Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Philippines	Someone suddenly is a bit cocky	I'm only concerned with my divorce coming so close to filing for the K1 and I told her she should be prepared for some questions about that. I was separated for many years, but not divorced until right before our K-1 filing. My divorce was final about a month before we filed. It was never questioned. The interview at the embassy is more about her, and her relationship with you, its not really about you except do you meet the money requirements. My wife was shaking in her shoes about the interview. As it was they didn't ask her any questions, just made friendly chat while he glanced over the papers. We were pretty heavily front loaded. Three binders worth of evidence, another binder of photos, and not one thing was asked from her except the required forms.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-20 14:54:00
Philippines	Someone suddenly is a bit cocky	We had an easy interview with a few questions. I provide that as feedback and nothing more. Everyone's case is different, and she needs to understand that all are treated as individuals. We spent much time preparing and frontloaded our petition. My being at the interview more than likely had an impact as well. We had no idea how prepared we were though. There is no goal line in this type of preparation as far as I can see. We were not so worried but still had a healthy dose of nervousness. Maintaining humility throughout it all will do more good for her than being overconfident, no doubt. Though it is odd for me to hear of someone getting the CFO stamp BEFORE having a visa on hand, it is silly to think that the decisions and processes of CFO will have any impact on the decisions of the US government. My wife got the CFO stamp when she went for the medical. It wasn't the plan, but she had the time, so she just ran over and got it done.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-20 14:40:00
Philippines	my latest snafu	I doubt if it will take 20 days to fix it. I think the NVC gave you a "cover our butt" time estimate. Start calling them again in a week. Best wishes on the rest of your journey...	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-20 10:50:00
Philippines	Average Cost for Vacation in the Philippines	Thanks guys! We're not staying in the hotel as my family in the Philippines lives in Manila. I just want to figure out the amount of pocket money I should bring as we're bringing our baby with us and I know that traveling with a kid needs enough cash in the pocket. LoL. I don't give money to my relatives. I might be spending some money for occasionally dining with them while we're there. Yep. I am planning to do Balikbayan boxes before leaving here as I don't want to carry bunches of stuffs. Thanks guys! I will save at least 2000 but not more than 4000. Every time I've traveled there, I came back with spending cash left over. With my vacation pay getting deposited while I'm gone and not spending that except on scheduled bill payments, I usually find I come back in better spare cash shape than when I left. Given I counted the money I was bringing with me as spent already.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-16 10:17:00
Philippines	LBC Box Chocolate shipping packaging method?	don't forget if the chocolates are not sealed in plastic, to put them in a sealed bag just in case.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-23 11:52:00
Philippines	Better late than never	Yeah I have dated a lot of pinay and thai here that divorced their husbands once here and noticed exactly what you said. The common denominator is they didn't have children. I always thought it was odd all these girls nights going out to night clubs, you go to night clubs to meet guys. I will say the ones I saw that were married would not let a guy dance with them and remained very faithful from what I could tell. I'm hoping to run into some similar couples, that seems like it would work the best. If all else fails we can just go on a cruise every weekend, there's tons of pinay working on the cruise ships in Cape Canaveral. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of good ones. Or at least ones that live with the same values as us, I'm sure there are some that would say we're no good to Its just that it will likely take time to find Filipina friends that are a positive influence, rather than a negative, and she's most likely going to want to be friendly without thinking some may be destructive to your relationship, or even to her personally.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-27 14:01:00
Philippines	Better late than never	Yeah mine wants to work a little but just enough to send a couple hundred back to her family every month which is not much work. I stick to not sending any money back because I feel like it'll start a bad example of a norm that I don't believe in. I see you are in Minnesota which I would totally try to get her to work there but in Florida it is a pot full of degenerates and I would be hard pressed to find a job where she will be safe and not learn bad habits. I'm from Wisconsin the same would go for living there. She will work for my family right away and I'm hoping that will suffice for her desire of income. I might just have to break down and have kids right away, because like you and others have said once she has a kid there will be plenty to do. I think there's a lot of ways to make money from home online also, especially if you don't need to make enough to pay the bills. A cleaning business is probably one of the best ways to make money and I might see if she wants to do that a little eventually, but with no car it makes it hard. Something will work out, she'll probably just start some type of business if she is motivated like that. Filipinos are great of making a small fortune in business. Unfortunately to do that they need to start with a large fortune. There are plenty of negative influences no matter where you live. When I've seen people or situations becoming a problem I've expressed my reservations about it to my wife. At times I had to take on the traditional Bana roll and say no, this won't be going on. Of course this upset my wife, but in every case my concerns were proved out in the end. This never really made me happy, but a new Filipina in America can often fall the victim of scammers or just bad people here. And when its their fellow countrywoman doing this, its a pretty sad thing. A few things I ran into Somali teenage males who harassed my wife on the light rail line. She now has a negative bias towards all blacks, although one of her best friends is black. The we can get you a job and work illegally Filipina, who was going to take a big cut of her pay, while she worked below minimum wage at crazy hours. The leave the husband at home so we can party Filipina crowd. They attempt to recruit the new comers into shopping, parties, hanging out and exclude the husbands. Most are divorced now or soon will be. Although some husbands are perfectly happy with a house cleaner, cook and sex partner, where they don't have to spend time with them. That is not why I'm married personally and to each their own. But I watched one of these women repeatedly tell her husband he didn't want to attend events when he did want to. Really felt sorry for him. The gossip drama crowd Filipinas. There's constantly a running battled royal going on, and you need to keep hopping with the winning side, but will always be getting bad mouthed by some no matter what you do. The single friends at work. They'll try to convince the married women its totally alright to spend their evenings eating and drinking with the single girls. They have actually asked my wife why we spend so much time doing things together and talking together Seriously, if you don't enjoy the company of your spouse, why get married? I guess its not a big wonder to me why they're still single and in their 30's. I know a lot of people will say get your wife involved with the local Filipino crowd. This is a huge double edged sword. Some of the worst problems come out of that group. Your wife is going to want to talk her native language and have friends from their home country. She will almost instantly be friends with any Filipinas she meets. But there are a lot of snakes in the grass there, and your wife isn't going to expecting the trouble that can bring. Be careful for those that are not living their life with the same values you are. Some will try to take advantage of her, and others will just want her to follow the same mistakes they have made in life. When she's been here a while and adjusted, she'll be able to filter the wrong type of people out on her own.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-27 11:30:00
Philippines	Better late than never	I think your question was quite reasonable and while my situation is not exactly the same it is not that different either. My fiance just graduated from college Saturday with a B.S. in Business Administration. But in the Philippines what does this actually mean she can do? Before I came along she might have parlayed her degree into a job in a call center. So I have asked her what she might want to do when she arrives here. She does not know - the job situation and culture are so different. She wants to work to help her family and not just stay home. But what to do? Finally since she has worked at hotels while going to college, she said she might get a job as a desk clerk at a hotel. Fortunately I don't need her to make money, so she doesn't have to work 40 hours a week to make ends meet. I want her to find things she enjoys but can be productive at. Like I say, I don't think it is an unreasonable question at all. Totally reasonable question from my point of view to. But I made the assumption he had talked to her about it and she had absolutely no idea what to do to keep busy in the USA. My wife like your's wanted to work. She's worked since she was a kid, selling brooms door to door after school, and later selling barbecue on the street after school. Once she graduated from college, then she worked for other people for a while until she started her own loan business. This isn't the type of person who would have been happy as a housewife. But she had no idea what she wanted to do in the USA for work. Anything at all was basically her answer. Those first months of not being able to work in the USA drove her crazy. My house was clean when she arrived, I kept it that way because I like it that way, so there was no major cleaning to keep her busy. She did go around and reorganize everything. But after a couple weeks she ran out of things to organize. I even had her put all my books in order by author and series. She was dying to get out of the house and work by the time the EAD showed up. I even had to keep putting my foot down saying she was not allowed to work illegally, although she was being given some opportunities. When she was not working, I didn't lift a finger around the house. She did absolutely everything, it was kind of a special time in a way that I knew would only be here for a while. I told her when she went to work, all the housework would be split, but she would just say "we'll see". Now she's workings and sees that keeping our home clean and nice is a 50/50 thing. Now she complains about us working too hard in the USA to. And I just reply you're forgetting when I told you to enjoy your time not working My wife had internet at all times. The ability to call home at all times. Satellite TV, streaming videos from computers hooked up to the TV's. But she's never been crafty or had any hobbies except collecting angels. No way did that keep her busy when she first got here and didn't work. I'd drop her off at the mall after I came home for lunch some days, then pick her up after I got off work. But she was just totally bored, she was used to working and wanted to work. As soon as she got the EAD, well even a bit before, searching for a job became her work. She had one within two weeks of getting the card. Quit that job in weeks, it was factory work, to go to a better job in an office, but very bottom rung work. She's now moved on from that doing something a bit higher level. Eventually she may move on from this, but she loves the work for now, and that makes me happy. All I can say madtownguy, is if she's had a life of leisure in the Philippines, she will find ways to not be bored. Just support her in the things she wants to try and give her the tools to stay busy and connected to the world. If she was used to working, then it might be real tough on her to adjust to leisure. I know some Filipinas here that are totally happy being a housewife, and fell right into it like they were born to it. Give them that baby and they'll certainly never get bored. If you live in a place with easy public transportation, you'll be miles ahead. Take her out and show her how to get around. Yes this will probably mean shopping, but it appears to be a gene that was also given to Filipinas. Start building a large closet for her to fill	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-27 08:09:00
Philippines	I need help.. Preggy and I need to give birth in the Philippines	It can be time consuming getting all the paperwork to get your baby's citizenship recognized and a passport. Unfortunately you can't just have the baby and fly back when you want to. If you're planning on 9 months now, you could easily find yourself extend beyond one year. Be safe, get a re-entry permit before you leave for the Philippines. It's costly, but could save you having to reapply for a CR-1/IR-1 later.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-27 08:49:00
Philippines	Filing a Report of Marriage and Renew passport	Why did you correct this? I read the website and it said a Report of Marriage form is required to amend the name in passport. 4 copies are required for the actual report of marriage. That's what it says. http://philippineemb...aq-dc/#marriage http://philippineemb...-dc/#changename If I were to mail or attend on two separate occasions to amend a passport and report a marriage respectively, it seems clear that I would need to deliver or bring a Report of Marriage form for both occasions. I think he corrected it because its written to sound like you need to fill out extra copies of the form, which is not the case. You need a copy of the "duly-accomplished Report of Marriage Contracted Abroad form" if you've previously did that process. You will not have that if you're renewing the passport and changing the name at the same time as reporting the marriage abroad. Kind of equates to the difference between a marriage license and a marriage certificate. Ones says you're going to do it, but doesn't prove you have. The other proves you have.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-26 13:09:00
Philippines	Filing a Report of Marriage and Renew passport	We did both the same afternoon up in Phoenix, lots of standing around waiting but glad its over with. We got the ROM back in just a couple days after the event. My wife was in a hurry to get the marriage reported. I think she didn't want me running back to the Philippines to get another Filipina ours took 5 weeks to get a copy. No idea why, it was nothing more of a photocopy of the form we filled out with a picture we gave them attached and a rubber stamp. We had an appointment, which they mailed out the week before. Then they changed the schedule and didn't tell us, so they didn't have us scheduled for the time slot we were supposed to have. They were good about it though, and let us in during our time slot when I showed them the appointment letter. But at first they just called out the names or who could go in, and one guy didn't want to let us in. It was almost like being in the Philippines! They changed their entire way of organizing the event, so that created a ton of confusion as some workers were doing it the old way and then another would come and try to set it up the new way, then back to old, then to new way. Finally everyone got on the same track The whole event was pretty fun actually. Lots of friendly Filipino smiles and laughter while nothing was working right and confusion reined. Oh I should also mention, if you're changing the name on a passport due to marriage, you need to bring the Report of Marriage Abroad report. Edited by Caryh, 26 March 2013 - 10:20 AM.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-26 10:18:00
Philippines	Filing a Report of Marriage and Renew passport	Yes you can do both at the outreach program, my wife did it last month. In fact she received her new passport yesterday. I will attach the info from the consulate website of requirements. Make sure to register soon enough to make the list. I see they've now added needing an original and photocopies of a previous divorce for report or marriage abroad. The old instructions didn't include that, but they asked us for it after we applied. We did the report of marriage by mail, then renewed her passport when they came to our city last summer. I just heard they're coming back to Minneapolis this August 10th, again to. They used to just come alternating years, so that surprised me.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-26 09:23:00
Philippines	Filing a Report of Marriage and Renew passport	yes they are allowed at the same time	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-26 06:34:00
Philippines	Wifes Family Asking For $ Advice	Carefull with the generalizations man. Filipinos know how to budget. You just married one who wasn't familiar with the concept. BB Which is why I said "don't seem to". I've seen many Filipinos there who appear to live the same way. Maybe its because she grew up in extreme poverty, where there was only what was in hand for the day? Even though her generation pulled the family out of that poverty. Funny thing is, she could budget the money for their business just fine. Everything planned out and scheduled way in advance. Took her a while to see and understand how many bills we tend to have in America. Insurance, car payment, phone bill, cell bill, house payment, electric bill, gas bill, water bill, trash bill, cable bill, etc, etc.... The USA list of bills seems endless, a much longer list than the average Filipino had back home.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-28 14:27:00
Philippines	Wifes Family Asking For $ Advice	When i got here and have my own job and own money i realize how hard The life here always bills bills working for bills and that pilipino Some pilipino dont understand that until they experience Here in u.s.. It confused my wife a lot when she first got here to. We get paid this Friday, so we can do spend this much on this when we're paid. No honey, that check needs to pay for this bill, then this bill, and this other thing, plus we need groceries, gas in the cars, lunch money, after all that, we're about $60 in the hole, so we need to save at least that much from the last pay check. Filipinos just don't seem to live that way. If money is in hand, it can be spent. After a year and half, she's come to understand we need to plan out expenditures a bit more than she ever worried about in the Philippines.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-28 12:58:00
Philippines	Wifes Family Asking For $ Advice	oh poo. It's the Uncle who's the loanshark. So, tell the father to tell the Uncle NO, then lets see if the Uncle kills the father (or vice versa). Or the Uncle is the conduit to the shark and also has his name on the papers. Don't blame the shark though, the shark was not the person who took out the loan. When these type of loans are properly used, families can do well because of them. My wife and her family is in the sharking business as we'd view it in the USA. And even in her family some people have abused these loans to waste the money and make no return. Took them out just so they could look like a king or queen for a while. Then try to turn the rest of the family to make good on the loans for them.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-27 15:25:00
Philippines	Wifes Family Asking For $ Advice	As someone in a similar situation, do not sacrifice what little you have extra for them! If this debt is cleared I can almost guarantee you it will happen again. Her parents will act like this is an emergency and that it must be payed off. First off if their family is illegally loan-sharking, they have no right to collect. Tell them to pursue legal means to collect the debts from your in-laws and they will have no ability to do it. This is more a matter of PRIDE. Many filipinos are blinded by their pride and they know there will be a shame in not paying back a debt to their family(even though the real shame is the fact that their own family is sharking them). They made the decision to borrow the money, KNOWING they could not pay it back. They made the bed, now its time to let them sleep in it. Im sorry if I come off as harsh, but sometimes you have to be because if they somehow get you to pay it this once...they WILL do it again(cause hey, it worked last time!) I went through a slightly different situation, where my wife's family was having her take out the debt(because she was working, but we werent married yet), and then when they couldnt pay the bill they came to daddy warbucks(me, although im not at all rich). I paid it because it was a small amount($50 maybe), then 2 weeks later her parents borrowed AGAIN, this time without my wife's permission! They came again to me for the money and I asked for the legally binding contract that established me(or my wife) as a co-signer(they showed me a notebook with hand written amounts, no terms, and a signature LOL.) I told them not happening and they were mad, but knew there was nothing they could do about it. I told her family they should not pay it since there is no legal remedy for the lender to collect. It has been about 10 months and those lenders have hawked them for the money, but havent been paid. These lenders were family, but even if it were my solution would've been the same. Be strong and do not give in, unless you want to be set up for it happening again. It is very unlikely her uncle would resort to violence within the family. These lenders do NOT want to risk bringing the law into it because they could be jailed(for possibly long durations awaiting the court preceeding) as long as they cant bribe their way out of it. I have to disagree with part of what you said. Many of these businesses are legal there. There are even GMO's that will help these businesses expand the business because its good for the economies of these third world countries. My wife expanded her 5/6 in the early days this way. Doesn't mean there are not people who get into it without being licensed, but USA loan sharking rules do not apply in many third world countries, and this includes the Philippines. High risk means high interest. The difference in the USA is none of these people borrowing the money would ever get a loan in the USA because the risk is too high and the maximum interest rate that can be charged limits how much risk a loan company can take. The main reason a case may not be filed, is the cost of filing and bringing a case and how likely they will collect the money. Sometimes its a loose loose situation even if they win the case. A bigger organization will still often bring a case just as an example to other borrowers though.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-27 15:09:00
Philippines	Wifes Family Asking For $ Advice	In the Philippines they don't have credit agencies to check peoples credit. There are multiple different levels of informal loans that can be obtained by the typical person, and this doesn't include those able to get bank loans. First is the 5/6. For every 5 borrowed to you, you'll pay back 6 within 60 days. They come by daily to collect 1/60th of the money, 2/60th's on Saturday. That is 20% interest per 60 days, or 120% per year. Given you pay back from the day after receiving the loan, the interest rate per year is even higher. Those are normally obtained by small family owned business so they can operate. Might be a street vendor of food who needs money to buy raw stock. Once they're into depending on this, its almost impossible to wean themselves off these loans. There are many many little 5/6 loan companies operating in the Philippines and other third world countries. When a loan goes bad they'll do their best to collect it, but they write many bad loans off. Its part of why the interest rate is so high, plus paying someone to collect daily. The second is a term loan at huge interest rates, I need to ask my wife what the rate is, as we have a bit of money in both these type of loan businesses. They get given to just about anybody who is seen as a decent risk. To be considered to be a good risk, you need a family member who is seen as having an above average income that comes in big chunks periodically. So if you have a family member who is a seaman, OCW, or married to a westerner, you can get these loans. In other words someone with close family that has a money tree. Basically they are depending to get paid back by the person receiving the loan either being one of the good risk parties or has the ability to guilt the good risk party into paying the loan for them. These are often given out by co-ops of individuals that invest for a good return, or a 5/6 loan company that is moving up in the world and expanding. They will hound and threaten borrow and the money treed relative to get repayment, they do not go away for a long time. They may file a case against the borrower if the loan is not paid. Sounds to me like your aunt and uncle are running the second kind of loan co-op. This might not even be their money but a pool of money they are managing. As its not their money, they will be under big pressure to get paid back, and they'll turn that pressure on your in-laws and you. Or they get a cut of the profits by being a go between and then they might find themselves on the hook. You wife being out of the country working and married to an American, means her parents can borrow a term loan from these type of loan outfits. This is all on the expectation that your wife will pay it back. If you do pay it for them, they'll be able to take out another and do the same damn thing again. Given they've done it once already (although you haven't paid it back) you can expect them to do it again if you pay it back. It will get harder for them to borrow again if you do not pay it back for them. Not impossible to do it again, but they won't get it from the same source and word does start to spread. You just need to say no money is coming. We did not take out the loan, did not agree to the loan, and did not sign for the loan, its not our problem. They will certainly understand that your meaning then. Don't try to explain why you can't, just state you will not. The requests to pay back loans will stop. Your wife might be upset or even hurt, but unless you want to constantly revisit this same problem, you need to shut it down on the first attempt to basically extort money from you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go pluck a few bills off the money tree in the back yard so the wife and I can go out to dinner tonight.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-27 14:55:00
Philippines	Can my USC husband have dual citizenship?	I am still living here in the philippines with our 2 sons. Currently, my USC husband is born in the US and is working as a fireman in Kona hawaii but he is thinking of how he can become a filipino citizen at the same so he can extend his stay in the philippines everytime he visits us here. My husband is saying that living in hawaii is so expensive and he is thinking of moving in the philippines because it's alot cheaper to live here. Your husband needs to live in the Philippines for 5 years as a legal resident to apply for citizenship in the Philippines. He will also need to be fluent in at least one major language from the Philippines. His first step is really getting the 13A legal resident visa, on the grounds of being married to you. He can apply at a Philippines consulate with jurisdiction where he lives. http://www.philippin...lulu/#immigrant	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-02-04 11:57:00
Philippines	What do you miss most from the Philippines?	Dipped in eggs and then Cajun Shore lunch is what she likes the mist. I like crushed saltine crackers with some spices.. She did like the Cajun Shore lunch I used for a bit. Wonder if its the same brand you used? But I didn't dip it in egg first. Might have to pick it up and try it on her again.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-29 13:08:00
Philippines	What do you miss most from the Philippines?	Try this - after you rinse the fish off pat them dry then coat with flour, then dip in egg, then coat with bread crumbs, and of course salt and pepper as you fry them up. Not saying your wife will like 'em but they are good! I use to do just the flour thing but this is way better. I've used different breading mixes on them to. But personally I prefer just a touch of flour on Walleye. I think she preferred some of the different breading mixes better than just light flour, but she still like her marinated and fried with nothing way the best. Its good so I'm not complaining.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-29 09:55:00
Philippines	What do you miss most from the Philippines?	Haha, when is spring going to get here?? She keeps asking and I keep saying this is a good ole MN winter to break her in. Last year we had it easy. Were up in Northern WI at the csbin and theres two feet of snow still in the yard. She shoveled the yard for a couple hours so the dogs had a place to walk, lol. She likes walleye and crappie very much and I do pretty good fishing to keep it on her plate. But she still misses those damm little fish out of the ocean that we will buy everyday. There pretty good, but nowhere close to fresh walleye... Anf funny about the heads..... She caught a couple dozen panfish and a couple bass this last fall and tried cooking them the way she does in the province and it didn't work.... So I had to show her our way and she likes them just fine now. I think my wife doesn't like walleye because I cooked it my way. She just told me not long ago she didn't like my pan fry way. Coated with flour and a bit of salt and pepper, then fried. She always marinates and then fries with nothing on the fish. She prefers the skin and head on to. The crappie fillets she didn't care for. The gutted with head she liked, but not as much as those silly fish from the Philippines.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-29 09:33:00
Philippines	What do you miss most from the Philippines?	My wife really misses fresh fish that she can get daily in her province. Fresh Minnesota lake fish just isn't the same I guess. Also a big wakeup for her is she just can't go outside and visit friends or a neighbor in the dead of winter in MN.. She misses her friends and family and how easy it is to just go next door to visit when she is bored.. Before my wife was working she used to comment how the neighborhood was so empty and she was the only one around during the day. All the neighbors work here, and none of us hang out, just a hello if we run into each other. She's really dying for spring to get here this year. As to fresh Minnesota fish, I'm shocked she doesn't like walleye, but did like crappie as long a the heads are left on	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-29 05:46:00
Philippines	What do you miss most from the Philippines?	What my wife really misses, besides family, is all the fresh fish and fruits they have in the Philippines. We can get durian, its frozen but still good. Not as stinky as Davao City durian to, so that a good thing. For about half of the year we can get golden mangoes. We can get green mango here pretty much all year round. Neither of these are the round mango you see in the average grocery store. There are a number of fruits we can get during different parts of the year but none are as good as fresh picked ripe fruits she got all year long there. Not much we can do about fresh ripe picked until we get back there. But we do constantly get what Philippine fruits that do hit the Asian Market here in the USA. Fish that hasn't been frozen of the types she had is also in short supply here, as in none. We've searched out and gotten a few of her familiar fish, all frozen, and regularly eat them. But its not like having fresh from the fish market fish. We have not managed to locate chicken intestines yet in the USA. We can get the feet, which she loves, but not those dang intestines. I'm beginning to think I'll need to go find some free range chicken farmer this summer and make a deal to buy some. If you can locate a grocery store that is specifically a Filipino grocery store, you'll be miles ahead of just an Asian Grocery store. We have just one here and they have some treats my wife likes that is not found in any of the regular Asian grocery stores. Mostly you're going to have to play it by ear. What she will miss or not miss is going to be entirely an individual affair. Sounds like you've got a good base in place though. Just find the exclusive Filipino grocery store if you can. Then again, Asian groceries may be different if there are a lot more Filipinos around than there is here in Minnesota.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-28 14:16:00
Philippines	Preparation for the trip over to US	The biggest things I've seen were: jeans (US sizes don't quite seem to fit the same), bras (same issue), shoes (lots cheaper in phils, and most girls have favorites, or favorites they haven't even bought yet ). Baby clothes are much cheaper in phils, especially if your wife has thoughts about what a baby should wear. Every trip over we've brought back jeans and Magic Sarap. Loads and loads of magic sarap. New jeans every trip to phils. I've told my fiancee to bring over all her jeans (and buy extras), all her bras, all her favorite shoes, magic sarap, and dried fish. All those things are available in the US, but not quite the same as they have in Phils. Magic Sarap isn't legal to bring into the country, because its got chicken fat in it and the Philippines is know to have had Avian Influenza. I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it, but technically you can't bring it with you into the USA. We buy it in bulk through a dealer in Guam who's on Amazon. My wife claims she can't cook without it Next time we go, we're going to stock up on jeans there. Its really tough finding jeans that fit well in the USA. My wife is a size 00 or 24 inch waist, and everything needs to go to the tailor to be shortened. If she uses a whitening deodorant, bring a stock pile of it. Can't find that stuff in the USA, so we order from out of country. The wife just hates if her armpits get darker. She gave up the lightening facial creams, but she refuses to let her armpits get dark Any shampoos, face creams, basically any cleansing, lotion or makeup product, she should pick up. Mostly she'll eventually find replacements here, but she'll want to have a supply of things she knows while she searches for them. Have her keep trying things right away so she doesn't run out of her favorites from home. If she's into dried fish, stock up and bring some over. Seal it up good and store it in the freezer. You can find it here in the USA if there's a Filipino store near you. But not the really good dried fish. My wife's family regularly sends us shipments of the stinky stuff. Not sure how you feel about dried fish, I love it myself, but set up a way to cook it outside. Given we live in Minnesota, I do most of the cooking of it on the grill outside. We bought a pan dedicated just for it, so we can fry it on there to.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-21 13:43:00
Philippines	Tragic Story	That is so wrong on so many levels. If they want to leave let them. I guess I have not been to a country where this is possible, nobody checks to see if it is legal for me to leave. China did a weird thing which I wasn't exactly happy with, they stamped my passport when switching planes in China. So one of my pages has just one stamp instead of an entry/exit stamp. Hopefully the OP can afford to pay the fee and get her the heck out of there, that sounds like just a bad news situation. You would think the Philippine government would do something about it. What a shame. They did try to enforce more humane treatment of their citizens, but what can they really do? KSA said no its our country our rules. Philippines threatened to disallow its citizens from travelling there, and the citizens said you can't do that. You've got hungry people in one country willing to take any risk to earn an income, and another that thinks all non-muslims and foreign workers in general are nothing but near animal slaves. It wasn't that long ago when KSA actually got rid of slavery, and the mindset of the people in KSA is these workers are slaves now that they've signed a contract.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-04-01 11:59:00
Philippines	Tragic Story	Ok this might sound like I'm a naive american but why can't you just pay her ticket and she leaves? It sounds like that's not an option but I don't understand why? Civil contracts don't mean much if you don't care to go back to the country they are in. I respect you for staying calm, if I felt my sister or nieces were held in an arab country to some stupid contract I would start leveling the largest buildings first until nobody could control who came and went. I've never heard any stories like these but maybe it's good I haven't. After I saw Argo I wanted to go level a few blocks in Iran. A foreign worker cannot not leave KSA without an exit permit, they will be checked at the airport. The exit permit needs to be signed by the sponsor, who would be the employer. Its also the norm for the sponsor (employer) to hold the passport of their foreign workers. Even if your contract is over, there are many cases where employers refused to let a foreign employee leave and go home. Everything is up to the Saudi national's desire even if those desires violate the contract. A non-Muslim foreigner has next to no rights in KSA, a Muslim foreigner has a bit more, but still not a lot. There are many Filipinos trapped at the Philippines embassy waiting for the consulate to negotiate their exit from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some can wait years to get out without that exit permit. A lot of these cases are Filipinas that have been abused, raped, held beyond their contract, and never paid for their work. A contract is really only enforceable on the foreigner in KSA, not the Saudi national.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-04-01 08:54:00
Philippines	like waiting before a vacation	Planning on fiance flying here on the 14th. The visa/passport is traveling on the schedule I would expect and everything should be fine and done by the 14th. I've been fairly patient during the process but now I have that feeling before you are about to take a long vacation and you just can't focus at work. I just want the time to hurry up and pass. I've been bouncing back and forth on picking her up at POE but I'm leaning towards going now. Plus it's been a few years since I've had a street taco in Mexico and I can drive down to the border quick and have a few. I need a fast forward button for these next couple weeks. I remember that feeling very well. Finally the day arrived and waiting to go to the airport seemed like it took forever, I even left early for the airport. Then my wife was the very last one out of the point of entry. I was going crazy waiting and wondering what the heck happened. I even called the airlines to insure she made her connection in Japan. After that I started getting afraid she took the exit out in international arrivals into the domestic terminals, and not through the unsecured exit. Her dang roaming Smart roaming sim failed to work in Japan or here. But that was probably because she took her cheapest throw away phone and left her good one with her sister. This should be the downhill slide, but you'll probably feel like you're running uphill until she gets here.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-04-02 07:49:00
Philippines	Did you report the birth of your US born child to the Philippine Government?	i was considering the same things for all the same reasons. i was talking to a guy who's PI wife recently became a US citizen. to make a long story short, the PI government had no problems with dual citizenship, HOWEVER, the US government did. she eventually gave up her PI citizenship to keep her US citizenship. anybody hear of anything like this, or was he "leaving something out"? thank you It wasn't that long ago you couldn't be a dual citizen, with the Philippines and the USA, But I'm pretty sure that was a Philippines law. Later tax reciprocity was set up between the Philippines and the USA. Lots of people are dual citizens in the USA and don't seem to find a problem with it. I get the feeling something was being left out in that story. Maybe he didn't like paying to keep up two passports. Maybe they have income in the Philippines and it was before tax reciprocity. Perhaps they didn't want to pay the registration fee to the Philippines consulate to get the dual citizenship registered there. Perhaps they felt that because she was and Philippines and USA citizen, she should be able to use her Philippines passport to come and go in the USA and not bother with a USA passport. You never know when people will get fed up with the government and decide something small is bigger than it really is.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2012-06-12 06:44:00
Philippines	Did you report the birth of your US born child to the Philippine Government?	I asked earlier if you could provide a link explaining how land ownership is limited for dual citizens. Since I didn't get a reply I looked myself. Here is what I found. http://www.philippin...dual primer.pdf This is from the Philippine consulate in Los Angeles website. Do you know of some newer information? I basically came up with the same thing. There had been some talk when dual citizenship was first allowed that there was a limit on property ownership. My latest search was showing that was no longer so. I did post a few links right above your post from real estate sites. Only the former citizen is limited at this time. If you're going to own property in your wife's name, you're really going to want your children to be registered and dual citizens. Any land she owns can't go to you, or you're required to dispose of it right away. It can go to your kids though if they're dual citizens. The first link makes things pretty clear on how things currently stand.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2012-06-11 15:42:00
Philippines	Did you report the birth of your US born child to the Philippine Government?	Can you provide a link explaining limitations of land ownership on a dual citizen? My wife is considering naturalization and we are weighing our options at this point. I've read it before somewhere and I thought there were ways around it while still retaining dual status. Maybe I'm mistaken. I've seen a few different views on the the dual citizen. Now that I'm looking at it more recently, its appearing the dual citizen maintains full rights to own land. For a while after the dual citizenship law was passed, people were saying the restrictions were still in place. You as her husband cannot be on the title and would be required to dispose of the property should she pass away. Although you could pass it on to your children. http://www.kittelson...perty-ownership http://www.islandspr...lestatelaws.htm http://www.phil-buye...y-Ownership.php	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2012-06-09 10:38:00
Philippines	Did you report the birth of your US born child to the Philippine Government?	Thank you for this info. I didn't know I had to report it and my dilemma is we are now in Maryland. My son was born in Las Vegas, NV. So should I mail the documents to Philippine Consulate in LA or can I just go personally in Washington, DC? Thanks. "Had to report it" is maybe a little bit of a strong word for it. No one is going to chase you down for not doing so. Its just if you want your children to easily obtain their rights as Philippine Citizens or get a Philippines passport for them. I'd just report it to your current consulate. They are the ones who now look after you and your children's rights as Filipinos now. If you're really worried about it, I'd call the consulate and ask. The Chicago Consulate has been pretty good about answering any questions for us.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2012-06-08 15:51:00
Philippines	Did you report the birth of your US born child to the Philippine Government?	I'd like my son to have the option of inheriting or buying land in The Philippines in the future. That's basically the only reason I'll be going through with this process. Believe me, I abhor big government more than most people. The whole immigration process goes against everything I believe in but I have to choose my battles carefully. If this will benefit my child in the future, I'll swallow my pride yet another time. That doesn't mean you can trespass on my property by the way. Have a nice weekend! Children can inherit from their ancestors without being Philippines Citizens, they just cannot buy land. Even being a dual citizen, the Philippines currently limits how much a dial citizen can buy. They're just trying to keep their country from being bought up by outsiders so the locals can still afford to own land. I understand the not wanting to deal with governments. Never did like it before, but I abhor it after dealing with USCIS. So far I've found registering our marriage was a pretty easy process. If we're blessed with children, I'll register them so it will be easy if they one day choose to use their rights as Philippine Citizens. My current plans are to one day retire in the Philippines. Just for giggles, I might decide to become a dual citizen myself once I've lived there long enough. All those plans are a based on the wife still wanting to return though. She never really wanted to leave and would go back in a heart beat now. But 20 years down the road, her desires could easily change, as could mine.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2012-06-08 15:43:00
Philippines	Did you report the birth of your US born child to the Philippine Government?	I think we'll be reporting the birth soon. We plan on traveling to The Philippines before he turns two years old. I'd call that a good decision. I doubt most Fil/West kids will have a need for it. But you are making that choice for them if you skip the report of birth. Or at least making it a lot harder for them should they want to take advantage of it once they're adults. If you go with your wife, you and the child can enter as Balikbayans and stay for 1 year as long as you request it and enter with your wife using her Philippines passport.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2012-06-08 13:48:00
Philippines	Did you report the birth of your US born child to the Philippine Government?	A child of a Filipino automatically has dual citizenship rights. If you don't report the birth, they will have a harder time later proving they were born to a Philippines citizen. If that child is never going to go there, they don't have any need to have it. If they want to own land in the Philippines, they will need it. Also if you plan to spend longer time periods in the Philippines, a child traveling in with a Filipino Passport doesn't need to limit their stay, or renew their tourist visa if entering on the USA passport. If they enter with a Philippine Citizen parent using their Philippines Passport, they can still get a 1 year Balikbayan Visa. I'd look at it as doing the right thing for the child. It keeps their options open even if they never choose to take advantage of it. The cost isn't really that high.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2012-06-08 13:06:00
Philippines	Who certifies the marriage certificate copy?	I believe you're looking for the CEMAR which she needs to get from the NSO. Sounds like you have an American lawyer who is thinking getting a marriage certificate from the county courthouse is the procedure in the Philipppines like it is in the USA.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-04-03 09:12:00
Philippines	AOS Question	That is only with the K-1 visa, they have to accept a co-sponsor with the IR/CR-1.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-04-04 10:43:00
Philippines	Best Way to Send Shoes	That's how I'd expect one to show up looking like. I emailed Forexworld about the missing items and conditions of the package. I got no response back from them at all. My wife has a friend that knows someone in town here that does pickup for LBC. I think we really need to switch to them. Now here's my balikbayan box that arrived in Bukidnon a few days ago. It looks a little battered but not bothered. I asked my older brother to take a photo of it so I'll know whether anybody messed with it or not.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-04-03 07:52:00
Philippines	Best Way to Send Shoes	Seriously? Did you send your box through LBC? I didn't have problems with LBC in the past and hopefully never would. My most recent balikbayan box is set to arrive on or before March 28. I guess I'd have to give my mother a checklist to determine whether or not something went missing. I hope everything is untouched, especially the footwear for her and my sisters. The box was handled by customs on both the USA and Philippines side. It was sent via Forexworld, which is currently the only option we have now from Minnesota that we're aware of. We used to be able to send via LBC, but the place we sent through switched to Forexworld. When we dropped the box off, there was a sheet they gave us informing us of the new inspections and the types of things that have been reported missing recently. As to handling things, every thing was handled. The box was very well organized when my wife packed it, but a jumbled mess when it arrived. Every wrapped Christmas present had been opened and the wrapping paper just thrown back in the box. And the candy we sent was almost all missing. I'm not sure if this picture will show up, its on my sister in law's FB page and I don't know if its set public or not. But both the grey tape and green tape are not ours. I googled the green tape and that was USA customs. Plus there was a lot of clear tape added to. All the tape we used was clear packing take. The box really looked badly beat up to. Edited by Caryh, 15 March 2013 - 03:27 PM.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-15 15:25:00
Philippines	Best Way to Send Shoes	I agree with those who discuss using a BB box. Much cheaper, not usually subject to inspection, and for my gal anyways everything was still in it when it reached its destination, the drawback is that is does take much longer to get there. But, you are a Phil. citizen you know how the postal system works in your country. Best of luck! They have started opening and "inspecting" balikbayan boxes now. We were warned by our carrier on our last box out. Every gift wrapped present had been unwrapped. Apparently watches are something they've been stealing, and we sent cheap watches to the kids there as gifts. And yes things did disappear. About $80 worth of candy had been removed from the box.	Caryh	Male	Philippines	2013-03-15 08:36:00