Consulate Review: Manila, Philippines
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
June 2, 2011 |
| Embassy Review : |
My schedule was 6:30 AM, June 2, 2011. I was up as early as 3:00 AM, to pray and eat (GUYS, PLEASE DO EAT, THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!), then get ready. I arrived at the embassy, a little past 5 AM, and there was already 3 long lines; I queued at the Immigrants' line. They started letting people in around 6:15 AM, and when it was my turn, they asked for a) Passport b) Appointment confirmation. They will give you a slip that you will need to fill out and give to the 2GO counter if your visa is approved - DON'T LOSE THIS, THIS DETERMINES WHERE YOUR PASSPORT WITH VISA WILL BE DELIVERED. Then we had to go through the XRAY (like that in airports). Please search the internet of what is prohibited inside the Embassy  Inside, we had to queue again, took the ff: a) 2 copies of DS-156 b) 2 copies of DS 157 c) 1 copy of DS-156K d) Appointment confirmation and BPI receipt. They attached them together and told us to drop it at Window 39 inside the buiding. I was given the number 7014.. I was glad because 14 has always been lucky for me, ever since highschool, lol.. Then getting inside the building, was yet another queue! ALWAYS, ALWAYS look at the flashing board because the numbers are called in RANDOM. Super random that it seemed like they called everyone except me, there was already someone DONE, when I was not even called yet even for fingerprinting! It took 2 hours for me, waiting, wondering whether my paper had been lost inside or something because they keep on skipping my number! I was almost tempted to ask embassy personnel about it when I noticed ladies who were also applying for K-1 visa, and voila, they too have not been called, hihihi..
When I got called for fingerprinting, it only took about 5 mins. Then waited for another 30-45 mins, for the Filipino pre-screener.. I OFFERED EVERYTHING that could possibly suuport I-134, W-2, ITR, Payslip, Employment Cert, Mortgage, 401K - all from my fiance. He only asked me My Date of birth, Name of petitioner, How we met and when (as in when the first time you knew of each other's existence), what my fiance does for a living, if I was single or had any kids, if he was previously married. It only took about 10 mins with the prescreener, and I sat down again to wait for the final interview with the CO. I waited about 30-45 mins again. I got a stern CO. He looked rather... poker-faced, but he asked me seemingly nice questions like 'how are you doing?' hehehe and he made comments about 'Oh, you went to Bohol' and 'Cebu is a nice place', and I would support his comments with 'Yes, and we have pictures of a tarsier too' and 'Yes, Cebu is really nice!'. He asked the ff: Petitioner's name, date of birth (both mine and fiance's), what he does for a living, where he lives, where he works (company and address), since when has he been with his company, when did we first meet (at this point, I answered and asked enthusiastically 'do you wanna see pictures? :D haha I made him laugh a bit and he said 'no, no, keep it for now, and let's take it slow here') is he previously married, if he had kids, and how old, and where do they live, if we already made plans for the wedding, what other countries I went to, for how many days, if I had applied for a visa before. He then looked at the petition packet and said we already had pictures and asked me if I wanted them back, and I said, no, that's okay, I have tons of those, hehehe.. I was smiling the whole time, enjoying the interview. Then he did a lot of typing, and I was wondering, 'err, what now?' Then for a brief moment he glanced at me and I said to myself, 'what was that all about?'.. but all doubts (if any) were erased when he said 'Alright, your visa is approved, wait for your number to be called for further instructions' :D :D :D I waited and was told to give the slip they gave at the entrance to the final window then I can go home, they never mention this, so if you want to pick up your passport, instead of having it delivered to your home, mention it at the 2GO counter - the last window. I was out by 11 AM, WHEW! :dance:
I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel before I can call my fiance, I was sure he was still up and wondering how I was doing, so I used the PLDT phonebooths outside the building to call him and tell him the great news! :D |
| Rating : |
Good |
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ver 5.0