Visas

[Read more…] about Tourist or Fiancee’ or Spouse Visa

Get My Filipino Girlfriend To The USA.

(Updated 10 October 2019)

This is a very frequent question here at PholFAQS.  There are several different answers, and sadly for couples stuck between the USA and the Philippines, the answers aren’t always easy.

One way that you can get a  Filipina friend to the USA is with a US Fiancee’ Visa, commonly known by its form number, K-1.

Another way s marry the girl and then bring her to the US with a US Spousal Visa (Either a CR-1 or IR-1).

The simplest, although often the most difficult way is to get your friend a US B2/B2 Tourist visa.

I’ve written an explanation of these basic visas here:

Tourist or Fiancee’ Or Spouse Visa.  Which is Better?

Go ahead and read it now if you haven; already, I’ll wait here for you.

[Read more…] about How To Get My Filipino Girlfriend To The USA

Ways To Stay Long-Term in the Philippines. 

(Updated 9 October 2019)

How long an American citizen (or most other foreigners) can stay in the Philippines is always a popular subject.  A while back I wrote an introductory article on this subject where I explained that you can pretty much stay as long as you want to in the Philippines without asking special permission from anyone.

If you haven’t read that you should read it now, because it lays the groundwork for several other more formal ways that a US citizen can live here in the Philippines.

Go ahead and click on the link now, I’ll wait right here for you *smile*.

How long can you stay in the Philippines if you are a US citizen?

Now if you read that article you’ll understand how easy it is for a foreigner to live here but as some readers have commented, renewing a Tourist Visa every two or six months, or going out of the country once a year for a new (free) Balikbayan Privilege Stamp  is not really “Permanent Residency”.

I mean, after all, it’s only worked for me for 14 years, so we couldn’t really call it “permanent”,  now could we?

You Asked, I Answered … Ways to stay Permanently in the Philippines.

[Read more…] about Ways To Stay Long-Term in the Philippines — Part 2

How To Visit the USA From the Philippines.

(Updated 29 July 2019)

Recently I published sw]everal articles about the difficulty of Diliinos getting approval for a US Visitors (Tourist) Visa, also known as a B1/B2 Visa.

Here are just a few:

I’m A US Citizen — Why Can’t My Filipina Wife Get a Tourist Visa To The USA?

Can My Philippine Friend Visit Me in the USA?

How Hard Is It To Get a Tourist Visa to the USA From the Philippines?

These will give you the idea of the problem, in case you weren’t already familiar.

What’s the common thread that runs through all tourist visa discussions?

[Read more…] about How To Visit the USA From the Philippines

Yes, A Filipina Needs a Visa to Enter the USA.

(Updated 27 January 2019)

The title above should be authored by our old friend “Captain Obvious”.  Everybody knows that Filipinos ALL need some form of US visa to enter the USA.  Or at least everybody “should” know that.

But lately, I’ve been getting more and more irritated by at least one website which “does” know that fact, but persists in spreading false information just to try to get cheap traffic (page views) from Google.

Google, You Should Know Better Too!

We all tend to trust Google a lot.  In general, this trust is well placed, but sadly in many areas where there are technical issues inviolved and especially where a simple reading of the publically posted laws and the rules and regulations surrounding the laws is involved, Google falls down badly on the job.

Google is great at telling us which Kardashian has the largest ass. (See: Butts Of The Century: Kardashian-Jenner Sisters!).

But when it comes to important, factual issues, such as ones that are important to 1000,000,000 Filipinos and probably an equal number of Americans and citizens of other countries interested in the subject, Google false flat on its own ass.

Sad performance here, Google.

Go to Google search page or the search feature on your phone or tablet and type in the operative question … does a Filipina need a visa to visit the USA?

The result you get back will look something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

The number one beside the SERP (Search Engine Results) indicates Google thinks this will be the best answer on the whole Internet to your question.

And I have no argument with that choice.  It leads you to a reputable website with correct information and answers the question correctly … Yes, she does.

But Google Returns at Least 10 Results For You To Choose From

And just take a look at what Google consistently chooses for position 2 or position 3.

 

 

 

 

 

The first time I ever saw this I was flabbergasted.  I figured it was an error which would get sorted out.

Well, it has been almost 5 full years now and Google insists on giving the second most prominent space in its search results t this totally false and misleading article.  5 years is enough to time to get the facts straight, Google.

At least in my opinion, anyway.

Here’s how Google ranks my own site, where I have been writing, faithfully and accurately on this subject for more than 15 years now:

 

 

 

 

Now Number 9 isn’t so bad … after all, it’s on the first page.

But to have a site with the headline US Announces No Visa Policy For Filipinos

Which is, by the way, a totally false statement, apparently written to confuse people and get them to talk about and “share” the article so high in the search rankings just mystifies me.

There is no such thing as a US Non-visa policy for Filipinos, and there is no credible evidence of any such policy happening any time soon.

Google, Here’s Your Chance To Make Things Better.

You Can’t Say You Haven’t Been Told About It

Yes, A Filipina Needs a Visa to Enter the USA.