PhilippineBill

My daugther got her visa on april 12th. The problem now is that the embassy required her to use 2go express as a carrier to recieve her visa. We live in Davao philippines. She is to pick up her visa at sm mall, but the problem is that when we go there, they feign ignorance. No one knows where it is or where it is coming from. I asked my daughter if they had given her a reciept or a tracking number, but she said the 2go representatlve said you only need your MNL number or your same number as your immigration tracking number. Fine, but the only help i could get in tracking was to be given two numbers in manila which are always busy or never answered. So frustrating the embassy would make you use such a service when FEDEX would be able to track minute by mintute.

My second concern is having to spend money to go to cebu or manila so she can get her cfo counciling. That is only two hour semenar, but wlll cost quite a bit of money, time and effort to fly back to manila or cebu. Then, of course, the cfo has their own set of requiremtents....i.e. you need an official i.d. such as postal i.d. or voters registration, which are two more pain the the you-know-what requirements the philippine want you to have. (more time and more money and frustrating effort).

Now even more frustrating is I understand you cant just buy a ticket online. I was told that to leave the philippines you had to go throgh a travel agent and buy ticket throgh them. Wow! what a difference. We have to fly to atlanta. If using expedia directly purchasing online ticket it will cost $951. To go to travel agent it will cost almost $1800 for the same routing. I cant believe I have to do this. I understand subsequent flights wont be impacted and she could buy tickets in and out of the philippines. Does anyone know anything about philippines and traveling from here to u.s.a without being raped by travel agent industry or some bula-bula requirements? It is getting extrememly frustrating here. Thanks if you can give me some guidance.

O.K. she was appoved on the 12th....the day after her first interview. Thanks for everyone\'s help.

O.K. she was appoved on the 12th....the day after her first interview. Thanks for everyone\'s help.

Thanks for that information. I will go ahead and send her up to manila with her mother to get her medical examination this week. They already have her original documents supposedly - including nbi clearance, police reports, NoMar and birth certificate. Documents were sent to NVC. Hopefully, they will have all her medical finished by the time she has her interview. I wonder how long it takes for them to send the visa once it is approved? Thanks for your advise!

My daughter has an interview on the 11th. I know she has to go to St Lukes hospital and have medical. I wonder, since i already submitted and affidavit of support and all information from the philippines - like her police clearances, nbi clearance, birth certificates and they should be forwarded to the embassy, just what will she need to bring to the interview besides her photos & philippine passport? What questions do they usually ask step children? She is 19. I also wanted to know if they send her visa back home to davao via goexpress, then she will have to come back to manila again to get her her philippines overseas stamp and attend councelling session right? I wish she could get that in Davao, it'd sure be easier.

Any help thanks.

I am the petetioner and named agent for my step daughter's IR2 visa application. She is in the philippines and will be interviewed at the embassy in Manila. I just recently sent in the Affidavit of Support & DS230 back to the NVC, and am waiting to hear from them. My questions are - Does NVC set the appointment date at the Embassy in Manila? Do, they notify me by mail (since i am the agent), or do they contact my step daughter at her address in philippines directly, or both?

What would be the usual procedure before the inteview? I'm assuming some type of physical will have to be performed, etc. So, does one arrive several days before the actual interview, go there and come back at a later date, or just what?

We already sent in a ton of forms like Cenomar( certicate no marriage), police clearnaces, affidavit of support.

What other information will she need to take to the embassy besides her being physically present? She lives in Mindanao, and is going to school, how long will she have to be in Manila for interview and any other things - like medical, she has to take. She doesnt want to miss too many days of school if the interview is before the end o march.

Does she have to go to the overeas philippines seminar? Im just trying to do my best to help her plan. Does anyone know how long it takes from the time NVC approves to the time the interview in Manila takes place? Thanks for any help you can give me.

Hi Philippine Bill,

If you paid the fees already and you have the barcoded receipt you can go ahead and send them the I-864 and DS-230 (with supporting documents) to NVC, there is a link there that you need to follow, you don't wait for them to tell you what to do, Good luck with the rest of the process.

Thanks, I am in the process of doing that now.

If you filed a I-130 petition to your step daughter by December 2010,I presume that its too early to find an answer right at this moment.Some cases needs an initial review before they can make a final decisions on the case you filed.It may require a valid documents like naturalization certificate,birth certificate,etc and proper forms from USCIS like I-130/I-485,I-765,G-325,etc.Now if you filed these properly to the USCIS or Consular office it may take time to wait from the long line for the process.Some cases needs to also wait for the priority dates before you can file an AOS.

Thanks. I havent filed the Adjustment of status or the DS-230 yet. I will in the next week. Thanks again.

You were suppose to go back to the website where you paid the fees to download the forms, barcoded cover pages, and for further instructions.

Read the AOS and IV fee letter that you received carefully.

Thanks! That was my problem. I had an old NVC Process Flowchart, and I was waiting for the I-864 and DS-230 packages to be generated (which apparently they never would have been). I went back to the NVC site where i paid my fees and downloaded the Cover Pages. I will try to follow directions next time. Thanks!

Hello There,

I'm new here so please be patient with me. I filed petetion to bring my 18 year old step daughter here to the u.s. from the philippines. The petition was approved. I got information from NVC stating her case number. She emailed request to NVC to have me, the petitioner become her agent. I recieved and paid both IV bill and downloaded paid receipt; and I paid the Affidavit of support bill, and downloaded a copy of that paid receipt also. This was back in November 2010 and December 2010. Nothing since then from NVC.

Its been since early december 2010 and I havent heard anything. Am I supposed to wait to hear from NVC? Or Should I just go ahead and process the Affidavit or Support and send it in to NVC (using her NVC case number), and also process and send in her DS-230. I havent heard anything and dont know if i should just be waiting or taking action. Thanks for any help or advise you might have.