Chances of Approval? How Long? (filipino citizen to USA)

[David & Diana R 1,005]

My suggestion, based on what I know to be true is get married in the Philippines.  Then bring him here on a CR-1.  It's less expensive and he can work almost immediately after arriving in the US.  It might take a few more months but maybe we were lucky.  We completed the CR-1 process and she was in the US with me in 8 months.  But we followed all the instructions in the Guides to the tee.  We had everything ready to go before we were asked for it.  I also accompanied her to her interview at the embassy in Manila.  We had ONE HUGE RED FLAG!  She was 19 when we got married and I was 54.  I had read that being present at the embassy for her interview is helpful.  And I now know that to be true.  The embassy officer asked me more questions than she asked my wife.  But we both answered honestly and she passed.  We are now together in Hawaii and just had our first baby girl.  We will be married for 5 years in September.  Many said it wouldn't last but my wife is already a US Citizen and is going to college and working full time in a professional field.  You will be fine.  God Bless both of you.  Aloha,  David 

Edited August 30, 2017 by David & Zoila

[geowrian 22,338]

3 minutes ago, jessica.e said:

Oh okay thank you! Btw, the interview is for both the sponsor and the beneficiary? I would get an interview and my fiance would too, right? So I would bring the prepared I-134 with me to my interview if that's the case?

 

(Thanks for the speedy reply and really helpful information! I really appreciate it!)

It's very, very unlikely that USCIS will interview you as the petitioner. The embassy will interview the beneficiary. You can be with your fiance at the interview, but it is not required. I was at my fiancee's interview at USEM. It helps to be there, but if it's not possible, then I wouldn't worry about it either. We wanted to celebrate afterwards anyway.

 

np!

[jessica.e 1]

2 hours ago, David & Zoila said:

My suggestion, based on what I know to be true is get married in the Philippines.  Then bring him here on a CR-1.  It's less expensive and he can work almost immediately after arriving in the US.  It might take a few more months but maybe we were lucky.  We completed the CR-1 process and she was in the US with me in 8 months.  But we followed all the instructions in the Guides to the tee.  We had everything ready to go before we were asked for it.  I also accompanied her to her interview at the embassy in Manila.  We had ONE HUGE RED FLAG!  She was 19 when we got married and I was 54.  I had read that being present at the embassy for her interview is helpful.  And I now know that to be true.  The embassy officer asked me more questions than she asked my wife.  But we both answered honestly and she passed.  We are now together in Hawaii and just had our first baby girl.  We will be married for 5 years in September.  Many said it wouldn't last but my wife is already a US Citizen and is going to college and working full time in a professional field.  You will be fine.  God Bless both of you.  Aloha,  David 

That's great it worked out for you two! We have definitely considered getting married in the Philippines. But my problem is how simple is it to get your marriage documents in a timely manner? I think here in the states marriage documents can sometimes take a couple months to get finalized and sent out to the couple right? I don't really have the time to stay more than a couple of weeks in the Philippines anymore, especially since my job does not have the option of a "paid vacation", so I only get paid when I'm clocked in basically. I was able to afford staying a few months in the past, but now I cannot especially considering all the fees of these visa things on top of needing to be able to pay for a wedding in the future as well. But thank you for your advice and insight from your experience

[jessica.e 1]

 

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

It's very, very unlikely that USCIS will interview you as the petitioner. The embassy will interview the beneficiary. You can be with your fiance at the interview, but it is not required. I was at my fiancee's interview at USEM. It helps to be there, but if it's not possible, then I wouldn't worry about it either. We wanted to celebrate afterwards anyway.

 

np!

Oh I see ^^; so I would probably have to send a package with all the necessary documents to him in the Philippines if I cannot be there myself (which I wish I could but I don't think I'll be able to)?

[geowrian 22,338]

20 minutes ago, jessica.e said:

 

Oh I see ^^; so I would probably have to send a package with all the necessary documents to him in the Philippines if I cannot be there myself (which I wish I could but I don't think I'll be able to)?

Correct. You will need to send him the I-134 + supporting documents, and another letter of intent to marry to suggested. Good luck!

[David & Diana R 1,005]

9 minutes ago, jessica.e said:

That's great it worked out for you two! We have definitely considered getting married in the Philippines. 1.) But my problem is how simple is it to get your marriage documents in a timely manner? I think here in the states marriage documents can sometimes take a couple months to get finalized and sent out to the couple right? I don't really have the time to stay more than a couple of weeks in the Philippines anymore, especially since my job does not have the option of a "paid vacation", so I only get paid when I'm clocked in basically. I was able to afford staying a few months in the past, 2.) but now I cannot especially considering all the fees of these visa things on top of needing to be able to   3.) pay for a wedding in the future as well. But thank you for your advice and insight from your experience

We were married in Lapu Lapu.  We were very proactive and went to the civil office in Lapu Lapu 3 days after our wedding and requested that they expedite and stamp our marriage certificate while we waited.  They did so and assured us they would forward the paperwork to NSO in Manila immediately.  My wife and I picked up the certified marriage certificates in Manila less than three weeks later. I would suggest you get at least 6 certified certificates from the NSO as they are very inexpensive and you will be surprised how many people will eventually want one.  But a word of caution.  We hired an attorney in Cebu that expedited all the paperwork.  They also made sure we had met all of the requirements to get married, marriage counseling, my wife's parents signing off allowing her to marry, etc...   Without an attorney there I doubt we could have gotten it all done in 3 weeks.  The attorney only cost 6000 pesos...about 140 dollars and was worth every penny.  They even provided a Christian pastor officiant and he also assisted with the paperwork and requests.  Remember we were very proactive and persistent but it can be done.  Your husband could pick up the documents if you have to leave before they are ready.

 

A CR-1 visa costs much less than a K-1 and your husband will land in the US and be ready to work and produce income within a week or two versus a few months if he comes as your fiance.

 

Weddings in the Philippines are so much less than here.  We had 100 guests, a whole pig and all the necessary Filipino foods, deserts and drinks, including beer for about 400 dollars.  That's just four dollars a head!  You can even rent a wedding dress there for 25 to 50 dollars.  A wedding in the US will be at least 10 or 20 times that.

 

But good luck on your journey.  I wish you both the happiest life.  God Bless you both, David

[jessica.e 1]

@David & Zoila

Thank you for so much information on your experience in getting married in the Philippines was like! This is really so helpful  I wouldn't know where to hire a good attorney though, but my grandparents have a few connections in their province so they probably know someone. I did consider that the cost of most everything would be cheaper in the Philippines, but with my income and what I pay for monthly, they're all still something I need to save for anyway if my parents/grandparents/in-laws -to-be don't feel like pitching in hehe (my fiance doesn't work yet since he's still in college and decent safe jobs are hard to find there if you don't have a degree, so he himself wouldn't really be able to help pay for much at that moment). And it's true that if all goes well, he would be able to work and earn income right away after arriving so that's definitely a plus. I'll really think about this.

The only reason why I was trying to stay away from marrying in the Philippines is because I can't go back there anytime soon because I need to save money for my tuition and of course other expenses that I'm responsible for.. and I can't do that if i'm not working since my job pays me by the hour with no benefits. So that would put off the marriage for at least 2.5 years in my opinion (i've gone back each year since we met, each time I've almost run out of money to pay my bills; this past year I turned out to be lucky because I had a lot of birthday money from family when I turned 21), which would technically make this process longer than applying for a K-1 ^^;

Thank you again for all your advice and help  

Edited August 31, 2017 by jessica.e