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| Manila, Philippines |  Review on July 7, 2012: |
Brandon+Roslyn
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
The day of our interview we all woke up at 4:00am for an appointment time of 6:30. We arrived at the embassy by about 5:15am and the line for the Fiance/Immigrant Visas was already pushed back quite a ways. We were let into the line a few minutes later by the gaurd. They started checking everyones appointment letters and putting a sticker on everyones passport then into a plastic bag, then formed a new line. We finally got to canopy where they were checking the appointment letters and was caught by a nice surprise when the man asked my wife if this was our baby and she said "yes" and they moved us to the very front of the new line! We had to bring our 1 month old with us, which turned out to be a blessing. By this point it was almost 6 or so and they called the first wave of people to go through the metal detectors and security, then we had to wait in line again to get our number which was 5000 (its really too bad they dont call those numbers in order lol). We were then let into the embassy right away and told to take the appointment letter to window 39 and wait for our number to be called. From what I collected, all the 5000 numbers were IR1/CR1 people and 6000 were the K visas and other IVs. Then, we waited. Everyone started getting called up for the finger printing to window 40-43(I think).. except for us. 5006, 5001,5003, etc.. We waited, and waited more. I started to think that they misplaced our number or something. The other girls we went in with were already done with their 1st interviews! I was getting really impatient. We still hadnt even been called for fingerprints! After what felt like 2 hours, our number showed up for window 53 and we were off to our 1st interview. It was a nice, middle aged, Filipina. Her first comment was "your baby is very cute!" Then she asked my wife to tell her her full name, when we were married, her birthday, etc.. just basic questions. Then she asked how we met and all that stuff. Then asked if we had pictures, anything to prove our relationship. We had about 100 pictures and tons of chat logs and handwritten letters and stuff. Its funny because she looked through every single picture, and read every letter and message we sent to each other. I was kind of surprised because many of the other reviews I have read the just looked at 1 or 2 pictures and said "OK! Thanks!". She even asked about one of our letters because she didnt know what "salukara" was, which is a snack here where we live, and my wife had to explain it to her. It was actually pretty funny. Then she said, "do you have your Affidavit of Support?". My heart sank. It was sent into the NVC but apparently lost, or something. I said, "I sent it into the NVC". She said, "Hmmm, OK, but I have it here." Then she said "OK just sit down and wait for your number to be called, and good luck!" So we sat and waited more.. about 20 minutes or so. I was so distraught about the AOS. I was sure they would deny my wife or make us come back for another appointment. We got called up to the window with a nice middle aged American guy for the final interview. First thing a saw was her visa application with a huge red stamp that said APPROVED on it. I grinned from ear to ear. He asked how we were doing and I said "Great". Then he asked about the AOS again. I said i dont know what happened, it was definitely sent into the NVC with everything else. He said "OK well all I know is that I dont have it. So just send another one in with the w2's and tax returns and we will send you your visa!" I said, "Thank You!". I could put my worries to rest. We were told to wait again at window 72 after he gave me a white 221(g) paper. So we waited another 5 minutes and got to the window and the guy told me what to do about the AOS. He said I just need to "secure everything and then take it to the nearest 2GO branch and they will take it here to the embassy for free! No need to come back to the embassy!" I was very, very, happy about that . Then he said "Once we have it and everything is good we will send the visa to your address!" One last "Thank You!" and our day at the embassy was over. Hard to believe it was only 9:30 LOL.
Long story short, got all the stuff sent in, now waiting for her APPROVED visa. Thank you LORD!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9958