My FIANCE felt disconnected during my K1 Interview - 08 August 2013

[The Conqueror 47]

..... just because he doesn't have his toy with him.... his iPHONE.....lol....

Appointment for K1 [Fiance Visa] Interview : 08 August 2013, Thursday - 7:30a.m.

God is good!!! The weather is wonderful… no rain….. no humidity!!

August 05 - My Fiance arrived almost midnight to be with me on my interview.

August 06 - Reviewed all our documents - page by page… line by line

August 07 - Travelled to Manila - checked-in at Casa Bocobo Hotel in Bocobo st., Ermita, Manila

August 08 - The BIG day!

4:00am - Wake up call…… zzzz still sleepy

5:00am - Went down to the hotel lobby to refresh and make a second look on the documents to make sure all are in good shape.

6:00am - BREAKFAST… yahoo… had a double breakfast…. no bread, no rice… it means no carbo… it makes me feel jittery and a cup of good coffee.

6:50am - headed to USEM by taxi….. it is a walking distance but we don't want to sweat

7:00am - Touch down! Who said that the K1 visa has the shortest line??? NOT… geeezzz it was long….waited for a couple of minutes on the left side… then there's the lady with the blue shirt asked some of us to fall in line on the right end and began checking our documents. Keep on saying "Make sure all questions that are not answered write "N/A" or "NONE". NOTE: this is very IMPORTANT!

Checked the following:

• Passport (was put inside a ziplock bag) and attached a sticker at the back of your passport with a barcode, your name and passport no.

• Appointment confirmation letter

• DS 156 (2 copies)

• DS 157 (2 copies)

• DS 156K (1 copy) - Important Note: Your may WRITE your Fiance name in the blank provided. However PLEASE don't sign it!!! There was clear instruction. "It will be sign in front of the Consul Officer" I signed mine in front of the Filipino Consul.

7:15am - We went inside and there was a window and given me a Number that will be with you until the end of the interview. We proceed at the waiting area for Fiance / Immigrant Visa.

7:30am - Then the lady in blue shirt made her round and again giving an instruction "Make sure all questions that are NOT answered write "N/A" or "NONE". Otherwise the consul will be sending you home if the instruction is not followed. After thorough review and inspection I handed my documents to the lady.

9:30am - Went inside for BIOMETRICS at assigned window. Mine was Window 42 and the American Consul was very accommodating only asked my name and birthday. He then said "Oh it will be your birthday soon" and I answered "Yes and you are invited!". He smiled. Then asked for finger scanning and afterwards went back to sit. Wait for our number again at the SCREEN.

10:55am - Went to Window 46. As soon we approached the Filipino Consul, he said "Oh thank goodness my last case for today" with a wide friendly smile. Then i felt relaxed. "Positive vibes" felt! hahaha. We greeted him "Good Morning" with a winning smile.

I don't remember him asking my name or birthday….lol

Then he collected the following documents:

NBI Clearance

NSO Birth Certificate

CENOMAR

Affidavit of Support

ITR

W-2

He was very accommodating. We had our conversation in English.

Consul: Before I start interviewing. He handed me back the DS-156K to sign it.

Consul: So it seems you travelled a lot?

Me: Yes Sir.

Consul: Did you worked in any of those countries?

Me: I worked in Abu Dhabi for less than 7 year, resigned last Feb and went back here in the Philippines. And most of the countries I went with were for Tourism or for pleasure.

THOUGHT: "We think he was fishing for information about where I might have worked in those counties I visited and MAYBE there's a need for me to submit a Police clearance."

Consul: Ok then you don't need a "POLICE CLEARANCE".

Me: Only in my mind…Thank you Lord!!!! Because i was prepared printed an information from internet that mentioning you cannot obtain a Police Record

I was asked how we met and asked my Fiance what he does (work), if he's Divorce, and if he has kids.

He also asked my Fiance how long he will stay here in the Philippines. My Fiance answered "Leaving on the 13th before my birthday". That triggered a very nice conversation.

Consul: Oh so your birthday on 11th? Actually I have a friend who's birthday is also on 11th and since it's holiday tomorrow we will be having long weekend and will be spending it out of town.

Then he return my other documents. Most returned documents were my fiance financial support documents and our pictures and chat logs.

Divorce paper were not asked. He said our file looked complete to him.

11:30am - our no. flashed on Window 60. My fiance jumped and i giggled so much till we walked on Window 60. The Consul was a lady (American). We greeted each other "Good Morning"

Consul: I really like when the Petitioner attends the interview with her Fiancee

Me: I smiled back and said Oh great you know I read it also from some of the Forum that the Consuls are thrilled about the idea. =)

Consul: "I can see you two have a bonafide relationship, I don't need to look at anything else". Then she asked how we met.

Me. I answered then mentioned about Scuba Diving.

Consul: Oh I am scuba diver too but i can't do it now I am expecting a baby.

My Fiance then started a good chat about scuba diving.

Consul: Then she said your file looks good to me and i don't need to see your pictures……you're "APPROVED".

Me: Oh please at least some of the pictures… smiling… we took a lot of time to prepare this…..

Consul: Smiling…. Congratulations you may take your sit now and wait for your name to be called for delivery instruction.

Interview with the American Consul - Total time: 5mins!!!! It could have been 3mins…. but my Fiance enjoyed chatting with the Consul…lol

OMG!!!! I want to jump for JOY!!!!!!

We went back to our sit with a TRIUMPHANT smile… Yahoooo!!!!!! Thank you Lord!!!!

11:35am - Window 67 Final check if all the procedure are done : Biometics, interview with the Filipino and American Consul.

11:36am - Window 69 Ask my delivery option…. then everything was OK… then said…YOU MAY GO HOME….Ma'am.

CREDITS:

- To VJ'ers: Thank you so much for your kind words and support. And all the shared reviews helped us a lot.

- To Rob & Ann wise words "Wear your confidence"

- To "HANKS" - you NEVER ending word of wisdom and advice! God bless you more!!!

- To my loving Fiance: He spent a lot of time preparing the chat logs and pictures. He offered to do that to lessen my pressure.

I am so grateful and blessed for his unconditional support .

Very important NOTE:

My fiance prepare a Cover Page for all our documents. It really helps because all the Consul has a clear picture what are all the documents that i submitted. Use yellow highlighter for all the important facts or informations.

Thank you for taking time to read my Interview experience.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

[Hank_ 9,174]

Congrats!!!

Very soon it will be time to fly!

Welcome to America! (no one in the process said that to my wife...)

[dwinge 34]

Congratulations !!!!!!

[Netsikai 20]

Congratulations ....Good luck on ur USA journey.

[Caryh 5,206]

Congrats.

[jkelly07 120]

congratulations.

[Memphis 26]

Congrats!

[Tahoma 2,292]

Great review. Thanks for sharing your story.

Congratz on your approval!

[doug/sherry 26]

Thank you and congrats... what was your hotel rates by chance?

[godlove 29]

Congratulations

[DaRoq 36]

Thank you and congrats... what was your hotel rates by chance?

Casa Bocobo is great if you're on a budget AND expect to be treated like royalty. We prefer to stay in a better place and be treated like a normal person.

We'll be staying at the Bayview Park Hotel for 5 nights later this month. The cost is only P100 more for a much better room, in an undeniably better facility. Breakfast and other standard hotel amenities are also included in the price (not free). WiFi may or may not be included, but most of our time will be spent going out, busy doing other things, or sleeping anyway; we also have a broadband stick if we get desperate. And considering we wont have to pay taxi fare+tip to/from the embassy due to its close proximity, Bayview Park Hotel is a much value for us..

I'd explore other options before settling on Casa Bocobo for the seemingly low price.

[Cha n Nel 1]

Again congrats...was it an old filipino dude who did your initial interview?

[The Conqueror 47]

Again congrats...was it an old filipino dude who did your initial interview?

Thank you! Maybe he's in his 20's.

[cjmc 10]

Casa Bocobo is great if you're on a budget AND expect to be treated like royalty. We prefer to stay in a better place and be treated like a normal person.

We'll be staying at the Bayview Park Hotel for 5 nights later this month. The cost is only P100 more for a much better room, in an undeniably better facility. Breakfast and other standard hotel amenities are also included in the price (not free). WiFi may or may not be included, but most of our time will be spent going out, busy doing other things, or sleeping anyway; we also have a broadband stick if we get desperate. And considering we wont have to pay taxi fare+tip to/from the embassy due to its close proximity, Bayview Park Hotel is a much value for us..

I'd explore other options before settling on Casa Bocobo for the seemingly low price.

We also have stayed in several places in Manila, including the Bayview and it was ok, yes, the room was bigger, but wifi did not work in the room, it was more expensive, and the people were not as accommodating......different impressions by different people, that is ok... :-)

I see your points and understand that the decision on where to stay is based a lot on what you might be doing....If you just need a clean room for a night or two with friendly, accommodating people at a good price then Casa could be a good choice.

We will be going back to Casa Bocobo again in a few days getting ready for my trip back home to Seattle.

Cheers,

Curt

[cjmc 10]

Thank you and congrats... what was your hotel rates by chance?

For a single room it was 1650 peso and a King Room was only 2200 peso....a very good value for a clean, nice place to stay.

Cheers,

Curt