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Visa retrogression is a long and painful wait but it happens. My siblings and I experienced it in fiscal year 2011. We're under Philippines F2B preference category which has one of the longest line and longest wait for priority dates to move. Our total waiting time before we had our visas was almost 12 years. Again, almost 12 years of waiting. We have to stay unmarried until we're already in the states and got our green cards, or else forfeit our preference immigrant status.

When we got our notice from the NVC in late 2010 to start applying for visa processing, it was also the start of the retrogression so it took us over 3 years before we received our appointment letter for interview early this year. Not to mention the extra 2-months I endured waiting for my sputum culture results at St. Luke's Clinic and another month for my rescheduled interview.

After my interview, when the very nice lady at the releasing section told me that my visa got approved, I said thank you very much and went to the lady's room. I was so happy, I almost cried. My siblings and I waited for many years, got in line, did everything the legal way and it paid off. Finally, we will be reunited with our parents for good in the U.S.

My cousin's 10-yr old son is undergoing the 3rd-day sputum sample at SLEC now. He tested positive for primary complex on the skin test and chest xray. The sputum results will be released on Monday.

She was told that if the results were negative, her son will be given a "medical clearance" and vaccines will be administered and they can proceed with their interview which is next week.

I'm NO expert in this sputum thingy and I have no first-hand experience in dealing with it. All I understand is that the 8-week culture is mandatory. Is the process of determining sputum result different for kids?

Thanks in advance. Hope this will be useful for others as well.

If his sputum smear results turn out negative then good for him. As far as I know, children with positive chest x-ray but with negative AFB smears are not considered infectious so they may not undergo sputum culture for 2 months. The panel of physician will have to decide about it though.

It's different when it comes to adults. My 3-day sputum exam were negative for AFB smear but it required me to wait 2 months for the sputum culture and thankfully they were negative as well.

Before I did my medical at St. Luke's Extension Clinic a few months ago, I thought of having a routine chest x-ray in another hospital but didn't do it because I know SLEC would see my lung scarring anyway and have to abide by their additional test for it. I've endured the 3-day sputum smear, the 2-month culture and it paid off. Had my interview and now my visa on hand.

I know there are things going on that are slowing down the interview to visa issuance time. I am by no means panicking, as I know the 3 days since Candy's successful interview is not only not too long, it is not even average yet.

A few hours after her interview concluded, it went from Ready interview to Ready, exactly what I expected. But no movement since then, and it is now 3 days post interview.

So what sort of times have all of you experienced lately about the rest of the time, e.g. first time it moved to administrative processing, time of issuance, etc?

I know it varies from case to case and by no means is anyone's case a marker of the speed we can expect from ours. And I am not panicking as it has only been 3 days, not even average yet. Just want to have a reasonable idea.

I belong to the F2B category (Unmarried Children over 21 years old of Legal Permanent Residents/Greencard Holders) so my case is different from your fiance. My interview schedule was 6:30 am. The very nice lady (she was really polite and always smiling) at the releasing section told me my visa got approved. I was done at around 9 am. When I get home, I checked my Visa Status at CEAC in the evening and it says Issued.

It took 7 days from interview date (Saturday & Sunday included) to receive my visa delivered by 2GO courier service.

My sister and i are still waiting for our interview date. I am 18 amd my sister is 14. I want to know what would be the possible questions for us. Does the embassy reject minors with their visas?

The immigrant visa interview has four steps: First is the electronic fingerprinting. Then the pre-screening where you will submit your passport and latest documents like NBI Clearance, CENOMAR and ITR of your petitioner. New copies will only be asked in case your documents submitted to NVC were already expired.

You will be asked who's your petitioner, if he/she is still working, how old are you, if you have siblings, if you have kids. Then you will be instructed to take a seat and wait for your number to be called. The third step is the consular interview where you will take the DS-260 oath that everything you said and documents submitted to them are true and correct. I assume that you're still single. I'm over 21 years old so I was asked to sign a statement for marriageable applicant that I can't get married before leaving the Philippines and while waiting for my green card in the states, or else my preference category immigrant status would be forfeited.

Feel confident that your visa got approved when the American consul tells you "It seems all your documents are complete. You may now take your seat and wait for your number to be called." The last step is the releasing where you will be told if you need to submit additional documents via 2GO or just wait for your visa delivery at home. Good luck on your journey.

We went to St. Luke's last May 14 for medical, even I didn't get any appointment letter from embassy yet, they did accept the Nvc letter even without appointment letter, thanks VJ. And May 16, second day, my daughter had her immunizations and me, since I had scar on my lungs, I have to undergo sputum test.. so the nurse scheduled me June 2, 3 and 4, sad that I have to wait another 2 weeks just for this test. And 2 months for culture test. My question is, my fiance k1 petition will expire on july, since the petition is only 4 months? Do my fiance need to inform cnsulate for an extention of the petition? Please I really need your input on this, my 2 months wait for culture test is on august.. Another question is, I haven't pay my visa fee yet, do I need to pay the visa fee after the result of my test or I need to pay the visa fee anytime. Really appreciate your inputs. Thanks!

I feel your pain. I also did sputum smear and culture at St. Luke's Clinic a few months ago and thankfully the results were all negative. I came from the province so I had to travel early at dawn to make sure I arrived before 5 am which is the time the guards at the left side entrance open the gate. The actual sputum collection starts at 6 am but I chose to be there very early so I could also finish early. I had sore throat the third day due to deep coughing which is expected anyway. No food intake from midnight to 6 am and only water is allowed before the test.

On the third/last day, you will be given a stub of the schedule of your pulmonary evaluation. This is the date to consult with a doctor at St. Luke's to know the result of the sputum smear. If it turns out negative, you will be given another stub of your schedule on when to call the clinic after two months. I must say the waiting is more stressful because anytime, an applicant can get a call from St. Luke's if ever the culture turns out positive.There were cases that an applicant got a call after only a month because his/her sputum culture turns positive which requires him/her to take 6-month medication at the clinic everyday.

I was also diagnosed with lung scarring when I was younger and had taken 6-month prophylaxis for inactive/latent TB many years ago so I was confident that my sputum smear and culture at St. Luke's would be negative and it did.

In regards to NBI and CENOMAR, my clearance was 3 and 1/2-month old only while my CENOMAR was only 10-day old when I submitted them on my interview and my visa got approved. Shelling out a few bucks to request for new documents is worth it than risking your visa issuance delayed. Good luck on your journey.

First of all, I'm glad that after two months of agonizing waiting for my sputum culture results, they turned out negative. Recently, I received my medical clearance from St. Luke's Extension Clinic so they rescheduled me for interview at the embassy next month.

Just a few months ago, after my medical exam, I was asked to go to the laboratory to be told that I have chest x-ray findings that requires me to do sputum smear for 3 consecutive mornings and wait for the culture results after 2 months. I was disappointed that my interview will be delayed but at the same time I wasn't surprised. I had negative smears before and had prophylactic treatment for latent/inactive TB many years ago so I was confident the tests will turn out negative again. There it was, the 3-day smear were all negative and recently, the culture results were negative as well.

The sputum exam was no joke. I live in the province so I had to travel early at dawn so I could arrive at the clinic before 6 am. It was awful to cough out phlegm when I don't have cough nor sore throat. In fairness to the clinic's staff, I haven't encounter any rude treatment from anyone during the course of the medical tests.

hello i would like to know how to reschedule my visa interview in us embassy manila I'm currently living in uk I'm going home this april 27 but the problem is I'm still waiting for my opt out reply i don't want to go to interview without the approval of my opt out

You need your opt-out approval before your interview or else, your visa issuance will be delayed. My siblings and I had our opt-out request approved two years ago. When my siblings had their interviews, the opt-out approval notice they had on-hand wasn't even asked. Probably because it was already in their data base. I'll have my interview next month and I'll bring my opt-out approval notice in case they ask for it.