't work here. Looks like we're in for a few shitty months. She asked me "what about public transportation" and "what about cabs". LOL, I thought I already explained the situation out here.

It might be faster doing what I did.

I came to the US on a CR-1 applied for a Driving permit; took the written test and was successful.

I then learnt to drive in the USA for a couple of weeks and took the practical test.

From applying for the permit and getting the actual licence took about 2 weeks.

That's very quick. You must not be in Connecticut.

My wife just got approved for the IR-1/CR-1 visa, and now I'm thinking about driving. It'll take her a month to get a driver's license in her home country (Philippines), and then they can mail the international permit to her new US address here in CT once approved. Would this work? I saw a post in a forum elsewhere that immigrants can't use that international permit but didn't find anything at my state's DMV's website that said one way or another.

C'mon Joseph...

People make mistakes...just send in a new copy...this is a small inconvenience

Yeah you're right I'm just venting.

"Based upon the information received, the NVC is unable to determine the date of birth for the principal applicant. Please submit a copy of a valid passport so we may update your file."

So my wife got that reply from NVC when she asked where to send the DS-230. How did we get to this point if they didn't receive a copy of her passport? They accepted my packet in August and I paid several fees already. I would not have known that they were missing anything if my wife didn't email them to confirm where to send the packet to. This frustrates me and makes me feel embarrassed to be an American.

USCIS doesn't ask for it, NVC does. And it's the beneficiary who sends in the DS-230 and supporting documents. The address to send it to is on the bar-coded cover sheet from the payment portal.

Thank you. My wife never received that stuff in the mail. The post office might have lost it, or the jealous neighbors maybe took it IDK. We found that cover sheet online.

I'm looking around everywhere, and can't find anything. I'm at the part where USCIS is asking for a DS-230 and civil documents to be sent but they don't say who sends it or where to send it to.

My I-130 packet for the my (us citizen) petition for my wife was received in Chicago on Jun 6 and sent to the Vermont Service Center. They sent me a I-797 form and instructed me to go to their web site and enter the receipt# on my case status after I got the I-797. So far there are no updates. What gives? Is this normal and if so how long should I expect to wait before they even update anything?

USCIS

P.O. Box 804625

Chicago, IL 60680-4107

Nature of Submission: I-130 Application

Dear Sir or Madam:

Enclosed please find my Form I-130, Petition for Alien Spouse for [spouse] and supporting documents. Contents include:

1. Form I-130

2. G-325A Biographic Information for petitioner with passport style photo.

3. G-325A Biographic Information for spouse with passport style photo.

4. Copy of petitioner U.S. Passport.

5. Copy of Certificate Of Marriage.

6. Copies of beneficiary information for three (3) of the petitioner's financial institutions as evidence of a Bonafide Marriage.

7. Three (3) affidavits signed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the relationship as evidence of Bonafide Marriage.

8. Photo copy of receipt of the wedding ring purchased by the petitioner as a secondary evidence of Bonafide Marriage.

9. Photo copies of saved boarding passes from the trip to the Philippines in January, and also for the return trip in March as a secondary evidence of Bonafide Marriage. Copies of the boarding passes for the return trip to the USA in January and the trip to the Philippines were not saved.

10. Three (3) copies of saved chat logs as a secondary evidence of Bonafide Marriage.

11. Copy of saved appointment confirmation form the United States embassy in Manila as a secondary evidence of Bonafide Marriage.

12. Six (6) pieces of Pictures as a secondary evidence of Bonafide Marriage.

13. A check in the amount of $420.00 for application fee attached to the front of the cover letter.

Please note that there was a religious ceremony on January 24, 2011 and an official civil wedding that took place on March 4, 2011. We were unaware of the requirement to make an appointment with the US embassy to obtain the Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry. When we found out about this the earliest appointment we could get was for January 19, 2011. In the Philippines one must wait at least ten (10) days from the day of filing for a marriage license before obtaining the marriage license. This unplanned turn of events necessitated a second trip to the Philippines for the civil wedding, which took place on March 4, 2011. Thank you for your assistance in this matter

Very truly yours,

[Petitioner]

When I went to the Philippines in January I went to have my wedding done, but there was a hiccup and I was only able to do a ceremony. I had to go back in late February to get officially married. For a bonafide I had my family create and sign affadavits. They knew that I went back to get married officially, and I made sure to tell them to use "wedding CEREMONY" in them. Well they still wrote them with words such as "was married in the Philippines on January 24" when the actual wedding date was March 4? Can I still use this provided I explain the situation in the cover letter?

Hi all, my wife and I had a wedding ceremony a few months ago. At this time the whole family from her side was there, plus my brother. Unfortunately due to a mixup at the US embassy in Manila (their web site had the old instructions of just waiting in line for an affidavit needed to marry there), I was unable to get the affidavit in time. I returned the next month, after my brother had left, and we signed the papers with the pastor and two witnesses but with no big fanfare.

I had my wife put together affidavits for people to sign in as support for the bona fide relationship and the lawyer she talked to to have them notarized said that the wedding ceremony must be on the same date as when the papers were signed for the marraige is voided. Is this true?

http://www.epassportphoto.com/Wizard.aspx?country=US&photo=0

I think I found my solution...

I tried going to Walgreens today with a passport photo, which is required for the I-130, on a thumb drive and was told that the person needs to be present. I tried CVS and got the same response. I just went to CVS.com and Walmart.com and both sites do not offer 2"x2" photos. How are we supposed to get the required photos for the i-130? Do they actually expect us to mail physical photos halfway around the world for this?

Well after a misunderstanding of sorts with the US embassy's policy (they leave out dated info on the web site), I got my affidavit and filed my marriage license on Jan 20. I'm supposed to be married on Jan 24 and the pastor agreed to do the ceremony and then sign later to keep it legal. I'm scheduled to leave on Jan 29, though. Since Jan 30 is a Sunday I would have to wait until Jan 31 to pick up the marriage license if I was to stay. My fiancee says they can just mail it to me back in the US to sign and that we'd be OK doing that, so I don't have to extend my stay.

Would the US have a problem with that during the visa process?

Thanks guys. I'll definitely check into having the paperwork post dated, or having the ceremony early while waiting on the paperwork

We've been planning to do this with a pastor. I'll check to see what he says we can do in the morning. I'm planning to call the embassy to see if there's anything they can do. I'll make sure to note thislink. If you google for infomration you get that page where they make no mention of having to apply online. The page that says you must apply online shows up when you go to the embassy's web site and use their search box. They probably won't be able to help us, but it's worth a shot. Sort of a bummer that they leave outdated info on there, but this is the US government I'm dealing with and I really should have called to confirm everything.

Philippine law prescribes a ten-day waiting period from the filing of the application to the issuance of the marriage license. So if u get ur Legal capacity of Marriage on january 19th and u can apply marriage license at the city hall the same day u can then marry on the 29th. If ur flight is going to be in the afternoon or night of 29th ur problem is solved. If u can, rebook ur flight back to US on the next day or 29th night..

I was afraid that was the best answer I'd get. Maraming salamat

ditto,

you can't marry her there if you are filing for fiance, K1.

that's to marry in the US.

if you marry she could go through consular processing or the K3 as spouse of a USC.

but you can't marry her and then apply for a fiance visa.

Right. I'd rather NOT apply for a fiance visa. I'm trying to avoid this. Is there any way for me to avoid having to do a fiancee visa considering the situation that I'm currently in?

fiance/e (K1) visa means your're getting married in the US not in the philippines..

if you're gettin married in the philippines then it's K3 or IR1 which are spousal visas..

I understand that. I messed up getting an affidavit in lieu of capacity to marry. I did not know that the appointment was to be made online. Resources showed that you just show up and wait in line to get this at the US embassy in Manila. Unfortunately I did not check the official web site. As of August of 2010 the embassy requires you to make an online appointment to obtain this affidavit.

I arrived on Jan 11 and went to the embassy on that day, but was turned away and pointed to the web site. Jan 19 is the earliest day I could book an appointment for. I am scheduled to leave Jan 29. We were planning to get married on Jan 24. I'd like to avoid doing the fiancee visa and actually get married here as planned.

So I landed in the Philippines Monday night, and Tuesday morning I went to the embassy with my fiance to obtain the Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage only to find out that you MUST make an appointment beforehand, and that it must be done online. We went back to the car and checked, the earliest date is the morning of Jan 19 so I took that for now.

I'm scheduled to leave in the morning time on Jan 29. Is there any real chance of getting around the waiting period by applying for the marriage license while still waiting to obtain the affidavit? When we got the bad news the first thing I thought of was to just do a ceremony here and then to do a Fiance visa, but I'd rather try to find a way to get this done.

Thanks for all of the replies, guys. I talked it over with her, and she agrees the most realistic thing to do would be to go get married there and then apply for a visa here. I told her it can take 6-12 months. It looks like I have some homework to do, so far CR-1 looks like the best way to go.

Usually they want things like photos of you together. We also used copies of his Passport showing the stamps of his visits. But I agree that you are going to have a very hard time proving this. I mean, unless they witnesses are all willing to sign affidavits that you were there. Even then....Is there anyway you or her could visit the other for a while? Get some pictures and have a good time.

Sure, I was just hoping to get her here quick. I'll probably just try to get married there if I go back. Thanks for the reply

Technically, it is enough. You may have difficulty proving this "meeting" happened though.

So having dozens witnesses who can say that I was in the same call center at the same time isn't enough?

I work for a multinational that has a call center in the Philippines that supports North America. My fiance and I technically met once in the past two years when I went to her call center and saw her and said hello/goodbye. We grew closer over the internet after this "meeting". Is this enough to satisfy the following requirement for a fiancee visa?

You met each other, in person, at least once within 2 years of filing your petition. There are two exceptions that require a waiver:

1. If the requirement to meet would violate strict and long-established customs of your or your fiancé(e)’s foreign culture or social practice.

2. If you prove that the requirement to meet would result in extreme hardship to you.