US Embassy Manila Interview 2021

[David Holmes 13]

20 minutes ago, TerraceJW said:

Ours finally got issued after I called the embassy and demanded to talk to a supervisor, he helped us get it issued after 3 weeks of waiting. If you are calling from the US you can call the embassy at 703-520-2235.

Hi TerraceJW.  Did you actually receive your passport back, or did they just mark it as "issued"?

 

Also about that number; I've called it at least 8 times, and after choosing some options the system puts me on hold for 10 minutes and then hangs up on me.  Is it because I chose the English option and not the Tagalog option?  What's the secret to even getting to a person?  

[TerraceJW 6]

27 minutes ago, David Holmes said:

Hi TerraceJW.  Did you actually receive your passport back, or did they just mark it as "issued"?

 

Also about that number; I've called it at least 8 times, and after choosing some options the system puts me on hold for 10 minutes and then hangs up on me.  Is it because I chose the English option and not the Tagalog option?  What's the secret to even getting to a person?  

We didn't recieve everything back yet, it is just issued and the secret is to keep calling. Lol They have a high call volume so they rig the system to keep hanging up on you until a clerk can answer so you have to keep trying until it finally doesn't hang up, when you get an actual person to talk to they're actually not allowed to hang up on you. Last time I called it took me 6 times.

[TerraceJW 6]

On 4/21/2021 at 3:20 PM, jdreyes said:

Hi, anyone here had their interview recently? My husband had his interview on April 5 and was told that due to ECQ in Manila, his medical result was not sent to the embassy. He did his medical on March 25. The interview went well and approved but still waiting for the medical. I checked on CEAC tracker and the status still says “Ready” . Usually how long will it take for SLEC to forward the results to USEM? How do we contact USEM and to ask for the status? Thank you so much VJs! 

Our medical was sent to the embassy on February 24th and our interview was April 8th we had the same problem. They finally updated our case to "Issued" on May 7th. We are awaiting the visa to be delivered now.

[David Holmes 13]

6 minutes ago, TerraceJW said:

Our medical was sent to the embassy on February 24th and our interview was April 8th we had the same problem. They finally updated our case to "Issued" on May 7th. We are awaiting the visa to be delivered now.

 

We've been waiting 31 days since ours was marked "issued".  So far.

[jdreyes 4]

8 hours ago, TerraceJW said:

What we did is we emailed the embassy everyday until we got a response then we kept emailing them every 2 days or what. You can email ivmanilareplies@state.gov and Support-Philippines@UStraveldocs.com the first email is the old one, it will send an auto reply to their website where you can submit and inquiry form. The second email is the new one for questions. Ours finally got issued after I called the embassy and demanded to talk to a supervisor, he helped us get it issued after 3 weeks of waiting. If you are calling from the US you can call the embassy at 703-520-2235.

Thank you for the update @TerraceJW! We’re still stuck with “ready”. Been more than a month. My husband’s NBI clearance expires this month. I hope they don’t make it an issue and request for a new one. I tried calling the number but they always hang up after keeping me waiting. I did that many times but no luck. I’m going to email them everyday too just like what you did. Did you use the online form everytime you sent a message?TIA!

[Phil967 4]

On 5/7/2021 at 10:57 AM, jdreyes said:

Hi, any update on your Visa? 

Any update on your visa? I got a hold of someone at the usem and all I got was that it is still in processing and “rest assured it will be delivered once it’s ready”.🤦🏽‍♂️

[Phil967 4]

On 5/9/2021 at 3:13 AM, TerraceJW said:

What we did is we emailed the embassy everyday until we got a response then we kept emailing them every 2 days or what. You can email ivmanilareplies@state.gov and Support-Philippines@UStraveldocs.com the first email is the old one, it will send an auto reply to their website where you can submit and inquiry form. The second email is the new one for questions. Ours finally got issued after I called the embassy and demanded to talk to a supervisor, he helped us get it issued after 3 weeks of waiting. If you are calling from the US you can call the embassy at 703-520-2235.

So they do have a supervisor that could do something about the case? I spoke with someone and all that I got was the default speech telling me that they can’t determine the timeline and that it is in processing. 

[David Holmes 13]

1 minute ago, Phil967 said:

 I spoke with someone and all that I got was the default speech telling me that they can’t determine the timeline and that it is in processing. 

That was my experience tonight as well.  I asked for a supervisor, but he was busy on another call.  I waited 30 minutes, and tried three more times but wasn't even able to get one of their useless agents.  It's now been 40 days since her interview.

[jdreyes 4]

23 minutes ago, Phil967 said:

Any update on your visa? I got a hold of someone at the usem and all I got was that it is still in processing and “rest assured it will be delivered once it’s ready”.🤦🏽‍♂️

I got the same answer. I called today and the person was not helpful at all. She said she’ll follow up but she didn’t sound like she will. I even mentioned about my husband’s expiring documents but she said it is up to the embassy if they will request new one 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️.. 

[TerraceJW 6]

7 hours ago, Phil967 said:

Any update on your visa? I got a hold of someone at the usem and all I got was that it is still in processing and “rest assured it will be delivered once it’s ready”.🤦🏽‍♂️

I just checked the status on ustraveldocs.com and it says "Passport has been received from the consular section, and is currently being processed for delivery"

[TerraceJW 6]

7 hours ago, Phil967 said:

So they do have a supervisor that could do something about the case? I spoke with someone and all that I got was the default speech telling me that they can’t determine the timeline and that it is in processing. 

I was able to talk to the supervisor but the lady didn't want me to, I told her either she will hang up on me or I will wait as long as it takes and that's when she transferred me lol

[jdreyes 4]

On 5/9/2021 at 4:09 AM, TerraceJW said:

Our medical was sent to the embassy on February 24th and our interview was April 8th we had the same problem. They finally updated our case to "Issued" on May 7th. We are awaiting the visa to be delivered now.

@TerraceJW Did you tell them about the medical being sent to embassy on February 24th? I called St Lukes and they told me it was also sent on March 28th. We received an email today saying that my husband’s visa application was refused under section 221(g) because of the medical. What did you tell them to get the status changed to “issued”? 😅 I’m worried that we’re going to get more problems once his NBI clearance expires prior to visa issuance.

[TerraceJW 6]

3 hours ago, jdreyes said:

@TerraceJW Did you tell them about the medical being sent to embassy on February 24th? I called St Lukes and they told me it was also sent on March 28th. We received an email today saying that my husband’s visa application was refused under section 221(g) because of the medical. What did you tell them to get the status changed to “issued”? 😅 I’m worried that we’re going to get more problems once his NBI clearance expires prior to visa issuance.

Two days before we got issued I called the embassy and I chewed them out more or less, I demanded to speak to a supervisor and I told them three months for a system to update is unreasonable and unacceptable and I told them my wife's sputum culture would expire this Saturday, I spoke for a decent amount of time explaining how unhappy I was and that we needed action. The supervisor told me he would get back with me in 24-48 hours and bottabing bottaboom we got approved, we got issued on the 7th, I called sometime either the 4th or 5th, can remember.

[TerraceJW 6]

My wife just got her visa in hand last night (May 12), we registered for the immigration seminar for tomorrow at 0900 for her, she got her covid test yesterday, I paid the immigration fee, and we booked her a flight for Friday morning so she'll be here Friday night if the Lord wills. Everything looks good so far. We got issued on May 7.

Edited May 12, 2021 by TerraceJW
Typo

[Phil967 4]

52 minutes ago, TerraceJW said:

My wife just got her visa in hand last night (May 12), we registered for the immigration seminar for tomorrow at 0900 for her, she got her covid test yesterday, I paid the immigration fee, and we booked her a flight for Friday morning so she'll be here Friday night if the Lord wills. Everything looks good so far. We got issued on May 7.

Wow that’s awesome. Hopefully all goes according to plan. I plan to do the same as soon as the visa arrives. Thanks for the update 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽