Best way to mail a letter from Cebu to USA

[Balamban 113]

Let's see, our K-1 is all ready to mail out.  But we have a letter of intent to marry (hers) without a wet signature and now I see we need a "wet signature" so back to the printer.

 

She did mail me a G-325a with a wet signature about 6 weeks ago.  Now I find that the K-1 guide here is hopelessly outdated and so the G-325a is not necessary.

 

But when she did send me the G-325a with a wet signature I told her ORDINARY mail, NOT registered!!  Naturally the post office fellow convinced her that the American was wrong and that the letter must go registered at 4x the price.

 

That registered letter never arrived (it's been 6+ weeks now) so she sent an ordinary mail letter and that did arrive about 3 weeks later.

 

Is there any reasonably priced way to mail a letter from Cebu (Balamban) that arrives, say, in a week or so?  Or is it best to just send it ordinary mail and wait?

 

Thanks

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

19 minutes ago, Balamban said:

Let's see, our K-1 is all ready to mail out.  But we have a letter of intent to marry (hers) without a wet signature and now I see we need a "wet signature" so back to the printer.

 

She did mail me a G-325a with a wet signature about 6 weeks ago.  Now I find that the K-1 guide here is hopelessly outdated and so the G-325a is not necessary.

 

But when she did send me the G-325a with a wet signature I told her ORDINARY mail, NOT registered!!  Naturally the post office fellow convinced her that the American was wrong and that the letter must go registered at 4x the price.

 

That registered letter never arrived (it's been 6+ weeks now) so she sent an ordinary mail letter and that did arrive about 3 weeks later.

 

Is there any reasonably priced way to mail a letter from Cebu (Balamban) that arrives, say, in a week or so?  Or is it best to just send it ordinary mail and wait?

 

Thanks

Just have her email it to you that's what I did with my fiance. If you rely on Philpost then it won't get to you at all as you already saw. So just have her sign it and email it to you.

[Hank_ 9,174]

There isn't a FAST & CHEAP way to mail a letter.   Fast is - FEDEX, UPS, DHL .... Cheap is - Philpost.

 

The new I-129-F  (April 2017) incorporates the biographical info that the G-325A provided.   The G-325A is not mentioned anywhere on the USCIC site for the K-1 that I could see.   (I tend not to recommend the guides here because of the issue you mentioned )

 

 

Item 8, page 11 does still mention a SIGNED letter of intent to marry.   You could try using an emailed copy and see if it flies.. then bring an original to the interview later.. just in case. 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf?download=1

[Greenbaum 12,259]

Never was happy with mail traveling either way. Always an issue. The letter you speak of I just had her sign one and email it to me and I printed it off and included it in the package. No issues.

 

You are in the beginning stages of the visa journey and the best two things that happened to you is you didn't hire a lawyer for something that you can do on your own and the other is you are a member of VJ where many here can help you along the way.

 

I suggest you look for a link in Hank's post for step by step instructions and use it as a guide. Don't tell him that I told you that he is a pretty smart guy when it comes to helping others process their visa. 

[RO_AH 1,659]

As you have read from others you probably do not need it, but if you ever do NEED something use DHL, FedEx, UPS. I have never received anything sent to me from PhilPost.

[Balamban 113]

Crazy expensive.  Actually I've sent stuff to the Phils with good luck.  But I have a "method" that seems to work well.  Instead of sealing the envelope, simply close it with a smallish piece of Scotch tape.  In other words make it very, very easy to open and just as easy to close.  My theory is: They'll open anything to see if there is something of value.  If it gets ripped or torn they throw it in the trash.  But if it's easily opened (and closed) you get it.

 

I need to send my fiancee a copy of the K-1 packet.  Does anyone know if I can simply send it USPS first class?  I really don't need Priority and surely don't need Express.

[Hank_ 9,174]

5 hours ago, Balamban said:

Crazy expensive.  Actually I've sent stuff to the Phils with good luck.  But I have a "method" that seems to work well.  Instead of sealing the envelope, simply close it with a smallish piece of Scotch tape.  In other words make it very, very easy to open and just as easy to close.  My theory is: They'll open anything to see if there is something of value.  If it gets ripped or torn they throw it in the trash.  But if it's easily opened (and closed) you get it.

 

I need to send my fiancee a copy of the K-1 packet.  Does anyone know if I can simply send it USPS first class?  I really don't need Priority and surely don't need Express.

Copy of the I-129F packet?    She doesn't need that, one more thing VJ is wrong about.   But if you must.. then simply scan and email

 

A copy of your bio information is good, and I use to suggest sending a copy of your G-325A (email), but as you noted it is not asked for anymore so for that a copy of the completed I-129F is just as good.   But the whole package?  hmm.     If you were married before she will need copies of your divorce decree or such for the interview and CFO but everything else is in your BIO information.

[JulyAnne 1]

I have mailed documents to my fiancé in Texas using LBC. It costs around Php1,000 and it he received it in less than a week.

[jg121783 3,909]

On 6/29/2017 at 11:30 PM, Hank_ said:

There isn't a FAST & CHEAP way to mail a letter.   Fast is - FEDEX, UPS, DHL .... Cheap is - Philpost.

 

The new I-129-F  (April 2017) incorporates the biographical info that the G-325A provided.   The G-325A is not mentioned anywhere on the USCIC site for the K-1 that I could see.   (I tend not to recommend the guides here because of the issue you mentioned )

 

 

Item 8, page 11 does still mention a SIGNED letter of intent to marry.   You could try using an emailed copy and see if it flies.. then bring an original to the interview later.. just in case. 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf?download=1

 

I would add that FedEx, UPS and DHL are the reliable methods and Philpost is the unreliable method. I used all of those methods except for UPS  and I also used USPS once. I would say FedEx is the most reliable of all of them. I used them a few times to send and receive documents and there was only one time they didn't deliver the package on time. It was supposed to arrive at my house at 10am and didnt get there until 4pm and they gave me a full refund because of that. Said it was because of bad weather in the US.

 

I used DHL once to send my wife documents for her interview. They got it to the Philippines on time but the courier who took over was pretty incompetent. They called my wife and told her to meet them in a place she has never been before because they couldn't find her house even though she gave them directions. Of course she said no and they delivered the package a day late. I complained to a manager at DHL and he tried to blame my wife and didn't even give as much as an apology. Needless to say I don't recommend them. To be fair I believe FedEx also uses a courier in the Philippines but they are at least reliable.

 

As far as USPS goes don't use them unless you can wait a few months (or more) for your mail to arrive and are willing to risk it not arriving at all. USPS gets it to Manila quickly but then they hand it off to Philpost. I sent my wife a letter this way and she got it 3 months later. She lived 45 minutes away from Manila.

 

To sum it up FedEx is expensive but they are fast and reliable. I have no idea how reliable UPS is but they are about the same price if not a little more than FedEx. I would probably avoid USPS and DHL.

 

On 6/30/2017 at 2:34 PM, RO_AH said:

As you have read from others you probably do not need it, but if you ever do NEED something use DHL, FedEx, UPS. I have never received anything sent to me from PhilPost.

I guess I am lucky my letter arrived 3 months later then.