brightfuture78

I think he's saying that his fiancé started 6 months of DOT at St. Luke's - they give sputum culture results every 3 months during the process - the results for this particular sample was clear.
 
   
My wife went through this process, but her experience likely won't line up with your fiancé, for several different reasons. It's been a while, so the details are fuzzy, but I recall St. Luke's having her come in about a month after her treatment ended for a follow-up. During the follow-up, they automatically scheduled another medical. So, I would expect about a 1 - 2 months after DOT before you can safely schedule an interview at USEM. Then again, my wife went through this during the height of the pandemic, so the timeline might have been affected by that.

I don't recall this being the case for my wife, so I'm leaning toward false.

I think he's saying that his fiancé started 6 months of DOT at St. Luke's - they give sputum culture results every 3 months during the process - the results for this particular sample was clear.
 
   
My wife went through this process, but her experience likely won't line up with your fiancé, for several different reasons. It's been a while, so the details are fuzzy, but I recall St. Luke's having her come in about a month after her treatment ended for a follow-up. During the follow-up, they automatically scheduled another medical. So, I would expect about a 1 - 2 months after DOT before you can safely schedule an interview at USEM. Then again, my wife went through this during the height of the pandemic, so the timeline might have been affected by that.

I see. Thanks for explaining. St. Luke's really needs to lose their contract with USEM. Too much incompetence. 

My fiancé attended her K1 visa interview on the morning of January 20th and was approved (according to the adjudicator). Her and her daughter's passports were taken and they were given pamphlets about their approval and what to do next. This was by far the easiest step in our journey.
 
If you've seen any of my previous topics, you might recall that we started the process back in 2018. Everything went pretty smoothly until we got to St. Luke's. During the medical exam, she was flagged for sputum due to some "cloudiness" on her chest x-ray. 6 1/2 weeks into waiting for the sputum culture results, she received a call from SLEC to come back. I knew what this meant... but then again, I had no idea just how bad this news was. When my fiancé got back from St. Luke's, she called me up, absolutely distraught by what they told her -  she was told that out of the 3 sputum samples she provided, 2 were clear, while the 3rd one indicated TB bacterial growth.
 
They then informed her that she would need to do 18 MONTHS of DOT. I questioned whether she misheard them, because this absolutely shocked me - the timeframe was 3x what I read others say they had to go through when found positive. Apparently, this turned out to be accurate, as they claimed she had some rare, semi-drug-resistant strain. But... she was completely asymptomatic. I just didn't know what to believe. 
 
In any case, I didn't see any path forward other than complying with the treatment. She had to relocate to Manila and show up in person at SLEC every weekday to take a cocktail of drugs that made her consistently feel ill to the point of struggling to make it back to her apartment without passing out. Her reaction to the meds were so bad on that first day, I wasn't sure she'd be able to endure the treatment... 18 months of it.
 
Strong willed as she is, she somehow got through 12 months of treatment, and then... the pandemic started. St. Luke's emailed her prescriptions and pretty much said 'good luck finding these'. They claimed they would reimburse her for the medications she had to buy out of pocket, if she presented the receipts once they re-open (liars). 
 
Eventually, in November 2020, her DOT was finally completed. During the treatment process, my fiancé was  required to submit a fresh sputum sample every 3 months - oddly, other than that one initial sample that sparked this treatment, every one of the additional samples she provided for the next 18 months were negative for TB. Either the meds were doing an excellent job, or... I'll let you do your own speculations on that.
 
After treatment was completed, SLEC cleared her for travel (with 3 months validity), but... USEM was now closed due to the pandemic. Despite explaining our situation in great detail, USEM repeatedly denied our request to expedite. Our medical results, as well as our visa fees, expired. 'Next time, wait until you can secure a K1 interview before proceeding with the medical exam' USEM said. Wow.
 
We wouldn't be able to get another K1 interview date until November 2021 - one year later. So, she went to St. Luke's again for what would technically be her 3rd medical exam, brought all her previous records of treatment and vaccination. Guess what happened...
 
Flagged for sputum. Again. Yes, I'm serious. 8 more weeks of waiting, with the possibility of being sentenced to DOT again. Honestly, if that had happened, I think that might have been the end of the line. How could I expect her to endure that again?
 
8 weeks passed, and thankfully no call this time. About 7 weeks into waiting for results, I randomly checked the USEM website and saw open interview slots for the entire later half of January 2022. Even though we weren't quite out of the woods with the sputum results, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity - I scheduled for the 20th, which was 3 days after she was scheduled to come back to SLEC for sputum results.
 
Fast forward to today - I think the nightmare may be finally over, but I'm so traumatized by the whole experience that I almost feel numb about it, like I'm still not quite sure it's safe to celebrate. Hopefully, the CFO process is stress-free.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Almost didn't post this as I'm tired of telling stories about our bad luck, but figured it could be valuable info for anyone finding themselves in similar circumstances.
 
Anyway, my fiancé & her 7-year-old daughter have their visas, CFO certificates, and they had their flights booked to US and were supposed to be on a plane right now. The plan was to fly out from the province into Manila on Thursday - get their Rapid Antigen tests, stay at a hotel for the night, then take a flight from Manila to the US on Friday.
 
They arrived in Manila, went to the testing lab, got swabbed, stopped for something to eat, then headed to their hotel.  As they were walking into the hotel lobby, the email came in from the testing lab with their results - daughter negative, fiancé... positive. I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I book a quarantine hotel for them? For how long? What happens after that? Do they need to re-test until they get a negative result? How long could this delay their trip? Weeks? Months???
 
We decided she should inform the the front desk staff at the hotel that she'd just been tested, it came back positive, and so she'd have to cancel her reservation. They requested her to wait outside the hotel and they would have someone come to advise her about her situation. About an hour passed and my fiancé wasn't responding to my messages, so I started to get worried. Finally, she contacts me and tells me she's in a Quarantine Facility, and would need to stay there for 7 days. 
 
She and her daughter have their own little room - has A/C, a bathroom area, and a bed (without blankets or pillows). I'm not entirely sure who arranged this - I assume someone from the local government did. Since I wasn't involved in the discussion, I don't know if there was an option to find and pay for their own quarantine arrangements at a designated hotel. I suppose the facility they were placed in is not the worst setup and it's free, so can't complain too much. They provide meals, but you can also order food and items to be delivered there. They told her that after the seven days are complete, she will receive a physician-signed medical certificate that indicates she was quarantined/treated, which she can use to travel in lieu of a negative test result.
 
She is now at the end of day 2 of quarantine, so 5 days to go before she can finally leave the country. She's hanging in there. She's not feeling ill, just bored. I chat with her as much as possible. Ordered blankets and pillows to be delivered. Hope they arrive tomorrow. 

Almost didn't post this as I'm tired of telling stories about our bad luck, but figured it could be valuable info for anyone finding themselves in similar circumstances.
 
Anyway, my fiancé & her 7-year-old daughter have their visas, CFO certificates, and they had their flights booked to US and were supposed to be on a plane right now. The plan was to fly out from the province into Manila on Thursday - get their Rapid Antigen tests, stay at a hotel for the night, then take a flight from Manila to the US on Friday.
 
They arrived in Manila, went to the testing lab, got swabbed, stopped for something to eat, then headed to their hotel.  As they were walking into the hotel lobby, the email came in from the testing lab with their results - daughter negative, fiancé... positive. I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I book a quarantine hotel for them? For how long? What happens after that? Do they need to re-test until they get a negative result? How long could this delay their trip? Weeks? Months???
 
We decided she should inform the the front desk staff at the hotel that she'd just been tested, it came back positive, and so she'd have to cancel her reservation. They requested her to wait outside the hotel and they would have someone come to advise her about her situation. About an hour passed and my fiancé wasn't responding to my messages, so I started to get worried. Finally, she contacts me and tells me she's in a Quarantine Facility, and would need to stay there for 7 days. 
 
She and her daughter have their own little room - has A/C, a bathroom area, and a bed (without blankets or pillows). I'm not entirely sure who arranged this - I assume someone from the local government did. Since I wasn't involved in the discussion, I don't know if there was an option to find and pay for their own quarantine arrangements at a designated hotel. I suppose the facility they were placed in is not the worst setup and it's free, so can't complain too much. They provide meals, but you can also order food and items to be delivered there. They told her that after the seven days are complete, she will receive a physician-signed medical certificate that indicates she was quarantined/treated, which she can use to travel in lieu of a negative test result.
 
She is now at the end of day 2 of quarantine, so 5 days to go before she can finally leave the country. She's hanging in there. She's not feeling ill, just bored. I chat with her as much as possible. Ordered blankets and pillows to be delivered. Hope they arrive tomorrow. 

Almost didn't post this as I'm tired of telling stories about our bad luck, but figured it could be valuable info for anyone finding themselves in similar circumstances.
 
Anyway, my fiancé & her 7-year-old daughter have their visas, CFO certificates, and they had their flights booked to US and were supposed to be on a plane right now. The plan was to fly out from the province into Manila on Thursday - get their Rapid Antigen tests, stay at a hotel for the night, then take a flight from Manila to the US on Friday.
 
They arrived in Manila, went to the testing lab, got swabbed, stopped for something to eat, then headed to their hotel.  As they were walking into the hotel lobby, the email came in from the testing lab with their results - daughter negative, fiancé... positive. I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I book a quarantine hotel for them? For how long? What happens after that? Do they need to re-test until they get a negative result? How long could this delay their trip? Weeks? Months???
 
We decided she should inform the the front desk staff at the hotel that she'd just been tested, it came back positive, and so she'd have to cancel her reservation. They requested her to wait outside the hotel and they would have someone come to advise her about her situation. About an hour passed and my fiancé wasn't responding to my messages, so I started to get worried. Finally, she contacts me and tells me she's in a Quarantine Facility, and would need to stay there for 7 days. 
 
She and her daughter have their own little room - has A/C, a bathroom area, and a bed (without blankets or pillows). I'm not entirely sure who arranged this - I assume someone from the local government did. Since I wasn't involved in the discussion, I don't know if there was an option to find and pay for their own quarantine arrangements at a designated hotel. I suppose the facility they were placed in is not the worst setup and it's free, so can't complain too much. They provide meals, but you can also order food and items to be delivered there. They told her that after the seven days are complete, she will receive a physician-signed medical certificate that indicates she was quarantined/treated, which she can use to travel in lieu of a negative test result.
 
She is now at the end of day 2 of quarantine, so 5 days to go before she can finally leave the country. She's hanging in there. She's not feeling ill, just bored. I chat with her as much as possible. Ordered blankets and pillows to be delivered. Hope they arrive tomorrow. 

Almost didn't post this as I'm tired of telling stories about our bad luck, but figured it could be valuable info for anyone finding themselves in similar circumstances.
 
Anyway, my fiancé & her 7-year-old daughter have their visas, CFO certificates, and they had their flights booked to US and were supposed to be on a plane right now. The plan was to fly out from the province into Manila on Thursday - get their Rapid Antigen tests, stay at a hotel for the night, then take a flight from Manila to the US on Friday.
 
They arrived in Manila, went to the testing lab, got swabbed, stopped for something to eat, then headed to their hotel.  As they were walking into the hotel lobby, the email came in from the testing lab with their results - daughter negative, fiancé... positive. I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I book a quarantine hotel for them? For how long? What happens after that? Do they need to re-test until they get a negative result? How long could this delay their trip? Weeks? Months???
 
We decided she should inform the the front desk staff at the hotel that she'd just been tested, it came back positive, and so she'd have to cancel her reservation. They requested her to wait outside the hotel and they would have someone come to advise her about her situation. About an hour passed and my fiancé wasn't responding to my messages, so I started to get worried. Finally, she contacts me and tells me she's in a Quarantine Facility, and would need to stay there for 7 days. 
 
She and her daughter have their own little room - has A/C, a bathroom area, and a bed (without blankets or pillows). I'm not entirely sure who arranged this - I assume someone from the local government did. Since I wasn't involved in the discussion, I don't know if there was an option to find and pay for their own quarantine arrangements at a designated hotel. I suppose the facility they were placed in is not the worst setup and it's free, so can't complain too much. They provide meals, but you can also order food and items to be delivered there. They told her that after the seven days are complete, she will receive a physician-signed medical certificate that indicates she was quarantined/treated, which she can use to travel in lieu of a negative test result.
 
She is now at the end of day 2 of quarantine, so 5 days to go before she can finally leave the country. She's hanging in there. She's not feeling ill, just bored. I chat with her as much as possible. Ordered blankets and pillows to be delivered. Hope they arrive tomorrow. 

Almost didn't post this as I'm tired of telling stories about our bad luck, but figured it could be valuable info for anyone finding themselves in similar circumstances.
 
Anyway, my fiancé & her 7-year-old daughter have their visas, CFO certificates, and they had their flights booked to US and were supposed to be on a plane right now. The plan was to fly out from the province into Manila on Thursday - get their Rapid Antigen tests, stay at a hotel for the night, then take a flight from Manila to the US on Friday.
 
They arrived in Manila, went to the testing lab, got swabbed, stopped for something to eat, then headed to their hotel.  As they were walking into the hotel lobby, the email came in from the testing lab with their results - daughter negative, fiancé... positive. I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I book a quarantine hotel for them? For how long? What happens after that? Do they need to re-test until they get a negative result? How long could this delay their trip? Weeks? Months???
 
We decided she should inform the the front desk staff at the hotel that she'd just been tested, it came back positive, and so she'd have to cancel her reservation. They requested her to wait outside the hotel and they would have someone come to advise her about her situation. About an hour passed and my fiancé wasn't responding to my messages, so I started to get worried. Finally, she contacts me and tells me she's in a Quarantine Facility, and would need to stay there for 7 days. 
 
She and her daughter have their own little room - has A/C, a bathroom area, and a bed (without blankets or pillows). I'm not entirely sure who arranged this - I assume someone from the local government did. Since I wasn't involved in the discussion, I don't know if there was an option to find and pay for their own quarantine arrangements at a designated hotel. I suppose the facility they were placed in is not the worst setup and it's free, so can't complain too much. They provide meals, but you can also order food and items to be delivered there. They told her that after the seven days are complete, she will receive a physician-signed medical certificate that indicates she was quarantined/treated, which she can use to travel in lieu of a negative test result.
 
She is now at the end of day 2 of quarantine, so 5 days to go before she can finally leave the country. She's hanging in there. She's not feeling ill, just bored. I chat with her as much as possible. Ordered blankets and pillows to be delivered. Hope they arrive tomorrow. 

Almost didn't post this as I'm tired of telling stories about our bad luck, but figured it could be valuable info for anyone finding themselves in similar circumstances.
 
Anyway, my fiancé & her 7-year-old daughter have their visas, CFO certificates, and they had their flights booked to US and were supposed to be on a plane right now. The plan was to fly out from the province into Manila on Thursday - get their Rapid Antigen tests, stay at a hotel for the night, then take a flight from Manila to the US on Friday.
 
They arrived in Manila, went to the testing lab, got swabbed, stopped for something to eat, then headed to their hotel.  As they were walking into the hotel lobby, the email came in from the testing lab with their results - daughter negative, fiancé... positive. I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I book a quarantine hotel for them? For how long? What happens after that? Do they need to re-test until they get a negative result? How long could this delay their trip? Weeks? Months???
 
We decided she should inform the the front desk staff at the hotel that she'd just been tested, it came back positive, and so she'd have to cancel her reservation. They requested her to wait outside the hotel and they would have someone come to advise her about her situation. About an hour passed and my fiancé wasn't responding to my messages, so I started to get worried. Finally, she contacts me and tells me she's in a Quarantine Facility, and would need to stay there for 7 days. 
 
She and her daughter have their own little room - has A/C, a bathroom area, and a bed (without blankets or pillows). I'm not entirely sure who arranged this - I assume someone from the local government did. Since I wasn't involved in the discussion, I don't know if there was an option to find and pay for their own quarantine arrangements at a designated hotel. I suppose the facility they were placed in is not the worst setup and it's free, so can't complain too much. They provide meals, but you can also order food and items to be delivered there. They told her that after the seven days are complete, she will receive a physician-signed medical certificate that indicates she was quarantined/treated, which she can use to travel in lieu of a negative test result.
 
She is now at the end of day 2 of quarantine, so 5 days to go before she can finally leave the country. She's hanging in there. She's not feeling ill, just bored. I chat with her as much as possible. Ordered blankets and pillows to be delivered. Hope they arrive tomorrow. 

Almost didn't post this as I'm tired of telling stories about our bad luck, but figured it could be valuable info for anyone finding themselves in similar circumstances.
 
Anyway, my fiancé & her 7-year-old daughter have their visas, CFO certificates, and they had their flights booked to US and were supposed to be on a plane right now. The plan was to fly out from the province into Manila on Thursday - get their Rapid Antigen tests, stay at a hotel for the night, then take a flight from Manila to the US on Friday.
 
They arrived in Manila, went to the testing lab, got swabbed, stopped for something to eat, then headed to their hotel.  As they were walking into the hotel lobby, the email came in from the testing lab with their results - daughter negative, fiancé... positive. I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I book a quarantine hotel for them? For how long? What happens after that? Do they need to re-test until they get a negative result? How long could this delay their trip? Weeks? Months???
 
We decided she should inform the the front desk staff at the hotel that she'd just been tested, it came back positive, and so she'd have to cancel her reservation. They requested her to wait outside the hotel and they would have someone come to advise her about her situation. About an hour passed and my fiancé wasn't responding to my messages, so I started to get worried. Finally, she contacts me and tells me she's in a Quarantine Facility, and would need to stay there for 7 days. 
 
She and her daughter have their own little room - has A/C, a bathroom area, and a bed (without blankets or pillows). I'm not entirely sure who arranged this - I assume someone from the local government did. Since I wasn't involved in the discussion, I don't know if there was an option to find and pay for their own quarantine arrangements at a designated hotel. I suppose the facility they were placed in is not the worst setup and it's free, so can't complain too much. They provide meals, but you can also order food and items to be delivered there. They told her that after the seven days are complete, she will receive a physician-signed medical certificate that indicates she was quarantined/treated, which she can use to travel in lieu of a negative test result.
 
She is now at the end of day 2 of quarantine, so 5 days to go before she can finally leave the country. She's hanging in there. She's not feeling ill, just bored. I chat with her as much as possible. Ordered blankets and pillows to be delivered. Hope they arrive tomorrow. 

Almost didn't post this as I'm tired of telling stories about our bad luck, but figured it could be valuable info for anyone finding themselves in similar circumstances.
 
Anyway, my fiancé & her 7-year-old daughter have their visas, CFO certificates, and they had their flights booked to US and were supposed to be on a plane right now. The plan was to fly out from the province into Manila on Thursday - get their Rapid Antigen tests, stay at a hotel for the night, then take a flight from Manila to the US on Friday.
 
They arrived in Manila, went to the testing lab, got swabbed, stopped for something to eat, then headed to their hotel.  As they were walking into the hotel lobby, the email came in from the testing lab with their results - daughter negative, fiancé... positive. I wasn't sure how to proceed. Do I book a quarantine hotel for them? For how long? What happens after that? Do they need to re-test until they get a negative result? How long could this delay their trip? Weeks? Months???
 
We decided she should inform the the front desk staff at the hotel that she'd just been tested, it came back positive, and so she'd have to cancel her reservation. They requested her to wait outside the hotel and they would have someone come to advise her about her situation. About an hour passed and my fiancé wasn't responding to my messages, so I started to get worried. Finally, she contacts me and tells me she's in a Quarantine Facility, and would need to stay there for 7 days. 
 
She and her daughter have their own little room - has A/C, a bathroom area, and a bed (without blankets or pillows). I'm not entirely sure who arranged this - I assume someone from the local government did. Since I wasn't involved in the discussion, I don't know if there was an option to find and pay for their own quarantine arrangements at a designated hotel. I suppose the facility they were placed in is not the worst setup and it's free, so can't complain too much. They provide meals, but you can also order food and items to be delivered there. They told her that after the seven days are complete, she will receive a physician-signed medical certificate that indicates she was quarantined/treated, which she can use to travel in lieu of a negative test result.
 
She is now at the end of day 2 of quarantine, so 5 days to go before she can finally leave the country. She's hanging in there. She's not feeling ill, just bored. I chat with her as much as possible. Ordered blankets and pillows to be delivered. Hope they arrive tomorrow. 

I pray for their safety.  Have faith... one week is just short.  I heard they have good internet in Qfacilities.. Tell her to take time to web-browsing... maybe wedding preparation or familiarizing with your place.  Keep her daughter busy so that she is not constantly near her..  Take Vitamin C (double dose).  God bless you and your future family!

This process is surely a play on your emotions and wallet.  God willing she will be here soon.  That's the plus side of this.  The down side is you will start the AOS process and get in line again for more disfunction and stress.   Best of luck to you and your family.

I thought some of you might be interested in my testimony about what the current CFO experience is like for K-1 Visa Holders.  I've heard some strange stories about CFO representatives being intentionally difficult, invasive, stalling people's progress, etc. Thankfully, we didn't experience anything like this - the CFO representatives we interacted with were prompt, helpful, polite, and seemed to genuinely want to help us get our certificates ASAP.
 
I've heard that some people started the CFO process before actually receiving their visas - I found this to be technically possible. However, in our case, the first thing they requested was to be sent a copy of the visa in order to proceed (visa/passport of beneficiary, passport of petitioner). Maybe it depends on the representative you're assigned to, as far as that goes. In any case, no big deal - we waited a few days for her visa to arrive and submitted the requested documents.
 
Once that was emailed to the assigned CFO representative, they replied on the same day and provided their WhatsApp contact info, requesting my fiancé to contact them through that method in order to schedule a telecounseling session. I think my fiancé scheduled one for the next day. The telecounseling session lasted maybe 5-10 minutes, at most. There was some type of internet connection issue, so the CFO cut things short and decided they were satisfied with the discussion. They emailed a few more questions to my fiancé - basic stuff like my citizenship and residency. They also requested a few photos of us together. After that, they sent the link to complete the registration and submit payment. As soon as payment was submitted, the temporary certificate was auto-generated and emailed to us within seconds.
 
Next, we had to create a CFO account for my fiancé's daughter. We made the mistake of registering her for the same CFO program as my fiancé (GCP), when K-2s are actually supposed to registered for PDOS, citing the K-1 visa holder as the petitioner. This caused us to get stuck, as once you register, it won't let you go back and re-register that same person, even if you try to do it with a different email address. It tells you to wait 15 days before you can re-register. I sent an email to the assigned CFO representative explaining the error and they promptly replied, informing me that they deleted the registration and that we could proceed to register for the correct program.
 
Note that PDOS registration slots fill up pretty quickly - if you don't register between 7am - 9am Philippines time, you're probably going to need to wait until the next day - found this out the hard way.
 
After registering K-2 and emailing the prerequisite documents to the assigned representative, they replied pretty quickly (within 30 minutes). This particular CFO's preferred method of correspondence was strictly email. My fiancé's daughter is a minor, so CFO didn't request to speak to her. All they requested was copies of her visa & passport, passport of mother, and also my passport. I think the only questions that were asked were whether or not the beneficiary had previously received a CFO certificate and when did I originally migrate to the US (I didn't - was born here). Once those questions were answered, the CFO representative immediately sent the link to complete registration & payment. The whole ordeal from start to finish was done in less than an hour. It was almost shocking how accommodating the representative was.
 
Well, that's all - hope this is helpful to some people.
 
 
 
@Girandola

I thought some of you might be interested in my testimony about what the current CFO experience is like for K-1 Visa Holders.  I've heard some strange stories about CFO representatives being intentionally difficult, invasive, stalling people's progress, etc. Thankfully, we didn't experience anything like this - the CFO representatives we interacted with were prompt, helpful, polite, and seemed to genuinely want to help us get our certificates ASAP.
 
I've heard that some people started the CFO process before actually receiving their visas - I found this to be technically possible. However, in our case, the first thing they requested was to be sent a copy of the visa in order to proceed (visa/passport of beneficiary, passport of petitioner). Maybe it depends on the representative you're assigned to, as far as that goes. In any case, no big deal - we waited a few days for her visa to arrive and submitted the requested documents.
 
Once that was emailed to the assigned CFO representative, they replied on the same day and provided their WhatsApp contact info, requesting my fiancé to contact them through that method in order to schedule a telecounseling session. I think my fiancé scheduled one for the next day. The telecounseling session lasted maybe 5-10 minutes, at most. There was some type of internet connection issue, so the CFO cut things short and decided they were satisfied with the discussion. They emailed a few more questions to my fiancé - basic stuff like my citizenship and residency. They also requested a few photos of us together. After that, they sent the link to complete the registration and submit payment. As soon as payment was submitted, the temporary certificate was auto-generated and emailed to us within seconds.
 
Next, we had to create a CFO account for my fiancé's daughter. We made the mistake of registering her for the same CFO program as my fiancé (GCP), when K-2s are actually supposed to registered for PDOS, citing the K-1 visa holder as the petitioner. This caused us to get stuck, as once you register, it won't let you go back and re-register that same person, even if you try to do it with a different email address. It tells you to wait 15 days before you can re-register. I sent an email to the assigned CFO representative explaining the error and they promptly replied, informing me that they deleted the registration and that we could proceed to register for the correct program.
 
Note that PDOS registration slots fill up pretty quickly - if you don't register between 7am - 9am Philippines time, you're probably going to need to wait until the next day - found this out the hard way.
 
After registering K-2 and emailing the prerequisite documents to the assigned representative, they replied pretty quickly (within 30 minutes). This particular CFO's preferred method of correspondence was strictly email. My fiancé's daughter is a minor, so CFO didn't request to speak to her. All they requested was copies of her visa & passport, passport of mother, and also my passport. I think the only questions that were asked were whether or not the beneficiary had previously received a CFO certificate and when did I originally migrate to the US (I didn't - was born here). Once those questions were answered, the CFO representative immediately sent the link to complete registration & payment. The whole ordeal from start to finish was done in less than an hour. It was almost shocking how accommodating the representative was.
 
Well, that's all - hope this is helpful to some people.
 
 
 
@Girandola

Get the nasal swab Rapid Antigen test. Technically, the CDC guidelines say that the saliva test is acceptable, but I've read some airport guideline expressing that they specifically require nasal swab. I wouldn't take any chances - better safe than sorry.

I thought some of you might be interested in my testimony about what the current CFO experience is like for K-1 Visa Holders.  I've heard some strange stories about CFO representatives being intentionally difficult, invasive, stalling people's progress, etc. Thankfully, we didn't experience anything like this - the CFO representatives we interacted with were prompt, helpful, polite, and seemed to genuinely want to help us get our certificates ASAP.
 
I've heard that some people started the CFO process before actually receiving their visas - I found this to be technically possible. However, in our case, the first thing they requested was to be sent a copy of the visa in order to proceed (visa/passport of beneficiary, passport of petitioner). Maybe it depends on the representative you're assigned to, as far as that goes. In any case, no big deal - we waited a few days for her visa to arrive and submitted the requested documents.
 
Once that was emailed to the assigned CFO representative, they replied on the same day and provided their WhatsApp contact info, requesting my fiancé to contact them through that method in order to schedule a telecounseling session. I think my fiancé scheduled one for the next day. The telecounseling session lasted maybe 5-10 minutes, at most. There was some type of internet connection issue, so the CFO cut things short and decided they were satisfied with the discussion. They emailed a few more questions to my fiancé - basic stuff like my citizenship and residency. They also requested a few photos of us together. After that, they sent the link to complete the registration and submit payment. As soon as payment was submitted, the temporary certificate was auto-generated and emailed to us within seconds.
 
Next, we had to create a CFO account for my fiancé's daughter. We made the mistake of registering her for the same CFO program as my fiancé (GCP), when K-2s are actually supposed to registered for PDOS, citing the K-1 visa holder as the petitioner. This caused us to get stuck, as once you register, it won't let you go back and re-register that same person, even if you try to do it with a different email address. It tells you to wait 15 days before you can re-register. I sent an email to the assigned CFO representative explaining the error and they promptly replied, informing me that they deleted the registration and that we could proceed to register for the correct program.
 
Note that PDOS registration slots fill up pretty quickly - if you don't register between 7am - 9am Philippines time, you're probably going to need to wait until the next day - found this out the hard way.
 
After registering K-2 and emailing the prerequisite documents to the assigned representative, they replied pretty quickly (within 30 minutes). This particular CFO's preferred method of correspondence was strictly email. My fiancé's daughter is a minor, so CFO didn't request to speak to her. All they requested was copies of her visa & passport, passport of mother, and also my passport. I think the only questions that were asked were whether or not the beneficiary had previously received a CFO certificate and when did I originally migrate to the US (I didn't - was born here). Once those questions were answered, the CFO representative immediately sent the link to complete registration & payment. The whole ordeal from start to finish was done in less than an hour. It was almost shocking how accommodating the representative was.
 
Well, that's all - hope this is helpful to some people.
 
 
 
@Girandola

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Ftravelers%2Ftesting-air-travel.html
Test and Documentation Requirements
What types of SARS-CoV-2 tests are acceptable under the Order? You must be tested with a viral test to look for current infection – these include an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).
Phrases indicating a test is an antigen test could include, but not are not limited to:
Rapid antigen test Viral antigen test Also, could be noted as Antigen Chromatographic Digital Immunoassay, Antigen Chemiluminescence Immunoassay, or Antigen Lateral Flow Fluorescence Examples of available NAATs for SARS-CoV-2 include but are not restricted to:
Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Isothermal amplification including: Nicking endonuclease amplification reaction (NEAR) Transcription mediated amplification (TMA) Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) Helicase-dependent amplification (HDA) Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) Strand displacement amplification (SDA) The test used must be authorized for use by the relevant national authority for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the country where the test is administered.
A viral test conducted for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) personnel, including DOD contractors, dependents, and other U.S. government employees, and tested by a DOD laboratory located in a foreign country also meets the requirements of the Order.

Thanks brightfuture! Our experience was very similar to yours. Hopefully, it is the new normal. Registered and sent screenshot of the Issued page as proof of impending visa, but they requested a copy of the actual visa before proceeding. Got the visa 2 days later and sent it along with the other requested documents (divorce decree and proof of relationship). Once those were sent, the counseling happened promptly later that day. We found the form they sent after that to be quite cumbersome. TIP: Be sure to follow the formats off to the side exactly. Otherwise it doesn't accept the inputted data. Once we made it through payment, the temporary was emailed quickly as you describe. Trying to get her out of Manila this Sunday. It will require her to get Antigen test and get her luggage from a friend in between flights in a 3 hour period. Wish us luck!

Nice write-up.  I'm sure it will be appreciated.   
 
I glad all went well for you, even with the    
 
~
Before the CCP virus BS the GCP seminars could be attended before receiving the visas, but that isn't possible today as you noted.  I like this new way over the old seminars, but I'm sure it won't stay this way when "normal" returns.
 
CFO can be a breeze, except if the person is timid or meek .. even with the online interview CFO can make things difficult.  

I thought some of you might be interested in my testimony about what the current CFO experience is like for K-1 Visa Holders.  I've heard some strange stories about CFO representatives being intentionally difficult, invasive, stalling people's progress, etc. Thankfully, we didn't experience anything like this - the CFO representatives we interacted with were prompt, helpful, polite, and seemed to genuinely want to help us get our certificates ASAP.
 
I've heard that some people started the CFO process before actually receiving their visas - I found this to be technically possible. However, in our case, the first thing they requested was to be sent a copy of the visa in order to proceed (visa/passport of beneficiary, passport of petitioner). Maybe it depends on the representative you're assigned to, as far as that goes. In any case, no big deal - we waited a few days for her visa to arrive and submitted the requested documents.
 
Once that was emailed to the assigned CFO representative, they replied on the same day and provided their WhatsApp contact info, requesting my fiancé to contact them through that method in order to schedule a telecounseling session. I think my fiancé scheduled one for the next day. The telecounseling session lasted maybe 5-10 minutes, at most. There was some type of internet connection issue, so the CFO cut things short and decided they were satisfied with the discussion. They emailed a few more questions to my fiancé - basic stuff like my citizenship and residency. They also requested a few photos of us together. After that, they sent the link to complete the registration and submit payment. As soon as payment was submitted, the temporary certificate was auto-generated and emailed to us within seconds.
 
Next, we had to create a CFO account for my fiancé's daughter. We made the mistake of registering her for the same CFO program as my fiancé (GCP), when K-2s are actually supposed to registered for PDOS, citing the K-1 visa holder as the petitioner. This caused us to get stuck, as once you register, it won't let you go back and re-register that same person, even if you try to do it with a different email address. It tells you to wait 15 days before you can re-register. I sent an email to the assigned CFO representative explaining the error and they promptly replied, informing me that they deleted the registration and that we could proceed to register for the correct program.
 
Note that PDOS registration slots fill up pretty quickly - if you don't register between 7am - 9am Philippines time, you're probably going to need to wait until the next day - found this out the hard way.
 
After registering K-2 and emailing the prerequisite documents to the assigned representative, they replied pretty quickly (within 30 minutes). This particular CFO's preferred method of correspondence was strictly email. My fiancé's daughter is a minor, so CFO didn't request to speak to her. All they requested was copies of her visa & passport, passport of mother, and also my passport. I think the only questions that were asked were whether or not the beneficiary had previously received a CFO certificate and when did I originally migrate to the US (I didn't - was born here). Once those questions were answered, the CFO representative immediately sent the link to complete registration & payment. The whole ordeal from start to finish was done in less than an hour. It was almost shocking how accommodating the representative was.
 
Well, that's all - hope this is helpful to some people.
 
 
 
@Girandola

I thought some of you might be interested in my testimony about what the current CFO experience is like for K-1 Visa Holders.  I've heard some strange stories about CFO representatives being intentionally difficult, invasive, stalling people's progress, etc. Thankfully, we didn't experience anything like this - the CFO representatives we interacted with were prompt, helpful, polite, and seemed to genuinely want to help us get our certificates ASAP.
 
I've heard that some people started the CFO process before actually receiving their visas - I found this to be technically possible. However, in our case, the first thing they requested was to be sent a copy of the visa in order to proceed (visa/passport of beneficiary, passport of petitioner). Maybe it depends on the representative you're assigned to, as far as that goes. In any case, no big deal - we waited a few days for her visa to arrive and submitted the requested documents.
 
Once that was emailed to the assigned CFO representative, they replied on the same day and provided their WhatsApp contact info, requesting my fiancé to contact them through that method in order to schedule a telecounseling session. I think my fiancé scheduled one for the next day. The telecounseling session lasted maybe 5-10 minutes, at most. There was some type of internet connection issue, so the CFO cut things short and decided they were satisfied with the discussion. They emailed a few more questions to my fiancé - basic stuff like my citizenship and residency. They also requested a few photos of us together. After that, they sent the link to complete the registration and submit payment. As soon as payment was submitted, the temporary certificate was auto-generated and emailed to us within seconds.
 
Next, we had to create a CFO account for my fiancé's daughter. We made the mistake of registering her for the same CFO program as my fiancé (GCP), when K-2s are actually supposed to registered for PDOS, citing the K-1 visa holder as the petitioner. This caused us to get stuck, as once you register, it won't let you go back and re-register that same person, even if you try to do it with a different email address. It tells you to wait 15 days before you can re-register. I sent an email to the assigned CFO representative explaining the error and they promptly replied, informing me that they deleted the registration and that we could proceed to register for the correct program.
 
Note that PDOS registration slots fill up pretty quickly - if you don't register between 7am - 9am Philippines time, you're probably going to need to wait until the next day - found this out the hard way.
 
After registering K-2 and emailing the prerequisite documents to the assigned representative, they replied pretty quickly (within 30 minutes). This particular CFO's preferred method of correspondence was strictly email. My fiancé's daughter is a minor, so CFO didn't request to speak to her. All they requested was copies of her visa & passport, passport of mother, and also my passport. I think the only questions that were asked were whether or not the beneficiary had previously received a CFO certificate and when did I originally migrate to the US (I didn't - was born here). Once those questions were answered, the CFO representative immediately sent the link to complete registration & payment. The whole ordeal from start to finish was done in less than an hour. It was almost shocking how accommodating the representative was.
 
Well, that's all - hope this is helpful to some people.
 
 
 
@Girandola

Good point.
 
Speaking of which, I suggest this tool to anyone flying internationally in the near future and want to check the current requirements and restrictions they might encounter along the way:
https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions?affiliateId=japanairlines&language=en-US
 
 Apparently, neither Japan nor S Korea require covid testing for travelers passing through with connecting flights - as long as you're not leaving the airport.