Philippines to Texas

[Kris & Liezl 3]

Hello. I am posting this message to seek help/assistance from anyone in North Texas (preferably Dallas/Ft. Worth area), who has successfully gone through this K1 process with a Philippine fiancee. As of the end of May, it has been one year since I visited her there in Cebu. If I understand it correctly, that means we have one more year to get an I-129f approved.

We need help on both ends... Over there, she is getting the run-around trying to have an error on her birth certificate corrected (apparently this takes 6 months). And if she can ever get that, I need to know what to tell her to acquire next. It seems everything needs a correct birth certificate there though. Here, I don't think I have ever even seen my Birth Certificate - Hmm, do I need to order one for this process too? Anyway, I need help with the steps I need to tell her, plus maybe some contacts to get that birth certificate error fixed quicker.

On my end, I'm just confused. I had no idea it would require so much time and effort when I proposed - but I want more than anything to go through with this. I plan to submit my I-129f on January 2nd, 2011 and I want to get it right the first time. I think I can figure out all my documents I need to include, but what does she need to send to me to include in the petition? I'm hoping I can find a couple (Philippine + American) who can review my packet a few times through December and make sure I am not missing anything.

Just email me on here if you can help, thanks!

[Bobby+Umit 161]

First step - calm down.

Second step - browse through the guides above - they spell out exactly what is needed for the K-1 process.

You can usually order your Birth Cert from the city/state you were born in - some even offer it through a website.

Your passport will mostly be used instead of a GC - however - you may want it - just in case.

[Popcorn3210 0]

Third...you don't need to wait 2 years before petitioning.

You just have to have met with her in person within the last two years.

oops!! I looked again at what you wrote...yes, sorry you have it correct about the 2 year thing. But hey, why wait so long? I know I couldn't.

Edited June 26, 2010 by Popcorn3210

[Audy_Rob 26]

You do not need the birth certificate of the Alien Beneficiary for the I-129F petition. However, you do need the certified birth certificate of the US Citizen. In lieu of a birth certificate you could use your passport but your fiance(e) will need her birth certificate and your birth certificate by the time she has her interview at the Embassy. So you should go ahead and order a birth certificate now.

Good luck.

[Kris & Liezl 3]

Third...you don't need to wait 2 years before petitioning.

You just have to have met with her in person within the last two years.

oops!! I looked again at what you wrote...yes, sorry you have it correct about the 2 year thing. But hey, why wait so long? I know I couldn't.

Hi, well the reason I was waiting is because I am thinking she needs to have her corrected Birth Certificate BEFORE anything is filed on my end. So this is untrue? See the problem is, what if I go ahead and submit my I-129f, it gets approved, and she is not yet done acquiring all the stuff she needs whenever they're ready to interview her. I mean, whenever she finally has a correct Birth Certificate, doesn't she then need to go and get all kinds of other clearances, CENOMAR, etc.? What if those too take months to process? I just don't understand why it takes so long to get things done there...

[Kris & Liezl 3]

You do not need the birth certificate of the Alien Beneficiary for the I-129F petition. However, you do need the certified birth certificate of the US Citizen. In lieu of a birth certificate you could use your passport but your fiance(e) will need her birth certificate and your birth certificate by the time she has her interview at the Embassy. So you should go ahead and order a birth certificate now.

Good luck.

Wow, thanks for the info., I did not realize I would need mine for anything. Well I do have my passport; so if I decide to submit my I-129f tomorrow, I could use that. However, I will go ahead and order my Birth Certificate this week - and I bet it won't take 6 months to get it.

[mike101 8]

Wow, thanks for the info., I did not realize I would need mine for anything. Well I do have my passport; so if I decide to submit my I-129f tomorrow, I could use that. However, I will go ahead and order my Birth Certificate this week - and I bet it won't take 6 months to get it.

Thats correct. If you dont have your passport you will need to include all of the pages in your passport. I would also start your petition as soon as possible. It will take about 3 to 4 months for it to get approved and once approved your package is valid for 4 months.

You dont need to wait 2 years to file a petition but you need to have proof of meeting with your fiancee in person within the last two years. Its a long and time consuming process but hang in there..

I also took a video of my petition package before I sent it to the USCIS. Click the link to my blog in my signature to get an idea. The most important thing is to make sure you complete all of the forms correctly.

[Tahoma 2,292]

You should get started on your I-129 packet. She can collect everything she needs in the Philippines while your I-129 packet is processing at the USCIS.

The only document you need from her right away, so that you can include it in your I-129 packet, is her "Letter of Intent to Marry."

Later on, she will need a passport which does not expire for at least six months after her interview at the USEM. She will also need a CENOMAR, her birth certificate, an NBI clearance, and at least a dozen official passport photos. Make copies of everything...just in case.

I'm just going by memory, so I hope I didn't leave anything out. Good luck on your visa journey!

[roseTX 0]

hi there, i am in dallas fort worth area...my fiance now my husband did not wait for 2 years to file the fiance petition, we meet online of feb.2009,,meet in person march 2009 file the petition april got approved in USEM october 2009.

when my husband visited me in the philippines he already brought along with him the Letter of Intent to Marry and the biographic information for me to affix the signature. He also get my NSO birth certificate, 2 x 2 passport size. This are the things that my husband needed for me when he submitted the petition.

Edited June 28, 2010 by roseTX

[Tahoma 2,292]

hi there, i am in dallas fort worth area...my fiance now my husband did not wait for 2 years to file the fiance petition, we meet online of feb.2009,,meet in person march 2009 file the petition april got approved in USEM october 2009.

when my husband visited me in the philippines he already brought along with him the Letter of Intent to Marry and the biographic information for me to affix the signature. He also get my NSO birth certificate, 2 x 2 passport size. This are the things that my husband needed for me when he submitted the petition.

Thanks roseTX...you just reminded me about the beneficiary's biographic information. I think the document is called a G-325. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he will need three original G-325's to include in his I-129 packet.

[Audy_Rob 26]

Thanks roseTX...you just reminded me about the beneficiary's biographic information. I think the document is called a G-325. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he will need three original G-325's to include in his I-129 packet.

They only need one G-325A per person meaning one for Petitioner and one for Beneficiary. The OLD G-325As used to be four identical pages long and have led to confusion since they have changed to the one page form. Only one page is needed. Make sure the page has an original signature, the paper was not copied after the signature was made.

Good luck.

[Kris & Liezl 3]

Hi everyone. First, thank you for all of your replies. I seem to have confused you with a bit of my information. I did not intend to wait for two years to file the I-129f petition. When I visited her in May 2009, we were only friends (pen-pals) and had been since ages 18/19. During my visit, we realized that our feelings ran much deeper. I told her how I felt, but then it was time for me to return home. In December (6 months later), I finally proposed and she accepted.

As I mentioned before, I didn't foresee such a complex process... Since I proposed, it's been issue after issue; the two biggest being her sister and her Birth Certificate. Even though she is already raising her little sister, and has been for 6 of her 12 years (mom died, "high blood"), this apparently does not qualify her to be included in the petition. So I just suggested to her to try to legally adopt her sister. She has been scurrying around since January trying to do that (I thought this would be easy, as she's already raising her - I was wrong). So I told her I would give her until January to have her sis adopted, so we can include her as a "child of beneficiary". In January, I would still have 5 months left on that 2-year maximum of "having met in the past two years". The other issue is her Birth Certificate error, which you guys say is a nonissue. I just worry, If I submit my petition soon, and it gets approved before her Birth Certificate error is resolved, what then? Because once she has her Birth Certificate, is the Passport going to take another 6 months?

I think most of you guys had the benefit of knowing you were going to propose/marry BEFORE you went to visit, right? So you probably knew about the process before, and maybe you had been gatherig requirements previosly. For me and my fiancee, everything is happening 6-months after I visited, with the above complications - all while she's still working full-time as a Teacher.

[roseTX 0]

in the birth certificate issue, i would suggest that let you fiance go to the municipal birth registry and make an affidavit that the person appeared in the wrong birth certificate is the same person and ask in the municipal registry what other requirements to correct the error in the birth certificate. in regards to the passport,,you can get it within two weeks,,through expedite,,if you would not like to expedite it, it takes only a month.

[tallcoolone 102]

In December (6 months later), I finally proposed and she accepted.

Imagine That

[happywifeymom 4]

Hello. I am posting this message to seek help/assistance from anyone in North Texas (preferably Dallas/Ft. Worth area), who has successfully gone through this K1 process with a Philippine fiancee. As of the end of May, it has been one year since I visited her there in Cebu. If I understand it correctly, that means we have one more year to get an I-129f approved.

We need help on both ends... Over there, she is getting the run-around trying to have an error on her birth certificate corrected (apparently this takes 6 months). And if she can ever get that, I need to know what to tell her to acquire next. It seems everything needs a correct birth certificate there though. Here, I don't think I have ever even seen my Birth Certificate - Hmm, do I need to order one for this process too? Anyway, I need help with the steps I need to tell her, plus maybe some contacts to get that birth certificate error fixed quicker.

On my end, I'm just confused. I had no idea it would require so much time and effort when I proposed - but I want more than anything to go through with this. I plan to submit my I-129f on January 2nd, 2011 and I want to get it right the first time. I think I can figure out all my documents I need to include, but what does she need to send to me to include in the petition? I'm hoping I can find a couple (Philippine + American) who can review my packet a few times through December and make sure I am not missing anything.

Just email me on here if you can help, thanks!

She don't need to fix her Birth Certificate . I had error on my Birth certificate ,The middle name was wrong but all i had to do is get an affidavit from the lawyer.Alsoto get a Philippine Passport only takes a couple of weeks not months.Identification cards or any documents like Voter's Id, school Id, government id If wud help. Like i said i had the same issue but i sent copies of my different Id's with the correct name on it ad i was approved with no Problem.

Edited June 30, 2010 by happywifeymom