ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
PhilippinesIs Shipping USPS to Phils Safe via Registered Mail?

Bummer.  I sent a package last week via USPS Express Priortity.  They assured me (of course), that it would be fine to arrive safely.  But after reading this thread, I'm not optimistic she is going to receive it, or if she does, she isn't going to have to pay large fees to pick it up.  I should have looked into in more :(


Cam&jadaMale02013-11-22 14:45:00
PhilippinesTravel to Bohol and surrounding areas?

Thanks for all of the replies.  I have decided to go and we will just be somewhat flexible in our plans if things aren't as we hoped.  But I'm looking forward to another stay there.  Amazing country!


Cam&jadaMale02013-12-05 12:53:00
PhilippinesTravel to Bohol and surrounding areas?
Thanks for the replies. If I went, it would be to visit my fiancée and her family, who would be down in that area visiting her grandma. So that's why I am asking if it might be a hinderance to the efforts to recover at that time. She says it should be fine, but since she isn't there it's hard to really know.
Cam&jadaMale02013-11-22 23:28:00
PhilippinesTravel to Bohol and surrounding areas?

I have been trying to research online, but haven't had much luck with finding some concrete information.  And I understand why, since there are so many things going on with the horrible typhoon and earthquake.  But I wanted to see if anyone has some insight on what travel to Bohol in the next month would be like?  Is it advisable to go or would it be a very bad idea?  What advice would any of you have regarding it?  I would be down in the Southern part, and am not familiar with it at all, so I don't know the conditions of places to stay would be, places to go, etc.  Would it even be good to go because the people need visitors to come and help the economy get going again, or is the timing bad for that right now? 

 

Thanks ahead of time for your input.  I hope to hear positive things with how things are there considering all that has happened.


Cam&jadaMale02013-11-22 14:55:00
PhilippinesLooking for some assurance that we're doing this right :)

MUCH appreciated.  Can't say it enough.


Cam&jadaMale02014-01-07 13:34:00
PhilippinesLooking for some assurance that we're doing this right :)

Thanks so much everyone for the responses!  It's much appreciated. 

 

And Hank, your link is exactly what I've been using the entire time and it's been EXTREMELY helpful.  In fact, like I said above, it's been so helpful that things seem too good to be true as it's all going so smoothly.  So thank-you very much for providing that.  It's awesome!  My fiance is just very nervous because when she's called the embassy they told her to wait until they have received the actual documents from the NVC.  I told her we can just follow your information but then also said I would do some more checking. 

 

Is it a silly question to ask that if for some reason they still haven't processed the documents at the embassy by the time her interview comes up on Jan 24th then there could be some issues?


Cam&jadaMale02014-01-07 10:40:00
PhilippinesLooking for some assurance that we're doing this right :)
So I'm very appreciative of all of the advice and support we get here. It's such a big help!

As of now, we have our case number that we got by calling the NVC. We have also paid the visa fee, and scheduled our interview appointment. This is all for Manila. We got lucky and found an opening in the interviews, as they were booked for the next three months, but found one for January 24th.

From everything I've read, we don't really need to worry about getting the packet that they mail to us before we start all of this process of paying, scheduling the appointment, getting the medical exam done, etc. So is that in fact true?? I just feel weird doing everything when they haven't even officially received our paperwork at the embassy.

I appreciate any insight on this, as it seems like we are doing everything just fine. It's just when things work, I worry we did something wrong! Haha!

Thanks!








Cam&jadaMale02014-01-06 23:31:00
PhilippinesCFO Seminar in Manila

Yet another helpful thread and link.  Thanks for the guidance.  Am I correct in thinking that the CFO can be done at any time prior to leaving?  It won't matter what other steps have or haven't been completed, right?


Edited by Cam&jada, 07 January 2014 - 07:51 PM.

Cam&jadaMale02014-01-07 19:51:00
PhilippinesQuestion regarding Medical Exam in Manila
Great. Thanks!
Cam&jadaMale02014-01-07 02:02:00
PhilippinesQuestion regarding Medical Exam in Manila
Can anyone give me a good idea of what to expect or be prepared for when going to the Medical Exam in Manila? Is it really possible that it could take two days? If so, we'll need to plan on traveling and spending the night. I plan on calling them and asking too, but thought I'd ask here as well. Also, if anyone can go through everything that they ended up doing (ie how many immunizations they actually got, how long it took, or anything else that went on), we would really appreciate it.

Thanks so much!


Cam&jadaMale02014-01-06 23:20:00
PhilippinesTime limits for K-1?
Great. Tons of helpful information. I will need to save this response so I can refer to it soon. Thanks!
Cam&jadaMale02014-01-15 00:24:00
PhilippinesTime limits for K-1?
Ok. Thanks for clarifying! It certainly shouldn't be an issue, as we plan to do all of this much earlier, and obviously the date of the medical isn't too much earlier than the interview, but I get worried that they will take their time issuing the visa after the interview and things will get held up.

This site and everyone on it rocks. So many helpful people.


Cam&jadaMale02014-01-14 23:12:00
PhilippinesTime limits for K-1?
Hello all,
I am hoping I can get some clarification on the time limits when working through the K-1 Fiancee Visa process. If I understand it correctly, the two main deadlines are that you have are that of having 6 months from the time that your Visa is issued to travel to the States, and also that you have 90 days to get married.

My questions are as follows:
1. I read today that the date of the medical exam is tied to the K-1. Is there a time frame in which the medical expires and you won't be able to travel to the States?
2. This is probably an obvious question, but with the 90 days that you have to get married, does that clock start as soon as you enter the States, or does it start with something else?

In other words, if the Visa is issued February 1st, do we have a 6 month window from that date for her to come to the States, then 90 days from the day she gets to the States to get married? And is there any reason to think that the medical exam expires prior to the 6 month window?

Thanks ahead of time for your responses!









Cam&jadaMale02014-01-14 23:00:00
PhilippinesA special thanks to HANK and everyone else
I just wanted to say thanks to Hank and everyone else that goes out of their way to be so helpful. It's been amazingly helpful and there is no way we could have made it through the process with out your help. She had her interview today and excitedly called me after to let me know her visa was approved.

Again, SALAMAT to everyone!!!!
Of course don't think you're rid of me. I'm sure I'm going to have many more questions with all of the next steps :)


Cam&jadaMale02014-01-24 00:11:00
PhilippinesPassport book number?
By the time I got the answer above about "does not apply" we had already submitted our form so we couldn't go back and change it. We had put the passport number in both spaces. It never came up as a problem though and they approved her visa yesterday. So take that for what it's worth.
Cam&jadaMale02014-01-24 23:00:00
PhilippinesPassport book number?

 

Ahh, I think I remember now. I, personally, never worried about it when I was filling up my DS160 because it doesn't apply to Philippine passports.

 

Did a little research for ya. Found a filled-up DS 160 from the Example forms tab, go to page 2. Suggestion is: Does not apply.

 

Link: http://www.visajourn...xample-Form.pdf

 

You might want to check-out the example forms in VJ for future reference: http://www.visajourn...ontent/examples

 

Good luck! smile.png

 

Got it.  Thanks for doing all of that for us! 
 


Cam&jadaMale02014-01-20 11:26:00
PhilippinesPassport book number?
It was in the DS-160 form. It actually asked for both the passport number and the passport book number
Cam&jadaMale02014-01-20 01:21:00
PhilippinesPassport book number?
Can anyone verify for me with the Filipino passport, is the passport book number the same as the passport number? I was pretty sure it is, but I'm reading other posts that I found doing a search and seeing that it seems to vary from country to country so I wanted to make sure and no assume too much.
Cam&jadaMale02014-01-18 21:17:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsISSUED

Congratulations!! And good luck with the final steps.  I can't imagine how excited you must be. 

 

I am just getting started and would love to hear any of your advice and if there is anything you'd warn a newbee like me about.  Do you mind me asking what country your fiancee is from?


Cam&jadaMale02013-11-07 13:43:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsJust a thought on one factor that affects how fast things go

I know this is a long, and at times, frustrating process.  Time just goes by so slowly!  But we are all wondering why some people get approved in 3-4 months and others are closer to a year, and regarding this post, the I-129F can vary from under a month to 6-7 months or more.  There are obviously many factors, such as where your docs are sent, how busy they are, if you get a RFE, etc.  Many like to suggest it's about how organized the packet is that you send in.  I'm sure they all have some influence. 

 

But how much of a factor is simply how long it takes to do the background check?  I'm not familiar with how it works, but I'm guessing that it may very well be the cause for the really fast ones being approved or the ones that drag on.  It seems that some are as easy as can be, and others take quite a bit of checking to verify that all is good.  

 

Anybody have some insight on this?


Cam&jadaMale02013-11-22 13:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsPreparing what I need to send to my fiancee for the interview

Oh!  haha!  Yes.  I have those.  Thanks again, and I totally understand.  MUCH appreciated.


Cam&jadaMale02013-12-11 16:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsPreparing what I need to send to my fiancee for the interview

 

Most of the original documents needed during the interview will come from the beneficiary (birth certificate, certificate of no marriage, any NBI and police clearances etc). All she needs from you for the interview is your I-134 with original signature & the evidences of support that go along with it. Also a certified copy of your divorce decree if this applies to you.

 

Did you send her your ITR's? I didn't see you mention them. They will ask for that during the interview in Manila.

Also, kindly update your profile as I see F-1 on it when you are going for K-1 visa. Thank you and good luck!

 

Thanks.  I feel a little ignorant.  I'm not sure what ITR's are. 

 

And sorry about having it as F-1.  Didn't realize that.  I've updated it.


Cam&jadaMale02013-12-11 12:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsPreparing what I need to send to my fiancee for the interview

Hi everyone.  So I wanted to see if I could get some other eyes on my to-do list of things that I need to get to my fiancee for when she has her interview.  I know that when the embassy receives the information down the road, they will send her the letter of what she needs, but I'm going to visit her next week, so I figured it would be smart to just bring everything rather than mail it to her.

 

So with that said, this is what I understand that she will need from me:

 

-A completed I-134.  With this I have a copy of my W-2, a letter from my bank with the information about deposits in the past year, how much is in the account, etc, and a letter from my employer verifying my employment, how much I make, and how long I've been employed.

 

-I have copies of everything I sent in for the 1-129 F.  Copy of my passport, copy of my birth certificate, copy of plane tickets, copies of receipts, copies of the forms we had to fill out, and copies of photos of us together.

 

-I have several passport pictures of me that I will give her.

 

-I will give her a copy of the 1-129f Approval letter.

 

-For proof of ongoing relationship, in addition to past photos, I will give her the plane tickets that I will have with my upcoming trip, a copy of receipt for the engagement ring, and all of the mountains of chatting and calling history that we have.

 

Am I missing anything??

 

My BIG QUESTION is I keep reading about them needing original documents.  Does that apply to anything that I need to give to her?  Is a copy of my passport, birth certificate, etc alright?  Or is she expected to have my original pass-port and birth certificate? 

 

Thanks everyone for your input!  This forum is awesome.


Cam&jadaMale02013-12-10 20:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsTrying to schedule interview in Manila. No availability?

have you scheduled your vist to st luke's yet if not that is the place to start you can't get an interview without first going there

 

The way I understand it, you can't get your medical exam done until you have your appointment for the interview.  And you also need to do the medical exam no more than 7-10 days prior to the interview.  So unless I'm missing something, we can't do anything with the medical yet.
 


Cam&jadaMale02014-01-03 20:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsTrying to schedule interview in Manila. No availability?

Hey everyone.  We got our MNL #, and have paid the fee in order to get online and schedule the interview.  But when we do it, it tells us that there are no appointments available.  Are we doing something wrong, or is it really just a case of them not having any openings for the next 5-6 months?  I should add that they haven't received the packet yet, so when we call, they just tell us to wait until they do get it.  But in the instructions that we read online, it said we didn't really need to wait to get the official letter, as long as we have the MNL#. 

 

 

And I just thought of one other thing.  In the instructions, it says we are in the non-immigrant visa category, but when we fill out the forms online to try to schedule, the only place that it has the fiancee visa is in the immigrant option.  Am I missing something there too? 

 

Thanks ahead of time for your input!

 


Edited by Cam&jada, 03 January 2014 - 01:54 PM.

Cam&jadaMale02014-01-03 13:50:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsVISA APPROVED IN 2MONS.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! So happy for you. And your situation is so much like mine that I am really getting excited now. As much stress that this whole process can give, it sure is worth the hassles and waits when it goes well.

Also, Jenrick13, I posted a few questions for you in the November Filers thread and also in the Philippines section. I'd love to hear from you regarding your experience. If you don't mind responding there, that would be awesome. Or even private message me if you prefer that. Thanks again, and all the best to you and your future!

Edited by Cam&jada, 07 January 2014 - 01:31 AM.



Cam&jadaMale02014-01-07 01:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsShe was approved today :) THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED!
The girl is good. Haha! She had her interview in Manila today, and passed with flying colors.

I just want to say that this board has been unbelievably helpful in the whole process. Every single question we had was answered and tons of great advice was given. I may be biased, but there is no way an immigration attorney would have been able to do for us what this board has done. So a big thanks to everyone. HANK, you've been amazing with all you've done for us. And for everyone else that took time out to give us advise and to all that have posted the forms, examples, their experiences, etc. THANKS.

I know we still will have many more questions with the next steps, but I just wanted to let everyone know how appreciative we are.




Cam&jadaMale02014-01-23 23:45:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNovember 2013 filers?

As for speeding things up, if you call and email, often times you will get information that would take weeks to get if you just wait for them to contact you.  So while it may not speed some things up, it is not a bad idea to call or email or both because it can possibly allow you to move on to the next step (ie gettting your case number faster from the NVC).  For example, I still haven't been notified that my case was sent to the NVC and that I have a case number via the email/text system that they have.  But I called and got all of that information and have been able to move on to the other steps much quicker.  Hope that makes sense.  All I can say is be patient, but like I like to say, "Push with patience!" :)


Cam&jadaMale02014-01-07 10:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNovember 2013 filers?

Thank you..

The moment we got our case number right away we paid the visa fee. Then we set our interview appointment..it was kinda rush coz from April to Jan 29, we got another Jan 6 interview.. Then Jan 2 was my med exam, i went to the St. Lukes at 2am coz i need to finished my med exam in one day and by 8:30 im done. The med exam was kinda more nervous than the interview coz its just so easy just tell them honestly..


Ok. So just get to the medical exam early and it should only take one day? That sounds good. Thanks!

Cam&jadaMale02014-01-07 01:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNovember 2013 filers?

For NOA2 we've just wait then after that we keep calling the NVC...


Would you mind telling me what to expect for the medical exam? Was it a one day process, or a two day process? Anything else that might be helpful to know? And also, with how fast you were able to get everything done, did the embassy receive your documents and send you the packet of instructions before you were able to do your medical exam, schedule your appointment, and do your interview?

Thanks and CONGRATULATIONS!!!



Cam&jadaMale02014-01-07 01:16:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNovember 2013 filers?

 
We didnt call, we do it online https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/... from time to time we keep checking it for available dates..
 
the online schedule are always update.. so better go online than call for appointment..



Got it. Thanks so much. And good luck with the upcoming weeks!! Can't wait to hear how it goes for you.

Cam&jadaMale02013-12-29 22:02:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNovember 2013 filers?

 
Thank you! My first interview was April 3, then I reschedule it to Jan 29. then suddenly just last night there was available one slot for Jan 6, so I grab it..
 
The K1 schedule appointments now is really terrible,, all sched from Jan to April are full, so you need to checked it always if possible every minute just like I did.. coz you need to be fast lot of people checking the interview dates too from time to time...



Ok. That makes sense. So you first just scheduled the appointment for April, and then there is a way to look for openings and if you see one you can just contact them and reschedule?

Cam&jadaMale02013-12-29 21:47:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNovember 2013 filers?

Ohh my Ohh my.. we reschedule our interview.. were hoping in 2 months we are done in this process... crossing my fingers for the good result of my medical and interview... Guide me Lord :)


Wow! That's awesome. Congratulations!

You are about a week ahead of us as far as when you got your NOA2 approved. We are also at California. And she's from the Philippines. Is it fair to say I should be expecting to move this quickly too?? When you say you rescheduled your interview, what do you mean? Can you give more details or advice?



Cam&jadaMale02013-12-29 21:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNovember 2013 filers?
I may have misread it, as I thought the notice of expediting things from the Philippines only applied to those that were already married. Does it apply to everyone that is in the Philippines?
Cam&jadaMale02013-11-24 18:16:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNovember 2013 filers?
Hey everyone. Thanks for the invite. I sent the I-129f on the 12th. Was received yesterday. Hopefully we all have smooth and quick experiences. I'm from Utah and my fiancée is in the Philippines. We're trying our best to find patience. 8 months here we come!
Cam&jadaMale02013-11-14 14:06:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsSeptember 2013 Filers

Thanks jgoodman!  That should be very helpful as we move along.  Much appreciated.


Cam&jadaMale02013-11-23 22:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsOctober 2013 Filers
Yes I've lived in Utah my whole life. It's absolutely amazing here. I love having all four seasons where you have the best winters in the world amazing spring and fall and summers that are perfect. I can't wait to get Julie (aka Jada) here so she too can experience all of that. I also can't help but get excited about seeing all of these early approvals. I keep telling myself that I need to be prepared for eight months of waiting but these approvals seem to make it appear that it will take much less time than that!
Cam&jadaMale02013-11-15 00:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresQuestion about not enough room on the forms
Excellent! Thanks for the quick reply and for this awesome site. It's going to be a huge help for such a stressful process.
Cam&jadaMale02013-11-05 00:36:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresQuestion about not enough room on the forms
We are just starting to fill out the forms for a K-1 visa. We've started the 129f and the G325-A. The question I have is her address is so long that it won't fit in the form without doing some serious abbreviations. Should we be worried about just using abbreviations or should we be adding an additional page for both forms with the entire address written out completely? It seems like the instructions on the 129 indicate we should add a page, but the G325 doesn't seem to say anything about that.
Thanks ahead of time!

Cam&jadaMale02013-11-05 00:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures129F. I can't get the links to work

Dang. I tried Chrome too and it did the same thing.  Perhaps it's because I'm using a Mac? And Explorer can't be used on a Mac. 

This is frustrating.  But if it is in fact the right one, I guess I'm ok to go ahead and use it? 

Here is the link to the one I'm using.  It's obviously not from the link that I can't get to work in the first post of this thread, but if this is an outdated one or not right, please just let me know.   Thanks for all the responses and help! I really appreciate it.

http://www.uscis.gov...zoom=auto,0,800


Cam&jadaMale02013-11-05 20:57:00