Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-3 Spousal Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	APPROVED YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS	WOW less than 3 months!!!!!!!!	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-19 19:10:00
K-3 Spousal Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	APPROVED	APPROVED, Now for Step 2. Both the I-130 and I-129 were approved on the same date.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-04-09 16:19:00
IMBRA Special Topics	Is a temporary restraining order a misdemeanor or felony?	A lot of courts automatically hand out restraining orders for both parties in a divorce, especially in large cities with high crime rates. It is just the courts way of saying “don’t be stupid” I would not sweat it unless it came with an assault or battery charge. QUOTE (thepizzadude @ Jan 5 2009, 03:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I was divorced from my previous wife of 13.5 years in 2002 February and it was not a good divorce I had just started business few years before and worked 7 days a week and me being away from home so much she grew tired and found another source of excitement, anyway I also co-signed a loan for my step daughter and she had quit paying on the loan, changed addresses for mail and I did not find out til car in repo and they called my home to tell me they wanted my car back, I told them I just paid it off and they told me which MY CAR they were talking about and it was my step daughters car I cosigned on, so I basically had to steal my own car back which I did but in process during a communication on telephone I uttered these stupid words "If you guys don't give the car back I will HURT you just like YOU are hurting me". Well of course this was not a threat of harm to a person by way of physical means, if I was a physical person somewhere during our divorce proceeding I think it would have been brought up (BTW this happened 8 days after divorce was final). I was talking about hurting my ex-wives credit rating which was what they were doing to me by not paying on the car and having it go into repossession, this was my only train of thought, well the court did not see it that way. They said it could be CONSTRUED to be a physical threat and a Temporary Restraining Order was granted to my ex-wife. So, ok I had to deal with it and I did. The question is this going to be a blockade to our K1 visa, will it cause problems. Does it fall under the category of Domestic Violence or anything pertaining to Section C Question 2. Is this something that I have to disclose or is this disclosure only pertain to someone who uses an International Marriage Broker. I don't think this is a misdemeanor or a felony at all, but I just don't know so I am asking here. I have copies of the case timeline from the court and it is certified if I need it but they told me they don't even keep records of these after a year of so because they are granted if someone just says you say something. I know what people think when they hear this but I assure you I never intended or would hurt my family and my words were taken out of context, I sincerely believe that this was done to hurt me in only way left by my wife after the divorce courts gave me the house, my business and 2 of my 3 step-children decided to stay living with me after my ex wife and I divorced. Thanks for any help you may offer, Donnie	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-10 21:54:00
IMBRA Special Topics	What are the chance of Mis?emeanor Assault deny?	If the case was dismissed after a court supervision period, then even though there is a record of it and a guilty plea, it is still dismissed so there would be no criminal record of guilt. For legal purposes this is the same thing as a not guilty. And does not constitute a criminal record	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-05-17 11:54:00
IMBRA Special Topics	Third K1 Visa	QUOTE (AnnexoxShay @ Feb 17 2009, 07:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Old Dominion @ Feb 18 2009, 09:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Let's get past judging people on their age differences. Biblical historians say that Mary was barely 14 when she became engaged to Joseph, who was in his 40s. I think only in modern times has there been this kind of attitude about people marrying even though they are years apart in age. That may be true ... but that was over 2000 years ago and thank god the world has changed somewhat in that time ... secondly they have names and nice cushy cells for men in there 40's who play around with 14 year old little girls .... thirdly according to Australian and American Law that is statutory rape however you look at it, regardless of it been consensual or not ... I dont have a problem at all with people having an age difference ... I was 10 years younger then my ex husband and 6 years older then my ex boyfriend ... I would be a hypocrite if I had a problem with age differences ... but the question is, is it ok to be lusting over little 19 year old girls when your in your 40s especially if the agenda is questionable ... ... and I think it is in this instance... Steve knew posting this topic in VJ would create contraversial discussion ... he knew that posting that his applied for a K1 3 times and is contemplating a 4 app was going to cause mixed reactions ... no different then a Satanist going into a Christian site and starting a thread a called ' I danced with the devil and I liked it' Ya know ... I hate to tell you this but it was very common for a woman of 13 to be married to a 30 year old man less than 150 years a go right here in good old USA. 100 years a go a 18 year old woman that wasn’t married was considered an old maid. Don’t believe me check the US census data from post civil war. OHH and another thing this "fat and old" guy wants to know... lol WILL THIS FREAKING THREAD EVER DIE?????????????????? Edited by Troy W, 19 February 2009 - 08:17 PM.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-19 20:13:00
IMBRA Special Topics	Third K1 Visa	My...My how discussion topics move around… lol From wikipedia....... and about all that needs to be said on the BMI subject LOL,,,,,,,, Limitations and shortcomings The medical establishment has generally acknowledged some shortcomings of BMI. Because the BMI is dependent only upon weight and height, it makes simplistic assumptions about distribution of muscle and bone mass, and thus may overestimate adiposity on those with more lean body mass (e.g. athletes) while underestimating adiposity on those with less lean body mass (e.g. the elderly). One recent study Romero-Corral et al. found that BMI-defined obesity was present in 19.1% of men and 24.7% of women, but that obesity as measured by bodyfat percentage was present in 43.9% of men and 52.3% of women. Moreover, in the intermediate range of BMI (25-29.9), BMI failed to discriminate between bodyfat percentage and lean mass. The study concluded that "the accuracy of BMI in diagnosing obesity is limited, particularly for individuals in the intermediate BMI ranges, in men and in the elderly... These results may help to explain the unexpected better survival in overweight/mild obese patients." The exponent of 2 in the denominator of the formula for BMI is arbitrary. It is meant to reduce variability in the BMI associated only with a difference in size, rather than with differences in weight relative to one's ideal weight. If taller people were simply scaled-up versions of shorter people, the appropriate exponent would be 3, as weight would increase with the cube of height. However, on average, taller people have a slimmer build relative to their height than do shorter people, and the exponent which matches the variation best is between 2 and 3. An analysis based on data gathered in the USA suggested an exponent of 2.6 would yield the best fit for children aged 2 to 19 years old. The exponent 2 is used instead by convention and for simplicity. Some argue that the error in the BMI is significant and so pervasive that it is not generally useful in evaluation of health. Owing to these limitations, body composition for athletes is often better calculated using measures of body fat, as determined by such techniques as skinfold measurements or underwater weighing and the limitations of manual measurement have also led to new, alternative methods to measure obesity, such as the body volume index. However, recent studies of American football linemen who undergo intensive weight training to increase their muscle mass show that they frequently suffer many of the same problems as people ordinarily considered obese, notably sleep apnea. In an analysis of 40 studies involving 250,000 people, heart patients with normal BMIs were at higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease than people whose BMIs put them in the "overweight" range (BMI 25-29.9). Patients who were underweight (BMI <20) or severely obese (BMI >35) did, however, show an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. The implications of this finding can be confounded by the fact that many chronic diseases, such as diabetes, can cause weight loss before the eventual death. In light of this, higher death rates among thinner people would be the expected result. A further limitation relates to loss of height through aging. In this situation, BMI will increase without any corresponding increase in weight. To overcome the shortcomings of BMI, and some of the less acknowledged limitations inherent in body fat percentages, the concepts fat-free mass index (FFMI) and fat mass index (FMI) were introduced in the early 1990s (VanItallie TB, Yang MU, Heymsfield SB, Funk RC, Boileau RA. Height-normalized indices of the body's fat-free mass and fat mass: potentially useful indicators of nutritional status. Am J Clin Nutr. Dec 1990;52(6):953-959).	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-17 14:40:00
IMBRA Special Topics	Third K1 Visa	QUOTE (Cham @ Jan 12 2009, 04:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I was NOT going to post on this but I am now I do not mean to sound disrespectful BUT how dare you say what you do about all the *baggage women have in the US. Do you mean to imply your mother, your sister, your aunties, nieces and so on have that and you find it an EEW factor for you? After all are they not AMERICAN women??? YOU Have filed and I repeat YOU HAVE FILED....3 yes 3 k-1 visas and you say WE have baggage. HUN I think you need to find out WHY you are failing at finding a woman who wants to put up with you. Figure out WHY no one wants to stay with you and work on YOU first before you drag a poor young woman back into YOUR baggage. I would try to shop less and fix what you have broken. lordy I am so glad I do not have a shallow man I am not a nagging woman, I love my simple life..money is just that...money. If I could live without it I WOULD..it only causes BS issues ( NOT all american woman and not even MOST think this..I know MANY who think like me hun) I know I would run to if you explained EVERYTHING you wanted in a woman. You sound to superficial, shallow, immature and just to high maintenance for ANY woman good luck man you want it go for it and best wishes ps I would visit more before I filed 20 days is NOT enough time to find out if its *perfect* people say things that they dont really mean to get out of a crappy situation. 1 I am not the original poster; I only added my 2¢ in on the post and explained some of my experiences in life. 2 I did not in any way say anything that bashed any one, I did not say anything that generalized anything about any type, race or creed of any women. I only explained a bit of my experiences with women. And only talked about my personal experiences. In fact the only thing you could even fault me with was my first sentence stating that I agreed with scott55 “a little” and I really meant to stress the a little part. A few other things to clarify here. I never set out to find a Filipino woman or a woman from any other nationality. I will admit I have always been attracted to Asian women in general. But I have never given preference over any type of women in looking for a life mate. If you really want to know I was introduced to my wife through the wife of a co worker. I was at a company picnic and discussing my latest relationship fiasco with her husband and she spoke up and said “OHHHH I have the perfect woman for you”. She introduced us and we started chatting on line for almost a year. To clarify another statement I only said I was there for 20 days in the summer but I never said anything about other trips. In fact I have been there for over 100 days out of the last 180 days. I have been going over in 20 day increments to maintain visa status plus I have to go home every once in a while just to pay the bills and take care of business here in the states. In fact my last trip was over the Christmas New Year’s holiday from the 19 of December to the 7th of January where we got married. Please don’t lump me in with others bashing, or making any type of generalized and across the board statement about American / western woman. I said nothing of the sort. So when you quote things I said use them in the correct context please.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-13 07:17:00
IMBRA Special Topics	Third K1 Visa	I am sorry but I have to agree with steve55 a little bit, My circumstances are different but being a 41 year old male and wanting children are big differences for me. First of all I have been married twice. The first time I was 21 and she was 36, she had an etopic pregnancy and then basically flipped out on me. The loss of the child so messed her up I really think she turned schizophrenic on me. 6 months after the surgery she split, no word or anything. It took a year and a detective to find her just to get the divorce. At the same time she split she took everything I owned,,,it was so bad, I mean, one day I came to a completely empty house,,, not even a tooth pick was left,, she took my tooth brush and clothes, she even took my dirty laundry. The detective tracked down the household goods by finding the moving company that moved her. She had moved everything into a friend’s garage 5 hours away. I had to get a court order to just get my clothes and personal effects back. The “friends” would not or did not know where she was so the detective had to do a skip trace on her. I had to find a kind judge in both ohio and Kentucky to order her friends to not release any of the marital property until matters were settled in court for the disposition. At first the wanted to be nasty to me about the household goods and would not give them back lol Boy were they pissed when I asked for the garage to be sealed by the police lol… My Ohio Judge was pissed so he said that they can either hold the goods in a sealed garage until the property settlement was completed or they could turn the goods over to me. The police would not let them take anything out of the garage before it was sealed,,,, … I got to be witness for a locksmith placing tamper seals on their garage door, window, and interior door…lol. It only took them 6 weeks to relent and give me my stuff. I took my time going down and getting it too lol…. Well any way we finally found the ex and I got the divorce for abandonment we were divorced exactly 24 months from the day we got married. The second one was a Canadian woman that I met while on vacation we dated for 4 years before we got married. I did the K1 with her. It was almost 2 years after we were married that I found out almost everything she told me about her past while we were dating was a lie. I found out that she was previously married (that didn’t turn up in the K1 Process) I found out that she had 2 kids that she did not have custody of, the EX had coustody… Well long story short, I forgave her for the lies and maintained the relationship. 4 years later I found out that the reason she was divorced in the first place was because she was an alcoholic. I found out when she fell off the wagon and got a DUI with a BAC of 0.42 yes I said zero point four two. (that would kill a normal person) STILL I maintained the relationship and tried to dry her out. After 7 more years, dealing with the lies and the on and off the wagon issues, raising her two boys that I helped her get custody back for. I finally gave up and walked out on her when I caught her making arrangements to meet men from Yahoo dating service. So here I am a 41 year old man, whose biggest regret in life in not having kids of his own… This puts me in a precarious position. 1 finding a woman that WANTS to have kids 2 Finding a woman that WANTS to have children with a 41 year old man 3 Finding a woman that wants to have kids and does not have any of her own (You may find it distasteful but raising two kids that haven’t talked to me since the divorce will do that to a person) 4 I am 6’ 3” and weigh 215 lbs, finding a woman with the above qualifications that does not weigh more than me (no matter what you say sexual attraction is important in a relationship I just am not attracted to a woman that I cant put my arms around or that I cant breath when she lies on top of me) 5 Finding a woman that wants peace in her life, wants to raise a family with good family values (she can work or not as long as she is happy, my income is well in the top 10 percentile of the US. I only ask that if she works that child care not cost us more than what she earns, if it does then it is a better financial decision for her to be with the kids) So when you look at it from my perspective I am not being picky or closed minded I just know what I want….. Most woman run for the hills when I discuss what I want and the ones that don’t, have other problems that make them usually come out within a few months of dating. So here I am, I have found what I find to be the perfect woman. A 24 year old Filipino woman that wants the same thing in life as I do. We met through the wife of a co worker. We talked on line for 5 months, I visited her for 20 days in the summer, and we started talking about marriage and the K1 visa process. She really wanted to get married in the Philippines and be given away by her father, and her parents wanted to witness her wedding. We got married December, 29 2008. I am totally nuts about her and she is probably more nuts about me……… and that my friends is why I find myself on VJ, researching the K3 process Troy W.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-11 02:14:00
China	Membership of Chinese Communist Party	HAving friends in china, my understanding the you have to be a member of CCP to go to school. I would thing the imigration officer would know that and ignore it.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-23 20:56:00
China	Retaining original residence	QUOTE (Sean/Yan @ Apr 6 2009, 03:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Here's is a question that might stump a lot of people. When she moves here and even stays for 2 or 3 years (maybe even 10) but wants to retire back in China, should she even try to file for US citizenship? Will she loose the ability to return to China? Thanks My understanding from a Chinese friend is that if she takes a US Citizenship she will automatically loose her Chinese citizenship due to Chinese laws. But my friend also has a US Green card presently and has no issue returning to china, and even still owns property there.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-04-06 14:39:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Husband ( USC) claim his divroce with Ex ( USC) was not final ...	Actually if he wasn’t divorced he would not need to get the second divorce to the Filipino wife as the marriage would not be legal in the first place. But knowing what I have been recently through with getting married in the Philippines, unless he lied and said he was never married he would have to have brought certified copies of the divorce decree from the previous marriage. And they kept my copies so I had to get new ones again when I filed for my K3 in the states. It sounds more like he is trying to pull a fast one on his wife and snooker her into a quickie non contested divorce. Tell her not to sign, and contact an attorney in the states, since the husband is such an #### tell her to ask for spousal support. Lol that will get his goat. One thing she can do if she doesn’t have the funds to hire an attorney and can’t get into the states to fight the divorce tell her to write a letter to the court and explain her situation with money and the visa. Most courts will assign an attorney for her defense at the husband’s expense if she asks for it.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-27 12:34:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	K3/K4 and adoption (long post)	What's the possibility of getting the birth certificate corrected? Lawyer says only through adoption, My wife and her mother went to NSO and tried to change it but they refused. I know my wife's parents would be more than happy signing notarized letters absolving parental rights, stating that she is the child of my wife’s, and a DNA test is easy enough. Also I believe we could even get the delivering DR to say my wife gave birth to her.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-28 19:25:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	K3/K4 and adoption (long post)	Hey all, a couple of questions, Excuse the long post but this is the only way I can explain the situation and get correct responses. Firs of all My wife has a 3 year old daughter, Like most women in her situation the father made all kinds of promises to get her out of her pants, and as soon as she got pregnant he promptly disappeared. (I was a 20 year old at one time myself and am sure I used the same bull ####### lines back then too) Well any way, my wife’s parents convinced her to put their names on the birth certificate. I don’t remember the formal name of it but the lawyer I spoke to in the Philippines said this was quite common in the Philippines. In the states I don’t believe that could happen without formal adoption procedures so I don’t believe we would even recognize this situation. In effect in the eyes of the United States, this makes my wife’s daughter effectively and legally her sister. Well any way when I filled out the I130 I claimed my wife’s daughter on the form with the intent of adopting her at a later dates. Through discussions with my wife and her family we have decided that it would be better to bring her daughter to the states sooner than later, let the daughter acclimate to English language and the US way of life much sooner than right before she starts school like previously discussed. This was also decided due to the international and Philippine laws about adoption. It is confusing at best but it almost looks like I would have to live in the Philippine for 2 years before we could adopt her, if we wanted to adopt her from the states. Effectively we have decided to perform a joint adoption in the Philippines based on my wife’s residency in the Philippines. We will be doing the adoption at the same time as we are waiting on the USCIS approvals. Now here is the question. Do I fill out the I129 and claim our daughter under K4 status and fill out the I130 later like I originally planned or do I file the form fill out the foreign adoption forms and claim her as my daughter right away, or do I fill out both? The lawyer said to do the I129 and K4 to our daughter here faster. I know we can have her last name after the adoption kept the same as my wife’s maiden name. And just change it legally here in the states at a later date. What is everyone’s opinion on this and what are others experiences in similar situations. Or is the adoption even required. If we can produce certified letters from my wife’s parents that our daughter is really my wife’s biological daughter along with a DNA report supporting that fact would the US consulate let her K4 visa go through and let us adopt state side.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-28 18:21:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	How long to wait for NOA1?	it took exactly 14 days for me.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-28 19:27:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	I130 Approval on 20th Jan 2009	QUOTE (supsup @ Feb 4 2009, 05:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hurray! I130 approved! I invite everyone who is anticipating response from NVC. Congratulations and good luck! Lets do this thing and get it over with Could you pleas correct your time line it is confusing since the NOA1 and approval dates are wrong.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-04 19:39:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	January filers	I am a january filer too,,,,,,,,,,,, January I130 and Feb I129F	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-15 13:14:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Has anyone gotten married in the Philippines?	WARNING LONG READ…. Ignore if you are easily bored lol I had the divorce documents but they didn’t ask for them, I had e-mailed the embassy prior to going to manila and they just said passport, birth certificate and certified divorce documents for all previous marriages. It was simple and quick; the whole thing took about 45 minutes. When you go to the city offices to get your marriage license plan on spending several hours there, also bring an ice bag for your wrist, all the forms you will have to sign are a pain. I got married in Libmanan and the whole process was very informal, It helped that one of the aunts of my fiancé was good friends of the woman that does the marriage license’s. The counseling session was a hoot, I have never laughed so hard in my life….The questions were in Bicol so they had to be translated verbally for me, and my wife and I were sitting right next o each other when we did it. As I was already married before they only asked me a subset of the questions, I also feel they shorted it a little because the person giving the questions really struggled with the translations. She kept saying he nose was bleeding. But all in all, all the questions were about good communication and responsibilities of each party in the marriage. A lot of it was out dated and it sounded like it came from good house keeping magazine from the 50’s if you know what I mean…….. If you either of you have been married before don’t bother with the Catholic Church unless you have your annulment papers, the bishops are very very conservative there. We did a neighborhood wedding and I swear the WHOLE neighborhood was there. there must have been over 200 people witnessing our wedding. The day before our wedding, I had a 3 hour conversation with the Mayor, My fiancé was considered to be a beloved daughter of the WHOLE neighborhood and all the elders wanted to get to know me. The mayor also lived in the same neighborhood so he was the one to do the questioning. It was fun and informal but they also wanted very detailed information about my life and previous marriage. Ohhh and if it is the same type of neighborhood my fiancé is from (Rice Farming) plan on drinking LOTS AND LOTS of brandy. After they force fed me brandy and questioned me about every aspect of my life, finally the mayor and the elders spoke to each other and decided I was sincere in my intents, and would make a good husband for one of “their girls” he stood up shook my hand and said I like you troy so I will be here at 10 am tomorrow to give the vows…..lol this surprised me neither myself or my wife expected them to be so protective of her like that. But in retrospect as after the wedding I now see that if the Mayor and the elders did not like me they would not have married us. But at the same time they really wanted to protect their “daughter” As for the wedding ceremony well what can I say it took 2 days lol…. First and foremost there was VERY VERY loud music playing for 2 days strait even at night (made it hard to sleep the night before) Everyone and I mean Everyone helped prepare for the wedding, anyone that attended had some duty to perform. Basically I wandered around in a fog trying to stay out of everyone’s way and if I got into an area where work was going on and tried to help I was shooed away or some one would come grab me and try to force feed me MORE brandy. The wedding ceremony was a simple affair, but it was the first wedding I have ever seen where the vows were spoken while sitting down. It was quick and painless (except for the brandy hang over from the night before). Dinner and the cake were fun and the food was very good, If you have never been to the Philippines before, you will find that their diet is a lot of pork, and chicken and rice. But almost all of it is very good. After the wedding there will be a dance where people pin money to you, if you don’t know the dance some one will show you, my wife and I both did not know the dance steps so her father took her and an aunt took me through it. as an American in the Philippines the money they pinned on me really didn’t amount to much so don’t worry about it, it is a gift from people that honestly cant afford it. 500 peso to them is a lot of money 500 peso to us is about 10 bucks. Be appreciative nod and say thank you a lot. Make them feel that you really appreciate what they are doing. In the end I gave all the money to my wife’s parents as I felt they could use it much more than I could. I can honestly say that I have never felt so much a part of a family as I felt with them. In the end before I left the last time I was told my wife’s parents that to them I was as much a son to them as if I was their real son. I loved being in the Philippines so much and was made so welcome by my wife’s family I can honestly say I will do anything for them and there will be MANY MANY trips back to visit. Our kids will know and appreciate their heritage, both the American and the Filipino.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-17 16:26:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	to start the k3 proccess what are the requirements	QUOTE (GS4EVER @ Feb 22 2009, 09:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Talking about phone bills, last year we spent thousands on phone calls alone!! Until we discovered free MSN video call with webcam! I wonder if it's a consiracy b/w USCIS & the phone companies to delay our reunion, cz the longer the wait, the more phone calls we will be making j/k...Anyways, good luck with everything Get het internet in her house if you can and sign up for Vonage if possible all you need is a US address for the billing,,,they dont care where the equipment is.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-22 23:11:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!! USCIS lost my payment	Ok , I spoke to a USCIS Officer today; he was very nice, pleasant and helpful. He looked up my case and said he could not tell why my case was rejected for a lost payment. He even saw the record where my check number was written on the case document. He could also see that my I130 was on hold but my I129f was proceeding, he could not explain that either. He said apparently there was a mistake in Chicago at the lock box.. He instructed me to get a copy of the check front and back from the bank and send it to them. The good news was he told me to send it to California service center, he said that is where my petition is now. He said that because of the mistake, my petition would be handled once I sent in the copy of the check…. Hopefully that means I will be processed sooner but for some reason I doubt it… We will see. Well any way the good news is that my case is in California and not in Vermont… Keep your fingers crossed wish me luck.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-24 19:17:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!! USCIS lost my payment	QUOTE (jasman0717 @ Feb 23 2009, 08:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Did they return the package to you? Copies but not the originals. They only sent me the original proof of relationship stuff.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-23 20:18:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!! USCIS lost my payment	I got a I-797 today Rejection Notice. They said I didnt provide the correct payment. Fortunatly it was a certified check, I will go to the bank tomorrow and get a copy of it and start the phone calls to USCIS to dispute. Anyone else have this happen and know the best way to deal with it? It looks like they sent ma back coppies of all my original submissions of the forms and required documents, but it looks like they sent me the originals of the relationship proof, except all my photos, including the passport photos. God they are soo messed up.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-23 18:58:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	For All us January 2009 1-130/1-129F Filers at VSC	I am still waiting on my Noa1 for the I130 Troy	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-25 09:22:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Letter to President	QUOTE (dane @ Feb 25 2009, 08:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> as a kid i used to write to president Clinton in his first term. i mailed the letters and always got a response. i think if you mail the letter addressed to the president @ the white house, you will get a response, which you can at least shove in the examiners face. i think the reason why snail mail gets responses is because someone actually pre-screens the letters to the president (or there is an actual TEAM) and not some unattended computer with a email address with 8392758975893475987534 emails and cobwebs on the keyboard. go snail mail. I wrote Obama a snail mail a mont a go and have not recieved a reply as of yet.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-26 00:53:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Will my K3 be approved this week?	I cant believe this people are getting approved in 26 days at CSC while vermont is at 7 months still....not that i am mad at CSC filers they just got the luck of the draw it is the fact that us VSC people are so screwed	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-01 20:29:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Question about Required Documents At Embassy	the form list id very clear on the K1 but not on the K3	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-10 17:34:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Question about Required Documents At Embassy	bump	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-10 07:18:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Question about Required Documents At Embassy	I am trying to prepare all of the documents that I can for my wife ahead of time so I can send them to her with the I-130 and I-129f packets. I know some of the documents she will get from the embassy with her packet and will have to be filled out there. But what is the list of documents that I can send to her already filled out. Also what are the documents that the embassy will send her?	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-09 06:36:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Question About Time And Expediting	QUOTE (Tom and Wariya @ Mar 20 2009, 09:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I have an I-130 petition filed for my wife in Thailand. After going to Chicago and then to Vermont, it was sent to, of all places, California, for processing. When I called I was told it was because they were too busy in Vermont. Of course, I don't understand how any USCIS office in Calif. could be less busy as Vermont but what the heck. Is there any way to get the petition expedited during the wait for the approval process after it has already been filed? Why, with the change to CSC you could get your approval in about 2 months. CSC is moving a lot faster than Vermont	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-20 17:18:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	vsc slower than csc on K1 and K3 + proceeding lifo on Cr/ir	The letter i just got in the mail today about this very issue. Dear Mr. Troy W Thank you for your recent correspondence. I was sorry to learn of the difficulties you are currently encountering In an effort to service you I have contacted the appropriate officials of the USCIS Vermont Service Center. I have advised them of my interest in your situation and asked that you be given every proper consideration. I have also asked them to provide a complete explanation to your questions regarding the approval time frame for this type of visa and the status of your petition. Just as soon as I have anything to report I will be in touch with you again. In the meantime, do not hesitate to call if I can assist you in any way. Best personal regards, Jim Bunning United States Senator **********************	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-24 19:37:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	MARRIAGE IN PHILIPPINES	QUOTE (Chris & Joyce @ Apr 4 2009, 02:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Im planning on marrying my girlfriend in the philippines. i currently live in USA (California). I will be seeing her in about 1 month (May 13-24, 2009). My question is... What will I need to take to have her sign and what are the requirements? Also, how long can I expect her to be here once i return? Thank for all your help:) I can tell you right now you won’t have enough time to get legally married in the Philippines unless you plan on getting married on the 24th and have everything started and completed on the 13th, plus you probably won’t get the final paperwork until the 27th any way if everything goes perfectly. Your best bet is to add a 3rd week to your trip if possible. All you will need is a birth certificate, a passport, and a CERTIFIED copy of all previous divorce decrees from any previous marriages. When you get to the Philippines you will have to get an affidavit of legal capacity to contract marriage at the US consulate. You can only get this between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Monday through Friday except on holidays. In order to file her CR1/K3 you will need at least 2 signed copies of a G-325a (all 4 pages for each signed copy so it is 8 pages in all)	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-04-04 01:41:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	my k3 application forwarded to Fraud unit	What is the age gap? I thought if you sent relationship proof in to USCIS, that they could not use proof of relationship against you or is that a misconception, I also thought that the consulate officer was not to re adjudicate unless there was clear and convincing evidence of fraud. Wasn’t there a memorandum sent out by the state department a little while stating just that?	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-01 22:48:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Married In The Philippines	Well a lot of things happen in the Philippines that don’t exactly follow the letter of the law. The legal capacity to contract marriage form is required by Philippine law. It is the foreigner’s version of CENOMAR that is required when you apply for the marriage license. If I was in your shoes I would just wait and see what NSO does. If NSO issues a marriage certificate then forget about it and consider your self lucky. If they don’t then you have to get your marriage annulled and start over again.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-06-07 15:40:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Homeland Securtiy knocked on the door.	QUOTE (Old Dominion @ Aug 15 2009, 08:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Safest thing is to do what the previous poster suggested...marry & petition for a CR-1 visa for her. Why didn’t you just marry her while she was here instead of filing the K1 and just file for an AOS for her?	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-08-29 12:00:00
US Citizenship General Discussion	My wife filed for divorce today: What can I do?	First of all, Don’t leave the marital residence voluntarily. Most states do not force one person out of the marital home unless there is abuse involved. Quite frankly your spouse can not even force you out of the marital bed in a lot of states. Your best bet is to just hire an attorney for the divorce and play a delaying game. File responses to her divorce motions at the latest moment possible by law,,, your attorney can help you with that if you explain to him what you need. You have an ace in the whole for the divorce, the affidavit of support, make sure you lawyer stresses that to your spouse and he uses it for leverage. Listen to the others for the immigration issues you originally asked about but as far as the divorce is concerned as long as you play nice with your spouse you could delay the divorce for years. Also a nice delaying tactic I have seen used is simply going before the judge in one of the pretrial motions and saying you love your spouse and asking for a delay in the matter to see if you two can work it out. In Michigan that is an automatic 6 month stay in the process. It is not in law as far as I know but my EX wife did it to me. I ended up spending 18 months living, supporting and even sleeping in the same bed with a woman that I had filed divorce from. In my case I gave up on the divorce in Michigan and moved to Kentucky.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-01 12:47:00
Canada	Lady getting married, will travel. Helps!	/snip A passport is not required to enter the U.S. except after a visit outside the Western Hemisphere. /snip Dont count on not requiring a passport, There is a new law that requires ANYONE entering the US to have a passport or a passport card. It was suposed to go into full effect in 2008 but i think they delayed it for canadians untill some time in 2009. As for K1/K3 my ex wife was canadian, We lived together for 4 years before we go married, and she crossed the border every several months to go back and forth, Didnt have any problems at all. just hat to go to toronto to pick up the K1 Visa and got it stamped at the border. Untill she got the AOS she did NOT go back to canada once we were married.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-01-27 19:29:00
Philippines	Filipinos Learning How to Drive	QUOTE (RonnieKris @ Oct 17 2008, 06:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (PingLocalHostess @ Oct 17 2008, 12:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Trying to learn. But driving in US is a lot different, i guess. Yes, driving is a lot different... for the most part, we obey stop lights and signs...hahahaha Dont you mean we actually HAVE stoplights, signs and laws????	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-06 20:32:00
Philippines	Abortion Question	QUOTE (rockhouse @ Feb 21 2009, 01:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Exterminate a baby, then back it up with a lie. Good start to a meaningful relationship. Not that I agree with abortion but it is absolutely not your place to judge her or him, and you have no idea about the circumstances.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-02-21 23:12:00
Philippines	Documents required fot K3	I am trying to prepare all of the documents that I can for my wife ahead of time so I can send them to her with the I-130 and I-129f packets. I know some of the documents she will get from the embassy with her packet and will have to be filled out there. But what is the list of documents that I can send to her already filled out. Also what are the documents that the embassy will send her? the form list is very clear on the K1 but not on the K3	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-10 18:08:00
Philippines	Need help as i'm going to the philippines this coming April 15, 2009.	QUOTE (Michael and Milahjean @ Feb 15 2009, 05:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (melvs-bhing @ Feb 15 2009, 05:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ok i decided to get marriend in the philippines. I only have 3 weeks to stay there. Now i have another question to all of you? I'll arrive in manila on April 16 (Friday). I'll go directly to US Embassy and the affidavit in lieu of a certificate of legal capacity to marry. Then go to City Hall to apply for civil marriage license. Now do i need to get married in the City Hall on the 10th day (May 1st)? Or i can get marry to my own church on May 2nd? Please advice. How long is the waiting time to get the marriage contract from them? Hmmm....you have time for a civil wedding only, based upon what I've read here regarding the detailed requirements of a church wedding, especially if Catholic. Arriving on a Friday is going cause a bit of a delay for you since you can't hit the USEM until first thing Monday for the affidavit, which is only availble between 8-10 am. (I arrived late Sunday night and was at the USEM at 6 am on Monday, then we left for Leyte at 6 am Tuesday, which meant nearly no sleep since the Friday before!!!.) Get up early and head for the USEM. When you get inside be sure you are waiting in the correct area. There are waiting areas and windows scattered throughout. Be sure you grab a number when you arrive. Your fiance must be with you. No one else is allowed inside. Bring a certfied copy of your birth certificate, your passport of course and a certified copy of a divorce degree if you are divorced. There is a fee - it was $30 US in 2006. Be sure you have plenty of certified copies of your documents because you'll need them to apply for the marriage license at her local office and also later on when you file the I-130. We applied for the license on Wednesday at her place. We had to wait the 10 days before the license was issued. Some have said you can "buy" the 10 days to save time, but I would not try that. We were married the same day the license was issued (Monday two weeks after receiving the affidavit), and did the marriage seminar the same day also (another requirement you'll need to know about). Try your best to get a copy of the certified LCRO (local civil registrar office) marriage certificate before you leave for the US. I had to leave her place the very next day and there was no time to get the copy. I had to wait a month for my asawa to send it to me which delayed our filing time. You'll need the NSO copy later on when you get into the NVC visa application process. There's loads of documents you're asawa will need to collect in the 2-3 months following your wedding. Just be prepared and you'll be fine. There are many many guides and references online that are very helpful. Do your homework now!!! There's no time waste. Good luck. M&M Follow the blue line for American Citizen Services, and your fiancé does not have to be with you at the embassy but she does have to be with you at the city offices when you apply for the marriage license, if your fiancé is under 25 she will have to get consent from her parents. (21 through 22 years of age require consent, 23 through 24 requires parental advice) When I did it I got into Manila at 6 am was at the embassy at 7:45 or so and was out by 8:30 or 9:00 am	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-10 18:19:00
Philippines	American Filipina relationship user manual	QUOTE (pepe N pilar @ Mar 3 2009, 05:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Mykuls Merry Ann @ Mar 3 2009, 05:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> So if it dont fit ... "If it don't fit, you must acquit!" Does anybody know from which famous trial did those words become legendary? To the first one who gives the correct answer, I owe you something. HEHEHE OJ I was watching when it happened and was said. But he got his in the long run.	Troy W	Male	Philippines	2009-03-05 19:17:00