Simply Newt

I did this when I met her mother and father. I brought the back of their hand to my forehead. They both smiled. I did this with her aunt and her and most around us were laughing. I guess a sign of awe?

It was a fantastic experience and we are already looking forward to our next encounter sometime next year. Our next step is the divorce. We found a consulting firm who will help us with this and we will begin that process Sunday. It should take 8 to 10 months but can be done as soon as 4 to 6 months providing her ex cooperates. I was told that he would and not to worry. Once that is complete then I can submit my 129F form. Question here - should I make a 129F "packet" as I discovered on YouTube? Everything scanned and neatly organized into a package that can be scanned by them.

My fiancée and I are planning to be married hopefully by the end of next year. She hails from a province in the Philippines but is currently working under contract in Hong Kong as an OFW. She has been married in the Philippines and thus needs a divorce. We are going through a consulting agency so I anticipate it would go by rather fast. If anyone has a good idea on a time frame - please comment on this and let me know what kind of time I am looking at. Regardless - I am posting for the reason that her contract ends in July and she does not want to renew it. I had seen in another discussion that she had a choice of processing her part of the K1 visa either in Hong Kong or back in the Philippines where she comes from. Is this still true and what would needed to be done should she move back to her home in the Philippines to finish with her part of the K1 Thanks for the replies in advance

I had a very good time. It was everything I expected and so much more. My only regret was that I didn't have more time to spend there. One week was just not enough time to spend with what I hope to be my future wife. Uncontrollable Circumstances were the reasons for that but next year I will certainly return and I will ensure I spend more time there. Hopefully I will not be traveling back by myself either as I hope by this time next year, her K1 visa will have gone through and she can return home with me. The flights to and from were exhausting to say the least and I have learned a valuable lesson. Pack light and have the proper luggage. Lugging around an overstuffed back pack that weighed more then I could barely manage was very cumbersome. The people I met there and her family were all very generous and hospitable. Was this because I was the one purchasing everything? Probably but I didn't care. It put a big smile on her face and that's all that matters to me. Feel free to ask questions as I could write a small book about my experiences there and don't want to provide any useless information. On a scale from one to ten, I would give thos trip a 9.

Thanks Mike. I just noticed your location as well. I feel a little better knowing there is another person who has gone through what I am beginning to go through that is near to me. Gives me a better understanding on what I need to do and where I need to do it. Will certainly be following you. You have been at this for a couple years now so I would trust your experience and your recommendations. As for the driving, I have but a short time in CDO. It takes 2 days to fly in and 2 days to fly out. I burned up a lot of my vacation time making sure my wife of 24 years would rest in peace. What vacation time I do have left will be spent entirely in CDO. I will be in country only 4 days excluding the arrival date and the departure date. This means that every second of my stay is critically precious. After seeing the replies left here on this topic, which is greatly appreciated, and a lengthy discussion with my beloved, we just do not have the time to wait on a Grab or Taxi to come pick us up when we are finished with our engagements. The places we have to go whilst there are over an hour away from our hotel which I imagine could run deep into my pocket. So we have decided that I will rent a vehicle. I have been watching a ton of YouTube videos on street level tours of CDO, Manila, and the like and agreed, it is a madhouse and very intimidating when first looked at. For this reason and the obvious, I will only drive during the day and drive as defensively as I possibly could. I believe being alert and very focused, I could manage the couple days I have there behind the wheel. Of course a whole bunch of prayer will help as well so if you would, say a prayer for us that we may be kept safe and sound during this encounter. So as it now stands, I have 4 days before I head to the airport and I have not packed a single thing yet. We are very near to making this a reality and I probably should be getting busy preparing for the trip. Thanks for the comments and I appreciate each and every one of them. Will keep everyone posted as time permits.

I am flying out of Georgia right to Tokyo. 2 hours there then off to Manila. Another 2 hours there and then off to our final destination. Should arrive there sometime after 10:30pm. How late do the Grab vehicles run? Will they be running that late at night? Do I need to call or will they be outside airport?

I have plans to rent a car when we reach our destination in CDO. When we arrive it will be late and I have them dropping vehicle off at airport. Hotel is about and hour away and never thought of using a taxi or a Grab. Should I change my plans and go for a grab instead. It will be after midnight before I am able to head towards the hotel. The rental is priced ok but requires a Hugh deposit. After watching videos of all the traffic and it being my first time there - I am thinking I may lose that deposit because of someone not paying attention.

Thank you for this advise. Will have to look closer at the CR1 route. I thought the denial rate was higher for the CR1. Not true?

Yes, She will arrive first from where she lives and have a 5 hour wait before our 2nd flight leaves for CDO. I will arrive a couple hours later with 2 hours before our flight to CDO leaves. So we will enjoy a couple hours of bonding before we have to board our second flight.

Hello all. I am an American getting ready to venture over the the Philippines for the very first time to meet my fiancée for the very first time. She is currently an OFW working in Hong Kong and I was able to purchase her plane ticket to coordinate with mine where we will meet for the first time in Manila with a two hour lay over. Then we will board a plane where I purchased seats so she will be able to sit next to me and we will fly to our destination in CDO. I will spend just a week there as I have spent my vacation time earlier in the year and have minimal days left. This will be my first time going to the Philippines and am looking for any advice on anything I may need to know before leaving and while I am there. We are going to use a K1 Visa to get her into the USA so we can get married and any advice on what I need to do while we are together for that short week will be very helpful to me. I plan onmeeting her family and this time and I am sure I will be very nervous in doing so. Thank you for your time and I look forward to reading the responses very soon.