US Immigration from Philippines

Effective August 19 there will be HUGE increases in the cost of the medical exams at Saint Luke's. The fees for ages 15+ increases from P18,540 to P28,250. A whopping 52% increase to nearly $500. Below age 15 the price is raised from P11,400 to P13,910. A 22% increase.

They are attributing the increase to a policy change extending IGRA TB testing to all adults. Although the increase is substantially more than the cost of IGRA testing even in the US and they had been doing IGRA testing profitably for all child applicants for years at the previous child's price. Not to mention how far out of line it is with the costs of any type of normal medical care in the Philippines.

If there is any bright side, presumably this would replace their infamous x-ray machine and reduce the number of applicants being unnecessarily sent for sputum testing.

Hi all,

Processing a K1 Visa for my fianc e from the Philippines and looking for some guidance on how we should be proceeding. Any help is greatly appreciated and thank you again for helping us on our journey!

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07/10/2023: NOA1 I-129F receive date

03/06/2024: We received NOA2 and still have yet to receive any notification by mail or email about whether or not NVC has sent our petition to the U.S. embassy.

After waiting well over the minimum 30 days to hear back from NVC before contacting (per NOA2 instructions), we contacted NVC via their inquiry form and were able to get ahold of our NVC case ID, Invoice ID, and Beneficiary ID.

05/05/2024: We have since completed gathering documents and used this information obtained from the public inquiry to fill out DS-160.

05/27/2024: We received the following communication via email from NVC

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To whom it concerns:

This notice is to inform you that NVC is currently holding your approved Form I-129F (Petition for Alien Fiance(e)), and it has been at least 60 days since we received it from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). Your case number is MNLXXXXXXXXXX.

Where local conditions and restrictions allow, some embassies and consulates have resumed processing a limited visa workload, including K-1 nonimmigrant visa applications. For embassies and consulates that were unable to resume processing their visa workload, NVC is holding your approved Form I-129F. We cannot predict when routine visa services will resume, and we cannot guarantee or predict when your case will be sent to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate General in Manila. When NVC does forward your case, you will receive another notification.

Approved Forms I-129F have a 120-day expiration date from the date of approval by USCIS. Once your designated embassy or consulate resumes normal operations, a consular officer will revalidate your petition for another 120 days. You do not need to take any action for this revalidation to happen, though you may need to provide evidence that you still qualify for the K-1 nonimmigrant visa. For the most up-to-date information about the U.S. Embassy or Consulate General's operating status, visit their website at https://usembassy.gov.

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
National Visa Center Director

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06/10/2024 (TODAY): CEAC case status reads: "At NVC"

The strange thing is that it seems we can schedule an interview even though we do not have the "READY" status on CEAC, but we are unsure about the following:

Are we stuck on a waiting game for NVC?

Can we move forward with scheduling an interview?

Does the U.S embassy in Manila schedule the interview for us?

Thank you all again!

So my fiancee was issued a K1 visa at her interview in february. They asked her to get a crba for my son and she was given a 221g. His CRBA was denied.

Im wondering if they will just give my son a k1 visa since he was already on the original petition? We already did his medical exam ds160 and everything else. The emebassy kept his medical exam packet. I emailed usatravel docs support and they gave me a case number. I have not heard anything about the case in 3 weeks. What do you guys think?

Anyone know if the US Embassy in Manila is getting any faster at scheduling interviews for IR1 visas?

Hey everyone,

I'm now waiting for the NVC to schedule my wife's IR-1 interview, but I had a question about our relationship.

My wife and I were married in 2017 and I lived with her in the Philippines for about 2 years. We also had a daughter in 2018. Also I was able to get the CRBA for my daughter in 2019.

When I returned to the US in 2018 I filed the petition for her, but I haven't been able to visit her since then. This is due to financial troubles and life issues unfortunately. We would video call/chat everyday and I would send her ongoing support during this time.

I won't have any recent pictures to show of us together or proof of visitation. I could show proof of support and chat logs if needed. I never filed Taxes jointly with her because she didn't have income. I am unsure what else could possibly be required for the Interview.

My Question would be: Will this be a problem at the interview and what could I do to fulfill the requirements now while waiting, if anything?

Thank you!