top_secret

My wife got her interview notice today. November 19, San Diego Field Office. Her randomized estimated time until decision number number increased from 5 months before any interview was scheduled, to 8 months now that there is an interview scheduled a month and a half from now.🤣

I have previously heard of a number of military couples doing Montana double proxy marriages. I suspect Montana double proxy marriages have just been around a lot longer than the Utah online marriages and maybe have more history and familiarity within military circles. However, the Utah online marriages are a lot more straightforward. You can do it all yourself online except a Zoom call to the Utah county Clerk's office for a ceremony, which is also nice touch. Probably cheaper and faster too.

Thanks. I thought they had completely eliminated hand carry to the Embassy. Obviously I heard that wrong.😁

Transcripts should be fine. Super easy for the consul. They know exactly what they are looking for. Page 2 "Total Income". The only reason to submit the actual 1040 is if the transcript is not available for some reason.

Are you sure this was sputum testing or that she was told she passed already? Typically in sputum testing cases they give them a date to return for results in 60 days. But they have recently introduced new IGRA testing protocols so maybe that's what got fast results(?????) In any case, if they send her for vaccinations she is good to go. Saint Lukes transmits the medical to the Embassy electronically so there is no medical package to bring to her interview. Typically Saint Lukes would transmit results the same day or next day so there is no problem making it in time. For K1's the yellow hand carry packet comes by LBC courier along with her passport and visa after she is approved at her interview.

Since the visa is not already issued pending resolving the 221g, if the medical expired in the interim, US Embassy Manila would have her get a new medical when the 221g was resolved so that they could go ahead and issue the visa. If it was valid but about to expire? If I recall correctly, @RO_AH 's wife had a valid medical that was expiring in the very short term and the Embassy gave them the choice to issue the visa now and make a mad dash for CFO and the border, or get a new medical before they issued the visa so that it would have a normal expiration timetable.

That is very much normal. We have been seeing some cases get scheduled for interviews very quickly lately but they remain the exceptions. It's also very dependent an your local office's workload. Even in today's super fast N400 environment 4 months would still be extremely fast and 6 months would still be quite normal.

On that part I think LBC is the only option. AFIK the embassy doesn't allow hand delivery on 221g's.

It should not need apostille. The official US requirements are here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Uruguay.html

That is discouraging. Maybe US Embassy Manila recruited a batch of ill-prepared trainees in a classic "government work" attempt to address their ridiculous backlog issue. My only (not really good) thought is that roundtrip airfare from the Philippines TO Qatar is probably about on par with the cost of a repeat medical at Saint Luke's these days. I 'think' that in-person they can get a police certificate in a few days. As a general rule Filipinos can get to the Mideast for very cheap on Cebu Pacific to Dubai and can transit without visa from there to Doha etc. There's Qatar visas and other concern but going to Qatar in person is at least a thought. Just to double check, how was the 221g worded? Did she have actual proof with her that she had not returned to Qatar, like her old passports etc?

What is the status on the USCIS case?? Has it changed to "Case Was Sent To The Department of State"??

I'm quite certain that at the visa interview the consul could care less if a B2 visa applicant has a plane ticket or not. They wouldn't hesitate to deny someone who did have a ticket if that's what they decided. They would probably be more interested in your explanation of how you were paying for the ticket than any ticket itself. If you got the visa you might be asked at the border about how your departure from the US is planned and if you showed them a plane ticket it better be a real one.

The "engagement certificate" as described sounds like a Catholic Betrothal Certificate. If so, I think it's not needed but it's probably not harmful either since it would be clear it was just the churches blessing of the engagement and not any kind of marriage yet. I don't think they are super common in the Philippines but they are not unheard of either. It sounds like you sent a lot more than what you needed to but as long as the basic requirements are in there like proof of meeting, statements that intend to marry within 90 days of entering the US etc., I think it would be ok. Relationship evidence is more for the interview and US Embassy Manila is often cited as being about the easiest embassy there is.

A transcript superseeds a return and is the prefered document so it should be fine. Usually they never ask for a paper one anyway but it's good to still bring. When my wife was interviewed the consul made a remark that makes me think he was viewing what had been submitted to CEAC on his computer in real time during the interview.

I have heard one specific example of that being successfully done by a Philippine passport holder with a Costa Rica "digital nomad" type visa. I think it was on a FB group where I saw that mentioned, but it seemed credible. I'll see if I can find where I saw that. But as Boiler mentioned, it's totally up to the embassy.

The problem is. 10 days to get the passport back from the embassy is a very reasonable estimate and in fact most are getting it even faster than that these days. But, if you polled 20 applicants you could hypothetically find something like 14 who got their passport back in less than a week trouble free, 3 that got a 221g (which at least you do have some control over), and maybe 3 that inexplicably, for no outwardly apparent reason at all, took two to six weeks or even longer and no one knows why. In comparison, although CFO had a total meltdown scheduling around summer 2023 and you may still see a lot of hard feelings online about that episode. They seem to have since to resolved their problems and applicants with actual visas on hand seem to be getting through them almost immediately.

Booking without an actual visa on hand is probably the greater threat. CFO is going fairly smooth for most people lately but totally random delays in visa delivery are a fact of life. As far as booking travel, choose your tolerance for risk and consider what an unexpected delay might cost. But delays from the Embassy are probably a greater threat than CFO.

UCSD is just an application acceptance point. It is the actual US Dept of State Passport Office downtown that can literally get your passport overnight if you have travel in 14 days. https://passportappointment.travel.state.gov/ We will probably book a celebratory trip to Cancun whenever my wife naturalizes so we can take advantage of the overnight service.😁 Checking appointments just now, someone who took their oath today could get an appointment at the passport office Monday morning with delivery of the actual passport Tuesday. San Diego Passport Office has been pretty much wide open lately.

My gut feeling is that the requirement for any divorce decree is some kind of mistranslation that somehow got incorporated into some consulates web pages more recently. When we did ours, it was the Philippine Embassy in Mexico City (they have consular jurisdiction over Costa Rica). Their requirement at the time was for a divorce decree only if civil status was not listed anywhere on the marriage certificate. If the marriage certificate said civil status divorced, that was good. I never sent anything. I'd be tempted to skip it and see what happens. But if ever a bureaucrat asks me for a mountain of paperwork that just requires me to hit "print". I am happy to bury them in all the paper they requested. There is some twisted Philippine government logic to the 4 or 5 copies requirement. I think it's something like original documents and a certified stamped original ROM go back to you, one copy stays with the consulate, one copy goes to DFA in Manila and one copy goes to PSA. (plus possibly one mystory copy, just in case)

So, heres updated statistics now based on 39 self reported cases. Not much has changed on the stats but it's an even larger sample size. Time from filing to interview in San Diego in 2024. Average time: 144 days Median time: 130 days Fastest time: 72 days Slowest time: 245 days # of cases in less than 3 months: 3 # of cases 3 to 4 months: 13 # of cases 4 to 5 months: 9 # of cases 5 to 6 months: 8 # of cases 6 to 7 months: 2 # of cases 7 to 8 months: 4

Right on schedule according to the statistics 😁 Hopefully we are just a few weeks after you. Hmmm. Naturalizing ON Election Day. Maybe a last-ditch push to get out the vote? 😆 Per my research 'most' applicants are getting same day oath at San Diego lately. Not everyone, but your odds seem relatively good of getting a same day oath if your case is straightforward. Also, I have been checking appointment times for San Diego Passport office. They have been pretty much wide open for expedited passport appointments in the short-term immediate future if you have booked travel within 14 days. It should be no issue getting a passport in 2 or 3 days with the added benefit that I think you get to hang on to your Naturalization Certificate if you do an expedited appointment at the Passport Office. You would probably be just fine for Jan 2.

Usually adding a beneficiary to an account does not require a SS# or ITIN. If they do not owe and are not paying or filing returns for US Taxes they would not need a US Individual Taxpayer Identification Number so I don't think there is any way they could get one.

Some have long speculated that profit is often not the direct motive but rather laundering large amounts of ill-gotten or untaxed Pesos into stacks of more desirable hard currency is the greater goal. Otherwise, you can see the spread between their buy and sell rates and calculate their potential profit on the exchange. To me the risk vs reward never seemed to add up either.

ROM is a Philippine government thing. US Embassy Manila could literally care less if you file a ROM. It is not required at all for US Immigration. It has nothing to do with getting the visa, but if your wife intends to take your name she needs a ROM to change her name on her Philippine passport. It is not required for her to take your name, but if she wants to and does it in the Philippines it costs $25 for the ROM, 900 pesos for a new passport and the green card automatically comes with the desired name. If she waits to change her name until she gets to the US it costs $415 and can take a year to change a green card once it has been issued. CFO will give her a hard time about not filing a ROM and may hassle her but eventually they still have to let her go. CENOMAR/AOM is only required for the petitioner if the are dual citizen of former Filipino who lived in the Philippines more than 1 year as an adult. CENOMAR or AOM is always required for the beneficiary but if you dont file a ROM and therefore she gets an CENOMAR stating she is not married, instead of an AOM, it is ok but whatever document PSA issues, the beneficiary needs it.

USCIS has included biometrics fees in the cost of the the I-751 since April 1, 2024. The total fee is $750. You can use the fee calculator here to double check what you should pay. https://www.uscis.gov/feecalculator Minor children are included on the I-751 of the parent. It is only one form. Just resubmit the package with the correct $750 fee.