Help with spousal visa answers...

[TheFoxAndHound 0]

Well I posted here a few months back and it helped alot. My lawyer has what he needs but there is some confusion I need help with.

1. My lawyer says he still needs a street address or house number or PO Bx for the form he is filing out. But she says she lives in a small barangay in the middle of no where really on Oriental Mindoro. She says theres less then 50 families in it. So she has no house number and also her street has no name. The main street does, but not hers since its a small dirt road. Theres also no PO Box. They get their mail (what little they get) by going to some place there and giving them their name.

So what do I tell my lawyer? Does he maybe not understand (since hes american) that not everyone has an address like they do in the USA? I would think if the embassy sees the address she gave me currently the would know there is no street name where she lives. Right?

2.He needs her school dates but the dates she gave me looks like she was in elementary for a year, high school for 4 years. Is that right? 5 years total of school?

3. Lastly he says when I am there I need to bring back a marriage certificate or a certified one. Does that take long? Or like most certified things does it only take a matter of minutes?

THanks for the help! This has been still very stressful, I think the language barrier is playing a role in how hard it is to get across the questions I am asking her. That and the cultural differences such as with the whole "Address" thing.

[GaryKO 49]

Well I posted here a few months back and it helped alot. My lawyer has what he needs but there is some confusion I need help with.

1. My lawyer says he still needs a street address or house number or PO Bx for the form he is filing out. But she says she lives in a small barangay in the middle of no where really on Oriental Mindoro. She says theres less then 50 families in it. So she has no house number and also her street has no name. The main street does, but not hers since its a small dirt road. Theres also no PO Box. They get their mail (what little they get) by going to some place there and giving them their name.

So what do I tell my lawyer? Does he maybe not understand (since hes american) that not everyone has an address like they do in the USA? I would think if the embassy sees the address she gave me currently the would know there is no street name where she lives. Right?

2.He needs her school dates but the dates she gave me looks like she was in elementary for a year, high school for 4 years. Is that right? 5 years total of school?

3. Lastly he says when I am there I need to bring back a marriage certificate or a certified one. Does that take long? Or like most certified things does it only take a matter of minutes?

THanks for the help! This has been still very stressful, I think the language barrier is playing a role in how hard it is to get across the questions I am asking her. That and the cultural differences such as with the whole "Address" thing.

1. A address where she can receive mail could be where she lives, could be a relative,a friend, her place of work.

2. Philippines changed this over the years, most times it was between 8 and 10 years of school, they just changed it in 2012 to 13 years of school.

3. CENMAR or MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE is available for the NSO about 3 weeks after the local civil registrar reports your marriage. Your wife can mail you a certified copy.

[rheanick 42]

Well I posted here a few months back and it helped alot. My lawyer has what he needs but there is some confusion I need help with.

1. My lawyer says he still needs a street address or house number or PO Bx for the form he is filing out. But she says she lives in a small barangay in the middle of no where really on Oriental Mindoro. She says theres less then 50 families in it. So she has no house number and also her street has no name. The main street does, but not hers since its a small dirt road. Theres also no PO Box. They get their mail (what little they get) by going to some place there and giving them their name.

So what do I tell my lawyer? Does he maybe not understand (since hes american) that not everyone has an address like they do in the USA? I would think if the embassy sees the address she gave me currently the would know there is no street name where she lives. Right?

2.He needs her school dates but the dates she gave me looks like she was in elementary for a year, high school for 4 years. Is that right? 5 years total of school?

3. Lastly he says when I am there I need to bring back a marriage certificate or a certified one. Does that take long? Or like most certified things does it only take a matter of minutes?

THanks for the help! This has been still very stressful, I think the language barrier is playing a role in how hard it is to get across the questions I am asking her. That and the cultural differences such as with the whole "Address" thing.

My mom retired in Oriental Mindoro. She does not have a street number too. She mentioned that post office in our area do rent a box. Your fiancee could verify if her town rent a box. She should rent a Box for several months to get a P.O. Box number.

Elementary is 6 years, high school is 4 years.

For marriage certificate, she needs a copy from NSO.

I dont want to offend your wife, its not cultural, she just does not know how to do it.

[TheFoxAndHound 0]

Maybe I can get to her to rent a box then. I think I mentioned it before and she said where she gets it there is no PO Box to rent. Ah ok about the school. Maybe she had less years because of where she lives? I'll try to see if she maybe gave me the wrong dates.

I dont want to offend your wife, its not cultural, she just does not know how to do it.

Yeah, since I met her I noticed alot of her and her family aren't sure what to do about alot of things. I don't hold it against them though. I'm sure if they lived in Manila they would likely understand this stuff better. Still it does make it a bit frustrating when being so far apart and you can't really talk in detail about how things work. And I don't own a cell phone so the only way we talk is by skype or facbeook.

Upon advice from a few months back I bought airline tickets today. I arrive in Manila at 11:55pm on Feb 28th. But at 9:30am on the 1st I have an appointment at the embassy. Hopefully the lines aren't to and leaving the manila airport or I might end up going to the appointment with barley any sleep.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Just a thought -

"fiancee name"

-in care of-

General Delivery

"Post Office, City, Provience, etc"

[TheFoxAndHound 0]

"fiancee name"

-in care of-

General Delivery

"Post Office, City, Provience, etc"

Yeah thats pretty much what I do when I send her things through the mail. It always gets there. Faster though when I do FedEx since its takes a week. The USPS in America it ends up taking three months to get there! lol

[lierre 224]

Maybe I can get to her to rent a box then. I think I mentioned it before and she said where she gets it there is no PO Box to rent. Ah ok about the school. Maybe she had less years because of where she lives? I'll try to see if she maybe gave me the wrong dates.

Yeah, since I met her I noticed alot of her and her family aren't sure what to do about alot of things. I don't hold it against them though. I'm sure if they lived in Manila they would likely understand this stuff better. Still it does make it a bit frustrating when being so far apart and you can't really talk in detail about how things work. And I don't own a cell phone so the only way we talk is by skype or facbeook.

Upon advice from a few months back I bought airline tickets today. I arrive in Manila at 11:55pm on Feb 28th. But at 9:30am on the 1st I have an appointment at the embassy. Hopefully the lines aren't to and leaving the manila airport or I might end up going to the appointment with barley any sleep.

Is the USEM appointment for the affidavit? Be there at 9, if you can. My husband (then fiance) spent almost 2 hours there even if he came at 12 pm for a 12:30 appointment. He didn't really get seen at 12:30... He was just asked to queue along with the other folks they have let inside.

Ask your wife when she started Grade 1 then ask when she graduated from grade school. Same thing for 1st year then 4th year high school. I am not sure how verbose your wife is with English but it will help to be more descriptive with the way you ask your questions.

You have to stress to her that she needs to help you with finding stuff out, like getting a solid, reliable address. You shouldn't allow very sensitive mail such as this kind of mail to fall into the wrong hands.

I figured all the Philippines stuff while my husband did all US-related research. This complex, long process has to be done by both of you.

Edited January 29, 2013 by ivyanddan

[erynaught 43]

I travel to Manila a couple of times a year and my US-based flight usually gets in very late. The Marriott Hotel is very close - there is a free shuttle at the top of the hour every hour; otherwise the taxi is about 10minutes and approximately 250pesos. The US Embassy is just under 5 miles from the hotel too, so all very convenient and very comfortable.