General Information | Filipina Dating; Filipino Women

Filipina Visa: Spousal vs. Fiancee

The next step after meeting your future wife in the Philippines will be to make a decision regarding her visa. I’ll share a few basic things I’ve learned regarding bringing your wife or fiancee back to the United States (I’m not sure how it works with other Western countries).

Fiancee Visa vs Spousal Visa

The fastest way to get her back to the USA would be through a fiancee visa (get engaged in the Philippines then marry her in the USA). This process usually takes around six months for the visa to get approved. Once approved you have 90 days to get married after she arrives in the States.

The decreased waiting time is the primary advantage of the fiancee visa, and this is why many couples decide to go that route. If you want to be together in the USA as quickly as possible then it is probably the best way to go.

But there are some perks to using the spousal visa which I will describe:

Advantages of the Spousal Visa

The other route is the spousal visa (marrying in the Philippines). A spousal visa usually takes about nine to twelve months to get approved. This is slower, but there are a few advantages to it:

*You’ll probably find it less expensive to do a wedding in the Philippines and she would probably love to exchange vows in front of her family.

*Once her visa is approved she’s further along in the process as far as getting a green card goes (if she enters the country on a spousal visa she’ll have her green card within days of her arrival and her social security card within weeks).

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*It is easier to verify the authenticity of your relationship–she can get her married name on her passport and you’ll give them an official government marriage certificate from the National Statistics Office (NSO).

*You can use a cosponsor/joint sponsor for the affidavit of support. The US Embassy is much more strict about co-sponsorship for fiancee visa. Here’s why: the affidavit of support filed for a fiancee visa (form I-134) does not really impose any legal obligation on the joint sponsor. The one for the spousal visa (form I-864), on the other hand, is considered a legally binding contract (the government can sue you and the join sponsor if you use welfare after arriving in the US).

These are just a few more things to consider.

Your wife will need to stay in the USA for about 3-4 years before she can apply for US citizenship.

I’d highly recommend you get the folks at Filipina Fiancee Visa to help you with the visa process. There are fees involved, but this is one of the best investments you can make. I’ve had several interactions with this company and I haven’t been able to stump them with my questions (some of which have been quite complicated).

You can try do all the paperwork without assistance, but most of the guys I know decided to get professional help. The problem is that just one mistake on one line of a form can send it to the bottom of the pile and delay the process for months. I’ve had several friends warn me about precision with the paperwork.

Note Regarding Tourist Visas

I would strongly advise against trying to get a tourist visa, to shortcut the process. The US Embassy will smell this from a mile away and you may jeopardize your chance of bringing her to the United States.

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Christian Filipina (ChristianFilipina.com) Review

One of the questions I get from time-to-time is this: “where can I meet a good woman from the Philippines?”

One answer is to buy a ticket to Manila (or some other city in the Philippines) and start from there. The problem with that answer is practicality: Most of us can’t just drop over a thousand bucks on a plane ticket to randomly search for a date. You also have to keep in mind that there’s no guarantee you’ll meet someone just because you travel there. It’s probably in your best interest to have someone in mind before you buy your ticket.

The vast majority of Western men seem to meet Filipinas online. This is a good option to get started. I know of some who just start chatting with women on social media, but I think this is kind of a “blind” approach. You might just end up wasting a lot of time trying to sort through profiles and trying to figure out who is single.

I think you are better off joining a site where you can find single women who are specifically interested in meeting Western men. For those who are considering this, I’d recommend ChristianFilipina.com. I’m not saying all the other Filipina dating websites are bad. I’m not even saying that I have spent countless hours comparing them all (I haven’t).

What I can say is I did use a few Filipina dating websites back in my single days, and I think ChristianFilipina.com sets itself apart from the others.

RECOMMENDED: I recommend Christian Filipina for those who are serious about finding love in the Philippines.

I can also tell you that I have known the owner of this particular site for quite some time (almost ten years). We go back to the early days of this blog, when I was first writing to give advice for men (like me) who were looking for love in the Philippines. I believe he sincerely wants to help men meet quality Filipinas with traditional Christian values. I also believe they work really hard to keep scammers from joining the website.

Another thing I like about ChristianFilipina.com is specialization. Here’s what I’m saying: some of the other sites are part of huge networks that include other websites that focus on other countries (Russia, Brazil, etc.). But ChristianFilipina.com is focused specifically on the Philippines, and as far as I know, isn’t part of any other such networks. The website owner himself is married to a Filipina, so I know he respects both the women of the Philippines and the men that are looking for love. The end result is quality over quantity and more attention to detail.

This website also kind of has a more spiritual feel to it. When you log in there’s a daily Bible verse on the right-side column. It seems to attract some of the girls who may be reluctant to join some of the other sites–women with more traditional moral values, which is what you want if you are looking for a wife. Just consider the kind of pictures on ChristianFilipina.com vs. other dating sites and I think you’ll see what I mean.

Note (2017): this post was originally written years ago, but I still stand by it 100%–my opinion hasn’t change.

Just CLICK HERE if you’d like to check it out. It’s the only website I recommend for Filipina Dating.

Why Many Western Men Choose Filipinas

Many Western men choose to build a relationship with a woman from the Philippines. Some even choose to marry a Filipina. But what makes Filipino women so wanted? These are some thoughts I have collected over the years. What would you add to the list?

1. Filipina girls are renowned for their beauty.
They surely stand out among Asian women in terms of charm and femininity.

2. Filipino girls are a delight to be around because of their disposition and personality.
Since birth Filipinas are raised in a special sense of honor called Delikadesa (or Delicadeza). Delicadeza is a Spanish term which when translated in English means daintiness. It is defined as a sense of propriety, an act of being refined or delicate in tastes and manners. It is Delikadesa what gives Filipino women such admirable qualities and distinguish them from Western ladies. You will never find a proper Filipina bring shame onto herself and her family by lying, cheating, stealing, running around with different men or flunking out of school. It is one of the meanings of Delikadesa – pride in doing the right thing.

3. Filipinas are understanding, patient and composed.
Most Filipina girls would never engage in a quarrel or a loud argument simply because this wouldn’t suit a real Lady. They are taught to speak politely, with a gentle tone of voice. Arguing is just not acceptable, along with public criticism. This soft spoken, quiet and understanding nature of the Filipina Ladies is the desired trait that Filipinas strive towards.

4. Filipina girls are generous and naturally caring and supportive.
The common spirit of survival has united the Filipinos for centuries making generosity and loyalty towards family a time-honored tradition. The caring and supportive nature of the Filipinas is apparent in the fact that there are no booming businesses for retirement homes or orphanages in the Philippines – they would never abandon a child or a member of the family in need.

5. Filipina girls believe in a one-man one-woman relationship.
Since there is no “absolute divorce” in the Philippines, Filipinas are raised in a high regard for the sanctity of marriage and consider it a life long commitment. Some, in fact many who marry these Filipina beauties, swear they make the best wives in the world – loyal, loving and faithful past death.

RECOMMENDED: I recommend Christian Filipina for those who are serious about finding love in the Philippines.

6. Filipina women put family first before money.
Faithfulness to the family is a tradition that is characteristic of the Filipino society. To the Filipina, family will always remain a great priority. Filipino women, whom many would consider as coming from a relatively poor country, view the close loving bonds of their family as their wealth. They are more willing to sacrifice career than a family.

7. Filipinas are excellent home keepers.
Filipino ladies equate domestic responsibility with being a good wife – their home is a great source of pride for them and they do their best to create a warm and loving environment for their family. For the Filipina even yelling at home would mean de-facing her home so you will probably never find a Filipina woman screaming or breaking dishes.

8. Filipinas are well educated.
The Philippine culture attaches great importance to college education. Pride in accomplishment at school is instilled in Filipinas since their childhood and female college enrollment even exceeds that of the male. This affects the social positions too. Unlike other Asian countries where women tend to be in more subservient positions, the Philippines businesses are more accepting of women performing business. This is apparent with the current Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – the second Philippine woman to hold this esteemed position.

9. Filipino girls are religious.
The Philippines is predominantly Roman Catholic (the only Christian nation in the Far East) and it is common amongst Philippine families to raise their children in the church. So don’t be surprised if your Filipina girl is more devoted to her religion than you are to yours.

10. Filipina-American marriages are more successful than American-American marriages.
An interesting fact is that according to the statistics Filipina-American marriages arranged through dating services have a lower divorce rate (about 20%) than the standard American- American marriage (about 40%). Still, the statistics may vary according to which source you use.

Reposted with permission from one of the groups I’m a member of.