Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Philippines	Headed to the Philippines	Hi all, I'm headed to the Philippines in September, more specifically to Butuan City to meet someone I've been corresponding with for a while now. I've found precious little information on Butuan, and have relied on my sweetheart to find a suitable place for me to stay. I'll likely stay at a hotel the whole time I'm there, although I have a feeling her family would gladly let me stay there. I have found a picture site, but the map leaves something to be desired. Butuan City Pictures I sure hope someone can help!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2008-07-04 20:02:00
Philippines	Not enough room on I-129F form	I wondered this myself...I ended up using the 'annotate' feature on my PDF reader to write everything in instead. I didn't want any of the letters of her first name cut off!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-09-19 17:19:00
Philippines	Almost ready to submit I-129F!	Hi all! I have a few short questions that I can't seem to find an answer for. I'm putting the finishing touches on all my paperwork (I guess it's not the end of it by any means) and hope someone knows the answer. When my fiancee signs her statement and her side of the G-325 (I know perhaps she doesn't have to sign that form yet, but I don't want to wait for them to ask) does it have to be the original document, or could it be a copy. During her interview they will have the original anyway...what do you think? I plan on having her send the documents (and her passport photos) to me, along with some of the photos of us that only existed on her camera. We have had an apartment since May 2010, and I'm curious whether or not we should submit the rent payment receipts? I plan on sending some Western Union transactions as well. Thanks in advance!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-09-19 17:32:00
Philippines	Assembling the k-1 package	can the passport style photos be printed off from my computer? Since she has to send all the documents to you anyway, why not have her get the passport photo taken there. I'm sure it'll be cheap. Printing your own passport photos is a dodgy proposition, especially if they don't accept the photos in question. I had to have 17 passport photos for my current job, and I ended up printing 3 5x7" photos with 6 2x2" passport photos on them. The difference here is, I sent them to Walmart to get them printed...the photos were perfect and I had no issues. I'm in the middle of putting together my own K-1 package, and I'm on the same step you are.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-09-20 08:04:00
Philippines	Back from the Philippines	yeah.... my wife convinced me to ride in a tricycle... once and i thought the pollution (and the fact i kept bumping my head) was gonna kill me. not to mention how huge and crowded manila is. im just not used to that. it was an experience though I rode in a tricycle once...and I'm pretty sure it'll be my last time as well...I felt kinda vulnerable way down low. I prefer to have a car door that locks! That said, I love Manila! OP, where did you end up traveling to? Glad you had a good time!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-09-27 08:17:00
Philippines	Buhay Amerika...I am missing life in Philippines!	Let's call everyone who will respond to this post to write in English to be fair enough. That's good suggestion guys! even if this is in the Philippines discussion area. I think its ok (or 'okey' as my sweetheart says it) that people can give advice in Tagalog. If a pinay has advice to give, and can't express it any other way, why not let her speak her native language? I don't speak much Tagalog, but I'm learning. Google has a great translator, while not perfect, is good enough for figuring out what's being said! I'm also homesick for the Philippines! I miss my home and my sweetheart. I also miss Pilipinas Win a Win! and the other shows we would watch together.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-09-27 08:50:00
Philippines	Another foreigner killed.	I'm wondering what to think here. Having made several trips to the Philippines, I can attest that I feel as safe there as I do at home. I don't go around with lots of money, I stay with my sweetheart, I try not to make myself look conspicuous. Its hard to blend into the crowd where we live in Cubao, but maybe I'm less of a target than in places like Angeles or Subic, where a lot of Americans congregate. My Filipino co-worker who lives in GenSan said I should just write off most of the island of Mindanao, for my own safety. I had some of my fiancee's relatives asking me what I thought of the Hostage-Taking situation at the Qurino Grandstand, and I told them "dumb things like this happen every day all over the world...that day it happened here."	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-09-23 20:22:00
Philippines	Christmas Plans...	We're spending Christmas and New Years in her hometown. Christmas is both of our favorite time of year! We had originally planned to be married on December 10th of this year, (we've since pursued the fiancee visa instead) because it's near the middle of both of our birthdays. I guess it was going to be our first Christmas as a married couple, but life has a way of changing your plans without your say-so. I'm pretty excited about spending the holidays in the Philippines!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-10-31 02:28:00
Philippines	Learning my fiancee 's culture	I still have a lot to learn in terms of pronunciation (not pronOUnciation) but it's not easy. This reminds me of a conversation I had with my fiancee about how she wants me to be "comfortable." Now ordinarily, I might be wrong here, but most Americans butcher this word and say what amounts to "comf-tor-bull" and I swear, the first time she said "comfortable" (it sounded like "com-for-ta-bull") i thought she was talking about me being in a "convertable" car.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-10-11 03:28:00
Philippines	I get to eat at Jolibee now.	If I want a good fast food burger, In & Out is it. As much as I love Jollibee, in-n-Out Burger is insanely good....there's no contest! I give kudos though to Jollibee due to their diverse menu...burgers, fried chicken, spaghetti...but nothing can top a Double Double with Cheese ("animal style" of course!) and I'm sure Filipinos love to have a little bit of home in the states.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-12-17 12:13:00
Philippines	I get to eat at Jolibee now.	I found this topic kinda entertaining considering my fiancee picked up some Jollibee on the way home from shopping. She always gives me a bad time about liking Jollibee, but there's a great variety of food there, burgers, fried chicken, spaghetti, fried fish...goes on and on. I should add that she gives me a bad time, but she LOVES their fried chicken, and that's what we had tonite! Langhap Sarap!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-12-16 11:12:00
Philippines	Married!	I'm sure its a silly question to ask, but my wife and I got married on 1/5/2011, and we have to wait a certain amount of time for the paperwork to process...but does she legally have my last name now? Does the NSO automatically assign her last name as her middle name, and put my last name as her new one? My wife plans on updating her passport as soon as she can (its her primary ID) so I'm curious how this works.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-01-08 09:40:00
Philippines	cheapest ticket	Why not check Delta Air Lines? They always seem to have the best prices for me. Plus searching on Expedia.com they showed up as the cheapest fare at $671.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-01-08 09:29:00
Philippines	Maybe retireing in the Philippines, I have some questions	You CANNOT lose your U.S. citizenship no matter how long you stay outside the U.S.! If you are a legal permanent resident, i.e., greencard holder and thus NOT a citizen, if you are absent for longer than six months, questions may arise as to whether you have abandoned your U.S. residency. This does not in any way, shape, or form apply to U.S. Citizens, born or naturalized. Disclaimer: This is not legal advice, but my personal opinion. While I am a law school graduate, I am not a licensed attorney and thus not qualified to give legal advice. This is absolutely true...I've resided outside the US for 3 out of the past 4 years, and so far as I know, as long as you renew your passport every 10 years you'll be OK. To the OP, the requirements aren't all that strict, but keep in mind, to have the 'retiree' status you would need to have about $50-70K in an account, and that's probably to ensure you buy a house to live in. There is a great website from the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, I'd recommend looking at it!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-01-08 16:27:00
Philippines	Philippines' NBI while in Dubai	Having been to Dubai, and knowing how far it is from Abu Dhabi...I'd recommend the consulate in Dubai (or more precisely, Deira) to get the necessary services done.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-01-12 12:38:00
Philippines	Share some Filipino Recipes!	As my wife is an excellent cook, I told her about your post...and that your fiance doesn't like sinigang. Keep in mind I had never had sinigang, so guess what we ended up having for dinner that night? It wasn't nearly as sour as I thought it'd be, and the soup broth goes good over the rice. I'm *really* going to miss these wonderful meals (I leave the Philippines on the 28th)	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-01-24 09:12:00
Philippines	Delta flight issue	I was on the same early morning Delta flight...I think for the most part Delta hasn't been too bad for me, but after reading this I may alter my plans for my wife's arrival. I would hope that her having my same last name will give her the benefit of the doubt, but just in case I'll supply her with a copy of my credit card. I really hope the rest of your plans go better! (PS--The flight wasn't that great...late leaving Manila by almost 30 mins, arriving at Narita only to wait 45 mins in line due to 'increased security measures')	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-01-29 00:35:00
Philippines	How was it the first time you meet him/her personally?	The first time I had arrived to meet my wife, I guess she got caught in traffic on the way to the airport. I had begun to think that after 45 minutes of waiting that she wasn't going to show up, and I'd have to get to my hotel, but eventually she did arrive. It was one of those 'slow-motion' moments when she walked up to me and we started talking face to face for the first time. To this day, however, she says that I didn't hug her like I said I would when I met her, but if you've stood in the NAIA waiting area for 45 mins (with no electric fan) you wouldn't want a hug, you'd want a shower.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-02-13 01:34:00
Philippines	Buying a laptop in the philippines	Some laptops in the Philippines might be purchased in the Middle East, and hence have either the British (really big) 3-prong plug or the European 2-post plug. Just make sure you have adapters!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-02-27 16:57:00
Philippines	Possible move to Oregon	I'd like to repeat all the wonderful things people have said about Oregon, but I'd only move here if you had a sure-thing job lined up, or had a good retirement income. I read an article that Portland Oregon is one of the best cities to retire to, and on Facebook I joked that the job situation is so bad, there are no jobs to tempt you back into the workforce! I'm escaping Oregon for the Philippines myself (my wife and I have a business starting up), hope there are some jobs here when I come back in a year or so.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-03-02 06:23:00
Philippines	Delta air .. any feedback?	I'm all for Delta too...The flight attendants are nice, and I get direct flights to Portland, Oregon from Tokyo-Narita. I sure hope the earthquake/tsunami doesn't affect my trip this Friday. As for direct to JFK...the 747 I flew on from Manila stops at Narita then continued on to JFK; you still have to leave the airplane and go through the security screening point anyway.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-03-14 04:24:00
Philippines	Question about entering USA on K1-Visa	Tell Annabelle, its not just simply "SEMINAR" wherein your just listening to a speaker, yes there is but there is a step wherein the last portion would be FINAL INTERVIEW again. I just remember one time when I did this, one of my friend didnt get the certificate because the interviewer told that she needs the birthcertifcate of the mom of his fiancee (shocking??) but she get it to get a certificate. One thing I could give advice for annabelle, during her final interview for the CFO seminar, let her be so familiar with the maiden name of your mom, its SO IMPORTANT to let her answer this with confident. Goodluck I wouldn't believe a word of this. Who else has gone to the CFO Seminar and had to produce some document besides their passport? On the other hand, stranger things are asked for here in the Philippines.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-03-21 23:59:00
Philippines	13 a resident visa	I'm wondering about this process myself...since I'm going to the Philippines again this Friday. My wife and I plan on getting this very visa, but we'll do the paperwork on her home island rather than the BOI office in Intramuros. I don't have much income to speak of (we do have a business going but it'll take a couple months to see any returns) but her family is reasonably well-off and I don't expect any problems. The website for the BOI isn't very specific on income guidelines...matter of fact they mostly want to make sure you're not a carrier of any diseases and are really married to your Filipino spouse.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-03-14 03:47:00
Philippines	K-1 . YuAndDan,JimVaPhuong,pushbrk. Income, I don't think I'll be safe. I know it.	Driving jobs can't be out sourced. You can lay off all the workers in a US manufacturing plant and move over the pond. But you can't do that with the trucking companies. Transportation costs are pretty much fixed. The product always needs to get to market; regardless of where it is produced be it China, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, India, Bangladesh etc... Can't dispute what I am saying!!! Couldn't be said any better. I'll just be laying low in the Philippines while the economy recovers.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-02-27 17:01:00
Philippines	K-1 . YuAndDan,JimVaPhuong,pushbrk. Income, I don't think I'll be safe. I know it.	Ask yourself why even live in the usa? As you said, jobs are here and there if at all, Economy is in the tank, Everything is out sourced to Asia and you speak English i'm sure. Save up some money, pack up, and move to the philippines and search for new opportunities *my plan* I'm getting ready to head back after a month of job searching here in the States. We'll live good on our investment we started last month for sure! Been there and done that and agree 100%. Kudos for throwing OTR driving out there as a quick and fairly easy way to make a decent paycheck. Maybe it will help someone else out. I drove OTR for Schneider ('till I got injured/workers comp) and it could be a good way for someone to earn decent money. My friend's husband just started driving for Swift and he likes it ok, but many of their drivers are sitting and waiting for freight, which could be why I didn't bother applying. My only concern of being a fiance to a K-1 beneficiary is how do you manage all of the 'little things' that must be done on the way (sending money, paperwork) and what not. I do, however, think driving truck was one of the best jobs I've ever had, and if I hadn't been injured I might still be driving for them.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-02-26 04:43:00
Philippines	Metro Manila	Our apartment is in Quezon City, and I always put "MM" (Metro Manila) and the Zip code. The mail I send (and everyone else sends) gets there!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-02-24 04:15:00
Philippines	Those who are planing to get married in the Philippines (new info very important)	I was glad to visit the embassy's website before we went down there to get my certificate last month, otherwise it would've been a wasted trip. The appointment system seems to work pretty good, I was in and out in 2 hours. Of course now I'm getting the K-1 so its kinda irrelevant now. They have some semi-private rooms for the meeting with the consul, but I could hear (I called him "Uncle Buck) one guy rattle off to the consul about his previous FOUR divorces...I wondered if his fiancee was looking for the exit door by the end of it! Its really a painless process, just make sure your fiancee leaves the cell phone at home or in the hotel (USC can leave their phone at the security station inside) and have a lot of patience!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-09-21 00:27:00
Philippines	Visitor Visa	I don't read about visitors visas here on VJ. Have you tried looking here? Good luck! I had a look at the link...good thing I understand more Tagalog than I did a year ago Although, after reading this, I do feel hopeful it can happen in our case! Here is the link on Visa Journey for Tourist Visas...I posted in the Philippines Forum simply because I feel more at home here Tourist Visas That may actually work against you in this case since a pending IV Case could be used to bolster her claims of planning to return to the Philippines (to finish the process). As the spouse of a USC once her feet touch US soil she can AOS and without a pending case to finish in Manila why wouldn't she? This might be the thing that holds us back, and I'm not familiar with the particulars of AOS and Tourist Visas...I know some cheat the system by getting the visa, then get married, then AOS, but my wife and I are already married. If it were up to me, I wouldn't be going through this, and just wait for the IV process to run its course. But I love my wife, and my mom, and if they want to try for the Visitor Visa, might as well give it a shot.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-08-05 20:54:00
Philippines	Visitor Visa	The sunshine: Gotta love moms. They know an awful lot. And love their children dearly. But they may not have been exposed to the world of immigration. Yeah, I think most people that haven't been exposed to the world of immigration tend to think it's easy for my wife to enter the USA. I suppose we can blame movies and TV shows for that. One person even thought my wife was a citizen by virtue of our marriage! With Manila it is a ####### shoot to say the least. I wish you the best and when she goes for the interview, bring all the proof of return and strong ties to the Philippines that you are able. For some its easy, some impossible so best wishes on it!!! Bob Sorry, I know I'm not much help or console! Yes we plan on bringing plenty of documents in support. All the threads I read in the Tourist Visa forum related to Manila seemed to say how subjective the process is. A ####### shoot for sure! It's not unheard of to get a Tourist Visa but at the same time I've never heard of a Tourist Visa being granted with a pending immigration visa. Who knows how the embassy will view the request. Good luck. Adam and May We don't have a pending immigration visa yet, and won't have one filed until either she returns to the Philippines or once I have my employment in the USA. i tried it twice. once they found out that my wife was married to an U.S. citizen, they closed the book on us. they need strong ties over here. and i mean stronger than a G.I. Joe toy with the kung fu grip, strong. i owned a bar over here and 2 houses. they didn't care. just my experience though... good luck with the interview. Yeah, like I said before, this was neither the idea of my wife or myself. I guess if this visa doesn't work, then of course we can start processing the I-130. But it'd be a great bonus to have my wife spend the holidays in the states!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-08-04 21:01:00
Philippines	Visitor Visa	Been a while since I've posted, but since not much is happening on my wife's journey to the USA, there hasn't been much to say. Well, my mother had the bright idea to invite my wife to the US for a visit, using of course the Visitor VIsa. My wife and I would be content in just going through the IR/CR-1 visa process, but my mom thought it would be nice for her to get a preview for what exactly she's getting into. My wife will also escort my mother back to the Philippines after the holidays so the family here can meet my mom. So we've paid the fees, completed the application and scheduled the interview for August 22nd. We have a couple businesses here in her town, and her family has a lot of money due to her grandfather's 20 year tenure as mayor. I suppose what I'll ask you folks is...should i hold out that much hope she'll get the Visitor Visa? We will have tickets purchased (one way for me, round trips for my wife and mom...refundable of course) to affirm that she intends on returning to the Philippines. We're married, so we can't adjust status by getting married again. We both want to do the immigration visa, but that is for another time, as I need to get a job first.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-08-03 23:04:00
Philippines	She is taking driving lesson	Viewing the board this morning...I saw this thread and thought... OMG! He's back! Then I remembered..it's an old thread...just revived...phew... Rumi? Pah! Roofie? (VJ definitely provides some entertainment now and then.) I was thinking the same thing! Wonder if his fiancee ended up going to the US or not. That being said, driving in the Philippines (at least here in Leyte) would be a lot better if the pedicabs had some reflectors on 'em! Some of them look like they had reflectors at one time, but were either removed or painted over. Driving here feels a lot safer than driving in the Middle East by a long shot!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-08-18 02:18:00
Philippines	CFO expiration?	Maybe this is related, maybe not: My wife will get a new passport with her married name in it after I depart the Philippines next month, and of course she needs to attend the CFO seminar in order to do this. My question is...will she need to get another seminar in order to leave the Philippines once she gets her visa?	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-08-25 05:06:00
Philippines	Red Ribbon	I might add, that Red Ribbon makes some rather tasty cakes! But I think we're talking about a different Red Ribbon.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-09-22 14:08:00
Philippines	Crime-Safety-Advice-Pepper Spray	Wowie wow wow. I read all of these stories, and wondered if this was the same country I spent 6 months in. Maybe I was lucky, but I never had anything close to what some of these folks are saying. Stay with your fiancee/wife and don't give to the beggars ("wala!" seems to catch them by surprise.) The closest I think one of my stories comes, was actually last month when my wife and I were going from the Ermita area near the US Embassy (after she got denied the tourist visa) and my wife (not me) negotiated a fare with the driver. I guess it had something to do with the traffic at the time of day, but we got from Ermita to Cubao in about 35 minutes during the middle of the day, and at that distance, the fare should be about 250 pesos, but my wife had negotiated about 350. For some reason she hands me the money to hand to the driver, and the driver thinks I'm giving him all 500 pesos! Once I told him "you already got 100 pesos extra buddy, don't press your luck" he had my change ready. As for the OP's dilemma about just flying into Cebu...time is money, and any way to avoid the hassle of getting in and out of Terminal 1 in Manila is money well spent.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-09-29 02:38:00
Philippines	Documentary on Pinay teachers immigrating to America	I really enjoyed this video, and I hope this is available outside the USA so the people who need to see it (families of Filipinos going to the USA) can see it. The video also made me kinda homesick! I miss the Philippines!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-10-04 16:08:00
Philippines	CFO Seminar Review/Feedback	My wife also had her CFO seminar on Tuesday, and she said many of the same things everyone else has. Strangely enough, they asked her for my address and telephone number (which she didn't have on her) so she had to return the next day to get her certificate.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-09-22 01:07:00
Philippines	Where's your hometown?	I'm Sam, and I'm from Portland Oregon, and my fiancee Jackie is from Julita, Leyte...but that's neither here nor there, because we have an apartment in Cubao, Quezon City!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2010-09-20 08:14:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	worried bout proof of relationship..	I decided to search before posting a duplicate topic, and of course I plan to send plenty of pictures of our wedding and what we've done together in my trips to the Philippines. I have been staying with my wife at her family's home in Leyte since April, and we attend fiestas and do plenty of activities together. There are plenty of people in the town here that can vouch for our relationship, but I'll want those statements printed, signed and dated before I leave in September. Are these statements valid in the eyes of the USCIS? How many is enough? My wife and I will also be preparing our statements, and I have plenty of evidence of travel to the Philippines (book needs to get more pages!) and plenty of correspondence. Looking at some of the statements here, I shouldn't have much of a problem, but I still worry. well i send them a little of everything, but what clitched it for us was the wedding bill from JOSRPHINES RESTAURANT in Tagaytay..... just kiddding but it didnt hurt.....after that amt they knew we was serious..... Josephine's is such a nice place...matter of fact the pic on my avatar of my wife and I was taken there! I'd think a similar place in the USA would cost at least $100 a person, but at Josephine's, the prices are so reasonable and the service so good and the food is SARAP! Wish I had saved the receipt, but that was before we were married.	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2011-08-26 07:54:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Digital or film?	I remember getting my passport renewed last year, and since my employer needed a lot passport photos (15!!!) I looked into ways that I could save money by doing it myself with a digital camera. Passport photos are rather expensive for what you get, and I thought the results I got were much, much better. Passport Photo Tips I used this guide, even though it's mainly directed at professionals, there is some great info on how you could do it yourself. Instead of the 'light umbrella' setup most photographers have, I set up two lamps on the dining room table, and put a white sheet on the wall. After taking a few pictures and deciding which one was suitable (something you can't really do at Kinko's for $10 a pop!) I put the image on my computer and started on the next task. Most newer digital cameras shoot between 4-8 megapixels, which is more than enough for our purposes, since we only need the head and shoulders in the shot, and so I cropped down the larger picture and resized it in my photo editing software to 2"x2" (passport size). I took the 2x2 and tiled it into a new document (I put 6 2x2's on a 5x7 photo...then again, I needed a lot of them!) and saved the new image. I went onto walmart.com and submitted the image to be printed to test it out, and a day or so later the pictures turned out fantastic! Just to make sure, I went to the post office and made sure they would accept the photo (better safe than sorry) and the lady there thought they were done by a professional! If you have any questions feel free to message me!	YodaPagoda	Male	Philippines	2008-07-09 19:00:00