The nightmare of securing a Philippine visa

[flicks1998 1,044]

I started this week gathering all my documents to request a 9A Philippines visa based on a foreigner having a Filipino child.  I thought I would start a thread to put my experience out there and for others to avoid any mistakes, as I can tell you, with all of the new COVID "rules", its a confusing process.

 

After gathering all the documents (which I have more than required), I wrote to the Philippine Consulate New York as I had a question on the affidavit confirming that the child is still in the Philippines (and this applies if you are getting a visa based on a spouse still in the Philippines) that the "legal guardian" needs to sign an affidavit, have it notarized, and then they will need to mail this to you in the US.  Yes, it takes forever just for these steps.    The issue I have is I am the legal guardian of my son but they need the documents that are still in my condo in Manila that show Im the legal guardian and then I guess I notarize my own document that my son is still there   I will need to do either of two things:  1)  Request new documents from the Philippine government showing this legal aspect and I do not know how long this will take or 2) Have my fiance travel all the way to Manila just to get those documents and then have mailed to me.  It is hard for her to do this as she is working.

 

Documents I will be submitting:

 

• Duly Notarized Form 2A
• 2 passport size photos (only one is needed but Im submitting two different ones just in case)  Signed name on the back.
• Certified copy of PSA birth certificate of my son
• Booking Confirmation of the two nights hotel while awaiting the results of the COVID test
• Company of my company ID (not required but why not)
• Airline ticket itinerary
• Photocopy of sons Philippine passport (I confirmed with the Consulate that this only needs to be a copy, not certified if you have the PSA certified copy)
• My last salary payment
• My Work Number:  The company I work at does not issue employment letters, they use a company called My Work Number which verifies employment and salary.  I am not sure if this will be acceptable and if anyone has submitted this please let me know.  With COVID and everyone working remotely, it would take weeks or even a month to get someone in the office who could sign an actual employment letter and they stated they dont do these anyway
• Brokerage Account details and balance
• 401K Account details and balance 
• Payroll Roll Bank Account
• Charles Schwab account balances (if you dont have a Schwab account, I highly recommend this. Free ATM withdrawals while overseas and a ton of other perks).
• My Employment Data Report from The Work Number.  I am trying to submit excessive financial info in case they acutely want an employment letter.
• Money Order (I was submitting the $90 1 year visa, but I learned today the Consulate is only do the single entry visas for up to 90 days).  Expedite is $40 total.  Note on these visas and the same pre-COVID rule applies - after 59 days you need to do an extension and they will extend it for 31 days at that time.  However at 90 days, you need to leave the country. 
• Self addressed stamp priority mail envelope.  Do not use FEDEX.  They state this in the instructions
• Open item is the affidavit that my son is actually in the Philippines.  This has been the point I have made all along to the US government and the Philippine government that I AM the legal guardian.  This is why I had originally asked for an expedite of the K1 for my fiance as this delay was effecting my sons school and I was the one responsible for him anyway.  Still no response from them.  Its almost November so its safe to assume my son will miss at least half of the 2nd grade, possibly all of it.  But I hear he is becoming good at video games.

 

My next steps are to get this affidavit to prove my son is in the Philippines and then expedite for the visa.  I have already purchased my ticket for November 26th but can cancel that for a fee.  

 

The frustrating thing and I told the Consulate this, is that notarizing documents in the Philippines is a joke.  When I used to walk to work in Makati, every morning there would be 5, 10 or so vendors who set up a little sidewalk stall and were "notaries."  You paid 150p and they would stamp it and sign the document.  No ID was ever required.  It was a joke.  When we would close rental contracts for expats moving in the Philippines, we would literally sign the leases and the notary forms when we had free time, then take a huge stack of them to a notary, and they signed and stamped them all, never asking to witness the signature, never asking for ID.  

 

Once I get the notarized affidavit, I will mail my packet to the Consulate.  Ill send another update on that process.  I still hold out hope I can meet the November 26th departure date. 

 

[Allovertheworld 355]

What a major PITA

 

Keep us updated on the process

[rjsteodosio 4]

Yes. Please keep us updated...

 

Which website did you go to for info regarding the requirements? I don't know which one to trust, nothing is ever consistent with the Philippines.

 

thank you and good luck!

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, rjsteodosio said:

Yes. Please keep us updated...

 

Which website did you go to for info regarding the requirements? I don't know which one to trust, nothing is ever consistent with the Philippines.

 

thank you and good luck!

There is no consistency between each of the consulates. If you go to the Philippine embassy website there is a Color coded map and depending on where you live in the US, that determines which consulate you mail the papers to. 
 

I’m in PA so I mailed to NY consulate. California is split in half so if you live there it could be one of two consulates. I did compare requirements for a visa between NY and Los Angeles consulates and it IS different. 
 

I would recommend calling them or sending an email to reconfirm as well. I found out things that were not in the website, such as you can only apply for a single entry visa hood for 3 months. But with it being the Philippines, maybe LA consulate is different. 
 

I was able to get a notarized letter from Manila on Thursday and it’s been shipped by LBC and should be here by end of next week. I hope. 

[Grace29 37]

I can give everyone some information as I was able to secure a visa from the NY consulate and I live in New Jersey. I got the Visa to visit my wife who has her interview soon for a CR-1 visa. I mailed my documents on a Friday and they arrived the consulate on Monday. I included a pre-paid UPS envelope and was able to track the return. It was mailed out the following Thursday and it arrived on Friday. I did pay the $40 fee for expedited handling. I thought it would be a PITA too but it was fairly painless at least for how things in the Philippines go. These are the documents that I provided:

 

1) I had my wife mail me the notarized affidavit that she was presently in the Philippines. This is the biggest PITA of course and she mailed it from Davao and used DHL and it arrived in about a week. She paid about 1,800 pesos which was not too bad. Also she sent a notarized copy of her passport (notary saying it is true copy) which the consulate said I should send when I emailed them asking about requirements.

2) my passport of course

3) her original birth certificate (they said you could send notarized copy of not the original)

4) original marriage certificate 

5) cover letter explaining reason for travel and itinerary

6) hotel reservation at approved quarantine facility

7) airline reservation

😎proof of financial capability - I sent bank statement and last 2 paystubs

9) passport photo - note the size isn’t standard US size so this was actually harder to get than I expected

10) notarized application form - not sure why it has to be notarized but it does

 

That is what I went through to happy to answer any questions. Also I’m leaving next Saturday on PAL out of JFK so will update how that adventure goes.

 

[Allovertheworld 355]

33 minutes ago, Grace29 said:

I can give everyone some information as I was able to secure a visa from the NY consulate and I live in New Jersey. I got the Visa to visit my wife who has her interview soon for a CR-1 visa. I mailed my documents on a Friday and they arrived the consulate on Monday. I included a pre-paid UPS envelope and was able to track the return. It was mailed out the following Thursday and it arrived on Friday. I did pay the $40 fee for expedited handling. I thought it would be a PITA too but it was fairly painless at least for how things in the Philippines go. These are the documents that I provided:

 

1) I had my wife mail me the notarized affidavit that she was presently in the Philippines. This is the biggest PITA of course and she mailed it from Davao and used DHL and it arrived in about a week. She paid about 1,800 pesos which was not too bad. Also she sent a notarized copy of her passport (notary saying it is true copy) which the consulate said I should send when I emailed them asking about requirements.

2) my passport of course

3) her original birth certificate (they said you could send notarized copy of not the original)

4) original marriage certificate 

5) cover letter explaining reason for travel and itinerary

6) hotel reservation at approved quarantine facility

7) airline reservation

😎proof of financial capability - I sent bank statement and last 2 paystubs

9) passport photo - note the size isn’t standard US size so this was actually harder to get than I expected

10) notarized application form - not sure why it has to be notarized but it does

 

That is what I went through to happy to answer any questions. Also I’m leaving next Saturday on PAL out of JFK so will update how that adventure goes.

 

Did you see they locked down Davao until the end of the year?

[Grace29 37]

29 minutes ago, Allovertheworld said:

Did you see they locked down Davao until the end of the year?

Yes I saw that. My wife already travelled to Manila this week and is staying there. I will not have to go to Davao thankfully as it seems it might be a nightmare or maybe not even possible.

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, Grace29 said:

I can give everyone some information as I was able to secure a visa from the NY consulate and I live in New Jersey. I got the Visa to visit my wife who has her interview soon for a CR-1 visa. I mailed my documents on a Friday and they arrived the consulate on Monday. I included a pre-paid UPS envelope and was able to track the return. It was mailed out the following Thursday and it arrived on Friday. I did pay the $40 fee for expedited handling. I thought it would be a PITA too but it was fairly painless at least for how things in the Philippines go. These are the documents that I provided:

 

1) I had my wife mail me the notarized affidavit that she was presently in the Philippines. This is the biggest PITA of course and she mailed it from Davao and used DHL and it arrived in about a week. She paid about 1,800 pesos which was not too bad. Also she sent a notarized copy of her passport (notary saying it is true copy) which the consulate said I should send when I emailed them asking about requirements.

2) my passport of course

3) her original birth certificate (they said you could send notarized copy of not the original)

4) original marriage certificate 

5) cover letter explaining reason for travel and itinerary

6) hotel reservation at approved quarantine facility

7) airline reservation

😎proof of financial capability - I sent bank statement and last 2 paystubs

9) passport photo - note the size isn’t standard US size so this was actually harder to get than I expected

10) notarized application form - not sure why it has to be notarized but it does

 

That is what I went through to happy to answer any questions. Also I’m leaving next Saturday on PAL out of JFK so will update how that adventure goes.

 

Thanks for posting your experience.  Yes, its definitely needed to contact the Consulate before starting the process.  There are things they want that are not listed in the web-site such as certified copy of ID, etc.  I have a notarized copy that my son is in the Philippines, but I may need to get a certified copy of the ID of the person who got the statement for me.  

 

It appears you did not send an employment letter but just financial information.  For me an employment letter is going to be difficult as my work uses a place called "My Work Number" for employment and salary verification.  Plus with everyone working remotely, a letter is not even feasible at this time.  LBC was 1460p from Manila to US, but looks like I will need to have a 2nd mailing done.  My leave date is November 26th and I dont want the Consulate to have any excuse to delay or deny the visa.

 

[flicks1998 1,044]

27 minutes ago, Grace29 said:

Yes I saw that. My wife already travelled to Manila this week and is staying there. I will not have to go to Davao thankfully as it seems it might be a nightmare or maybe not even possible.

Also where did you get your photos done for the correct size ?

[Grace29 37]

1 hour ago, flicks1998 said:

Also where did you get your photos done for the correct size ?

As for the employment letter I did not provide that and was not an issue, but I could have gotten that of needed. As for the photo I first went to Walgreens and CVS and they only can do 2x2. So I searched online for visa photos near me and found a place about 15 mins from me in Rockaway, NJ. It’s https://www.passportphotosnj.com

 

[Allovertheworld 355]

2 hours ago, Grace29 said:

Yes I saw that. My wife already travelled to Manila this week and is staying there. I will not have to go to Davao thankfully as it seems it might be a nightmare or maybe not even possible.

The mayor is nothing but an idiot there

 

All beaches are closed, Curfew from like 7pm until 5am, liquor ban until the end of the year.  Davao Is a dead city

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gelline 5]

My husband got his visa last August from the LA consulate. He had to make calls and emails just to verify cause he had to send two mails cause they said they need me to have a signed letter stating reason for travel and prove that i was in the philippines. I had it electronically signed and emailed to him. He got his visa in 3 days. Luckily he had all our original papers cause i had him bring it just in case he needs it. I remember emailing the consulate myself from time to time and following up if the documents are good to go already.

[flicks1998 1,044]

4 hours ago, Gelline said:

My husband got his visa last August from the LA consulate. He had to make calls and emails just to verify cause he had to send two mails cause they said they need me to have a signed letter stating reason for travel and prove that i was in the philippines. I had it electronically signed and emailed to him. He got his visa in 3 days. Luckily he had all our original papers cause i had him bring it just in case he needs it. I remember emailing the consulate myself from time to time and following up if the documents are good to go already.

Your letter did not have to be notarized?  If you didnt need this, its needed now.  I know when they first started having Foreigners go back based on spouse/child in the Philippines, a picture of the spouse/child in the Philippines with a dated newspaper was OK.  Seems they moved from that, to the letter by email, to the letter having to be notarized.

 

The lady I talked to in NY Consulate kept telling me to just follow all the requirements in the web-site, but I asked her how I could do that when she had already given me two requirements that were not even listed. 

[Cody&Razely 134]

lol, aaaahhhhhh 😑 Philippines logic just remember guys "It's more fun in the philippines" 

[RO_AH 1,659]

I think that the Philippines will open up out of necessity. Let's face it, they need foreign money and their draconian lock down is killing them. I am just holding out hope that they lift restrictions soon because I don't want to jump through hoops to go there just to have them open up during the process. I am only waiting on the interview to be scheduled so my wife and kids can come here. I want to be there for the interview and medical so I am just hoping they open up soon.