Dogwood_Poet

I just talked to Kathlene and they said she has to come back then next three days for sputum exams, so now she will miss her appointment.

This is what we were afraid of since we had so little notice on her appointment, there being a problem with her medical.

Hopefully the sputum exams will come back negative and we will not have to wait too long for another appointment.

If they do turn out positive, how long will we have to wait for her treatment to be completed and can she return home while she is undergoing treatment?

Does the medical fee includes vaccination for children (K-2) and me (Beneficiary) or do i have to pay another fee if we get vaccination at SLEC?

Vaccinations are included in your medical fee, so you should not have another fee other than the standard exam fee for yourself ($95) and your children ($67)

Only those with suspicious lung findings on their 1st CXR are requested to have another CXR done to confirm their suspicion. They will do comparison on the 1st and 2nd CXR films, if it will be negative, then she will be fine. 2nd CXR on the left lung? Maybe they did an apico-lordotic view. Does she have any history of PTB in the past? As a child? Any family history of PTB? Nowadays, some PTB patients don't look sickly, most are healthy and only through CXR that they are found to be positive for PTB. If her CXR will be positive, then they will ask her to have sputum AFB exams for 3 consecutive days.

Yes that was the x-ray she said they did. She said the only problems she has had breathing was when she was young she fell into the water and had some problems as she recovered from that. No one close in her family has PTB that she knows of.

I told her they are probably being careful as you said with the scare of the guy coming in to the US. They went ahead and gave her the immunizations, so hopefully they are not too concerned.

I thought I would start this thread for people who have questions about their medical exam, so they can all be in one place and maybe help each other out.

______

I just talked to Kathlene and they said they took a second x-ray to look at her left lung. She has no symptoms of TB, so hopefully there is nothing to worry about. She has already gotten her immunizations and all of her other tests were OK.

Is this something they do fairly often just to make sure? They told her to come back Monday and they would give her the results from the second x-rays.

Her interview is Wednesday, so I hope there is no problems and they can still get the results over to the embassy in time as well.

Thanks!

I figured it was an ID-10T error!

Now it's all better!

OK, I admit, I may have accidentally changed something, but now I only see a list of headings of posts, not the entire listing of posts when I view a thread.

This just started yesterday, have I messed up or has something changed?

Thanks!

hi dogwood, i got my nbi clearance for 3 hours only at the parksquare 1-makati city kiosk(manila)..there are actually 4 kiosks where she can renew her clearance, and it is located in:

1)Park Square I, Makati City

2)SM Mega Mall (Bldg. B. Basement), Mandaluyong City

3)Gotesco Grand Central , Monumento Caloocan City

4)Tutuban Center Mall 1, Divisoria

while, she is waiting for her medical and interview, she can obtain her clearance as all these kiosks are located in Manila, all she needs to bring is a copy of her old certificate and pay the corresponding fee..for details, here is the nbi website -NBI CLEARANCE

for the bc, she can choose to get it from nso online and just have it delivered to a place where she is staying, it normally is delivered within a week's time...website for the online request can be accessed here.. -NSO birth certificate/ cenomar/others yes it is a little expensive but it is convenient..

hope i am able to help you..goodluck!

Thanks for the info! Kathlene will try and get another bc & NBI while she is in Manila, but what I was wondering is if she needs to have them for her interview. on the 'Notice To Visa Applicants' it says they have received the originals of her bc & NBI so she may not need another copy, but it would be good to have them anyway.

My wife just called me and she was going to get a new NBI clearance and certified copy of her birth certificate, but they just told her there were too many people in line and she would not receive her papers today. Her flight for Manila leaves tomorrow, so she cannot return. (We just got our interview appointment last week, which is why we are in such a rush)

According to the interview letter I received it says they already have approved the NBI clearance and certified birth certificate I sent in with her application. I sent in originals, not photocopies.

Does that mean she does not have to have another copy, she was just getting them in case there was a problem with the ones they received?

If she has to, she will have a few days between her medical and her interview where she can go and get the papers while she is in Manila. I am hoping she will get her medical done this Wednesday and Thursday, then her interview is next Wednesday, June 6.

I sent everything Global Express Guaranteed at the main US Post Office here, but the package is delivered by FedEx.

Guaranteed delivery plus it can be tracked online all the way to its destination unlike Global Express mail which only will tell you when it arrives in Manila.

If they have transfered your case, you had better check the embassy site for your appointment!

Kathlene's case was tranfered on 5/22 and when I checked, her interview was scheduled for June 6!

So get all your paperwork ready and hope for the best!

I do not know what we would have done if someone hadn't told me to check for an interview date! I got the packet today which would have only given us about 8 days to do EVERYTHING with Monday being a holiday!

Thanks guys AGAIN for all of your help! I thought they would be closed. I expressed her documents to a friend in Manila today and they will get there by Friday so she will have my current pay records, phone logs, letters, etc.

Of course AFTER I get back from sending everything, (had to send everything before noon since it is Saturday) I get her packet in the mail! I will fax her interview letter to her so she will have it when she gets to Manila and can get started on her medical.

I will still call and see if they will send a packet to St Lukes so she will have all the info from it and an original appointment letter for her interview.

(HEY, I paid $18 for that phonecall, I may as well use my 'free' second call!)

Since Monday (May 28th) is a holiday here in the US, will the embassy be closed as well?

I tried to find out what holidays they observe on their site, but could not find it. I am guessing they will be closed as well.

A printout of the schedule from USEM is accepted at SLEC if you still don't have your appointment packet yet. You can also use a copy of your NOA2. You can also request to pick-up your appointment packet at SLEC.

Thanks! I think I will call and see if they can forward her packet tonight, that should give them time to get it there by early next week!

(Yes, I used the "$18.00" so I will use my second call to see if they can forward her packet.)

Has anyone used a printout of their appointment info from the embassy website to get in at St. Luke's?

Kathlene's interview is June 6 and neither one of us has received her packet with the interview letter. I am wanting her to leave this weekend for Manila and get her medical as soon as she gets there.

The NVC call center said she had to have the original letter, but I have heard others say they will accept a printout of the appointment info.

I still can't believe they forwarded the papers on the 22nd (this past Tuesday!) and set her interview for the 6th! But if she can get her medical in early next week, I will express all the other paperwork to her in time for her interview.

OK, so if we try for June 6th, how much earlier does she need to get her medical, so they will get everything to the embassy in time?

If she gets there next week and has her medical by the end of the week, will that be soon enough?

Has anyone had their interview scheduled before Manila even gets the papers from the NVC?

The NVC info line told me the case was forwarded on May 22, I checked the embassy interview appointment page last night and it tells me Kathlene's appointment is JUNE 6th ! ! !

Can this be right? I still have a lot of the papers I was going to send to her still here with me, pay stubs, phone records, etc. so I could sent them the most up-to-date information for her interview.

If this is the right date, how far back would it put us to reschedule?

I had been looking and being lucky to get scheduled in late July or August and then I see this and wonder what is going on!

Now I have had a chance to take a few deep breaths and calm down a bit from this unexpected bit of news I see I have three things I need to do.

1. Contact the embassy and see if the date IS correct.

2. Decide if it is worth the risk to try and rush and make the interview and perhaps forgetting something or not having all our papers in order.

3. Reschedule and hope for a new appointment not too far out, but with enough time for us to get all the papers ready.

As it looks right now, if Kathlene waits for me to come and us fly back together, it would be in late July at the earliest I could get there with my work schedule, since we were thinking it would be August or September before she would have her visa anyway.

Thanks for all the help and advice from everyone here and hopefully all this means our visa journey is nearing its end and our new lives together are beginning soon!

OK, I guess I had better contact the embassy and make sure she has that date for her interview, then I will have to try and see if I can get the info I was going to send her there in time, I may try and send it to a friend in Manila instead of trying to send it to her where she lives outside of Cagayan de Oro and save a few days that way. I still have my paycheck stubs, pictures, call records, ticket stubs, etc. here with me because I thought I had a few months to send everything and I wanted to keep my pay records as current as possible for her interview.

How many days should she allow for getting her medical done in time so it will make it to the embassy in time?

Worst case - how long a delay if we have to reschedule her interview since we have less than two weeks to get everything done?

OK, can anyone explain to me when I went to the embassy website and entered Kathlene's case number just for fun and it gave me an interview date of June 6, 2007 ! ? ! ?

NVC just transfered it yesterday, so Manila hasn't even received the paperwork, much less sent Kathlene any of her packets?

I am guessing this is a glitch in the system because there is no way we could have everything ready by then. That is unless I win a sweepstakes and I hand carry everything to my wife's side on the next plane out!

Anyway, I'm just hoping for a late summer (August or so) interview.

I called the NVC info number today and they have transfered Kathlene's case to Manila yesterday! (May 22, 2007)

The Manila embassy website says to allow 3 to 5 months for them to set her interview.

How long has it taken you to get your interview? I know I have seen some people get there interview a lot sooner than the time stated by the embassy.

BTW, we have applied for the CR-1 if that makes a difference in processing time.

My wife is trying to teach me Visayan, she has taught me a few words and phrases, plus she gives me an assignment each time we chat.

I want to be able to know a little more than I know now by the time I return later this year (if the government doesn't drag things out too long!) I can't find many helps online, I can find some courses on Tagalog but my wife says a lot of the words are different.

Any tips, ideas to help me out? I know I can't become a master in a few months, but I would like to be able to say a few things with the members of our family who don't speak English, or don't feel comfortable enough with what English they know.

Daghang salamat!

P.S.

Is it Visayan or Bisayan? I have seen both used.

I don't know about doing it between flights, it is about an hour ride from the airport to the embassy depending on traffic, then a couple of hours at the embassy to get the certificate processed. Also when I was there they ONLY do 'Legal Capacity' for only about two hours in the mornings.

I hired a driver and paid him to wait until I got my paperwork finished. The only bad thing now is you cannot take your cell phone with you, so you had better be sure the driver is going to stick around! When I went, they let you check your cell phone at the guard station and pick it back up on the way out.

I had to overnight in Manila anyway before heading on to CDO so I used a driver who worked with the hotel I stayed at, so I didn't have to worry about my bags, but I felt better knowing I had my ride back to the hotel/airport already arranged.

I can't remember for sure, but I think it was around P2,000 for him to take me to the embassy, wait the couple of hours for me to get done and take me back to the hotel to grab my bags and on to the airport.

Also be sure and check on the hours the window is open at the embassy. When I went it was only open from 8:00am to 10:00am so you had better plan on getting there EARLY to get your paperwork done. And check on local holidays as well to be sure they will be open when you are there!

It's ok to send a notarized copy if it is done in another country - the "Hague Convention" rules apply - except in the Philippines where Philippine Attourneys have now been DISQUALIFIED to notarize documents sent to the U.S. Government. There is one Agent in the P.I. IRS Acceptance Agent - otherwise an Embassy Officer.

My wife got a certified copy from the passport office in Cagayan de Oro and sent it to me. I just received her ITIN number last week, so they accepted the copy just fine. I figured if they did not accept it, I would just file an extension and wait until she gets here since we are getting a refund and would not owe anything to pay penalties on.

Thanks everyone! I'm glad you liked it!

I showed it to Kathlene when we chatted, she liked it, but I sent it to her pretty low quality, because a lot of the computers in the cafes in the Philippines are slow.

I have sent her a DVD of the entire show we did, if it will play in her player, I will send her a copy of the video as well.

Here is a video I made from a show I put together last fall. This is one of Kathlene's favorite songs and I think my friends do a great job!Hope everyone likes it!

Valentine