Haltom Family

I did! And they said ours is lined up for review as well.  Your approval is such a great news. It means they are really clearing up their back log before moving to the states. Congratulations! I hope you receive your MCN soon! 

Yay!!!! So happy to hear this! I hope ours will come in soon! Please please.

Hi! I hope all is well. Did you receive NOA from embassy yet? Let us know.

Plenty of cases here just in the DCF Section.  Did you look at any of them?
 
You can also search the vj timelines.
 
If it like Mexico, your receipt acts as your NOA1 and you will get an email when the case goes from the USCIS side to the Department of State side.
 
 
 
 

Hi everyone, we submitted the I-130 last March 29, 2019 at the Philippine Embassy. I would like to know if anyone here received a notice from them within 30 days? How long does it usually take for you to get a notice from them saying that they received the application, or to have a case number?

That's the beauty of living in the Philippines.  Always an adventure 

Congratulations (Y)

thank you!! for the i864 my parents (in the US) would sponsor if needed, do they need to actually sign the documents - will this be a problem?
 
why do you recommend leaving 2 weeks between med exam and interview? is this just what they require so they have the information from med exam at the interview?

we've got our case number now - finding conflicting information on what to do next (i think the USCIS website gives different instructions that don't apply to DCF UK filing) please help?

We just got our case number today, yay. Excited to begin final steps. Thanks for talking me through the waiting periods. 

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with DCF.  And... CONGRATULATIONS. 
 
 
 

Hi there. Congrats on the upcoming little one! 
We submitted everything through U.S. Embassy Manila...only thing in HK was the marriage and registering the marriage at the consulate in HK. The HK marriage just cut out having to wait for a PSA/NSO marriage license before submitting as the HK marriage license is internationally recognized. 
 
Hopefully yours will will be quicker for the I-130 portion...definitely were a few posters on here approved around the same day as us that had just submitted a few weeks prior, so there’s probably not a bad chance of it going quicker than ours. 
 
Best of luck on your journey!

So you submitted your i130 in Hong Kong and they transfered it to Manila? Jw bc we just submitted ours at the Manila embassy June 1st and wondering if it took so long for you bc of starting in Hong Kong. I hope our process doesn't take that long. I'm pregnant and can't fly after October. If it does take three months I guess it's not a huge deal, it'll just stress me out not having anything set until last minute like that I guess. Thanks for sharing your journey. 

Yup she got that right after picking up the passport. Fortunately she had done the seminar early when we were still in the K1 process. 

Did she get the CFO stamp yet?

Not exactly. Total process from submitting petition to visa in hand was just a day or so under 3 months. 
 
About a month longer than I was expecting or hoping for though. 

Wow, did it really take 3+ months from the time you submitted your form to the interview date? 

Hi All,
My wife and I just finished the I-130 / CR1 process via DCF in Manila. Just wanted to give a recap as a recent experience in case others are searching the forums for info.  If this should be in a different forum please feel free to move it. 
 
First off, if it wasn’t for the VisaJourney forums we’d probably still be sitting around waiting for an NOA2 for a K1 petition. I didn’t post a ton, but I gained a lot of knowledge and insight in the processes from reading the forums regularly, so thanks to everyone here!
 
Backstory...I’ve been living in the Philippines for 2 years for work and my wife and I have been together for a little over a year. After researching visa options and knowing some friends who went through the long I-130 process in the US, it seemed like K1 was the quickest option since I had to move back to the US in June 2018 for my next role at work. We submitted an I-129F for K1 in November 2017 and started the dreaded wait. Fortunately one day while looking through the forums I found a topic that had been moved to the DCF forum which was first I had heard of that option. After seeing that and digging into the research we decided to get married and file DCF. In hindsight there’s a ton of info out there for the I-130 via DCF, but for some reason I never came across it until I knew about it and was looking for it. 
 
Back to the process recap... we needed speed due to my return to US timeline, and while our process took a bit longer than some it still definitely provided the speed we needed (and in hindsight our complaints about taking long were ridiculous...ha!). A total of 13 weeks or 90 days from I-130 submittal to Visa in hand. 
 
3/11/18
Civil Marriage in Hong Kong (this was key as US recognizes the HK marriage certificate for petition submittal without having to wait for PSA/NSO documents). 
 
Recorded marriage at Philippines Consulate General in Hong Kong. 
 
3/12/18
Passport amendment for married name at Hong Kong consulate (in hindsight if you have time and can afford another trip to HK, do a renewal so you get the name on the passport bio page...takes 2 months and you keep the original until the new one is ready for pick up). 
 
3/16/18
Filed I-130 Petition at USCIS Manila Field Office at US Embassy Manila. (Take your spouse with you...they can enter through the US entry with you so it’s easy, and there’s a contact info form they need to sign with you and if there’s anything you forgot to have them sign they can do it on the spot while the counter agent reviews the petition). 
 
5/3/18
Notified by Philippines consulate in HK that the marriage records were transmitted to PSA/NSO Manila and ready for pick up. (Good to have just in case the IV unit asks for it at interview...they were still ok with the original Hong Kong marriage license though). 
 
5/17/18
I-130 petition approved by USCIS Manila
 
6/1/18
Department of State MNL case number received from Immigrant Visa unit at embassy. This allowed DS-260, interview scheduling, and medical exam tasks to proceed. 
 
6/4/18
Medical exam at SLEC. Do the online registration form as it speeds the process a bit at the clinic. 
 
6/7/18
Visa interview at US Embassy. Consular officer mentioned it was helpful and positive that I attended the interview with my wife. Told we were approved at the end of interview. 
 
6/8/18
Visa with Issued status. 
 
6/14/18
Visa packet in hand. Picked up at the 2GO Ayala branch in Makati. 6/12 was a holiday so probably delayed visa by one day. 
 
6/19/18
We will make our POE in Seattle, WA
 
Hopefully this info can be helpful to someone else researching the process. Good luck to everyone going through the process now...quite a relief to be done!

Oh ,did you already had your visa interviw?

This is for filing for petition. The one that you mentioned for the I-864 is the next step which is for the visa interview. 

What about
Excuse me friend, but what about your I-864 and the tax part? you did include your own I-864 alongside that of your co-sponsor, right?

We didn't submit letter about taxes since we got his brother as his co sponsor. Just be sure you have the complete requirements when they approved the petition. 

Thank you for your reply friend, What did you write in your letter about your taxes?

Dear Ysai, I`m glad you were approved.
 
I`m in the exact same situation as you are, could you please explain what you did?

We just submitted all the needed requirements we have. And his brother as our joint sponsor.