Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	To be very honest, I wasn't expecting to make this post for at least another month....but I just got a text message from USCIS saying "On September 30, 2013 we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I-130"....blah, blah blah...I didn't even read the rest.   I'm still in shock.  The only bad thing....my hubby's phone is turned off or out of battery.....I can't wait to tell him.  I'm so happy right now!	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-09-30 17:36:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	We have the same priority date...April 29. Maybe its good news that they have actually looked at the file, even if it was just to correct a typo. One can always hope.	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-09-17 08:26:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	I just had the most disheartening moment.   So, I go out to get my mail and there is an envelope from USCIS.  My heart starts racing in excitement...just to finally be hearing something, anything.  I rip open the envelope.  The letter is dated September 12, 2013.  I begin reading and it says on 05/06/13 you contacted us about your case.  I'm thinking to myself, I did???  I don't remember that.  I go on to read that I had notified them because they spelled my name incorrectly on the I-797.  Seriously???  I notified them the beginning of May and they are just now getting around to updating my name and sending me a confirmation.  Wow, that only took 4 months to correct my name.  I was chatting with my hubby when I got the mail, we were both so excited that I received something from the USCIS.  It was so disheartening to have to tell him that it was just a confirmation that they fixed the spelling for my name that I requested 4 months ago.   UGGHHH....this waiting is crazy.	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-09-16 18:34:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	I think that is the hardest thing for me too. If I had a set date, I could make plans and count down the days. But this not having any indication that the waiting will ever come to an end is torturous!!	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-09-13 11:36:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	Waiting sucks!!!	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-08-28 15:19:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	Not as far as I know. Just hope that if they take on some of the workload things will speed up.	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-08-23 16:49:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	@amveam, my husband was so sure we would hear something by the end of this month, which when we filed seemed to be just about right. I hated telling him it will more likely be the end of October (6 month mark)before we hear anything. We were really hoping he would be here by the end of the year but now that's not looking very likely. But I try to remain hopeful. I think the other thing that worries me is when in September will the new facility get working? If its not until the end of September I wonder if we will even get our NOA2 by the end of the year, with all the backlog they have piled up not doing anything for the last few months. UGGGHHH!	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-08-23 15:35:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	Just need to vent a little frustration today. I'm in a group on Facebook and someone posted today that their K1 visa was approved yesterday after 52 long days!! Humpf!!! I know I am in the same boat as everyone here...waiting for my NOA2. 116 days and waiting to be able to be with my HUSBAND, not my fiance, but my husband. I want to be able to be happy for them but it just makes me crazy! I actually cried at work today talking about missing my husband. Ok...well I guess that's enough of a rant for today.	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-08-23 13:50:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	Just wanted to let everyone know that these petitions can make a difference if everyone takes a few minutes to get them out there.  I found this petition 2 days ago and they had only 225 signatures.  I started posting the link in my groups on here and posted it on my Facebook page and asked my family and friends to share the link to the petition.  In 2 days the petition has gone from 225 signatures to 375.  That's just in 2 days.  This petition got started over a month ago and had only gotten 225 signatures.  There have been 150 new signatures in the last 2 days.  So again, I encourage everyone to share this link on their personal social media and get the word out.  Something has to be done, even it change doesn't happen before my husband gets here, I'd like to think maybe I helped others down the road.   http://www.change.or...-alien-relative	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-07-27 11:06:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	April 2013 I-130 Filers	I am right there with you. I keep on checking the USCIS website. Then I sign into my account and see if the 'last updated' date has changed. I'm sure it won't change every 2 hours. But that is something that is keeping me sane.   I am so glad that I'm starting my job in a few days. I'd go CRAZY if I were sitting at home doing nothing (as I'm doing now). Yeesh!!   Just keep yourself occupied....that is what I'm trying to do now!   The key is to keep yourself busy. I've been apart from my husband for 2 months now and the wait sometimes seems unbearable.  I have decided to start getting the house ready for him to come.  I have been keeping my weekends busy by working on our bedroom - like a fresh coat of paint and cleaning out a closet to make room for his things.  That's seems to help me a little.  I too am anxious to have my husband home.  I've also limited myself to checking the USCIS website just once a week.  Checking it several times a day was starting to drive me crazy!   My husband also reminds me that the time we are waiting now is just a small time compared to the rest of our lives.  I try to remember that.  Soon all this waiting will be over.	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-06-20 18:26:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	May 2013 I-130 Filers	Just wanted to let everyone know that these petitions can make a difference if everyone takes a few minutes to get them out there.  I found this petition 2 days ago and they had only 225 signatures.  I started posting the link in my groups on here and posted it on my Facebook page and asked my family and friends to share the link to the petition.  In 2 days the petition has gone from 225 signatures to 375.  That's just in 2 days.  This petition got started over a month ago and had only gotten 225 signatures.  There have been 150 new signatures in the last 2 days.  So again, I encourage everyone to share this link on their personal social media and get the word out.  Something has to be done, even it change doesn't happen before my husband gets here, I'd like to think maybe I helped others down the road.   http://www.change.or...-alien-relative	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-07-27 11:07:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Responses from USCIC "Outside Normal Processing times"	Here's the link to the petition on change.org. Please check it out, sign it and the share it. Just trying to get some movement. http://www.change.or...-alien-relative God speed to everyone!	deltagal	Female	Nigeria	2013-07-25 16:47:00
Philippines	expedite visa and passport after interview in us embassy manila	I understand you can have your passport delivered to a 2GO location in a Manila mall (not sure which) -- maybe Mall of Asia, and collect it there.  I heard you can possibly get it in 2 days,   Does anyone know about this?     But at any rate if you have it delivered to your hotel in Manila I'm sure you get it quicker than having it sent outside Metro Manila?	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-08-22 05:39:00
Philippines	Philippines: NVC to Consular phase	Any one bookmark or come across any really detailed threads specific to the NVC (post NOA 2) to Consular filing process. I know I've seen threads but cant locate any now.   Thanks	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-10-03 04:05:00
Philippines	Is NVC package will be sent on benefiary's home address or not	All good responses:     This brings up another question:   St Lukes requires...   Visa Interview Appointment letter from the Embassy or Instruction letter from the National Visa Center (NVC), if available, 2 photocopies of your Appointment Letter/ Instruction Letter If either of us get no Hardcopy letter and only an MNL #   then how do we obtain the following? 1) Visa Interview Appointment letter -- do I get this when I schedule on line? 2) Instruction Letter (Is this sent to the petitioner?) or is it a generic instruction Thanks	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-10-05 21:22:00
Philippines	What is the allotted time for me to take the medical exam as soon as i get the email?	I was just pondering the same strategy.   I'm not aware if there is a time limit too far in advance but I suppose as soon as you get the MNL# (NVC has received your packet from USCIS)   The documentation states 7 -10 days prior your your embassy appointment   However I'm inclined to have my fiancee take it as soon as we get our MNL number from NVC.   Pending the exam result I will then schedule the embassy appointment,  Also this gives her time to prepare for the interview following. . If you live on Luzon its not as much a hassle than if you are else where as my fiancee  -- Davao.	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-10-13 14:50:00
Philippines	Does CFO accept copies of CENOMAR and NBI?	Yes we got four originals of EACH NBI CENOMAR BIRT CERT	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-10-24 21:51:00
Philippines	USEM Earliest K1-Visa Interview Appointment	We are also in the "pack" with you.  Our NOA2 was approved 09/30.   I think there's going to be many people fighting for appointments as NVC works off the backlog It seems that's happening.  They appear to be near 09/23-27 but who knows it there are separate piles for each country.   I am waiting until I have the NVC paper notice.   We will then do St Luke's and CFO as Phase 1   Then we will finish with the Interview a month later -- hopefully.   If you schedule too tight you can run into problems rescheduling  and that may be more headaches   Also we are hitting the holiday season and USEM has a ton of off days so it difficult what will get done by Jan 01   This is just my opinion -- any other input?	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-11-02 17:00:00
Philippines	NVC Debacle	When we filed our petition my fiancee was working in Kuwait.   As we closed in on the NOA2 adjudication she returned to the Philippines and is there now.   On PAGE 2 Item 20 of the I-129 we specifically noted MANILA, Philippines.   NVC received the packet from USCIS on 04 NOV and sent it to Kuwait on 05 NOV. And even if I was calling everyday I may have never caught this with the quick execution.   I called NVC and inquired about this.  They said they NEVER look at page 2.  Their protocol is to only look at page 1 the and address you are currently residing at.  So in light of this policy it seems they are encouraging applicants to put an address OTHER than their legal address which theoretically is falsifying your document.  But the I-129 is 3 pages -- NOT 1 page.  The entire document should be considered in total. I explained to the NVC bot that there are 3 pages and she replies  -- "Its not our form" Any one here of this lunacy? (NVC = Not Very Competent?)   So now our status on CEAC is IN TRANSIT since the 05 NOV.  I find this alarming since Kuwait is not a busy post. So how does the shipment process work?  I heard its DHL.  Maybe is not air freight or maybe it just sits in a box at the embassy mail room for weeks. I had expected our packet to have arrived by now since Kuwait is not a very busy post. One interesting note on the CEAC site is I use the Immigrant tracking page vice the Non-immigrant tracking even though - technically - the  K1 is non-immigrant.   Will the Kuwait Embassy change the status -- eventually?     Our attorney is looking to have the packet forwarded to Manila -- god knows how long that will take the way things are going. They feel optimistic it can be forwarded.  They have already reached out (in writing) to both Embassy's but nothing thus far. I don't want to complicate the attorneys efforts with our personal attempt -- it could complicate efforts.    Any other insight on the process, execution, and status processing -- or personal war stories lets hear it!	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-11-14 19:06:00
Philippines	DHL OR FEDEX MORE RELIABLE FOR PAPERS?	I prefer DHL - you can do a hold and collect at the target DHL location. At least you have piece of mind i twill be there.   Tracking is also very accurate.	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-11-30 14:07:00
Philippines	K-1 Packet 3 & 4	TWO QUESTIONS   Q1)  Is Packet 3 / 4 applicable for K-1.  I'm thinking not since timelines are not populated with any dates for these events.   If not, will the USEM-Manila send any correspondence (information) to my Fiancee?   Q2) Also on the St Lukes requirements   It states the following...   2 photocopies of your Appointment Letter/ Instruction Letter    Is this NOA2? Or is it some other correspondence?  Pls be specific   Visa Interview Appointment letter from the Embassy or Instruction letter from the National Visa Center (NVC), if available,   Our visa is still IN TRANSIT from Kuwait but when it arrives in Manila the CEAC status will show READY. Can a screen print suffice of the CEAC status or do we need to wait for an email from USEM? Pls be specific.     For applicants who registered online, 2 copies of the online registration confirmation form   I assume this will be the screen print when we make the appointment on line -- correct?	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-12-08 13:01:00
Philippines	Advance Chest X-Ray	My fiance did a chest x-ray and sepum at Doctors Hospital in her home town and for her both ran about 600 pesos total   So yes we did it,  Of course, the result at St Lukes will take priority in the end.   At least you'll have piece of mind.	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-11-27 23:04:00
Philippines	Month of April for my visa? My gad!	Not to beat this issue to death; but I just phoned the USEM Manila and the advisor there said we will probably NOT be assigned an MNL# She said they will most likely process us with the KWT# \Of course she may not know for sure but it sounded like she knew what she was talking about At least she gave me an answer which NVC seems to be in capable of doing	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-12-13 19:31:00
Philippines	Month of April for my visa? My gad!	When you say NVC email are you speaking of a screen shot of the CEAC site.  Did you actually get an email or did you request it afterwards? Did you aso get paper copy?	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-12-12 23:33:00
Philippines	Month of April for my visa? My gad!	Well I just called NVC today and explained I never got email or US mail from them.  They said they do not mail or email anything and that I should contact the embassy Our packet is IN TRANSIT from Kuwait to Manila now   I fou look at the St Lukes site it does note as one of the requirements:   (A) Two (2) photocopies of your Appointment Letter / Instruction Letter	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-12-12 23:21:00
Philippines	Month of April for my visa? My gad!	I guess that also means you cant do St Lukes -- since you need the embassy voucher for that .	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-12-12 21:59:00
Philippines	Medical 3 months before interview	I was wondering the very same.  With the lack of current appointments coupled with the possibility of only getting a cancellation I believe this is the way to go so you can jump right into your interview.   I thought the limit is 6 months but I could be wrong. I don't think 3 months is unreasonable with the current backlog.	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-12-14 14:29:00
Philippines	St Lukes Documents -- need clarification pls	Anyone in the process of doing St Lukes or just has completed I'd like your assistance...   We know there are several documents required by St Lukes bu I want to be sure of these three -- wha they are and how they are obtained.   (A) Two (2) photocopies of your Appointment Letter / Instruction Letter (B) Visa Interview Appointment letter from the Embassy or Instruction letter from © For applicants who registered online, 2 copies of the online registration confirmation form   Here's what I think these documents are....   ITEM C is the copy of the St Lukes appointment upon booking your appointment online -- correct? ITEM B is obtained when you schedule your Embassy Interview appointment online, after paying the fee -- correct? *** I did not realize that you need to show St Lukes you have an embassy appointment scheduled -- correct?  ITEM A -- I am unsure what this is.  I thought the instruction letter is just general instructions.  I thought its the instruction letter you can down load from the embassy site in English or Tagalog.  Does USEM mail or email this to your fiancee? What exactly is this document?   Yes, I know all about the famous Philippine Visa Processing web site but I wanted to hear from other about to do this or who have just done it. I'd rather know if we are all on the same page. Thank you	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-12-10 02:57:00
Philippines	There are currently no appointments available. USEM	Question   Lets say you grab the soonest date offered. Then upon checking regularly can you amend your interview to  the sooner date.  I suppose you will be required to cancel the later date first and then reschedule to the more  current date -- of course you risk loosing on both dates if some one slides in before you book.   It sounds like you cannot reschedule from what I am reading	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-12-28 16:46:00
Philippines	Petitioner Travel to Manila	Another idea -  is book flight from STL (St Louis) to LAX then also a RT ticket from LAX to MNL AND MNL to LAX   Then like you say change / amend the PAL ticket as required on the MNL to LAX leg.  However, there may be issues with the associated   PAL ticket class (below)  -- I think it could be more than 100 dollars. But with my experience with PAL they   are pretty fare if you change / amend BEFORE the flight date -- however missing the flight you get shafted.     1) Budget 2) Regular 3) Premium 4) Business 5) Business Premium	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-09 11:36:00
Philippines	Petitioner Travel to Manila	In response to the posters above...thanks   I like the idea about purchasing a one way ticket.   It just makes me a bit nervous if they ask for the return ticket.   I'd like to believe they would let you in with the VISA excuse.  If the don't can you just buy a ticket?   Actually if you have to buy another full fare ticket it still might be less than buying an unrestricted far	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-08 21:16:00
Philippines	Petitioner Travel to Manila	Ok, We finally have an appointment booked on 25 March   I need to get to Manila to attend the interview with fiance   I will NOT book fiancee ticket until I have VISA in hand but my ticket concerns me   My first thought is that an unrestricted round trip ticket was the best bet but those run from 4k - 7k   I planned on booking a reservation on United for a 2 week layover in Manila --I know I must have RT ticket to enter Phils.   There are reasonable fares but if you have to amend -- you can really get hit with high fees   Any one have any first hand experience with this strategy?   Can fiancee fly / transfer through Japan - Narita?   So far I have heard Kora / Canada are not transfers points on K-1	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-08 19:40:00
Philippines	Embassy Admin Processing Phases - Manila	I hate asking the same question again but the words are so common they results are too many to pine through.   Q1 What are the USEM -Manila Processing phases in order of occurrence?   AP // READY // ISSUED   Q2 Does it appear visas are being process faster if you collect in Central Manila <2 weeks? (you cant discern this from the tabular data since the collection point is not a stored value -- would be nice feature to add!)	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-16 16:06:00
Philippines	urgent please help my fiance got strange texts from the usem	There was this post a few days earlier...   http://www.visajourn...rom-sulitcomph/	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-20 21:00:00
Philippines	Currently no availble appointments?	I would check several times a day one the embassy opens for business -- EACH day   for instance...   On Feb 06   I checked 6pm and only Feb 11 and 12th were open   Then at 9pm Feb 11,12, 24 and 25   Then at 12am CST and March 25th opened up   There are cancelations and also staff reallocation.   I saw the same situation as you are seeing back in early February	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-22 07:10:00
Philippines	Anyone done with CFO recently?(Philippines)	Yes this was a very enlightening thread -- good info!   We were going to do the CFO the day after the interview.   So, consequently fiancee would not get the sticker then   Once we collect the VISA -- how much time are you at CFO office to get sticker or is that another full day.?   Is CFO office near St Lukes or USEM?   Do you have to schedule CFO appointment? First come first serve?   Only on select days?	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-20 20:38:00
Philippines	What is the best and fastest way to ship docs to PI?	I would take reliability over speed.   We have used DNL and the yare awesome   You can track parcel on their web site -- just make sure you get waybill number   Also -- you can ship to one of their offices and have your party collect.   Thats waht we do -- it never gets lost and I can track it online even if they   dont notify receiving party	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-22 07:13:00
Philippines	NOA2	We had same problem   Notify the IVManilaReplies@state.gov[/size] via email that you passed the date on your NOA2 for the following reasons.....(cite them)   They will reply with a long consular letter (email) stating you will be considered....we had good enough reasons   You must monitor the appointment page SEVERAL times a day coinsiding with the opening of the embassy.   For instance on 06 FEB ... I encountered   At 6pm CST only appointments for 11 and 12 FEB showed   Then at 9pm CST 11,12,24,25 FEB then showed   Then at 12am that evening, 25 March was added -- we took that.   So you must monitor persistently!!! Monitor in parallel with the hours of operation.	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-24 21:33:00
Philippines	Philippine food items online	Try Amazon.com	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2014-02-20 19:45:00
Philippines	How long to get passport back w/visa after the interview for K1 MANILA-PHILIPINES	Four questions...   Q1) Who might know all the phases of VISA processing (in order of occurence) at USEM-MANILA   I have seen the following:   READY ISSUED   Q2)  I was planning to schedule 2 weeks in Manila to attend the interview with Fiancee and hopefully escort her back   Reading the dialog herein this does not even seem possible.  Instead of the 5 -10 days its now seemingly taking a  month.      Q3) Can you change the 2GO delivery location after you initially specify it? We planned to collect the Visa at Mall of Asia.   But if we dont have it I may have to return and she'll have to return home which mean we'd have to  reroute the 2GO delivery.  Can the Visa be delivered to a hotel?   Q4) Is this normal or is this just the holiday season adding delays?   Any other sugstions?	JaniceDave	Male	Philippines	2013-12-05 20:16:00