top_secret

At the beginning of 2023 there was no backlog. People who DQ up to the third week of January 2023 got so called auto expedites and could self schedule by the last week of January 2023. 1 week. By the end of 2023 it appears they have not done any new scheduling of CR1/IR1 CR2/IR2 cases since the 'mass expedite the end of June which encompassed everyone DQ up to the second week of May. Those who missed the cutoff date in May are still waiting and no movement for cases DQ since the second week of May. The current backlog is fairly clearly defined as 7 months and increasing daily. What USEM is up to is anyone's guess. It seems something would have to give 'soon'.

The processing times they list for I-129F's at centers other than California or Vermont are probably just K3 petitions being denied and therefore unrelated to processing times for fiancée petitions.

Recently my wife went through the ordinary line at the Tijuana/San Ysidro land border. The CBP agent scanned her green card several times and was obviously getting nowhere in his computer. Then he carefully read her extension letter and scanned her green card a few more times. Whatever the issue, it was not making his system work like he expected. Finally he scanned her Philippine Passport and that apparently instantly cleared her in his system and she was good to go on her way. So at least in that case the foreign passport turned out to be the superior document for CBP's quirky IT system.

I live in San Diego. Nice but I would not recommend it for someone without established connections here. Los Angeles either. The minimum requirements to get by are rather high for someone newly arrived. I would say the midwest is much more forgiving. I'd have to agree with Texas or similar.

My wife got her CA Real ID California Drivers Licence and my stepdaughter (9y/o at the time) got her CA Real ID DMV ID card within a month of arriving based on their endorsed visas. In the case of my stepdaughter she received the card in a week. It says 'Limited Term" on it, but the expiration date is CA full term, unrelated to her documents. In the case of my wife her physical licence was delayed by 6 weeks as it passed through the very annoying and unresponsive "legal presence unit" in Sacramento and they did indeed verify her status. But in the end she was issued a CA Real ID Driver's Licence with full validity the same as any citizen would get and no mention of anything related to status.

If you are CR1/IR1 (ie., this thread) then he is CR2/IR2 and therefore he is NOT a derivative and presumably has his own case number so he must attend.

A printout of your visa interview appointment e-mail would be best. People have also used their Documentarily Qualified e-mail from NVC. Mainly SLEC is just looking for an e-mail with your MNL2023123456 case number in it.

SLEC would notify the Embassy if someone is flagged for sputum testing so it shouldn't be a problem. If you want to be proactive you can keep checking for appointment dates to open up in the future after the scheduled sputum test result date. The embassy releases future appointment periodically and undoubtedly has just not released any April appointments for anyone yet.

From recent reports it seems like CFO has got beyond the total scheduling meltdown they were having last summer and appointments are now generally available in the immediate short term future at all locations once someone has the actual visa on hand. I would probably agree with you that more seminars means more opportunities for appointments in Manila but I would make the decision based on which location is most convenient since I doubt there would be more than a few days difference either way.

My last passport was done in 2019 too, but at the time I got it done at the San Diego passport office in 72 hours based on nothing more than the fact I was only back in the US for a week before my next required travel and had tickets to prove it. Backlogs may be worse now but in 2019 it just took persistence on the phone to get the appointment and a long day dealing with bureaucracy to accomplish the task. Once I got through the appointment, my passport was ready in 24 hours.

You may be interested to know that Mexico keeps it's rechazo statistics categorized by nationality online. https://politicamigratoria.segob.gob.mx/es/PoliticaMigratoria/evento_de_rechazos_aereos It looks like about 4% of Colombians get refused entry on arrival by air in Mexico which is like close to 100 a day. It is kind of an appalling percentage for persons who obviously had all the required documents they needed to board the flight only to be kicked out on arrival. I do feel my wife would have been treated differently if I had accompanied her rather than her traveling alone and me trying to meet her in Mexico City. But she is not inclined to ever try flying to Mexico again. We rather abruptly changed our vacation plans and went to Brazil instead, where she received a much more friendly reception.

My wife was refused entry at Mexico City before for no reason whatsoever and they were not nice or even slightly professional about it, so I know what you are talking about there. She noted that as she was was sent to the "rudely get thrown out of the country room", it was filled primarily with a large number of Colombians and Venezuelans. That said, even though you definitely have my sympathy on the Mexican immigration issue, it sounds fishy even to me for someone to fly from Colombia TO Mexico, requiring a visa to transit the US, in order to avoid transiting Mexico City. It may take a combination of seperate tickets but I am quite certain there are cheap ways to get from CLO to PVR that don't involve transiting the US. I also am not sure PVR immigration is any more friendly than MEX. Even being sympathetic, if I were the consul I would have to deny that visa because the itinerary does not make sense to me. The consequences of someone being denied a C1 visa based on a questionable itinerary is that it would probably sabotage a later chance at a B2 visa.

The panel physician would generally issue a waiver for the boosters that are not due yet. The waiver would be annotated right on the visa as "212(g)(2)(B)". That annotation formally notifies CBP at the border that the boosters were waived by the panel physician and therefore unnecessary.

My wife had to do biometrics for her I-751. I was sure to notify her that picture might get re-used on her Naturalization Certificate and therefore follow her for the rest of her life so she better make it good. She spent like 45 minutes doing her hair and makeup and dressed in sharp business attire before heading down to the ASC. 🤣 We haven't seen the picture yet though.

DO NOT send her actual passport during an ongoing immigration process. It will disappear untraceably into an IRS black hole for an unspecified period of time until hopefully someday they sent it back. You can send a copy of her passport that is certified by whatever agency issues passports in her country or use an acceptance agent in her country. One or the other may be easier depending on the country.

Ours took 6 months from filing to return in 2021 which was about when they had the maximum backlog. I would think it would be somewhat less today. If you really need the return fast you could file MFS electronically and take whatever return you get quickly, and then turn around and file an amended return as MFJ with the W7 to get whatever additional return that would get you after the delay.

The activation code only applies to cases that were filed on paper and mailed to a lockbox. If you filed online, the case should be there in the online account and by clicking on the "Documents" tab it should give you the button to submit unsolicited evidence.

The issue is simple. When he arrives, CBP will ask the question "how long are you staying?". If he answered honestly that he intends to stay, marry and adjust status he will be denied entry on a B2 visa. If he lied and says he intends to marry and return to his home country even though he intends to stay and adjust status then it seems like a material misrepresentation.

During the rona situation the Philippine government decreed that ANY notary could notarize an Affidavit of Legal Capacity To Marry. Later when the President issued a general decree that rona rules were in general rescinded, some LCR's started requiring them to be notarized by the embassy again. Later still, there was some kind of ruling that any notary is still OK. Leading to today where different LCRO's may be making their own rules and the rules may not be consistent. So. US Embassy Manila has a sample Affidavit of Legal Capacity To Marry here https://uploads.mwp.mprod.getusinfo.com/uploads/sites/24/2022/04/Sample-Generic-Affidavit.pdf . According to most, it should be valid if notarized by ANY notary. Unless the LCRO says it its not. If that was the case it still needs notarized by the embassy. It is the Philippines. YMMV.

That is a frustrating outcome. I recently read another firsthand account of a extension letter being rejected for this reason at ICN. I wish I thought to come back here and post a warning. In that case the traveler was boarded and made it to ICN but Korean immigration there refused to admit her with an extension letter despite escalating it to the supervisor. It kind of seemed like they don't know their own rules and the individual officer made a wrong decision and the big boss backed him up. So in her case, she spent 48 hours airside in ICN.

That varies from state to state but generally, short of adopting the child, it would take a court order to change the name if they will do it. Texas has a helpful looking website here. https://guides.sll.texas.gov/name-changes/children I don't know for Texas but we looked into it here in California and it seems not totally clear cut and easy, so we abandoned the idea. There is also the issue of getting the Philippines to recognize a US name change to change the child's passport. I 'think' you would need to have the child's birth certificate annotated by the LCRO and then re-submitted to PSA to have the Philippines recognize the name and I don't think they would do that without a Philippine court order. Which would leave the child with differing names on his Philippine Passport and other documents.

She does not have to change her name at all if she never wants to, but if she does want to it is WAY WAY WAY cheaper and easier if she just changes her passport now in the Philippines. It costs P1200 ($22) including the expedite fee and takes 2 or 3 weeks to change a Philippine passport. It costs $540 and could take at least a couple of YEARS to change the name on a green card once it's been issued plus all the assorted hassles associated with having differing names on different documents during those years. She can change it anytime up until the day of her interview. All that matters is the name in her passport. It's a name she can already legally use in the Philippines so if she wants to, she should start using it immediately. The Embassy will use whatever name is in the passport she brings for her interview for her visa, green card and social security card.

Going back to my earlier recommendation of Japan, it seems that as of December 15, 2023 Japan has instituted entirely online eVISAs for US Permanent Residents which seems to eliminate even the mail in step. My wife still has a 5 year multiple entry visa for Japan granted to her in the Philippines so we haven't tried online but it does seem like a very promising development. Japan is a really cool tourism destination. https://www.evisa.mofa.go.jp

Having followed your case here almost as long as I've been here, I am very sorry to hear this. With all the illegal aliens running around loose in this country who should be removed, and are not being, it's disheartening that USCIS should waste their resources on someone who is undoubtedly an asset to the US. VisaJourney is famously a do-it-yourself forum but, there are cases where it is prudent and necessary to involve an immigration attorney to achieve a just outcome. This seems like one of those cases. You certainly have my best wishes no matter which course you choose from here.

You can submit unsolicited evidence online. There is no guarantee they would look at it but they might. We submitted additional evidence a month after we filed online and I can't say if it helped or not but it definitely didn't delay anything.