An Introduction an Seeking Future Guidance

[payxibka 10,047]

I heard roughly 6 to 7k K1 petitions in the queue

[RO_AH 1,662]

30 minutes ago, smore said:

I have read both ways, "U.S. Citizens planning to enter and visit the Philippines for 30 days or less do not need a visa prior to travel to the Philippines, provided their U.S. passport is valid and they have a valid return ticket"

This was true pre-covid

31 minutes ago, smore said:

"U.S. citizens must have a visa to enter the Philippines for all travel purposes, including tourism. Travelers must receive a visa from a Philippine embassy or consulate prior to traveling to the Philippines."

This is current except, they will not allow any tourists currently, you need a visa AND an exemption, plus you must have a spouse or children living in the Philippines to get the exemption. This is why I advise trying to see her before she returns to Philippines. Under the current rules (which change frequently) you would not be allowed there to see her. Maybe instead of going home first (if Philippines is still locked down) she could travel to a 3rd country close by and you 2 can meet before she goes back home. This will at least give you the ability to file the K-1 if you choose to. The key word in my last post is "exponentially". The length of time for K-1 visa approval will get exponentially longer once they open Philippines back up there will be thousands upon thousands of people flying there to finally meet their loved one so that they can apply for a K-1. Add that to the major backlog of pending K-1 visa's the process may take years.

 

44 minutes ago, smore said:

I have not heard of the K-1 process taking years once its started, I certainly hope that is not the case.

Hope is not the same as reality. Read closely what I said above. Please understand that the vast majority of what you have been reading was pre-covid. Everything has changed. EVERYTHING.

 

48 minutes ago, smore said:

Yes patience is one thing and I certainly have had that and am really hoping the world is turning the corner and things are going to be getting back to normal, I mean what person, what country can keep this up, keep shut down, keep such restrictions, in my mind they simply cannot.

I have a feeling these same countries are saying "hold my beer" to that statement.

 

49 minutes ago, smore said:

I am hoping we have a plan that will work in 5-6 months when she is back in the Philippines, otherwise YES we will have to certainly talk about another plan.

You should be talking all options now. My feeling is you have way too much faith that things will get back to normal. Remember when everyone said lets shut down for 2 weeks to flatten the curve? At some point you need to stop having faith that these government want to or will get back to normal. I am past that point. One person on these forums flew him and his fiance to Costa Rica so they could get married and skip the K-1 process knowing the K-1 was going to take forever. They are now waiting for their CR-1.

[RO_AH 1,662]

6 minutes ago, payxibka said:

I heard roughly 6 to 7k K1 petitions in the queue

That along with the flood of new applications once they open up the Philippines is why I predict years to process new filers after they reopen for tourists.

[payxibka 10,047]

1 minute ago, RO_AH said:

That along with the flood of new applications once they open up the Philippines is why I predict years to process new filers after they reopen for tourists.

But the flood will be somehst delayed as it will take them while to get through the USCIS. 

[RO_AH 1,662]

2 minutes ago, payxibka said:

But the flood will be somehst delayed as it will take them while to get through the USCIS. 

But that flood will still happen and they will still be working on the backlog at that point.

[top_secret 2,498]

3 hours ago, RO_AH said:

One person on these forums flew him and his fiance to Costa Rica so they could get married and skip the K-1 process knowing the K-1 was going to take forever. They are now waiting for their CR-1.

Did I mention my wife is documentarly qualified as of last week.  Just waiting for an interview now.  From filing the I-130 to documentarily qualified in 4 months flat. I am so glad I changed plans to filing a CR-1 petition instead of the original plan to file K-1.  I would highly recommend to anyone contemplating which path to take, marry as soon as possible and file for CR-1.

[RO_AH 1,662]

1 hour ago, top_secret said:

Did I mention my wife is documentarly qualified as of last week

Congrats!

[smore 19]

On 7/11/2021 at 8:08 PM, B_J said:

From what I understand about OFW, particularly domestic helpers, it may not be possible for her to take time off; not if she wants to stay employed.  The conditions and expectations are nothing we would accept here in the states but its what the job is.  It's really commendable that you're trying to be understanding of her situation. 

 

The issue with the K1 timeline is that there is going to be a huge backlog of cases that have to be taken care of.  Its really a mess right now.  I haven't kept up with the numbers for K1 and CR1 cases but if your relationship reaches that point,  you may want to look into the CR1 visa. 

I believe you are exactly correct, she cannot really take time off, not unless it would be like an emergency or something, perhaps than. But if she wants to stay employed, wants to remain having a place to live than sadly she has to do what the employer wants. She barely gets a day off the way it is, she mainly works on her days off as well, and it sounds like many of her friends she has made where she is working also do not get many days off. The conditions and expectations are certainly not like they are in the United States, and I really worry about her, and feel bad about the situation she is in. Most days she is working from the time she gets up till the time she goes to bed, she takes care of her employers kids so when they are awake she is pretty much working is what it sounds like, so 12-16 hour days or more. I feel bad because here in the US most jobs are certainly not like that and you have your time off, (most jobs are like that anyways, but there are different situations here as well). 

 

Thanks for saying its commendable that I am being understanding of her situation. Covid certainly has effected things on many levels but its also extended her stay where she is working, otherwise she would of been back home already, and without covid we certainly could of met already. But she will not be extending her contract again, and plans to be back home in 4-5 months, than we will have to evaluate what travel looks like at that time for us to meet each other and move forward. I am sure MANY are in situations on this site due to covid, and I feel for all of you, I really feel for all of you, without covid we all could be moving forward with the process and being together and enjoying life with that person (thats the way it should be, as life is short the way it is and this process sounds like it varies for the time frame from person to person already, now with covid there is so much uncertainly). But with vaccines around the world and more and more people getting the vaccine it seems day by day, week by week, month by month it appears things are getting better, some hiccups with variants and all, but overall things are a bit brighter and getting brighter and brighter and hopefully the world opening up again.

 

Yes I am sure there will be a backlog with the K-1, I wonder how that is going to be handled? Also I have heard that for some there K-1 process has been moving forward while others its not or moving very slow? I believe places have re-opened to process them? This is certainly all new to me and the K-1 process so I really had no clue about it, so when I started to look into what it was all about it sounded like the K-1 was quicker than the CR1 (which I believe is your already married, like I would marry her in the Philippines right?). It sounded weird to me that the K-1 would be quicker than the CR1 as your already married, but that is the info I got and many resources said K-1 is quicker and more common.
 

Thanks again for your feedback, it really does help to talk about this. I really want to make some wonderful friends via this site who not only can provide help and advice but emotional support as well, its nice to have friends to be able to express things to that can relate.

[smore 19]

On 7/11/2021 at 8:42 PM, RO_AH said:

This was true pre-covid

This is current except, they will not allow any tourists currently, you need a visa AND an exemption, plus you must have a spouse or children living in the Philippines to get the exemption. This is why I advise trying to see her before she returns to Philippines. Under the current rules (which change frequently) you would not be allowed there to see her. Maybe instead of going home first (if Philippines is still locked down) she could travel to a 3rd country close by and you 2 can meet before she goes back home. This will at least give you the ability to file the K-1 if you choose to. The key word in my last post is "exponentially". The length of time for K-1 visa approval will get exponentially longer once they open Philippines back up there will be thousands upon thousands of people flying there to finally meet their loved one so that they can apply for a K-1. Add that to the major backlog of pending K-1 visa's the process may take years.

 

Hope is not the same as reality. Read closely what I said above. Please understand that the vast majority of what you have been reading was pre-covid. Everything has changed. EVERYTHING.

 

I have a feeling these same countries are saying "hold my beer" to that statement.

 

You should be talking all options now. My feeling is you have way too much faith that things will get back to normal. Remember when everyone said lets shut down for 2 weeks to flatten the curve? At some point you need to stop having faith that these government want to or will get back to normal. I am past that point. One person on these forums flew him and his fiance to Costa Rica so they could get married and skip the K-1 process knowing the K-1 was going to take forever. They are now waiting for their CR-1.

So than this is how it is now "U.S. citizens must have a visa to enter the Philippines for all travel purposes, including tourism. Travelers must receive a visa from a Philippine embassy or consulate prior to traveling to the Philippines." Is this due to covid or just a change that occurred prior to covid? I see see that they are not allowing tourist now of course as many countries still are not or are just starting to open back up again. I am hoping that in 4-5 months things will keep changing as has been the trend for many countries they are slowly easy up on restrictions and really many do not have a choice as they need to survive and cannot remain closed forever, they simply just cannot keep this up much longer. Its amazing how long its already been that countries, business, industries have been effected with lockdowns. As you mentioned things change frequently with the restrictions, regulations in the Philippines, it gets very confusing for sure. Again my hopes are the restrictions ease up as the world gets a grasp on covid more and more as each day goes by.

 

I do see your point about seeing her before she goes home, especially if the Philippines will remain locked down, again my hope is that more time going by restrictions will eventually have to lift, and its true the world is getting a grasp on covid, I wish it was getting that grasp on it much quicker as I am sure we all do. As I mentioned in my response to B_J (please read that part of my response in that message) she just cannot take time off work, only way would be to wait until her contract is over and than meet somewhere else before she goes home, maybe even in Hong Kong still (of course depending on what there restrictions are). That is an idea I will have to bring up with her. But as I have mentioned in a few responses she really does want me to meet her family, and I do admire and respect that. Obviously without covid a smooth or smoother process could of occurred which many before covid probably experienced. You meet online, you message, you get to the point where its time to move forward to meeting, you meet, you file the K-1, the K-1 gets approved and your able to be together in person and enjoy life, WOW wouldn't that process be nice, but NO covid had to to ruin things for ME as well as many others.

 

I also responded to B_J about the K-1 versus CR1 (please read that response). In that response it does say I have seen info that says to go with the K-1 versus the CR1. Not sure if that was before covid it was the process to go with and now with covid things have changed and now the CR1 is the quicker process? It seems like that is what your saying? I am sure there will be a backlog in every country for K-1 visas, some countries much more than others also. What a mess this has created for ME and everyone on this site who is at some different point in the process of either K-1 or CR1 or maybe like me wanting to get to the point where the process can even start.

 

The world has to open back up at some point and its already been a very long time of being shutdown more than I ever could imagine things could remain closed, countries have to open back up, they simply cannot sit back as many rely on tourism so much. This is really a horrible situation our world and the worlds people have been put into. I thank you for your advice and YES I am going to keep an open mind to all options and will have to discuss those options with her and have a discussion about them, the "what if" type of conversations about us meeting and being able to progress. I do have faith the world will get back to normal not because I am naive but because how in the world can they remain closed, continue to be closed, continue all these restrictions for not only the sake of their own residents but travelers, tourism, there economy as well. I mean with the world starting to get a handle on covid the next move is lifting some restrictions, and continuing to move forward with that. In my mind the world never should of allowed themselves to be in this situation and had been much better prepared and better at responding and being able to handle it. What a mess its been, and yes I do not trust governments, NO WAY and I am long past the point of having faith in government to handle things. I a realistic person so I have faith, so I have hope that PEOPLE will get things back on track in the world, and have little faith that governments will however we as people have to deal with the stupid decisions, restrictions, etc that the governments (or the genesis) put into place.

 

Thanks for sharing your story about the couple who flew to Costa Rica to get married, but did they know the CR1 would take less time? how would they know that? Again I am being open minded about all this, and have to have conversations with her about all this and provide info to her so we can discuss it. What a MESS covid has made.

 

Thanks again for your feedback, it really does help to talk about this. I really want to make some wonderful friends via this site who not only can provide help and advice but emotional support as well, its nice to have friends to be able to express things to that can relate.

[smore 19]

On 7/12/2021 at 12:54 AM, top_secret said:

Did I mention my wife is documentarly qualified as of last week.  Just waiting for an interview now.  From filing the I-130 to documentarily qualified in 4 months flat. I am so glad I changed plans to filing a CR-1 petition instead of the original plan to file K-1.  I would highly recommend to anyone contemplating which path to take, marry as soon as possible and file for CR-1.

Thanks for adding to my topic. And congrats on your progress. You had quoted a part of  RO_AH response to me in your reply “One person on these forums flew him and his fiance to Costa Rica so they could get married and skip the K-1 process knowing the K-1 was going to take forever. They are now waiting for their CR-1.”

 

I have mentioned it a few times that info I have seen is the K-1 Visa is the way to go over the CR-1 Visa, now this might of been prior to covid and all the issues covid has created? And now CR-1 is the quicker method?

This is all new to me as I have mentioned as well so I apologize, so I take it that "documentary qualified" means all your documents have been processed, looked at, and are good and no further documentation is necessary? and you have moved into the interview process which is the last step? 4 months from filing the paperwork till your documents were qualified seems like a decent time frame for sure, certainly reasonable per what others have waited or are waiting on.

You mentioned your glad you changed to doing the CR-1 process versus the K-1. Before marring had you met in person before? I guess with my situation we have not met in person (due to covid we have not been able to), so would I really be ready to meet and marry? I mean YES we have spent over a 1 1/2 getting to know one another, we certainly have a connection, certainly want to be together, but also being realistic with myself and one another meeting in person to make sure that connection is there as well in person is the wise thing to do. So my thought process is could I meet her in some other country and get married? My thought process continues and I guess we could spend a bit of time in that other country (5-7 days or something, I cannot spend weeks away from work, home, etc) and get married not like 1st day but several day in or at the end of the trip, my brain is trying to comprehend this and think it through. I mean with the K-1 I would not ask her to marry me as soon as I got off the plane, it would be spend some time together (5-7 days), than if all is going great in person than YES I would ask her to marry, than file K-1. So the other alternative of the CR-1 having never met seems difficult to comprehend without having ever met.

Its all great advice and gives me things to think about and options so always appreciated. Lots of conversation me and her will have to have. To bad covid has made things so difficult.

[top_secret 2,498]

10 minutes ago, smore said:

Thanks for adding to my topic. And congrats on your progress. You had quoted a part of  RO_AH response to me in your reply “One person on these forums flew him and his fiance to Costa Rica so they could get married and skip the K-1 process knowing the K-1 was going to take forever. They are now waiting for their CR-1.”

My wife and I are the ones whom RO_AH mentioned who flew to Costa Rica and married December.  😁

 

13 minutes ago, smore said:

I have mentioned it a few times that info I have seen is the K-1 Visa is the way to go over the CR-1 Visa, now this might of been prior to covid and all the issues covid has created? And now CR-1 is the quicker method?

 Pre-COVID K-1 generally got the foreign partner in the US faster since it essentially defers the whole "getting the green card" part until they are already in the US where a CR-1 gets their green card the moment the enter the US.  Previously that detail was somewhat more time consuming for a CR-1, although even then CR-1 has numerous other advantages as well.

 

Post March 2020 however US Embassy Manilla almost completely stopped processing K-1's due to lockdowns or whatever.  There are THOUSANDS of approved K-1 petitions dating back to 2019 languishing for lack of interviews.  It is a HUGE backlog.  All the while US Embassy  Manila has more or less been keeping up on CR-1/IR-1 interviews.  Simply put they prioritize a spouse as an immediate family member of a US Citizen,  Family members take priority over a fiancée.

 

I submitted my wife and step daughters petitions in March of this year.   The wife is already documentarily complete, step daughter will be any time now.  That means they are just waiting for an interview to open up, get medicals and they are finished, ready to enter the US as green card holders.  They probably have a few hundred couples ahead of them for interviews.   A K-1 similarly documentarily qualified probably has like literally 6,000 other couples ahead of them waiting for interviews and so far not even any clear plan how US Embassy Manila is ever going to clear that backlog.

 

29 minutes ago, smore said:

You mentioned your glad you changed to doing the CR-1 process versus the K-1. Before marring had you met in person before? I guess with my situation we have not met in person (due to covid we have not been able to), so would I really be ready to meet and marry? I mean YES we have spent over a 1 1/2 getting to know one another, we certainly have a connection, certainly want to be together, but also being realistic with myself and one another meeting in person to make sure that connection is there as well in person is the wise thing to do. So my thought process is could I meet her in some other country and get married? My thought process continues and I guess we could spend a bit of time in that other country (5-7 days or something, I cannot spend weeks away from work, home, etc) and get married not like 1st day but several day in or at the end of the trip, my brain is trying to comprehend this and think it through. I mean with the K-1 I would not ask her to marry me as soon as I got off the plane, it would be spend some time together (5-7 days), than if all is going great in person than YES I would ask her to marry, than file K-1. So the other alternative of the CR-1 having never met seems difficult to comprehend without having ever met.

 

My wife and I have known each other in person for years, on many visits, so there was no mystery between us as to what we are getting into with each other.  There is a lot to be said about spending a significant amount of time together in person before marrying.  Anyone can project any image they want online and even keep up a polished persona over week or two weeks meeting in person.  It takes some time to really get to know how someone is.  However at this time it will be fairly close to impossible to get that time together.  K-1 visa also has the meeting in person requirement.  The only workable option under todays rules is meeting in a third country like my wife and I have in Costa Rica, Brazil, Panama and Peru during this pandemic.  But realistically, probably most Filipinas would not even be able to travel out of their own country at this time.  It is not easy.

 

[smore 19]

20 hours ago, top_secret said:

My wife and I are the ones whom RO_AH mentioned who flew to Costa Rica and married December.  😁

 

 Pre-COVID K-1 generally got the foreign partner in the US faster since it essentially defers the whole "getting the green card" part until they are already in the US where a CR-1 gets their green card the moment the enter the US.  Previously that detail was somewhat more time consuming for a CR-1, although even then CR-1 has numerous other advantages as well.

 

Post March 2020 however US Embassy Manilla almost completely stopped processing K-1's due to lockdowns or whatever.  There are THOUSANDS of approved K-1 petitions dating back to 2019 languishing for lack of interviews.  It is a HUGE backlog.  All the while US Embassy  Manila has more or less been keeping up on CR-1/IR-1 interviews.  Simply put they prioritize a spouse as an immediate family member of a US Citizen,  Family members take priority over a fiancée.

 

I submitted my wife and step daughters petitions in March of this year.   The wife is already documentarily complete, step daughter will be any time now.  That means they are just waiting for an interview to open up, get medicals and they are finished, ready to enter the US as green card holders.  They probably have a few hundred couples ahead of them for interviews.   A K-1 similarly documentarily qualified probably has like literally 6,000 other couples ahead of them waiting for interviews and so far not even any clear plan how US Embassy Manila is ever going to clear that backlog.

 

 

My wife and I have known each other in person for years, on many visits, so there was no mystery between us as to what we are getting into with each other.  There is a lot to be said about spending a significant amount of time together in person before marrying.  Anyone can project any image they want online and even keep up a polished persona over week or two weeks meeting in person.  It takes some time to really get to know how someone is.  However at this time it will be fairly close to impossible to get that time together.  K-1 visa also has the meeting in person requirement.  The only workable option under todays rules is meeting in a third country like my wife and I have in Costa Rica, Brazil, Panama and Peru during this pandemic.  But realistically, probably most Filipinas would not even be able to travel out of their own country at this time.  It is not easy.

 

Thanks for your reply and all your info.

 

So your the couple that RO_AH mentioned who flew to Costa Rica and married, again congratulations, and I hope your process continues along and your soon together. Sounds like your situation was very different than mine in which you knew your wife in person for years, had many visits so moving forward onto marriage was something you were certainly more comfortable doing than in my situation. I agree anyone can project themselves in a certain way online, via phone, messages, and even know we have a great connection I know we must meet in person to make sure we want to progress with one another (and to file a K-1 like you mentioned its a requirement). Meeting someone via a different country is a bit different and I have had to be open minded about the process, its not like dating locally where you would go out on a date, many dates, spending more and more time together, than progress to marriage (no set time frame for that, depends on the people). With someone overseas the dating process goes a bit quicker, I say quicker and have to laugh because its not necessarily quicker, but part of the process is quicker after meeting and once the K-1 gets approved you have those 90 days to marry, the rest of the process is not so quick, you do alot of messaging, talking via phone, and once you do meet and file the K-1 its waiting for approval. Again my situation is certainly different than yours where you knew your wife for years, met many times, so as some others have suggested do the CR-1 me running off and marring having not even met is just not something I am comfortable with and I am sure she would not be either, so its probably not a conversation we will dive into to in depth, maybe a mention of that idea might be made in conversation but realistically its probably not for us. We certainly have a connection, but we do want to meet, and proceed from there hopefully with the K-1. If at the time she is going home (she is currently a OFW in Hong Kong) if the Philippines still has there restrictions on travel, visitors, tourism, the idea of meeting in Hong Kong might have to be discussed so at least we can meet, spend time together, and than perhaps file the K-1 as I do not believe it matters where you meet one another as long as you can prove you met in person. I do not like that idea and I believe she would not like the idea of meeting in Hong Kong either, she wants me to meet her family, spend time with them as well, which I admire and respect.

 

It does sound like Pre Covid the K-1 was the process to go with, but now because of the backlog I can see how they are focusing on the CR-1 a bit more like you stated its family not fiancee. I know from about March 2020 till ? they had stopped processing things (the world sort of stopped processing things), but by now they must be back to processing something? I have read about some K-1's still being processed and moving along for some people, I believe I have even heard of some being contacted about interviews so hearing that is great news for them and sheds a bit of light on things, just a bit of light as I know the backlog as you mentioned is large. I wonder how they are going to clear that backlog? I mean if you have a backlog at work you have to clear it. What a situation covid has put this process in and what a situation its put me in and finding that person to be with, my journey started before covid, met her online before covid as I have mentioned, and we were getting to know each other well for a bit and than covid started to be talked about, and than covid shut things down and since its just been waiting till we can process to meeting as we have been ready to progress to that for awhile now. I cannot predict the future of how covid will continue to effect things, and in 4-5 months she is going back home and again I cannot predict what the Philippines will be like, what restrictions will still be in place, etc.  She is working as OFW so nothing we can really do now except what we have been doing, continuing to talk and in 4-5 months when she goes home see how things are, really that is the point we are at anyways, waiting for her to go home, and than see if travel is possible to Philippines.

[top_secret 2,498]

1 hour ago, smore said:

She is working as OFW so nothing we can really do now except what we have been doing, continuing to talk and in 4-5 months when she goes home see how things are, really that is the point we are at anyways, waiting for her to go home, and than see if travel is possible to Philippines.

Well if she is currently working as an OFW, the most obvious course of action would be to meet wherever she is now or if she is finishing a contract soon, then go someplace else for a vacation together before she returns home to the Philippines.  Once she gets back in the Philippines everything becomes about 50 times more difficult than meeting just about anyplace else.  There are many options for meeting or anything else when you are both outside the Philippines.   It's getting in or getting out that is the big problem.

[smore 19]

On 7/14/2021 at 6:23 PM, top_secret said:

Well if she is currently working as an OFW, the most obvious course of action would be to meet wherever she is now or if she is finishing a contract soon, then go someplace else for a vacation together before she returns home to the Philippines.  Once she gets back in the Philippines everything becomes about 50 times more difficult than meeting just about anyplace else.  There are many options for meeting or anything else when you are both outside the Philippines.   It's getting in or getting out that is the big problem.

Yes she is currently working as OFW and will finish that contract in 4-5 months (it had to be extended due to not being able to get home because of covid). While she is OFW I cannot go and meet her, she would not be able to take the time off work to be able to spend time with me, she barely has time at the end of the day to do anything, pretty harsh long hours, but that is what she has to do to keep the job, and most OFW sound like its the same. We were hoping that in 4-5 months things will be different around the world and in the Philippines (none of us know what it will be like than or what restrictions will be or not be).

So you said "Philippines everything becomes about 50 times more difficult than meeting just about anyplace else" why is that, I mean before covid I think it was not an issue at all correct? but are you saying its more difficult due to covid and the Philippines lagging behind on vaccinations, and lifting restrictions. One would THINK that they at some point have to lift restrictions, I know I keep commenting about that but I mean come on they have to start getting with the program here if the country and people are to survive, its already been a long time of shutdowns and restrictions and loss of economic income for the country and people as I believe tourism is huge in the Philippines.

It sounds like other countries are not like the Philippines is being? sounds like its easier to meet elsewhere as other countries have started to lift restrictions and allow travel and travelers? I am not sure of her ability to travel elsewhere first before going home to the Philippines? I have thought about if these Philippines restrictions are still in place in 4-5 months than I will have to have a conversation with her about meeting her where she is OFW (which is Hong Kong) and meeting at the end of her contract before she goes home? But its not ideal as she wants me to meet her family, plus I do not even know currently what the Hong Kong restrictions are for travel, and what they will be than.

What a mess this has been. Seems Philippines is really a difficult place right now to get into or out of and prior to covid it was no issue at all and people were able to meet and proceed with there relationship.

[RO_AH 1,662]

1 hour ago, smore said:

It sounds like other countries are not like the Philippines is being? sounds like its easier to meet elsewhere as other countries have started to lift restrictions and allow travel and travelers?

This is what many informed and experienced people here have been trying to say.

1 hour ago, smore said:

One would THINK that they at some point have to lift restrictions, I know I keep commenting about that but I mean come on they have to start getting with the program here if the country and people are to survive, its already been a long time of shutdowns and restrictions and loss of economic income for the country and people as I believe tourism is huge in the Philippines.

You spend a lot of time thinking and hoping. I think everyone here hopes the same thing but have no faith based on what we have seen and their own public statements.

1 hour ago, smore said:

It sounds like other countries are not like the Philippines is being? sounds like its easier to meet elsewhere as other countries have started to lift restrictions and allow travel and travelers?

What many of have been trying to tell you.

1 hour ago, smore said:

I have thought about if these Philippines restrictions are still in place in 4-5 months than I will have to have a conversation with her about meeting her where she is OFW (which is Hong Kong) and meeting at the end of her contract before she goes home?

You should be discussing and looking at options now in my opinion.

2 hours ago, smore said:

But its not ideal as she wants me to meet her family, plus I do not even know currently what the Hong Kong restrictions are for travel, and what they will be than.

Covid is not ideal. Ideal does not matter. If your relationship is important you can meet alone or in a close by 3rd country on her way home. There is no law saying that you can't go meet her and then go again to the Philippines after things start opening back up. What if after your first meeting you don't hit it off. Or if you do maybe you could start making plans for or even apply for K-1. Or your second trip go to the PH and get married and file CR-1.

 

Open your mind to options available to you.