TerraceJW

Hey does anyone have a template for the affidavits for the testimony for your relationships as stated in Pg. 6 of the instructions, very top number 5. I would like to get an example or template so we can send 2-3 affidavits in with our package. Also is anyone trying to change the applicants name to the married name? My wife and I want her to take my last name so I am also looking for guidance on how to go about that in this process for the new greencard. Thanks! We hope to file mid-February for Philippines.

13 minutes ago, jdreyes said:

Nope we didn’t.

 

@TerraceJW and @David Holmes, please advise😄. Are we supposed to get an email for instructions after getting the “Issued” status? Thank you! 🙂

We got an email but it's not really instructions it's more of a notification that we're Issued. I would call the embassy to ask or email them or call the 2go service if it's already issued.

20 minutes ago, jdreyes said:

Hi @Phil967. Just an update. Ours flipped to “Issued” on May 27. How about your wife’s case?
 

@TerraceJW, were you able to track the passport after it becomes “Issued” on CEAC?

No I wasn't. We called the delivery service and coordinated it with them and picked it up asap. It took like 1-2 for us to pick it up. I think the delivery service won't let you track it until they receive it from the embassy already. 

2 minutes ago, Phil967 said:

Btw what airline did you book? I haven’t been hearing good things about Philippine airlines so I’ve looked into connecting flights. Connecting flights seem to be more frequent and consistent from what I’ve noticed...

We booked flights with ANA/United cuz they have two checked bags in the price basically and we wanted to get the shortest travel time. Her travel is 25 hours+

My wife just got her visa in hand last night (May 12), we registered for the immigration seminar for tomorrow at 0900 for her, she got her covid test yesterday, I paid the immigration fee, and we booked her a flight for Friday morning so she'll be here Friday night if the Lord wills. Everything looks good so far. We got issued on May 7.

3 hours ago, jdreyes said:

@TerraceJW Did you tell them about the medical being sent to embassy on February 24th? I called St Lukes and they told me it was also sent on March 28th. We received an email today saying that my husband’s visa application was refused under section 221(g) because of the medical. What did you tell them to get the status changed to “issued”? 😅 I’m worried that we’re going to get more problems once his NBI clearance expires prior to visa issuance.

Two days before we got issued I called the embassy and I chewed them out more or less, I demanded to speak to a supervisor and I told them three months for a system to update is unreasonable and unacceptable and I told them my wife's sputum culture would expire this Saturday, I spoke for a decent amount of time explaining how unhappy I was and that we needed action. The supervisor told me he would get back with me in 24-48 hours and bottabing bottaboom we got approved, we got issued on the 7th, I called sometime either the 4th or 5th, can remember.

7 hours ago, Phil967 said:

So they do have a supervisor that could do something about the case? I spoke with someone and all that I got was the default speech telling me that they can’t determine the timeline and that it is in processing. 

I was able to talk to the supervisor but the lady didn't want me to, I told her either she will hang up on me or I will wait as long as it takes and that's when she transferred me lol

7 hours ago, Phil967 said:

Any update on your visa? I got a hold of someone at the usem and all I got was that it is still in processing and “rest assured it will be delivered once it’s ready”.🤦🏽‍♂️

I just checked the status on ustraveldocs.com and it says "Passport has been received from the consular section, and is currently being processed for delivery"

On 4/21/2021 at 3:20 PM, jdreyes said:

Hi, anyone here had their interview recently? My husband had his interview on April 5 and was told that due to ECQ in Manila, his medical result was not sent to the embassy. He did his medical on March 25. The interview went well and approved but still waiting for the medical. I checked on CEAC tracker and the status still says “Ready” . Usually how long will it take for SLEC to forward the results to USEM? How do we contact USEM and to ask for the status? Thank you so much VJs! 

Our medical was sent to the embassy on February 24th and our interview was April 8th we had the same problem. They finally updated our case to "Issued" on May 7th. We are awaiting the visa to be delivered now.

27 minutes ago, David Holmes said:

Hi TerraceJW.  Did you actually receive your passport back, or did they just mark it as "issued"?

 

Also about that number; I've called it at least 8 times, and after choosing some options the system puts me on hold for 10 minutes and then hangs up on me.  Is it because I chose the English option and not the Tagalog option?  What's the secret to even getting to a person?  

We didn't recieve everything back yet, it is just issued and the secret is to keep calling. Lol They have a high call volume so they rig the system to keep hanging up on you until a clerk can answer so you have to keep trying until it finally doesn't hang up, when you get an actual person to talk to they're actually not allowed to hang up on you. Last time I called it took me 6 times.

1 hour ago, David Holmes said:

@TerraceJW  My wife had her interview (and passed) on April 1.  On April 8 they sent us an email that her Visa had been marked ISSUED, but we never heard anything after that. We've tried calling all their phone numbers about 20 times. I check the email status (passportstatus@ustraveldocs.com) every day but it still says no status.  My wife is 6 months pregnant so we really need her to fly SOON.

 

Is there really nothing we can do?  This is Kafkaesque.

 

 @Phil967Where did you read that it is taking 60 days?

 

p.s. It's slightly comforting to know that others are stuck in the same limbo; I was starting to think that they'd just lost the passport!

 

What we did is we emailed the embassy everyday until we got a response then we kept emailing them every 2 days or what. You can email ivmanilareplies@state.gov and Support-Philippines@UStraveldocs.com the first email is the old one, it will send an auto reply to their website where you can submit and inquiry form. The second email is the new one for questions. Ours finally got issued after I called the embassy and demanded to talk to a supervisor, he helped us get it issued after 3 weeks of waiting. If you are calling from the US you can call the embassy at 703-520-2235.

13 hours ago, Phil967 said:

Nope. Based on what you’ve said I’m assuming that the only thing that we can do is wait. I’ve read that it could take 60 days to complete administrative processing. Even though my wife and stepson were given the approval and the two pieces of paper. NO 221g OR EMAIL requesting more documents. Worst come to worst I’m thinking that we’ll have to hire an attorney and file something against the us embassy in Manila. 

Yeah I've seen two people with this problem get issued already but sadly we are still waiting and we only have until May 15 for her to leave. I have noticed they are updating the status every 3 or 4 days now but it is still refused for administrative processing. I'm starting to worry now that might have to retake the sputum culture.

19 hours ago, jdreyes said:

Hello, thank you for sharing your experience. We are still waiting and tried to email ivmanila too. What phone number did you use for SLEC? I had a hard time calling them before. We just want to make sure that the embassy got my husband’s medical. And is the medical valid only for 6 months? 

The number I used is 703-520-2235 it's the extension for US callers. And normal medical expires within 6 months but sputum culture expires within 3 months.

My wife had her interview on April 8. I called NVC and they told me the embassy did not receive her medical so we called SLEC and they told my wife they did send the medical in February after her sputum culture. Our case status on CEAC is stuck in the "refused" status for administrative processing. We emailed the embassy at ivmanilareplies@state.gov every day since Monday because that is the only way to contact them according to the clerk on the phone from the Manila embassy phone number. So far the embassy has had 0 contact with us since the interview and we are just waiting clueluessly.