Cebu to Manila to Las Vegas to Montana USA

Excalibur - Las Vegas Hotel

14th of August, Good Bye Philippines, when will I see you again...

I flew with Philippine Airlines (PAL). My foreign fiance purchased my ticket online Manila-Las Vegas, so I had to purchase my ticket for Cebu - Manila.

I went to a ticketing office to get a domestic flight Cebu to Manila for over Php2000 pesos only, cheap right?! But then I've learned that you have to get your flights Cebu-Manila to Manila-Las Vegas or else your luggage wouldn't get checked-thru.

How do you get your flights connected?

I went to the Main office of Philippines Airlines (PAL) to request for my flights to get connected. When I spoke with the PAL agent, he said, "Sorry Ma'am, I cannot connect your flights because your ticket for Cebu-Manila is a domestic flight, Manila-Las Vegas is an International flight", and "You cannot check-thru your luggage as well because the check-in limit for domestic flight is only 15kl, whereas, International flight is 40kl"

Remember this Travel Tip: You cannot connect Domestic flights to International flights in the Philippines.

So, I asked the Philippine Airlines Agent, "What should I do, Sir?". Then, he upgraded my flight from Domestic to International and connected both flights so I could check-thru my luggage. I paid an additional Php4,000 pesos to have my flight upgraded. Solved!

Arrival at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Manila. I had 3 hours before my scheduled flight to Las Vegas. My friend from Manila met at the Airport and spent the 30 minutes to grab some lunch together. Then I went inside to check-in, to my surprise the NAIA departure was extremely busy. I have traveled Internationally (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand) but that via Cebu, I didn't really expect that NAIA would be that busy. Therefore, for Filipina Girls like me, if it's your first time to travel Internationally via Manila. Check-In as early as you can, to make sure that you don't miss your flight when problems arise.

Departure Tips: Check-in at least 3 hours before your flight time.
- Fall in line (to the International Airport entrance)
- Get ready to show your passport and plane ticket or e-ticket itinerary.
- Check-in your baggage to the appropriate airline, if you have e-ticket they will give your plane ticket and your seat number(ask them to get you aisle, it's much better than seating near window), they are everywhere there so just locate em.
- Pay travel tax (So bring enough cash, they don't accept card)
- Fall in line, Get ready for some inspection, get ready to show your passport and the travel tax receipt, plane tickets. Your passport will be stamped "departure"
- Locate your flight. There is flight number listed in your flight ticket and there will be locators which gate number you should enter, the gate numbers are obviously huge so you can see it immediately.
- Enter the gate. You will be held for inspection, remove your shoes, belts and watches, cellphone and other with metallic objects (just don't wear em)
- Locate the flight number (again). Just locate which airline and it's flight number you have to fall in line.

Arrival at Las Vegas. I came to the United States with a K1 Fiance Visa, so I was held at the Immigration Office for Biometrics and stamp a 3-Months Visa to my i94 Arrival/Departure Record. Keep this record you will need this when you apply for SS# or Adjustment of Status.

My husband and I stayed at Excalibur- Las Vegas Hotel for the night. And flew together to Montana.

Things to remember before leaving the Philippines

This was one of the most exciting part. When my husband sent me my Electronic Confirmation Ticket. I already made a checklist for the things I need to bring and need to do a week before my departure.

MY CHECKLIST

Important Documents
- Transcript of Records from University of San Carlos
- My Diploma
- NSO Copy
- NBI Clearan Copy
- Employment Certificates
-Training Certificates
- Medical / Health Records


I also have a checklist which I got from the CFO the Departure Checklist or Immigrant Checklist. Click the image to enlarge.

Tips on what Clothes to Bring
Check the country or state that you are going to, if it has long winter. If long winter, bring most of your Jeans!

Visa Application Tips: Proof of Relationship

When applying for a K1 Fiancée Visa. The petitioner (US Citizen) needs to submit the evidence of your relationship or proof of engagement.  And when the beneficiary (Alien Fiancée) applies for the K1 Fiancée Visa in the Philippines she also need to bring the documents or proof of relationship.

Visa Application Tips: You must be prepared to prove to the consular officer that you have a genuine relationship with your petitioner and a clear intention to marry within 90 days of admission into the U.S.

I submitted thefollowing documents as proof of evidence during my interview for the K1 Fiancée Visa Application:

Taoist Temple Cebu, Philippines

Photographs of me and my husband together and with my family

Letters

E-mails (I copy and pasted to a word pad and printed out our email conversations)

Chat Messages (I took a screen shot of our Cam-to-Cam conversation and printed out)

Phone Text Messages or Call Register Records (I did not erase his text messages or call registers in case the consul will ask for it)

Remittance records (Western Union, Xoom)

Letter of Intent to Marry

Sample:

Fiancé Letter of Intent

[Fiancée’s or Petitioner’s name]
[Fiancée’s or Petitioner’s address]

United States Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

[ADDRESS OF FILING LOCATION]

United States Department of State
United States Consulate, [name of country where Embassy is located]
[Embassy Address]

(Date mm-dd-yyyy)

Dear Sir:

I, (Fiancée’s or Petitioner’s name), do hereby state that I am legally able and willing to marry (Fiancée’s or Petitioner’s name), and intend to do so within 90 days of my arrival into the US using the K-1 visa.

Yours truly,

(Signature)

(Print name)

I had to put all my documents in a binder to make sure I don’t miss anything. But you have to take it all out of the binder when you hand it to the first consular.

Visa Application Tips: Make an extra copy for you to keep in case you’ll need them in the future.

Read more>> Visa Application Tips: The step-by-step guide to the K1 Fiancée Visa Process

K1 Visa Application Timeline

This might help you visualize the entire process. Although the application process may vary from one applicant to another, so please double check the USCIS processing times. Also if your application is past the due date based on the processing time, I would suggest calling USCIS. 

Dec. 5, 2010 - Petition for Alien Fiancée

Dec. 8, 2010 - Notice for Petition received

May 11, 2011 - Petition was approved

Jul. 7, 2011 - Medical Exam at St. Luke

Jul. 15, 2011 - Interview Date

Jul. 19, 2011 - Visa was issued

Aug. 14, 2011 - Arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada

Feb. 13, 2012 - Application for Adjustment of Status (Conditional Permanent Residence)

Feb. 12, 2012- Notice of Application for AOS received

Feb. 27, 2012 - Notification for Biometrics

Mar. 12, 2012- Biometrics

Mar. 17, 2012- Transfer Notice (California Service Center, 2nd Floor, 24000 Avila Rd. Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-0111)

Apr. 23, 2012- EAD received (6 weeks after biometrics)

Apr. 25, 2012- Applied for a Social Security Number

Oct. 02, 2012 - Permanent Residence Card Conditional Status was received

Jul 02, 2014 - Applied to remove condition

Feb. 2015 - Received Permanent Residence Card with no Condition

Visa Application Tips: “You could actually apply for a Social Security Number as soon as you arrive in the United States, just present your I-94 Card (Arrival/Departure Document) with your passport.

Read more>> Visa Application Tips: Thestep-by-step guide to the K1 Fiancée Visa Process