Glynn & Jean

All we used was the NOA2 and MNL case#, That was all that was needed for St. Lukes other than her passport.

Good luck on the medicals.

Hello everybody,

im just curious if it is possible to have a medical exam before calling the embassy for interview date?

providing you have your NVC case no. already. I've read one post here that when she called the embassy ,she was asked if she is done with her medical already,so im just trying to figure it out if its okay,i need some insights and suggestion from you ,thank you so much in advance.

P.S

Just want to have an early medical as i have time off from work this month,and next month would be tough for me as i will be doing a lot of paper works before leaving the company.again thank you so much in advance

Yes, She can have early medical before scheduling the interview. Many have others on VJ have done the same thing. So long as you have your NOA2 or even the embassy email stating you can set the interview. Hopefully someone else on VJ will answer exactly what documents you will need to show at St. Luke's for her to get the early medical. I do know it is possible and has happened.

That's good news!! Congrats! How long did you wait for the sputum? My girl is taking her advanced medical in a few weeks. We're praying she doesn't have to get sputum...

Good luck for the interview!!!

Thanks! We had to wait the full 2 months. She called at 8am her time. Took her 30 minutes of calling 3 different numbers before she finally got through due to the lines being busy. When she 1st spoke with the person he told her results were not in yet and to call back after lunch. The waiting game was still on,Lol. Good news in the end though.

Good luck on your Fiancee's early medical exam. I wish now I would have done the same. But all good things happen in their own time.

My Fiancee called St Luke's this morning for her results and was told she could come in for her vaccinations. Yahoooooo!

They told her since she was from the Province and had far to travel just call back tomorrow and they would have everything set up for her to come in for vaccinations and I believe her Interview will follow. We was so relieved to hear that information.

Is it a good ideal for me as an American to come for her interview

any one coments welcome

You can go if you would like to. But she will be okay on her own. I was going to my Fiancee's interview on Jan 14th but we had set back when her having to do the Sputum test. She will get her results tomorrow, If she has passed then they will set her interview which she will attend without me. I would love to be there to show support but work is stopping me from doing that.

I used copies of every page in my passport for the I-129F. I get citizenship from my mother. It took alot of documents and a RFE to get the passport in the first place because I don't have a certificate of citizenship.

The reason I am asking is because the guides say to send the originals of everything in your packet. I'd really rather not send my passport since it is my only citizenship document here.

Thanks for replying

No, do not send your original passport. This is not needed, Plus you may never get it back. I made copies of all the pages in my passport and the Biographic page. This is all you need when sending in the packet. I work abroad and need my passport in my travels, If I would have had to sent it to them I could not have traveled outside the states for work. Don't make the mistake of ever giving up your passport to anyone.

Thank you. So to clarify; you didn't wait for the interview letter to get your request letter. You used your NOA2? Thank you.

Correct! All I had was the NOA2 receipt. We waited the 15 minutes for the request letter which I am sure was time needed for them to check and make sure we were in the system and eligible for visa interview. The letter basically was addressed to the Japanese embassy stating my Fiancee's name and that police clearance was needed. Show the NOA2 to the security guard at the U.S embassy, Tell him you are there to get a Police clearance request letter. He will then allow you into the embassy and tell you what window you must go to for it. If not, Just ask him where to go.

If you wait until the interview to request this then you will be delayed another 2 months for having to get the police clearance. Take care of it now!

Once I knew she was told the date to pick up the police clearance is when I called and made her interview appointment.

Praise God!

Even though we aren't official yet, it's almost a done deal.

We had a lot of worries and doubts about the interview, and kept putting it off. I was waiting for business to improve to show more income, and feared denial. But a week before the scheduled interview when we were considering another reschedule, I felt impressed to go forward in faith. She agreed and we finalized gathering and organizing all the paperwork. We did reschedule one more week later to wait for more paperwork to ship from the US (apparently fed ex ships from PH to US much faster than the other way around).

We also prayed a lot.

We were quite worried about the affidavit of support portion of the interview, but it turned out to be almost a non-issue. I'm currently self-employed, but it's a brand new business with no useful history of income. This came after spending many months trying to get another job after huge layoffs at my former employer. I was actually "unemployed" for over a year, but have been working on the new business for a handful of months now. If they had wanted to examine the affidavit and supporting evidence closely, they could have decided to deny us. We actually had co-sponsor paperwork ready just in case they wanted it. They simply accepted my statement of self employment without even reading the letter I wrote or examining my supporting evidence. They only used my 2008 tax return for the income verification. 2008 was far more than enough by the 1.25*poverty guideline.

What turned out to be the snag, was her birth certificate and NBI clearance. We had both, but her original birth certificate had the wrong year, and was not fixed until 2007. So the consular said he just needs another NBI clearance using her incorrect birth year, as due diligence to show that the other records don't have any bad marks. We've already gotten that turned in, and are just waiting for the visa to be released.

When he mentioned that, we were confused at first, unsure if we were denied or under further review or something. He saw the confusion and explained it was an easy thing and said "congratulations". That word just keep resounding in my head for the rest of the week! "Congratulations"... For anyone wondering, the consular was a clean-shaved younger white guy with short hair and a somewhat deep voice. He's possibly a few years younger than me, I'm 31.

We can give credit to different things for the victory, but we know it was God's help that got us through. With our situation, it could easily have gone much worse, even resulting in denial, based on what I've read here on VJ. I haven't seen anyone else with our exact circumstance, but many similar cases with a better overall set of details have sometimes been denied, or been asked for co-sponsors (yes, even in Manila). But we had the perfect Helper, our paraclete (parakletos), the Lord God Almighty. How can we fail?

So I can offer these bits of advice, in ascending order of importance. That means the last one is the most important:

1. Petitioner be present at the interview if possible.

2. Bring all required evidence, and much more. Be ready for anything. Overwhelm them with well organized and solid evidence.

3. Build the relationship with your fiance(e)/spouse with God as the foundation.

4. Pray for His guidance and intervention to help all circumstances line up in favor of your visa approval. Be specific.

5. Entrust everything to His will, and have faith in His power.

Those aren't in chronological order, particularly 3. Heheh.

Congrats! I am happy for you both. Hope we have the same visa approval results when the time comes.

Praise God!

Even though we aren't official yet, it's almost a done deal.

We had a lot of worries and doubts about the interview, and kept putting it off. I was waiting for business to improve to show more income, and feared denial. But a week before the scheduled interview when we were considering another reschedule, I felt impressed to go forward in faith. She agreed and we finalized gathering and organizing all the paperwork. We did reschedule one more week later to wait for more paperwork to ship from the US (apparently fed ex ships from PH to US much faster than the other way around).

We also prayed a lot.

We were quite worried about the affidavit of support portion of the interview, but it turned out to be almost a non-issue. I'm currently self-employed, but it's a brand new business with no useful history of income. This came after spending many months trying to get another job after huge layoffs at my former employer. I was actually "unemployed" for over a year, but have been working on the new business for a handful of months now. If they had wanted to examine the affidavit and supporting evidence closely, they could have decided to deny us. We actually had co-sponsor paperwork ready just in case they wanted it. They simply accepted my statement of self employment without even reading the letter I wrote or examining my supporting evidence. They only used my 2008 tax return for the income verification. 2008 was far more than enough by the 1.25*poverty guideline.

What turned out to be the snag, was her birth certificate and NBI clearance. We had both, but her original birth certificate had the wrong year, and was not fixed until 2007. So the consular said he just needs another NBI clearance using her incorrect birth year, as due diligence to show that the other records don't have any bad marks. We've already gotten that turned in, and are just waiting for the visa to be released.

When he mentioned that, we were confused at first, unsure if we were denied or under further review or something. He saw the confusion and explained it was an easy thing and said "congratulations". That word just keep resounding in my head for the rest of the week! "Congratulations"... For anyone wondering, the consular was a clean-shaved younger white guy with short hair and a somewhat deep voice. He's possibly a few years younger than me, I'm 31.

We can give credit to different things for the victory, but we know it was God's help that got us through. With our situation, it could easily have gone much worse, even resulting in denial, based on what I've read here on VJ. I haven't seen anyone else with our exact circumstance, but many similar cases with a better overall set of details have sometimes been denied, or been asked for co-sponsors (yes, even in Manila). But we had the perfect Helper, our paraclete (parakletos), the Lord God Almighty. How can we fail?

So I can offer these bits of advice, in ascending order of importance. That means the last one is the most important:

1. Petitioner be present at the interview if possible.

2. Bring all required evidence, and much more. Be ready for anything. Overwhelm them with well organized and solid evidence.

3. Build the relationship with your fiance(e)/spouse with God as the foundation.

4. Pray for His guidance and intervention to help all circumstances line up in favor of your visa approval. Be specific.

5. Entrust everything to His will, and have faith in His power.

Those aren't in chronological order, particularly 3. Heheh.

Congrats! I am happy for you both. Hope we have the same visa approval results when the time comes.

Ok I've been waiting since Nov when I filed for I129f visa, to be able to get request letter from us embassy to give to the Japanese embassy to request police certificate.

I just called the US embassy to see if my case had arrived, they had the electronic info not documents yet. So I couldn't get interview yet, but I asked about getting request letter to give to the Japanese embassy. The lady who I spoke to said the US embassy does not give out request letters, and to download pdf (basically is packet info) from us embassy and take to JP embassy.

Has anyone else had this happen, is this true, because I had that pdf downloaded about 3 months ago . Someone please tell me this is not true, or if it is true, did it work. Thank you.

I also called Japan embassy and they said we would need the request letter. I'm confused.

Yes, The Japanese embassy does need a request letter for the U.S embassy. I was there with my Fiancee in Nov 09 when I received the NOA2. My sister scanned and emailed me a copy, I printed it out and we went to the Manila U.S embassy. I told the guard that I needed a request letter and we were allowed in. I went to the window (I did not ask) I told the person what I needed and why. Yes, they will and do give you the letter requesting the police clearance.. I presented the NOA2 and was told to wait. About 15 minutes later we were called and given the request letter. We then went to the Japanese embassy and she filled out the forms and gave them the request letter. We were told she needed to be finger printed at the police station and to bring that back to them before it could be processed. They will tell you where to go. Be prepared for this to take long time due to traffic and slow working ethics of the people in the police station. Of course there is a bank fee that will have to be paid at the bank, This bank you will have to go to is walking distance from the police station. They will direct you to where it is. Of course when we got to the bank the computers were down and we could not pay the fee. We went back to the police station and my fiancee pleaded with them that she was from another province and I was departing the next day and we really needed this done. They were understanding and allowed us to pay the fee there, I gave the lady a tip for helping us.

We started out at 9am and was finished at 3pm. This was from the time we went to U.S embassy and finished at the Japan embassy. It only took about 45 days to get the Japan Police clearance. No need to get it translated. It will be in English , My Fiancee ? this when applying for it.

They called her at the end of Dec 09 and told her it was ready for pickup on Jan 5th,2010.

Hope this helps you!

VJ,

Questions: I can stay in the Philippines for 21 days without visa. Is that including the weekends. I will lay in the Philippines Nov 23- Dec 14. 21 days including the weekends!!

Yes, You can stay for 21 days including the weekends. I was there with my finacee the later part of Oct 09 to Nov 09 for total of 21 days including the weekends. I flew back stateside at 10:30pm on the 21 st day

Congrats!

Thank you, I hope you remember to post your update here. I will be looking forward to your reply. Thanks for all the help.

Rest assured. I will make the post! It has been along journey for us since May 09. I'll be very happy once this is completed. The hardest part of this is the wait. But I know it will be all worth it once she is with me stateside. I will post again here once I know the results and when her interview will be set. I spoke with her on the phone earlier and told her from what I have read, When she calls Monday for the results, If all is good she can set her interview date while she is speaking to them on the phone before even going to St Lukes. Course this all depends upon her results.

The NVC has told me that they schedule interviews on the second week of every month only. How soon after the 2 month culture results will the interview be scheduled? Will I have to wait for the second week of the following month or will there be some sort of special date just for her?

From what I have seen on other post concerning the sputum test, If it is negative they expedite the visa interview and should be within a couple of days after the results are given. But I will know for sure next Monday when my Fiancee calls for her results and is told to come in to St Lukes's. I 'll make a new post about the interview date if all goes well for her next week.

She hasn't done her testing yet. The three sputum tests start tomorrow. How long does it take to get results of the smear?

She should be told the results of her 2 smear test on the 3rd day that she gives the culture. This is what was done when my Fiancee did her Sputum test on Jan 10. When she found out about her medicals they told her to come back the following week for the Sputum test. She went back home and went to the hospital and did the Sputum test there. All 3 smear test were negative, She then reported back to St Luke's week and redone the Sputum test with them.

She had the same problem with x-rays a few yrs ago when she went to work in Japan but was cleared. She also sent in x-rays to St Luke's that she took in Jan 09 for comparison to the ones they took. She has never had a history of TB nor anyone in her family. We will find out the results next Monday and hopefully all will be good for her to do the interview.

another good thing about them...they have detailed useage reporting, so you can print those out for interviews.

Yup, I like the call detail that you can print. Was a few times she had trouble hearing me but for the most part the call was good quality, Heck talking for over 18 minutes at around $2.48 was real good deal. Thanks again!

If you have access to a US number like you say..check out rebtel.com. Basically it is a redialer. about 13 cents a min to a PI cellphone. You dial a "local" number in the US and it connects you in the PI. That is the best service I have found yet. Calling cards tend to accellerate the mins and charge connect fees.

Just wanted to say thanks for your help. I have signed up on Rebtel and I really like it,Awesome!

If you have access to a US number like you say..check out rebtel.com. Basically it is a redialer. about 13 cents a min to a PI cellphone. You dial a "local" number in the US and it connects you in the PI. That is the best service I have found yet. Calling cards tend to accellerate the mins and charge connect fees.

Thanks for the information! Will check it out now.

Now I am worried that my wife might have TB. If she is positive, she will be stuck here in the Philippines for another 6 months at least after the 2 month test for a total of 8+ months delay. She has no symptoms of TB but they found "something" in the chest x-ray apparently. Judging by the amount of people standing outside SLEC in the morning for a sputum test, they do this to about 75% of all people doing the medical. What are the chances of my wife actually having active TB? And if she has latent TB, will she still have to undergo medical treatment; or is it that only immigrants with ACTIVE TB have to do the treatment? Two months is a long time to wait for results...

I know your pain. My fiancee had to undergo the Sputum Test in Jan 10. She will call for the results this March 15th. They too found small slight scar on one of her lungs. She has no symptoms of TB either. Honestly, If she has no symptoms then you probably have nothing to worry about. If she has Active TB then she will have to undergo the 6 months of treatment in Manila. If it is Latent TB "which is not infectious" she will be cleared and sent for her interview but once she is stateside you will have to take her to health unit or to the doctor for treatment so that it will not become Active TB. (This is required)

But at least she will be stateside to undergo this procedure.

I hope that it is neither but if it has to be one of the two let it be Latent TB cause this does not stop them from getting into the U.S.A

I do know that if my fiancee is cleared once she is stateside we will have to take another chest x-ray for the A.O.S, This makes no sense to me to have to redo this if she is cleared of the Sputum Test but it is the rules.

Can anyone give me a website service providing a good calling card that can be used to call the Philippines. I work abroad and have access to a phone that is tied directly to the U.S.A. I have a international cell service that I use while abroad but recently having troubles placing calls. Figured I would try the calling card route. Thanks!

My wife called today to get results of Sputum culture. Of course they couldn't give result over the phone but they told her to report to Counter M at 8am on Monday. Can anyone tell me if going to one counter or another means anything at all?

Yes, If results are negative or positive one must still go back to St. Luke's for the results,She has to get the envelope they give her for the interview if she passed. They did not take my finance's passport since she had to do the Sputum test also. So this is another reason for her to return. I have read on a couple of different post that some were told that the results were negative and others were told they had to wait until they returned to get the results. Just have her bring clothing with her and all her documents cause from what I have seen on the post here if she has passed then they will expedite her interview within days of the results being given to her.

As for being told to return to Counter M, I am quite sure this is where she needs to go for getting the results. Nothing to worry about!

Good Luck!

Lafayette, Louisiana. Hope to have her across this May 2010

I recently wrote the Embassy in Manila an e-mail specifically about this question as my K2 Visa applicant wll have her interview on March 11th. Here is part of the reply that you'd be interested in:

"We cannot predict with certainty when the proposed rule to increase the machine readable visa (MRV) fees will be implemented. Although the proposal requires K nonimmigrant visa applicants to pay additional fees to cover the difference between the current and the new fees once these take effect, we can only suggest that the applicant pay the visa application fee at least two days prior to the applicant’s scheduled visa interview date. "

Basically, I'll have her pay the fee just before the interview. Have said that, on the Embassy web site-buried deep, is a more intersting tid bit that states a date of some sort. It's bookmarked on my other computer and not on the one I'm using now, sorry.

By the way,she'd just need to pay the difference in the two fee's if its enacted by the time of her interview.

Thanks for the information. This is a big help to me. I will be watching for when this increase happens and just have her pay the difference.

Does anyone know if the Visa issuance fee has increased from $131 to $350. I have not heard anymore about this proposed rule or if it has went into effect. My Fiancee has paid the fee of $131 but we had a setback with her medicals of having to take the Sputum test. We will know the results on March 15th. If this fee has increased I am unsure because it was paid already if the old fee will be good or will we have to pay the difference or worse yet have to pay the full $350 even though she already paid the $131 fee.

Thanks.

over the past few days, i've been window shopping airline tickets from both work and home. last night while at work, i noticed that the price had been increasing on a specific ticket combo, which was really surprising and upsetting me, but i came to my senses that i was willing to pay for the increased price to have my fiance with me sooner than having to wait and search for later dates for cheaper ticket pricing.

i went home to buy the tickets, thinking that i would have to pay the higher price, but when i was checking up on the price before purchase, i noticed that the price was back at the original price i found when i first started researching prices.

moral of the story: it might be a good idea to check the pricing on another computer if you notice the price is going up on one specific computer

i think that the websites are keeping track of how many times a certain computer is visiting the website and is increasing the prices.

we're not talking about airline ticket prices that fluctuate like the stock market people.

all i know is that something was fishy, but good thing i bought the tickets from home. it saved me over $200

Yes, You are being tracked because of the cookies left on your computer for that particular web addy. Go to your tools menu click on it and then click on internet options. Delete out the history,cookies, and web information each time after visiting the online air sites. This will stop them from tracking you and showing higher prices each time you visit the site.

Thanks for the quick response.

I don't really see the point why they have to let us do the treatment at St. Luke's considering staying in Manila entails a lot of expense, not to mention our jobs etc.

Thanks anyways. I earnestly pray I won't test positive and so the rest of those who are still waiting for the culture results.

Good luck on your results. My finacee just finished the Sputum test thursday. She was negative on the 2 smears and we are waiting for the culture result on March 15th.

Yes, If it is positive then moving to Manila is the requirements as you can only have treatmen from St. Lukes. Monday through Friday they have to report there for the meds daily. On Friday enough meds are given until you return Monday.

My finacee stated she spoke with alot of people that were having to reside in Manila and go daily for the meds.

I pray that she is cleared in the end, If not then this is just another added expense of living arrangments that will have to be met for this visa procedure. I am hoping for the best but also prepared for the worst.

I wish you the best of luck with your results!