THE Department of State and the USCIS revised the procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file for adjustment of status. The revised procedure will be available beginning October 2015. In the past, an adjustment of status applicant cannot file for adjustment of status until their priority date is current. The priority date…
IN the face of the anarchy in the streets of Metro Manila, the paralysis that follows every heavy downpour, and the inability – nay, the unwillingness – of local officials to enforce such obvious rules as clearing major streets (like Taft Avenue) of vendors, desperate citizens have concocted various antidotes. What has often been proposed…
POPE Francis arrived in the United States on Tuesday, Sept. 22 for a six-day visit, exciting kababayans who wished they were in Manila when the Pontiff visited the Philippines last January. It is this excitement that compelled many Fil-Ams to travel to Washington DC, New York, or Philadelphia to see the Pope in person and…
IT seems only last night when the Maestro gave an exhibition. Inside the Griffith Hall at the Beverly Hills Country Club, there was compelled admiration and awe from the elite guests, which grew in every note that Maestro Dexter Grey touched. The Maestro gave an exhibition, a concert which cannot be reviewed. There was a…
THE California Republican Party voted on Sunday, Sept. 20 to soften its stance on immigration, responding to harsh rhetoric from current GOP presidential candidates. Republicans have been struggling to find a balance between appealing to California’s growing immigrant population and satisfying its base of white conservatives, the Los Angeles Times reported. The issue has escalated…
A FILIPINO-American teenager who was charged as an adult in the murder of an 8-year-old girl earlier this year in Santa Cruz, California, pleaded not guilty on Monday, Sept. 21. Adrian Jerry Gonzalez, 15, faces one count of murder with the special circumstance that he allegedly kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and tied up Madyson “Maddy” Middleton…
AMID ongoing territorial quarrels about the South China Sea, the Aquino administration requested $300 million in military aid from the United States, according to a report by the New York Times. However, Philippine Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. repudiated the report, citing a lack of explicit information on the claim. “Wala tayong tuwirang information…
Malacañang sources have revealed that a nasty shouting match transpired between President B.S. Aquino 3rd and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad after the Supreme Court ordered the Ombudsman to have them investigated and possibly charged for their role in the manipulation and misuse of the constitutionally outlawed Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) amounting to P150 billion….
Signs of a company headed toward failure and important ways to fix the problems SOMETIMES companies get into financial trouble. They have leadership issues, they have failures by suppliers, and they have cash flow problems. Companies have a lot of problems, often every day. Most of the time, companies get past their problems and move on,…
A JUDGMENT of nullity is when the Court deems a voidable marriage or a void marriage as never having taken place for reasons such as a defect in age, unsound mind, fraud, force, physical incapacity, bigamous, or incestuous marriage. A judgment of nullity should be considered only where the validity of the marriage is in…
EDWARD, a 45 year-old married man from Manila came to the United States in 1999. His mom and dad are U.S. citizens and filed a petition for him in December 1994. He has been waiting 20 years for his priority date to become current so that he could adjust status in the United States. Edward…
LAST September 11, 2015, the incumbent mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Long Beach, and Oakland issued a joint letter addressed to California Senators and Representatives entitled “Opposition to Proposed Federal Funding Cuts for Cities with Sanctuary Ordinances”. They expressed their opposition to “recent proposals in Congress that would withhold funding from cities…
Q: I TRAVEL several times a month as part of my job duties using my own car. I also make several business-related calls on my personal cell phone. My work duties sometimes require me to stay out of town overnight and I incur further expenses. My employer pays me a fixed amount of money, included…
(Part 2 of 2) THE Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a major expansion of its “Fresh Start” initiative to help struggling taxpayers by providing: • Offer in Compromise (OIC) – more flexible guidelines for collection potential. • Payment plans – more taxpayers can apply without financial statements. We discussed OIC in a prior article. Let’s…
I KNOW we’ve never met. But there’s a common fear everyone shares when they’re in drowning in debt. As a debt relief attorney, I hear it from people who consult with me every day. It is this: The possibility of losing what they’ve worked hard for all their lives…their homes, their savings, their retirement money,…
THE alpha lunch, the stage setting for our first gathering at the Kapistahan, which lasted two hours, was no big deal. “This is good,” she said. I felt an instant spark of connection. Instinctively, I felt she would not stick to polite comments. It was my first glimpse into a wonderful and ruminating mind that…
IMMIGRATION was a hot topic during the Republican debate on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, but the top 11 contenders for the GOP presidential nomination also addressed other issues facing the United States, including foreign policy, Planned Parenthood and the economy. The 11 Republican presidential hopefuls – former…
AIR pollution is killing 3.3 million people a year worldwide, according to a new study. Scientists in Germany, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Harvard University calculated the most detailed estimates yet of the toll of air pollution, looking at what caused it. If trends don’t change, they said, the yearly death total will double to about…
A BALLOT proposal that could completely abolish California’s death penalty is already on life support. The initiative would strike death as a possible punishment from the state’s Penal Code, substituting life imprisonment without parole. California state law currently allows for the death penalty. “The death penalty in America may be living on borrowed time,” USA…
PRESIDENT Barack Obama has nominated a Filipina for a high-ranking promotion in the United States Navy. Rear Admiral Raquel C. Bono, who was promoted in September 2014, was nominated by the president to the rank of Vice Admiral and for the position of Defense Health Agency (DHA) director. She currently serves as director of the…
Garcetti joins in celebrating the US Constitution and young new citizens SEPTEMBER 17 marks an important day in American history–the Constitution of the United States was officially signed by delegates of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, including Founding Fathers George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. Constitution and Citizenship Day was established later by President…
THIS coming Tuesday, Sept. 22, Pope Francis will start his journey to the United States of America. He will be arriving in Washington DC from Cuba at 4pm and will be welcomed at the White House by President Barack Obama and his staff. His weeklong visit is packed with parades, processions, meetings, visits, Masses, and…
A secular holiday specially dedicated to grandparents is celebrated in the United States and being adapted by all countries worldwide. Grandparents, too, like mothers and fathers, were legitimately given their own special day to commemorate their unprecedented significance in the most basic component of society—the family. Initiated and founded by Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade (1917-2008),…
Senator Grace P. Llamanzares’ speech the other day “offering” herself as our next President was unexpectedly quite impressive. Her oratory would be the final nail on Manuel Roxas II political coffin, and for Vice President Jejomar Binay a loud wake-up call. As the myth of Benigno Aquino 3rd as the prince of the Yellow Righteous…
After all the anticipation, suspense, and cliffhangers of teleseryes that mirror her personal narrative, Senator Grace Poe has finally made it official: She is running for President. This makes the Presidential Election in May 2016 a choice among the three candidates who have made their intent to run public and official: VP Jejomar Binay, Mar…
There is no more doubt that the present administration under Aquino III is the No. 1 enemy of the masses. It is a government against the Filipino people instead of being for the people. It has no concern at all in uplifting the living and working conditions of the common tao. Its oft repeated catchphrase telling…
360˚ street-level panoramic views of Greater Manila, major cities and popular heritage sites, now available on Google Maps Manila, Wednesday, 16 September 2015: Today, with the support of the Department of Tourism, Google announced that the first Street View imagery of the Philippines is now live on Google Maps. This new imagery allows anyone with an…
Sultry singer/actress Vina Morales’ heart is a-flutter these days because after seven years, she finally has found a new love. The Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita star share a photo of her and her French boyfriend on Instagram. The shot was taken during Vina’s recently concluded ASAP Live in London show, held at the SSE…
STARTING in October 2015, the Department of State (DOS) and the USCIS will utilize a new format for priority dates. (I posted those priority dates already on my website).There will be two separate charts (or priority dates) for people to follow or monitor: • Dates for filing applications (earliest date when a person may file…
ON September 9, 2015, the government announced that it will now allow individuals who have been waiting for their priority dates to be current both in the family based and employment based category to start their immigrant visa applications or file their applications for adjustment of status earlier. In line with this new policy of…
