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| Manila, Philippines |  Review on March 28, 2012: |
RandR333
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
We did IR-1 and IR-2 visas.
It was a long process, but in the end it was very easy.
We weren't sure where to stay, then after a suggestion to stay at Boulevard Mansion, we chose there. Location. location, location! It wasn't the greatest hotel, but the price and location were excellant. We walked out of the hotel then almost directly onto the walkway bridge across Roxas Blvd. - the embassy starts lining up at the bottom of the stairs!
Interview was at 6:30AM, so we got there about 5:15 or 5:30. There were a lot of people lined up and lots of "vendors" selling their wares - we had a woman insisting that we needed 4 photos or we would be turned away. lol
When we entered, my wife had to go back out because she brought a musical card which was not allowed until the metal part was removed. Then we got our number and lined-up to get inside to wait for the fingerprinting which took the longest.
The first interview was with a very pleasant older filipina woman who just asked if we had certain paperwork, then asked us about past marriages and children. Then I gave her all the current tax information that wasn't on our original AOS.
The interview was with an very friendly, older American man who was training a couple of new people. He asked my wife a couple of questions in Tagalog and said hello to our son, then asked what type of work I did. That's it! He didn't ask about anything else, I think he could see we were prepared. I started organizing our documents and evidence on the shelf in front of the window as soon as we stepped up to it. He didn't tell us we were approved he just said in Tagalog - happy travels - I really thought there was a problem because it seemed too easy.
The next window the woman said - you are already approved so you can go home now. We were all so tired from not being able to sleep the night before, nothing really registered until we got some rest.
The atmosphere at the embassy is kind of impersonal, they have an amazing amount of people going through the doors at a continual pace. So it was nice to have friendly interviewers and I definitely think it helped by me being there, but I was lucky to have the time to do it. Good luck to you all!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9402