Russell and Jenny

yes, i called them from my cell phone from usa.

yes they will make her come back for part of the exam. the same thing happened to my wife last month at St. Lukes.

my wife is at the embassy in manila now for her interview. we hope to have approval within a few hours!

I have read that it takes up to 10 business days. but looking at others results i haven't seen any that take more than 5 business days. if so that would mean you should receive it friday Dec. 11.

good luck,

Russell

Congratulations!!!!

My Wife has her interview Thursday Dec 11th. So it's comforting for us to read your notes. Thanks for taking time to post them.

Best wishes,

Russell and Jenny

I read on USCIS website that any forms with errors had to be resubmitted with the correct info. And it's probably adviseable to include a cover letter with an explanation.

I have a tenure greencard and got divorced. If I am going to re-marry here in US do I still have to secure a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) from the PI?

I would not think so. CENOMAR is if you have never been married. I think you would need your divorce decree instead.

My wifes interview is Dec 11. Thanks for tip on air fare, I will check it out. The best I found so far was Expedia. They had reasonable prices and allow you to select the seat. Good luck with interview.

Russell

My wife will be here soon...I live in Houston and I agree that she will like the weather here much better than north USA. But it's suprisingly cold right now. I think she will be shocked when she arrives; and she doesn't have winter clothes. we will need to shop for some right away.

Ok, i'll start here and hopefully everything will post too, those who are having interviews on December 2009...

I am ON.... DECEMBER 08,2009

Good luck to US ALL Decembers'!

Fransha

My wife has her interview Dec 11. We are both so excited and a little nervous. We think we have everything we need, but there's always that little bit of doubt. good luck you you.

Russell

I am confused. My fiance' received her Visa Packet. It was sealed. She opened the plastic bag to remove her passport but my question is, attached to the yellow evelope was two documents, (1) Embassey warning page and (2) Embassey Consular information, but the consular information form was asking her to verify her visa information to ensure it was correct, but there is no way she can do that without opening the sealed envelope. Is there something missing and should I be concerned? I read someplace where there is a emigration data summary sheet that was suppose to be attached as well but I am sure if that applies. What should I do? I've already booked her flight to the USA for Wednesday 9 Dec 09. Thanks for all your help.

It has a warning so better dont open it coz only the immigration officer is authorized to open it.

Yes, I understand, she will not attempt to open the package but my question still remain the same. One of the documents attached to the envelope is asking her to verifiy her visa information. Should there be another document attached whereas she can verify if her visa information is correct?

I thought the visa would be attached to an inside page of her passport. That's where mine was when I went to the Philippines.

very sorry to hear about your situation. I wish I could give you good advice, but I am not qualified to do that. I know they won't approve a visa without certified copies of the divorce papers. Your husband should been able to get a certified copy from the court house....actually you could get a copy too. It's a public record and open to anyone . I am not sure about the area he lives, but in my area you can even search online and see the divorce cases. I would think you could get a marriage annulment if that is what you want to do.

God will be with you

That sucks; they should have told her why. It also seems strange they would give her that date. She might try going earlier anyway; maybe they will perform the exam. My wife went in before we knew there was an appointment date and they allowed her to have the exam then. She did have to go back a few days later because she was having menstruation. But she completed most of the exam on the first day.

good luck

that really sucks; some of these fees just don't make sense. especially for that.

where did you see that she would need the original I-797? I haven't noticed that before.

Russell

Congratulations!!!

My wife has her interview at Manila Embassy Dec. 11. Just curious when was your interview. They say it takes a week or longer to get the visa, was that the case with you? Consider completing your timeline; it would help others in the future.

thanks,

Russell

Check out "Ling Che's NVC shortcuts" and get everything ready to submit.

I have read "Ling Che's NVC shortcuts" and have been using most of them. I was wondering if anyone recently has been succesful doing this; or has experience with this part:

we have an interview sceduled for the K3 on Dec 11 at the Embassy in Manila

the I130 is still being processed at NVC

I would like to keep the interview date of the K3 but change it to the CR1 if it is ready at that tme

is the NVC receptive to this?

the shorcut says to speak to a supervisor at NVC, the operator cannot do this? Is it difficult to get a supervisor?

do I keep calling to find out when they are ready to send the petition to the embassy and attempt this at that time?

what if i miss that exact time and they send the I130 and schedule an interview for a later date than the K3 interview?

thanks for input.

Russell

K3 was originally designed [LIFE ACT] to shorten the time families are apart. People could apply for both K3 amd CR-1/IR-1 and take the K3 interview first, get the visa and go to the US and when the CR-1/IR-1 interview came up go back and take the CR-1/IR-1 interview and get the immigrant visa and the GC without having to do AOS.

This option is still available.

Thanks, my questions are:

1. how do you know when the CR 1 package is approved by NVC; and so when to call and discuss with the Supervisor.

2. what exactly do you ask the Supervisor? should I ask them to reset the existing K3 interview to a CR1 interview? and also to expedite the CR1 package to the embassy.

3. the shortcut page said this works with some Embassys; does anyone know if this works with the Embassy in Manila?

thanks again,

Russell

Check out "Ling Che's NVC shortcuts" and get everything ready to submit.

I have read "Ling Che's NVC shortcuts" and have been using most of them. I was wondering if anyone recently has been succesful doing this; or has experience with this part:

we have an interview sceduled for the K3 on Dec 11 at the Embassy in Manila

the I130 is still being processed at NVC

I would like to keep the interview date of the K3 but change it to the CR1 if it is ready at that tme

is the NVC receptive to this?

the shorcut says to speak to a supervisor at NVC, the operator cannot do this? Is it difficult to get a supervisor?

do I keep calling to find out when they are ready to send the petition to the embassy and attempt this at that time?

what if i miss that exact time and they send the I130 and schedule an interview for a later date than the K3 interview?

thanks for input.

Russell

My husband's approved cases on October 27th, STILL have not made it to the NVC. What's the hold up? Are my papers misplaced or something? Anyone still waiting for there case to get to the NVC? Im worried.

It took my petitions (I130 & I129F) a long time at NVC also. USCIS approved them after 3 weeks. But NVC took 5 weeks to post that they had them. I think NVC is currently back logged. It's frustrating that some fly through NVC and others don't. It would be nice if they were consistent.

So, since both of my husbands I130 & I129f are both approved and are being sent to the NVC, my I129f will just pass there as a pit stop get an assigned number and will go straight to the consulate. However, if i go with the I130, I will still have to receive the first packet, turn things in, wait for response, get the second packet, turn things in, and wait for another response. You don't think that by the time that whole process of the I130 is complete that my I129f would have already been at the consulate and have been scheduled an appointment?

I applied for the I130 and I129F. They were both approved by USCIS California in 3 weeks and sent to NVC. Currently the I130 is still at NVC (and has been for about 6 weeks) However the I129F is at the Embassy and we have a Dec. 11 interview. So I don't regret submitting both at this point. I haven't seen a down side to it as of yet. It will cost an extra $130, but to me it's worth that if my wife is with me a month or two sooner.

Yes they are currently taking a long time. In my case it was a little over one month before they forwarded the approved I129F to the embassy.

it took about 2 weeks for us; according to the embassy. but i think they actually received it in 3 days and it took that long to log it in their system.

Russell

Hello everyone! I have a question regarding the interview.. I got my NOA2 and a letter from NVC(not a hard copy) already for my K-1 petition.. And my question is that

1. What will i do next? Can we set the interview now?

2. Who will call to set a date for the interview? Are they gonna call me or my fiancee to set it?

3. When should we have the interview? Are we gonna set an appointment in MEdical of my fiancee or will the Embassy take care of it?

Thank you guys and will wait for your answers.

Hello Randy,

I have just set an interview appointment with the Embassy in Manila for a K3 (spouse) visa. This is the same process as the K1...the NVC does not set the appointment. You or your fiance need to set the appointment. But they won't let you until the Embassy has received your package from the NVC. But I did save a few days by calling the Embassy a few times and finally they said they had the package and would allow me to set the appointment for my wife. This saved the time it would have taken for them to send the letter to her. The Embassy in Manila has some info you will need. They also don't mail a package...you download the forms and info. Here is a link to info about setting an appointment....it cost $18 from the USA for a PIN. or about $1 per minute if calling from Philippines. http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwfccqa.pdf

As far as the medical...you can go on your own....they don't take appointments. But the benificary needs to print the letter from the Embassy (or email as in our case) passport photos and their passport.

let me know if you have any questions...I have just gone through all of this and tried all the shortcuts. good luck,

Russell

Thank you very much everyone for your advice.

Does anyone know how long an application seats at the USCIS before it is send to the NVC. Is it a good or a bad idea to make constants phone calls to the USCIS to see if any progress is being made on our application. Thanks you.

It seems now the USCIS is much faster than in the past...even a few months ago. It only took them about 3 weeks to approve my I-130 and I-129. So the past timelines don't seem to me to reflect current time frames. Of course there are always exceptions.

good luck.

I had the same situation. Neither was cancelled and both are proceeding now. The I-129F passed up the I-130 because it didn't have to be processed by NVC. But it has stalled at the Embassy in Manila. I am now paying the fees and submitting the 2 documents required by NVC for the I-130. Soon they will forward the I-130 to Manila. So I am going to accept the first one we have interview for. I did read somewhere that if they schedule the I-129F interview, then the I-130 is ready to ask NVC to expedite the I-130 to the embassy....and keep the original appointment. I am not sure if this will work, but I will try.

Hello Kevin,

I began the process by filing our I-130 on September 2nd. I suggest you file this ASAP; and then file an I-129 as soon as you get the receipt from USCIS (you have to send a copy of it with your I-129F petition). You will have a few weeks to gather the other documents. The next one you will need is your I-864 and your 1040 and W-2's.

best of luck,

Russell