Edward and Jaycel

The consulate part was actually pretty quick. We had the signed and sealed RoM back in our hands about 12 days after they received it. (You just have to make sure you send the packet with the evidence exactly as the instructions on their website states. And you can't use the instructions from any of the other consulates because in true Philippine fashion, they are different from consulate to consulate ) After that, the consulate sends it to the Dept. of Foreign Affairs in Manila to be registered with the Philippine Statistics Authority, after which we could order the official PSA certified copy. That took 8 months LOL While waiting on that, we could use the copy from the consulate to change her passport ONLY at that consulate. Once we got the PSA copy, we could make an appointment at any consulate or the embassy in Washington.

We had to do this with the Civil Division of the Philippine Consulate and then wait to get the official "Report of Marriage" signed and sealed and returned to us before we could get an appointment to change Jaycel's passport at the consulate - Good that you pointed this out and I should have mentioned it in my post

Our I-129F took 8.5 months.... Filed in mid September 2023 and got the approval early June 2024

Or you can do what we did - When you file the AOS, file it in your wife's new married name. When you do that, if you file for an EAD in the married name, the EAD card will come in her married name and if you check the box saying you want a new SS card (AND if they have resumed the EBE program, which they were supposed to) SSA will send a new card in her married name. If they don't, then just make another appointment at that time with SSA to have it changed. If you do this for the I-485 and the EAD then the Green Card will also come in her married name. We did this and it was all very easy to change Jaycel's name to her married name. Next week we go to the Philippine consulate to change her Philippine passport to her married name

Happy to help I forgot to link the website for the public inquiry: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html

Jaycel never got anything via physical mail, everything came via email so - IMHO, the most important thing you can do is this: Two to three weeks after USCIS changes the case status of the I-129F to. "Case Has Been Sent To The Department Of State", the petitioner should make an inquiry to the NVC via their public inquiry webpage (I'll link it below) and request the DoS Case Number for your case. At this point, they likely will not have it yet which is fine. The purpose of this inquiry is really to make sure they have both of your correct email addresses. The way you do this is to word the inquiry something like this, "USCIS has notified me that they have sent my approved I-129F petition to you for processing. Attached to this request is a copy of my I-797C Approval Notice. I would like to request my Department of State case number if it is available. Also, please update my and my beneficiary's email addresses as follows: Petitioner's email: email1@email.com Beneficiary's email: email2@email.com Thank you" We did this and Jaycel and I both got every email from NVC and from the Embassy without fail. Some were addressed to me and some to her but we both got every email.

Jaycel completed her medical 6 days before the interview and there were no problems. As long and she is not flagged for suspicion of TB it should be fine because for K-1 applicants, at the end of the 2nd day of the medical exam they still give you a sealed envelope to hand-carry to the interview so it's not like you have to wait for them to transmit the report over or anything like that.

This is not true. There is NO authentication that the DoS does with an FBI Background check. Get it done from the FBI, download the report and email it to your fiancée for her to bring to the CFO office

@maryaaaa can you provide any details on this from your experience?

Hahaha no worries! Glad you found a CS to do just the vaccine assessment. We had given up on finding one after calling around for days and being told no every time. So we just booked a full medical exam at one near our house and I just happened to mention it to the person at the front desk when we checked in for the full medical exam and she had to ask the practice manager who said, "Oh yeah of course we do that". So we lucked out.

Fill out only your part of the I-693 but do not sign it until you are at the civil surgeon's office. Also do not put N/A in the spots that don't apply - it seems civil surgeons are very particular about which parts of the form you mark. Fill out Part 1. (make sure you check the box on Item 4.A. of Part 1.) and Part 2. (But like I said, don't sign it until they tell you to)

Have you tried reaching out to them using the "Public Inquiry" form online?

This one should be fine as long as it shows their entry on the K-1 & K-2 visas respectively

If they entered on K-1/K-2 AND you married within the 90 days (Which I know you did) you do NOT need to file the I-130

Agee here - IMHO, this would require legislation. People are making a LOT of money from page clicks and video views by making a big scary headline about "Something this administration is planning for immigrants, or LPRs or Naturalized Citizens or Dual Citizens......" P.S. - This is coming from a YouTube account with 6K followers and AI Narration

I agree with this 100%. After the interview, just let them do their thing. They will ask you if they need something.

I would recommend binder clips instead of prong fasteners - You filed the I-129F during the previous administration which accepted it, however this administration seems to be interpreting filing guidelines literally and rejecting packets for things that would have got overlooked before.

The problem is that with the counselors at CFO, they can and often do make up the rules as they go. They could just arbitrarily say that the date is too old. I would spend the $50 and have the digital prints done a couple of days before the CFO appointment to reduce the chances of any BS on the part of the counselors.

This means someone did something with your casefile on 10/03.

Because of this verbiage on the notice they are supposed to give you at the end of the interview

Sign the form, scan it and the supporting evidence and then email it. You do not have to ship it

For I-129F Petitions, this is the only status you will see until you get approved or denied unless you get an RFE or a NOID. These cases will never show statuses like, "Case is Being Actively Reviewed By USCIS" or anything similar. To reiterate @appleblossom question, for what purpose are you trying to reach out to USCIS?

Great news! Thank you for sharing your experience with the community and please keep us updated on the timeline of your approval once you get the certified copies to them!

Ok good deal! I just wanted to be sure

I fear a complication here… if the lawyer filed an I-130, I think there’s a good chance they filed it under the category “Spouse of a US Citizen” which requires an I-130, instead of the proper category, “Person who entered the US as a fiancè(e) of a US citizen….” which does NOT require the I-130. If the I-130 is withdrawn and the I-485 was improperly filed under the spouse category, IMHO they may deny they I-485.