CR-1 Visa Case Interview Experience, U.S. Embassy Manila Philippines

[Julius_and_Coney 0]

My wife who lives in Caloocan City Metro Manila left at 4:30 AM and carried along this two inch three ring binder full of documents and pictures.

She took the Light Rail Transit to commute to the US Embassy at Roxas Boulevard, Manila and arrived at the US Embassy around 5:10 AM. Upon arriving, she found the queue of people intending to enter the US Embassy to be long.

The U.S. Embassy rent-a-cop opened the gate for Applicants at 6:00 AM. Upon checking the Appointment Letter, the guard issued a Form document which will be filled out by Applicant and returned at a window counter at a later time.

The queue for Tourist, working visa, and Immigrant visa applications were separate.

At around 6:45 AM, a clerk called my wife to a Counter and took some information regarding our petition case; checked our Appointment Letter, Petition Case; verified that the Appointment Letter had a stamp from St. Luke's Clinic signifying that a Physical/Medical exam was performed; fingerprint card; and checked my wife's Philippines Passport . She was issued a number and was

instructed to take a seat.

The number was called out four times at four different counters. The manner in which the number was called out was not in sequence rather in a random fashion.

Some of the Applicant who queued early at the Embassy were not finished with their Interview when my wife left the US Embassy. A piece of advise is, make sure the Applicant ate something for breakfast prior to entering the US Embassy.

At the second window, a Filipina clerk interviewed my wife in Tagalog about our petition case and details of our relationship, marriage.

The actual interview happened at the third window. Interview was conducted by a young American lady consul.

Interview questions ranged from: What is the profession of your husband? What is the Profession of my wife. My profession is an Engineer. My wife's profession is a Registered Nurse. The Consul's remark is, there is so much demand for Registered Nurses in the U.S. , your husband probably will stop working when my wife is fully employed. My personal response to that is, not in California with the high cost of living in this State, gotta have two income family to make ends meet. She was aksed whether my wife intends to work in the United States to which she replied yes.

Other questions were, details about us both such as Birthday and Age. Question such as: why was the marriage conducted in Hong Kong, who attended our Wedding ceremony. At that point , the Consul asked for a picture evidence of the Wedding event specifically a group picture showing witnesses i.e. relatives attending the event.

Other questions are whether I had previous marriage to which my wife replied yes. Whether I had children (which is yes) and whether my wife had children as well (which is no). Whether my wife was in a previous marriage prior to our marriage (to which the reply is no). Question was asked about the name of my ex-wife and where is she currently residing.

Question was also asked as to how I became a US Citizen to which her reply is being the child of a Retired and US Serviceman in the 50's and 60's, that I inherited my US Citizenship through my father. How long have I resided in the United States.

Questions as to how we communicated, how often how long have we known each other prior to marriage to which the reply is through SMS Text messaging, Chat sessions using Yahoo Messenger, Facebook chat, Skype chat with Webcam, frequency is daily if possible, by Letter and greeting cards on special occasions.

The interviewing Consul handed my wife a pamphlet about domestic violence. She was instructed about what to do in case of domestic violence in the home and how to report the case if it happens. She was instructed that her status will not be affected if domestic violence happens in the home during the conditional period. My wife replied that the she already attended a Seminar about Domestic Violence conducted by the Commission of Filipinos Overseas, an agency of the Philippine Government.

My wife's impression is, that the interviewing Consul felt that her replies to the Interview questions were sincere and the she didn't give her a hard time. She noted that the experience of other applicants were otherwise, that the Consul was skeptical to other applicant's replies.

At fourth window, my wife was asked to surrender the form that was initially issued to her at the U.S. Embassy Entrance. This form asked information as to the address where the Philippine Passport with approved CR-1 visa will be sent to.

She left the US Embassy around 9:30 AM; since food was not allowed inside the Embassy she ordered a burger for brunch at some fast-food joint along the way home and took the LRT going back.

[DIANE2013 2]

Thhx so much ur post Really help ! Congrat

[aylabuhoney 0]

hi! i just wanna ask if they ask your wife's CEMAR at the interview?

[Julius_and_Coney 0]

@aylabuhoney

>>you asked:

>>wanna ask if they ask your wife's CEMAR at the interview?

They didn't ask for my wife's Certificate of Marriage but the fact that

the Interviewer asked lots of information regarding the

circumstances of the wedding and marriage, it would be wise to

get a copy of the NSO Certificate of Marriage in case they ask for it

at the Interview.

In our case, since we got married in Hong Kong, my wife also

brought both the Hong Kong Marriage Registry Certificate of Marriage

and also the Philippines NSO Certificate of Marriage.

[dalidali 0]

Very nice write up on your wifes experiences at interview time.

I am sure all who will be in the same boat, at some point, will appreciate your time.

[jojan 0]

I just want to ask something my wife concerned that she will need to get "red ribbon" certification on our marriage cert and her birth cert?