Zai & Gary

I would not adjust status for her at this point. Put her on a one way flight back to the Philippines. She appears to have just wanted to immigrate here.

I experienced the same type of things back when I was trying to get an appointment for my wife. They refuse to tell you exactly when the appointments will be issued and would always say to try back in another week. My experience and research led me to believe that the appointments will not be issued until the remaining available date were either filled or had passed. However history seems to indicate that the 3rd week of the month (starting today) was the best time to call. This is only from my experience so it may not be the same for you. Don't get frustrated. I told the lady who answers that I would call her every day until I was able to get an appointment and she hinted to me to call back on a Monday of the following week. I did and was given appointments for my wife and son. Also, when you purchase the pin to make the calls, you are told that it is for 3 calls or a limited time. I actually called 12 times for various lengths of time and always used the same pin successfully so give it a try. It may not work for you but it did for me.

This sounds very similar to my step-son's case however my wife and him will not be here for about another week. My step-son tested positive with the TB skin test as well and then had to have the chest x-ray which was negative. In the Philippines a BCG vaccine is given to children to help prevent them from getting TB. The BCG Vaccine usually always causes a false Positive TB Skin test. The Medical CD's you have are for reference and contain their medical tests and results. It can be used as a baseline for future medical tests. Very rarely there can be a positive skin test with negative chest x-ray that could possibly be a dormant TB virus that can become active later in life. Again, this is rare. The CD can be opened and viewed to show the Health Department or Doctor whenever they need to review his past medical history/tests or if they test him and get another positive TB skin test result. He will probably in the future need to occasionally have a chest x-ray just to rule out any active TB virus but if he has never shown any symptoms or been directly exposed to someone with active TB then you probably have nothing to worry about.

OK back to your original question, the "Health Department" usually refers to the city or county health department. Hopefully someone can give you more direct information.

"To Whom it my concern" works.

There are many variations but in my opinion for the best results the letter should be on Company Letterhead and contain:

1) your name

2) your position or job description

3) your annual salary

4) your dates of employment (date you started to present)

5) the location of your job (city)

6) the date the letter was written

7) the signature of your HR rep or your boss

As an American male I wanted to give you my opinion (and it is only my opinion) based of my past marriage. My ex wife passed away years ago but her family was big on getting together and parties and such. I was not so excited about going to all of these parties but I did because it made my ex happy and she did not have to lie for me. She was always ready to attend all of my family gatherings as well. If your husband wants to attend then you should attend with him. After all, it is his family and even if he does not tell you, I am sure that he wants for you to get along with his family just as you want him to get along with your family. How would/do you feel if he makes excuses to not join in on your family's gatherings? If his family goes to the trouble to try to include you then try going. As you get to know them better you will feel much more comfortable with them as well. You are not attending to make them happy, you are attending as your husband's wife and that will make him happy.

It's not the closest to USEM, but I recommended Casa Bocobo. It is a nice hotel, safe, clean and prices are reasonable. Call +632-526-3783 to get prices and make reservations. My wife and son are there now. We also stayed there several times last year as well and have always been very happy with it. Their website is at Casa Bocobo.

I'm using my bank debit card and it transfer right away,few seconds.

Yes, debit cards process the same as a Credit card. The Bank Account option is an electronic check drafted off of your checking account and that it where the delayed pickup as well as the cheapest prices are.

I have been using Xoom every month for over a year. Sometime back Xoom stopped giving out coupons and even went as far as to put the word out (more like a warning) to the coupon websites such as coupon cabin, etc that they ARE NOT to publish Xoom's coupons to the general public any more. I guess Xoom was not making as much money anymore. And you are correct, they did raise their rates. I use a Credit Card because the transfer is immediate. Using a Bank Account will save you a lot but it can take as much as 5 days to be available. Compare prices to WU and others because the comparisons to Wu on Xoom's website is not necessarily comparing apples to apples. I just won't use WU ever again due to some problems I and others had with them some time back.

The USEM told me that you have to do the medical at least a week ahead of the Interview. I know some people have done the medical in the same week as the interview and had no problems but I personally would not chance it.

Also, St Lukes forwards the medical results and your passport directly to the Embassy so you are not allowed to hand carry it.

I called today and asked for an interview for my wife and step-son and was told that they did not have any appointments available unless you have already had your medical exam done and if you did then they had Sept 13, 14, and 15 appointments available. I was told to check back next week to see if there were any more appointments available yet. I get the feeling that they know more than they are willing or allowed to tell us but I believe that they they might start issuing October appointments next week. This is just speculation on my part. Anyone have any experience or knowledge on this?

Visa delivery fees are NOT included in other fees. The amount of the visa delivery fee depends on where it is delivered to but will probably not be more than 300 php.

My wife is also from a very small village on a small island in Samar and they have no house numbers or street names (there is only 1 street if you can call it that). I suspect that the person that you mentioned having their petition returned just left the house number and street names blank. I filled in both the house number and street name with "NONE" and had no problems at all. My petition went through without a problem. Be very aware of leaving bank fields because they think you just forgot to fill it in. Always fill them in with "None" or "N/A".

Hello and thanks for all of the information. My asawa will be ready to have her medical pretty soon and I have 2 questions for you that will help us very much.

1) Where you mentioned about what to bring you say:

What to bring:

- Original and Photocopied Appointment Letter

- OR your U.S. Embassy Letter

- NVC Case Number

- Valid Passport, have it photocopied too

- 4 2x2 Photographs (don't forget to write your name at the back)

- Payment for Medical Exam (fee must be paid in PHIL. PESOS at the prevailing exchange rate)

ADULTS(15yrs and older) $213.25

CHILDREN(under 15 yrs of age) $185.35

Is this appointment letter for your medical or it is an appointment for you USEM Interview?

My wife will be taking my 5 year old step son with her because he will also be getting his medical done. I have not seen anyone talk about the child's medical.

Did you see other women there with children? What happens when my wife must have her physical exam? Is there someone who will watch her son for her?

I called the NVC today to ask about my case and when the operator was verifying my information she verified my Name, correct; Date of Birth, correct; but when she told me my email address to verify it she gave an email address that was none of the emails I had previously given to them. Now here is the really strange part, it was my work email address. I am positive that I never gave them my work email address on any forms or by phone. How is it possible that they had my work email address associated to my info and not one of the email address that I had given to them and have been receiving email from them on?

You can email scans of all of the AOS paperwork and IV packets to NVC? I haven't heard that before. I thought those forms and documents had to be sent snailmail. They ask for original documents such as Marriage Cert, Police report, etc. How is it that you can send scans of those?

For mine it took 3 days.

Honestly I doubt that they would take the time to compare the name on every check to the name on every form. They probably do not care who writes the check as long as it clears the bank. If it was me, I would ask the family in US to write the check. Just be sure they note it on the bottom of the check the name and petition. This is just my opinion.

Did you send the DS3032 thru email or your wife to NVC? I'm still confused who can send this document. I don't think my parents know how to send an email, but can I email DS3032 on their behalf.

The DS-3032 is intended for the Beneficiary to fill in, sign and send in to NVC whether it be by email or regular mail.

I filled in the email format and emailed it to my wife who in turn forwarded it NVC from her email address.

The email format must be sent from the beneficiary's email address. To use the email format you must first call NVC and give them both Petitioner and Beneficiary email addresses.

If the Beneficiary for some reason can not email it, then your best choice would be to fill in all entries on the form (unless you are confident that they can do it correctly themselves), mail it to them to sign and place in an envelope and mail to NVC.

I believe it should be you Annual Gross Income. I'm not 100% sure of that.

<!--quoteo(post=1496051:date=Jan 16 2008, 10:52 PM:name=Jeraly)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jeraly @ Jan 16 2008, 10:52 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1496051"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><img src="http://www.visajourney.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/timeline.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="timeline.gif" />

You can go over and have a non-legal ceremony (no licence etc) then return to wait out the rest of the K-1 then have a legal (with a license) wedding when you have the K-1. This is not recommended and should only be done if you have no other feasible options - it is what I am having to do as the whole process has taken months longer than initially stated on the USCIS website <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="mad.gif" />. It's risky as we have booked the whole wedding (did so before the screw up s with post and USCIS) and I may get denied entry into the US but we have deemed it our only option short of costing ourselves thousands of dollars.

If you have not booked anything or if you can postpone for not too much money then I would STRONGLY recommend it - if you get legally married while on a K-1 then you will be breaching visa conditions and will have to return to your home country to file for a spousal visa which takes longer than a K-1 as a general rule <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I have not booked anything yet so I guess I will postpone. How long did it take you to get the K1 Visa?

Also, that kind os sucks for me having to wait alone here wile my fiancé is living there. As far as I understand this is OK for me to go visit him wilst waiting for the Visa and then come back to France for the interview, right? Then I guess I can just go back to the US right after with my K1 Visa and finally get married?

Consider yourself lucky that you can come visit him. Many countries (including my wife's) can not come visit. I figure it will be close to 1 year since we got married before she will be here. Everyone complains about waiting but that is just part of the process and there is nothing you can do about it except to prepare in advance by getting all of your documents ready so as soon as you receive an approval at one stage you are ready to send in your package for the next stage. Have patience and Good Luck,

You also will have to have supporting documentation from your Doctor stating why you need your wife here sooner. USCIS does not expedite just because you say you have a medical problem. You have to prove it all and prove what would happen if she does not come here sooner.

You already applied? Or you are preparing to apply?

If you already applied and the documents do not match then you will probably get an RFE or be denied.

If you have not yet applied then you need to go to whatever official office for those documents and have them corrected before you apply.

Either way, they need to be corrected so that they match.

We need to keep in mind the terminology used here. Making someone a "Joint Bank Account Holder" is different from adding someone to your account as an authorized card holder and making someone the beneficiary of your account should something happen to you. I don't know everyone elses reason for wanting the foreign S.O. as a joint account holder but I suspect that primarily it is same as me because the USIS uses a Joint Bank Account in their description of proof of relationship. They really should not use that as an example because it is not such an easy thing to accomplish for many people.

I wanted my wife as a Joint Bank Account Holder for proof or relationship.

Bank of America told me that they had 2 requirements for a Joint account Holder

1) she must have a SSN (I'm not trying to start that debate again)

2) she must be there in person for her signature.

They did offer to add her as an authorized Debit Card User and as Beneficiary without these two requirements. I opted to forget about the Joint Account idea until after she gets here.

"If you provide a photocopy of your tax return(s), you must include a copy of each and every Form W-2 and Form 1099 that relates to your return(s). Do not include copies of these Forms if you provide an IRS transcript of your return(s) rather than a photocopy." - Quote from I-864 form.

Loto

What I was really asking is: if I send in the 3 years of Tax Transcripts, do I still need to send the current year's 1040?

Gary

Did you also email the Choice of Agent (as per the Wiki on this site) to the NVC or only send a hard-copy ?

Hard Copy? That's a bad word these days. Go electronic in every way that you can. I emailed the DS-3032. I placed the filled out form from Wiki in an email and then I emailed it to my wife. She then reviewed it checking for error, deleted my personal information (showing that it was from me) and emailed it to NVC. I was online with her at the time just in case she had any questions. That worked great for us.