deeaiy

My fiancee finally got her visa today!!! It was delivered by the courier. Our process was not as smooth as what others have experienced. I could say that it was a long hard ride. There were times when I was losing hope. All I can say to those of you who are still waiting is to not lose hope. Sure it's easy to say it now but hang in there. Believe me, we hit all the bumps we could possibly hit along the way. Regardless, if we were able to get through this so can all of you.

Don't forget to pray. It helped us a lot. Good luck to all of us and God bless!!!

Hi Wally. I got our MNL # finally. I also got an email from USEM Manila saying that they have our package already and have sent out a letter to my fiancee. It's coming along now I think. I couldn't find any info about the time frame of scheduling an interview appointment though. Will they be the ones to give you a date after you pay or have you choose some open dates? How far out do you normally set or get a date from the day you request an appointment? Thanks.

Hmmm, has NVC received your case at all yet? They only hold on to case files for about 48 hours before shipping them off to the respective embassies. As for the medical, it doesn't matter which you do first - go for the medical or schedule the interview - as long as you have your MNL number. You will need that number for both going through the medical and scheduling the interview. We scheduled the interview online as opposed to calling the embassy. With that said, we scheduled the interview before going for her medical. When she goes to pay the $350 visa fee, she can go to any BPI branch as long as its not a BPI Savings Bank branch. It has to be a full service branch. She will need her passport (or at least her passport number, but should bring her passport just in case) since the embassy tracks who paid the fee by the passport number. Her passport number is also the receipt number. It's also important that she brings the receipt from the visa fee payment with her to the interview. They will need it for their files. We forgot to bring it with us and it delayed us getting her visa a little. Although, we did have the good fortune to have requested her visa be held for pick-up at SM Bicutan. If she lives in Metro Manila near there, don't select that location for pick-up. When we went to see if it was ready, one of the guards in the mall said that 2Go had pulled out of SM Bicutan. So, that sent me back to the embassy the next day to inquire about her visa. That's when they told me that they were missing and needed the payment receipt. I asked if I could bring it back the next day and pick-up the visa and they said okay. However, this is something they DO NOT normally do. I count myself as very lucky in this case.

Yes, your NVC case number is you MNL number. The embassy may ask about your filing status, but what matters to them is that you're legally able to marry within 90 days after your fiancee enters the USA. Your divorce decree is your proof of that. As soon as you have your MNL number, your fiancee can go to SMLEC for the medical. In our case, we were pushing things right to the limit. My Amy tried to get her medical done a week before her interview but was told to come back due to some female issues due to a recent pregnancy. We finished her medical the day before her interview. SMLEC gave her an envelope to take with her to the interview. We came out fine.

Congratulations on your wedding. I'm glad that your NOA2 came out just after a short period. Ours took 5 months! I don't know why but when I called them up they said they don't work on cases in a chronological order. Did your fiancee do the medical first then schedule a USEM appointment? Happy Thanksgiving by the way, or as it's known in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world, THURSDAY.

Wally thanks so much for your reply. I have been looking for reliable info on what to do next or what to expect. In last 3 income tax filings, I filed as married with dependents of course because my divorce did not finalize until May of this year. I filed my I-129F sometime in June. Do you think my tax filing status then will make a difference? I will be supplying my fiancee my final divorce papers of course. In fact she already has it. I also will include an employment certification, pay stubs and W-2's. I filed all 1040A's as well.

I have not received a case number from the NVC yet. Is that the MNL#?

When is the right time to get a medical? After she gets a notification from the embassy? How long did it take for the NVC to send your package to USEM? I got my NOA2 Nov 16,2011. Thanks for all your help. God bless!!!

After 5 months and a few days we finally got our NOA2. I was getting ready to talk to my congressman and see what's up. So I'm breathing again...

What's next? How long does it take for the US Embassy in Manila to receive my package from the National Visa Center?

Does her CENOMAR state that she was married before? Or is it simply a statement of singleness? They can vary.

I personally wouldn't take the chance. Instead, I'd produce the annulment document -- no "divorce" in the Philippines -- and be sure that all of my bases were covered.

I wouldn't think the passport amendments would substantiate the annulment on the basis of a name change alone. Again, I wouldn't go in there with holes in the paperwork.

If she filed an annulment, she did it through an attorney -- and she should be able to track the individual down and have them draw up the document.

Like I said, I just wouldn't take any chances with it. We went in fully prepared -- overly prepared -- and we were approved about a minute after sitting down for the interview.

Good luck.

Thanks for your reply. She was married and divorced in Japan. The amendments were done in the Philippine emabssy there. She was never married in the Philippines so the CENOMAR stated that there are no records of her ever married. I guess that's a certification of singleness. She tried inquiring in the Japanese embassy in Manila if she can get a record of her divorce through them but the embassy said they can't do that for her. Trying to go to Japan is out of the question right now. I guess I'll just turn in whatever I have and see.

I have been separated from my wife for 10 years and she just recently filed the paperwork for an uncontested divorce. She says that it will be another 2 - 4 months before the divorce is final..

Can I file the I-129F to get the K1 process going or is that going to cause me problems?

If I can file it should I put married or Divorced? The paperwork is at the courts now.

Thanks

Wizhk

It's worth the wait. I had to go through that myself. What I suggest you do is that while waiting for your final divorce papers start working on your I-129F package so as soon as you get your final divorce papers you will be ready to send the I-129F right away.

Hi to everyone. I'm getting close to mailing my I-129F package. I do have a question though about a couple of things I'm sending in. My Filipina fiancee was married in Japan a long time ago. When she got married in Japan her Philippine passport was amended in the Philippine embassy to show married and she got her new passport bearing her new married name. All is well. After a few years she got divorced and again her passport was amended in the Philippine embassy showing she's divorced and got a new passport back to her maiden name. She doesn't really have a copy of whatever divorce decree they have. Would the passport amendments be acceptable as evidence of divorce? They are official passport stamps and signed by the Consul or Consul General whichever one. I'm also planning on sending with the package a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) which we got recently when I was in the Philippines. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance. God Bless!!!

Thank you all for your input. I'll do just that.

I don't know how the newer Certificate of Naturalization looks like now but the one that I have has a note on it saying DO NOT PHOTOCOPY. In the guide for K-1 petitions however it says that a photocopy of a Naturalization Certificate could be submitted for proof of citizenship. Is it ok to copy that now?

Also I'd like to find out if you needed to have anything notarized like cover letters, etc as part of the I-129F package. Thanks.

Hi everyone. My fiancee and I are starting to get our I-129F package together. I hope to file in about a week or two. I've been trying to get as much info as I can to help make things go smoothly. My fiancee lived in Japan for some time. She's back in the Philippines now. I understand that she will need to get a police clearance from Tokyo. When it's her time to get her package from the US embassy will she automatically get a letter to take to the Japanese embassy requesting for a clearance? Or will she need to ask for such a letter from the US embassy? Thanks in advance.