maning

As for me, I don't like those people that are nice to you then turns out that they actually need financial favor. It's kinda complicated too if you're the only "loaded" one in the group. Every time you are invited or you invite people- whether a trip, little good time, vacation, there's kinda non-verbal agreement that you will pay for everybody. This may be ok at first but once you started this kind of pattern, this will go an on and on.

This happened to my fiancee many times in the past, she quickly learned from it and just stopped hanging out with those "friends" who take advantage of the financial situation. It actually helps that she now has friends who are financially capable of paying their own way.

The guy is looking for advice. Not political opinions.

Hang in there. It's not easy for anyone to find work right now. You've only been looking for three months. That's not long in today's economic climate.

LOL that's the first thing I thought when I read his comment. Then he replies again with this gem, "A job is not a right. It is a gift from someone more ingenious than yourself." LOLWTFBBQ. That's got to be dumbest thing I ever heard.

Anyway, he's only been looking for 3 months. I wouldn't be thinking it's the end of the world just yet. It takes longer to find a job now (try a year)... and he's lucky enough to even get a job right now. I would suggest looking for lower paying jobs that require manual labor, since those are the ones that are currently hiring. While he's working and back to a routine and steady money in his pocket to help out with bills, he can still apply for jobs that pay more while still working at his job.

Anurag,

With a MBA and 5 yrs working with a US Company in India, plus green card.. my question is where are u interviewing? And how did your interviews go? Not to sound mean, but, alot of jobs requiring MBA w/ professional exp. are about relationships and selling yourself at the interview. They want to know more about YOU and less about your educational path. I have the same problem you are encountering w/ Indian IT guys coming here and having difficulties. Have your resume critiqued by a professional, they are very helpful. Go to free interviewing sessions at local colleges or practice interviewing .. Reason I say this is the corporate HR culture is vastly different here vs. India. Find out what you may be lacking in the interview process and possibly get recommendations on improving.. All the best..

Great advice. Also, have you tried to apply for lower paying jobs? Just so you can have a steady paycheck and help out a little, while applying for jobs you're qualified to do with your education and experience. Holiday season is starting so there is plenty of seasonal work, try to apply for them just to get a sense of working again and having money in your pocket, but at the same time keep applying for jobs you're qualified in doing.

Try to have more activity. Since you are the visitor, people do most of the things for you.

They're shy. You look different too, their hand is paralyzed with "amazement".

This prize is not in Manila. Prize range is from 150-800 per ticket

There are a lot of corrupt people there. When you feel yo are a little harassed, the magic line is "Where is your supervisor?"

It's because a lot of people do not have credit card. The business will still run even if you do not have credit card machine. Go to the mall, that's for sure they accept credit card. But some don't still. One of the many surprises to me is SBARRO.I love SBARRO but they do not accept credit card too.

I got an online account with at least 3 banks but not all of my utilities are tied up to them. IN any bank, there's always at least one bill that will be left behind. SO just pay them over the counter all at once.

it depends on the management of the establishment. LTO- you can go to malls, NBI same thing- they have offices in malls that got shorter lines.

Minimum wage in Manila is 389-426. Provinces are lower. Food is higher for you because you feed other people aside from your fiancee. It is also advisable not to bring you in a filthy market so better get it in the air-conditioned market.

Heh. Thanks for the replies.

You're right about not having much activity, but then again when I'm in The Philippines I'm on a vacation heh. I tend to do things on my own and prefer not to hire anyone to do it for me.

LOL, I look the same as most Filipinos, since I am one lol. I just grew up in the US, particularly in The South where it's a common courtesy to wave to people and say hello. I think it's just not as normal in The Philippines. Though the people who tend to wave back to me were usually Fil-Ams or previously lived in the US and understand the custom.

Heh, you're right about movie ticket prices, I wasn't trying to be exact hehe, but it's relatively much more cheaper to watch a movie in The Philippines than in the USA.

Heh, yep that line tends to help, but what works even better is if you actually know someone in government who has some power and mentions their name and when they don't believe you, you call the person and things get straightened out very quickly. This happened at DFA concerning my fiancee's passport and we called a friend who some how managed to make everything move so much faster.

I understand that some businesses in The Philippines don't accept credit cards, but NAIA being the #1 airport for The Philippines, it's inexcusable not to have credit card payments for their terminal fees and such. Why is that I can buy things from the Duty Free shops at NAIA with my credit card, but can't pay my terminal and security fees with my credit card? Only reason why they won't allow credit card payments is probably because the government does not want to pay credit card processing fees to credit card companies, which means lesser money to corrupt officials.

Whenever my fiancee and I had to pay bills, we always had to run to different places to pay them. First we had to go to bank to withdraw money, then go to SM to pay our electric bill, then we go pay our water bill at the water company, then we go to the cable company to pay our internet. Lot of times, it took us half a day to accomplish this. We have online bank account with BDO but they don't service are utility companies.

The lines are still long though. We've been to those NBI offices in the malls and many times they had hundreds of people waiting. Also, even though minimum wages are laws, many people don't follow them. I know people in Manila getting paid 150-200 pesos a day. They can't complain because they don't want to lose their job. Anyway, even if a person was being paid lawfully the minimum wage, it will still take him at least 2 days to buy a family size pizza at Pizza Hut.

Heh, actually I just buy food for my fiancee and I. I wasn't comparing the quanity of food I buy, but the overall cost of foods in The Philippines tend to be higher or close to the prices in the USA if you convert kilos to pounds/pesos to dollars. For example price of Coca-Cola: The US only carries 2 liters and last time I was at the grocery store the price for a 2 Liter Coke was $1.25 USD. The Philippines have 1.5 liter and half liter, with cost at 38 pesos and 16 pesos which added together = 54 pesos. Let's set the Php/USD exchange rate at 43.00Php/$1.00 USD, it's probably lower now, but we'll stick with 43.00. So with this... 54 pesos exchange into dollars is $1.25+ so Coca-Cola in the USA and in The Philippines are the same prices. Although, our food bill tends to be higher because my fiancee likes to buy higher end brands. I actually shop in palengkes alone, as long as you know the prices and the people selling to you, I never had any problems going out on my own to palengke. I even speak English all the way too and never had a communication problem.

Yikes, this was long. Sorry heh.

It really does not have much to do with geographical location, it is more of what is your preference of getting there. PAL 16 hours (direct) or other airlines with 3 layovers and 40+ plus hours of travel time. I'm not surprised of the 800 but m sure travel time is more than 24 hours. When I went a couple of months ago I could have gotten 900 ticket but would have taken 23 hours with 1 layover. That was something I did not want to do.

It does. Since you have more layovers. Many airlines who do offer promo flights to The Philippines are not based or do little business in the South (South Carolina) where I live. I've never bought a ticket under $1000 and I have been flying to The Philippines for over 7 years, 1-3 trips a year. Also, average flight time from where I live to The Philippines is over 23 hours with only 2 layovers. I wish my flights were only 23 hours with only 1 layover. Most flights I had to take I depart from Columbia, SC and go either to a major airport such as in Detroit, MI, New York, NY, and Atlanta GA, Minneapolis, MN, Memphis, TN (somes multiple layovers in the US) then to either Nagoya or Tokyo Japan, Hong Kong, or Seoul Korea, then finally to The Philippines. If you're flying out a major city close to the West Coat, then tickets are generally cheaper and shorter distance, so lesser layovers, less fuel spent, equals cheaper ticket.

I am leaving on the 6th of Dec. and returning the 18th of Jan. From Seattle to Manila and paid $860 total. I used Orbitz as they seam to have the best search for prices.

You have it good. You live on a major city on the west coast with a high Asian/Filipino population, so tickets are always generally cheaper. If you live on the East Coast, we end up paying more.

My wife had her interview at 6:30am as per her plan she wanted to be there Numero Uno! So, she was there exactly 3:38am two days ago... and was already the 10th person to arrive but she was Number 3 in the IR-visa category. So, you want to arrive american time say, "5am" and be at the very end of the line? Perhaps not unless you want to eat lunch at 3pm lol... jk (first in - first out!!!) Just make sure you have all your documents ready, including payments/receipts fees from the IV.

Good luck and God bless!

We'll probably get their early like 4:30am, we just want to get this whole visa process over and done with, so we can finally have a restful night sleep and actually enjoy my time with her (I'll be attending the interview with her).

Love

1. The food. Even though the food portions in Philippine restaurants are the size of kid's meals in the USA, I always seem to gain weight when I'm there.

2. The People, for the most part people in general are very friendly and easy-going. Well it did throw me off a bit, first time I was in The Philippines and i was jogging in my fiancee's subdivision and waving to people I pass by and no one waving back, but gave me weird stares in return. I asked my fiancee why no one wave back to me and she said, "why would they wave to you, they don't know you." LOL

3. My fiancee and I can go to the movies and only spend 200 pesos for both of us.

4. The atmosphere... the smell of lechon manok in the air, people driving on the wrong side of the road, naked baby in the steet, people killing a pig to lechon on the side of the street, not being able to get out my car to pump gas, "oh I forgot to buy gum at the store... no worries there's a street vendor knocking on my window selling gum," traffic lights... what's that? Street signs? Huh?, beautiful women EVERYWHERE, Christmas and New Year's in The Philippines, etc.

Hate

1. NAIA Airport. First thing a tourist sees when they arrive in The Philippines. Embarrassment. If you going to charge a terminal fee and a security fee, I would expect a nicer building. Also, I really hate how they only accept cash to pay for the terminal and security fee. I've seen so many foreign tourists begging other people for money to cover the fees because they don't accept debit/credit cards and they don't have anymore pesos in their pcoket. I mean really... how hard is it to accept card payments.

2. Running errands... Online bill pay? Mail a check to pay for your bills? LMAO! Paying your bills or going to the bank takes you all day long.

3. What's up with all the waiting in line? I never waited in line in my entire life as much as I did in The Philippines. Wait in line hours at the bank, LTO, NBI, ordering food at Jollibee, waiting in traffic to move 1 km an hour.

4. I thought things were cheaper in The Philippines? Electric bill is higher, food bill is higher, cable bill is higher, etc. Minimum wage in The Philippines is 200/300 pesos per day? So why does one family size Pizza Hut pizza cost like 600 plus pesos? It takes the average guy 2-3 days just to buy a pizza. That is just wrong.

I was booking my flight to The Philippines yesterday and was sort of shock at the prices nowadays. 6 years ago you could easily get a round trip ticket for $1000 or less to The Philippines (East Coast US States departures) now it could easily cost $1500+. So within 6 years cost of round trip ticket to The Philippines has gone up by more or less 50%. Crazy. Then they take away a lot of the things that was free and now charge exuberant prices for... which I understand, but I just hate the whole nickel and diming the customer after he's paid for his service.

The biggest scam is the one way ticket prices from The Philippines to the USA.... they almost cost just as much as round trip tickets! LOL crazy.

The even bigger scam is... how NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) charges for a terminal fee and now a security fee, yet it still looks looks like #######. I'm not knocking the place, but you can tell some corrupt official or officials have their hand in the cookie jar. Being Filipino myself, I just find it a bit embarrassing that this is the first place they see once they enter The Philippines. They need to just move everything to Clark Freeport (Diosdada Magpagal Airport i know i cant spell) in Angeles City and establish that area as the new international airport for The Philippines. I doubt it will happen though.

my fiancee also had hers done same days. we both was so shocked there was over 100 people waiting at 400am. but what shocked me most was the time. she was doen the first day at 10:15am and told to come back second day at 7:30am. she was only there the second day from 7:30am tell 8:45am. she is still shocked she spent only about 5 hours there.

Yep, I was surprised too. My fiancee actually booked her hotel room for 2 days assuming that it will take 2 full days to do her medical. So on her second day she went there really early to finish the process and she was out the door with all her documents by 9am. She went back to her hotel room and slept the whole day.

There are many things that can be done to speed up this process. I do not make a lot of money but I would rather pay $1000 for the I-129f petition and have it approved in one month. If everybody paid a higher rate they could higher more workers and process faster. Just one idea to help the system. TIME IS MONEY!

Things to tend always move slow if different entities are working together. For the visa process, USCIS is a branch of Homeland Security coordination with the State Department, FBI, ICE, Customs, etc. all working together to vet the petitioner and beneficiary if they both qualify for a visa. So I seriously doubt it will move faster because you paid more. Only way possible if one branch of government was in charge of processing the visa entirely.

Also, I seriously doubt many people would take advantage of a $1000 I-129F petition approval that you stated to offset the cost of hiring permanent workers and building new office spaces to house them in to actually expedite the process.

I wish they processed petitions at the local state levels though. I would love to just drive 30 minutes away and talk to the person who is actually handling my case and if problems do arise, I'm just a phone call away and can bring any document they need in 30 minutes. It would eliminate so many RFEs and maybe speed up the process faster because there will be lesser RFEs to process.

that was his income that appeared in his ITR for 2010.. he is currently employed as a full time and part time nurse.. and his income for this year i could say is much enough than the given poverty guideline.. what do you think?

yes! he is currently employed as a full time and part time nurse...

You're over the 125% poverty guideline, so I won't worry about it. Just make sure the CO understands that your fiancee was a 2009 nurse graduate and once he passed the NCLEX he started working as an RN and that this 2011 year he will make more than enough to support both of you. It also looks great that both of you are nurse grads, so you have potential to be an licensed RN in the USA and not be a public charge.

If you still feel worried about it, I would recommend getting his parents/siblings/or close relative to co-sponsor you as well.

Our interview is on November 23, 2011 at 6:30am. What time should we arrive at the gate? I don't want to arrive Filipino time lol, but I also don't want to go there really early and wait hours outside.

Well it seems we're done gathering everything for the visa interview... is there a checklist on what all we need to bring to the interview? I want to make sure I didn't forget anything.

My fiancee finished her medical at St. Luke's today and passed! She is now busy snoring and drooling in her hotel room!

Anyway, I will document what she has told me and our experience in preparing for the St. Luke's medical...

First off, we followed the St. Luke's Medical Exam Walkthrough located here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/221658-st-lukes-medical-exam-walkthrough/

It's a great guide to give you an overall experience of what to expect during the medical, but it's a bit outdated.

The night she was suppose to leave for Manila to attend her St. Luke's medical, we went over all our required documents and things she needed. Everything seemed fine until we got to her pictures. On the St. Luke's Medical Exam Walkthrough, it simply states "4 pieces of 2x2 photos, white background blah blah blah" so I told her to ger "passport" photos done because well U.S. passport photos are 2x2. Well I was wrong. Philippine passport photos are smaller than 2x2, what she needed was 2x2 VISA photos. So it's the middle of the night and she's mad at me for this mistake lol. Some how she finds a way to get visa photos at 10pm at night and apologizes for being mad.

She booked a room through Ralph Anthony Suites and arrived there 3am in the morning to find out that the all the rooms were fully booked and that they had no record of her reservation hehe. She informed them that she talked to so and so and that she reserved a promo room the other day. She did not pay for her reservation yet since she was cautious on giving out her credit card information over the phone and that their website had no way of paying online, but was told that it would be okay to reserve the room and pay once she arrives. She's frustrated over the situation and the run around treatment, so she leaves and remembers me talking about Hotel Soriente the other day, so she goes there. She arrives there at 4am and the people at the front desk were extremely helpful and accommodating. They quickly set her up with a room and told her that she will only be charged for one day even though she checked in at 4am. I thought that was extremely generous, unlike most hotels where you arrive before their check-in time they will charge you twice. She said Hotel Soriente was really close by and can easily walk to St. Luke's and the US Embassy.

She arrives at St. Luke's Medical at 9am. She does her medical and for the most part all the txt she sends to me is how much waiting and waiting she had to do. She's finally done on her first day by 6pm.

Next day she goes to St. Luke's at 6am in the morning, some how she seems proud of herself on being 1st customer in line that day. By 9am, she's practically almost done. She said that they simply gave her immunization shots and waited, then got her passport stamped, given a CD with her xrays, and other stuff. She didn't elaborate. I asked her if they took her Philippine passport and she told me they didn't. Apparently, since April 2011 they stop taking your passport and forwarding it to the US Embassy. They simply wanted photo copies of her passport, they stamped it, and gave it back to her. They informed her that her results will be forwarded to the US Embassy in time for her interview.

She's txts me she's completely done by 10am. I told her that's great and asked her to give me a detail explanation of her experience so I can post it on visajourney. She replies back, "I'm hungry and I'm sleepy. I'm going back to the the hotel to take nap. I love you." Completely ignoring what I just asked her.

The April 2011 date I gave is from a post I read on this site. I think they just gave her passport back to her because her interview is on November 23, 2011, which is not far away.

My fiancee finished her medical at St. Luke's today and passed! She is now busy snoring and drooling in her hotel room!

Anyway, I will document what she has told me and our experience in preparing for the St. Luke's medical...

First off, we followed the St. Luke's Medical Exam Walkthrough located here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/221658-st-lukes-medical-exam-walkthrough/

It's a great guide to give you an overall experience of what to expect during the medical, but it's a bit outdated.

The night she was suppose to leave for Manila to attend her St. Luke's medical, we went over all our required documents and things she needed. Everything seemed fine until we got to her pictures. On the St. Luke's Medical Exam Walkthrough, it simply states "4 pieces of 2x2 photos, white background blah blah blah" so I told her to ger "passport" photos done because well U.S. passport photos are 2x2. Well I was wrong. Philippine passport photos are smaller than 2x2, what she needed was 2x2 VISA photos. So it's the middle of the night and she's mad at me for this mistake lol. Some how she finds a way to get visa photos at 10pm at night and apologizes for being mad.

She booked a room through Ralph Anthony Suites and arrived there 3am in the morning to find out that the all the rooms were fully booked and that they had no record of her reservation hehe. She informed them that she talked to so and so and that she reserved a promo room the other day. She did not pay for her reservation yet since she was cautious on giving out her credit card information over the phone and that their website had no way of paying online, but was told that it would be okay to reserve the room and pay once she arrives. She's frustrated over the situation and the run around treatment, so she leaves and remembers me talking about Hotel Soriente the other day, so she goes there. She arrives there at 4am and the people at the front desk were extremely helpful and accommodating. They quickly set her up with a room and told her that she will only be charged for one day even though she checked in at 4am. I thought that was extremely generous, unlike most hotels where you arrive before their check-in time they will charge you twice. She said Hotel Soriente was really close by and can easily walk to St. Luke's and the US Embassy.

She arrives at St. Luke's Medical at 9am. She does her medical and for the most part all the txt she sends to me is how much waiting and waiting she had to do. She's finally done on her first day by 6pm.

Next day she goes to St. Luke's at 6am in the morning, some how she seems proud of herself on being 1st customer in line that day. By 9am, she's practically almost done. She said that they simply gave her immunization shots and waited, then got her passport stamped, given a CD with her xrays, and other stuff. She didn't elaborate. I asked her if they took her Philippine passport and she told me they didn't. Apparently, since April 2011 they stop taking your passport and forwarding it to the US Embassy. They simply wanted photo copies of her passport, they stamped it, and gave it back to her. They informed her that her results will be forwarded to the US Embassy in time for her interview.

She's txts me she's completely done by 10am. I told her that's great and asked her to give me a detail explanation of her experience so I can post it on visajourney. She replies back, "I'm hungry and I'm sleepy. I'm going back to the the hotel to take nap. I love you." Completely ignoring what I just asked her.

LOL thinks this movie is a love story, it's not. It's sort of bittersweet... I just hate how they portray the movie in a different light in the trailer than what the movie is really about.

Slight Spoilers

Also, the characters are idiots... for one thing the girl is an idiot for being so nonchalant about overstaying on her student visa. Then acts like "OMG! I can't believe I was banned from the USA!" No ######. They make everything so melodramatic too... like constant handwritten notes... who does that nowadays? It's like they don't know anything about Skype or YM video chats. Also, she lives in Great Britain not some 3rd world country. He's educated and could easily get a job in Great Britain and be with her if he truly loves her. It's full of #######. Also, I just find it funny how they seemingly love each other, but try to move on with other relationships... yeah how funny that being in a long distance relationship like MOST couples here somehow is too hard to overcome for both of them. I think that what gets to me about this movie, especially anyone who has been in a long distance relationship, is that they gave up before they even tried.

If this was my fiancee and I and we were put in the same situation... I love her enough to move to her country. I have been with my fiancee for over 6 years living in different countries 8000+ miles away, separated by oceans, etc. Yet some how we managed to still be together. I made trips every year to see her, we talk on YM/Skype, phone/txts, facebook, etc. on a daily basis. I met her family and bonded with them throughout the years. 6 years later I still love her more and more.

The rest of the movie gets frustrating and by the end of the movie you don't care if they ever get will/will not get back together. You're going to be disappointed with the ending because it's not a feel good love story and doesn't compare to what most of us has been through.

You implemented a payment plan before you had a tax lein so it would not be an issue.

The question was, and remians, does the OP's fiancee have a TAX LEIN. He may or may not have a LEIN in addition to a payment plan.

Gary is correct. As long as you have made a payment plan with the IRS, then you won't have a tax lien. You only get a tax lien if they can't collect from you. IRS is willing to work with you to avoid a tax lien, so if you haven't done so... I would advice you visit a local IRS office to inquire about making a payment plan. It's up to the IRS to approve your payment plan though... payment plans are usually tax you owe + penalities + interest divided by 60 months = your monthly payment. You cannot miss a payment or your payment plan becomes invalid. If you can't make a payment this month, contact the IRS ahead of time before your payment deadline and they usually will give you an extension to pay it. IRS are very helpful if you're willing to pay them lol... they'll eat you alive if you try to avoid them.

What does Herman Cain have in common with Meg Whitman?

Gloria Allred adding her poison to the mix.

I can't stand that woman. I'm not standing up for Herman Cain, since I'm not a big fan of his... but his accuser looses some credibility by hiring Gloria Allred to represent her.

2003 - Obama begins running for US Senate; the leading Democratic candidate will withdraw in 2004 due to a sex scandal that Obama's campaign urged the Chicago Tribune to report.

::::rolls eyes and comes out my butt:::: here we go with another loony conspiracy theory. maybe if herman cain wasn't a perv he wouldn't have this problem.

I saw that place,when i went for my medical last month,it so close/near to the st.lukes extension clinic.walking distance only.

Heh yeah, it's close to everything. They have a promo going on for the month of November. Studio rooms for 1500 php a night.

Also I read some of your posts, hope everything is going well with your visa process. You definitely have been through a lot with this visa process. I hope and pray that everything goes well.

I have been on so many flights that I lost count... but I haven't been on a flight for over a year. I just realize I don't know what's the new rules for what we can carry and what we can't.

I will be going to The Philippines to attend my fiancee's visa interview in Manila. I will bring her petition and all the paperwork needed for her visa interview. I have paper clips holding all the sheets separately/together. Will they actually stop me for having paper clips ( i have well over a dozen paper clips on the petition papers) in my carry on luggage? I refuse to put our petition in the checked luggage because I have dealt with lost luggage many times before and our petition paperwork is worth more than gold at this point.

Yep, I'm self employed and did it several months ago...in some ways, it's easier...no letters or anything...the biggie is the complete tax transcripts and clearing the minimum level with a bit of room to spare.

I only had 1 year self-employed too...but had sufficient liquid assets to sponsor with no income.

I feel a little more relaxed. Hopefully what I got is more than enough. Thanks for sharing!

Yeah OP, relax, you have more than enough.

I see your point, too much might be better than too little

Heh, I'm trying to relax. Hopefully I can finish all my paperwork by tomorrow and I can put this aside so I don't need to worry about it until the interview.

My fiancee is planning to stay here tomorrow for her St. Luke's Medical since they have a promo going on for this month. She heard about this place from a friend who recently did her medical as well and she recommended it for the promo and how close the hotel is to everything.

Anyone ever stayed here? I guess it's relatively new since I don't really see any reviews on the place online, but judging from the pictures... it looks like a nice, clean, new place.

I'm going to be in The Philippines with her for her interview and we are considering staying here for a few days while we are in Manila for the interview.

nope. No letter at all.

We submitted a letter from the bank. Bank statement for a whole year. Tax Return 2008-2010. We didn't even submit a IRS transcript. NO RFE in NVC and I was never asked for IRS transcript in USEM but I have it with me though just in case.

LOL i guess i need to relax a little more then hahahaha (going crazy/baliw). I plan to get a bank statement tomorrow. So hopefully I'll be complete with my I-134 and financial evidence and can relax a little.