October 2009 K-1 Visa filers

[lilacvioletiris 11]

Can I just say the the DS-160 online form is a beast! Save and save often especially on the pages where you can "add additional" jobs, educational institutions etc. I lost all the schools my fiance' had attended because it took longer than 15 minutes to finish the page. ARGH. Make sure you save to file too, because just "saving" is not enough. Make sure there is a long string of letters and numbers then ".dat" and you are safe to come back to it later if necessary.

Took us about 1.5 hours on the DS-160 alone because it kept timing out and losing our data. Spent 3.5 hours total last night getting everything typed up.

But now on Valentine's Day we can relax. Ahh. No more paperwork. Now if only the packet 3 letter will be in the mailbox when he gets home on Monday.

[cecilia-gary 0]

We recied our letter from NVC 22 Jan 10 and my fiancee hasn't recieved anything from the embassy in Manila. Should we be worried?

hi caveman_robot!!! No need to be worried.. even me, i still didnt received anything from manila USembassy, as i know it would take long before i received anything from them coz my town is quite remote(far from manila).. You got your NVC letter 3 days ahead from ours.. My fiance called manila embassy 1 week after we received the NVC letter however, they told my fiance to call back after a week as they only received the electronic copy of our case forwarded by the NVC. Feb 8, my fiance called manila embassy and be able to set my interview on march 10. It was our preference date as it will give us time to compile/ prepare needed documents for my interview(though i already had my documents prepared last december and my fiance's documents has been sent through UPS and im waiting for it to arrive here by tomorrow). I decided also to have my medical ahead of time from my interview, and i thank God everything went well with my medical exam last feb 9& 10.

You can call manila embassy and ask them if they already receive your case( i'm pretty sure it's already in their system).. You can also let your fiance have her medical as well.

GOD BLESS!!!

[LeoLaLit 2]

We recied our letter from NVC 22 Jan 10 and my fiancee hasn't recieved anything from the embassy in Manila. Should we be worried?

The only thing that the US emabassy is going to send your fiancee is a notification that your fiancee is eligible to schedule an interview. This is not an actual appointment letter as you will need to call them to schedule an appointment. Refer to this link for more information -- the requirements and how to schedule an interview is found here: http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwfk1en.pdf

For the medical exam, all you need is a copy of both the NOA2 and NVC letter. For a complete walkthrough of the medical exam, here's a thread that NinJones posted in the Philippine Regional forum: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=221658

[LeoLaLit 2]

hi caveman_robot!!! No need to be worried.. even me, i still didnt received anything from manila USembassy, as i know it would take long before i received anything from them coz my town is quite remote(far from manila).. You got your NVC letter 3 days ahead from ours.. My fiance called manila embassy 1 week after we received the NVC letter however, they told my fiance to call back after a week as they only received the electronic copy of our case forwarded by the NVC. Feb 8, my fiance called manila embassy and be able to set my interview on march 10. It was our preference date as it will give us time to compile/ prepare needed documents for my interview(though i already had my documents prepared last december and my fiance's documents has been sent through UPS and im waiting for it to arrive here by tomorrow). I decided also to have my medical ahead of time from my interview, and i thank God everything went well with my medical exam last feb 9& 10.

You can call manila embassy and ask them if they already receive your case( i'm pretty sure it's already in their system).. You can also let your fiance have her medical as well.

GOD BLESS!!!

Did your fiance call the appointment line? -- Since my fiancee does not have a post paid phone line, I will be the one calling the US Embassy from here in the US... don't want to spend $18 for the PIN if they'll jull tell me that i have to call them back after a week or so...

Thanks!

[cecilia-gary 0]

Did your fiance call the appointment line? -- Since my fiancee does not have a post paid phone line, I will be the one calling the US Embassy from here in the US... don't want to spend $18 for the PIN if they'll jull tell me that i have to call them back after a week or so...

Thanks!

Yes, it was my fiance who called the manila embassy to set appointment for my interview since i dont have post paid phone line here.. You can call them 2 weeks after you received your NVC letter so you wont spend $18 for the pin, coz that's what happened to my fiance when he called 1 week after we got the NVC letter.

GOD BLESS!!!

[lilacvioletiris 11]

For those of you who have had packet 3 (I know some embassies don't require it), did you include the question and responses to the DS-160 AND the confirmation page in the printed on paper forms you returned OR did you just include the confirmation page from the DS-160? The second thing on the checklist sample I saw had DS-160, one copy available at https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/

Is simple submitting the document online enough with just the confirmation page printed and returned to the embassy?

[lilacvioletiris 11]

My fiance' received packet 3! It was in his mailbox when he got home today from visiting me. Yeah! We decided to include a copy of the DS-160 questions and answers since it wasn't clear if the online submission was enough as long as the confirmation page was included. Yeah! I am so glad he got packet 3. Waiting for the Montreal consulate to respond would be torture. Now we just send the forms they request back to Montreal and get put in line for an interview date.

[Beth and John 7]

My fiance' received packet 3! It was in his mailbox when he got home today from visiting me. Yeah! We decided to include a copy of the DS-160 questions and answers since it wasn't clear if the online submission was enough as long as the confirmation page was included. Yeah! I am so glad he got packet 3. Waiting for the Montreal consulate to respond would be torture. Now we just send the forms they request back to Montreal and get put in line for an interview date.

Yay! Glad you guys finally got it!!

[lilacvioletiris 11]

I think we checked over the paperwork about 3 different times just to make sure we had everything that the Montreal Consulate needed and that everything was signed properly. Now the wait for the interview date.

Did John get his interview date before the Olympics started or do you have to wait until after the Olympics end to find out?

[Beth and John 7]

I think we checked over the paperwork about 3 different times just to make sure we had everything that the Montreal Consulate needed and that everything was signed properly. Now the wait for the interview date.

Did John get his interview date before the Olympics started or do you have to wait until after the Olympics end to find out?

Haven't heard anything back from them as of yet, so I think that if he hasn't gotten that "packet 4" by Friday of this week, I will assume that he won't get anything until they are back from their Olympics-cation.... or is that vaca-lympics?

[lilacvioletiris 11]

He could call the Department of State and they can tell him if he has an interview date or not. Takes about 15 minutes of waiting through prompts that you have to listen to other wise it gives some nasty message "that is not a valid response you must listen to all the options".

[Beth and John 7]

He could call the Department of State and they can tell him if he has an interview date or not. Takes about 15 minutes of waiting through prompts that you have to listen to other wise it gives some nasty message "that is not a valid response you must listen to all the options".

Thanks! He is giving it a try now.

[K and L 27]

Have you got a date yet, Beth?

We're not going to hear back from the consulate regarding changing the date until next week because of Carnaval. I'm hoping to get 6 April, but from what Bruna & Mitch told me, they may make us wait for a full month to reschedule. Since we're going for a July POE / August wedding, late April is fine, too, but I'd rather have it early April to get the whole thing over with!

Edited February 17, 2010 by K and L

[Beth and John 7]

Have you got a date yet, Beth?

We're not going to hear back from the consulate regarding changing the date until next week because of Carnaval. I'm hoping to get 6 April, but from what Bruna & Mitch told me, they may make us wait for a full month to reschedule. Since we're going for a July POE / August wedding, late April is fine, too, but I'd rather have it early April to get the whole thing over with!

Nothing yet. It was too late when John tried last night, so I'm hoping that he wakes up in time to try again today

I'm glad that you aren't in a rush and that if they do make you wait, it will still all turn out ok. We've changed our "wedding date" and are now shooting for a civil ceremony shortly after he gets to Michigan, then having a wedding ceremony/celebration some time in late August/early September. I'm really glad about that right now, after having done the move into our new home solo this past weekend, I can't imagine throwing wedding plans on top of all that right now. ugh.

[K and L 27]

Oh, this is weird, Rio sent me the packet 4 hard copy! The good news is it clearly states $131 as the price. So, whatever. Regardless of what happens, we're good to go - if they don't change it, I'll spend spring break in Salvador (and his parents will throw a small engagement party, since they won't be doing a wedding), and we'll fly to Rio on Sunday, do the medical on Monday, and interview Tuesday, and I'll be back on Wednesday.

Our wedding is going to be really small - basically, a glorified civil ceremony. I spend my summers working in Arizona, so we're going to drive back and stop in New Orleans for a few days to get married down in Riverside Park (on the banks of the Mississippi, off of the French Quarter). We found a photographer that will do it by the hour (and only one hour, which'll be plenty of time) and an officiant, and we're talking to a few florists about the the bouquet.