Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Philippines	Things your wife/fiancee found strange about the states	For Anna it was: Mail: * - Almost every day? Really? * - You're joking right? Just put a stamp on and leave it in the mail box to send it? The washer, dryer & dishwasher. The fridge is so large. The only restaurants she can get rice the way she likes it are Asian. High School girls wearing "Pek Pek Shorts" everywhere. A 2,900 sq ft house occupied by just 5 people. Central Heating & Air. People actually TALK on their cell phones. Unlimited Texting on cell phone plans, how do they make any money? Seeing parents ask their kids to Please behave and not act like insane wild animals in public, "In the Philippines the parents would just smack them if a child ever acted like that" Getting a receipt for service calls, repairs & installations. Really? I can just return it if I don't like it? The manager cares that we waited 30 minutes for our lunch to be served and comped us our meal! The brand name stuff is legit and counterfeits can't be found in every corner. The power grid is reliable, why don't we have black-outs every other week? The list goes on...	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-06-24 22:20:00
Philippines	Visitor Visa	We don't have a pending immigration visa yet, and won't have one filed until either she returns to the Philippines or once I have my employment in the USA. That may actually work against you in this case since a pending IV Case could be used to bolster her claims of planning to return to the Philippines (to finish the process). As the spouse of a USC once her feet touch US soil she can AOS and without a pending case to finish in Manila why wouldn't she?	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-05 13:07:00
Philippines	What did I do wrong?	Then what would you call a post where a guy talks about dumping his wife back where she came from and personally returning her green card to the Embassy? Charity? I would call it planning a crime... To attempt to force her out of the country and take HER Greencard and surrender it to the US Embassy is a crime. He has no legal right to deprive her of the Greencard which is hers not his.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-07-18 10:52:00
Philippines	What did I do wrong?	Buy her a plane ticket back to the Philippines and be done with it. You got a bad apple! Go back to the woods and try to find a more ripe and less rotten apple!!! Really? Hit a bump in the road and quit? While it's no excuse, I'm sure her world is in turmoil right now with the recover from the surgery basically crippling her. If she's anything like my Anna then being forced to rely on someone else for such basic needs isn't putting her in a comfortable or happy place. They have history and that should allow him to take the current situation into consideration when pondering how to react. Did she over-react? Of course she did. Does she have a history of this? Doesn't sound like it. Will it blow-over? Probably. Then he will have a choice to make about how to handle the clean-up and if he'll confront her on the behavior being inappropriate. I love Anna more than I could ever express but there were times when here over-reaction was just too much for me to take. Over the last 2 years we've worked hard on better communications from both ends and things have improved for both of us.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-07-14 14:45:00
Philippines	What are your 'friends' saying?	Wow, it's a good thing all of Steven's self-hating didn't flush this thread down the crapper! While I didn't use a dating site to find my wife I don't think any less of those who did. In my opinion IDS are like any other "tool" if the results are sub-standard then it is the fault of the user not the tool.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-07-20 14:59:00
Philippines	What are your 'friends' saying?	It's true that some of my closest friends had their reservations when Anna & I were getting together. They knew I was 99% sure I was going to marry her within a few days of our first in person meeting and a few even reminded me that I'm under no obligation to do that. I had an ex-girlfriend even get upset with me because I wouldn't wait longer for her. I just got tired of being strung along. When I landed in Manila I was so nervous, I couldn't find her in the crowd and though "Oh Sh!t, I'm here all alone!". It's pretty easy to lose her i a crowd of short brown people with black hair ;-) Within minutes I knew that I was in the right place with the right person. Now 2 & 1/2 years later just ask any of my family & friends if I made a mistake. I don't care what anyone else thinks when they see us together, sure she's 26 & I'm 41 so what!	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-07-19 12:24:00
Philippines	Interview passed!! BUT...	As for paying another $500+ for a new visa... NOT!! It's just the principle of the matter... why should we have to pay more? If our fiance arrives in 3 months, or 5, or 7 or 8, does it really matter?? No. Just another way to make $$ off people trying to do things the right/legal way, IMHO. Actually in this case it's a matter of the Visa's validity being tied to the validity of the Medical Exam which does make sense. I would say that if the Visa needs to be extended it would make more sense to require the new Medical Exam and charge a Re-Issuing fee of like $50 or so. @Bob...Thanks for the reminder on the medical. No Problem...	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-16 09:53:00
Philippines	Interview passed!! BUT...	Dave... I just saw this on the USEM's web site: What if the fiancé(e) must delay their arrival in the U.S.? The K-1 visa is valid for a maximum of six months. If the visa bearer is unable to leave for the United States immediately and the visa expires, a new one may be issued upon written request to the Embassy and the payment of another application fee of U.S. $350. Here's the link. Don't forget that will require a new medical examination which is just over $200 also... I know it's not ideal but can't she travel to the US before Jan 14th and stay with your family for a week or so until you return?	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-15 13:27:00
Philippines	Allowed baggage	Usually for the carry-ons you get 2, one is your "carry-on luggage" and the second carry-on allowance is for one purse/laptop case/diaper bag etc per passenger.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-16 14:08:00
Philippines	do i have to bring my children on the interview?	If your children are beneficiaries expecting to get Visas then yes they need to be present at the Embassy to confirm their identity. What happened to the good old days when 3 year olds were easily entertained with a few toys or a coloring book? They must have some toy that isn't electronic to play with.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-17 08:32:00
Philippines	Very strange interview requirement / request	I don't know if "godsgift" is still around here but I would say to contact her and see if it was required or not and get the exact wording on her Annulment. Just remember you are dealing with 2 different governments and while ht be okay without a consent form the other could still want it. In the US custody being awarded does not equal termination of the father's parental rights. The US immigration standard is not "who has custody" but rather "who has parental rights" so if the father still has parental rights then the Embassy SHOULD require the consent to immigrate from the father.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-17 22:39:00
Philippines	Very strange interview requirement / request	That is a possibility and in that country 3 people with same situation can have 3 different results. Jim. First, it's better to have it and not need it... Second, the travel consent at USEM is a requirement by DOS for the Visa to be issued, it has nothing to do with the DSWD Travel Clearance which is a Philippine Gov't requirement.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-17 15:17:00
Philippines	Very strange interview requirement / request	Yeah I think it will depend on what your anullment papers say. In my case the anullment paper clearly assigned custody to the mother so I am not expecting to need a permission form. Jim. Custody is not the same as "Sole Parental Authority". Unless the biological father's parental rights have been terminated you will be required to get his consent for the child to immigrate.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-16 22:09:00
Philippines	Very strange interview requirement / request	Guys this is a good information for all of us. My only concern this time, I have 2 boys and I recieved court order regarding custody, together with my annulment papers. Should I ask from their father's consent on our interview? or the court order suffice enough for us to win at the embassy interview without asking the consent as we dont communicate at all and I dont know his where abouts as to where he is living. Unless the court order terminated his parental rights then you will need to find him.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-15 23:20:00
Philippines	Very strange interview requirement / request	hi...the interviewer is interested to know if theyre not married coz the back of the childs birth certificate is possibly signed and acknowledged by the father. in the phils once the father acknowledges that the child is his own he has the also the authority over the child...so when the child has to leave with her mother to the US or anywhere outside the country she should secure a travel permit from the dept. of social services and development authorizing her to bring the kid with her and the father will issue a permit for his child to allow and accompany the mother...this is so to avoid human trafficking.....i hope this helps You couldn't be more wrong. Even if the biological father has signed the acknowledgement he still has absolutely zero parental authority or rights to the child without him seeking and being awarded specific rights in a family court. Besides, the very fact that the acknowledgement is signed would contradict the assumption that he was married to her when the child was born. Before giving advice please confirm your information. I know what I'm talking about due to personal experience first bringing Gabby over with Anna and now as we are in the process of bringing Carlo over. In both cases the biological father has signed the acknowledgment. Edited by Bob 4 Anna, 15 August 2011 - 09:27 PM.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-15 21:26:00
Philippines	Very strange interview requirement / request	The CENOMAR for the child's father is a strange request. I assume she did provide HER CENOMAR, right? I guess it's possible that the CO was confused by the consent form from the father as it is absolutely not required unless she was married to him when the child was born. In the Philippines the mother of a child born out of wedlock has SOLE custody and parental rights to the child even if the father signed that back of the birth certificate acknowledging paternity.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-15 10:59:00
Philippines	Insurance question	Correct I mistyped and meant medicare. The 40 work quarters applied to medicare, not medicaid. For medicaid, it being a state managed insurance I believe general rules are anything other than emergency medicaid is not available to LPRs for 5 years. An of course the government could come after the sponsor for repayment. But the OP's question was regarding once the parents are USC in 5 years at which point the AOS would be invalid and they wouldn't have to worry about it.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-22 15:16:00
Philippines	Insurance question	social security and probably also medicaid you have to have 40 quarters of work Actually isn't MedicAid free medical coverage that any USC can qualify for if they're low income?	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-22 14:15:00
Philippines	abandoned child with a different last name	You will not need anything from the father, see the link in my signature. We are currently in the process of bringing our second child from the Philippines, both have father's acknowledgement on the birth certificate but were born out of wedlock. There is no problem.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-26 09:54:00
Philippines	DS 3032	We e-mailed out DS-3032 (Agent of Choice), used the template from VJ and it was accepted without issue. I think you're confusing Electronic Processing which is only available for a limited numebr of countries.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-29 21:27:00
Philippines	What kind of Car for the under 5' Filipina?	..... A USED SHERMAN TANK WOULD BE GOOD!!! ......... Not for everyone else on the road...	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-17 10:45:00
Philippines	What kind of Car for the under 5' Filipina?	My wife (4ft 11inches) loves our Ford Escape. the height of the vehicle gives her a good view in traffic but it's not so large that she feels weird in it and everything adjusts to fit her comfortably.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-17 10:27:00
Philippines	annulment and divorce	I am confused. "Two Philippine citizens" and "two Filipinos" are the same. To reiterate, a Philippine court has jurisdiction over a marriage solemnized in the Philippines between its citizen and a foreigner or "former Filipino" hence it will recognize an annulment between the citizen and a foreigner (or former Filipino). Yes they are but the context was rearranged to make the statement correct (except for the missing "w" in two. My first wording could be taken as meaning that the Ph gov't would only recognize annulment between two Philippine Citizens (Filipinos) which is not the case. My rewording was to state that between two Philippine Citizens the PH gov't would only recognize annulment thereby excluding foreign divorce. I never intended to say that annulment between a foreigner and Filipino wouldn't be recognized by the PH gov't, only that divorce between two Filipinos wouldn't be. Edited by Bob 4 Anna, 14 March 2011 - 03:58 PM.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-03-14 15:57:00
Philippines	annulment and divorce	The Philippine government recognizes annulment between Filipino and a foreign spouse. Just like any other Filipino couple, any one of the spouse (Filipino or foreign) can file a petition for annulment against the other as long as the marriage was solemnized in the Philippines. It won't matter who initiates the petition since Philippine annulment law applies. Because it is difficult and costly to get an annulment in the Philippines, more often than not, the foreign spouse resorts to filing for divorce in his/her own country to terminate the marriage that is why we rarely see annulments between a Filipino and a foreign spouse. I've only seen this happen between wealthy Filipino-Chinese couples living in the Philippines. Actually my wording was poor, I meant that between to Philippine citizens the Philippine Government will only recognize annulment.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-03-12 16:44:00
Philippines	annulment and divorce	Please fill out your profile so posters will know your country of origin. Assuming she Filipino then the Annulment will have no effect on her naturalization since the Philippine Government only recognizes annulment between two filipinos. Now that she is a USC divorce is an option if the Annulment is delayed or denied for any reason as the Philippine Government will recgonize her as single with a divorce now that she is a USC.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-03-06 09:41:00
Philippines	NBI Clearance	Yep, they'll want to see clear NBI for both names. Either provide one in her married name with "AKA Maiden Name" or provide one for each name.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-02 20:53:00
Philippines	NBI Clearance	send both.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-02 20:36:00
Philippines	what doesw my fiance need to bring her daughter here	K-2 will be issued with the K-1 if they are traveling at the same time.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-31 07:55:00
Philippines	what doesw my fiance need to bring her daughter here	Please fill-out your profile. In this case what country she is coming from can make the difference between night & day. In the Philippines this is not an issue as the father has no paternal rigths to any child born out of wedlock, see the link in my signature. FWIW, using words like "full custody" are meaningless unless the custody order also terminates the other parents parental rights. Edited by Bob 4 Anna, 29 August 2011 - 02:52 PM.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-08-29 14:51:00
Philippines	Is my relationship hopeless??????	then maybe you want this moved to the PI forum then? Yes please, I've reported the thread but it hasn't been moved yet and all of the irrelevant info being given here is just clouding the real issues.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-09 16:29:00
Philippines	Is my relationship hopeless??????	If they never tried the embassy like u said what did the OP mean by the tourist Visa was turned down twice? I think he meant they never tried for the K-1 at the US Embassy as they discovered the CEMAR (Certificate of Marriage) was issued when she asked for a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage). On a side note, why are people who know NOTHING about the "special circumstances" of the Philippines cluttering this thread with useless guesses?	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-09 14:34:00
Philippines	Is my relationship hopeless??????	what if his wife would file for divorce in Phillip? I am guessing her ex-husb is in Germany, either he has to show up or no show and case would go in her favour. I am not sure of legality and jurisdiction of Phillip judge over a marriage that was performed in Singapore. Harsh, there is no divorce in the Philippines. If a Filipino is married to a foreigner and the alien spouse initiates divorce then the Filipino spouse can file for judicial recognition of that divorce in the Philippines. If the alien spouse won't initiate divorce then their only option is to file for annulment. FWIW, divorce can be filed where you live regardless of where the marriage was performed with the Philippines being the only exception.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-09 14:23:00
Philippines	Is my relationship hopeless??????	Bob...With all due respect...my post had nothing to do with the truthfulness of the packet. I simply pointed out that a NOA1 is acknowledgement by the USCIS that they received the packet. I agree the NOA1 has nothing to do with the truthfulness but we have seen several threads where incomplete packets are rejected (no NOA1) so I think we can assume that the bare minimum was provided: I-129f, 2 G325As and at least 2 of those documents contained Misrepresentation of Material Facts which WOULD BE UNCOVERED AT THE CONSULATE STAGE. However, in regards to truthfulness of the packet, I think the OP is sending a mixed message. On the one hand, he claimed his beneficiary was married. Then he claimed in a susequnt post that he believed the marriage was only ceremonial. I agree here also. I'm still wondering how his beneficiary could have thought her marriage was only ceremonial. Since it turns out after all that she was legally married, didn't she have to sign a marriage license in Singapore? Is it possible in Singapore to get legally married yet think it's only a ceremonial marriage event? I hope some VJers who were married in Singapore will chime in about this. It's obvious that the beneficiary didn't really think the marriage was ceremonial only or she wouldn't have told the petitioner that they would be okay since her marriage wasn't registered with NSO. I think there is more going on here than we're being told. The best case scenario for the couple is that they could have a lot of explaining to do if their case ever reached the Embassy level. The more I think about it the more I think if he goes through all of the effort to get her here then his story will have a sad ending. At the best she is easily manipulated to the point that she ended-up married to a man she didn't love, at the worst she is shopping for Legal Residency in another country. I hate to pass judgement on someone I have no first-hand knowledge of or experience with but my gut just says something is missing here.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-09 13:45:00
Philippines	Is my relationship hopeless??????	What? Receipt notice requirements: Pay the petition fee. That's it. Approval notice requirements, too many to list here. It's actually quite on topic, they submitted documents that contained false information. That's how they received both the NOA1 and the NOA2. The requirements for NOA1 are submit a I-129f, 2 G325As, supporting evidence and pay the fee. The NOA2 requirements are that the submitted documents establish that a) both petitioner & beneficiary are free to marry at the time of submission and b) they have a relationship where they intend to get married. At the end of the day they are both guilty of Material Misrepresentation but she is the one who will receive the lifetime entry ban.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-09 13:33:00
Philippines	Is my relationship hopeless??????	Matt & Bing are correct. The NOA1 shows that the USCIS received the packet. Right the NOA1 is nothing BUT.... She signed a document in that packet G325A stating that she was single. He signed the petition stating that they were both free to marry. So while the NOA1 doesn't have requirements in and of itself there are requirements to receive a NOA1. Meeting those requirements in this situation means that they both signed falsified documents.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-09 11:00:00
Philippines	Is my relationship hopeless??????	With all due respect to those who believe our relationship is insincere. I think that I should point out that if her desire was to just to get out of Philippines, she wouuld have stayed with the man she was with before. The German passport and German citizenship is fairly equivalent to US especially when compared to the Philippines. (Sorry US patriots.) She had every opportunity to be with him over the past two years and instead waited in the Philippines for me. She has asked me multiple times to relocate to her country so we can be together, but as I have other obligations here, I just can't. (My son is only 4 and needs his father.) True we didn't have the most noble start to our relationship, but that doesn't mean we don't love each other. It certainly would be easier for me to take if I really believed that she just wanted a green card. Neither of us were looking for a relationship when we found each other, and this is the largest of several huge hurdles we have already overcome. I just hope its the last and we get through it. I'm making no judgement here, just pointing out the fallacy in your logic: From your point of view and from many other non-Asian countries point of view the comment about getting to Germany is as good as getting to American might be valid but you have to look at it from a Filipino's point of view. Remember this a country that credits the US with liberating them from the Spanish and Japanese. In WWII the people of the Philippines were brutalized by the Japanese occupation to the point that even the younger generations (my wife is only 26) still carry a deep resentment over it. How many roadways are named after General MacArther? He's a national hero over there while he's mostly forgotten to history in the US. Regardless of "all things being equal", the idea of America being "the place to immigrate to" is simply put a part of their culture so yes a US Greencard is worth 100 times more than the German equivalent in the Philippines. The largest of "hurdles" you will encounter is the Fraud issues with the consulate and USCIS having already attempted to immigrate her when she was married and the two tourist visa applications that it appears might have also falsely represented her as not married. When you tell one lie it leads to another, and in this case the Consulate that interviews her eventually if ever divorced will not take that lightly. Read the rules on Marriage Fraud because that is the charge they will be coming at you with. Not even sure if there is a waiver available if you could get approved at the consulate. Marriage Fraud isn't something the she'll be "charged" with. The charge that will be levied against her immigration file is Material Misrepresentation which carries a lifetime ban. Immigrant Waiver for Fraud or Material Misrepresentation An alien that seeks to procure immigration documents or entry into the United States by fraud or willfully misrepresenting a material fact is inadmissible. An immigrant waiver is available to such aliens where the refusal of admission would result in extreme hardship to the alien's U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent In the end only you can determine if the Relationship is hopeless but her chances of ever immigrating to the US are pretty slim due to the bad choices made by both of you... Edited by Bob 4 Anna, 09 September 2011 - 10:20 AM.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-09 10:17:00
Philippines	Is my relationship hopeless??????	Regardless of getting her marriage annulled in the Philippines you will have to explain to the US Embassy in Manila why you filed the first I-129f while she was still married. There are reasons the Philippines is a Fraud Country and one of them is that it's not unheard of for a filipino to conceal current relationships (including marriage) to get a Kano to import her to the US. You knew about her marriage and just thought that the Philippine government didn't, since she didn't actually apply for the K-1 the only issue there is the USC lying on the petition. The tourist visa applications are another story if she concealed her marital status...	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-08 15:25:00
Philippines	Jom - Thank You for "Parental Consent" Documents	Hi, can u help me too? i just have my seminar. I am 21 and they need the letter of consent for my parents. can i have the draft u made too so i can have an idea on how to do it? please? I have my flight this friday and i need help to have my certificate..help me pls Surely you know that every civil registrar in the Philippines has the correct forms for this, right?	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-13 09:27:00
Philippines	Where to retire.	I had a friend of mine killed in Belize. Why on earth would you have a friend of your's killed?	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-14 10:19:00
Philippines	balikbayan box international flight	That will vary by airline.	Bob 4 Anna	Male	Philippines	2011-09-19 12:59:00