Consulate Review: Manila, Philippines
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
August 10, 2013 |
| Embassy Review : |
It is finally over...that big day that we all think about that is in the future sometime that gives us that big unknown feeling.....
The day before our interview, we traveled to Manila and checked into the Casa Bocobo Hotel which is not far away from the Embassy. This is a great place to stay, clean, quite, breakfast included and very affordable....and the staff !!!....they are very friendly and accommodating.
We tried to get a good night sleep, but with all the anticipation of the next day, it was very hard. We set my iphone to wake us up at 4:00 am....uggg !! we reluctantly rolled out of bed as that horrible alarm sounded off.....and then we started to prepare for the day ahead.
We finally made it down to the lobby area of the hotel and pulled out all of our paper work which we went back over using the really nice check lists that have been created by great contributors of this forum...and thanks so much for that !!!
After eating a hearty breakfast, which is very important by the way !!!!, we were on our way to the Embassy to arrive by 7:00 am. Our official appointment time was 7:30 am.
We found a few small lines that had formed and we were eventually informed which one was for the K1 Visa. After a short wait in line...we made it to the front and were asked for the first group of paperwork, just as the checklists had indicated.
In we go...through security and then to a covered outside area with lots of chairs and a couple of electronic reader boards flashing lots of numbers. One of the things given to us at the first paperwork check point, was our number...6203.
So, we sat down and waited for our number to flash on the big screen....!!!. There were hundreds of people sitting in this area, all anticipating the same thing..."when will our number flash on the screen" and, you never know when that will happen !!!!
During our 2 hr wait at this point, I had time to observe a few things, like the "Embassy Cat" which was a caramel colored male cat, just roaming around, looking for a free handout and playing with the kids that were waiting with their parents.
Then, there were the people that were unprepared, that were trying to get all their paperwork ready....they were asking a lot of questions of the ladies in blue that were there to help.
People are just waiting and waiting for that next step that begins when your number flashes up on the screen, one by one, they slowly disappear into the big embassy building just off the side from where we were sitting.
Our number finally arrived on that big board in the sky.....it had taken 2 hrs for that to happen and most everyone had already been called, we were some of the few left and it certainly had us wondering what was going on.....
As we were then able to move into the Embassy building, we passed through another security checkpoint and directed to go right to window #42 for Biometrics, and then to take a seat and watch for our number. This was again, a very large room with hundreds adults and some children sitting, and waiting.
In this area, there were probably at least 6 of the very large display screens spaced across the front of the room, all flashing the numbers that will eventually change the lives of the people they were attached to. You could also see the many interview windows, actively being used by the consul personnel, asking for documentation and interviewing Visa applicants.
To our surprise, the wait time at this stage was just a little under 1 1/2 hrs....we were called to window #46 to find a very nice, young Filipino man. He was very friendly and courteous, only asked a couple of questions of both of us and we were then on our way back to our seats, to again wait for our number to flash on the big screen.
We were then totally caught off guard when it only took 30 minutes to be called to window 60 to meet with a US Consul. Again, we were greeted by a very friendly person, a younger lady this time. She glanced at our file, asked us a couple of questions, looked at us....said she really liked it when the petitioner attends the interview and made the statement "I can see you two have a bonafide relationship, I don't need to look at anything else", "your file is approved" !!!!
Just a couple more very quick window stops now. One was for a review of our file to make sure it was all complete, and then a verification of where the visa and passport were to be delivered. Both these only took a few more minutes....we were all done by 11:30 am......
Here are a few points that I feel made our file work well in the system:
It was well organized with cover pages for each section that clearly showed what was included. I yellow highlighted important things so they would stand out to the interviewer at a glance.
All boxes need something in them, ie......the information requested, NA, N/A, None....if you cannot type it in then hand write it in.
Do not sign the DS-156K, you do that in front of the Consul.
Use the checklists that this forum has provided...clearly the people that were not prepared were not members of VJ !!!!
Even though these are very stressful moments....try and look happy...be friendly and pay attention !!!!
I hope I got it all....not really sure, but I am really tired and time to crash, tomorrow is another day....
Cheers,
cjmc
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| Rating : |
Very Good |
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