Post “Approval”, Administrative Review/Document Verification Nightmare

[cadman76 0]

My fiancé had her interview at the US Embassy in Manila on January 7^th and was approved. For a while it was a very happy event. Then she received a phone call on January 14^th asking why she did not pay the Document Verification fee to Delbros when in fact she had done everything and followed the process at the Metrobank in Davao City on December 20^th. She was asked to fax a copy of the receipt and did so that day. Since then weekly calls to Grace at the Embassy with inquiries are answered with “be patientâ€. Calls to Ms. Allen at Delbros are also answered with “be patientâ€. Here we sit over 7 weeks since the “approval†and still no visa in hand. Oh, we did receive a phone call this week stating that her NBI document expired on February 13^th and that she would have to provide another one.

Other than just venting, I am providing this post to add or add to some suggestions. Some of these were already covered in other posts by many before me, I just did not listen. So my suggestions based on this experience are as follows;

• Do not be in to much of a rush to get documents to far in advance before the interview as they expire. When other unforeseen stuff happens you will want documents with expiration dates as far out as possible so get them as close to the scheduled interview as you can. Some take time to get so make sure to factor that into your timing.
• Follow the “updated†process for the Document Verification fee. Send the text, send the fax, call and email Delbros for verification of payment. Also, do this as soon as you get a record number from the Embassy and an interview date. You want this to be completed by the day of your interview. This is especially important if some of your fiancée’s documents are from a more remote Province where Document Verification will take even longer to process. Fortunately Delbros is pretty responsive with feedback.
• DO NOT schedule flights until your fiancé has the visa in hand, or at least please understand it could be a huge risk.
• Also do not expect too much from Grace or others that answer to the phone at the Embassy. They are not in any position of power or control. They can not get anything expedited, even if it was due to their or Delbros’ mistake. They have standard answers they give out, especially if your file is labeled “Administrative Review†in the computer. They will not supply anything concerning timing that you can plan your life around.

Thanks for listening and certainly Thank God for VJ. I can not imagine ever going through this process without VJ and the VJ community for help and support. Edited February 28, 2008 by cadman76

[David-and-Mae 15]

I'm so sorry that you have to be in AR for so long now. Your post (and others who had problems with doc. verification) will surely help a lot. In the past, there have been discussions on how recent should your documents be for the interview. In my opinion, it should be at least close to your interview, which is just proper but a lot of cases here didn't have any problems even though their papers were 6 mos. old. During my interview, my NBI clearance and CENOMAR were both about to expire 1 week after my interview will take place. I thought it was ok but then I said to myself "why not just renew them instead of taking chances and risk everything?"

Here's hoping that your fiancee will finally get her visa. Good luck!

--Mae

[RonMay 1]

My fiancé had her interview at the US Embassy in Manila on January 7^th and was approved. For a while it was a very happy event. Then she received a phone call on January 14^th asking why she did not pay the Document Verification fee to Delbros when in fact she had done everything and followed the process at the Metrobank in Davao City on December 20^th. She was asked to fax a copy of the receipt and did so that day. Since then weekly calls to Grace at the Embassy with inquiries are answered with “be patientâ€. Calls to Ms. Allen at Delbros are also answered with “be patientâ€. Here we sit over 7 weeks since the “approval†and still no visa in hand. Oh, we did receive a phone call this week stating that her NBI document expired on February 13^th and that she would have to provide another one.

Other than just venting, I am providing this post to add or add to some suggestions. Some of these were already covered in other posts by many before me, I just did not listen. So my suggestions based on this experience are as follows;

• Do not be in to much of a rush to get documents to far in advance before the interview as they expire. When other unforeseen stuff happens you will want documents with expiration dates as far out as possible so get them as close to the scheduled interview as you can. Some take time to get so make sure to factor that into your timing.
• Follow the “updated†process for the Document Verification fee. Send the text, send the fax, call and email Delbros for verification of payment. Also, do this as soon as you get a record number from the Embassy and an interview date. You want this to be completed by the day of your interview. This is especially important if some of your fiancée’s documents are from a more remote Province where Document Verification will take even longer to process. Fortunately Delbros is pretty responsive with feedback.
• DO NOT schedule flights until your fiancé has the visa in hand, or at least please understand it could be a huge risk.
• Also do not expect too much from Grace or others that answer to the phone at the Embassy. They are not in any position of power or control. They can not get anything expedited, even if it was due to their or Delbros’ mistake. They have standard answers they give out, especially if your file is labeled “Administrative Review†in the computer. They will not supply anything concerning timing that you can plan your life around.

Thanks for listening and certainly Thank God for VJ. I can not imagine ever going through this process without VJ and the VJ community for help and support.

hi!

i really wish everything will speed up soon and will get the visa ASAP... everything you've written is a reminder that anything could happen regardless with much preparation and much even more if less... you're right get the most recent one in terms of NBI, CENOMAR etc... i have to say as paranoid as i am, i renewed my NBI a week before my interview even if i recently applied for one just to make sure, so does my BC for that matter lol... my fiance and i was very scared in terms of the outcome in the interview (knowing it would be so surreal that we'll just go thru as easily as 1,2,3) so we have to go to the extent like everyone does here in VJ (10lbs worth of docs and evidence lol) and were so so blessed enough to get approved w/o issues and got the visa in 3 working days...

i really hope you guys will get the visa soon and for those who are still waiting after the interview

[Ianne25 0]

so you need to pay document verification fee other than delbros fee after the interview? how much?

[RyaNRiza 1]

Thank you so much for sharing this experience here. It is a very big help for everyone who are still on the filing process. I pray that you will get your visa soon!

Goodluck!

[Peil 1]

I can't imagine there are so many changes in procesing the visas now. In my time we don't have to pay extra for document verification. We just had to bring all the documents like NBI, CENOMAR on the day of interview.

There is no so much hassle.

[george and aaiz 0]

NBI has an expiration date, i believe after a year it has been issued right?

How about CENOMAR and NSO certified Birth Certificate? do they have expirations too?

Thanks for your post. it was very helpful

[David-and-Mae 15]

NBI has an expiration date, i believe after a year it has been issued right?

How about CENOMAR and NSO certified Birth Certificate? do they have expirations too?

Thanks for your post. it was very helpful

You will see the date of issuance at the very bottom of the NSO security paper... It doesn't say anything about expiration but you will always want to have a recently requested copies especially in dealing with USEM...

Edited February 29, 2008 by David-Mae Forever

[vsmtghdy 2]

NBI has an expiration date, i believe after a year it has been issued right?

How about CENOMAR and NSO certified Birth Certificate? do they have expirations too?

Thanks for your post. it was very helpful

NBI have a 1-year expiration. NSO-birth Certificate don't have expiration since this will not change (birth dates will not change), however, NSO-CENOMAR should at least be less than 6 months. Since they usually update CENOMARS every 6 months (additional persons added on the data base who got married on that month/year) and persons could re-marry within that time frame (which can happen).

Even with the expirations noted, it is alwasy advisable to have documents as recent as possible for the interview even if they do the document verification with Delbros. Since it is also a common knowledge about the fake documents going around our Country, they (USEM) just want to make sure that everything is in order.

CADMAN 76 -> hope your fiancee will get her visa soon.

Good Luck to everyone!

[amy n 0]

[*]Do not be in to much of a rush to get documents to far in advance before the interview as they expire. When other unforeseen stuff happens you will want documents with expiration dates as far out as possible so get them as close to the scheduled interview as you can. Some take time to get so make sure to factor that into your timing.

[*]Follow the “updated†process for the Document Verification fee. Send the text, send the fax, call and email Delbros for verification of payment. Also, do this as soon as you get a record number from the Embassy and an interview date. You want this to be completed by the day of your interview. This is especially important if some of your fiancée’s documents are from a more remote Province where Document Verification will take even longer to process. Fortunately Delbros is pretty responsive with feedback.

[*]DO NOT schedule flights until your fiancé has the visa in hand, or at least please understand it could be a huge risk.

[*]Also do not expect too much from Grace or others that answer to the phone at the Embassy. They are not in any position of power or control. They can not get anything expedited, even if it was due to their or Delbros’ mistake. They have standard answers they give out, especially if your file is labeled “Administrative Review†in the computer. They will not supply anything concerning timing that you can plan your life around.

Thanks for listening and certainly Thank God for VJ. I can not imagine ever going through this process without VJ and the VJ community for help and support.

THANKS FOR THAT REMINDERS. Now i am worried about my fee in delbros... im gonna call them on Monday if they got my fee last feb 1. I hope. Goodluck to you. I pray for the speedy delivery of your visa. GOD BLESS.

[ty143arceli 0]

I don't recall seeing anything in the package my fiance received from the embassy about a 650 piso fee. We did pay 131 I believe at a Metro bank in Cagayan De Oro thinking that was all we would be required to pay. She interviewed on Feb 6 and we had to pay 450 piso each for her and baby for visa issuance and also 650 to Delbros. Everyone else in her group that we know about received their visa within a week.

We have been waiting three weeks now. Please get the word out to pay. This is really causing undue stress on many people. The embassy was not too clear so we don't know for sure if she passed and we are just waiting for document verification or if we are in AR. How can we find out where we stand. All we have in our arsenal now are the many prayers we are saying. I know of another girl with child who is in the same boat. Do you think they automatically require Document Verification if a child is concerned.

Thanks

[edp333 9]

so you need to pay document verification fee other than delbros fee after the interview? how much?

You should pay the document verification fee before your interview to avoid delays of visa issuance. Not all applicants are required to undergo document verification. The fee is 650 PHP and the directions are listed on the USEM websiteunder Important Notice for Applicants:

http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwh3023.html

The document verification fee has been extensively discussed in this forum. Even though the USEM website states a two week delay the Embassy is saying 4 to 6 weeks. As cadman76 points out the doc verification can take two months.

Also, as in our case and others, DELBROS is delaying sending the doc verification fee or forgetting to send it. As someone suggested, call, email, and fax to ensure the information is forwarded.

[David-and-Mae 15]

How can we find out where we stand.

If the embassy didn't ask her to submit some documents, I would say you are in AR because of the document verification... Get updates by calling USEM... Good luck and may your prayers will be answered!

--Mae

[cadman76 0]

UPDATE - Still waiting with no change. Supposidly the Embassy receive ALL of the paperwork from Document Verification more than a week ago. At the time, Grace stated to please wait a little longer. Still nothing and still no good information from Grace to plan anything on.

The Nightmare continues.........

[dbears 1]

My heart goes out to you, I hope you and your SO will get the visa soon...

Thanks a lot for the reminders... it sure help a lot.

God speed.