Manila Embassy Interview

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

Hi. I think today is my lucky day. I was able to get a ticket for tonight! (via continental airlines) We are going to the airport soon.

Best Wishes and have a safe journey!

[Glenn & Rosemarie 0]

Rosemarie has a fever, so she will not be leaving on Sunday for Florida. I contacted NWA to change her flight departure date to Tuesday 02/06. They jacked the price up from $719 to $1838! No way did I buy that ticket! They also charged me $100 cancellation fee!

I was looking on Continental Airlines. They have Manila to Honolulu, to Houston, to Jacksonville flight. The price is about $700. My question is this: In her interview they asked her POE. She answered Detroit. If she lands in Honolulu, I am assuming that is her new POE? Also, is the airport in Honolulu easy to navigate? Rosemarie has never been any further from Cagayan De Oro than Hong Kong in her life.

Thanks in advance for feedback.

hey glenn, doesnt the CO flight change planes in guam first? to my knowledge CO doesn't go direct to hnl from mnl. i've flown the CO route to mnl before, the guam airport, from what i remember was fairly easy to navigate, get off the plane and there was only 1 way to go which took you straight to immigration/customs. so her POE will be guam. hnl airport i don't remember too much about, but i'm sure there will be many other filipina on her flight that can give her some direction, but no need to go thru any kind of customs or anything, just get off the plane and find ur next gate. and if she is going CO all the way then her departing gate should be fairly close to her arriving gate. good luck! congrats! ur almost there!

You are correct, it does stop in Guam. I also see that the flight is only 1.5 hours from departing again. That is not enough time I don't think for her. I am waiting for someone from NWA to contact me now. I feel that I have a legitimate greivance with them. The first ticket was $719, then $1830 two days later. If it was round trip, it would be only $1100? It also ticked me off that I they wouldn't let me upgrade her flight with world perk earned miles. I have over 250,000 miles accumalated with them. They say the flight must originate from a US city? Anyways, business is slow today so I will just argue with them to pass the time. lol......Thanks for the information

[garya505 2]

Rosemarie has a fever, so she will not be leaving on Sunday for Florida. I contacted NWA to change her flight departure date to Tuesday 02/06. They jacked the price up from $719 to $1838! No way did I buy that ticket! They also charged me $100 cancellation fee!

I was looking on Continental Airlines. They have Manila to Honolulu, to Houston, to Jacksonville flight. The price is about $700. My question is this: In her interview they asked her POE. She answered Detroit. If she lands in Honolulu, I am assuming that is her new POE? Also, is the airport in Honolulu easy to navigate? Rosemarie has never been any further from Cagayan De Oro than Hong Kong in her life.

Thanks in advance for feedback.

hey glenn, doesnt the CO flight change planes in guam first? to my knowledge CO doesn't go direct to hnl from mnl. i've flown the CO route to mnl before, the guam airport, from what i remember was fairly easy to navigate, get off the plane and there was only 1 way to go which took you straight to immigration/customs. so her POE will be guam. hnl airport i don't remember too much about, but i'm sure there will be many other filipina on her flight that can give her some direction, but no need to go thru any kind of customs or anything, just get off the plane and find ur next gate. and if she is going CO all the way then her departing gate should be fairly close to her arriving gate. good luck! congrats! ur almost there!

You are correct, it does stop in Guam. I also see that the flight is only 1.5 hours from departing again. That is not enough time I don't think for her. I am waiting for someone from NWA to contact me now. I feel that I have a legitimate greivance with them. The first ticket was $719, then $1830 two days later. If it was round trip, it would be only $1100? It also ticked me off that I they wouldn't let me upgrade her flight with world perk earned miles. I have over 250,000 miles accumalated with them. They say the flight must originate from a US city? Anyways, business is slow today so I will just argue with them to pass the time. lol......Thanks for the information

I think Guam is a really small airport and I think CO knows they have connections there, so I wouldn't worry about a 1.5 hour connect there, especially on the same airline. They know a lot of people on that flight have to clear immigration and customs (unless it's deferred to HNL). And the aircraft from MNL to GUM is a 737 so not a huge crowd.

We'll be on the MNL-GUM-HNL-LAX flight in about 3 weeks.

[Michael and Milahjean 0]

Booked our travel arrangements today (shame on me for leaping forward on a whim) and landed a reasonably good deal (I believe, I'm not squabbling that much over price due to my extreme level of excitement now) on that super direct NWA direct Detriot - Manila flight. I did $1125 round trip today for my Mar 24 depart and April 5 return and also $890 one-way for Milah Jean. I had found a Dayton-Manila round trip today for $924, but the one-way fare for her to return with me was over $1600!!!. So, I'm not suprised by the extreme price of the new ticket, Glenn. I'm content. I just hope that we have no glitches that would force a reschedule.

A question for the natives - are there any national holidays during the weeks of Mar 26 and April 2 that we should be aware of where PRISM, CFO and SMEF-COW in Manila would be closed? We are hoping that her visa is delivered in time for my arrival and we plan to do both CFO sessions then. I know this is getting close to Easter and Holy Week.

Thanks all for the info!!!

Michael and Milah Jean

[archie07 0]

Windchaser, thanks for starting the list again. I hope all is not lost. I'm busy preparing for my medical exam which is scheduled tomorrow, Monday. Iwill not be able to get hold of a computer til Tuesday.

Friends, just list down all of your info ~ NOA2, Embassy receipt date, packet receipt date, interview date, Manila case number, your home state, fiance's hometown. I'll try to get the list back up again on Tuesday.

KTMguy, the proof of payment will be recorded on the DS 156 or DS 157 form (I'm not sure now which form). When your fiancee is ready to make the payment, make sure she brings the two forms to the bank with her.

I was curious as to why they denied your visa and you had to filea new partition??? archie

[w1n78 0]

looks like you're good. check out http://www.filipinasoul.com/non-working-holidays-2007/

A question for the natives - are there any national holidays during the weeks of Mar 26 and April 2 that we should be aware of where PRISM, CFO and SMEF-COW in Manila would be closed? We are hoping that her visa is delivered in time for my arrival and we plan to do both CFO sessions then. I know this is getting close to Easter and Holy Week.

Thanks all for the info!!!

Michael and Milah Jean

[dims1 0]

BOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!

I can't check if our interview was scheduled cuz its Sat. in PI!!!!! Man just my luck!

Well I'm really excited for my fellow Cr-1 friends! Way to go and thanks for posting so quickly so I can sit here and stressssss!

Mike

[archie07 0]

Does anyone have experience in hiring an American attorney in Manila to go to the interview with the beneficiary? Or what can be done to avoid AR for such a trivial and well documented item? After what we have been through to get an interview, I am at overload to find out AR is eminent.

Exactly what do you expect an attorney to do to prevent a document check? Don't think there would be anything more they could do then what you can yourself. If all documents and evidence are provided, and STILL they want to check/validate for themselves, still same result with attorney. I know with a "late registered" BC like my girl's they often require second ID to confirm the validity of the BC (i.e. baptismal certificate) maybe such secondary identification would help your cause.

My Fiancee had secondary docs to prove her name....from elementary school to current....still did not matter.

Yes...she was told by the consul and also given a white piece of paper telling her to wait until they call her.

Plus the embassy told me that NOW they will do review on any BC that has changes or corrections

Yes, I see now that you are right. An attorney would do me no good. I am just overwhelmed at the thought AR is eminent after such a long battle already.

I just need to lay down and cry like an old woman. I am really crushed and heartbroken to know that in spite of the completely thorough job of putting together paperwork, AR and another undetermined delay is coming. And it appears there is nothing I can do about it. After IMBRA, IMBRA RFE, filing a successful waiver and waiting so long, this is just too much to bare. But what choice do I have? NONE.

If anyone else in this thread has input, please let me know.

[archie07 0]

Does anyone have experience in hiring an American attorney in Manila to go to the interview with the beneficiary? Or what can be done to avoid AR for such a trivial and well documented item? After what we have been through to get an interview, I am at overload to find out AR is eminent.

Exactly what do you expect an attorney to do to prevent a document check? Don't think there would be anything more they could do then what you can yourself. If all documents and evidence are provided, and STILL they want to check/validate for themselves, still same result with attorney. I know with a "late registered" BC like my girl's they often require second ID to confirm the validity of the BC (i.e. baptismal certificate) maybe such secondary identification would help your cause.

My Fiancee had secondary docs to prove her name....from elementary school to current....still did not matter.

Yes...she was told by the consul and also given a white piece of paper telling her to wait until they call her.

Plus the embassy told me that NOW they will do review on any BC that has changes or corrections

Yes, I see now that you are right. An attorney would do me no good. I am just overwhelmed at the thought AR is eminent after such a long battle already.

I just need to lay down and cry like an old woman. I am really crushed and heartbroken to know that in spite of the completely thorough job of putting together paperwork, AR and another undetermined delay is coming. And it appears there is nothing I can do about it. After IMBRA, IMBRA RFE, filing a successful waiver and waiting so long, this is just too much to bare. But what choice do I have? NONE.

If anyone else in this thread has input, please let me know.

Hi Rob, I was reading your ordeal here,,, just to let you know im going thru the same thing here, Im loosing my hair fast, besides the 11 pounds in one month, and all the sleepless nights.

[soulm8z0928 0]

BOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!

I can't check if our interview was scheduled cuz its Sat. in PI!!!!! Man just my luck!

Well I'm really excited for my fellow Cr-1 friends! Way to go and thanks for posting so quickly so I can sit here and stressssss!

Mike

mike, call the nvc in new hampshire, thats how we found! no need to wait for embassy in manila, nvc has the info. hurry, i think they still have live operators now, u have to speak to an operator, automated system won't be updated yet.

then maybe you n ur wife will be on cloud 9 with us also! good luck!

[Ken_Maria 0]

Easter is 8 April and Holy Week is the week prior. I would not wait until the last week of Mar to get the CFO done just in case.

Booked our travel arrangements today (shame on me for leaping forward on a whim) and landed a reasonably good deal (I believe, I'm not squabbling that much over price due to my extreme level of excitement now) on that super direct NWA direct Detriot - Manila flight. I did $1125 round trip today for my Mar 24 depart and April 5 return and also $890 one-way for Milah Jean. I had found a Dayton-Manila round trip today for $924, but the one-way fare for her to return with me was over $1600!!!. So, I'm not suprised by the extreme price of the new ticket, Glenn. I'm content. I just hope that we have no glitches that would force a reschedule.

A question for the natives - are there any national holidays during the weeks of Mar 26 and April 2 that we should be aware of where PRISM, CFO and SMEF-COW in Manila would be closed? We are hoping that her visa is delivered in time for my arrival and we plan to do both CFO sessions then. I know this is getting close to Easter and Holy Week.

Thanks all for the info!!!

Michael and Milah Jean

[Amerikano 0]

God bless all of you who have March dates! Congratulations and good luck...we all know how much this means after the long wait. There really is a light at the end...

Gary

INTERVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Called NVC just now...CR-1 interview for Milah Jean is March 15 at 6:30 am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get ready CR-1s with case completed in November!!!! Praise God!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAHOOOOOOOOOOO! we got our interview date too. March 2 at 8:30 am with October NVC completed date. PW UPDATE US, PLEASE - been waiting to say that. time to PM the fellow members to check with NVC

oopsie, i meant November NVC completed date - got too excited thanks to all that helped. and thank you God!

[dims1 0]

soulm8z0928,

Thanks alot for the support! I appreciate it!

Yes, after I posted I decided to do just that. I got a live operator.... but she said we weren't scheduled yet.

My hope is that since April is holy month in PI, that they might squeeze us into March. Anyway, I have been figuring on April since the beginning... so no biggie.

And to think if I hadn't gotten the 10 delay for not including my bank info, I would have been with the rest of you timeline-wise.

Oh well, I get to at least watch you guys move along so its not so bad! I'm glad to FINALLY see some movement after Jazzy....:-)

And hey....I'm at the top of our list now, hehehe! King of the mountain! hahaha! ok, only a list of """2""" but hey....:-)

Take care and congrats!

Mike

Edited February 3, 2007 by dims1

[RiggerAF 0]

Hi everyone, my ####### is here in Hawaii now but JESUS CHRIST! I AM FREEZING! I thought it's not cold here. Anyway I arrived here at 6:30 with stopover in Guam. POE is guam and they took my packet from there. I met few girls who is going to Houston and thier packet was there too in Guam. I believe it's US teritory and it's our POE. That was it! I hand out our packet, passport and boarding pass. Did finger scanning with picture taking lol. The CO told me that I have 90 days to marry and adjust the status. Got the stamp and heard the word WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES! That was quick totally. I saw few girls carrying thier bones lol ( i mean the x-ray film) hahahaha and I asked them if why are they carrying thier bones.... Was joking around hahahaha. It wasn't needed so better keep the x-ray films in your luggage if you want.

Zane

Edited February 3, 2007 by RiggerAF

[jazzy 0]

Hi everyone,

Well I'm glad to see my fellow cr-1's getting some good news!!! Have any of you, Soul, Michael, W1n, got your packet yet from the NVC? Or just an interview date from operator? Just curious...my god took them long enough, i was sure you guys would have heard last week.

Dims, saying a prayer for you to get a march date also....crossing those fingers!!!

So you know guys...with the cr-1 they don't set a st. lukes appointment...just have this done at least a week ahead. You will have to send your benificiary the appointment letter you get from the NVC. St. lukes will make a copy..of course bring passport and photos. Jasmin had no problems with that...her medical is now done and we are waiting till thursday for interview....we are kinda expectin AR do to her daughters late registration BC...so we are prepared...who knows maybe we'll get a nice surprise.

PW, thanks so much for meeting with Jasmin and having dinner....she said gracey really liked you...i'm thankful you made time to give them a little company....your the best...)

Jazzy