US Immigration from Philippines

Hello everyone, I'm trying to move my wife and step-son to the US. I am a US citizen born and raised. I met my wife in Europe while working for the US government in Romania. To make a long story short, we like many others were separated during COVID and got married online. We originally planned to get married in Romania, but Romania does not have a Philippines Embassy and we were not allowed to leave Romania because of their Covid rules. Ok, so not to deviate to much from the information I'm trying to obtain here. We for legal purposes were married in Utah. I was in the US at the time and my wife was in the Philippines.

Going through the I-130 they are talking about a marriage certificate, for the purposes of how my wife changed her spousal name to her married name. Now, we have a PSA marriage certificate in the Philippines and that allowed her to use her married name for her new Philippines passport. My question is this: Do we need a marriage certificate or is the PSA fine? I'm literally dumping every document I can think of into the I-130, so they can't have any excuses or ask for any sort of documentation. Any and all information would be very helpful, since this would give two people a better shot at life. Thank you.

Hey all - FYI USCIS has dropped a new I-485 Form edition that is effective as of yesterday, 03/03/2025 and it looks like they provided no grace period

Aloha,

If we ever ever ever ever ever ever find a biometrics and embassy interview slot open, I realize I need to get serious about health insurance for Dina. I am retired, so Dina hopping on my work insurance is not an option. I have worked my whole life so I never gave having insurance a second thought. I don't know where to begin.

Bill

Hello,

Looking for best path to get US citizenship for my son 13 yo that never left Philippines, leaving with grandma since birth.

I am a US citizen by naturalization and yes leaving on US for more than 5 years and yes after 16yo

I understand that we have 2 options: Adding my questions per option

1. Form I130 - I understand that will result on a IR2 visa to enter USA

Can we file for US Citizenship right after arrival? Or the green-card process is required and if so, does my son needs to wait 5 years of residence before became eligible for Citizenship?

2. Form N600K - From the Philippines (coning here just for the interview)

My husband is about to retired and he wants to move to the Philippines, is there any requirements regarding how long I will be residing on the Philippines to qualify for this form?

Also, what is the quickest and most cost effective path?

Thanks
JF

Hello everyone,

I've received the email to schedule our interview but a prior problem has come up again. During the application process in the CEAC portal a police clearance was required from Saudi Arabia. We don't have the documents required to obtain the police clearance. I submitted the application and checked the "not available" box, and listed the reasons why. It was accepted and the process continued.

I recently received the invitation to schedule the interview but in the email it says to upload that missing document or the interview "may" be canceled. I've called the embassy information line but it's just a call center. I've emailed the embassy directly but no response for 2 weeks. I've emailed the Saudi Arabian ministry of Interior and The Department of Migrant workers in the Philippines to see If they can provide any of the documents.

Does anyone here have any experience with or suggestions for this situation?