Manila Embassy Interview

[DaveHorton 0]

Regarding St Lukes and the taking of the passport, if you bleat loudly enough the Releasing Clerk will give you back your passport, getting you to sign a release statement. I did that with my wife, and later with each of my two step kids, as I do not trust the process. One gets the impression that everything is well orchestrated and the process is watertight, but behind the curtain I feel there are many potential slips just waiting to happen. For example, my wife's medical report was not available at the embassy until after noon on the day of her 6:30am interview. My step-child's Packet 4 never did arrive at St Lukes, hopefully not a big deal but I'll tell you later (just leaving for his 7am interview at the USE).

I wonder how many passports have gotten delayed or worse... not heard of any, but I am not ready to risk delaying any further...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I just realized that our NOA2 is now over 4 months old. Do I need to contact the USE and tell them to renew it?

Gary, I would call just to be on the safe side.....with the Manila Embassy you just never know.

How's the smoking cessation coming along? I am battling that habit as I type

Our interview is either 5 days past the 4 month mark or 3 days shy since we received 2 NOA2 letters! I feel safe enough but it would be great if the Manila Embassy website would address the issue of NOA2's expiration date. They must realize that once the NOA2 is sent to the NVC, we have no control over the speed at which we finally receive the Visa, which is probably why it seems to be a non-issue with them. I have yet to read of anyone who was delayed or denied a Visa because their interview was scheduled after the NOA2 expiration date.

[garya505 2]

I just realized that our NOA2 is now over 4 months old. Do I need to contact the USE and tell them to renew it?

Gary, I would call just to be on the safe side.....with the Manila Embassy you just never know.

How's the smoking cessation coming along? I am battling that habit as I type

Our interview is either 5 days past the 4 month mark or 3 days shy since we received 2 NOA2 letters! I feel safe enough but it would be great if the Manila Embassy website would address the issue of NOA2's expiration date. They must realize that once the NOA2 is sent to the NVC, we have no control over the speed at which we finally receive the Visa, which is probably why it seems to be a non-issue with them. I have yet to read of anyone who was delayed or denied a Visa because their interview was scheduled after the NOA2 expiration date.

Yeah, it's kinda like they have a policy and a procedure to deal with this but they won't tell anyone what it is.

[Dean iWait 0]

I just realized that our NOA2 is now over 4 months old. Do I need to contact the USE and tell them to renew it?

Gary, I would call just to be on the safe side.....with the Manila Embassy you just never know.

How's the smoking cessation coming along? I am battling that habit as I type

Our interview is either 5 days past the 4 month mark or 3 days shy since we received 2 NOA2 letters! I feel safe enough but it would be great if the Manila Embassy website would address the issue of NOA2's expiration date. They must realize that once the NOA2 is sent to the NVC, we have no control over the speed at which we finally receive the Visa, which is probably why it seems to be a non-issue with them. I have yet to read of anyone who was delayed or denied a Visa because their interview was scheduled after the NOA2 expiration date.

So you're expecting the federal goverment to use common sense..??

[jazzy 0]

Hi,

There is no need to call or fax embassy about extentions of the noa2. They automaticly extend it past the 4 months. The manila embassy is the busiest in the world and this is routinely done, they realize it usually takes longer than 4 months and so automaticly extend it.

Jazzy

[garya505 2]

Hi,

There is no need to call or fax embassy about extentions of the noa2. They automaticly extend it past the 4 months. The manila embassy is the busiest in the world and this is routinely done, they realize it usually takes longer than 4 months and so automaticly extend it.

Jazzy

Can you give us the source of your information?

[Dean iWait 0]

Hi,

There is no need to call or fax embassy about extentions of the noa2. They automaticly extend it past the 4 months. The manila embassy is the busiest in the world and this is routinely done, they realize it usually takes longer than 4 months and so automaticly extend it.

Jazzy

The extension is fairly routine, but in no way is it automatic.

[jazzy 0]

Hi,

There is no need to call or fax embassy about extentions of the noa2. They automaticly extend it past the 4 months. The manila embassy is the busiest in the world and this is routinely done, they realize it usually takes longer than 4 months and so automaticly extend it.

Jazzy

Can you give us the source of your information?

Hi,

Well, for now my husband is on his DART night...We can give the information soon as he arrive. We'd been through a lot of this process and I know he knows, what he is talking about. He research everything...all information before he posted in every forum.

Jasmin

[garya505 2]

Hi,

There is no need to call or fax embassy about extentions of the noa2. They automaticly extend it past the 4 months. The manila embassy is the busiest in the world and this is routinely done, they realize it usually takes longer than 4 months and so automaticly extend it.

Jazzy

Can you give us the source of your information?

Hi,

Well, for now my husband is on his DART night...We can give the information soon as he arrive. We'd been through a lot of this process and I know he knows, what he is talking about. He research everything...all information before he posted in every forum.

Jasmin

Hey, why don't I get a DART night? No fair!!!

[Dean iWait 0]

Hi,

There is no need to call or fax embassy about extentions of the noa2. They automaticly extend it past the 4 months. The manila embassy is the busiest in the world and this is routinely done, they realize it usually takes longer than 4 months and so automaticly extend it.

Jazzy

Can you give us the source of your information?

Hi,

Well, for now my husband is on his DART night...We can give the information soon as he arrive. We'd been through a lot of this process and I know he knows, what he is talking about. He research everything...all information before he posted in every forum.

Jasmin

Well no offense, but he is mistaken. We are talking about a K-1 petition here, not CR-1/IR-1. Here is the excerpt from the FAM regarding this issue:

41.81 N6.2 Validity of a K-1 Petition (TL:VISA-581; 09-03-2003)

An approved K-1 visa petition is valid for a period of four months from the date of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) action and may be revalidated by the consular officer any number of times for additional periods of four months from the date of revalidation, provided the officer concludes that the petitioner and the beneficiary remain legally free to marry and continue to intend to marry each other within 90 days after the beneficiary's admission into the United States. However, the longer the period of time since the filing of the petition, the more the consular officer must be concerned about the intentions of the couple, particularly the intentions of the petitioner in the United States. If the officer is not convinced that the U.S. citizen petitioner continues to intend to marry the beneficiary, the petition should be returned to the approving office of DHS with an explanatory memorandum. [see 9 FAM 41.81 PN7 for revalidation procedure.)

The part I bolded is of concern for our case since we are looking at an interview almost a year from when we filed the petition.

It's just not good advice to tell someone to not send a simple letter or pick up the phone.

[mychelle 1]

As long as the conditions (i.e. eligible to marry...etc.) for which the K1 visa was approved under (the time when you got your NOA2), then you should not worry about extending the NOA2. It is not the couple's fault that they did not get an interview within six months of the issuance of the NOA2. A lot of us here on this thread had gone through the process without having to send that letter asking for an NOA2 extension.

I'm sure if it was something that is (or was) a very important step in the completion of getting the K1 visa, trust me...it will be brought up here ASAP.

[panicked 0]

Hi,

There is no need to call or fax embassy about extentions of the noa2. They automaticly extend it past the 4 months. The manila embassy is the busiest in the world and this is routinely done, they realize it usually takes longer than 4 months and so automaticly extend it.

Jazzy

Can you give us the source of your information?

Hi,

Well, for now my husband is on his DART night...We can give the information soon as he arrive. We'd been through a lot of this process and I know he knows, what he is talking about. He research everything...all information before he posted in every forum.

Jasmin

Well no offense, but he is mistaken. We are talking about a K-1 petition here, not CR-1/IR-1. Here is the excerpt from the FAM regarding this issue:

41.81 N6.2 Validity of a K-1 Petition (TL:VISA-581; 09-03-2003)

An approved K-1 visa petition is valid for a period of four months from the date of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) action and may be revalidated by the consular officer any number of times for additional periods of four months from the date of revalidation, provided the officer concludes that the petitioner and the beneficiary remain legally free to marry and continue to intend to marry each other within 90 days after the beneficiary's admission into the United States. However, the longer the period of time since the filing of the petition, the more the consular officer must be concerned about the intentions of the couple, particularly the intentions of the petitioner in the United States. If the officer is not convinced that the U.S. citizen petitioner continues to intend to marry the beneficiary, the petition should be returned to the approving office of DHS with an explanatory memorandum. [see 9 FAM 41.81 PN7 for revalidation procedure.)

The part I bolded is of concern for our case since we are looking at an interview almost a year from when we filed the petition.

It's just not good advice to tell someone to not send a simple letter or pick up the phone.

What kind of visa is a CR-1/IR-1?

Thanks

[Dean iWait 0]

As long as the conditions (i.e. eligible to marry...etc.) for which the K1 visa was approved under (the time when you got your NOA2), then you should not worry about extending the NOA2. It is not the couple's fault that they did not get an interview within six months of the issuance of the NOA2. A lot of us here on this thread had gone through the process without having to send that letter asking for an NOA2 extension.

I'm sure if it was something that is (or was) a very important step in the completion of getting the K1 visa, trust me...it will be brought up here ASAP.

Well it has been brought up before. Here is an article from our own VJ'er and immigration attorney. He touches on this subject among a few other that are interesting. I'm going to take 5 minutes of my time, a few bucks and fax a letter to the embassy. Can you explain how that will hurt us? As I said in a previous post the extension of approval is routine but it is not automatic.

http://www.ilw.com/search/documentFrame.as...req=Marc+Ellis+

[mychelle 1]

well..A synonym for routine is procedure.

As I said in a previous post the extension of approval is routine but it is not automatic.

...the extension of approval is PROCEDURE...

I didn't say you shouldn't do it.

Edited January 10, 2007 by mychelle

[Dean iWait 0]

well..A synonym for routine is procedure.

As I said in a previous post the extension of approval is routine but it is not automatic.

...the extension of approval is PROCEDURE...

I didn't say you shouldn't do it.

Well it is certainly not procedure. Here the procedure from FAM the CO is instructed to follow. Can you show me where it says extension of the approval is procedure?

41.81 N6.2 Validity of a K-1 Petition (TL:VISA-581; 09-03-2003)

An approved K-1 visa petition is valid for a period of four months from the date of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) action and may be revalidated by the consular officer any number of times for additional periods of four months from the date of revalidation, provided the officer concludes that the petitioner and the beneficiary remain legally free to marry and continue to intend to marry each other within 90 days after the beneficiary's admission into the United States. However, the longer the period of time since the filing of the petition, the more the consular officer must be concerned about the intentions of the couple, particularly the intentions of the petitioner in the United States. If the officer is not convinced that the U.S. citizen petitioner continues to intend to marry the beneficiary, the petition should be returned to the approving office of DHS with an explanatory memorandum. [see 9 FAM 41.81 PN7 for revalidation procedure.)