Balikbayan box question

[BadAmmoWitch 213]

Hello everyone. Has anyone sent a balikbayan box to the Philippines recently? My wife and I are preparing to send our first balikbayan box to her family. At LBC, the lady said that we can have maximum 12 of each item. We have, for example, 15 bags of assorted chocolate (Snickers, Twix, etc). We also have 24 new Old Navy shirts of various styles and colors. Can we really only ship 12 of these bags of chocolate? Only 12 shirts?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.

 

*edit for the mods: I tried to post this in the Philippines area, but I couldn't figure it out. Could you please move it there?

Edited September 25, 2023 by BadAmmoWitch
Mods

[powerpuff 6,744]

Topic moved from Moving to the US forum to Regional discussion: Philippines.

[RO_AH 1,659]

2 hours ago, BadAmmoWitch said:

Hello everyone. Has anyone sent a balikbayan box to the Philippines recently? My wife and I are preparing to send our first balikbayan box to her family. At LBC, the lady said that we can have maximum 12 of each item. We have, for example, 15 bags of assorted chocolate (Snickers, Twix, etc). We also have 24 new Old Navy shirts of various styles and colors. Can we really only ship 12 of these bags of chocolate? Only 12 shirts?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.

 

*edit for the mods: I tried to post this in the Philippines area, but I couldn't figure it out. Could you please move it there?

 

I have been sending BB boxes through LBC for almost 15 years. First bit of advice, ignore the person you spoke to at LBC. I have never asked or been told that I am limited to 12 of anything. But, if nothing else, say you are sending 36 shirts. List as 12 Boys shirts, 12 Mens shirts. 12 womens shirts. See what I mean? The do not check your boxes anyway. I have sent many things that I either did not list or listed incorrectly. For chocolates, the best deal is the big bag at Costco. I don't know how you can 15 of those in a single bb box. I have sent computers, laptops, cash, jewelry, etc. and never had a problem. If you list them they will want to charge you extra. Bottom line is no one is going to open your box and search it.

[teddy k 35]

3 hours ago, BadAmmoWitch said:

Hello everyone. Has anyone sent a balikbayan box to the Philippines recently? My wife and I are preparing to send our first balikbayan box to her family. At LBC, the lady said that we can have maximum 12 of each item. We have, for example, 15 bags of assorted chocolate (Snickers, Twix, etc). We also have 24 new Old Navy shirts of various styles and colors. Can we really only ship 12 of these bags of chocolate? Only 12 shirts?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.

 

*edit for the mods: I tried to post this in the Philippines area, but I couldn't figure it out. Could you please move it there?

 

On 8/19/2023 at 10:11 AM, Mike E said:

So back to your question.
 

So a total of 6 people. In 2023 this would be $50,350 per year.

 

See https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p

 

You should also read https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2023/visa-bulletin-for-september-2023.html

As you can see cases from 22APR07 or earlier are now being taken up. 
 

Some people will tell you;

2023 - 2007 = 16, so a 16 year wait. That is not realistitc.

 

* 5 years ago, cases from 08JAN05 or earlier were being taken up: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2018/visa-bulletin-for-september-2018.html . So in 5 years the date progressed 15 months. IOW 60 months of duration had 15 months of progress.

 

* what we are seeing is that even when a filing date becomes current, cases languish in NVC for years because a visa number is not really available. It appears the State department is manipulating the visa bulletin to show a more optimistic view.  

Thus a realistic wait estimate is 

 

(2023 - 2007) * 60/15 + 3 = 67 years. Assuming 3 percent annual inflation, you will need to earn 

 

50,350 * 1.03^67

= $364,832

 

Whether their kids will age out, depends on their age today. Looking at the date of filing chart for F4, it is 11 months ahead of the final action chart. So I would expect I-130 approval in (2023 - 2008) * 60/15 = 60 years. 64 - 60 = 4

21 - 4 = 17.

 

So any kid 17 or older will age out for sure. Kids under age 17 have a chance unless USCIS plays dirty and approves the I-130 too quickly.

 

 

 

[IWander 589]

12 hours ago, BadAmmoWitch said:

Hello everyone. Has anyone sent a balikbayan box to the Philippines recently? My wife and I are preparing to send our first balikbayan box to her family. At LBC, the lady said that we can have maximum 12 of each item. We have, for example, 15 bags of assorted chocolate (Snickers, Twix, etc). We also have 24 new Old Navy shirts of various styles and colors. Can we really only ship 12 of these bags of chocolate? Only 12 shirts?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.

 

*edit for the mods: I tried to post this in the Philippines area, but I couldn't figure it out. Could you please move it there?

FYI, with chocolate will likely arrive in some sort of a melted state as these containers get hot during transit.

 

 

[top_secret 2,458]

My wife sent approximately the contents of a small warehouse in 5 extra large balikbayan boxes simultaneously.  Apparently 5 boxes sent together constitutes "one shipment".  The paperwork was accomplished with all the precision, accuracy and attention to detail you would normally expect in the Philippines.  I don't speak Tagalog but I surmised the LBC driver who arrived to pick up the boxes was coaching my wife on what she could or could not write down on the paperwork. The short list I saw somehow nowhere near matched the sheer quantity of the boxes.  Even I was skeptical that shipment would go through without trouble as it seemed to somehow push the envelope little bit but lo and behold all 5 boxes appeared on the other side trouble free.

[BadAmmoWitch 213]

16 hours ago, RO_AH said:

 

I have been sending BB boxes through LBC for almost 15 years. First bit of advice, ignore the person you spoke to at LBC. I have never asked or been told that I am limited to 12 of anything. But, if nothing else, say you are sending 36 shirts. List as 12 Boys shirts, 12 Mens shirts. 12 womens shirts. See what I mean? The do not check your boxes anyway. I have sent many things that I either did not list or listed incorrectly. For chocolates, the best deal is the big bag at Costco. I don't know how you can 15 of those in a single bb box. I have sent computers, laptops, cash, jewelry, etc. and never had a problem. If you list them they will want to charge you extra. Bottom line is no one is going to open your box and search it.

 

This is great info, thank you very much. 

 

7 hours ago, IWander said:

FYI, with chocolate will likely arrive in some sort of a melted state as these containers get hot during transit.

 

 

 

Yeah, I guess that's one of the downsides.

 

3 hours ago, top_secret said:

My wife sent approximately the contents of a small warehouse in 5 extra large balikbayan boxes simultaneously.  Apparently 5 boxes sent together constitutes "one shipment".  The paperwork was accomplished with all the precision, accuracy and attention to detail you would normally expect in the Philippines.  I don't speak Tagalog but I surmised the LBC driver who arrived to pick up the boxes was coaching my wife on what she could or could not write down on the paperwork. The short list I saw somehow nowhere near matched the sheer quantity of the boxes.  Even I was skeptical that shipment would go through without trouble as it seemed to somehow push the envelope little bit but lo and behold all 5 boxes appeared on the other side trouble free.

 

Understood. Thank you for your response.

 

[Adventine 3,201]

All these balikbayan box stories bring back memories. Many years ago, when I was a kid, we received a BB box at our house. The delivery driver was so excited for us, he was yelling in Filipino, "Balikbayan box! Balikbayan box is here!" My mom promptly told him to shut up. She was thinking about all the neighbors who would get excited and invite themselves over for ahem, "a look" at our package. 😂

[IWander 589]

6 hours ago, top_secret said:

My wife sent approximately the contents of a small warehouse in 5 extra large balikbayan boxes simultaneously.  Apparently 5 boxes sent together constitutes "one shipment".  The paperwork was accomplished with all the precision, accuracy and attention to detail you would normally expect in the Philippines.  I don't speak Tagalog but I surmised the LBC driver who arrived to pick up the boxes was coaching my wife on what she could or could not write down on the paperwork. The short list I saw somehow nowhere near matched the sheer quantity of the boxes.  Even I was skeptical that shipment would go through without trouble as it seemed to somehow push the envelope little bit but lo and behold all 5 boxes appeared on the other side trouble free.

We shipped more than 60 boxes last year in individual shipments of 10 to 13 boxes at a time.  Absolutely no declaration of contents was given.  All arrived without a hitch.

 

If there is one thing notable that Duterte did was eliminated the cusoms holdup for anything other than prohibited items.  Also , If they want to open a box, it now must be done in the presence of the sender or receiver.

 

We currently have 17 boxes in transit with another 6 being packed up for shipping in October.

Edited September 26, 2023 by IWander

[BadAmmoWitch 213]

4 hours ago, Adventine said:

All these balikbayan box stories bring back memories. Many years ago, when I was a kid, we received a BB box at our house. The delivery driver was so excited for us, he was yelling in Filipino, "Balikbayan box! Balikbayan box is here!" My mom promptly told him to shut up. She was thinking about all the neighbors who would get excited and invite themselves over for ahem, "a look" at our package. 😂

I can totally see my wife's family going through this. When we had her despedida/engagement party, it seemed like the entire town showed up.

[BadAmmoWitch 213]

1 hour ago, IWander said:

We shipped more than 60 boxes last year in individual shipments of 10 to 13 boxes at a time.  Absolutely no declaration of contents was given.  All arrived without a hitch.

 

If there is one thing notable that Duterte did was eliminated the cusoms holdup for anything other than prohibited items.  Also , If they want to open a box, it now must be done in the presence of the sender or receiver.

 

We currently have 17 boxes in transit with another 6 being packed up for shipping in October.

Wow, you might be the biggest goods importer in the province. What kind of goods do you send? How do you handle labeling the items on the packing slip?

[IWander 589]

31 minutes ago, BadAmmoWitch said:

Wow, you might be the biggest goods importer in the province. What kind of goods do you send? How do you handle labeling the items on the packing slip?

The two shippers we use do not require a packing list.  We go there respective websites, print the shipping label and that's it.

 

We ship lots of things.  We built a house so we shipped household items, clothing, food stuff, gifts, etc.  My wife is also an online seller, so she ships anything she has sold.  

[Talako 785]

Last year I sent 36 XLarge BB boxes.  It was anywhere from 3 to 12 at a time.  What was utterly amazing was that all 38 arrived to the Central Visayas unmolested and unopened.

 

My wife used simple, over broad, general categories.  She used "Kitchenwares," "Home Decor," "Shoes," etc.

 

My suggestion is to pick an overarching bland generic term to label your stuff.  Nobody is going to care.  I would suggest that you do not itemize.  Itemization will probably give you nothing but grief.

 

[RO_AH 1,659]

21 hours ago, IWander said:

FYI, with chocolate will likely arrive in some sort of a melted state as these containers get hot during transit.

I have sent chocolate in every BB box I have sent in the last 15 years, Never once has it been melted.

[Just Paul 4,595]

We sent off massive Balikbayan Boxes and none of the chocolate melted . . . and leftover Halloween candy arrives in time for christmas!