Wrangell welcomes back Filipino family after visa reshuffle

After being kept away for most of the year while a petition for residency was processed, the Balansag family returned to Wrangell earlier this month.

The Balansags – Vincent, wife Lynn, and children Jade, Lee and Chrysalis – have been calling Wrangell home since January 2011. They first moved here from the Philippines – an island nation off the coast of East Asia – after Vincent found employment at the local hospital, where he still works as a medical technician.

His three-year work visa had been renewed in 2014, but was set to expire at the start of 2017. For the family to stay on a more permanent basis, Vincent had to file an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, or an I-140, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. During that process Wrangell Medical Center had to post Vincent's position as available; as no other candidates applied for it, that demonstrated need on the part of the employer for his retention.

Putting together the I-140 petition was time-consuming, Lynn recalled, and once submitted would take some time to process. Handled on a first-come, first-serve basis, the exact length of time varies between petitions but can take a number of months.

"We were waiting for that petition to get approved," she explained. However, as Vincent's work visa was set to expire in the meantime, by early December the family calculated they might need to leave while the application was being reviewed, so to not overstay illegally.

"I suspected that we might leave, but we were actually waiting for the word," said Lynn.

With the holidays ahead of them yet, the Balansags began preparing for a temporary return to the Philippines. Lynn recalled there being plenty of things to do first, from arranging for storage for their belongings, to coordinating with the school district, and making sure bank accounts, telephones, cable and other subscriptions could be put on hold. What could not be held was discontinued, and the family shed a number of household items and furniture in the process.

"And also making sure that when we come back here everything's going to be smooth sailing," she added.

The family also had to make sure they would have a place to stay and enough money to get by on when in the Philippines.

"The good thing about going to the Philippines, we don't have our own house, but we have family. He's got his parents and I've got my parents," said Lynn. For most of their stay, they arranged to use the house where she grew up, in Dumaguete City.

Dumaguete City is on the island of Negros, the fourth-largest island in the Philippines' archipelago and near to its center.

After visiting family and friends elsewhere in the Visayas region, the Balansags settled into Dumaguete while they waited for their application to be processed. The schools system's summer break begins in March, they explained, so they put their children into summer classes and other activities. Lynn also used the opportunity to return to school, taking up accountancy for a semester at one of the universities. Vincent found it convenient to be the stay-at-home father, shuttling his family around and making sure they had something to eat during their midday breaks.

"I worked full-time as a dad," he said.

Lynn and Vincent both saw the transition as an opportunity for their children to experience a measure of their Filipino culture from the open markets and corner shops, the traffic and bigger schools, the heat and occasional flooding, various festivals and a traditional living arrangement.

"I was so happy for the kids to experience that stuff, the culture," said Vincent. "They got to experience Filipino food. Some of it they like, some of it they don't."

Now in her freshman year, daughter Jade said that school in the Philippines had been a different environment than what she was used to in Wrangell. "Bigger classes, and they're more lenient with devices being out because we use them for learning and taking notes," she said.

"The thing is, it was just the experience. That was the most important thing," said Lynn.

They learned in September that Vincent's petition had finally been approved, and began making arrangements to return to Wrangell. During their absence, Wrangell Medical Center covered Vincent's workload with agency staff, and his job awaited his return.

Friends and coworkers at the hospital helped the family relocate. They had already helped put the family's things into storage before they left, and had moved their goods into their apartment for them by the time they returned. A number of friends from around the community were waiting for the Balansags at the airport when they arrived on November 6.

"We're so glad to be back," Vincent said.

Lynn was likewise glad to be back, and couldn't think of anyplace else she would rather be living. "The community in Wrangell, Wrangell is just different," she said.

"We're just so thankful for the hospital," said Vincent. "We're thankful to all those people who helped."