lbounds

Well I finally got my son’s US passport today. They received the application on March 29 and we didn’t get it until June 3rd. I paid extra for expedited when I applied.

This was a frustrating experience when I tried to contact the phone number for any status. One time I was on hold for 3 1/2 hours. Other times I would call and the automated system would just hang up on me because of too many calls in the queue. I did contact my representative to try and assist.

For anyone that needs a passport renewal I would definitely do it 4-5 months before your travel date.

I was wondering if anyone else had this experience. We are waiting for my son’s US passport renewal. We can only track status online.

 The thing that has me wondering is it was “Approved” status back on May 4th however the status changed back to “in process” and has the same status as of May 16th.

I thought once approved the next update should be shipped. Right now I’m not clear where it is in process or when it would arrive.

Below is the email I got on May 5th. Note that the date the passport should arrive was blank in the email below 

“The U.S. Department of State approved your application for your passport book. We're now printing your passport book and preparing to give it to you.

You requested expedited service when you applied. Expedited service can take 7-9 weeks. Our processing times begin the day we receive your application at a passport agency or center, not the day you mail your application or apply at a local acceptance facility. You should receive your passport book on or around .“

Checking the LA consulate passport schedule there’s no dates available for any appointment even going into December 2020.

I’m going to try the visa route which can be submitted by mail.

Yes that’s a good suggestion. My wife is the mom.

For us both my wife and son are in the US and are planning to travel to the Philippines in October.

We have the report of birth abroad and report of marriage.

The only thing we need right now is the new visa for our 4 year old son.

thanks to everyone for the tips and suggestions 

Did you go direct to the consulate to apply or did you mail it in?

we would have to travel to LA to go to the consulate since it’s the closest to us.

I hope all goes well for yours. Thanks for the info 

Has anyone seen this? It appears that my 4 year old son who is a US citizen with a US passport will also need a Philippine visa to travel with my wife who is a citizen of the Philippines.

Apparently this is new since August. Am I understanding this correctly?

https://mb.com.ph/2020/08/08/foreigners-with-filipino-spouses-dependents-still-need-visa-to-enter-ph-bi/

Thanks for all the  comments and suggestions

Now I have https://www.callnroam.com/

I'll make note of some of the other suggestions in case it doesn't work out for whatever reason 

2 minutes ago, Randyandyuni said:

We also used this and was great when wife was in Manila but for family in Mindanao the internet connection is too weak/spotty to be useful, they live in a quite rural area

Yes, my wife's family also lives in rural Mindanao so anything that requires internet on the Philippines side won't work for us.

yeah 11 cents a minute would be $300 for 3000 minutes which I think my wife used the last month..

Her family doesn't have reliable internet service in the Philippines province so any service that requires reliable internet on that end won't work.

Thanks for the suggestions so far though. still looking..

I was using Globe Duo for a few years for unlimited calling from US to Philippines but they have ended that service.

I'm having some difficulty finding an affordable and reliable alternative.

What service do you use for unlimited calls from US to Philippines?

Thanks for any info as my wife loves daily calls to her family. 

On 4/12/2018 at 4:14 AM, cyberfx1024 said:

See I am not really familiar with Davao Oriental either so we are in the same boat lol. I love my wife's town because it is nice and relaxed but Tagum City is just a short bus ride away. Yeah the heat gets to me as well and when I am there I have to change shirts twice a day due to the sweat.

 

I have traveled a lot over Eastern Mindanao and quite frankly I love it. You should take a ride up to see the enchanted river sometime or the Tinuy-an Falls, they are both quite magnificent. My asawa has family all over Mindanao due to having a very large family(she is the youngest of 10 children) so we have a lot of family to deal with on some occasions but it's fun nevertheless.

My wife is the 2nd to youngest of 10 children also but all the families live within walking distance of her mom's house and most have several children of their own. That means it's always a big group when we are visiting and never boring. 

3 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

Ahhh ok your asawa is from Davao Oriental. That is close to where my wife is from. My wife is from New Bataan in Compostela Valley, which is right beside Davao Oriental. I have never been to Mari but I want to go. 

I see, I'm not familiar with that place. I've always spent all my time in Davao Oriental around Mati with my wife's family. It always feels like a relaxed place away from the big city. Even after all these years I never got used to the heat though. I'd like to spend more time traveling East Mindanao one of these days.

6 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

Completely understand my daughter was almost 2 when we flew there and it was a hassle. We got so lucky on the flight to Davao because she was able to lay down on 2 seats while my wife had her own seat, and I was able sit in the row in front of them. This was all because we paid for premium economy on Philippine Airlines. 

 

Where in Mindanao is your wife from?

My wife is from Mati City a few hours from Davao. What about yours?

2 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

 

That was a good idea on your part in buying a seat for your son. I know from first hand experience that having a child in your lap for the flight to NAIA is not fun at all, we flew from LAX to NAIA with our daughter on our laps. We then had to fly from NAIA down to Davao as well with no seat for her either, but we got lucky because the 6:15am flight to Davao was empty in Economy Plus except for us 3 so we got to stretch out and take different seats.

 

The flight this year I have already paid for a flight for all of the children no matter what even though our youngest is 1 year old na.

Yeah, we already did the flight with him when he was 4 months old with no seat. He was fine at 4 months old. A bit different at almost 2 years. Full of energy these days non-stop  

thanks for the helpful and humorous replies  After some further thought I went ahead and booked his own seat. More expensive however I know it will be more comfortable for my wife and son that way anyway.

We are booking a round trip ticket. My Son will be under 2 at the time we fly out from the US but he will be just over 2 yrs old (birthday) before the return from the round-trip flight.

My wife thought said since the time of the first flight he's under 2 yrs she expected he can sit in the lap for both ends of the flight.

However at least on CheapTickets.com it will not allow me to book the flight as infant in lap under 2 since he has a birthday before the return.

Does anyone have experience with this ? Any suggestions? My wife wants to save the cost of an extra seat. 

On 4/6/2018 at 2:18 PM, Hank_ said:

Being they are telling you that DFA is experiencing delays it is hard to say.         DFA has a whole new computer system that was to speed things up .. which is was doing for a time.  Now it appears they broke it.    No one can give you an answer ..  plan for the worse and hope for the best.

 

 

Thanks Hank and everyone else that took the time to comment. We will go as planned and hopefully will get it in plenty of time by August.

 

 

 

 

 

My wife needs to renew her Philippines passport to prepare for a planned trip from the US in August.

We plan to go to LA in about 10 days to do the renewal.

On the website it shows this can normally take 10 weeks. That is getting a bit close. Then I also saw a pop up on the  website there are current delays processing passports.

http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/consular-services-2/passport/applicant-for-renewal

Does anyone know about how long it will really take from the time from office visit to do passport renewal to passport in hand?

Thanks in advance for any info 

A few days after we sent the paperwork I followed up by sending an email explaining I would be in the Philippines in a few days hoping to attend the interview and asked for the appointment date. They replied within 24 hours with an appointment date.

We completed our interview on dec 2nd. I found the whole interview process easy and stress free.

The hardest part had been waiting for the NSO birth certificate for our son born in the Philippines. That took 2 1/2 months and we couldn't submit for our interview without it.

We needed two copies of it and we only had one handy at the interview.

We are waiting now for delivery of the passport and CRBA which will be delivered separately

I need some help as my wife will be mailing the CRBA paperwork to Manila soon. We are waiting for the NSO birth certificate which is needed which we will have on Nov. 18th.

I want to go to be with my wife and newborn son (who I have not yet seen in person) but I need to know:

1. How long after the CRBA paperwork is submitted does it take for them to give you an appointment schedule?

2. Typically when they give you an appointment how many weeks is it from the time you get the notice?

I'm asking because I don't want to burn my vacation time just waiting with my wife in Philippines not knowing how long CRBA appointment time and processing may take.

Any info would be much appreciated. Thank you

Thanks Hank and everyone for the response I really appreciate it. I have some reading and planning to do but I have a couple months to prepare

Thanks again.

My wife is currently a 10 year resident green card holder in the US where she has been living with me for the last 6 years. She wants to go have her baby back in the Philippines so she will have the support of her sisters and mom near the birth and also a while after to help her learn how to care for the baby. This will take a great deal of stress off her and this is what she wants.

I'm concerned about what immigration complications this may cause when our child is born in the Philippines. What process will we have to go through to get our baby back on the plane with us to the US afterwards?

Any tips on this? I have no idea on what difficulties if any we may have.

Thank you for any info

Thanks for the info. I have to wait to send on Oct 3rd though..

My wife wanted me to ask if anyone had a current xoom code to use to save the money transfer fee. I know they have a different one about every month which we used before.

Does anyone know what the current one is?

Thanks for any info