MY EXPERIENCE AT THE US EMBASSY

[aime 0]

Hi guys,

I decided to post here because I believe I owe a lot of things to this website. I've been reading your posts here and your insights really helped a lot.

My fiance' who is a Filipino turned US citizen filed a I-129F petition last january 28, 2008 and it got approved last May 28, 2008, exactly 4 months after filing. It took me a while to set an appointment with the US embassy in manila due to the loss of my passport. The irritating part of it is that it was the travel agent who lost it.

When I finally got a new passport, my fiance' called the Call center for an appointment. It was then when he learned that an applicant does not need a passport when setting an appointment, contrary to what was told to us by a certain person in the US Embassy. Indeed. there was no corrdination between the Call Center and the USE.Another thing is, the first time he called the Call Center he was told that they are upgrading their system and that the agent won't be able to entertain his request. He instead adviced my fiancee to call the next day and try. He was really pissed off, because he paid for the PIN and then he was only told to try again.

Upon realizing that he's got 2 chances left, he called the USE first to know if they are now open for appointment setting.But the person on the other line said, "I am not sure, but you can try". He was really disappointed by the way things are in the USE. Nevertheless, he gave it a second try. And thank God, he was able to set an interview schedule for me.

I was set to go to the USE at 7am on August 4, 2008. So I went to Manila on july 27, 2008 and had my physical exams at St. Luke's on the 28th. I went there as early as 6 am. I could have finished everything in a day but the Doctor did not honor my Immunization certificate given to me by the Rural Health Officer for the reason that the dates were not specified in the certificate.

So the next day, I went back to St. Luke's around 9 am. I went directly to the Immunization room to receive 2 shots of vaccine. And after that , I waited for my name to be called for the release of the result. They just gave me the X-ray result and said, they will forward the rest to the US Embassy.

Then the final day came. Although, I was scheduled to appear on 7am, I was already at the USE at 5am. But we were adviced to get inside around 7:30 am.

I would advice that you need to review the forms and be sure to fill them out completely before going the the Embassy to avoid delays.

I was pre-screened by a friendly pinay who I believe was new there. sHe was very slow in asking questions and kept on asking her co-employee about certain things. She also called my attention 3 times to get documents from me when she could have asked all of them at once. Imagine, I was already at the finger scanning section when she followed me there to ask for the ITR of my fiance'. What I really did not like was when the American lady who's in charged of the finger scanning commented, "so, this is the girl?" I really don't know what she meant by that, but i deiced to ignore her.

By the way the pre-screener asked me the following.

1. age, birthday, profession, middle name

2.) if i have been out of the country

3.) how i met my fiance'

4.) name of his kids ( i also told her that I met them already.)

5.) his job

6.) how was he able to migrate to the US. ( Ans. His mom petitioned him when he was still single.)

7.) when was the last time I talked to him.

8.) How often do we chat. ( I said almost 8 hours a day using Skype and Vonage. And she said, Oh we also have Vonage here, cause it's cheaper.)

9.) Do I know when was his divorce finalized.( i gave her the exact date )

10.) complete address of my fiance'

11.) How many times have we met in person ( I told her 3 times and that he comes here every 6 months. She asked why that often? Does he have a job to attend to here in the phili? I said, we want to spend more time together and he doesnt care going broke just to see me. Lol.

And when it was my turn to be interviewed by the Consular Officer, I went directly to her room and said "hi" She asked me a couple of things. First, the name of the website where we first met. I told her that we initially met at "MIRC" and then she asked me what it means. Good thing I know what MIRC stands for. Her follow-up question was "what's my purpose to chatting at MIRC" and then I said " I normally chat with my local friends there.And then the 1 million dollar question that she asked was " Were you aware that your fiance' was married when you decided to have a relationship with him?" At first I got nervous, but then I managed to answer. I told her "He has been honest with me since day 1 and I am aware that he's been separated with his wife when I knew him." Although, I wanted to elaborate more on the issue , but i realized it would be better to be more direct with my answer. She did not ask more after that.

Btw, my fiance's divorce got finalized on january 25 and filed the petition on january 28.That's probably the reason why I was grilled.

Then finally, the guy on braces told me to proceed to Delbros for the Delivery of my visa. I asked him how long should I wait for it , he said, 2-3 weeks. But I got it 5 days after the interview.I believe mine did not take that long because i paid for the Document verification 6 weeks before my interview.Now, I am all set to Fly on August 14. My port of entry will be in hawaii and then i will have a connecting flight to san jose california .

Good luck guys!!!!

[KC♥MP 0]

Congratulations!!! . Have a safe trip.

[ManilaIdaho 2]

Congratulations!!!

[RyaNRiza 1]

Congratulations and have a safe trip

[o0pink0o 3]

Congrats! and thanks for sharing this

[shes 0]

What I really did not like was when the American lady who's in charged of the finger scanning commented, "so, this is the girl?" I really don't know what she meant by that, but i deiced to ignore her.

was she talking about u or the "new" pre screener u mentioned?

anyways, congrats!!!!!!

[aime 0]

What I really did not like was when the American lady who's in charged of the finger scanning commented, "so, this is the girl?" I really don't know what she meant by that, but i deiced to ignore her.

was she talking about u or the "new" pre screener u mentioned?

anyways, congrats!!!!!!

The lady was talking about me, I supposed. I think the pre-screener shared my story to that lady.

[mRs StOcKwElL 1]

Congratulations and have a safe trip!!!

[bluemist 0]

Congrats and thanks for sharing ur experience!!!!!

[filirican 3]

galing naman!! congratulations! have a safe flight!!!!

[wizardfitz 13]

congratulations and have a safe flight

[yankee 0]

Congrats and have a safe trip..

I just want to know where did u pay your documentation investigation? I guess they just need that for those who had previous marriages ( in Phils) Im not sure though.

thanks for sharing your experience, this really helps others members to prepare for their interview.

[aime 0]

Congrats and have a safe trip..

I just want to know where did u pay your documentation investigation? I guess they just need that for those who had previous marriages ( in Phils) Im not sure though.

thanks for sharing your experience, this really helps others members to prepare for their interview.

I don't have any previous marriage. I believe this is a MUST for K1/K3 applicants.

For instructions on how to pay, you may check this site :

http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwfdelb.pdf

[catedelacruz 1]

very inspiring. after all thge hardships you went through, you still made it to the sweet finish line..

thanks for sharing your story.

congratulations.

have a safe and wonderful flight...

[jego ryu 0]

have a safe trip and godbless