daisychain

I agree. Posting timelines would help people gauge when to take action (ie. when to call the embassy after NVC sends out the petition, tentative travel plans, etc), not to mention that there is nothing as tormenting as hovering in uncertainty for couples who are forced to be apart.

It's also a way of passing on the blessing to newbies and repaying the kindness of other VJ members who have eagerly helped others.

That sounds like me! Heheh! Her mom is probably fiercely protective of her and she's probably trying to assure her mom of her whereabouts. That's how I would text my mom too, providing a detailed report and all, if I were hanging out with my friends and she asks me where I am. Hehehe.

thank you ManilaIdaho! Congratulations too on the approval of your petition! You'll be reunited with your husband soon. Take care!

unless there are repercussions to her mental health, then it shouldn't be a problem. =)

Hi. My husband was in the Philippines from 2007-2008 so he didn't have tax transcripts for 2007. He just started on his new job so I submitted an original paystub and a notarized job offer (or an original certificate of employment would do). His mom was my co-sponsor. However, as pushbrk pointed out, since I'm on k3, the USEm doesn't normally accept co-sponsors but since my husband is above the poverty guidelines, the co-sponsor was accepted.

For the IR1, I believe that co-sponsors are generally accepted. You won't have to worry about that. But you still need to submit a certificate of no file for 2007, 2006 and 2005 and a notarized letter of explanation would help. Of course, since he stayed in the Philippines, you would probably have to prove that he's domiciled there by providing what I mentioned above (paystub and letter of employment)

whew! thanks chris-lei, stevent (congratulations!) and Urge to race!

now to guard my visa with my life...

actually the psychiatrist didn't say anything. all he said after the psych evaluation was, "ok. we're done." i didn't ask him or inquire if i passed or not. it happened so fast i guess i didn't have time to react. =)

Thanks Kez/JWolf for the speedy reply!

Should I ask the embassy to wrap the brown envelope with a diagonal opening with a clear plastic sheet?

No you are ok. The only thing you can not open is the Brown Envelope. You need to use your passport so it is ok to remove that.

Jon

I received my visa today. There were two clear plastic envelopes. The first one was labeled "DELBROS" (the courier company) so i opened that one. The second clear plastic envelope contained a brown folder with an opening on the upper right corner (my visa packet) and my passport. I wanted to go to Commission on Filipino overseas immediately to have my passport stamped so I opened that second clear plastic envelope to get my passport when I suddenly saw the ominous "WARNING!! DO NOT OPEN..." label on the brown envelope and again on a separate sheet of paper.

This question is probably so commonsensical to the point of being ludricious, but please give me peace of mind! Tell me I did the right thing! Again, I did NOT touch the brown envelope with the opening but I did open the second plastic envelope where the visa packet AND the passport is. I read posts about other people receiving their packet wrapped in a plastic envelope - which shouldn't be touched. But my passport and visa packet were in the same plastic envelope - which I opened.

Should I go to the US embassy and tell them to please wrap my visa packet in a separate plastic sheet?

EEEEP!!!

(My paranoid self talking) And it's perfectly normal the the brown envelope has a diagonal opening right?

In relation to my previous post (though irrelevant to this thread), when my husband lived here in the Philippines, I always told him to zip his mouth and let me do the talking whenever we road a taxi or bought something from a store. He was overcharged (like quadruple the amount) on many occasions because they picked up on his American accent. Ie., when he bought pack of cigarettes with 10 sticks from a vendor, he was charged P75 for something that should've only cost P10!

I also want to add that I was referred to psych evaluation cus of a scar in my wrist and the consul never brought it up. So I guess the medical doesn't really affect k-3 visa approval, except if it's HIV. Should TB be the case, they won't give you the go signal for the interview until you've been treated (usually 2-3 months, I believe).

Oh my. Now I'm getting worried. I booked through Expedia.com. It was the cheapest ticket one way ticket available (around $600 dollar range). But from what I've heard, if I do miss my connecting flight, the airlines would pay for the cost of the next connecting flight available for me.

I agree that is a very short connecting time. If your processing through immigration is slow and then security line is long (if you have to go through security again in Honolulu) you might miss that connection.

Landing at busy times at JFK, with an incoming flight that was delayed by an hour, I missed a connection once with a scheduled 4 hour layover.

I guess sight-seeing in my stopover in Honolulu is out of the question if I have to be rescreened all over again. I only have an hour and 45 minutes.

I think I have to be careful of what I bring. I'm not so sure if I'm allowed to bring my rare books. There might be a limit to the number of books that I can bring. I have to do further research.

My Uncle told me that Filipinos are often oblivious to US customs rule. For example, here in the Philippines, there is a mass proliferation of pirated goods (bags, watches, etc.) and a lot of Filipinos are caught unaware they they're not allowed to bring it to the US and only find out when they're detained at customs.

I wouldn't be concerned about sight seeing. Instead, I'd be concerned your time between flights could be too short, causing you to miss your connection altogether. People ask here frequently, how long a layover they should schedule and I always answer, "a minimum of three hours". I'm surprised you could even buy a ticket with such a short connection time through a port of entry.

Can one take vaccinations at this medical checkup or needs to do beforehand?

In addition, it seems that the only vaccinations required are:

1. Td/Tdap

2. MMR

3. Varicella

Am I missing any required vaccinations? If one has already taken them in lifetime, is one required to those vaccines again?

Thanks for your help

AS

DON'T!!! I made the same mistake. I wanted to have my vaccinations beforehand. My doctor charged me P7,000 for the HPV vaccine and P1,700 for MMR. I also had my Td/Tdap vaccine. Turns out the vaccinations are included in the cost of the medical ($213). Not only that, the doctor overcharged me probbaly thinking i'm filthy stinking rich because I'm married to an American. The HPV vaccine only costs P5,000 in the drug store and she charged an extra P500 for administering the vaccine (which didn't take more than a minute). I visited my doctor twice and she only charged P300 for consultation for his other patients. When I asked his secretary about it, she said the doctor decides how much to charge. Not only that, the doctor even quipped, "Ask your husband to send you dollars!" ARRRGGGG.

hooray! :dance: :dance: :dance:

i'm so happy for you alizeyah! it must be such a huge relief after all that worrying. =)

my flight is on September 4. i haven't received the visa packet yet, though delbros texted me last night that it will be delivered tom or within 2 days.

In my case, I lined up at the DFA at 2 am only to be informed that my place of birth does not indicate the city where I was born, even though the municipality is indicated in the upper left hand corner. i had to have a supplemental Place of birth affidavit notarized, then i had to submit it to the city hall. i had to wait several weeks for that. after picking it up, i had to submit it to the NSO. again, a wait of several weeks for NSO to produce the annotated birth certificate. it cost me around P750 and a huge headache.

In my case, I lined up at the DFA at 2 am only to be informed that my place of birth does not indicate the city where I was born, even though the municipality is indicated in the upper left hand corner. i had to have a supplemental Place of birth affidavit notarized, then i had to submit it to the city hall. i had to wait several weeks for that. after picking it up, i had to submit it to the NSO. again, a wait of several weeks for NSO to produce the annotated birth certificate. it cost me around around 1K and a huge headache.

YOu also have to remember that lawyers do not have the same sense of urgency that couples who are away from each other do. I'm not saying that they'd put it off or anything but they cater to other clients to. Handling it yourself would allow you to take faster routes such as patiencepaidoff's fastest NVC process. =)

For my wife I put something like "I intend to support my wife with everything I have for the rest of my life."

awww that's so sweet.. and dramatic! hehe i remember answering the question 'how long the do you intend to stay in the uS?' in the DS 156 with "for the rest of my life..."

I guess sight-seeing in my stopover in Honolulu is out of the question if I have to be rescreened all over again. I only have an hour and 45 minutes.

I think I have to be careful of what I bring. I'm not so sure if I'm allowed to bring my rare books. There might be a limit to the number of books that I can bring. I have to do further research.

My Uncle told me that Filipinos are often oblivious to US customs rule. For example, here in the Philippines, there is a mass proliferation of pirated goods (bags, watches, etc.) and a lot of Filipinos are caught unaware they they're not allowed to bring it to the US and only find out when they're detained at customs.

i had the same question before cus i was in a similar dilemma.. the IRS transcript is authoritative. it encompasses everything. the pre-screener accepted the IRS transcript for 2006 (my husband has a certificate of no file for 2007), even if i didn't provide a w-2.

oh that's great! but if i get out of the terminal during my stop-over, do i really have to take my baggage out and go through security all over again?

Pardon my ignorance. I have never traveled before!

If I have two stops in the US before I get to San Diego, would the latter be my port of entry or would the first stop over be my port of entry? Am I allowed to leave the stop-over terminal for some sight-seeing? And what can't I bring? I plan to pack like 15-20 of my rare, out-of-print book collection. Would that cause problems in customs? What can't I include in my carry-on?

Thank you so much!

The US does not have international arrival facilities like they do in other countries... Once the aircraft lands in your first US city ALL passengers are processed. Once processed you are admitted to the USA and can do anything you want... including sightseeing... My wife & I landed in New York and we spent two days there before continuing on to Minnesota. (Caveat: also be aware you could be processed in Guam, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico and some other carribean islands if you itinerary takes you to one of those places first).

Are you currently living abroad or in the US?

Even if your wife has as co-sponsor, you still are the main sponsor, so you should also accomplish a notarized I-134. Moreover, as proof of income, it's advisable to send an original paystub and original letter of employment.

(was in the same situation. My husband was in the philippines for a year. he has a certificate of no file for 2007. his mom was our co-sponsor. we submitted an original paystub and notarized letter of employment).

Hmm.. I just went through my duplicate copy of the I-134. I don't see the "complete this block.." part on item 11.I do see the other sentences you mentioned. But from my understanding, the documents are supposed to be uniform and downloadable from the same USCIS site.

Don't worry. the I-129F was originally intended for fiancees only that's why the text reads as such. =) But it was made available to spouses of US Citizens to reduce the duration of the separation between spouses. Don't worry, we all got the same thing. =)

i researched about it. I-130 is an immigrant visa petition, so it should really be yes. however, given the fact that other k3 applicants have answered NO while others have answered yes without encountering any problems, i don't think it'd be a big issue. it's pretty self-explanatory. we were granted a k3 interview because of the I-129F and the I-130, the immigrant visa petition, is a prerequisite for the filing and issuance of the k3. =)

Pardon my ignorance. I have never traveled before!

If I have two stops in the US before I get to San Diego, would the latter be my port of entry or would the first stop over be my port of entry? Am I allowed to leave the stop-over terminal for some sight-seeing? And what can't I bring? I plan to pack like 15-20 of my rare, out-of-print book collection. Would that cause problems in customs? What can't I include in my carry-on?

Thank you so much!

not all doctors are created equal and same goes for consuls. some consuls ask more questions, some get it over and done with in a jiffy (although sometimes it also depends on the circumstance). maybe your doctor was more meticulous and particular to detail.i talked to a VJ member at yahoo a week before my interview. she was referred to psych evaluation even though her scar on her index finger was just a teeny weeny spot, barely noticeable. other doctors would just let it pass, others would require psych evaluation.

don't worry pink.=) everything would turn out ok. if your interview does get postponed due to the biopsy, i believe SLEC will reschedule your interview within the next two working days after the result has been released, so it's not like it's gonna be postponed for weeks. =)

God bless!