CR1 Visa Process (via US Embassy Manila)
CR1 (Conditional Resident) - This is the immigrant visa that you could apply for if you are a non-US citizen married for less than 2 years to a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident of US. The visa itself acts as a green card valid for 1 year (if you haven't applied for the green card yet). Once the green card fee is paid, the green card that comes with this visa is only temporary and valid for just 2 years, and you have to apply for removal of conditions before it expires to get the permanent (10-year) green card. This visa, that comes with a green card, allows you to enjoy benefits and privileges of a lawful permanent resident of the US such as applying for a social security number, getting a driver's license, opening a US bank account, buying properties, getting employed and others.
And to be able to apply for this, your USC husband/wife has to file a petition (Form I-130) to the US Embassy in your country.
Additional Note: Since this walk-through is mainly about the CR1 (spouse visa) process done via direct consular filing, make sure first that you meet the requirements to be eligible to do this - one of which is staying (not necessarily residing permanently) in the Philippines for 6 months or more.
I've been an active member of VisaJourney Forum since the day we filed a petition for a US spouse visa and a lot of the members there has been asking about our experience since it seemed to be fast-paced, it almost seemed like it's too good to be true. I know I'm not alone and I'm pretty sure there are a lot out there who share a similar experience. I just wanna share ours - what we went through, the requirements etc., as well as mistakes and lessons learned that could have saved us even more time, as I know it can get confusing especially if you get mixed information. Let this serve as a step-by-step walk-through and I hope to be of help to current and future applicants. Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on this, this is just a personal experience. Sometimes, there are cases that would actually require an immigration lawyer, by all means, do so.