F2A CATEGORY (FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCE CASES) CURRENT FOR JULY 2019. The Department of State posted the Visa Bulletin for July 2019, showing the Final Action Date chart for family-sponsored preference cases (Chart A) for family-based F2A preference category is CURRENT for all countries for the month of July 2019. The F2A category include the spouses and…
DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel: My sister petitioned me back in 1997, when my child was still a baby. Recently, the priority date became current. We paid all the fees and submitted all the forms on behalf of my family, including my child, who is now over 21. At the interview, the consul approved my husband’s and…
“WHEN I was growing up, my mom would always say: ‘You have to be better than us.’ She never explained what she meant by that. But I understood. I had to somehow rise above my parents’ life in America. But how?” Filipina-Egyptian writer and artist Malaka Gharib explores this idea of a ‘better life’ in…
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is seeking assurance from China that it will guarantee the rights and safety of Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea following the June 9 Recto Bank incident, Malacañang said Tuesday, July 2. According to presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo, Duterte made this statement during the 39th Cabinet meeting at Malacañang on Monday…
IN an effort to strengthen the relationship between Las Vegas’ Asian American community and law enforcement, Sheriff Joe Lombardo and his Area Command Captains met on Wednesday, June 26 at the Min Indian Bistro Spring Valley. During the dinner, hosted by the Asian American Group of Las Vegas and the Asian American Coalition of Nevada,…
Jerusalem Syndrome As a student of history, I found Jerusalem a most fascinating city the first time I was in Israel in 1960 as a grantee of the Asia Foundation to the global conference of the International Federation of Medical Student Associations being the national president of the Student Philippine Medical Association representing my fellow…
A story in two Scoops (Part 1 of 2) “I’ve had it!” Charisse said to herself as she put down her phone. This one broke up with her via text message, saying he’s found someone else and something about her being too square. They say three is a charm or in her case, she thought,…
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde said the Philippines is winning the war against illegal drugs as President Rodrigo Duterte marked his third year in office. According to Albayalde, the improvement in the peace and order situation across the country is a manifestation of the drug war’s success. “This is a clear manifestation…
Smog regulators say that the state needs $14 billion to address the problem THE are fewer things more constant in Los Angeles than the ongoing smog problem. Although the national war on smog has led to an overall reduction in gas emissions (due to the bipartisan 1970 Clean Air Act), the air quality in Los…
THE first round of filing Senate bills in the 18th Philippine Congress commenced on Monday, July 1, and among the first ones to be filed were those seeking to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility, combating fake news and terrorism. Senate Bill No. 5, filed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, amends the Juvenile…
Malacañang on Monday, July 1 said China disagreed with President Rodrigo Duterte’s suggestion of involving an independent body in the Philippines-China joint investigation into the Recto Bank collision. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, in a media briefing, said the Chinese government does not see the need for a third party investigator. “Ang sabi nila (China), nag-offer…
MAYOR Eric Garcetti announced Monday, July 1, that he would lead a coalition of mayors calling on Congress to pass the Ending Homelessness Act. The legislation, sponsored by Representative Maxine Waters, would direct more than $13 billion to support the work of cities on the front lines of this crisis, deliver vital services to homeless…
Trump undeterred from Dems’ first showing After months of campaign rollout announcements and initial touring around the country, the top Democratic nominees got together in Florida for the first Democratic matchup in the 2020 primary season. Due to the volume of people running for the Democratic ticket, the first debate, hosted by MSNBC, was split…
The Philippines would be the ‘biggest loser’ in Asia if United States President Donald Trump follows through with his threat to punish American firms that outsource jobs, an independent economic research company has claimed. In Capital Economics’ recent research brief entitled “Winner and losers from the trade war,” it was revealed that the trade war…
The Supreme Court on Thursday, June 27 rejected the Trump administration’s citizenship question from being included in the 2020 Census questionnaire. In his majority opinion released after the 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. wrote that the administration’s justification and intentions for the citizenship questions “seem to have been contrived.” The decennial count…
DURING Archbishop Socrates Villegas’ short visit to Southern California where he stayed with Brad and Teena Boeckman — the latter whom he knew since she was 15 years old and served as a spiritual advisor to her and her mother, Marilou Valdes — I had the privilege of learning more about the community he serves…
Involving the United States in the Philippines’ maritime row with China will only bring the country closer to war, President Rodrigo Duterte said in response to officials pushing to seek American help. Duterte on Thursday night, June 27 made the remark at Malacañang after Senator Panfilo Lacson insisted on invoking the Philippines-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty…
THE rooms of the dormitories are now clean and empty, and the seminary is quiet, for the academic year has ended, and the seminarians have left for summer vacation. Some of them finished their long years of seminary formation—seven years for most of them. They are now newly ordained priests, excited in their first assignment….
DURING Wednesday night’s Democratic presidential primary debate — the first in a two-night event viewed as the de facto launch of the primary season — health policies, ranging from “Medicare for All” to efforts to curb skyrocketing drug prices, were among the key issues the 10 hopeful candidates onstage used to help differentiate themselves from…
President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, June 27 threatened to jail his critics after challenging them to file an impeachment complaint against him for allowing China to fish in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea. “Impeachable? I will jail them all. Go ahead and try, I mean to do it, and…
THE Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Act”) makes changes to the general business credit by adding a new Paid Family And Medical Leave Credit and changing the Rehabilitation Credit and the Orphan Drug Credit. 1. Paid family and medical leave credit: The Act introduces a new component credit for paid family and medical leave which…
NO matter how the economy does, there are always reasons for people to file bankruptcy. During the period of 2008-2012, more than 1.5 million people filed bankruptcy year after year. This was during the height of the foreclosure crisis. Millions of homeowners were struggling with unaffordable mortgage payments, unemployment and failing businesses. As much as…
MOST couples that want out of a marriage in California usually file for Divorce. There are circumstances though that allow a couple to have their marriage “voided” rather than “dissolved.” There is a big difference between the two concepts. With a voided marriage, it restores the couple to status of unmarried person as if they…
SHE can remember no raging against the night, no anger about what Yeats described, “a decrepit age that has tied to me… like a dogs tail.” She just grew old, remembered her grief and happiness, as she watered her garden. She accused herself, forgave herself; learned new fragments of wisdom, then forget old fragments and…
HOW do you answer this question? Let’s check what the Bible has to say about debt. The Bible says that one should neither be a lender or borrower. It does not seem to recommend the assumption of debt. Otherwise, it should say, it’s OK to be a borrower, but not a lender or vice-versa. This…
MANY people refer to the hair as one’s crowning glory. I could say the same for very good reasons. The hair, being one of the first things people see when trying to recognize someone, can tell a lot about a person and may affect how he or she is perceived. With all things considered, our…
We’ve probably all heard the tale of the fox who raided the chicken coop and had to be hunted down by the farmer. But have you heard about the farmer agreeing to let the fox investigate the incident in order to determine whose fault it was that the chicken coop was raided and why neither…
AN employee may be asked to sign some documents at the time of termination. One of these documents may be a severance or separation agreement. This is a contract between an employer and an employee who is about to leave the employer’s employment. In a typical severance agreement, the employer agrees to give the employee…
The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Friday, June 28 that it would be reviewing an appeal in the next term on whether the Trump administration’s ongoing plan to end protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is lawful. With legal arguments set to take place near the end of 2019, the highest…
