US Immigration and the Philippines

Importance of certain documents

Pete — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:57:09 +0000

Hi there,

I can’t emphasize the importance of these certain supporting documents when petitioning a fiancee or spouse for a US visa. It seems that many clients do not realize how important it is to be able to prove that their financial state meets the US government minimum requirements. And you have to be able to show valid documents, such as bank statements, tax returns, etc. So often a visa process is delayed because of the failure by the petitioner to supply this.

Pete

Adoption question

Pete — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:56:31 +0000

Someone sent me the below email. Scroll down to see my reply to the questions.

Pete

QUESTION: I saw your blog on the internet. I have a quick question. I will adopt my wife’s niece and then apply for her US citizenship. After the adoption is final how long do we have to wait until we can file for US citizenship? We hear two years. I am a US citizen, my wife is dual.

Does she have to be under 16 after the two year wait OR just have the adoption final prior to her 16th birthday.

ANSWER:

If you adopt the niece of your wife, jointly, the requirement for an adopted child under the domestic adoption rules are as follows:

The child’s adoption must be final before the child turns 16 and the petition for immigration should be approved before the child turns 18. The child will be eligible for US citizenship upon entry to the USA. However, the adopter/petitioner (you and your wife) must prove that they separately or jointly have had legal, parental, and physical custody of the child for two years, before applying for the immigration petition. The 2 years do not have to be continuous or contiguous for these years and can be calculated in aggregate. The natural parents should not have lived with the child after the adoption, or it might be considered to be a sham adoption.

Hello world, especially the US and the Philippines!

Pete — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:54:08 +0000

Hello!

I have been a conservative American most of my life. I used to vote Republican, hey, don’t send me any nasty comments, we have have had some great republican presidents. But I have changed to a very moderate view in the past years. Now, when I got involved with two close friends, Charlie Ingram and Atty. Danny Aguilar, I have almost become something of a human rights activist. Why is that? Well, I’ve started doing US Immigration stuff here in the Philippines. I very quickly noticed the problems in our immigration laws, the discrimination against Filipinos in particular. I am married to a wonderful Filipina myself, and she has blessed me with two equally wonderful children. That is the main reason I live in the Philippines. I have never attempted to secure visas for my family to move to the US, neither am I planning to. My wife is pursuing a law degree here, and plans to be of service to her people and her country. However, as I started working with my friends at BDC Consultancy, I continuously run into problems affecting US citizens trying to bring their loved ones to the US. The loved ones include fiancees, wives, close family members, and adopted children. The US immigration laws have changed multiple times through the years, and even right now, amendments to the law are being drafted in congress. The Philippines, although a former US possession and commonwealth, is always left out of these amendments. It seem that the nation’s focus is on immigration from Mexico, and how to prevent the illegal immigrant families from being separated, etc.

Let’ not forget that the immigration problems affecting the Philippines have nothing to do with illegal immigrants. For example, it is about making it almost impossible for a child fathered by a US citizen to join his biological father in the US. Personally I believe this is just as important as avoiding the separation of a child born in the US from his illegal parents.

Another important, and equally overlooked issue is the inclusion of the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in the US Immigration laws. For many years the CNMI has had control of their immigration. 9/11 changed all that, and now that is considered a security issue and a possible back gate for terrorists to get to the US mainland. What we forget is that overseas contract workers, mostly Filipinos, have often lived on the islands for years, married local citizens, and had children. All this legally, as immediate relatives to US citizens under the CNMI laws. Now these families also face possible separations, loss of employment, deportation back to the Philippines of the mother of the father. Not a particularly pleasant situation.

This is what is almost turning me into a human rights activist. When you are up an close to these problems, you can’t help but taking it personally. We at BDC Consultancy are very close to these problems, working to help families and individuals with their visa and immigration issues every day of the week.

Let me know what you think.

Pete