Manila Embassy Interview/Visa Status

[Christine n Carl 0]

same here....after reading your post, I checked ours and sure enough, our case number is not found.....but it was there yesterday when I checked.....

I had the same thing happen a few weeks ago. One day there, the next poof. Than it showed up again later.

Just a quick question for all those who either went with there fiancee to the interview or plan on going....

How did you go about arranging your fiancee's trip back to your country? Before interview? After? And for you planning to be with her, whats your plans? Just trying to get some idea how to make a plan, when its pretty much hard to do.

Thanks for any comments.

Carl & Ginovie

[vsmtghdy 2]

Hello everyone! I’m happy to be back on-line. I arrived on June 12 and still trying to get settled here.

[JeffK 0]

Mae had her interview on the 18th but she didn't receive her CENOMAR in time, so we knew she most likely wouldn't get the visa immediately. However, she did pass the interview (!) and needs to return with the CENOMAR to continue processing the visa (technically, I assume this is AR? She said something about a blue flag?).

These are the details of her interview I recall from my not so good memory of what she said afterwards:

She had one hour of sleep the night before arrived at the embassy at 5am and was out by 11am. She said the pre-screener asked basic information about me, my children, and past marriages. She said the consul was very rude and asked her three times what our ages are, why was she sure she wanted to marry me, and how did she know she was in love. He didn't say anything reassuring and asked her to go wait for her number. She thought she hadn't passed and was in tears but the girl at the window reassured her and said that it was ok and all she needed to do was bring the CENOMAR back any day 1-2pm. She paid DELBROS and left.

We are very happy, but there is still some ambiguity and doubt since we're not sure what will happen and what delay this will cause. She has to return to General Santos and pick up the CENOMAR (it should be ready by now) and return to Manila. I haven't done a search of the VJ website but has anyone else had this experience? What sort of delay will this cause? It's quite a ordeal and more expense to return to just submit the document which will mean another flight and night at the hotel. I will call the embassy and find out if there is another means to submit it. However, on the other hand, it might speed up the process if she returned. Nothing is easy, lol.

[RonMay 1]

Mae had her interview on the 18th but she didn't receive her CENOMAR in time, so we knew she most likely wouldn't get the visa immediately. However, she did pass the interview (!) and needs to return with the CENOMAR to continue processing the visa (technically, I assume this is AR? She said something about a blue flag?).

These are the details of her interview I recall from my not so good memory of what she said afterwards:

She had one hour of sleep the night before arrived at the embassy at 5am and was out by 11am. She said the pre-screener asked basic information about me, my children, and past marriages. She said the consul was very rude and asked her three times what our ages are, why was she sure she wanted to marry me, and how did she know she was in love. He didn't say anything reassuring and asked her to go wait for her number. She thought she hadn't passed and was in tears but the girl at the window reassured her and said that it was ok and all she needed to do was bring the CENOMAR back any day 1-2pm. She paid DELBROS and left.

We are very happy, but there is still some ambiguity and doubt since we're not sure what will happen and what delay this will cause. She has to return to General Santos and pick up the CENOMAR (it should be ready by now) and return to Manila. I haven't done a search of the VJ website but has anyone else had this experience? What sort of delay will this cause? It's quite a ordeal and more expense to return to just submit the document which will mean another flight and night at the hotel. I will call the embassy and find out if there is another means to submit it. However, on the other hand, it might speed up the process if she returned. Nothing is easy, lol.

hi there! sorry for the outcome of her sort "ordeal"... the good news is they let her paid delbros... this is one of the example on which you may be on AR until you give them what they wanted... it happen occasionally and as basic as cenomar it would/could not lead to a complete denial... but as usual its a "case to case basis" all we can do is hope and pray and give what they wanted... although i believe you can get cenomar anywhere in PHIL. correct me if im wrong... knowing nso has a computer to access nationwide and of course their record is for nationwide use.

good luck! God bless!!!

ron/may

[Dakine 26]

She can go to the main NSO main office in Quezon City. They may expedite it and she won't have to go all the way back to GS.

Did they give her a 221[g] requiring CENOMAR?

Sorry but I'm a bit pessimistic as USEM normally does their own CENOMAR checks!

Hopefully thev've eased up.

Case by case naman tho!

[JeffK 0]

A followup - I was able to talk to the USE Immigrant Visa Unit. A very nice woman named Loraine talked to me. She looked up the case and said that Mae can send it overnight (FedEx, etc) from General Santos and that will be ok. She also said they will validate it with NSO and this takes 4-6 weeks. So the good news is that she is not denied but we will be on AR for a while. I suspect that 4-6 weeks is a maximum based on what others have said here.

Mae had her interview on the 18th but she didn't receive her CENOMAR in time, so we knew she most likely wouldn't get the visa immediately. However, she did pass the interview (!) and needs to return with the CENOMAR to continue processing the visa (technically, I assume this is AR? She said something about a blue flag?).

These are the details of her interview I recall from my not so good memory of what she said afterwards:

She had one hour of sleep the night before arrived at the embassy at 5am and was out by 11am. She said the pre-screener asked basic information about me, my children, and past marriages. She said the consul was very rude and asked her three times what our ages are, why was she sure she wanted to marry me, and how did she know she was in love. He didn't say anything reassuring and asked her to go wait for her number. She thought she hadn't passed and was in tears but the girl at the window reassured her and said that it was ok and all she needed to do was bring the CENOMAR back any day 1-2pm. She paid DELBROS and left.

We are very happy, but there is still some ambiguity and doubt since we're not sure what will happen and what delay this will cause. She has to return to General Santos and pick up the CENOMAR (it should be ready by now) and return to Manila. I haven't done a search of the VJ website but has anyone else had this experience? What sort of delay will this cause? It's quite a ordeal and more expense to return to just submit the document which will mean another flight and night at the hotel. I will call the embassy and find out if there is another means to submit it. However, on the other hand, it might speed up the process if she returned. Nothing is easy, lol.

[JelloShotGirl 0]

hey guys just wanna say hi! couldnt find u for awhile! LOL! welcome to USA PW!

[busycharlie 0]

A followup - I was able to talk to the USE Immigrant Visa Unit. A very nice woman named Loraine talked to me. She looked up the case and said that Mae can send it overnight (FedEx, etc) from General Santos and that will be ok. She also said they will validate it with NSO and this takes 4-6 weeks. So the good news is that she is not denied but we will be on AR for a while. I suspect that 4-6 weeks is a maximum based on what others have said here.

Mae had her interview on the 18th but she didn't receive her CENOMAR in time, so we knew she most likely wouldn't get the visa immediately. However, she did pass the interview (!) and needs to return with the CENOMAR to continue processing the visa (technically, I assume this is AR? She said something about a blue flag?).

These are the details of her interview I recall from my not so good memory of what she said afterwards:

She had one hour of sleep the night before arrived at the embassy at 5am and was out by 11am. She said the pre-screener asked basic information about me, my children, and past marriages. She said the consul was very rude and asked her three times what our ages are, why was she sure she wanted to marry me, and how did she know she was in love. He didn't say anything reassuring and asked her to go wait for her number. She thought she hadn't passed and was in tears but the girl at the window reassured her and said that it was ok and all she needed to do was bring the CENOMAR back any day 1-2pm. She paid DELBROS and left.

We are very happy, but there is still some ambiguity and doubt since we're not sure what will happen and what delay this will cause. She has to return to General Santos and pick up the CENOMAR (it should be ready by now) and return to Manila. I haven't done a search of the VJ website but has anyone else had this experience? What sort of delay will this cause? It's quite a ordeal and more expense to return to just submit the document which will mean another flight and night at the hotel. I will call the embassy and find out if there is another means to submit it. However, on the other hand, it might speed up the process if she returned. Nothing is easy, lol.

Hi Jeff,

Just to clarify, so if she would have had the cenomar for the interview then they wouldn't need to validate it? I'm not totally familiar with the cenomar but doesn't it come from NSO to begin with? I don't see why that have to get it validated by them if it came from them.

Charlie

[Dakine 26]

A followup - I was able to talk to the USE Immigrant Visa Unit. A very nice woman named Loraine talked to me. She looked up the case and said that Mae can send it overnight (FedEx, etc) from General Santos and that will be ok. She also said they will validate it with NSO and this takes 4-6 weeks. So the good news is that she is not denied but we will be on AR for a while. I suspect that 4-6 weeks is a maximum based on what others have said here.

Mae had her interview on the 18th but she didn't receive her CENOMAR in time, so we knew she most likely wouldn't get the visa immediately. However, she did pass the interview (!) and needs to return with the CENOMAR to continue processing the visa (technically, I assume this is AR? She said something about a blue flag?).

These are the details of her interview I recall from my not so good memory of what she said afterwards:

She had one hour of sleep the night before arrived at the embassy at 5am and was out by 11am. She said the pre-screener asked basic information about me, my children, and past marriages. She said the consul was very rude and asked her three times what our ages are, why was she sure she wanted to marry me, and how did she know she was in love. He didn't say anything reassuring and asked her to go wait for her number. She thought she hadn't passed and was in tears but the girl at the window reassured her and said that it was ok and all she needed to do was bring the CENOMAR back any day 1-2pm. She paid DELBROS and left.

We are very happy, but there is still some ambiguity and doubt since we're not sure what will happen and what delay this will cause. She has to return to General Santos and pick up the CENOMAR (it should be ready by now) and return to Manila. I haven't done a search of the VJ website but has anyone else had this experience? What sort of delay will this cause? It's quite a ordeal and more expense to return to just submit the document which will mean another flight and night at the hotel. I will call the embassy and find out if there is another means to submit it. However, on the other hand, it might speed up the process if she returned. Nothing is easy, lol.

Hi Jeff,

Just to clarify, so if she would have had the cenomar for the interview then they wouldn't need to validate it? I'm not totally familiar with the cenomar but doesn't it come from NSO to begin with? I don't see why that have to get it validated by them if it came from them.

Charlie

Yo Charlie!

There are a LOT of fake CENOMARS along with other documents in the Philippines.

I imagine USEM is already doing their own search with NSO.

Normally they care less about the one the person submits themselves but do their own checks.

Surprised they asked the person to submit one at all.

[busycharlie 0]

A followup - I was able to talk to the USE Immigrant Visa Unit. A very nice woman named Loraine talked to me. She looked up the case and said that Mae can send it overnight (FedEx, etc) from General Santos and that will be ok. She also said they will validate it with NSO and this takes 4-6 weeks. So the good news is that she is not denied but we will be on AR for a while. I suspect that 4-6 weeks is a maximum based on what others have said here.

Mae had her interview on the 18th but she didn't receive her CENOMAR in time, so we knew she most likely wouldn't get the visa immediately. However, she did pass the interview (!) and needs to return with the CENOMAR to continue processing the visa (technically, I assume this is AR? She said something about a blue flag?).

These are the details of her interview I recall from my not so good memory of what she said afterwards:

She had one hour of sleep the night before arrived at the embassy at 5am and was out by 11am. She said the pre-screener asked basic information about me, my children, and past marriages. She said the consul was very rude and asked her three times what our ages are, why was she sure she wanted to marry me, and how did she know she was in love. He didn't say anything reassuring and asked her to go wait for her number. She thought she hadn't passed and was in tears but the girl at the window reassured her and said that it was ok and all she needed to do was bring the CENOMAR back any day 1-2pm. She paid DELBROS and left.

We are very happy, but there is still some ambiguity and doubt since we're not sure what will happen and what delay this will cause. She has to return to General Santos and pick up the CENOMAR (it should be ready by now) and return to Manila. I haven't done a search of the VJ website but has anyone else had this experience? What sort of delay will this cause? It's quite a ordeal and more expense to return to just submit the document which will mean another flight and night at the hotel. I will call the embassy and find out if there is another means to submit it. However, on the other hand, it might speed up the process if she returned. Nothing is easy, lol.

Hi Jeff,

Just to clarify, so if she would have had the cenomar for the interview then they wouldn't need to validate it? I'm not totally familiar with the cenomar but doesn't it come from NSO to begin with? I don't see why that have to get it validated by them if it came from them.

Charlie

Yo Charlie!

There are a LOT of fake CENOMARS along with other documents in the Philippines.

I imagine USEM is already doing their own search with NSO.

Normally they care less about the one the person submits themselves but do their own checks.

Surprised they asked the person to submit one at all.

I guess it is no different here the U.S. with no many fake DL's. They are so bold here they sale these fake DL's right outside the DMV. Same thing goes for SS cards, I have seen so many bad imitations it is unbelievable.

[crambajoy 0]

My wife just got back from her interview and was told by the consul if she had prior marriages and said she will check nso. She did not have a CENOMAR- is that required for a cr-1 visa?They gave her a paper saying, "if there are documents (affv of sup, passport, a long list, etc. ) if checked, they will send you a letter to come back & "wait till you hear from us" the problem is there was nothing checked. They also said notify her if there are needed documents if not the visa will be sent.So whats the deal?

[JeffK 0]

I'm not exactly sure if it had made a difference if she brought it. The phone person, Loraine, said that they routinely verify the CENOMAR and something about usually doing it before the interview. So yes it seems like a formality or maybe a trap if someone submits a fake one? However, she seemed to be saying Mae has to send in the CENOMAR before they will begin the check. So I'm not sure if she would have been flagged for some reason anyways (maybe since she has a child which implies that she could have been married) or if she had brought everything would have been ok.

It would be interesting to know what really goes on since it sounded like the USE does some preparation before the actual interview. Perhaps people that have been on here longer know but it's a black box to me (nerdy engineering reference).

A followup - I was able to talk to the USE Immigrant Visa Unit. A very nice woman named Loraine talked to me. She looked up the case and said that Mae can send it overnight (FedEx, etc) from General Santos and that will be ok. She also said they will validate it with NSO and this takes 4-6 weeks. So the good news is that she is not denied but we will be on AR for a while. I suspect that 4-6 weeks is a maximum based on what others have said here.

Mae had her interview on the 18th but she didn't receive her CENOMAR in time, so we knew she most likely wouldn't get the visa immediately. However, she did pass the interview (!) and needs to return with the CENOMAR to continue processing the visa (technically, I assume this is AR? She said something about a blue flag?).

These are the details of her interview I recall from my not so good memory of what she said afterwards:

She had one hour of sleep the night before arrived at the embassy at 5am and was out by 11am. She said the pre-screener asked basic information about me, my children, and past marriages. She said the consul was very rude and asked her three times what our ages are, why was she sure she wanted to marry me, and how did she know she was in love. He didn't say anything reassuring and asked her to go wait for her number. She thought she hadn't passed and was in tears but the girl at the window reassured her and said that it was ok and all she needed to do was bring the CENOMAR back any day 1-2pm. She paid DELBROS and left.

We are very happy, but there is still some ambiguity and doubt since we're not sure what will happen and what delay this will cause. She has to return to General Santos and pick up the CENOMAR (it should be ready by now) and return to Manila. I haven't done a search of the VJ website but has anyone else had this experience? What sort of delay will this cause? It's quite a ordeal and more expense to return to just submit the document which will mean another flight and night at the hotel. I will call the embassy and find out if there is another means to submit it. However, on the other hand, it might speed up the process if she returned. Nothing is easy, lol.

Hi Jeff,

Just to clarify, so if she would have had the cenomar for the interview then they wouldn't need to validate it? I'm not totally familiar with the cenomar but doesn't it come from NSO to begin with? I don't see why that have to get it validated by them if it came from them.

Charlie

Yo Charlie!

There are a LOT of fake CENOMARS along with other documents in the Philippines.

I imagine USEM is already doing their own search with NSO.

Normally they care less about the one the person submits themselves but do their own checks.

Surprised they asked the person to submit one at all.

[vsmtghdy 2]

Mae had her interview on the 18th but she didn't receive her CENOMAR in time, so we knew she most likely wouldn't get the visa immediately. However, she did pass the interview (!) and needs to return with the CENOMAR to continue processing the visa (technically, I assume this is AR? She said something about a blue flag?).

JeffK: USEM CO are not consistent with what they asks from their applicants and it is always best to have all the possible documents at hand for the interview. CENOMAR is required (as listed in the appointment packet) for Immigrant Visa Applicants but even if the applicant have this for the interview, they still do their own NSO checks which takes about 10 working days to process with NSO (according to Lorraine). Don't worry too much, the good thing is that you paid for DELBROS (always a good sign). You just need to wait until they received a copy of the CENOMAR from NSO, then CO will review the case again, and then the visa will be delivered to you in due time. You just have to follow-up it with them, call once a week just to check the status.

My wife just got back from her interview and was told by the consul if she had prior marriages and said she will check nso. She did not have a CENOMAR- is that required for a cr-1 visa?They gave her a paper saying, "if there are documents (affv of sup, passport, a long list, etc. ) if checked, they will send you a letter to come back & "wait till you hear from us" the problem is there was nothing checked. They also said notify her if there are needed documents if not the visa will be sent.So whats the deal?

crambajoy: The appointment packet for Immigrant Visa (CR/IR) states there on number 6 is CENOMAR. That all documents listed (including the CENOMAR) have to be ready to submit at the time of the interview. Although they don't usually asks for CENOMAR during the interview, since they do their own NSO checks, it is always better to have all the necessary documents at hand to avoid these things-> going back there to submit more documents.

For those who will still have their interview, this could help you in some ways:

CENOMAR for single: NSO will give the CRS Form No. 4 - which will state that the applicant does not appear in their National Indices of Marriages based on the records of 1945-2007 marriages enrolled in their database as of ______.

CENOMAR for married or previously married: NSO will give the CRS Form No. 5 (Advisory on Marriages) - which will state the date and place of marriage and the name of the bride and groom. All marriages whether annulled/spouse died will still appear on the records. For those with annulled cases, applicant should bring a copy of the MC with annotation of annulment and the court's order. For those who are widow/er, bring a copy (NSO) of the death certificate.

[StarProg 0]

crambajoy: The appointment packet for Immigrant Visa (CR/IR) states there on number 6 is CENOMAR. That all documents listed (including the CENOMAR) have to be ready to submit at the time of the interview. Although they don't usually asks for CENOMAR during the interview, since they do their own NSO checks, it is always better to have all the necessary documents at hand to avoid these things-> going back there to submit more documents.

For those who will still have their interview, this could help you in some ways:

CENOMAR for single: NSO will give the CRS Form No. 4 - which will state that the applicant does not appear in their National Indices of Marriages based on the records of 1945-2007 marriages enrolled in their database as of ______.

CENOMAR for married or previously married: NSO will give the CRS Form No. 5 (Advisory on Marriages) - which will state the date and place of marriage and the name of the bride and groom. All marriages whether annulled/spouse died will still appear on the records. For those with annulled cases, applicant should bring a copy of the MC with annotation of annulment and the court's order. For those who are widow/er, bring a copy (NSO) of the death certificate.

Interesting, as I have received nothing for my wife's CR-1 interview that says (or even mentions) the requirement of a CENOMAR. We don't have one, and its too late to get one for next weeks interview. We'll see what happens.

[RonMay 1]

Interesting, as I have received nothing for my wife's CR-1 interview that says (or even mentions) the requirement of a CENOMAR. We don't have one, and its too late to get one for next weeks interview. We'll see what happens.

i dont thinnk its too late if her interview is next week since when i got my cenomar, i waited for just an hr to get my cenomar and bc at the nso... have to be early to avoid crowds... good luck!

true they never mentioned such as cenomar but heck they asked one from me, and a good thing a lot of people in this fuurom suggested to have it ready coz we never know what'll tick them and ask for more and more and give u a hard time