What are the eligibility requirements for financial assistance by the us embassy

[Rain44]

On 12/29/2016 at 8:51 AM, scott h said:

Ladies and Gents: After hitting myself up the side of my head, I decided just to send an email to my brother who is a consular officer with the United States Department of State. He is currently assigned in Washington DC, but has served at US embassies in Nigeria, Argentina, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama. After editing out Family greetings and stuff I will insert his reply to me.

Don't attribute this to me, but there is a policy, but we don't really advertise it- for obvious reasons.  Any AMCIT can walk into any Embassy and seek help at the American Citizen Unit (ACS) - the Officer will first "help" the person to find a way to solve their problem- help them contact a relative that can send money, help them get a cash advance on their credit card, that sort of thing- If the AMCIT has no funds or friends/family the Officer will then "help" them to try again and think harder on someone (anyone not the USG) who may be willing to pay their way back to the U.S. or send them money to support them.  If this does not work, the Officer will "help" them think even harder, and will facilitate/encourage them to contact that estranged family member or ex-wife who has written them off.  This process will continue until the officer (and probably their boss the AMCIT never sees) is convinced that this AMCIT is actually destitute and has nobody  in the world that will help, at that point they will provide a loan to purchase a one-way ticket back to the U.S., a single use passport if needed, and if I remember correctly a very small amount of cash to settle bills.  This is a loan, and in addition to other strings the  person will not be able to obtain a new passport until it is repaid.  The Department REALLY does not like to make these loans, so it is by design not an easy or painless process- and I bet in a place like Manila they see a number of these folks and are practiced at "helping" folks find other funding.     The reason most think it is "tough luck" is that the Officer will not even mention the loan option early on because they don't want the person to know it is even an option.  In the vast majority of the cases some other source of funds is found to return the person to the U.S.

Folks, please note the second to last sentence. If you have worked for the US government as I have, it makes perfect sense. Hope this answers the question somewhat.
 

Jolly, you think I should start a new topic in an FAQ section or something?

Thank you for this. it seems this will be extremely difficult. Yes I'm sure I can get a hold of a HS long lost friend and or sucking up and contact a college enemy and beg for money.

But that's not gonna happen. I don't think my pride to call and contact and beg long lost acquaintances because I am starving in another country will be enough. really that's the bottom of the barrel. Pan handling is probably a better option than "trying harder" to get a last contact such as mentioned for assistance. I cant imagine contacting an ex girlfriend from decades ago to ask for money. That's just too degrading for most.

Is it worth starving and street hustling then ? not for me unfortunately.

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions. I guess I will dig down and bear what I can do to look further into an escape plan. I did months ago look into call centers and other jobs but I'm just not getting hired. I don't get it.

 

Today i got call that the American Association of the Philippines wont assist me either. their notes were that they will just try to help me look for a job. I guess they didn't hear the part where I submitted to most companies in manila and still didnt find one. I did get a clue to their organization when I asked for a xmas gift basket. The rep said they could only give out 10 this past year out of the 50 beneficiaries on their list. That just means they are underfunded.

I was gonna take a trip to the embassy tomorrow but now I know it truly will be a dead end.

I think I got all my answers and will update when I can. Thanks everyone

[Jollygoodfellow]

5 hours ago, rainart222 said:

Today i got call that the American Association of the Philippines wont assist me either. their notes were that they will just try to help me look for a job. I guess they didn't hear the part where I submitted to most companies in manila and still didnt find one. I did get a clue to their organization when I asked for a xmas gift basket. The rep said they could only give out 10 this past year out of the 50 beneficiaries on their list. That just means they are underfunded.

And that is why for the past 8 years I tried to remove their links etc on this forum because it's a paid association. They dont pay me to advertise them so why should I push their cause to gain money ? 

[Rain44]

hello everyone, so its been half a year. Update, I am still stuck in the Philippines. But not homeless. Doing ok. Apartment, food etc.

So what happened is I had a friend that offered me a place to stay. Luckily the place had wifi and pc and I jumped on it looking for internet jobs. I signed up at Upwork and Freelancer and started landing art jobs, lucky for my graphic illustration skills. So that is how I am surviving and paying for food and rent now. I am not clear out of the woods but at least I have income. 

Now I have a new problem. I am still trying to get back home California, but I want to take my family I created here with me. I have a child and a fiancee. I am applying for a K1 visa. Some requirements are to have $25k in the bank, not in poverty, etc. My child is already an american citizen. I just need my fiancee to pass the visa.

My question is this, I have a misdemeanor charge of domestic disturbance over 15 years ago. I was not convicted of any crimes. I see on my I-129f application that I need to report any arrests even if it's cleared or thrown out. I am very wary of this. If I report yes, will that effect my chances of being approved? It's an old case, no conviction, thrown out case, the only arrest I ever had in my life. If I don't report it will they dig it out and that backfires on me? or report it and that also stops me cold ?

Do I open a new post for this ? Sorry admin if I was supposed to create a new post. 

 

I also want to thank everyone for all their suggestions and help half a year ago.

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 minutes ago, rainart222 said:

My question is this

Methinks your question requires a new thread  but since there are no Philadelphia Lawyers  on the forum I think you would be wise to find an online American law forum to post that question.  Its likely that this forum will get you a lot of guesses from people who have never done what you are asking.

Glad to hear everything is working out for you.

[AlwaysRt]

Not a guess part, if you lie and they catch it your done.

Guess part, it was insignificant enough and old enough not to effect the application at all. another guess, lying about it and being caught is a worse crime than what you are nervous about. Committing fraud is not the way to show responsibility and something you could be convicted for.

But, better off talking to someone dealing with visa every day for an 'official' answer.

[scott h]

3 hours ago, Rain44 said:

I need to report any arrests even if it's cleared or thrown out

Seems perfectly clear to me.

But I will say this. As I have said before my brother works for the US State Department. One of his jobs was processing visas at a foreign embassy for those seeking entry into the states. Now my brother is a really, really nice guy, I mean really nice, but his job was to be a flaming Arse, and he did it well. He finds someone lying and they are DONE like burned adobo.

 

[Rain44]

thanks for that. I will go through the honest approach as it's not worth being blackballed. Still I wonder why would they have the right to know even if a judge says the case is cleared and records wiped clean (see insert). If judge says no records and clean report why would an applicant still need to bring it up ? Isn't the judge's decision higher than USCIS inquiry ? I also wonder how they will find records if records are cleaned, unless you disclose them yourself in which this questionnaire was designed for.

[Dave Hounddriver]

50 minutes ago, Rain44 said:

If judge says no records and clean report why would an applicant still need to bring it up ? Isn't the judge's decision higher than USCIS inquiry ?

If you think thats bad, wait until the IRS gets its nose in there.  They are the highest power in the land.  They even got Al Capone. 

[jpbago]

6 hours ago, Rain44 said:

Now I have a new problem. I am still trying to get back home California, but I want to take my family I created here with me. I have a child and a fiancee. I am applying for a K1 visa. Some requirements are to have $25k in the bank, not in poverty, etc.

Do you need to have employment in the USA as well as money in the bank? I see that you have asked the American Embassy in Manila for financial assistance for yourself and now you plan on bringing two Filipinos to the USA.

Edited June 5, 2017 by jpbago
Looked back at earlier posts.

[robert k]

1 hour ago, Rain44 said:

thanks for that. I will go through the honest approach as it's not worth being blackballed. Still I wonder why would they have the right to know even if a judge says the case is cleared and records wiped clean (see insert). If judge says no records and clean report why would an applicant still need to bring it up ? Isn't the judge's decision higher than USCIS inquiry ? I also wonder how they will find records if records are cleaned, unless you disclose them yourself in which this questionnaire was designed for.

 

Nothing is ever really gone.