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| Manila, Philippines |  Review on March 23, 2005: |
tom92117
Rating:  | Review Topic: General Review
I've dealt with the Manila Consular staff several times over the last 7 years. I've had good experiences and bad ones there. One of the problems with the Philippines is that there is so much fraud and deception going on over there on a daily basis that it's hard to be there any real length of time and not be a bit jaded. I think this is the reason there seems to be a presumption of guilt in the attitude of most of the folks at the Consulate there. To be real honest, they do have to deal with a lot more fraud than most parts of the world. I've personally seen Americans die over there and the Filipino family try and keep it quiet so that the Sosial Security keeps on arriving, Retired Military Healthcare Scams, travel agents in the PI selling visas (especially to Great Britain), married bar girls conning their American "Honey Ko's" into K-1 visa applications, almost anything you can imagine happens in the Philippines. Birth certificates can be easily purchased and Filipinos rarely are known by their legal names. The Consulate is in the difficult position of trying to sort this mess out and it's not an easy task.
One thing they are good about is explaining the situation there to a US citizen. If there is an immigration problem they will usually be more than happy to explain it to the USC. I'm going to say something now that I've learned from many years of experience in the Philippines. Do not take what the benificiary tells you as the reason they were denied or put on AR as the absolute truth. Filipinos have a way of spinning stories to make them look like victims. I've seen girls applying for K-1 visas show up at their physicals 3 or 4 months pregnant yet their American boyfriends haven't been in country for the past 6 months. It happens a lot there. There are a lot of good Filipinos and a lot of bad ones. The Consulate knows this and does their best to sort them out. It's a very strange country and it takes living there for a while to really see it for what it is. I was denied once there and they were correct in doing so, I was approved there and I think they were correct in this case. I for one appreciate the effort they expend trying to sort things out a bit. I really don't want to find out after a marriage that my wife worked as a bar girl in Balibago for a couple of years before I met her. Subic and Clark are history now but the game continues over there.
Be there for the interview, it helps. Be certain your fiancee has no hidden past that will come out. You should have success in Manila if there are no surprises.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #41