CovidSucks21

After 13 hrs in line.  They want to bill her for the PCR and the fee for the Emergency Room.  It's basically double.   This is a RACKET.  

2 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

Is her child a K2 applicant?  If so, the child will need to attend the interview as well.

 

She is filed with my fiance but she's only 3.  She has her own paperwork but I don't know what there would be to gain from having her present since she can barely speak clearly yet.

1 hour ago, MarJhi said:

Sounds like a horrible experience. We only filed our K1 last July so we are very early in the process. Luckily for us my fiance lives in Makati so when the time comes (whenever that may be) we wont have to deal with travel expenses/hotel stays for her because she lives nearby already.

 

Current bad news is they went back to level 3 today till January 15th I believe.

 

Alert Level 3 in Metro Manila from January 3 as cases rise, Omicron raises risk | Philstar.com

I have family there too that can help in some ways.  But the expenses of flying her back and forth is so much.  I don't know how they expect people to do this.  I'm hoping the embassy doesn't get any funny ideas and closes again.  She's been sitting in the Philippines almost 2 years just waiting leave because of Covid.

1 minute ago, PWB said:

Can feel your pain.  For us SLEC was a nightmare.  They have a well deserved reputation for customer care.

She's been sitting at a satellite DOH facility for the last 12hrs.  It's coming up to midnight over there and she is still in a chair waiting outside.  I'm so pissed I can't be more help to her.  Does anyone know where it says she doesn't have to take the toddler to the Interview at the embassy?  She needed to go this time because it is the physical obviously.  But I'm hoping she can leave her at home when it comes to that.  

I finally got my fiance an appt and I flew her out to St Lukes for a pcr test and the physical.  She had a runny nose and they turned her away.  She went back home and before she left they told her to come back in 5 to 7 days to retake the pcr and try again.  I spent all the expense of getting her out there again only for them to tell her when she got to SLEC that she needs to go to ANOTHER facility to get her PCR done.  So now currently she is in a random DOH clinic trying to get a swab test in the waiting room from hell for the last 9hrs with a baby on her arm.  I'm livid.  Her appt is tomorrow at noon.  IF she can't get the test done by midnight I may have to rebook it for the following day.  However they are saying that if you don't get a PCR by the 8th day they may make you wait 28 days later in a type of self quarantine.  The SLEC website is useless.  None of this is on there btw.  I can't imagine having to do this over and over again.  Has anyone had this experience happen to them?  

i got lucky one day just looking at the website.  i saw it said jan 13 was available and clicked it immediately.  but now I'm having to scramble. Did anyone here cut it close on the med exam to interview window?  

3 minutes ago, Karabast39 said:

Recent State Department guidance for adjudication stipulates that police clearances are currently valid up to two years, regardless of the expiration date that may be on the document itself. If she's refused 221(g) for a current CENOMAR, then it's just a matter of submitting it via 2GO after the interview.  Or the officer may request one directly submitted/delivered by PSA itself (to avoid any fraud).  

do you know where I can find that written so I can print it out or give a copy to her to bring?

On 12/18/2021 at 9:41 AM, Pack88 said:

Congrats on having patiently waited and now are about to be rewarded!  My knowledge regarding the question you asked about police clearance's is this; providing that you have not returned to the country in question (Dubai) and if you are seeking an interview in Manilla (I am making an assumption here) then you need not worry!  My lady and I are also patiently waiting (Sep 2020 filer) but she required a PC from Singapore as she had worked there years ago.  I had been patiently waiting to secure the clearance because of the 1 year validity but I was informed so long as she had not been back to Singapore the PC never expired so we went ahead and secured it so that was one less thing to do when our case finally reaches the top of the pile!  I hope this helps!

That definitely sounds reassuring.  I spent 5hrs trying to get a hold of the embassy yesterday only for them to tell me the same thing.  "Show up.  Bring your paperwork.  If we need more we will tell you. "  They wouldn't really say any more than that.  I'm keeping her appt.  If her cenomar comes in it comes in.  If not she has 2 expired to show.  Her Dubai one we will not even try to get since it's pain the ###.  The Taiwan she has doesn't have an expiration on it so I'm leaving it as is.  She will be bringing her passport to show that she hasn't returned to those countries.  I really hope that is enough.  I wish I could be there to help her through it because I know she will be worried.  WISH ME LUCK!

1 minute ago, John & Rose said:

My wife was Korea and Ireland.  Same thing.  Never returned and her PCCs were accepted but she needed to add an AKA to her NBI.  Her name was misspelled on her daughter's birth certificate.  Yes, the pre interview person looks that closely at things...

All our stuff is in order.  We were just waiting for the interview when Covid hit that April.  We were actually at the time waiting for the PC from Dubai of all things!  I'm just updating tax transcripts and paystubs etc to reflect the time difference since then.  I've been doing this since Feb of 2019.  I honestly had almost given up hope on it.  But your comments are making me hopeful hahah.  Once she left both places she never went back.  We have two expired Cenomars to show.  I seriously doubt that between all the waiting and the filing of TWO cenomars that she would get married to someone else hahah. 

I'm going to keep the appt and start getting her medical appts squared away.  Luckily I am partially filipino and have relatives that can help her in Manila.  

1 minute ago, John & Rose said:

They should accept the old one if she hasn’t gone back!  Good luck. 

I really hope that is the case!  She only lived in Taiwan and Dubai.  And has not returned to them since leaving them.  

18 hours ago, John & Rose said:

Is she still in Dubai?  It never expires if she doesnt go back.  We used very old (over 10 years) Irish and Korean PCCs since she got them just before she left.  They worked fine.  She was asked if she ever returned to either country after the PCC was issued and she said no.  They accepted them.

She left years ago.  She's actually been in the Philippines waiting for all this to finish.  Our original interview date was going to be April of 2020.  Getting the Dubai PC is a pain in the ###.  You have to do it all online and once cleared you need to go to the Dubai embassy in Manila to finalize it.  She has never gone back.  I'm hoping showing her passport as being in the Philippines since 2018 would be enough to let them use it.  

Her Dubai police clearance shows it was issued Nov 2 2020.  I'm lucky her Taiwan one shows no expiration date on it.  She has gotten two cenomars.  I hope the 3rd shows up before the interview but it had to be sent further from where she lives.  Will calling the embassy be any help in clarifying this?  I'm using Rapidvisa as my service and they really can't give any legal advice.  

"As for the NBI and CENOMAR not being ready for the interview, that is not a major issue, attention the interview as scheduled, explain to the CO during the interview, then submit the NBI & CENOMAR through 2GO once she has them."

What is the 2GO?  She was able to successfully renew her NBI.  It's just the Cenomar.  

3 hours ago, Hank_ said:

 

If your fiancee has not been back to Dubai then the expired PC is acceptable.       As an added note: UAE is a waiver country as the PC is only available when applying in person.   Embassy waives the requirement, but you have an expired one and have (?) not returned so you should be golden.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/UnitedArabEmirates.html

 

As for the NBI and CENOMAR not being ready for the interview, that is not a major issue, attention the interview as scheduled, explain to the CO during the interview, then submit the NBI & CENOMAR through 2GO once she has them.

I finally booked an interview for my fiance jan 13!  it was the only day and I grabbed it!  The schedule doesn't even show any other days available at all.  I wanted to try to postpone it a little or move it the end of the month but no luck.  I also don't want to risk losing it.  

But........

 However one of her police clearances has expired (she got this one twice and it's from Dubai which is a colossal pain to get) and her cenomar has expired (this will be the third time she's even gotten one)  I'm trying to call the embassy to see if there is any leeway in letting her still do the interview with those two things being that way.  She hasn't left the country since I started this process.  Her passport can attest to that.  Has anyone had to deal with this?  Was the embassy forgiving on that part?  She still has all the documents of the times she's done this.  I was originally booking her appt for April of 2019.  They have to take that into account.  

She did renew her nbi and start a new Cenomar but they say it might not be ready til January 16th.  Her interview is the 13th.  

Anyone have any experience with this?

2 minutes ago, Commish10 said:

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/explainer-movement-areas-under-community-quarantine-coronavirus

I wonder if since my Fiance is a Nurse she might have a little more leeway in getting through some of the barriers they have in place.  ya never know.  

8 minutes ago, Commish10 said:

ECQ is the lockdown of Manila that started on August 6. It's expected to last until August 20, but I doubt it. Things are getting very bad there again. I would expect ECQ to last till the end of the month at least.

I'm sure the numbers are actually much worse but underreported.  My Fiance lives up north so once she's cleared I have to coordinate a million things to make sure she has people to help her and hotels to stay part of the time in Manila.  

Just now, Commish10 said:

Yes, it worked for me. That's how I got my status changed and an interview date. Our interview was supposed to be tomorrow, but St Lukes closed with ECQ, so waiting for it to reopen. Another member told me about the escalate to post and that's how he got his interview in July. 

that's awesome! i hope it's the same for us.  it's been such a strain having to wait so long.  what does ECQ mean with St Lukes?

3 minutes ago, Commish10 said:

Call them. Tell them what you want done and tell them you want it "Escalated to Post". This will escalate it to a consular officer and will get resolved in about 3 weeks. 

 I think the last time I got it escalated was July 15th.  I called again 2 days ago to check on it and they said they were going to note my inquiry.  Has the escalated to post actually worked for anyone?  does it make a difference?

On 8/10/2021 at 10:20 AM, Commish10 said:

First you have to send the embassy a letter telling them you are still interested in pursuing the visa and get the status changed.  PSA, NBI etc only valid for 6 months. As far an an interview you have a long wait.  My original case created date is December 2019, and I'm still dicking around with them. 

I've sent that letter multiple times because I've never gotten a true response from them saying "hey we got it.  you wanna extend even though it's expired"  It just falls into a void.  We were completely done in 2020.  I was about to book the Interview in March when this hit.  It's literally all we had left to do.  I got another response from the embassy saying to send that letter.  Which is ridiculous because I've sent it over half a dozen times already.  

I've been doing this lately.  I finally got thru and talked to someone on the phone for the first time in a week and a half.  They basically told me the same thing.  That I need to wait for an email telling me we can book an interview.

  I don't feel optimistic about that response.  They can't tell me anything new either.  It's been over one year just waiting for this stupid interview.  I don't know why they can't just do this via skype.

Like many of you I was about to book the interview when the pandemic hit.  My ceac expired.  I've been calling the embassy and had my case plead to be expedited.  Do I need to keep on top of it as much as I have or will I just get some random email one day saying that we can book an interview?  She has to get a new cenomar too?  What about police clearances from other countries?  She's never left the country since we've started this.  Any answers would be appreciated. 

On 5/18/2021 at 7:24 PM, Jenn2020 said:

Keep emailing them. I did that for almost three months. My case expired Feb.19, 2021 and it was finally updated May 6th. I just got my interview date today. I know it's frustrating but, they will eventually update it. 

I finally got an email back from the manila consular office?  I've submitted the screenshot of it expired.  We will see what that does.  Did you start the reinstating of yours the same way?

I emailed that and still got what sounded like an auto response.  Is it something I really shouldn't worry about?  All I had left was an interview for her until Covid Closed it all last April.

I got a response and it feels like it also automatic?  I don't think I can do this all over again.  Do I need to worry about this?  All we needed was the stupid interview. 😡

I called the US Embassy in the Philippines and the recommended I email the US Travel Docs support.  I did thatlast night and they sent me an auto response saying they will reply to me in one to two days.  Once I get an official response they wanted me to contact them again.  The CEAC notice really just sounds like some kind of auto response that no one bothered to update to covid timelines or check.

On 2/2/2021 at 12:36 PM, flicks1998 said:

If your case is already at USEM, you may just want to send them a quick email with your MNL number stating that your case is still active and you still plan on getting married.  I was sending updates every 3 months just to dot my i's and cross my t's.  As @NancyNguyensays, it will be extended as many are in the same position, but it doesnt hurt to just send an email.  Dont expect a reply back, its just for documentation purposes.

We were literally just waiting for an interview last april as well.  And now I see mine saying it's expired.  Who did you contact to discuss the message that it was Expired.  The state dept is useless.  I'm going to wait until the embassy opens up in Manila and give them a call.  Who did you email to discuss this issue?  thanks in advance