The process to apply for a Green Card of Permanent Residence in the US can be complicated and expensive. But if you are willing to read a lot of documents, and carefully fill out the application forms, you can choose not to use a lawyer’s services.
Disclaimer: This is not a legal advice on immigration. I am just sharing my experience for educational purposes.
Here are 7 tips to help you apply for a US Green Card without a lawyer.
When we first moved from the Philippines to Nashville, TN, we were a family of 3: Tatay, Nanay, & Malcolm. Five years later, Caspian joined us and another baby is on the way.
It also means that in our soon-to-be family of 5, three of us are Filipino citizens while two (2) are American citizens.
To be completely accurate, Caspian is a dual citizen and our next baby will be one, too.
The USA is one of the countries that follow the jus soli doctrine of citizenship. It means that all babies born within its territory are considered citizens. This is also called birthright citizenship, which the Trump Administration has been challenging as part of tightening policy on immigration.
Continue readingBack in October 2018, we applied for Permanent Residence (Green Card) in the USA. We initially did not include the medical examination (Form I-693). The form said that we can submit it at a later time, which, I thought, made sense.
So in June 2019, I sent our Forms I-693 to the USCIS. It had a cover letter and included the receipt numbers for our application, as well as our A numbers.
As it turned out, we should not have done that.
Continue reading
I sometimes think that Filipinos are out to take over the world. We are everywhere! Case in point, I was in Zambia a couple of years ago and I came across 4 Filipinos, two of them were Ilokanos from Northern Luzon. They worked as carpenters and miners near the city of Ndola in Zambia. In Lisbon, Portugal, I even found a San Miguel Beer bottle at the foot of a statue! It might have been a Filipino who drank that.
According to the 2010 American Census, there were more than 3.4 Million Filipinos in the USA, making us the 2nd largest Asian group in America, next only to Chinese Americans. In 2015, that number grew to 3.9 Million.
Although I didn’t really watch teleseryes in the Philippines, I didn’t realize how much I took for granted the sources of news and entertainment on TV in the Philippines. So we explored our options and eventually subscribed to The Filipino Channel.
For Filipinos living in the USA, there are three ways to subscribe.
I was so disappointed when I learned that OFWs in the USA cannot invest in mutual funds in the Philippines. Thankfully, though, we can still invest in the Philippine stock market. I took the money we earmarked for mutual funds and put it in the stock market through COL Financial.
COL Financial is an online stockbroker that has been around since 1999. It is considered as the number 1 online stockbroker in the Philippines. They are also recommended by Bo Sanchez and his Truly Rich Club.
I have read Bo Sanchez’s short book “My Maid Invests in the Stock Market” some time back and got intrigued with the stock market. I know that it has some risks, but if I study it and treat it as an investment rather than regular stock trading, I should be okay.
Another reason is that investing in the Philippine stock market is a way of supporting our country’s industries and companies. If you want to open a COL Financial account, just follow these instructions.
You need to understand the risks and rewards associated with it. It’s not just about the millions you can potentially get. It is possible to lose money in the stock market. Read books and blogs about it and decide if it is for you.
Does the idea of being up in the air for at least 5 hours excite you?
No? I didn’t think so.
For most of us, traveling long haul flights whether within the continental US, or internationally, brings a big sigh and not of relief. You’re crammed with hundreds of people, your legs barely have room, and to make things worse, someone’s child might cry during the whole flight.
I’ve been to flights that are 12, 14, and 16 hours long! They are not fun. You’re immobile and can’t move around. You’re just sitting, and essentially waiting until the plane lands.
Since you cannot really do a lot, just maximize the time that you have by doing the following:
Travel time from Manila, Philippines to the USA is usually between 16-24 hours including layovers. When we traveled, our son was 2.5 years old. He was very young and it comes with a lot of challenges!
For one, we were traveling with 7 big boxes, which we checked in. On top of that, we had three carryon luggage, my backpack, and a small bag for his needs. Here’s a list of 5 tips for traveling with a toddler on a long flight.
Look at the number of hours you’ll be traveling, plan for her meal times and pack some formula, snacks, and other food items you will need. Security at the airport will let you carry some bottled distilled water as long as it’s sealed and unopened. Most airlines would also have food for young kids available. Do check with your airlines at least 2 weeks before your flight.
It’s Christmas time! Nothing induces nostalgia among Filipinos in America than this season. Back in the Philippines, the Christmas season officially starts when the -BER months come around.
To some people, it’s a joke, but there are those who take it seriously. In the United States, Thanksgiving is a big holiday, probably bigger than Christmas. Who could forget the shopping spree–Black Friday and Cyber Monday–that follows it?
Filipinos (at least the ones in the Philippines) don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in November and there’s nothing that prevents us from setting up decorations as early as September or October.
Many Filipinos consider the United States as the “Land of Milk and Honey,” and that if you had the chance to go there, your life will never be the same. If you just get there, you will be swimming in dollars and you can lift yourself and your family out of poverty.
Some Filipinos may have found that to be true. And even for those who do struggle, life in the USA tends to be more comfortable than life in the Philippines. The good thing about working and living in the US is that you earn dollars. And if you convert your money to Philippine Pesos, you’d get a lot! If you had $1,000, that would be equal to around PhP50,000, depending on the exchange rate.
Alas, you earn in dollars, you also spend in US dollars. And if you’re not careful, you also get into the consumeristic, materialistic lifestyle of most Americans.