RA_PH1

Tracking showed received on March 22 to Elgin lockbox. As of March 26, still no e-notice or check being cashed.

Thank You! I just want to make sure I didn't book a glitched appointment date 🙂

Hi All, I just want to make sure our appointment date is not a system glitch. K1 Visa appointments at Manila Embassy aren't just only available on Tuesdays right? I found one on Friday, which seemed odd....but I noticed there were other days available like Monday and another Friday appointment on January as well. Her embassy confirmation page clearly says K1 Visa for this date on Friday. I just want to make sure my fiancé wont get turned away at the embassy that day.

Thank you for the reassurance. She just went to give her sputum yesterday and she was like #200 and we went right when they opened at 6am too.

Thank you for all your information on this! It definitely is a relief having g oth we t people say it is most likely negative. Though it sucks we will have to wait another 2 months for just the results. I guess in light of this....one positive perspective is that mean she may come in the spring instead of the winter. I live in the north and we get snow. So her first winter here will be brutal 🙃

Thank you I appreciate this info! I hope it turns out negative too!

Thank you for the response! Do you know if the directly observed therapy will have to be done at SLMCEC? My fiancé is not from Manila. I pray this won't happen....but just in case scenario.

Hi All, I was wondering if some one can give me some information on sputum testing? Like how long this will delay the process? My fiancé went to perform her medical recently and had been told she will need to come back next week for 3 days straight to provide a sputum sample for culture. They didn't really give her much details like how long it will take to get results back and what happens if it comes back for positive with TB. We were a bit taken aback at this finding, because my fiancé has regular medical checkups for work and that includes X-Rays. They never found any issues in those past medical examinations until she went to SLMCEC. They told her they found a small abnormality in her lungs during X-Ray and that's why she was referred for sputum testing. They told her the interview appointment she had with embassy was cancelled and she will need to reschedule after her medical is cleared. She will also need to come back to complete the medical and they will perform the vaccinations then.

Thank you all for your input. Glad I asked, because now I know we don't have to go there super early 🙂. We'll plan to get there 30 mins before her appointment time.

I apologize if this is a dumb question. How long should you plan on spending in the Embassy to do the interview on the date of? I will be traveling with my fiancé and staying with her in Manila while she does her Medical exam and Embassy interview. We plan to get a hotel near the embassy. Her appointment is the earliest at 7:00AM. I understand I won't be able to go in, but I will accompany her outside till she gets in. I also understand that we should get there way before like at 5:00AM to start lining up outside. I also understand that the actual interview with a consular officer is usually just 2 to 5 minutes long. But I am not sure about the rest of the process. I know that she will have to go through several stations before meeting with the consular officer for the actual interview. She will also have to sit for a bit to wait between stations. Starting timer from when you are in the embassy and stopping when you are good to leave the embassy, how long is that time? 1hr, 2hr, 3hr, 4hr? I just want to gauge how long I would have to wait for her to finish. We plan to just meet up back at the hotel since she can not bring her phone. I am just curious how long I would have to wait before I can expect her to come back to the hotel. Because if she will be at the embassy all day till like 5PM, I will just plan to have a solo day and not wait around at the hotel for her.

CEAC says my case is in Ready status too. I was wondering if I should wait or go ahead and start to do the steps that @madmanmike outlined. From my research this looks about right, but it was great someone else was able to confirm with me as well. Just like what @Chancy said #3 she gets a deposit slip generate from the embassy's website. This is my understanding of the remaining process now that CEAC says ready status: Fiancé complete DS-160 -Print confirmation page and/or email a copy of it to yourself. Generate a deposit slip from US Manila Embassy link and bring to a local RCBC to pay. https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/pmisdepositslip.htm?amount=265&country=philippines -Make copy of deposit slip and keep receipt Schedule an interview date through the link: https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/ph-niv-appointmentschedule.asp -Will need Confirmation Code from DS-160 Confirmation page -Will need Receipt Number from Deposit Slip Schedule a medical exam at SLMCEC https://slec.ph/registration/us/ -Note required documents https://slec.ph/registration/us/visa-applicant.php?s=required-documents#required-documents Prepare for Embassy interview/attend interview appointment -Ensure all documents are prepared in pre-interview requirements https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MNL-Manila.html#pre_interview_checklist Wait for delivery or pickup passport with visa when available Schedule CFO GCP session https://cfo.gov.ph/cfo-hybrid-frontline-services-for-guidance-and-counseling-program/ -Page not reachable from US. Need VPN to another country that is available like Asia or have fiancé register from Philippines. -Choose which on-site (Face-to-face) session will be at such as Manila, Cebu, or Davo site. -Registration requires to scan passport and visa -Receive CFO certificate (temporary via email) Buy ticket and prepare for immigration to US!! Let me know if I am missing anything on this list

Understood, thank you for your input!

Got it, I will make a note of this in the personal checklist I have created. Thank You!

Awesome! This is great information. Thank You!

Thank You! I agree it is better to be safe than sorry. Just wanted someone to help reaffirm this for me

Thank You! This is helpful. I did see that medical takes at least 2 days of testing. I have a follow up question on this. Did you get a packet for your medical to bring to the interview or was it sent to the embassy for you?

Hi All, Our NOA2 was approved on 07/20/2023. We are preparing the documents for the interview checklist for the US Embassy in Manila. I have gone through the checklist on the site and have a question on the requirement to provide Proof of Relationship. I assume this is for proof of ongoing relationship, since proof of having been met within 2 years was already submitted as part of I-129F and approval of I-129F means this requirement is met. For Proof of Ongoing Relationship, will we need to provide similar evidence as what we submitted for the I-129F? Some photos of us together since the I-129F petition (I have visited my fiancé twice since NOA1) and a notarize Affidavit of Intent to Marry? Or will some photos suffice? Thank You

Hi All, We got our NOA2 in 07/20/2023. I know we're not close to getting an interview scheduled for the embassy anytime soon, but wanted to prepare and be well informed before that time comes. I saw on the US Embassy Website for Manila that the Medical Exam has to be performed at a St. Luke’s Medical Center Extension Clinic (SLMCEC) that is located in Manila and the US Embassy where the interview is held also in Manila. On the Interview Check List for US Embassy in Manila it specifically states this "It is your responsibility to schedule a medical exam with St. Luke’s Medical Center Extension Clinic two weeks before your visa interview at the U.S. Embassy." Based off the wording if the visa interview is on August 30th, you should schedule no later for the medical exam on August 16th. I am wondering if anyone has gone against the guidelines and done it later? Scheduled medical less than 2 weeks from the interview date? Thank You

If you are talking about yourself as the US petitioner, then yes. You will need to submit a copy of your birth certificate or naturalization as part of I-129F application. This document is used to determine your are an eligible petitioner as US citizen. The foreign fiancé you are petitioning also needs to submit a copy of her birth certificate. Specifically in my case, my Filipino fiancé needed to submit a copy of her birth certificate from the Phillipines Statistic Authority or PSA. We submitted a birth certificate from her local municipality cause that version is clear along with her unclear copy from her PSA.

I agree, the only issue is that we are running into problems getting the birth certificate cleared on the PSA copy. From what everyone had told me here, I think following up with the local municipality to resend a clear copy to the PSA and go from there.

This is reassuring to know. Hopefully, if we aren't able to get a clear PSA copy, then I hope the clear copy from the local Municipality will work too.

It is true, I am very far removed from the Philippines culture. As I grew up in the US, I don't have any idea of how the culture is there. This is why I am here asking for advice and throwing out some possible ideas before I do anything damaging like making the waves you referenced. My only concern is illegibility of the PSA birth certificate. I am concern it will not be accepted by USCIS on the I-129F petition or during any other part of the process up to the Visa issuance. This is why I am here seeking information to see if there is a way to get this resolved before we run into the issue. Rather be proactive than reactive 🙂 Kind of disappointing that we will need to "grease some palms" just to get them to do their job 🙃. If I was in your situation, I wouldn't mind paying that amount to get it fixed too. But the problem is finding someone who has that connection in the first place.

That makes sense. Her LCRO copy is from July 2022 when we filed her petition. It's been way longer than 2 months. If the LCRO did fixed it, then it may not have been sent to PSA, which is why the past several months have been the same illegible copy. Like I mentioned earlier, it seems the common denominator is the LCRO. I will see if she can follow up with them to ensure they had sent the information to PSA.

Thank You for your reply! I see that there is common denominator of making the request to the LCR. We'll try that route and see what happens from there. I don't know how the PSA works. But I had assumed that they had digitized their records and the copy would've looked like her LCR Birth Certificate where it was a clear print. It is strange that their Birth Certificate copy was an actual photocopy of the original handwritten one. Makes you wonder if PSA even has a digital record of it or they just pull out the photocopy (illegible) version whenever they need to verify their birth information....

Thank you for the quick response. I will mention about using the online form instead to see. Since we are still a long way on the waiting game for the I-129F, we're not in a rush. But would definitely want to make sure we get all her documents secured so we won't be rushing last minute for this. It's really bad. I would say like 60% of the PSA Birth Certificate or the top half is illegible. The only part that is clear is the bottom half where it shows the weight. Her name and parent's name are illegible. They also accidentally marked her SEX as both Male and Female. So when it was entered in later into the system, they actually marked her down as a male. She actually had to get a sonograph to show she was actually a female for the LCRO to mark it down as Female. The LCRO is crystal clear, it clearly shows the illegible part of her name and her parent's name, and it has a remark about the gender clarification. I will ask her to see if she is aware of that process. To get it initiated with the LCRO instead of PSA. Thank you, I appreciate all this information. It gives us some leads to follow while we wait out the I-129F time.