philippine embassy

[gretchen_darren 67]

Just had questions on the philippine embassy. We are still waiting NOA2 but I am working on planning my trip already.

1) No one in her family has been to manila.

2) no one has travelled or flew in her immediate family apart from a bus trip not even superferry

3) i am planning on going there to take her and her parents to manila for the medical

fly up to manila on a sunday

take medical on Monday

stay in manila during the TB waiting period

finish the read on thursday

return to village on Friday.

4) then after the medical, go back to the village

5) return for the embassy interview the next week, the day before interview.

fly up the day before

go to interview in the morning

My question is this, should we stay in manila after the interview or go back to village

should I expect her visa (if approved) in 2 days or not?

what time frame should I plan my return trip for after the interview?

should I hope to take her back to the US with me after the interview at the embassy, or just return home and wait for her to recieve her visa?

Just looking for the best advice on this. Her parents have not been through this, nor been to manila. So I am going to be the tour guide when we get there since manila is close to a major US city.

Thoughts and comments welcome.

[TeddyHoney 42]

Wow! You're way ahead of the game! That's good but I wouldn't plan anything until I got NOA2 and schedule the medical exam and interview. But when that time comes, it doesn't cost a lot to stay in Manila in really decent and nice hotels. Traffic is off the hook at times but otherwise relatively easy to get around. Her medical exam and interview may not be so closely scheduled (maybe it will be?). But really after you have NOA2 and have medical exam scheduled and date for the interview, that would probably be a better time to acurately pan things - in my opinion. See what others say.

You didn't mention where your Fiancee lives. Superferry can be cheaper than airfare and pretty fast too. there is other shippin also but much slower.

My Filipina ex-wife lived near Cagayan de Oro on Mindinao and we flew and SuperFerried many times. My current Filipina Fiancee lives near Manila, so I've been there many times over the last 15 years.

TeddyHoney and SqueezyBear

(Derrick and Ritchie)

[gretchen_darren 67]

my filipina fiance lives in the magsaysay province of misamis oriental. The reason for flying is to see if she gets airsick before the long flight to the US. Need to know if she needs Dramamine or not. Also , by flying it is quicker then superferry. Superferry would be nice, but takes a long time. I am just outlinging my costs in the plan and what I can expect to need for monetary needs. However, when the time occurs, the plan will get more firm. The idea is to do the medical the week prior before the interview. I know manila is cheap, but it will be more expensive then the village. Also, i am only taking the parents besides my finance, the rest of the family is staying home. (brother of 24, 21, and 8 years old, and a 10 year old sister.) The families relatives will take care of the children while we are in manila. (this has already been determined.) Also, I learned that if you state it to them, it is like a promise. have to be careful of what you offer, and what may be precieved as a plan.

[Theresa0828 65]

Just had questions on the philippine embassy. We are still waiting NOA2 but I am working on planning my trip already.

1) No one in her family has been to manila.

2) no one has travelled or flew in her immediate family apart from a bus trip not even superferry

3) i am planning on going there to take her and her parents to manila for the medical

fly up to manila on a sunday

take medical on Monday

stay in manila during the TB waiting period

finish the read on thursday

return to village on Friday.

4) then after the medical, go back to the village

5) return for the embassy interview the next week, the day before interview.

fly up the day before

go to interview in the morning

My question is this, should we stay in manila after the interview or go back to village

if you plan to have a little sightseeing, why not stay a few days?

should I expect her visa (if approved) in 2 days or not?

no, what you should to is find out the nearest 2Go branch in their place and when you schedule for an interview, arrange that you will pick it up in that branch, so no need to stay in Manila to wait for the visa (no. of days on visa issuance varies on their visa printing schedule), for branches of 2Go, click here... http://www.2go.com.ph/customersupport/tools/locator.asp

what time frame should I plan my return trip for after the interview?

3-4 weeks should be enough, and ohh on the way to the US, make sure that your fiancee attends the CFO seminar in Manila, she cannot fly if her passport do not have a stamp from CFO, arrange that you will go to Manila a day prior to departure. For seminar schedule please see this... http://www.cfo.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=234&Itemid=33

should I hope to take her back to the US with me after the interview at the embassy, or just return home and wait for her to recieve her visa?

this is really up to you both... ask her if she want you there during the interview...

Just looking for the best advice on this. Her parents have not been through this, nor been to manila. So I am going to be the tour guide when we get there since manila is close to a major US city.

if you decide on this... have fun in manila!!!!

Thoughts and comments welcome.

[gretchen_darren 67]

WOW,

I did not know about the CFO. THANKS SO MUCH!!!! At least we could do between flights. there is an 8 hour layover in Manila on the flight path I use. Just the question is can you get to the location from the airport in an hour? Of course then there is the luggage So staying a night in manila to take care of the CFO might be better. I read where she needs the visa as well as the passport. So cannot do early. Probably staying a night in manila would be good.

Yes, she wants me at the medical exam and interview in manila as well as her parents. they do not know manila or the process. i have been asked by her dad specifically to help her through the process. I was planning on the whole trip taking 3 weeks. 4 weeks may be a little too much, but will have to take one day at a time. I am figuring costs and expenses so I have padding. I know the flight to bring her back will cost me nearly $1300 for a one way flight. The worst part would be getting the visa, and the flight being sold out. But the CFO tip is wonderful. The sad part is there is no local branch 2GO in her area. Butuan is the closest location. Maybe I will stay in Butuan this next trip. longer ride to her village, but we may enjoy it more since we leave the village at dusk. Just know I stick out a lot in the area no matter where i am there.

[gretchen_darren 67]

whew, now I remember why I am taking her parents to the embassy. She is only 19 and does not turn 21 for another 21 months.

Minor (unmarried 20 years old and below) nonimmigrant visa applicants are required to appear with at least one parent for the interview. If the minor is an orphan or if both parents are outside of the Philippines, then a legal guardian must be present during the interview.

[Haarp425 26]

My question is this, should we stay in manila after the interview or go back to village. Go back to the Village.

should I expect her visa (if approved) in 2 days or not? Give it a week (tracking number). It will be hand delivered to her.

The instruction is not to open the whole package. There will be a small slot where she can slid out her passport. Look at her name carefully and your name (Letter by Letter). If there is a type-o or incorrect spelling, she has to go back to the US Embassy and go straight to the 1st window where they give their documents for interview (second window). Explain to them the type-o or wrong spelling. They will make annotation of the errors. She then needs to go to CFO to get a stamp/sticker.

[gretchen_darren 67]

ok, thanks for the information. So if I get her an interview on a monday, the week Monday prior she goes for her medical. We spend the week there and do the interview. then return on tuesday to the village. Watch the tracking number for delivery. I spend the rest of that week, plus next week with her at the village. Planning on us returning to manila on Sunday, she does CFO Monday morning, then flying out Monday evening from Manila. This would make about 3 weeks in total. Does it sound reasonable? I do not know if the embassy will let me schedule for a monday specifically. But it will be the best available date as I have to clear the time with work as well. It will also mean I will be working from manila as well as the village due to the length of time. the method above does reduce the costs a little bit, because I will be able to stay longer in a lesser room at the hotel near her village, plus I know food costs, and we will be eating lunch almost everyday at her parents house besides probably staying there on Friday nights. (a big celebration before we leave.)

As for delivering to her in hand, I would love to see that. Her purok has no streets, no defining places. It is a village on the bay. The nearest 2go branch is almost 70km away. Maybe that would be out of town delivery.