Passports and Visas

New York is America’s most-populous city, and its metropolitan area has over 20 million people.  New York City contains the five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx.  The New York metropolitan area includes New York City, Long Island, and the Mid and Lower Hudson Valley.  It also includes several large cities in New Jersey such as Newark, Edison, Elizabeth, Paterson, Jersey City, and Hoboken, along with several large cities in Connecticut that include New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford.  New York is one of the most important economic regions in the world and has the highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States. It is also one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world with over 800 languages spoken in the metropolitan area, including 150,000 speakers of Arabic.  There are about 50,000 Egyptians living in the New York metropolitan area and there is even a neighborhood in Queens named “Little Egypt” that has Arab-owned businesses and caters to Middle Eastern immigrants.  New York has the largest Egyptian Copt community in the U.S. and there are over 20 Coptic churches in the metropolitan area.  Egyptair operates direct flights from New York (JFK) to Cairo International Airport.

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States and is an important global city that attracts visitors from all over the world.  The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area—which includes the District of Columbia and parts of Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia—is America’s sixth-largest metropolis and has a population of 6.3 million people.  Cities within this area (apart from the District of Columbia) include Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, and Reston—all in Virginia—along with the Maryland towns of Bethesda, College Park, Frederick, Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Silver Spring.  Washington, D.C. is a majestic city that showcases the best of our planet’s cultures through its diversity of restaurants, museums, cultural events, and architecture, which includes influences from ancient Egypt, such as the Washington Monument.  The Washington metropolitan area has the 3^rd largest concentration of Egyptian Americans and even has a few restaurants serving Egyptian food.  Washington, D.C. is one of the best places in America to study Arabic and Middle Eastern culture because of the multitude of schools offering language training in both Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic such as the Al Noor Arabic Center and Middle East Institute.

UPDATED November 26, 2022 (Please see information below under "Other things to consider")

Chicago is America’s third-most-populous city and its metropolitan area, known as Chicagoland, has a population approaching 10 million people.  Chicago is a vibrant international city with a robust economy that is the corporate headquarters for 57 Fortune 1000 companies.  While manufacturing and food processing provide a strong foundation for its economy, the city is also an important financial center and is home to the Chicago Stock Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The Chicago metropolitan area covers 14 counties across three states—Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin—and includes cities like Aurora, Naperville, Joliet, Elgin, Waukegan, Cicero, Skokie, Gary (Indiana), and Kenosha (Wisconsin).  Filipino people have lived in Chicago for over 100 years and have a thriving immigrant community that includes over 125,000 residents. Chicago is home to the Philippine American Cultural Foundation, a nonprofit organization that is very active promoting cultural events and activities throughout the year such as Piyesta Pinoy.  The city is home to dozens of Filipino restaurants, including chains like Jollibee, Max’s Restaurant, and Red Ribbon.  Chicago also has a Seafood City supermarket location offering Filipino food brands and ingredients.

UPDATED November 26, 2022 (Please see information below under "Other things to consider")

New York is America’s most-populous city, and its metropolitan area has over 20 million people.  New York City contains the five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx.  The New York metropolitan area includes New York City, Long Island, and the Mid and Lower Hudson Valley.  It also includes several large cities in New Jersey such as Newark, Edison, Elizabeth, Paterson, Jersey City, and Hoboken, along with several large cities in Connecticut that include New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford.  New York is one of the most important economic regions in the world and has the highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States. It is also one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world with over 800 languages spoken in the metropolitan area, including Filipino and other languages of the Philippines.  There are over 250,000 Filipinos living in the New York metropolitan area and there are Little Manilas (neighborhoods with large populations of Filipino people) in Queens, Jersey City, and Bergenfield (New Jersey).  New York plays host to the annual Philippine Independence Day Parade and the area is home to the Filipino School of New York and New Jersey, which promotes Philippine languages and culture. 

The Greater Miami Area is the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the United States and has a population of 6.2 million people.  The metropolitan area is composed of Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County.  Its main cities include Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Hialeah, Coral Gables, Miami Gardens, Miramar, Homestead, Davie, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, and Boca Raton.  This is a diverse community where 40% of the population was born in another country, and it is one of America’s most important cities for international trade.  Miami is a business hub for the Latin American region and is often thought of as the unofficial “Capital of Latin America”.  Miami and the state of Florida also have a growing number Arabs and Arab-Americans, which includes immigrants with Egyptian heritage.  Often relocating from other parts of the United States, they are drawn to the area’s warm weather and booming economy that makes this a paradise for owners of small businesses dealing in food services, retail, and construction.  Miami and the South Florida region have a population of a few thousand Egyptians and nearly 50,000 immigrants from countries like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestinian Territories. 

Atlanta has a population of over 6 million people, making it the 9th most populous metropolitan area in the United States.  Atlanta is the capital of Georgia, which is the 8th most populous of the 50 states.  The city and surrounding area—known as the Atlanta metropolitan area—is also the commercial capital of the Southeast United States and has the third-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the country.  The metropolitan area includes the municipalities of Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta, Marietta, Duluth, Norcross, Tucker, Lithonia, Decatur, Mableton, and others.  Atlanta is a diverse and international city that has about 50,000 residents of Arab descent, some of whom have immigrated from Egypt or have Egyptian heritage.  The symbol of Atlanta, the phoenix, borrows from Egyptian mythology and symbolizes the rise of the city after its destruction during the Civil War.  Ancient Egyptian influence can also be found at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, whose interior is based on historical Egyptian architecture; and the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University has one of the largest collections of Ancient Egyptian art in the Southeast.  Atlanta residents interested in learning about modern day Egyptian and Arab culture can sign up for Arabic courses at the Alif Institute. 

UPDATED November 26, 2022 (Please see information below under "Other things to consider")

Greater Boston is the eleventh-most populous metropolitan area in the United States with a population of 4.9 million people, and includes towns such as Cambridge, Brookline, Quincy, Brockton, Lynn, Newton, Waltham, and Medford.  Boston is one of America’s oldest cities and has a rich history that attracts over 20 million tourists each year.  Known as the “intellectual capital of the United States”, Boston is a center of education that has more than 350,000 college students from around the world, including students from the Philippines.  Schools like Boston University, Harvard, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology all have Filipino student organizations.  There are a few thousand Filipinos living in Greater Boston and about 12,000 throughout the state of Massachusetts.  Although Boston does not necessarily have a strong connection to the Philippines compared to other major U.S. cities, this city (and the city of Springfield) have made one of the biggest contributions in relations between our two countries—the game of basketball.  Basketball was invented in Springfield by James Naismith, and Boston is home of the Celtics, one of the game’s greatest NBA franchises of all time.  Basketball is a national obsession in the Philippines and fans there are just as passionate as those in Boston.

UPDATED November 26, 2022 (Please see information below under "Other things to consider")

Philadelphia is the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania and is one of the oldest cities in the United States.  Founded in 1682 by Englishman William Penn, a social reformer and champion of liberty, he named the city Philadelphia using the Greek term meaning “brotherly love”.  Philadelphia has the nickname “City of Brotherly Love” and is nowadays more casually known by locals and non-locals alike as “Philly”.  The Philadelphia metropolitan area has over 6 million people and includes cities and towns in the states of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, in addition to Pennsylvania.  The area is well known as a center of higher education and has more than 80 postsecondary institutions including Temple University, Drexel, Villanova, and University of Pennsylvania, whose Penn Language Center offer courses in the Filipino (Tagalog) language.  Historically, Philadelphia was also an important city for the nation’s military and had the country’s first naval shipyard.  Filipinos were allowed to join the U.S. Navy starting in 1901 and have found a home in Philadelphia ever since.  There are now over 35,000 Filipinos living in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and the city is home to the Filipino American Association of Philadelphia, one of the oldest Filipino organizations in the United States.

UPDATED November 26, 2022 (Please see information below under "Other things to consider")

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States and is an important global city that attracts visitors from all over the world.  The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area—which includes the District of Columbia and parts of Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia—is America’s sixth-largest metropolis and has a population of 6.3 million people.  Cities within this area (apart from the District of Columbia) include Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, and Reston—all in Virginia—along with the Maryland towns of Bethesda, College Park, Frederick, Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Silver Spring.  The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area has nearly 100,000 Filipinos residents and has over 100 organizations and programs that provide services to Filipino Americans and people of the Philippines.  Considering the close historical connections between the United States and Philippines, Washington, D.C. is one of the most important foreign capitals for Filipinos working in government and international politics.  During World War II, there were several hundred thousand Filipinos that fought alongside American troops to defeat Japan.  Today the contributions of Filipinos during the war is commemorated at the World War II Memorial, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

UPDATED November 26, 2022 (Please see information below under "Other things to consider")

Charlotte is the 23rd-most populous city in the United States and is the most populous city in the state of North Carolina.  The Charlotte metropolitan area is a sixteen-county region that stretches into the state of South Carolina and includes the towns of Concord, Gastonia, Huntersville, Kannapolis, Indian Trail, Mooresville, Monroe, Salisbury, Matthews, Statesville, Rock Hill (SC), and Fort Mill (SC).  Known as the Queen City, this metropolis of 2.6 million people has been one of the country’s fastest-growing cities the past two decades.  Charlotte’s youthful population, low cost of living, and geographic location in America’s Sun Belt, have made it an attractive destination for business investment.  Charlotte and the state of North Carolina have become an important financial center and is the headquarters of several large banks.  There is a strong link between Charlotte and Philippines when we consider that some of these large banks have operations in Philippines to handle their customer service and back office administration.  North Carolina is also home to several military bases, and the Philippines is a popular retirement destination for many American veterans.  Residents of Charlotte interested in trying Filipino food before their trip to Philippines can check out Joel’s Asian Grill in Mooresville.