Petitioner and beneficiary living together in PH

[Adventine 3,196]

Hello! I've been browsing the forums about a week now, trying to learn as much as I can about the process.

 

I'm posting in the Philippines section because there's some very PH-specific context here, but please correct me if this should be moved to another section.

 

My fiancé is actually living with me in the Philippines right now. We spent 2019 Q4 planning his move to the Philippines. He has the luxury of being able to work remotely for his US employer, while we live together for one year as a trial period before marriage.

 

The idea was for him to travel back and forth regularly between the PH and US. He also planned to open a PH bank account and possibly relocate for good here, depending if our relationship worked out and if he liked living in the PH more than the US.

 

He arrived in January 2020 on a tourist visa, and we processed his PH visa extension and ACR I-Card in March 2020. Tourist visas being so flexible in the PH, it wasn't a problem to extend his visa for several months.

 

However, all that changed because of the pandemic. He chose to stay here with me in the PH for most of 2020. We cancelled all our joint international and domestic travel. However, for work- and family-related reasons, he will travel back to the US in November 2020. We also decided that it's better for us long-term to live in the US.

 

For personal reasons, we decided to go with K-1 instead of getting married in the Philippines and filing the IR-1. We filed the K-1 visa petition for me in June 2020. We're trying to plan ahead as much as we can, and we'd like the feedback of more experienced members.

 

OUR QUESTION:
In other posters' opinions, are the documents we provided below sufficient? Obviously the adjudicator will evaluate our documents based on their own internal criteria, but we'd like to get others' feedback too. We're trying to anticipate possible RFE scenarios.

 

Supporting Documents and In-Person Meeting Evidence
1. Signed statements of intent to marry

 

2. Background and timeline
- we described how we met and how we both visited each other's hometowns in the US and PH in 2019, before fiancé relocated here to PH in 2020.

 

3. Passports, visa and travel history
- For petitioner: includes passport stamps, PH tourist visa, long-term visa extension, and ACR-I card (Alien Certificate of Registration Identification card), flight and hotel bookings.
- For beneficiary: includes US B1/B2 visa (valid 10 years), passport stamps, I-94 arrival/departure records
- For both: our booked international and domestic flights showing we planned to travel together extensively. We explained all 2020 trips were fully paid but later cancelled because of the pandemic.

*** For our 2019 flights, we don't have the boarding passes any more, but since we booked everything through Expedia, there are itineraries showing the flights/hotel/trip as a whole were completed. An adjudicator could possibly check this independently by looking up the Expedia itinerary numbers.

 

4. Personal photos in both US and Philippines

 

5. Shared residence in the Philippines
- Contract of lease is under my name (beneficiary) but both our names are included in the tenant application approved by the landlord and the condominium certificate of residency.

 

6. Birth certificates

 

7. Divorce decree (petitioner)

 

8. Certificate of no marriage (beneficiary)

 

9. Passport photos

 

10. The usual forms (I-29f and G-1145)

 

I'd love to get feedback from other people on any possible RFE scenarios / other pitfalls we may need to prepare for.

 

[Jfresh26 23]

9 minutes ago, Adventine said:

Hello! I've been browsing the forums about a week now, trying to learn as much as I can about the process.

 

I'm posting in the Philippines section because there's some very PH-specific context here, but please correct me if this should be moved to another section.

 

My fiancé is actually living with me in the Philippines right now. We spent 2019 Q4 planning his move to the Philippines. He has the luxury of being able to work remotely for his US employer, while we live together for one year as a trial period before marriage.

 

The idea was for him to travel back and forth regularly between the PH and US. He also planned to open a PH bank account and possibly relocate for good here, depending if our relationship worked out and if he liked living in the PH more than the US.

 

He arrived in January 2020 on a tourist visa, and we processed his PH visa extension and ACR I-Card in March 2020. Tourist visas being so flexible in the PH, it wasn't a problem to extend his visa for several months.

 

However, all that changed because of the pandemic. He chose to stay here with me in the PH for most of 2020. We cancelled all our joint international and domestic travel. However, for work- and family-related reasons, he will travel back to the US in November 2020. We also decided that it's better for us long-term to live in the US.

 

For personal reasons, we decided to go with K-1 instead of getting married in the Philippines and filing the IR-1. We filed the K-1 visa petition for me in June 2020. We're trying to plan ahead as much as we can, and we'd like the feedback of more experienced members.

 

OUR QUESTION:
In other posters' opinions, are the documents we provided below sufficient? Obviously the adjudicator will evaluate our documents based on their own internal criteria, but we'd like to get others' feedback too. We're trying to anticipate possible RFE scenarios.

 

Supporting Documents and In-Person Meeting Evidence
1. Signed statements of intent to marry

 

2. Background and timeline
- we described how we met and how we both visited each other's hometowns in the US and PH in 2019, before fiancé relocated here to PH in 2020.

 

3. Passports, visa and travel history
- For petitioner: includes passport stamps, PH tourist visa, long-term visa extension, and ACR-I card (Alien Certificate of Registration Identification card), flight and hotel bookings.
- For beneficiary: includes US B1/B2 visa (valid 10 years), passport stamps, I-94 arrival/departure records
- For both: our booked international and domestic flights showing we planned to travel together extensively. We explained all 2020 trips were fully paid but later cancelled because of the pandemic.

*** For our 2019 flights, we don't have the boarding passes any more, but since we booked everything through Expedia, there are itineraries showing the flights/hotel/trip as a whole were completed. An adjudicator could possibly check this independently by looking up the Expedia itinerary numbers.

 

4. Personal photos in both US and Philippines

 

5. Shared residence in the Philippines
- Contract of lease is under my name (beneficiary) but both our names are included in the tenant application approved by the landlord and the condominium certificate of residency.

 

6. Birth certificates

 

7. Divorce decree (petitioner)

 

8. Certificate of no marriage (beneficiary)

 

9. Passport photos

 

10. The usual forms (I-29f and G-1145)

 

I'd love to get feedback from other people on any possible RFE scenarios / other pitfalls we may need to prepare for.

 

Our stories are somewhat similar! I (petitioner) have also been here in PH since December 2019. We also got an apartment together and will show the lease at the interview. But that was my second visit, after I had filed, so I didnt have my tourist visa or ACR card or the lease yet. I also visited for one month last July-Aug 2019. Also booked through Expedia 🤣 included the itinerary and highlighted the dates. Filed in Nov, approved in Mar, no RFE. 

 

I included the engagement ring receipt for intent to marry along with the signed letters from both of us. If you have that it helps, if not don't stress it. But try to include any proof or evidence of intent to marry besides the letters, just to be sure (wedding attire reciepts, invites/save the date cards, etc). I was so scared of getting an RFE on intent to marry. 

 

We are giving the cenomar at the interview, i believe that isnt required in the packet just to file. I got a "cenomar" too just in case (Affidavit in Lieu of Legal Capacity to Marry, at the embassy in Manila before covid) 

 

The pictures back up that you two were together, so be sure to date and caption (location and who you is listed in the pic) the photos too! 

 

If he has a criminal record, anything at all, be sure to disclose that. Could be denied if you dont. (I had a record, which I included in the packet) 

 

It wouldnt hurt to add a cover letter for organization! But I dont think its mandatory. 

 

I'm no expert, but just telling you what I personally did and our experience. Let's wait for others if I missed anything. Hope this helps! Good luck to you and your fiance! 

[flicks1998 1,044]

50 minutes ago, Adventine said:

Hello! I've been browsing the forums about a week now, trying to learn as much as I can about the process.

 

I'm posting in the Philippines section because there's some very PH-specific context here, but please correct me if this should be moved to another section.

 

My fiancé is actually living with me in the Philippines right now. We spent 2019 Q4 planning his move to the Philippines. He has the luxury of being able to work remotely for his US employer, while we live together for one year as a trial period before marriage.

 

The idea was for him to travel back and forth regularly between the PH and US. He also planned to open a PH bank account and possibly relocate for good here, depending if our relationship worked out and if he liked living in the PH more than the US.

 

He arrived in January 2020 on a tourist visa, and we processed his PH visa extension and ACR I-Card in March 2020. Tourist visas being so flexible in the PH, it wasn't a problem to extend his visa for several months.

 

However, all that changed because of the pandemic. He chose to stay here with me in the PH for most of 2020. We cancelled all our joint international and domestic travel. However, for work- and family-related reasons, he will travel back to the US in November 2020. We also decided that it's better for us long-term to live in the US.

 

For personal reasons, we decided to go with K-1 instead of getting married in the Philippines and filing the IR-1. We filed the K-1 visa petition for me in June 2020. We're trying to plan ahead as much as we can, and we'd like the feedback of more experienced members.

 

OUR QUESTION:
In other posters' opinions, are the documents we provided below sufficient? Obviously the adjudicator will evaluate our documents based on their own internal criteria, but we'd like to get others' feedback too. We're trying to anticipate possible RFE scenarios.

 

Supporting Documents and In-Person Meeting Evidence
1. Signed statements of intent to marry

 

2. Background and timeline
- we described how we met and how we both visited each other's hometowns in the US and PH in 2019, before fiancé relocated here to PH in 2020.

 

3. Passports, visa and travel history
- For petitioner: includes passport stamps, PH tourist visa, long-term visa extension, and ACR-I card (Alien Certificate of Registration Identification card), flight and hotel bookings.
- For beneficiary: includes US B1/B2 visa (valid 10 years), passport stamps, I-94 arrival/departure records
- For both: our booked international and domestic flights showing we planned to travel together extensively. We explained all 2020 trips were fully paid but later cancelled because of the pandemic.

*** For our 2019 flights, we don't have the boarding passes any more, but since we booked everything through Expedia, there are itineraries showing the flights/hotel/trip as a whole were completed. An adjudicator could possibly check this independently by looking up the Expedia itinerary numbers.

 

4. Personal photos in both US and Philippines

 

5. Shared residence in the Philippines
- Contract of lease is under my name (beneficiary) but both our names are included in the tenant application approved by the landlord and the condominium certificate of residency.

 

6. Birth certificates

 

7. Divorce decree (petitioner)

 

8. Certificate of no marriage (beneficiary)

 

9. Passport photos

 

10. The usual forms (I-29f and G-1145)

 

I'd love to get feedback from other people on any possible RFE scenarios / other pitfalls we may need to prepare for.

 

Ill have someone else respond on all the documents, however if your filing for the K1, the petitioner will need to make sure they have residency in the US as the intent is to move to the US on a permanent basis.  I have been living in Manila for the past 10 years and I specifically moved back to the US in early January to re-establish residency.  My drivers license had expired many years ago, all my US credit cards had been cancelled due to non-use, my entire credit history was wiped out as there was nothing to be reported, etc etc.  I pretty much dropped out of the system.  However, I went back to the US to find a job and re-establish myself specifically for the K1.  I will continue to maintain my residence in Manila though and will be making frequent trips as my job requires me to travel (at least when times are normal). 

 

One thing to take note is K1's are not a priority to Immigration at this time but CR1 do have priority.  Its only been two months but you may want to consider switching to a CR1 and getting married in the Philippines and then re-apply.  The time lost doesnt appear to be too much of a concern since he is living with you anyway.  In fact, if I knew that we were going to have a pandemic on this scale, I would have just got married last year in the Philippines as by now, we would have our interview.  Now we are waiting for the embassy to open to make an interview without the priority, for now. 

 

Your fiance will not be able to open a bank account in the Philippines on a 9a (tourist visa).  Banks used to allow this once a tourist stayed beyond 59 days and received their ACR card.  However, in 2016 Immigration went to a color coded ACR card system where depending on the visa type you had, this would effect the color.  I was there on a 9g so my card was blue, I believe tourist ACR cards are white.  A bank will not accept an ACR card from a tourist unless you know the branch manager and they are willing to make an exception and this is highly unlikely.  Banks dont necessarily like giving accounts to US citizens as these banks need to report these accounts on a yearly basis to the US govt.  Also, every year, the US government requires the citizen to declare their foreign bank accounts and other assets.  It is for this reason when Im closer to retirement I will drop my US citizenship.

 

Also if your fiance is working remotely there, he shouldnt advertise this to anyone.  Typically after 30 calendar days is when tax liabilities are triggered in the country and also he is on a tourist visa as well.  However, Immigration doesnt really have a law in place or any policies but they are considering adding restrictions to remote workers, youtubers, etc etc.  He shouldnt tell any locals that he is working out of the Philippines though.  Its a grey area as of now with unlikely repercussions, but just so he knows Immigration is trying to implement controls on what he is doing, its just this pandemic has caused delays in that.  

 

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by flicks1998

[payxibka 10,045]

52 minutes ago, Adventine said:

Hello! I've been browsing the forums about a week now, trying to learn as much as I can about the process.

 

I'm posting in the Philippines section because there's some very PH-specific context here, but please correct me if this should be moved to another section.

 

My fiancé is actually living with me in the Philippines right now. We spent 2019 Q4 planning his move to the Philippines. He has the luxury of being able to work remotely for his US employer, while we live together for one year as a trial period before marriage.

 

The idea was for him to travel back and forth regularly between the PH and US. He also planned to open a PH bank account and possibly relocate for good here, depending if our relationship worked out and if he liked living in the PH more than the US.

 

He arrived in January 2020 on a tourist visa, and we processed his PH visa extension and ACR I-Card in March 2020. Tourist visas being so flexible in the PH, it wasn't a problem to extend his visa for several months.

 

However, all that changed because of the pandemic. He chose to stay here with me in the PH for most of 2020. We cancelled all our joint international and domestic travel. However, for work- and family-related reasons, he will travel back to the US in November 2020. We also decided that it's better for us long-term to live in the US.

 

For personal reasons, we decided to go with K-1 instead of getting married in the Philippines and filing the IR-1. We filed the K-1 visa petition for me in June 2020. We're trying to plan ahead as much as we can, and we'd like the feedback of more experienced members.

 

OUR QUESTION:
In other posters' opinions, are the documents we provided below sufficient? Obviously the adjudicator will evaluate our documents based on their own internal criteria, but we'd like to get others' feedback too. We're trying to anticipate possible RFE scenarios.

 

Supporting Documents and In-Person Meeting Evidence
1. Signed statements of intent to marry

 

2. Background and timeline
- we described how we met and how we both visited each other's hometowns in the US and PH in 2019, before fiancé relocated here to PH in 2020.

 

3. Passports, visa and travel history
- For petitioner: includes passport stamps, PH tourist visa, long-term visa extension, and ACR-I card (Alien Certificate of Registration Identification card), flight and hotel bookings.
- For beneficiary: includes US B1/B2 visa (valid 10 years), passport stamps, I-94 arrival/departure records
- For both: our booked international and domestic flights showing we planned to travel together extensively. We explained all 2020 trips were fully paid but later cancelled because of the pandemic.

*** For our 2019 flights, we don't have the boarding passes any more, but since we booked everything through Expedia, there are itineraries showing the flights/hotel/trip as a whole were completed. An adjudicator could possibly check this independently by looking up the Expedia itinerary numbers.

 

4. Personal photos in both US and Philippines

 

5. Shared residence in the Philippines
- Contract of lease is under my name (beneficiary) but both our names are included in the tenant application approved by the landlord and the condominium certificate of residency.

 

6. Birth certificates

 

7. Divorce decree (petitioner)

 

8. Certificate of no marriage (beneficiary)

 

9. Passport photos

 

10. The usual forms (I-29f and G-1145)

 

I'd love to get feedback from other people on any possible RFE scenarios / other pitfalls we may need to prepare for.

 

A little late to he asking but more than sufficient 

[JonSeattle 202]

You can scale back on the proof of living together as there is no need for that. All you need for the I-129F are a couple of boarding passes or the like and a few photos together, along with a short description of how you met, to show that it wasn't through a marriage broker. The lease and so on are for AOS, which given your history won't be a problem either. Rather than say you are going for K-1 for personal reasons, to avoid the risk sounding like you aren't sure about getting married, you should mention some reason why having the ceremony in the US is preferable.

 

You will need a NBI and police clearance, but the embassy seems to want those to be within 6 months of the interview. The CENOMAR might be the same expiration.

[JonSeattle 202]

Oh, I take that back. You will need evidence of a continuing relationship for the interview, and since you are living together you won't have the usual chat logs and emails for an LDR. A joint lease would take care of that, or else a log of messages like "please pick up some eggs on your way home".

[payxibka 10,045]

41 minutes ago, JonSeattle said:

You can scale back on the proof of living together as there is no need for that. 

How can they scale back on something already sent?

[Hank_ 9,174]

6 hours ago, Adventine said:

Hello! I've been browsing the forums about a week now, trying to learn as much as I can about the process.

 

I'm posting in the Philippines section because there's some very PH-specific context here, but please correct me if this should be moved to another section.

 

My fiancé is actually living with me in the Philippines right now. We spent 2019 Q4 planning his move to the Philippines. He has the luxury of being able to work remotely for his US employer, while we live together for one year as a trial period before marriage.

 

The idea was for him to travel back and forth regularly between the PH and US. He also planned to open a PH bank account and possibly relocate for good here, depending if our relationship worked out and if he liked living in the PH more than the US.

 

He arrived in January 2020 on a tourist visa, and we processed his PH visa extension and ACR I-Card in March 2020. Tourist visas being so flexible in the PH, it wasn't a problem to extend his visa for several months.

 

However, all that changed because of the pandemic. He chose to stay here with me in the PH for most of 2020. We cancelled all our joint international and domestic travel. However, for work- and family-related reasons, he will travel back to the US in November 2020. We also decided that it's better for us long-term to live in the US.

 

For personal reasons, we decided to go with K-1 instead of getting married in the Philippines and filing the IR-1. We filed the K-1 visa petition for me in June 2020. We're trying to plan ahead as much as we can, and we'd like the feedback of more experienced members.

 

OUR QUESTION:
In other posters' opinions, are the documents we provided below sufficient? Obviously the adjudicator will evaluate our documents based on their own internal criteria, but we'd like to get others' feedback too. We're trying to anticipate possible RFE scenarios.

 

Supporting Documents and In-Person Meeting Evidence
1. Signed statements of intent to marry

 

2. Background and timeline
- we described how we met and how we both visited each other's hometowns in the US and PH in 2019, before fiancé relocated here to PH in 2020.

 

3. Passports, visa and travel history
- For petitioner: includes passport stamps, PH tourist visa, long-term visa extension, and ACR-I card (Alien Certificate of Registration Identification card), flight and hotel bookings.
- For beneficiary: includes US B1/B2 visa (valid 10 years), passport stamps, I-94 arrival/departure records
- For both: our booked international and domestic flights showing we planned to travel together extensively. We explained all 2020 trips were fully paid but later cancelled because of the pandemic.

*** For our 2019 flights, we don't have the boarding passes any more, but since we booked everything through Expedia, there are itineraries showing the flights/hotel/trip as a whole were completed. An adjudicator could possibly check this independently by looking up the Expedia itinerary numbers.

 

4. Personal photos in both US and Philippines

 

5. Shared residence in the Philippines
- Contract of lease is under my name (beneficiary) but both our names are included in the tenant application approved by the landlord and the condominium certificate of residency.

 

6. Birth certificates

 

7. Divorce decree (petitioner)

 

8. Certificate of no marriage (beneficiary)

 

9. Passport photos

 

10. The usual forms (I-29f and G-1145)

 

I'd love to get feedback from other people on any possible RFE scenarios / other pitfalls we may need to prepare for.

 

I don't see any issues.

 

CENOMAR not needed, USCIS won't know what that is even.    

 

The passport stamps, visas and lease are excellent evidence of having met in person within 2 years of filing the I-129F.

 

The three biggies to have covered are;  1) both free to marry at the time of filing the I-129F.   2) Having met in person within 2 years of filing the I-129F.  3)  Each of you submit signed letters of intent to marry.     More info in the link below

 

Do read through the I-129F instructions, there is a link to USCIS and everything from the below link.

 

https://www.visaconnection-philippines.com/uscis-petition-process.html

Edited August 18, 2020 by Hank_

[Adventine 3,196]

Hello all, thanks for the feedback.

 

Confirmed that we already submitted our file back in June, but no big deal. It's reassuring to know we seem to have oversupplied info

 

Regarding my fiancé's US residency: yes, we should have no problem with that. He still has a home and business in the US, active bank accounts, driver's license and credit cards. Our arrangement is that I pay for our PHP expenses, while he pays for our USD expenses (including the prolonged future period when I won't be able to work while waiting for the AOS/green card). I'm actually researching how I can legally move my PH assets to the US, but that's a question for another thread.

 

On PH visa and tax concerns, he remains employed by his US employer and checked the legal/tax issues before departure with his company HR and personal CPA. The (original, pre-pandemic) idea was that he would travel back and forth between the PH and US.

 

ThePH regulatory environment covering individual remote workers remains murky, but yes, we decided to relocate to the US partially to avoid exposing my fiancé to this kind of uncertainty.

 

We included a cover letter explaining our story and that we think marriage in the US and relocation to his hometown is the better long-term choice for us. 

 

No engagement ring. I said no, spend the money on my petition instead

 

Fingers crossed it all works out!

[payxibka 10,045]

No issues in moving the ph money to the usa

[Carpe Vinum 2,327]

11 hours ago, Adventine said:

Hello all, thanks for the feedback.

 

Confirmed that we already submitted our file back in June, but no big deal. It's reassuring to know we seem to have oversupplied info

 

Regarding my fiancé's US residency: yes, we should have no problem with that. He still has a home and business in the US, active bank accounts, driver's license and credit cards. Our arrangement is that I pay for our PHP expenses, while he pays for our USD expenses (including the prolonged future period when I won't be able to work while waiting for the AOS/green card). I'm actually researching how I can legally move my PH assets to the US, but that's a question for another thread.

 

On PH visa and tax concerns, he remains employed by his US employer and checked the legal/tax issues before departure with his company HR and personal CPA. The (original, pre-pandemic) idea was that he would travel back and forth between the PH and US.

 

ThePH regulatory environment covering individual remote workers remains murky, but yes, we decided to relocate to the US partially to avoid exposing my fiancé to this kind of uncertainty.

 

We included a cover letter explaining our story and that we think marriage in the US and relocation to his hometown is the better long-term choice for us. 

 

No engagement ring. I said no, spend the money on my petition instead

 

Fingers crossed it all works out!

You seem to be more prepared than most that come through here. Good luck)