Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Philippines	APPROVED	CONGRATULATIONS	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-29 00:45:00
Philippines	How do we establish dual citizenship?	I woke up to lots of good information. Thanks for all the help!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-31 18:42:00
Philippines	How do we establish dual citizenship?	Your wife has to re-apply for Philippine citizenship, after she has acquired USC status. http://www.philippin...dc/faq-dc/#dual Great link. Thank you for that!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-31 06:36:00
Philippines	How do we establish dual citizenship?	Nothing wrong with thinking about it now. Saves a LOT of stress later Download the N-400 form and save it to your computer (I have). Remember to update it any time she leaves the country because that's easy to forget (Don't know about you but I don't remember EXACT visit dates after a while ) Also if applying on the 3 year/marriage they will want relationship evidence (like with ROC if applicable). So again look at the forms and instructions and get a box and start putting relationship stuff aside. I'm doing ROC at the moment and thought I had saved some bills from online but it turns out I didn't and Verizon only keeps them for a year and my gas/elec only have the last 3 months or so... So i wish I'd saved them every month but oh well! Excellent advice. Thanks again!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-30 22:03:00
Philippines	How do we establish dual citizenship?	They're not citizens, they're legal permanent residents. You probably know this but you'd be surprised how many people don't If they have 2 year cards first is ROC in 2 years from being an LPR, and THEN USC. If they have 10 year cards then USC. They would apply for USCS either 3 years after being an LPR (as long as your wife is still married to you) or 5 years (not still married to you). They would be dual citizens automatically by getting USC. They don't have to do anything to be "recognised as dual's".. at least not in the US. That's kinda how I understood it by trying to make sense of the new Philippine law regarding dual citizenship. However, even though I have often explained it takes 3 years to become USC, common-sense escaped me on not having to worry about this topic until that time.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-30 21:16:00
Philippines	How do we establish dual citizenship?	Hi, We just got my wife and 10 year-old son's visa. What do we need to do for them to establish dual citizenship in Philippines? Yeah. Now that the visa process is almost over, I'm finding myself with time on my hands.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-30 20:53:00
Philippines	Visiting Fiance after visa, before entry	Get a one-way ticket to someplace like Malaysia, dated within 21 days or 59 days if you get the visa in the US - I used Air Asia and paid @$35. You don't have to use the ticket but you have to show you have a ticket out of the country - Philippine immigration will want to know that, as well as the airline you are arriving on. The extension at the 59 day mark will cost about $150, you will be applying for an ACR-I card at the time which is part of that. Then at the 4 month mark, another @$75, I think. Payable in pesos. If the last day of any of your extensions falls on a holiday or weekend, you need to apply earlier or get fined. Good luck!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-28 18:20:00
Philippines	Done with interview	Did the embassy say you were approved?	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-28 03:50:00
Philippines	HAVEN'T RECEIVE APPOINTMENT LETTER	When did you schedule the appointment? If you scheduled in the last couple of days, you may not have gotten confirmation because this is Holy Week. If you scheduled before Thursday, something is wrong and you should call the embassy for help. "Book an appointment by calling (02) 982-5555 and (02) 902-8930 for calls within the Philippines and other countries aside from mainland United States or (214) 571-1600 for calls from mainland United States. The call center is open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, Manila time, except on U.S. and Philippine holidays." Edited by Robert and Ramona, 06 April 2012 - 04:22 AM.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-06 04:13:00
Philippines	How long does it take to get the CFO sticker - Cebu or Manila?	Sorry, should have read your post closer....... I'm not sure on this but a phone call might be in order to save confusion. It could go either way, they want it where the class was finished or they may not care as long as you have the cert and visa. I don't have a good answer on this but you're getting close!! Bob Best of LUCK!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Bob. Yes we are getting close. woohoo Just swing by PRISM show them the certificate that CFO has been completed, pay fee (has to be another fee ), and they will affix the sticker. The Fee...of course!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-05 22:54:00
Philippines	How long does it take to get the CFO sticker - Cebu or Manila?	Thanks guys. She has already done the class - just need to get the sticker.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-05 04:21:00
Philippines	How long does it take to get the CFO sticker - Cebu or Manila?	We are trying to plan how long we should be in Manila before we leave or if we could get the sticker in Cebu. Ramona did her seminar in Manila, so would it be ok to get the sticker in Cebu while we are there for a couple of days? Or if it's just a matter of walking in and getting a sticker, we could do it a couple days before we leave in Manila, even though I don't like to wait until the last minute - seems like something always comes up. Thanks!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-04 21:59:00
Philippines	Do we need the visa before getting the CFO sticker?	Can the CFO class and sticker be gotten in the same day? Is the sticker given at the location where the class is held or a separate location? Our plan is to have her attend the CFO class the day before she flies from Manila to America. You can get them the same day, in the same location, as long as you have the visa in hand. We did our seminar early because it was required when Ramona changed her status on her passport after we were married. I would suggest not waiting until the last minute to do anything. VJ is filled with stories of complications from waiting too long then finding you need something extra or the person with the authority was having a bad day.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-11 17:45:00
Philippines	Do we need the visa before getting the CFO sticker?	From where is your wife in the Philippines originally? Actually, CFO will let you take the seminar even without the visa and will just come back as soon as you have the visa in hand to get the sticker for your passport. As long as you're done with the CFO seminar they will give you the certificate but will advice you to get the CFO sticker to be attached on your passport onced your visa arrived. I am from Cebu, that's how it works there. My friends did it too while waiting for their visas to save time. She is from Tacloban and she has already done the seminar, just no sticker.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-21 19:57:00
Philippines	Do we need the visa before getting the CFO sticker?	Thanks. That saves a wasted trip!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-19 08:38:00
Philippines	Do we need the visa before getting the CFO sticker?	My wife was going to get the CFO sticker while in Manila, it sounds like we have to wait until we get the visa to get the sticker. Is that true?	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-19 08:27:00
Philippines	This CENOMAR insanity	You can nit-pic on the wording all you want and wear out your keyboard even. Hard reality is you give the embassy what they request or not get approved. You know (by now) when a married person goes to request a CENOMAR they will be issued the CEMAR that is needed. Give over it. Thousands of other did not have a issue following the instructions. Jeez!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-12 06:02:00
Philippines	This CENOMAR insanity	Chances are that they do not yet have the CENOMAR. We had to wait four weeks for ours, but we were lucky to have gotten our CENOMAR, which is actually called something else for married people, ahead of time. I don't know why your attorney would tell you a CENOMAR wasn't needed when it is listed on the embassy website as a requirement and almost every story here on VJ mentions it.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-11 17:23:00
Philippines	NOA 2s are over due for December 2011 Filers	10th of May. We have a few more weeks of visiting with family and friends before heading to the airport. Amy is doing her CFO on Wednesday. All the best with the surgery and a quick recovery for Nanay. Thank you. We just need the sticker, so we will get to Manila a couple of days early. Have fun!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-16 05:24:00
Philippines	NOA 2s are over due for December 2011 Filers	So when is the flight to the states? June 8th. Nanay needed to have surgery, so we decided to stay until she is feeling better. We have to be gone by the 16th or we get put back into the system, and there is no way I want to go through this again. How about you? Edited by Robert and Ramona, 15 April 2012 - 10:33 PM.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-15 22:31:00
Philippines	NOA 2s are over due for December 2011 Filers	They don't recognize holy week in Vermont or California....	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-15 20:44:00
Philippines	NOA 2s are over due for December 2011 Filers	Holy Week slows everything done, but other than that - relax - you will make yourself crazy.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-12 18:24:00
Philippines	Filipina	Ya being "watched closely" when in public ..... lots of reason for that. That is one thing I don't enjoy here - some of the other reasons. Sometimes my wife is a little bothered by people always watching, but I just tell her to be happy she is married to such a handsome man that people want to look.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-16 21:27:00
Philippines	Filipina	I just came back from visiting my fiancee in The Philippines. Many times when we saw "Fil-Am" couples there was something did not seem right. I pointed out many irregulatities to my fiancee regarding how some of these couples acted towards each other. Many times we would see a couple walking in the street or the mall, no holding hands, no eye contact, and the both had blank looks on their faces. Couples at the several airports we went to would not even be sitting together. It was always little things but we both noticed them. Why would a man travel half way around the world looking for love to treat her that way when they were finally together. When we were together we always laughed and joked, and talked to each other, and held hands, and just really enjoyed each other with BIG smiles on our faces all the time. We would happily trade place with those couples just to be together again. We really miss each other a lot. I do have a fiancee that is filipina and I am American and we love each other as much as any couple of any nationality anywhere!!! I used to feel the same way. My wife and I are a lot like you and yours - she likes to hold my arm and laugh. My wife explained part of that is filipino culture. They are taught it is not proper to show public displays of affection. Some of that is probably due to levels of familiarity - some couples have been together for a long time, some are just starting out. After 5 years together, my wife and I probably aren't quite as "lovey-dovey." Then there are couples who are married because the woman would have married almost any foreigner who would have her, and the man would have married almost any woman who would have him - at least that's my opinion. My wife tells me to mind my own business if I comment on other people. She is usually the voice of reason.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-16 19:51:00
Philippines	Passed Interview	WooHoo	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-04-20 17:26:00
Philippines	Bring them back with me!	As many of you know, Eve and I have had a rather difficult journey. Now that her 2nd round of sputum tests are done, because they don't seem to be able to understand and follow their own guidliness, and not even a U.S. Senator could do anything about it, I am going to travel to the Philippines to be there for her 2nd interview on the 25th. Her negative sputum culture results will be back no later than the 21st, and she is going to start calling St. Lukes on Monday. I am leaving Cincinnati on the 22nd. We have been told through the Senator's office that no additional financial records will be needed and no other records such as cenomar's or anything else should be required, just her repeated medical exam. Frankly, I've lost my ability to believe the U.S. Embassy. We have also been told that if she presents a letter to the Embassy during the interview she can pick up the visa's there. Considering the last time they sent them via Phil Post to the wrong zip code and it took over 15 days I feel like I need to pretty much insist on picking them up at this point. I'm looking for a hotel recomendation for the night before the interview. I am also for any advice that anyone who had gone with their fiancee to their interview can offer. Somehow I need to get their plane tickets for the return trip to be rebooked on the same flight as me, has anybody done this with Delta? The one really big complication that I have is that I have to be in Orlando on the morning of the 10th thru the 14th for Microsoft Tech-Ed. So delays of more than a few days can be a big problem. My thought is to just fly directly to Orlando from MNL and then just either rent a car and drive home or we could ride back with one of my co-workers who has to drive for medical reasons. Flying back would be an option but the airlines would charge us a lot for the extra luggage because they only allow one checked back for domestic flights but 2 for international flights. I am a little concerned that Eve will have her visa flagged as PTB class B2 and she will have to go to a follow-up here in the U.S. within a month, I think. My other concern is that I'm taking a bit of a risk because I will have to book the plane tickets before we have the visa's in hand. But we haven't seen each other in over a year, and I really want to see Eve and Mae in person because Skype isn't very good for a lot of things. Honeslty, I am very focused on getting on a airplane with them. The thought is that if the U.S. Embassy has an issue with my dual citizenship with Canada due to my parents military orders, they can ask me personally. If they think there isn't enough evidence for an ongoing relationship, well I'll be standing there and their file from the Senator's office should be full of clear evidence that we have been very involved in each others lives. My main reason for going at this time is that I want to put an end to all the difficult things that they have thrown at us so we can get on a plane and start our lives together. Deep inside it will be hard for me to put on a smile and be nice to them, but I will do my best. I am all ears, looking for whatever advice you guys can offer me in this situation. I would also greatly appreciate your prayers that everything goes very well and we all get through this without any more problems. I'll certainly be taking my tax records even though they say they don't need them. The Senator's office has checked over all the paperwork and didn't see any problems, and the U.S. Embassy has told the senators office that we don't need any new paperwork other than the visa applications. One other thing. I know that going through customs is kind of crazy depending upon the airport we get routed through. Do they usually allow the USC to accompany their finacee's? I'm asking, because I know they will be moving around some boxes and stuff and that would just be a whole lot easier if I can be with them to help. Thank you for your continued support of Eve, Mae and I through this journey. --Jim The Boulevard Mansion Hotel is across from the walkway where you start to line up. Just walk out of the hotel and and a little to the right to the walkway. Very convenient. They have very hot water and good Wi-Fi and a kitchenette. The rooms are a little past their prime, but for one night it's good and just about 1600p. The interview when I was there was so easy I thought something was wrong and we were denied, but were approved. maybe they saw our son sleeping on my shoulder and decided to take it easy on us. I don't know about the other questions. Good Luck!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-05-09 19:59:00
Philippines	VISA APPROVED!! WOOOOOHOOOOO!	The delivery fee is already included in the visa fees. Times very, ours seemed kinda quick for the IR-1 then a little longer for the IR-2. CONGRATULATIONS!!!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-05-08 23:23:00
Philippines	Thank You All	Congratulations. What a journey!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-03-17 06:59:00
Philippines	Can someone suggest a good US cellphone plan to call and text to Philippines?	I'd love to use the internet options myself, but it just doesn't work where her family lives. I get the myblack011 through a local western union/check cashing place here. They gave me $5 in credit to try it and its worked pretty darn good and certainly better than any phone card I used previously. And 40 minutes for $5 could hardly be beat. Its right by my office, so really easy to load up. Although they have a web site option, I never managed to figure out how to activate my current account on the web site. Of course I only tried to once and gave up lol. The yahoo texting we'd been doing for years before she came here. Those international text rates are budget killers on both sides. My wife used to buy a globe card for international calling to the USA. For 100P she could call me for 40 minutes. Her sister still buys that card to call my wife. When my wife was there, thats how we made all our calls. I'd text her via yahoo, and she'd call me back on the globe card. Cheapest international calling we ever had without using free internet services and computers. I installed Viber on my phone, but never got the chance to try it. My wife left her smart phone there, but her sister isn't the best with tech devices Good info. I forgot about Yahoo SMS. We used that in the beginning then we had some kind of problem with setting up the account and kinda forgot all about it. Anyways, I think we will try that again. Thanks!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-07-03 13:59:00
Philippines	Can someone suggest a good US cellphone plan to call and text to Philippines?	Thanks guys. We don't want to have to use the internet. We planned on leaving a computer at home in PI, but that experiment failed before we were gone. We tried the Magic jack in PI, but didn't really care for it. I've also tried Vonage here, but Time Warner has some kind of program interfering with it. She really wants to be able to talk and text with her cellphone. I think a lot of that is just due to missing her cellphone and texting, but whatever makes her happy. I'll check out AT&T for texting and whatever.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-07-03 13:02:00
Philippines	Can someone suggest a good US cellphone plan to call and text to Philippines?	Hi, My wife needs a new cellphone and plan to talk and text back home. Can anyone give me a little information about a good plan? Thanks!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-07-03 12:33:00
Philippines	My 3-day Sputum Exam Experience	Follow up question... If on the 2nd day, immunization was given, does that mean being medically cleared? Or will the US embassy still be the one to decide regarding medical clearance on the day of the consul interview? After the immunizations, you are good to go. Just have to wait for the embassy to receive the paperwork from St Lukes, as long as you are talking about after you received a negative sputum. Edited by Robert and Ramona, 28 December 2012 - 06:45 PM.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-12-28 18:44:00
Philippines	My 3-day Sputum Exam Experience	It's my understanding that if your culture is negative, you won't have to undergo treatment. That is correct. That was our experience. Negative sputum, no treatment. My wife supposedly had a sppot in her lung, but the sputum was negative and no one in the US has been able to find a spot.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-12-28 17:05:00
Philippines	My 3-day Sputum Exam Experience	my wife also is required to do the "sputum culture", Im so worried. she just finish her 3 day testing this past friday and is told to return on aug.24 (fri) for her results. then another 2 months for the "sputum culture" =( her interview suppose to be on Sept 14 2012. She was a bit coughing (flu) when she went to take her medical, i am thinking this may be the cause for her x-ray results. god help us !! i hope everything will be okay. Ramona had a cold when she went to the medical and got hit with the sputum and 2 month culture - all of which were negative. She just got finished with required testing here in the states too - again all negative. The doctor here cleared her for good and said there was nothing to worry about, after comparing the tests and what they said was a spot - he said it must have been congestion.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-08-19 15:57:00
Philippines	One way to Philippines One way back?	You don't actually need a return ticket, you need an ongoing ticket out of the Philippines. I wasn't sure the exact date we would be leaving so I booked a one way to Philippines with United using frequent flyers, then got a ticket to Thailand (I think)for about $30, which I never used. Then when I knew the time-frame we were leaving, I called United and let them do the booking with frequent flyer miles for my return and bought two tickets for my wife and son, so I didn't have to worry about matching the tickets. Good luck!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2012-12-28 17:16:00
Philippines	What do you do for kareoke in the US?	Also recommend the Magic Sing 19EV or EK or whatever the dual mic wireless model is. About $300 to $350 in the US, comes with like 2600 songs. We've already added 6 chips to ours. Amazon has a dealer who sells chips for about $35, much cheaper than anywhere else I've seen, and so far all have been great and worked. Just search like Magic Sing Tagalog. One thing that sucks is that there is a lot of overlap. So you buy a new chip, and you will already have a bunch of those songs, so it's not like you get 'all' new ones every time. We search for a song sometimes only to see that across the built in and six chips we have, there are like four listings for that song! So it's duplicated four times. Funny thread, I didn't realize that everyone who's fiancé / wife comes from the Philippines also gets a Magic Sing This should probably be added as the middle step between K1 and AOS in the guides "Purchase Magic Sing" hahahaha great idea!!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2013-01-11 10:58:00
Philippines	What do you do for kareoke in the US?	Thanks guys. Looks like we will be getting a Magic Sing lol I'll take a look at the Xbox too since our son got one for Christmas. THANKS!	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2013-01-09 08:09:00
Philippines	What do you do for kareoke in the US?	My wife wants to put a kareoke/videoke room downstairs. I would like to surprise her with something. I have no idea where to start. I looked at some Magic Mike packages online and they were $500 - 1000. I am not excited about that. Anybody have any reasonable suggestions? Thanks, Robert	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2013-01-08 14:00:00
Philippines	Anyone have experience getting work with a degree from Philppines?	The education here is near the bottom of the education ladder.  They still require STENOGRAPHY in Business Management courses at Cebu University.  They spend more time in dance classes to prepare for the Sinulog than Math or Business.  Anyone that thinks the Education system in the Philippines is top notch is sadly mistaken.  JMHO   I just went through the dancing thing. She sent me a link to a college she wanted to attend for nursing and the name of the school was ":<*&^ Computer Technology College. They didn't have a website, instead they used a Facebook page and advertised how well they did in dancing and modeling competions. Obviously, that one got vetoed.   She is in Tacloban and they have some schools there that advertise 2 year practical nursing degrees which I don't know what it really is - no websites. They also have a program called TESDA that has a 6 month caregivers license which is what I'm thinking she can do while she is waiting for her visa - at least she can get a little exposure.   Thank you all for your input.	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2013-07-10 18:42:00
Philippines	Anyone have experience getting work with a degree from Philppines?	Our daughter is wanting to stay in Philippines for a 2 year nursing degree then come here.   Does anyone have experience with getting work with Philippine degree?   Her degree will be in practical nursing	Robert and Ramona	Male	Philippines	2013-07-10 14:33:00