Consulate Review: Manila, Philippines
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
September 11, 2016 |
| Embassy Review : |
My interview date was August 30, 2016 scheduled at 6:45am.
I was with my partner throughout the whole process. We got out the hotel at 6:10am and at that time, we thought that we could get to the embassy grounds at 6:30am but then unfortunately for us it was raining that hard. We were forced to buy umbrellas which costs P200, really expensive! Then we have to cross by going up the overpass. Then we arrived at the tent at 7:00am and we arrived where most of our documents for the interview were somehow wet.
We were in line until 7:30am we got inside the security area. There are basically two doors: one for the USC and the other is for applicants. I gave my phone to my USC partner because they can secure their electronic stuff in the area. Despite that my watch was electronic in nature, I still got in.
After the security area, the waiting area was not that crowded than what I expected. My partner and I got inside the actual embassy building. There's still another security check in this phase.
We were now queueing for data entry. With several minutes of waiting, I got the opportunity to eavesdrop the other interview windows for non-immigrants (i.e. seaman visa applicants). When it was my turn, I noticed that their fingerprint scanner doesn't capture our fingerprints properly so we have to apply some moisturizer which was provided nearside.
After the data entry, we queued for the pre-interview where they collect my civil documents (NBI, BC, CENOMAR and Medical Results). This is the part where I find it intimidating because the Filipina interviewer (with a pixie cut hairstyle and in her 30-40s) was somehow rude but the way she asks questions was fine. The only thing I don't like about her is just throwing stuff to the window whole and her tone was somehow like a person who doesn't want her job anymore. Anyway, enough for the rant, forgive and forget, I'm proceeding to the next step.
We got in line for the Oath taking. When it was about our turn, the person who is administrating the oath is a lady with the shawl, very nice and polite American lady. Still, biometrics is acting weird there and her computer system went into frozen state which forced her computer to restart. Then after several minutes of waiting, it was done. Gave her my biometrics and a promise to never lie. We then exchanged goodbyes.
Then we got in line for the actual interview which would give you the heebeegeebees. Got the opportunity to listen to everyone's interview there. Most of them don't speak English which I found it a surprise but then I know that they were petitioned by their parents and their sons and daughters which all of them are Filipinos. When we were now at the first line, the lady consul was waving at us to come to her window area for our interview (by the way, no priority numbers were issued in the embassy as for that moment). We were now being interview by the only lady consul, pretty and tall, looks very young, with afro curls hairstyle. She asked for my confirmation page to verify and get my case file. While she was doing that I was making conversation with my partner because of the boredom we got in the embassy with all these waiting. Then the lady consul approached to us and didn't know she was sitting in front of us listening with our conversation the whole time. She cut our conversation by asking my partner if he was the petitioner. My partner said yes and then now she asked me in a serious tone, "Why were you not have the guts to make a conversation with me?" Trust me, I have never seen a single smiling consul while I was lining throughout the time at the embassy and I said to her, "I'm sorry that was really rude of me." and she jokingly said, "I'm just kidding! Don't be so nervous". So she really got me with that which I also find it really easy to handle for this kind of process.
She asked me these questions, very simple:
1.) How did we met?
-- I told her we met in a public chat in Yahoo! Messenger. And she was surprised and asked if the messaging application still exists until now and I told her, "it is now integrated in the Yahoo! email webpage and told her that the public chat has been decommissioned since December 2012 and we were lucky that we met on..." she cut me off by saying the exact date of when we met just when I was about to say that date (where it should be the applicant to answer that kind of information). I noticed that she have read my RFE in I-129F Package for the IMBRA question.
2.) When is your birthday?
3.) When is your partner's birthday?
4.) Was he married before?
5.) Are you married?
6.) Does he have kids?
7.) Do you have kids?
Asked me for our pictures together (just printouts, nothing fancy, not even dated or captioned)
8.) What does your partner do for a living?
9.) What are your partner's hobbies?
-- I sarcastically told her the he likes spending time with me. She then sarcastically told me, "Well, aside from you." hahaha. This was a difficult question because I was focused on how nervous I was and forgot all the easy answers.
10.) Does your parents know about him?
-- Really another difficult question. I told her my parents didn't know know yet but I made a promise to introduce him to them. She said, yet another sarcastically, "Well, good luck with that" and she smiled.
After that, she said to me the final words, "Congratulations sir, your visa has been approved. Please wait for your passport in 7-10 days. You may go home now. Please read this pamphlet regarding your rights. If anything happens to you while in the USA, you may call 911. I will also give you this paper containing instructions on how to register online on where to deliver your passport." We thank her and she bid us good luck.
My partner said that the lady consul was just trying to make me calm and if she was trying to doubt us, she could have asked us some follow up questions. My partner even said that the only intimidating person is the Filipina interviewer. Overall, the interview was just in 10 minutes.
Here is my overall conclusion:
We don't have a complicating case because both of us have never been married before. No kids. No criminal convictions. No medical diseases or whatnot. We had a real 5-year relationship. We met for four times. Although we have a slightly wide age gap but we're still young in the 20s and 30s.
Our I-129F was not frontloaded with chatlogs, remittances, gifts, etc. Only frontloaded with the requirement "have we met each other physically", so stuff like hotel receipts, boarding passes, passport stamps, and 10-page pictures.
I never like the idea of frontloading not unless our case was too complicated.
Also, it helps when your Fiancé is with you at the interview because it serves as a strong evidence of bonafide relationship and the fact that the petitioner is with you speaks volumes.
And she never asked for the Affidavit of Support.
I would have rated 5 if it weren't for the Filipina interviewer. |
| Rating : |
Good |
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ver 5.0