Visa Information...  

New Information on Fiancé Visa Interviews     (List of actions by state)

USCIS Case Status Service Online

  Getting a Visa for your pen pal is a very involved process that changes from month to month and from place to place.  The girls get stories from friends as to what is needed and most of the time the information is wrong. I have seen many guys do it alone, [ I did the fiancée visa for my pen pal ] it is possible to do but I can tell you it will take many months longer if you go it alone. The information you can get on the internet and from the instructions on the USCIS forms is not enough to complete the forms properly.  I have talked to many men who have spent $1400 to $2500 on Attorneys. [ one immigration attorney spelled Philippines "Phillippines" and called a Filipino a Phillipineo" ]  Most US based attorneys are too busy to give personal service and many do not know the requirements as they do not do Fiancée visas every day like we do. They normally handle the difficult cases that need more then just filling out the proper forms. Most girls can get by using a service like ours but if you get a gal that has been married in the PI and no annulment  or has a shady past it would be best to use an Attorney. Many requirements are not listed anywhere but when the girl gets to the interview low and behold there is something missing and she has to go home and wait for you to send her something. As of June 2008 many new requirements has been making it more difficult to do this alone.  And if for some reason she is denied a visa you now may have to wait 24 months to re apply so very important to ensure first attempt is correct and proper. We send you over with complete instructions as to what you need to do and bring back. We also supply you with  a complete set of instructions for what the girl must do in the Philippines while we are doing your thing here in the states. It is a coordinated effort between you, the girl, and FV. We stay with you the whole way. After she gets here we will also be there  to help with any personal problems that come up the  first few months she is here { Chuck's wife}. After you return  we complete all the forms for you with the information you have given us[ for most I will be in the Philippines after Oct. 5 2006 and you will have a completed K package to mail when you get back to the states.] [ from our instructions ] and send the whole thing back to you for you to go over and then you sign  the forms and send them off to proper service center , and more important in the format that the USCIS uses & with all the forms & documents that are required. We will include the needed cover letter from you the fiancé  and our own cover letter letting the USCIS know that FV is helping you.. This alone speeds up the process as the application does not have be sorted out and a file made for it when it gets to the service center as we have already done that for you. We offer a complete service [ we stay with you for 2 years after your marriage [ see sample contract ] to help with the second round of green card paperwork [ first green card normally is only good for 2 years ] and any needed questions and or address changes ]. Our price [ see sample contract ] includes the K-1 through K-4 visa or married [ IR-1/2] I-130,  your Fiancées required duties as required by Philippine Laws. Adjustment of Status [ AOS] after she gets to the states, her first work card [ EAD ]  we even complete the proper forms to get her Philippine passport changed to her new married name & handle the "Report of Marriage" to the Philippine government as required by Philippine laws and regulations. As of June 2 2008 all newly issued Philippine passports require a personal appearance by applicant [s] at the consulate that serves your state due to new machine readable passports being issued.   K-1 fiancé visa is still the fastest way to get a person to the states. If married in the PI it looks like the I-130 IR-1 visa is the best way to go, cheaper and we think will be faster as now k-3/4 Visa's are being processed at the Manila Embassy and they are very busy and understaffed. As of Jan. 2006 you now need a valid passport to book a flight to the Philippines and for that matter to fly anywhere out of the lower 48 states.

 Remember there is NO Divorce in the Philippines. Very important to note that even if "Married" this does not make it any easier to get her an entry visa, it is just the opposite it makes it harder to get her here as they must investigate her background before a visa is issued. The Embassy can still turn you down and then you are married to a woman that can not come to the states, so think hard and long about marriage in the Philippines, on this note some girls will marry you and take you for a financial bum ride and not even show up for the interview. If married to a Filipina in the PI she has the right to petition the State Department for support from you if you leave her in the PI and without a Philippine Annulment you CAN NOT petition for another Filipina and even with an annulment you must wait 24 months to petition another. A stateside divorce does not count in the PI  , you are still married in Philippine Law if the marriage took place in the PI. New law in the Philippines allows for an abandoned spouse to be declared "dead" under some situations and the abandoned spouse can legally remarry. We have an investigator who can check out your gal before you even come to the Philippines, this is a good idea and well worth the $100 or so he charges, we get NO kickback from this service.

We can help arrange air travel and suggest best hotels in girls home area, we will email you a visa kit with all the information you will need so you arrive in the Philippines with all needed documents for us to complete your K visa application before you return home, the second half of the process is paid for when your fiancée gets to the states and marries you [or if married in the Philippines all fees and paperwork is due & completed before interview] Chuck in the states will complete the  AOS/EAD/, K-1 second half of the payment is [see sample contract] , each child is $75 extra. If she has children it is best to bring them over with her as it is much simpler and cheaper if done at the same time, if you wait over 12 months then they have to come over on an I-130 and that can take  years to process. We only arrange for a fair priced airline ticket, and advise of a good hotel room but most girls will know best hotel close to where they live,  [offer a guide service in the Cagayan De Oro City area] .  We will not arrange anything for a guy who is just wanting to go over to the Philippines and bar hop to find a girl. We feel that is very degrading to the Filipina and not the way to find a nice girl. We feel the safest way to find a life long partner is the pen pal or even better yet finding a gal through  an American friend who has a Filipina for a wife. Expect your Fiancée to make 2 trips to Manila to take care of the Visa Process after the state side approval of the K-1 application. The state side application can take as little as 6 months or as long as 9 months depending on the service center you are directed by law to use. See below for processing times, we try to update the information every 2 weeks. Many are told wrong as to income requirements. What the USCIS requires for 2008 {Click here for levels needed}. The requirement changes every March by about 2% or so and you must show them the last 3 years of tax returns [ 1040 forms and w2/1099 forms], they are VERY picky about this!!!!   Income is "adjusted gross income" on your tax returns. Be advised the Embassy does not count SSI and looks very hard at any type of "disability" payments unless VA 100% SC over 10 years.

We have had to increase our visa prices due to increased costs of photo reproducing& new I-864 forms and other changes to this process since Mid 2008 , new prices start July 1 2008, [ not one customer in past3 year's has sent in an acceptable photo due to the USCIS being VERY picky about exact sizes [ their instruction sheet has conflicting information on it ]  Also the report of marriage to Philippine Government is costing more as each consulate has their own forms and procedures which makes it hard to standardize and simplify the process. Each  AOS/EAD/Report of marriage/Passport Amendment  has increase by about 2 hours computer time to provide the proper services needed. Also as of mid 2008 many new procedures for the visa process here in the Philippines that are too complicated for the typical Filipina to do herself so now we will do for her. We are sorry for the increase but we have also increased the services we provide and we get hit with about a 13% income tax on all income we take in.

As of July 1 2008 a new visa rate due to new forms and procedures in effect [ still 1/2 down, sample contact  ] our costs have increased due to  increased needs of Philippine guides to help with fiancée/wife requirements & DHS USCIS changes since Mid 2008.  Check around for "complete services", we are still the Best Deal on the net. All other's charge extra for AOS [green card] and EAD [employment authorization document , normally 1 per year until green card interview ] and I have yet to see a visa service on the internet that even mentions the "report of marriage". If this is not done she will not be able to get her passport renewed or leave the country with out problems on re entering.[ as of mid 2008 this may change as may no longer need ROM, we are still checking on this] Our biggest problem has been that 99.8% of all photos needed are not formatted properly [ we reproduce , clean up and format all photos to USCIS specs. ] and bio information is not correct causing us to make multiple contacts to the fiancée or wife to ensure all information is correct, we have a 99% success rate and we intend to keep it that way. We have multiple computer backup systems and soon will be able to do about 90% of all paperwork online via PDF file transfers [ a $450 program itself ]. All other company's we know of do not include all the follow up paperwork required "after your fiancée or wife gets to the states" most all green cards are temporary 2 year cards and follow up re-application is needed at a later date. We include assistance with this and any  address changes for a 2 year period, [ see contract] if any change of address is made you must report it to the proper places [ only one is mentioned on the form ] within 10 days of your move.  All paperwork sent to the USCIS is burned to a CD [ or put on a link so you can download info] and sent to you after each step of the process so you always have accurate records of what has been done and you do not have to take apart our visa package to make photocopies [ causing errors] . Our visa packages are compiled in a manner that the USCIS requires and this alone saves  "mail room time". We have been doing this since 1997 [ started formal LLC business in 2000 ] We hope this is the last price increase for at least a year or two but we must stay accurate and also provide complete backup services to our customers as paperwork is the magic in this process and we do our best to stay ahead of the game.

Always insist that your intended fiancée gets a certificate of non marriage from Philippine NSO office before we start any paperwork as have had 2 this year that got all the way to the medical before they told the man that they "were already married and had a child" but were afraid to tell him, this causes VISA FRAUD as all paperwork submitted asks about past marriages and any children and if we do not know about children and past marriages it is not put in the paperwork so there is the FRAUD, this will cause the man a delay of 24 months before he can file for another fiancée and the girl that committed the VISA FRAUD will be banned for10 years or for LIFE from entering the USA.

below dates are not always accurate as have had customers get approval notices in Feb. 07 [for documents submitted in Oct. 06] when USCIS site says working on paperwork for month of July. Hard to figure that one out?? Guy most have been lucky [ he is active duty air force so may have been a factor? ] Be sure to sign up for email updates at USCIS site when u get the first I-797 notice as will have tracking number on notice.