MabuhayDaniel

On 6/16/2019 at 1:06 PM, Tcarrol said:

Our journey is finally done.  Guess in many respects, all of us in this discussion were pioneers pursuing new law that was never available for other couples before us.  Hopefully, people in our situation will be able to review this thread and sustain the courage needed to follow their life dreams.  Hope all of you are doing well in your lives.  Since there hasn't been much activity on this forum, I imagine everyone has completed their journeys. Best Wishes Always.

hey folks huge CONGRATULATIONS.  we are wrapping up this week. N400 processed here in Phoenix, took almost a year to the day it was accepted.  Interview was amazingly quick and easy, 5 questions, some writing on a tablet that didn't respond to its stylus and out in 6 minutes flat (no joke).  Oath ceremony later this week.  OMG it has been a ride. 

So a 6-months process? I'm only 2 months in since I submitted ROC so I guess more patience on my end.

Hi Zuluweta! Yes about six months. Around month two i started checking the status daily just in case.....6 months of staying occupied with many things but mindful of what was happening in the background.

Today we received notice that our new card (Removal of Conditions 10 Year Green Card) was in production. No interview required. No additional requests. It was a May to November bromance with immigration. Here's your card. Best of luck to all out there.

I lost count of the days....but today we received notification that Removal of Conditions was approved....no interview. Nothing. Here's your card! Best of luck to all out there still waiting.

I do not think there should be such heavy concerns immediately.

Continue to be patient and keep going.

congrats gentlemen.....from here on it goes very very quickly. best of luck.

Where are you guys in the ROC process?

we believe we are about 3/4 of the way through the ROC process. We submitted petition in April 2016. Still buying concert tickets, vacay reservations, and long term planning for the future. life goes on.

I checked USPS website today and was able to verify that CSC received my application to remove conditions on the GC this morning (11:10 AM to be exact).

My AOS took 3 months. I've been reading other posts and it seems that ROC takes much longer and in fact, for some, they haven't received their 10-year GC more than 1 year after filing ROC. Why is that?

It's called the "government process." No rush. Before they updated the website to change the way they report how long (average length of waiting for an application to be processed) it said that they were working on ROC petitions received OCT 2015. This was just last month and they were busily working on the petitions they received in OCT. Just hang on. goodness always prevails.

We were married in March 2013, and filed the day after DOMA fell. We are now in that black hole called the Vermont Service Center. Our I-751 filing group (April 2016) of about 100 people has just had our first approval - but she was at the California Service Center. Still, a 5 month approval for an I-751 is top speed.

We actually anticipate that we'll be filing for my spouse's citizenship before we get the 10-year green card.....

Maybe they'll surprise us. Not holding my breath...

Sukie in NY

Hi Sukie ---how do you get the filing group information? We also filed in April 2016 for removal of conditions. I have nowhere to look as far as tracking status. USCIS website only says "case received." thx

Sent our I-129F yesterday! Feels good. We've been working on it for about three weeks. It's not the thickest petition, though. I think it ended up being around 30 pages. But we have a lot of solid proof. The petition should be in Dallas by Thursday!

Thick petitions slow down government workers. Quality of the pages is far more important than quantity. If your proof is solid you will fly through. We've had not hiccups since the beginning of the process and are currently awaiting decision on removal of conditions. I anticipate no interview will be necessary but if for some reason it is, we pretty much have solid proof....which is far more important than the epic amounts of papers. Best of luck to you.

We have the same concern with regards to interview. Hopefully somebody can share their experiences.

we went through manila. The hardest part was the waiting outside cause you know it's HOT and Steamy in Manila. I chose to wait outside while my husband went through the process inside. He saw Filipina first, then American employee, then Filipino. It was pretty easy. Only asked few questions and was conducted at the counter. Not in a room. They were super respectful and the consulate department chief provided us with a letter. Approved on the spot. visa was in passport within two weeks.

After an RFE and a 9-month wait we finally got notification that our 10-year green card is in production. Next up, applying for citizenship in August. Hope everyone's journey is moving along smoothly.

Congratulations!

Hey everyone--Same sex couple waiting to hear back on our NOA2. Got my NOA1 on 3-4-2016 and it was sent to the California service center. I know it's only been around 3 months but my fiance in the Philippines is getting a bit anxious. I told him just to be patient. It's almost a year since my last visit. After three years together it will be great for us to start our new life here is the U.S. It's very encouraging to see all of the other couples who have gone through this process before us. Good Luck to Everyone --MJ

Best of Luck gentlemen. We began same process in June 2013. By December we both were on same soil. it was amazing.

For those great folks from the Philippines who are currently living here in the US (or anywhere abroad really).....and your passport is expiring soon. You WILL NOT have to go through the same procedures for passport renewal as opposite sex couples. Our fear was that the whole "registration of marriage" which is a requirement for most, would pose problems for us as the Philippines doesn't recognize the marriage therefore they would not register it....and because it wasn't registered then you couldn't get the new passport. I contacted PI consulate in LA and received the following reply:

Dear Sir, we regret that this issue has yet to be addressed in our website. As you have said, same-sex marriage is not recognized in the Philippines, and therefore, the provision of consular services are still very much anchored on opposite-sex marriage.

peace

We did ROC biometrics in early Oct and now it is just a waiting game. Will keep you all posted.

So you do biometrics at K1 visa app, at Adjustment of Status, and again at Removal of Conditions? That is a lot of photography and fingerprinting.

Thanks....

Why did they give you a domestic violence pamphlet? That's a little unusual?

Also Philippines is a homophobic country. How come local staff interviewed you?

that is the same for us. Philippines provides information on domestic abuse situations so that Filipinos will have a head start in understanding what domestic abuse is and how to prevent/report. I believe it is that way as a result of the years of mail-order brides sent over to the US into the waiting arms of some jerk who doesn't know how to treat a woman. When she goes to the CFO meeting she will get even more information. The Philippines has some homophobic politicians leading the country, usually at the whim of the church, but by and by, the Philippines is not a homophobic country.....that is only my experience and not based on a study. it's an awesome place to visit with great people.

i suspect that the filipino guy doing the interview, again same for us, is part of the logical process they have established in there. It would be no different for same sex or opposite sex couples. We found that everyone there treated us with great respect and made the process inclusive for all.

PinayAnne, congrats. you see...all of that worry and here you are bound for the US. Best of luck to you both.

We just checked online and it states that our petition got approved.

But my fiancee didn't receive a text message or email for the approval. Is it normal? Sorry we don't know if this is really true

Yup that's pretty much what happens. Congratulations....!

I have... my immigration attorney told me this morning that I should pay attention only to the timelines on the USCIS page. I'm frustrated.

Immigration attorneys...smmmmhhhh. The USCIS lists timelines to meet a requirement to communicate such timelines to the public. Our timeline was thankfully wrong at every turn. The entire process took us about 5 months from mailing the paperwork to my partner arriving at LAX. The first packet was timelined at 5 months......thankfully it didn't take nearly that long. Also at 5 months was the processing of the I485. From the time we mailed the packet it was 30 days to the biometrics appt and then less than 60 more days til the interview. That whole process took less than three months. For the permanent residency card to arrive took about 5 days though we were told it would be two weeks. So immigration attorneys know what they know, but the people who have lived this are much more intimate with the process and could probably tell you, with some degree of accuracy what to expect and when to expect it. Best of luck to you guys...Cebu/Bohol are two of our favorite places!

My husband's interview is in Phoenix next month, and I am super nervous..hahaha.. He came on a K-1 visa in February. So far so good, we have been treated so well so far. I hope it stays that way.

Hey guys...we had ours in June at the Phoenix office. They were professional. They were courteous and genuine. The questions were the same questions from the packet (drug offenses, allegiance to foreign groups, etc.) We provided two documents evidencing shared accounts...and basically that was it. I knew about three minutes into the interview that we were approved as the interviewer told us that he wanted to make sure our address was correct so we would receive the residence card.....not "if" we were approved, but just verifying the information for accuracy. The interview was more painful gearing up for it than it was during the interview. After checking in, just don't forget to place your paperwork in the basket at the very last window. I held onto ours for a bit longer than I should have, but I was nervous. The interview was about 15 minutes. Our appt was at 11 and I think we were seen at 1115. I tried to break the ice as much as possible by engaging the guy in small conversation about his Army life and his recent trip to Europe. It helped me to feel better about it all. Best of luck to you both.

We had the interview in Phoenix this Wed June 11th - after a long 90 min wait, the officer escorted us back and was very friendly and apologized for the long wait.

She said that she liked K-1 cases, since the Consulate/Embassy does all the hard work for them, so she didn't ask to look at any further documents or photos that we had brought. She asked the standard questions about criminal/terrorist activity and then told my husband, "Welcome to America!".

I was super relieved we didn't get a stern homophobe, haha!

I truly hope it goes just as smoothly for the rest of you!

this is great to hear. we have our interview next wednesay (18th) in Phoenix. have been pouring over the requirements and the questions that may be asked during the interview....however our documents are ready....our life is ready....just good news to hear that someone walked the path in front of us.

biometrics appt @ ASC Fort Worth 4/24, anyone going to the same ASC?

we had biometrics appt today. we're in phoenix though.

I'm just starting the I-129F process with my partner who is based in the Philippines, and I just want to say thank you to everyone in this thread! Wow...what a wealth of information. This is a huge help. Congrats to all the newlyweds and good luck to all those still in process.

Best of luck to you guys. Entry date will be here before you know it....especially once it leaves USCIS things go very fast .

Just arrived in USA. Port of entry : SFO. I hope to post a longer review soon of my POE experience. Nice, sunny but cool weather here in the Bay Area!

Good luck to everyone going through their immigration process. Next part of the journey : AOS.

congratulations!

The first question is about how to fill out question 3 from the I 129-F form. It asks for an alien registration (A-number). Where do we get this number? (SKIP IT......YOU DON'T HAVE ONE. THEY WILL UNDERSTAND ....AT LEAST THEY DID FOR US)

The second question is about the filing location address in the cover letter.

We plan to get married in Boston, Massachusetts. Where is our filing location? We think it is in Vermont but we aren't sure.

(WE USED THE FILING ADDRESS OF THE LOCKBOX IN TEXAS. THIS QUESTION PROBABLY GETS A LOT MORE ATTENTION THAN IT SHOULD. IT'S A LETTER, THE ADDRESS BLOCK IS FAR LESS IMPORTANT THAN THE LETTER'S CONTENT....)

The other question is about the fiancé letter of intent. Should we write the address of the embassy of the beneficiary, or the US Department of Homeland Security?

(OURS WAS ADDRESSED TO THE ALL FAMOUS "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN" SO IF IT CONCERNS THEM THEN IT WAS FOR THEM. THE LETTER YOU WRITE WILL EVENTUALLY WIND UP AT THE EMBASSY OF THE BENEFICIARY....WE ACTUALLY HAD A SECOND LETTER OF INTENT PREPARED JUST IN CASE THEY ASKED, WHICH THEY ASKED FOR N- O -T-H-I-N-G AT THE INTERVIEW.......SO TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN SEEMED TO WORK.

Also, is it necessary to attach official proof that same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts? We already have a CNN article printed out - is this appropriate?

NOT NECESSARY, AT LEAST FOR US.....THOUGH I HAVE READ WHERE SOME RECEIVED AN ADDITIONAL REQUEST FOR MORE INFO. WE JUST WROTE IN OUR LETTER THAT THE WEDDING WOULD TAKE PLACE IN CALIFORNIA. I THINK AT THAT POINT MOST OF THE WORLD WAS AWARE THAT TWO GUYS COULD GET MARRIED IN CALIFORNIA, SO IT WASN'T AN ISSUE FOR US.

And finally, is it possible to send the I 129- F packet from Honduras? YEAH I'M THINKING THE ANSWER IS "no" I'M THINKING SOMEWHERE IN THAT PACKET OR THE INSTRUCTIONS IT TELLS YOU TO HAVE A U.S. ADDRESS.......BUT THEN SOMEONE OUT THERE MAY KNOW OTHERWISE. i THINK YOU MUST BE RESIDING IN THE U.S.

Is it possible to use a money order from Honduras to pay the I 129-F fee through Western Union? AGAIN, I'M THINKING "NO" BUT SOMEONE MAY KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT THAN i.

We hope you can help us with our many concerns. Thank you in advance.

just received my visa yesterday, Feb 14... yay! thanks Visa Journey for answering all my question... POE next!!!

congratulations.....

I will have my interview next week..

I hope everything will be fine.. Fingers crossed!

best of luck......stay calm and remember to smile.....smiles change everything

I just checked my case status on CEAC and it says Administrative Processing, I don't understand; I clearly ask the consul after my interview and he says I am APPROVED... I don't understand this at all. Had anyone experience the same?

Good! That means that they are printing and affixing your visa to the passport and they are getting the envelope ready and addressing the envelope and making sure the passport will fit in the envelope and checking to ensure they have your correct address so it doesn't go to Bohol or Davao.

It seems they all go into admin processing for a few days so that they can take care of administrative processing procedures and give your visa to the carrier (or if you chose to pick it up, to make sure it is available for pickup).

We had the same thing and I had a panic attack for about 1/2 day, but then i realized that those who were denied a visa left the embassy with their passport in their hands and that ours was approved so there was no reason in hell for it to be in admin processing, other than for the things i mentioned above. In about 72 hours your status will change to ISSUED....but you can stress until then...or take your final trip down to S&M or soemthing fun that you won't be able to do for a while. Enjoy. it will be ok.

have my visa now...........got at mall of asia today....

excellent news......get your CFO ....your ticket and fly...congratulations.....long journey completed