ReiSea

Not to be a downer, but have you already investigated the ability of her parents and her matron of honor to get tourist visas to visit the US for the wedding? If not, you should be aware that unless you are incredibly wealthy, older, and have significant financial/real estate ties to the Philippines it is next to impossible to any sort of short term visa to visit the US, including just a simple tourist visa. It may be that they already have visas through other sources, but do not count on that unless you've already checked into it.

Thanks for your input. Her dad has been to the US 3 times but that was a long time ago (1990s), do you think this will help? We are still willing to try, especially for her dad since he has been granted a tourist visa 3 times. Thanks.

I didn't glue any 2x2 pictures on my DS forms and they didn't ask me for new ones during my interview. I think it was because I already gave two 2x2 pictures during my medical examination. God bless you on your interview.

That's true, since we do intend to have her parents and her matron of honor fly over for the wedding, so I would be inclined to use delta anyway and could have them take their 2 bags full of her stuff. Fortunately she only has smaller items like crafts and clothes, and some books. Thank you for that most helpful suggestion. Thanks for all the suggestions, guys

Yup, thankfully two with delta, so I will be packing lighter this trip to make for max pack-age. And wouldn't Johnny Air mean picking it up at only one of its 4 locations, the closest being NJ? Apparently there's also one calling itself a reverse balikbyan service 'bring over boss' (BOB for short), but not sure about that one yet. Of course with Delta you get it all right then, which would be quite convenient.

Hope your interview goes well, Tintin, since I see it's coming up soon. Hopefully you get friendlier ppl than my fiancee had the misfortune of getting, filipino and american (both were older gents and rather gruff)

So yay, we got her visa, and we booked the tickets so I can accompany her here, but was wondering what other people did for moving her stuff over here. I live in Ohio so Johnny Air isn't likely an option, but I know there is excess baggage with Delta, sending thru the mail, and thru a carrier like Fedex or LBC, or someone also mentioned an excess-baggage.com as well. So just wanted to see what others did to send from Manila to US, and what was the most reasonable in price. Thanks for all your past and future help to make our journey a smooth one.

They took a photocopy of the letter of eligibility that I received from the embassy. They also took the original and wrote something on it. Eventually, they gave it (original) back to me. It's better to go there in the afternoon. It only took me 1 hour on the 1st day of my medical examination. Good luck!

No need to have them notarized. Actually, they didn't ask for neither our letter of intent nor my fiance's pay stubs during my interview so I still have them. I think pay stub scans are fine. My fiance doesn't have any hard copy of his pay stubs so we just downloaded them online.

That's a good one. My fiancee thought of that as well just in case. Kind of defeats the purpose of having instructions when the consulate pulls surprises like that.

Indeed, my thoughts exactly. I was surprised when the pre-screener asked for one so I had to verify again in case I misheard him, but yup, I heard him correctly. Right, it's better to bring a copy just in case, for peace of mind as well. God bless you both especially on your fiancee's interview.

For some reason, during my interview, the Filipino pre-screener asked for my baptismal certificate. I'm not late registered or anything so I am not sure why they asked me for it. Fortunately, I read a similar case (asked for baptismal certificate)on VJ prior to my interview so I brought a photocopy. The two beneficiaries I met there weren't asked for their baptismal certificate though, but I suggest bringing a copy just in case they ask for one. God bless you on you interview

It's been a while since I used chikka but I used to use it to send text messages to my family in the Philippines when I was in South Korea. It worked quite well although there would be delays in receiving messages sometimes. Also, after sending them several messages, they have to reply at some point or else I won't be able to send them more. I guess it's to make sure that you are not sending spam messages. And yes, as Hank said there is a fee when they reply to your chikka message, the last time I used it, it was I think 2.50 pesos per reply/message for Smart subscribers. I'm not sure how much it is now though.

The address is just a formality of writing a letter. At least, it was taken into consideration. As long as your statements make the point, you have both signed them, and you have updated the date, you should be fine.

Thanks for the input, guys, and anything that gives her peace of mind is well worth it certainly. I figured as much but again, confirmation is always a nice thing. and she just passed medical yesterday, yay!! Last hurdle will be this interview, but since we were wed-less and childless we are one of the simpler cases.

We noticed after i'd sent it to my fiancee that I forgot to change the addressee from USCIS to the Manila consulate. Do you think it's best to scan (so a scanned signature) a corrected one to her (as we are a little over a week away from the interview, and then she'd print it out, but have my original signed one if they say anything) or correct hers with their addy, but not my signed one? I know that apparently a fair number don't even ask to see said letter at the interview, but she can be quite OC so wanted to see what others thought. I don't think they'd really even say anything, as it is a pretty minor point, but what do you guys think? Thanks for your help

Both my fiance and I received this letter of eligibility. They are almost exactly the same except for the inside address, but both have my (beneficiary) name in the salutation (even the one addressed to him). Instead of the NVC letter or NOA2, this is the one I showed at SLEC (original and photocopy)

Well we were actually online best friends for 3.5 years pre-bf/gf, and didn't meet till 7 months after. However we are going on 8 months now since I left Philippines (the hardest day of my our life, of which i was so distraught that I totally forgot my dad's nice canon vidcam in the taxi XD ) The plan is to spend Christmas together thru end of jan, and taking her back with me (yay), so will have been 10 [long, grueling] months, and we just can't be together soon enough.

But like I tell her, it really gives the two of you time to really hammer some things out and work on things in the meantime, so that things will [should] go smoother when next we do meet. Always be honest, but lovingly, and be willing to listen and change, and there really is truth to the saying 'a kind word turns away wrath' as anger and shouting only lead to more trouble. And yes, thank God for skype, goodness, which lets me talk to her every day, most of the weekend, and now thanks to my new iphone, even at work and away from home. ..And also important to constantly affirm your love for them, and what they mean to you (which admittedly, has taken some time to put into practice)

Well, you don't have any business with the USCIS anymore. I (beneficiary) moved as well and the postal office forwards any mail for the next month. Next to that I just plan to mail Embassy to ask them to send it to a different address.

Actually as my fiancee kindly pointed out, this is for petitioner addy change, not beneficiary, and I have determined that indeed USCIS does *not* need to be notified, however embassy does (as stipulated on the letter from it). (And I changed it with the NVC already) However, after now 2 embassy calls, and both being referred to the general info section in immigrant visa (they say it's actually the immigrant division that handles this) which says...email them (but the link is bad XD ) and they would not give me a number to call either, just kept saying to follow the info that i see there, but this is the link: http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwh3233.html

So..I'm honestly not sure how I'm to report this address change to them, as I am beginning to get just a tad perturbed by the ridiculous runaround I seem to be getting from them. Any suggestions or experiences?

Just wanted to double check (though other posts have said so) that it is unnecessary to submit a change of address to USCIS (or to anyone else) if we have already received our letter with our case # and the NOA2. Thanks for your help

Also, should I change the address for any forms after the 129 packet double for my fiancee?

Ugh, does it only let you edit a post once, and then it's locked? Don't even see an option to delete post, so guess I'm stuck with this...redundancy *sigh*.

Just wanted to double check (though other posts have said so) that it is unnecessary to submit a change of address to USCIS (or to anyone else) if we have already received our letter with our case # and the NOA2. Thanks for your help

hey guys! just checked the online site, SEPT 7 is available.

but we cant take that date bec its waayy to early!

wow, all this talk of sept 7...which would be far too early for us as well, but we booked ours online aug 23rd and nearest they could do was oct 14 i recall, but then we set it for the 22nd, just 2 days before my bday, so what better gift could i be receiving than that, eh

thanks. no, it will not be a problem. in fact, you can order it online and they will give you a code and then you have to pay at the bank. i think you will receive it in 3 days time. check e-census.com.ph. i hope this helps. sorry for the late response. good luck on your visa journey.

That's good to know. Thank you so much! Yup, I think I'll just order mine online or probably go to SM since I'll be requesting my BC as well. Thanks again

i have a question, is it really necessary to bring your passport in paying for visa interview at bdo? because my passport will be delivered on sept 5th. and we want to schedule it before that date. thank you so much for your responses

I just paid my visa fee last Friday at a BPI branch and they didn't look for my original passport. However, they did ask me for a photocopy of it. You will also be needing your passport number (which will eventually be your receipt number) so I think, you have to wait for your passport to arrive before you can pay your visa fee.

Congratulations on your approval! Thank you so much for sharing your experience in detail. I read everything and it's truly helpful Some people received the dreaded 221g due to their CENOMAR. When is the best time to get it? I am thinking of getting it one month prior to my interview. I hope this won't pose as a problem. Thanks...

It is fine for the letter to list your per hour income. You take the amount made per hour and multiply it by how many hours you work per week, then multiply that by 52 weeks. That is the current annual income you list on the I-134 where it asks.

Thanks for the quick reply, and now maybe i really will be able to get this packet off by the weekend after all (just waiting on some statements now)

my husband went to the human resources place where he works. if you have access to that ask them for a letter. his contained the date he was hired, how much he makes an hour normal and overtime, position and something else i can't remember. but i think it will work if they have the info so they can check the details themselves. good luck!

do you think it necessary to have my annual salary when i'm paid by the hour? I did manage to get a letter that contained all of that except only had per hour, and not annual salary. I know we want to make sure everything is just fine before sending the packet. And if I do need per year, would it be what my current hourly rate would be times a year's worth? HR wasn't really sure what specifically they'd put for that, but any thoughts on this? Thanks for all your help

Glad all is handled. Have been on the road for a few days so wasn't able to reply to your earlier question.

Thank you so much Hank_ for your kind reply. We are so relieved after successfully scheduling an appointment. Thank you for helping many of us here on VJ

yaaay, guess it was due to the holiday that it wouldn't go through, since i just tried and we now have our date set for oct 22 (just 2 days before my bday), so won't that be about the nicest bday gift i could ask for, confirmation that my luv can come over here ;p Wow, nearly 2 months from now, and the earliest we could have done was the 16th. Guess they're filling up pretty fast. As always, thanks for all the helpful replies.