DELTAFOXTROT

On 6/8/2025 at 9:58 AM, Edward and Jaycel said:

 

This is a Philippine Bureau of Immigration requirement for all travelers entering and exiting the Philippines - Not a US Government program

 

You do have to wait until 72 hours prior to your departure to make the registration

I'm not sure if she can go on her mother's or if she needs her own (To be safe I would create one just for her)

For the passport, you should use the US passport as that is what I imagine you booked the ticket under?

I have heard that they will give you an opportunity to fix it but I'm not 100% on this as I've never had to fix mine either entering or leaving the Philippines

US Citizens don't have to fill out E Travel to exit Philippines, Only for entry into Philippines.

Just left Philippines on Sunday

On 6/8/2025 at 8:36 AM, JeanneAdil said:

No, you don't need a separate "e-travel" (also known as an Electronic Travel Authorization, or ETA) on an IR-1 visa. The IR-1 visa is an immigrant visa that allows you to enter the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident, and it already grants you the right to enter and travel within the U.S. The "e-travel" requirement generally applies to non-immigrant visa holders and those who are part of the Visa Waiver Program. 

 

 

Wrong.

Wife would need to fill out ETravel, Daughter would not to leave Philippines.

Update:  Just got back from Philippines.

Wife and MIL left DFW to Manila 10 days prior to my flight, she got the same seat, Said she broke out the inflatable stool after dinner when they dim the light and was able to use it for about one hour before they started crying about it.

So I changed seat and got the back row with a 2 foot gap between me and window which was great for the 14 hour flight from DFW to Korea, It was like I had my own storage area for my headphones/neckbrace and extra food I brought onto plane.

From Korea to DFW I did sit in the seat with nothing in front of me, it was pretty good as well as I could stretch my feet out all the way, I am tall.

PAL Direct Flight would be my only option

2 hours ago, Acp209 said:

It won’t let her schedule another appointment, we have to wait for the counselor that interviewed her to email her back and the counselor can only schedule another appointment, so our lives are in the hands of this judgmental B——! We sent the documents over 1 week ago and still no reply

Keep us posted, I have never heard of anyone not getting a stamp, or sticker or whatever they are giving out these day, I have seen people years ago had to jump thru some hoops, but all eventually got their certificate to leave Philippines.  

21 minutes ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

There have been several reports lately of CFO asking for FBI clearance of the petitioner ever since that Filipina got killed by her husband in Europe somewhere 6 or 7 months ago. It seems to be at the whim of the CFO counselor rather than an official policy. I would get the email address and email it directly and CC your fiancée. I would also take a screenshot of the online instructions on the FBI website for getting the clearance where it specifically says that the clearance is usually emailed to you within 48 hours if you do the digital fingerprinting at the USPS. That should hopefully shut down the counselor's "anything gotten quickly is fake" BS. Let us know how it goes and good luck. Jaycel had a real peach of a counselor in Cebu who basically warned her that I was either going to murder her, cheat on her constantly or abandon her here in the US. 🤪

Interesting to know about people being asked now of days for FBI Clearance and reason.

I have always wanted to find way to avoid CFO to leave Philippines. I have even heard of some girls going on a trip with their Forgein boyfriend out of PHilippines like to Thailand and they want them to do CFO. 

1 hour ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

You don’t need it to extend the tourist visa. BI can and often does ask to see either a return ticket or onward ticket upon initial entry to the Philippines, showing you are leaving before the 30 day expiration of the tourist visa stamp you get upon arrival. I was asked for this 2 out of the 3 times I entered the Philippines. Luckily I had a throwaway onward ticket showing my departure 28 days after my entry both times. I never had to show any ticket to extend my tourist visa at the BI office. Just twice upon initial entry

Only time I extended I called BI in Davao City and asked if I could send my sister in law to extend, person I talked to said no problem.  Sent her next day and they said I needed to come in person, they did let her extend as a courtesy.  However they said if it was my wife doing the extenion it would be ok.

Later that month I had a lawyer write me letter saying I was too sick to travel and he notarized my signature, and then I gave it sister in law and they let her extend. You know how Philippines is you get something on official paper and you are good.

1 hour ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

You don’t need it to extend the tourist visa. BI can and often does ask to see either a return ticket or onward ticket upon initial entry to the Philippines, showing you are leaving before the 30 day expiration of the tourist visa stamp you get upon arrival. I was asked for this 2 out of the 3 times I entered the Philippines. Luckily I had a throwaway onward ticket showing my departure 28 days after my entry both times. I never had to show any ticket to extend my tourist visa at the BI office. Just twice upon initial entry

I have never been asked for a return ticket upon entry to Philippines, Been like 18 trips.  Used to get only 21 days stay with US passport, sometime about 10 years ago they extended it to 30 which is a much better time frame, 21 days would fly by.

They used to ask me "Business or pleasure" a few times getting my passport stamped for entry.  I always enter with round trip, but I fly delta now of days, so if I need to cancel a flight back to USA, they will give me a ecredit on my Delta Skymile account, I usually now of days fly Korean air from Dallas to Icheon, and then onto Manila. 

Never heard of CFO asking for FBI clearance.  How did they know you had been arrested?  Just get the email address and send it directly and CC your fiance email address.

I am an American, I have been arrested a few time, I wasn't even aware a person could get a FBI clearance, nor heard of it nor ever needed it for anything. I have sent my fingerprints in for Concealed Handgun license in the past, and heard FBI runs your prints.

Worse comes to worse, just reschedule her at another location, I thought they did CFO now in Cebu as well as Manila.  

14 hours ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

 

If he is an American citizen, he can get the Tourist visa upon arrival and extend it at the BI while he's there. Just be aware he will need to show proof of an onward ticket leaving the Philippines before the initial 30 day visa expires to be admitted. He can buy a cheap ticket on Cebu Pacific to Malaysia or something and then cancel it.

I have never had to show an onward ticket to extend at BI in Davao City.  I did 2 extension couple years ago on same trip.    I would think as an American traveling to Philipines as a boyfriend he already has a round trip ticket to come home.

14 hours ago, Philippine Troy said:

My family will be vacationing in the Philippines for 40 days and we will be entering with the balikbayan stamp as my wife is a duel citizen . Now my daughter wants to bring her boyfriend and not sure how he would extend his 30 visa. Will he have to get it before we fly or can he go to the BI while in the Pi to extend it. ( his flight would be the same as ours for 40 days )

Extend it at the airport upon entry before going thru immigration is best way.   I understand now of days you can do your first extenion online as well after entry into Philippines

23 hours ago, MalloryCat said:

your case will be sent to the NVC, the NVC will forward it to Manila. 

 

only Manila does K-1 visa interviews

 

your fiance will end up scheduling the interview and medical herself.

 

but you still have a anywhere from 4-10 weeks before your case makes it to the embassy in Manila.

 

this flowchart shows a pretty good idea of the next steps. timelines are a little out of date. you can contact the NVC about your case 30 days after your approval. you cannot call them, you can only contact them through their public inquiry form

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html

 

Is DHL the carrier who transports approval paper work to US Embassy in Manila once a week?

Isn't there a hack to track your case to find out when it is the weekly batch being sent to Manila for USA?

12 hours ago, stacyt said:

Hello, my mom is Ukrainian, and she recently got a 10-year tourist visa. I became a US citizen 4 years ago. My husband is a U.S. citizen by birth, and we recently had a child together. Married 7 years. My mom got the visa to see us finally, I am curious what are recent experiences at customs in the airports, what questions are being asked.

My mom speaks limited English, so I was considering giving her a letter written for me that explains her address and her return dates. Do I need other evidence? Does she need any bank statements or any other way to prove she has funds? She will be staying for 2 months. Can I write a letter stating that I will provide her with food and lodging during his stay? I want to ensure she is not sent home at the airport due to some minor mistake. Never know what to expect these days.

 

Thanks!

We picked up my MIL about 2 months ago at DFW, it was her first time to use her Tourist Visa, She speaks limited English. She is still in USA, headed back home this Sunday.

All they asked her was where she was staying and my wife had already provided our address, and how many pieces of luggage she has, She had one.

You can give her anything you want that makes you feel better, I think it's a waste of proving a letter saying you will provide lodging, I would think most parents on a tourist, that the child would be providing lodging and taking care of all thier expenses while in USA, and CBP would assume that. 

They had asked my MIL who was paying for her trip when she did her visa interview, which she said we (Wife/Me) would do that.

14 hours ago, Boiler said:

I went for a B, long time ago, refused.

 

I was sitting there for a long time waiting for my turn.

 

Up I go, 3 questions, I think anyway a lot of typing the other side of the glass and on my way. How long did it last not sure, felt like seconds.

 

I think most B1's the CO knows the answer before you ever sit down

I am looking for a nice hotel with a large pool I can spend a few days in when we leave Manila. 

I have booked Sheraton NewPort World Resort for my first few day when I arrive in Manila and before we head out to provinces, and their pool is great, but I would like to check out another hotel in the area with cool pool like the one Sheraton/Hilton share.

Here is Sheraton/Hilton pool, they actually share the pool and it's in the middle courtyard between both hotel.

6 hours ago, DinaBill said:

Dina and I were rewarded for our persistence today. She chose to pick up at VAC. She was told 1-2 weeks. That seemed like a long time compared

to what I have read in the past. Does anybody have recent experience with this? She's gonna crash tomorrow. The next day she needs to decide

if to leave the Embassy/VAC area or not. She has a sister 10 bus hours away she can visit if it's really gonna be a more than week. If only a few days, then

she stays where she is and rests/shops/sightsees.

VAC?

Is that the newish Visa Applicaiton  Center they are making everyone go thru prior to your interivew, they do stuff like biometrics, etc?

17 hours ago, Theersink said:

FAQ of Korean Air:

 

Probably the biggest issue they will have with it is it is an unsecured large item. Turbulence starts bouncing the plane around and it could end up somewhere other than the place it is supposed to be or if someone in your aisle needs to get out the floor is obstructed. Just FYI, any area without a bulkhead or a seat in front of it is considered an aisle. That looks like a 787 so where that seat is you are going to have the middle galley area. Those areas on the 787 are intentionally wider but it is still considered aisle area and anything blocking that would not be allowed. If this is a necessity I'd recommend one of the seats with the bulkhead in front of it although those seats are usually reserved for families with infants so they can use the bassinets.

 

Worst case it being inflatable, bring it, ask. If they say no well then there you go.

Normally the Asian flight crew are pretty cool and easy to work with. I didn't book bulkhead since this seat has more room (I think) I try to book early so I can find these seat. And now my wife has found these sweet stools.  She is leaving a few days before me on same flight and she got same seats, She actually purchased these inflatable feet rest, and now after trying them out at home seem like a winner if I can actually use them.

3 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

where are the emergency exits as this is the important part?

 

and AI says they are not allowed for safety reasons and they could disturb other passengers 

 

Larger jets for Korean air have reclining seats in business class 

From diagram I posted emergency exit are 2 rows in front of me.

I am too tall for business class if they have reclining seats, I have done the Korean Air Prestige in the past where your seat turns into a bed and you can lay down, but that would run about $10 to $12K per passenger round trip, I can make 7 round trip flight for that price and get this choice seat instead, I only will fly that long of distance if I can get this seat or something similar with leg room.

6 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

So, you are going to cancel your trip, or are you going to try to avoid where masks are required there?

Facemask is my issue

They are silly stupid trying to make people wear facemask.  They gave my relative a ticket during covid for not wearing a facemask while she was driving her car alone, in Davao City.

3 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

 

Meanwhile, ~17 Filipinos DIE every day from TB, ~170,000 cases of Dengue per year, ~1,000 cases of Measles per year, Hepatitis, food poisoning etc, etc.   The Philippines even has like 80 lightning strike deaths per year if you want that risk comparison. 

 

I would wager that every last one of those infected with monkey pox was involved in behavior that put them at risk, mostly while overseas, and the one death they mentioned was probably someone already weakened by other conditions related to there lifestyle choices.

 

It's as close to zero risk as anything could possibly be in the Philippines.  If anyone is really unreasonably concerned then just get the vaccine before you go.  Your odds of death crossing the street in front of you hotel is far greater than catching monkey pox.

I am not scared of Monkey Pox, I am scared of them trying to make me wear a facemask everywhere I go.

FaceMask is my issue

4 minutes ago, smilingstone said:

 

Then why ask the question if you already have your answer? 

I have never taken a blow up foot stool, I wonder if people are gonna start crying, the Flight Attendants, Seems like once I get non US carriers I get much better and understanding Flight Attendants

41 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

I have been a customer of that bank for more than 20 years.  I have one getting close to maturity as well.  

I found them 2 years ago looking for CD and best rates, I think I was getting 5.20 on couple CDs couple years ago with them.

So far I like them, but only have CD accounts with them

23 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Yes.  Highest CDs I'm seeing are mid-4% for 7 to 9 months, but I'm looking at longer-term.  Look at Eagle Bank for 12 to 24 months, and Farm Bureau Bank for 3, 4, and 5 years (4.20% APY, 4.11% interest rate as of May 29).  You need not be a member of a farm bureau to buy a CD from the latter.

 

Edited to add:  A while back, a New York Life annuity (the cream of the crop) was paying something like 7%.

Great, then!  If you can afford to lose it, hang on until your sensibilities or price trends say otherwise.

You can always cash out now and reinvest the original $40K into Tesla, now or later.

I didn't look but I bet you I lost about $1500 yesterday.

I really think it will be on $400 in a few months

23 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

I've gotten some good special CD rates from Bank OZK over the last year or so.  I usually opt for the 7 month terms.  Right now, I think they have a 4%. 

I have a few CD's with them now, all are still getting the 5%, 3 of them mature in next few months.  They are offering 4.50 on 7 month CD and 4% on a 13 month as of today.

I have been riding out the CD game since it got good a couple years ago.

1 hour ago, smilingstone said:

You don't have a seat infront of you, but in that seat, once in air you will have constant stream of people walking past you to access the toilet, staff attending to people etc. 

 

Infront of you is technically the aisle, and it is generally stated that aisles cannot be obstructed at any point. Even if other passengers don't take issue with your stool, then staff might. 

I have had this seat probably 12 different times, only time busy is loading and unloading of the plane.  How the game works, is once you get up in the air, they feed you asap and turn out lights to let everyone sleep.  In front of me isn't the aisle.

I am 6'3" and 235lbs so I stretch out when I fly. You don't have constant stream, only time I see it busy in air is once you get in air and captian says remove seatbelt then some do go to restroom, ditto for landing.

Thus why I said once we are up in the air and everyone is settled in.