sbgwolf1

ok, I think I sent the package to the wrong place...I live in ohio and sent my aos to nebraska...its not a big deal because we already got the biometrics appt letter. The concern is, we realized we didnt put the name/a# or anything on her photos. SOOOOO, to try to prevent a later delay, we wanted to send more photos with this information and prevent the RFE. This leads me to wondering where I send this package? To chicago? or to the office I originally sent it to....any ideas? I could have swore I was SUPPOSED to send it to nebraska to start with, but when looking after the fact, that was for employment based ones. Where chicago was for family based ones (btw this was an aos based on a k1)...any ideas?

Thanks

In regards to SSN. We got hers before marriage in her maiden name. After the ceremony we took the marriage abstract to the Soc Security office. We were told they could not change the name until INS had her records updated. They also said if we did actually turn in the paperwork, her number would be temporarily 'suspended' (whatever that means) until INS had everything updated so it was in our best interest to do the change of name at a later date. We talked to two people in the office with the same answer.

We are glad to have gotten the SSN before marriage because it appears it would be more difficult after marriage (unless you still attempted to do the maiden name version).

Steven & Thea

Continued from above post.

Another suggestion to help us work around inconvieniences. We created new yahoo id's that only each other would use. Then when I logged into it on my cell, it stayed logged in for 24hr access for her to send messages. (This is because logging into yahoo on the pc would kick off your other signed in session, understandably). Also, when her's was registered and logged into yahoo, the same thing. Once in a while the network would kick you off and you gotta resign in, but thats a minor inconvienience compared to that phone bill (it isn't even weekly that this happens so dont think everyday or anything).

S&T

We use yahoo on the cells. If you log into messenger on the US phone, it counts as a local text, so select your package accordingly. Verizon has one that is $5 for 250 texts and $10 for 500 I think (they just changed). If you have the person over there sign into yahoo and register thier mobile, then sign sign into mobile IM on yahoo, they will have yahoo sending/recieving messages/texts on thier cell. The great part is recieving is free to them and sending a text was only p2.5 instead of p15. My baby and I did this always.

Hope this helps. One thing, you can even log them on from here if they cant get to a cafe, but you need thier id/pw/cell number. Also, it will send a confirmation code to them that you input as the registering process (to verify the person registering the phone really has it). This basically means if you will register for them, make sure you can have them tell you the code to complete registration. Once this is done, you have cheaper texting and mobile texting for both of you, no computers restricting your movement or conversations.

Thats what we found works best.

S&T

Dean,

Here is ours....It was recieved on the 13th......Very similar timelines, and my baby was in manila...Hope this gives you an idea.

2/12/2007 9:32:21 PM SHIPMENT RETURNED FOR POD

2/12/2007 7:30:38 AM SHIPMENT OUT FOR DELIVERY

2/12/2007 7:27:00 AM SHIPMENT BEING PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

2/9/2007 6:17:43 PM SHIPMENT RECEIVED AT DISTRIBUTION CENTER

2/9/2007 5:42:02 PM SHIPMENT IN PROCESS

2/9/2007 11:38:36 AM SHIPMENT RELEASED BY THE EMBASSY

2/5/2007 3:49:08 PM SHIPMENT PROCESS IN THE EMBASSY

One note, I think 700 on paper sounds good, but it would be easy to go over that. My two trips last year were around p1300 to p1440/night but that may be less depending where you go....one thing to definately remember is to save money for the airport departure. That is around p750.

If you are going for the embassy interview/medical I would assume you have been there before?

Glenn,

I don't even know what to say. It sounds like since she got there, her focus has been back home. Unfortunately, it is hard to move forward when you look backwards. I wish I could give a magical solution, but I'm afraid this is something that is beyond my fixing.

What I would say, I don't believe that this is related to the phone bill. The fact that she is on the phone so much shows that there was a deep missing of or tie to home. I also wonder if the other end of those calls was 'influence' or 'pressure' because of a disapproval. I do not know and dont want to assume anything. If you get the chance, you two definately need to open up your communication. Running off isn't the answer. Often, it seems that filipinas can bottle up feelings and what you here is not the true problem. One of those situations where one thing is really hurting/upsetting them, and they don't open completely, so it causes other issues to appear bigger than they are. All you could ever do is be there for her.

Here is how WE handle home. I am not close to your situation, but I hope this helps. 1st, I get calling cards for her as needed. (no, not every day). I figure it comes to about $5 for 20-30 minutes and I get a few at a time. Another thing is she is sometimes on the cam with her sister (who goes to a cafe). The other thing that helps a lot is accessability. We had her brother/sisters use yahoo to register and log in the messenger for their phone. This way, they can text much cheaper because it is not an international text. The same for us, its local on our phones also. It isn't perfect, but at least the accessability is there...Plus you know they are used to everyone being a text message away. I know this doesn't help after the fact, but it MAY help if the situation changes.

For what its worth, I do not feel this is your fault at all. All we can do is give our all. It takes two people to make things work, with lots of patience and understanding.

As for the cousin, is she someone that will open up to you and share whats going on, or is she someone that is just a messenger that you are not close to? Did she in some way instigate this?

Just thoughts, not trying to make accusations.

Take care. You will be in our prayers.

S & T

hi..

18hours from now, me and my son will be heading to the airport..

do i need to show any documents aside from our passport and the envelopes...

where will i get the i-94?do each of us get one i-94?

we will be on northwest, manila to nagoya, nagoya to narita, then narita to minneapolis....

itll be just me and my son., so im a lil scared...

thanks.godbless

jeramie

Good luck on your trip. I wish you the best. I know how that counting is, you are leaving before my baby. She dont fly out until 930a tomorrow, so its 23 hours for us. Its such a relief to finally be counting hours instead of months.

S&T

As for us, the visa was delivered to manila. Actually, my baby met lebby at the interview but my girl dont know much about this site. She knew I was on a forum and said she talked to a 'girl there that was on a site called visa journey'. I laughed telling her that was the site I go to...after listening to her experience and checking the interview schedule above, I concluded it was lebby. We confirmed by descriptions and the home town.

Lebby, if you read this PM me.

Woo Hoo!!!

Visa is in her hand, ticket is purchased......We will be together in 95 hours. It seems like this has taken forever.

Also, Lebby. It appears you were talking to my fiancee there at the embassy.

Good luck to all!

S&T

My babys visa is now with delbros. She had talked to an agency that hold her a flight without a visa. I end up buying a ticket on this end because one site jumped up by $1k today.

What I want to share is how much one travel agent went out of her way. I regret not ending up using her due to my impatience. She (darlene) at the travel agency had good follow up, good pricing, and even did a preliminary confirm of one airline since another was no longer available while she could follow up on the first to try to get a better deal. She wanted to make sure we got the requested date for similar pricing. Unfortunately, the price jump I saw on one when looking myself on one site put me in the emergency mode and I bought one a ticket on orbitz I found that was somewhat reasonable. Overall I spent more than I needed and feel bad for the agency that I know was truly helpful......

The short point to this story is, if anyone would like a good travel agent in manila, the information is below. The lady's name is Darlene and I have no doubt that the service will be great. They also have an YM that can help with the communication.

ACTS TRAVEL & TOURS, INC.

Rm. 229 Tia Maria Sarao Bldg., C.V. Starr Ave., Philamlife Village

Las Piñas City, Philippines

Tel. No. (632) 875-1977 Telefax (632) 872-4621

Just talked to the Visa Unit. It was finally approved today and is in the 'issuance' department for the Visa to be printed. Said it may take a couple days, but whos complaining. These past few days have been torture......

Finally........APPROVED. My baby can come home soon!!! Yeah.

Please update me as approved 2/7/07. Thanks

S&T

Here is the clarification....

Thea only gave a few documents to the interviewer. During the interview (very brief), the officer there flipped through the package that was recieved from the US. It seems that the complete submission package is received at the embassy. Thea said that she saw on that package that it was marked approved from our side. It seems that the waiver caught her attention and she took it to someone else. Both of them looked at it for a bit, then the interviewer came back and said for Thea to wait. From there, the next thing she knew she was dealing with the Delbros counter.

No idea if this means anything at all. I will let you all know anything as I learn it.

S&T

If you submitted a waiver when you filed the petition, it should not have been an issue at interview anymore. Did your fiancee offer the waiver without the CO asking for it? I hope she did not.

Sbgwolf1, just to put your mind at ease, the CO probably did not know what to do with the waiver and he will eventually okay the visa once he figures it out

I hope that is the case...gotta say we are stressing. This process is exhausting. I thought last night I would hear 'honey, were done, we are approved'. I have vacation scheduled at both jobs so I can spend a little time with her when she gets here. Of course we didnt have any expectation of an additional wait.

All we can do is pray. Thanks for the support.

Good luck again to all you ready to have your interviews.

S&T

(oh, and the waiver is the 2nd petition waiver).

S&T

Second petition waiver? Why would you need that at the interview? Didn't the USCIS already cover that with the IMBRA form? Once they approve you I thought it was no longer any issue.

Yea, thats what my understanding was also...I dont see how it could/should have been an issue now. My understanding is that issues should not arise from information that has already been presented and known at the initial processing level....in this case when I sent in the imbra form for the RFE that we all received. Hoping this is quick, but the way this has went so far, i cant help but worry about it.

S&T

Well, she said someone told her that she was approved....but not the consulate, it was the person taking information for delbros. She was concerned because the officer took the waiver we had, looked at it for quite a while before taking it to someone else. Since it wasnt her that said we were approved, my baby was concerned. I called later and was told that the officer was on the computer and they didn't want to interrupt, but I could call back later. I didn't call back later, thinking it may be suspicious. This morning, I found that message of "2/5/2007 3:49:08 PM SHIPMENT PROCESS IN THE EMBASSY" on the delbros site, and felt pretty good..

(oh, and the waiver is the 2nd petition waiver).

Yet, this is everything to me, so I called the DOS to get someone that would say 'approved'. They saw in the system that the interview occured, but 'a final decision has not been made'. I asked how long that takes and was told anywhere from a day to a few weeks, if everything is ok. I asked if there were any notes in they system and she said no.

Now I am in Panick Mode. Does anyone have any experience like this? Any ideas?

S&T

Thank you for the update. Guess I will pay attention to delbros site. She lives in Metro Manila so hopefully it will not take to long for delivery! We are so excited to finish up the arrangements.

I know, with this entire process, one step at a time.

S&T

Anyone know what exactly this means??? Thats what our updates is on the Delbros site. It would appear that the visa is made?

2/5/2007 3:49:08 PM SHIPMENT PROCESS IN THE EMBASSY

Good luck to everyone that is still waiting on thier interviews.

S&T

That doesn't mean that the Visa is sent. It only means that your delivery payment was sent to Delbros by the Embassy. When the Visa is released by the Embassy the site will say "Visa Released by Embassy to Delbros" and "Shipment out for Delivery." My wife received her visa last week in Cagayan de Oro. It took exactly 7 calendar days from the interview to be delivered. It was delivered two days after the Delbros site updated to show receipt of the visa from the embassy. I hope this helps.

Anyone know what exactly this means??? Thats what our updates is on the Delbros site. It would appear that the visa is made?

2/5/2007 3:49:08 PM SHIPMENT PROCESS IN THE EMBASSY

Good luck to everyone that is still waiting on thier interviews.

S&T

Thank you for all the info...she is heading to the interview now....and I must say, nervous is an understatements....Lets all pray this is not too stressful for her and all goes well.

God bless,

S.

Anyone, please how much is Delbros??? I couldnt find it and the interview is this evening our time? One of the testimonials I read said 'pay delbros' at the end when giving delivery instructions for the visa. I didn't see anything about that on the package???

Help!

I understand we can wait...but we are looking at flying her right after that and know there is a lot higher rates when you do not purchase well in advance. We were allowing 2 weeks from the interview (I know its a bit of a gamble, but if the ticket allows for a reschedule I am not concerned).

I could buy it here (but the rate is not cheaper, especially when you add the $90 fuel tax on). Looking for suggestions hoping to find the best resolution.

Thanks Rob, I sent an email to them to see what they saw. Any other suggestions/contacts/experiences are welcome from all.

S.

Regarding everyone buying tickets early. Please help. My lady has been looking at many travel agencies in manila and all of them REFUSE to give her the ticket without the visa in hand. She tried multiples but gets the same issue. One said they 'reserved' it but wouldnt take her money or give confirmation until she shows the passport/visa (which the passport is at the embassy until after the interview/visa).

I have tried to find ways to book online but the only way I found was PAL via LAX and I am in ohio. Anyone have any suggestions or similar issues?

Please help, she just cancelled her reservation to go back to the province because she is so upset and stressed. One of the agencies told her they were 'booked up through march 11' so she has a fear that we will be delayed in our reunion.

Those that waited until after the visa, did you have any issues getting a ticket?

Thank you....anyone with travel agents information that may help, if you cant post it here, feel free to PM me.

Thank you,

S.

Maybe I dont understand the question....has he not been able to come see you at all? I am not sure how this would affect the wedding in any way with a K1...unless the requirement for 'met in person' had not been furfilled.

Wolf

Our interview is Feb 5th and packet 4 just showed up yesterday.

Site not updated yet, but they just confirmed our interview for feb 5th!!! I cant believe this wait is almost over!!!

Wolf