Paul + Tonieta

We just did the interview June 22. They wanted the DS-156, and DS-156k forms and the DS 157. Online DS-160 is not for K-1 visas. Good Luck

You can bring your passport and a copy of the passport Bio pages (the pic and printed info on the 1st pages) to BPI and pay for the visa interview now, about 16,900 pesos. You should also know your MNL number in case they ask for it. They usually don't.

To schedule online embassy appointment "prettyjan" posted this and it is very accurate You cannot schedule online for at least 4 hours after you get your receipt so it can get in the system:

1. Go to this website: http://www.ustraveldocs.com//

2. Select the Philippines for the Country pull-down menu.

3. Do not go to the non-immigrant section. Instead, go to the "Immigrant Visas" section and click on "Applying for an Immigration Visa Appointment".

4. From the Immigrant Visa Appointment page, do not click on "Schedule an Appointment". Instead, look further down and click on "K-Visa Appointment Scheduling".

5. From this page, you enter your passport number, case number, payment date, birthdate, and create a password.

6. The next page asks for passport issuance date and experiation date. It also asks for the address to send your passport to after receiving visa. You need to know City, State/Province, and ZIPCODE.

7. After entering the required info, your name goes to a list and your asked if you want to add another applicant. If including a child with K2, select yes.

8. Go through the same process again entering in the information for the child.

9. Here's the tricky part. If something goes wrong and you exit the site but you haven't created the schedule yet, you can't start over again the same way. After the payment date with passport number has been used once, you can't use it again. Instead, you have to go back to the "Applying for an Immigration Visa Appointment" page again. This time you do select the "Schedule an Appointment" link and not the "K-Visa Appointment Scheduling" link. From here, you can re-enter the beneficieries info and add other applicants for the K2 children.

10. After all applicants are entered, you select them all with the check boxes, and select to set an appointment. Make sure all applicants are selected.

11. Now you just select the date you want and the time. It sets all applicants the same.

12. Last, you can download a PDF file for the appointment letters for each applicant.it.

St Lukes is walk in and cost is about 9100 pesos. You can preregister online http://www.slec.ph/home.shtml it helps a little when you get there. You'll need:

Valid passport

Copy of bio pages of passport

Two 2x2 visa photos

Copy of NOA2

Copy of NVC letter sent to petioner that your petition is being sent to Manila (Petitioner should get that soon)

Casa Bocobo is a hotel very near the embassy. It costs about 1000 pesos a night but my fiancee said it was good and very convenient. Just a suggestion.

In the meantime petitioner can get the I-134 ready and organise what you will need for the interview. Forms can be found at http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.htmlThis is what we did:

Proof of fee payment from BPI

DS-156 2 copies

DS-157 2 copies

DS156K

Valid passport

birth Certificate (NSO)

NBI clearance

CENOMAR

Evidence of meeting within 2 years ( evidence of continuing relationship since 129-f)

Proof of termination of previous marriages

I-134 from petitioner along with proof of income (letter from employer) (letter from bank) ( maybe last 3 years tax transcripts available from IRS, free. They mail them out quickly

3 visa photographs

medical exam result

We are also adding a new letter of intent with more recent date and proof of engagement just because we have it.

Don't forget the CFO which is about 250 pesos for the seminar and about 450 for the "stamp" on the visa when you get it. This can be done while in Manila or Cebu. Need passport (if you do thid before the embassy interview) and copy of passport bio pages,copy of any divorce records They also asked for a pic of us together

We just finished the interview so I thought I would just write out what we did.

Good luck and aloha......................................Paul

We just did the interview on 6/22/11 and passed in the I-134. It does not have to be notarized as others have noted. Just as an extra note the D-156 form said it "expired " on 5/31/11 in the upper right corner but also was accepted too. Good luck and aloha.............................Paul

I wanted to give an alternative to DHL and LBC and the post office for sending mail and packages to the philippines. I used a company called Johnny Air to send my I- 134 and tax information as well as other embassy required papers to Cebu . From Hawaiii I sent the packet by priority mail to the California Johhny Air. I talked to them and asked them to expect it. They were very receptive and helpful. They in turn sent it to thier storefront in Cebu. It took 10 days but I knew where the packet was the whole time and they notified my fiancee when it arrived so she could pick it up. The cost was 13 dollars from California for the documents. The priority mail was another 8. So the total cost was 21 dollars. There are storefronts in Legaspi Village, Makati,Mandaluyong,Baranggay Palanan, Makati City,Dagupan City,Naga City,Laoag,Ilocos Sur,Bacolod City,Cebu city,Iloilo City,McArthur Hi-way, Matina Davao,Limketkai Center, Cagayan De Oro City

Several things I sent by different carriers never got to her. We did not have to worry about it getting delivered (or not) to her barangay. Hope this helps someone. http://www.johnnyair.com/?page=85

Good luck to all and aloha..............................Paul

Tonieta just texted me she passed her interview (6/22/11) noon time Manila. We will talk online later but I had to tell someone and everyone on VJ especially in this December thread has been so helpful and great. Good luck to all and a sincere thanks to everyone. I'll look in on Dizzy's AOS site. Aloha..........Paul

You can bring your passport and a copy of the passport Bio pages (the pic and printed info on the 1st pages) to BPI and pay for the visa interview now, about 16,900 pesos. You should also know your MNL number in case they ask for it. They usually don't.

To schedule online "prettyjan" posted this and it is very accurate:

1. Go to this website: http://www.ustraveldocs.com//

2. Select the Philippines for the Country pull-down menu.

3. Do not go to the non-immigrant section. Instead, go to the "Immigrant Visas" section and click on "Applying for an Immigration Visa Appointment".

4. From the Immigrant Visa Appointment page, do not click on "Schedule an Appointment". Instead, look further down and click on "K-Visa Appointment Scheduling".

5. From this page, you enter your passport number, case number, payment date, birthdate, and create a password.

6. The next page asks for passport issuance date and experiation date. It also asks for the address to send your passport to after receiving visa. You need to know City, State/Province, and ZIPCODE.

7. After entering the required info, your name goes to a list and your asked if you want to add another applicant. If including a child with K2, select yes.

8. Go through the same process again entering in the information for the child.

9. Here's the tricky part. If something goes wrong and you exit the site but you haven't created the schedule yet, you can't start over again the same way. After the payment date with passport number has been used once, you can't use it again. Instead, you have to go back to the "Applying for an Immigration Visa Appointment" page again. This time you do select the "Schedule an Appointment" link and not the "K-Visa Appointment Scheduling" link. From here, you can re-enter the beneficieries info and add other applicants for the K2 children.

10. After all applicants are entered, you select them all with the check boxes, and select to set an appointment. Make sure all applicants are selected.

11. Now you just select the date you want and the time. It sets all applicants the same.

12. Last, you can download a PDF file for the appointment letters for each applicant.it.

St Lukes is walk in and cost is about 9100 pesos. You'll need:

Valid passport

Copy of bio pages of passport

Two 2x2 visa photos

Copy of NOA2

Copy of NVC letter sent to petioner that your petition is being sent to Manila (Petitioner should get that soon)

Casa Bocobo is a hotel very near the embassy. It costs about 1000 pesos a night but my fiancee said it was good and very convenient. Just a suggestion.

In the meantime petitioner can get the I-134 ready and organise what you will need for the interview.This is what we did:

Proof of fee payment from BPI

DS-156 2 copies

DS-157 2 copies

DS156K

Valid passport

birth Certificate (NSO)

NBI clearance

CENOMAR

Evidence of meeting within 2 years ( evidence of continuing relationship since 129-f)

Proof of termination of previous marriages

I-134 from petitioner along with proof of income (letter from employer) (letter from bank) ( maybe last 3 years tax transcripts available from IRS, free. They mail them out quickly

3 visa photographs

medical exam result

We are also adding a new letter of intent with more recent date and proof of engagement just because we have it.

Don't forget the CFO which is about 250 pesos for the seminar and about 450 for the "stamp" on the visa when you get it. This can be done while in Manila or Cebu.

Sorry if this is too much info but we just paid and did the appointment and medical and we are waiting for the June 22 embassy appoinment so I thought I would just write out what we did.

Good luck

One thought is that the date you are using when you paid the fee may either be put in incorrectly by that I mean 5/20/11 instead of 05-20-2011 but you said you entered it many times so I doubt that is it. Also if you paid in the afternoon the payment date may be 05-21-2011. I have heard other people trying the next day as a solution. i waited almost two weeks before my MNL # was in their "system". Just a couple of thoughts. Good luck.

We also followed the link B-J sent in their reply. If you schedule online be sure you have fiancee's passport number, where it was issued,date issued, and date expired handy. It is requested as you schedule. You can pay the fee anytime (no need to wait for embassy letter) with just the MNL number and a copy of fiancee's passport bio page but she also has to bring the original passport to the bank(BPI). We just did this a month ago. Good luck

Sorry . I thought it was K1 I didn't look carefully. Good luck.

Your 129 F is valid for 4 months. I've heard that there is an automatic 4 month extension in Manila but I don't know this for certain. You might want to have the petitioner sign a request for an extension in case you need it.

As far as I know the Manila embassy does not schedule appointments. They send a notice saying you are eligible to schedule the appoinment. It can be done on line or on the phone. I don't know how far in advance you can do this but I do know you have to pay the Visa fee before you schedule and that receipt is good for one year i believe.

You should check with the embassy on both these points.

As others have said the visa date is separate from the 90 days. If you travel anytime within the visa date your 90 days begins when you arrive in the U. S.

Good luck on your nursing exams and in arranging your times.

Krisca,

I am not 100% sure but I want to mention this. I think that if your daughter is listed on your K1 ( if it a K1 visa you are working on) and was to accompany you on a K2 she can only do this within one year of your K1 approval. If you do her medical in a year I THINK you may have to go through the whole visa process and fees for her. I don't believe you can schedule an embassy appointment without the medical being done. Maybe someone who knows more can verufy or correct this.

Why don't you want the sputum test and completion of "2 months treatment for primary complex." Is it the time delay?

Good luck

Princess please try not to worry too much. You have a very recent clear x-ray which many of the women going into St Lukes do not have, They do not know what their x-ray will look like. You do. Its clear. Your cough lasted a couple of days and cleared. You're fine now. And you are right being worried can make you ill. At the very worst a sputum test delays things for 2 months while treatment is done but that is for people who test positive. Tonieta just went for the medical and said it was ok just time consuming. Many of the women here say simply "I did my medical today" so that's why you don't hear too much about it. In the scheme of things it seems not so traumatic just one more thing that has to be done. I underdstand that you are worried but also want you to balance that with what you know about yourself right now. You can feel pretty confident your clear lungs are not going to be a problem at St. Lukes.Good luck. Go and get it over with. Aloha....Paul

Hello Vj friends,

i just realized when i woke up this morning that there was never a minute this scare of undergoing the dreaded sputum examination at slec left my mind for almost a week now since i had to cancel my appointment last week.and today i officially consider myself as paranoid and im probably just hurting myself doing so.

the paranoia got worse when i got a call from my bestfriend that her mother just died from lung infection and we all lived together in an area where 2 other people passed away suspected from tb infection years ago,right after the phone call i rushed to a nearby hospital to have a chest xray which had a favorable result..negative from any spots very clear...still didnt free me from worrying and reading information,reviews and past threads here about sputum test just makes things worst for me now.i am recovering from a minor cough that only lasted for a couple of days which i only treated with herbal meds ( garlic and lagundi to be exact)and was able to resume weight training yesterday.i re scheduled my medical exam this coming monday i am still very nervous..help me lord! how come i seldom read good feedbacks about SLEC

TIA and Goodluck to all of us on this nerve wrecking Journey

In Cebu these things were asked for just this past week:

1. Copy of my annulment docs. and my fiance's divorce decree

2. Few pics together

3. Docs. like BC, CENMAR, NBI- photocopy only

4. Copy of passport of my passport and copy of my petitioner's passport

5. Fee: 250- seminar; 400- sticker

6. 2x2 pic US passport size- 3 pcs.

7. 2 valid IDs\

8. Close relative phone# of beneficiary

9. Last name of petitioners mother

I don't know if in Manila they ask for other things. Good luck on your journey

I put the "+" sign in before I put in the Phlippine phone number and got the same message. I removed it and the number was accepted. It means the space will only take numbers written as zero through nine. Good luck

Aloha M&M,

First congratulations on getting your visa.

Tonieta will have her interview on June 22 but may not come over until August. She is from Cebu. We will be living on Oahu one of the 6 main islands that make up Hawaii. She also has a big family and I know she will miss them and they will miss her very much. It would be nice if she had someone here to talk with. If you would like her phone and e-mail before she arrives just let me know and I will get them to you. I use this site often to help our process but she hardly ever comes on.

hisprincess, the same message to you I'd be happy to get her contact information to you also just let me know.

I'd feel better knowing there are a couple of people here she will be able to talk to right away. I cannot imagine leaving my country and family behind. It would be a very hard thing to do. One more thing I appreciate about her.

Aloha.......................Paul

And I'm sure she's always been a queen by the way you talk about her. Congratulations and good luck hope that NOA2 comes along. Now its just official.

Aloha all.

I know you have all just been reading this thread and dying to know where Tonieta and I are at and not worrying about anything else!!!! Well she went to her medical at St Lukes in the Philippines 5/17 and 5/18 and that is finally completed. She got an x-ray CD and a personal copy of the Vaccination Documentation Worksheet to bring to the U.S. for medical follow-up at the Health Department for AOS later. I now have to get the I-134 and other docs to her and set up her embassy interview.

I'm following the progress here. If nothing else each of us is getting an unforgettable lesson in patience. Good luck to all.

Aloha.........................Paul

Tonieta is staying right now at the Hotel Bocobo . She said it is clean and the breakfast was good. The internet cafe is expensive and poor equipment. Cost is 2000 per night for her and a friend and its walking distance to St. Lukes.and maybe a short cab ride to the embassy. She arrived after midnight so had to pay 750 pesos to the hotel from the airport using what she called airport v-hire. Other people have said a regular taxi is about 500 pesos.

Casa Bocobo

1000 J. Bocobo Street

Ermita, Manila 1000

Philippines

Phone Number: (63 2) 526 3783

Location Information

Within a 20-minute drive from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)

Located between Teodoro M. Kalaw and United Nations avenues, in the vicinity of Rizal Park in Ermita, Manila, the hotel takes you close to many notable places in the metropolis.

It is near these places:

Manila Ocean Park, Robinsons Place Manila , World Health Organization, LRT UN Station, Philippine General Hospita, US Embassy, Manila City Hall

I have sent money to my fiancee several times while I was visiting her in the Philippines using Xoom to avoid carrying a lot of cash. It worked fine. I also e-mailed Xoom and they e-mailed back saying it would work fine. This is their reply:

Response (Richa Ahluwalia) - 04/13/2010 10:58 PM

Dear Paul,

Thank you for contacting Xoom customer service with your request.

Please be advised that you can indeed send funds to your friend in the Philippines while visiting the country. For this, you will have to use your US bank account or US issued credit/debit card.

Have a good trip

Got packet Monday !!!! Sent money and deposit in the bank. Have to call for apt. Tonight... How Lomb will it take after that?

Sorry i meant Philippine portal http://www.visajourney.com/portals/index.php?auto=1

We don't have an embassy appoinment yet. From what others say it can take up to two weeks to get the passport back from the embassy depending on where she lives in Philippines. It is delivered by a company called 2Go. She can also arrange to pick it up at a 2go office according to what I've read but she has to specify this at the embassy. Others may know more in the Philippine forum.

Got packet Monday !!!! Sent money and deposit in the bank. Have to call for apt. Tonight... How Lomb will it take after that?

.

I'm very sorry to hear this. Our timelines are similar. It must be hard even though you sound like you talked this over thoroughly. Good luck to you both. Aloha....................................Paul

You probably already have planned for this but just reminding you she will have to do her medical at St. Lukes before her embassy interview.and also the CFO seminar sometime before or after so when you schedule her interview be sure to plan for time for that.

Ok thanks guys for the info. I will inform her about the facebook club. I guess now it is ok to pay and then schedule online her interview after I am able to send the tax and signed i134 and other docs to her? Is the interview time verry long from the time she goes online to schedule? I thought i read somewhere where it was only 2 weeks now waiting since they moved to their new building.

A few other things that may help:

http://www.slec.ph/home.shtml St Lukes website

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/manila/19452/public/Revised%20K1%20Instruction%20Packet%20_3__rtf2_001.pdf This is a copy of what your Fiancee will receive eventually.

Don't forget she will also have to attend CFO seminar and get the CFO stamp on her passport before she leaves the Philippines.

http://www.cfo.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1348:fiancee-spouses-and-other-partners-of-foreign-nationals&catid=140

I just received a letter on May 6, 2011 saying my fiancée would receive a packet in the mail telling her what to do next. It will be sent by the United States Embassy in Manila. What are the next steps that she will have to do? About how long will it be before she should get approved? This is kind of frustrating because you don't know what is going on for so long. I am hoping she will be here by June 16, 2011 because I have some time off and would really like to spend it with her and help her get adjusted a little bit.

Thanks for the input...

Bill, you do not have to wait for the letter from the Embassy. She might not even get it. Its been a month and Tonieta has not received one. In the meantime we are doing this.

Your fiancee can bring her passport and a copy of the passport Bio pages (the pic and printed info on the 1st pages) to BPI and pay for the visa interview now abot 16,900 pesos. She should also know your MNL number which is on the letter you got in case they ask for it.

You can fax her a copy of that letter and the NOA 2 .Along with those ,her passport (with another copy of the info pages) ,4 recent 2x2 photos (this is from St Luke website many people just bring 2) also 2 photocopies of the NVC letter you will fax to her she can go to St lukes for her physical prior to getting an embassy interview appointment date.

Then you have to set up the embassy appointment. In the meantime you can get the I-134 ready and organise what she will need for the interview.This is what we did:

Proof of fee payment from BPI

DS-156 2 copies

DS-157 2 copies

DS156K

Valid passport

birth Certificate (NSO)

NBI clearance

CENOMAR

Evidence of meeting within 2 years ( evidence of continuing relationship since 129-f)

Proof of termination of previous marriages

I-134 from petitioner along with proof of income (letter from employer) (letter from bank) ( maybe last 3 years tax transcripts available from IRS, free. They mail them out quickly

3 visa photographs

medical exam result

We are also adding a new letter of intent with more recent date and proof of engagement just because we have it.

That's our list. June 16 is a tough goal but good luck to you. Aloha................Paul