NVC to Manila Embassy for K1 Visas

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, Joe & Jer said:

We filled in Oct 2019, and case was sent to Embassy at the beginning of March 2020.  The waiting is tough...

 

What has made it even tougher was the lack of transparency from the embassy.  So I'm glad to report that just last week they actually posted an update with real information about what they are doing.  Of course they can't say when they will resume full service, so most of us here are still kinda stuck.

 

You can read it here:

https://ph.usembassy.gov/visa-update-consular-operations-visas-as-of-march-2021/

A similar thing has been posted quite frequently for the past year. In fact they may have just changed the dates and kept the same message. 

[Joe & Jer 7]

1 hour ago, flicks1998 said:

A similar thing has been posted quite frequently for the past year. In fact they may have just changed the dates and kept the same message. 

For the past 6 months it has just been lots of posts about how they are processing or not processing this or that class of non-immigrant visa, with a note that immigrant visas are not being process except for mission critical, blah, blah, blah. Always vague and, like you said, heavily recycled. This new update is different.

[flicks1998 1,044]

5 hours ago, Joe & Jer said:

For the past 6 months it has just been lots of posts about how they are processing or not processing this or that class of non-immigrant visa, with a note that immigrant visas are not being process except for mission critical, blah, blah, blah. Always vague and, like you said, heavily recycled. This new update is different.

Sorry but that is the same type of email I was getting since last August. In fact that same message is what triggered me to expedite our K1 visa in September.  

[Joe & Jer 7]

3 hours ago, flicks1998 said:

Sorry but that is the same type of email I was getting since last August. In fact that same message is what triggered me to expedite our K1 visa in September.  

 

From September 3rd to March 15, the embassy only posted NIV updates on their update page; https://ph.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-updates/

 

Why are you disagreeing with me?

[flicks1998 1,044]

48 minutes ago, Joe & Jer said:

 

From September 3rd to March 15, the embassy only posted NIV updates on their update page; https://ph.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-updates/

 

Why are you disagreeing with me?

Because I’ve been involved with USEM for the last 12 years.  As I said it’s the same thing posted since middle of last year.  If you think there is progress more power to you.   

[Joe & Jer 7]

2 minutes ago, flicks1998 said:

Because I’ve been involved with USEM for the last 12 years.  As I said it’s the same thing posted since middle of last year.  If you think there is progress more power to you.   

Well, I'm not sure if its progress - as I said it doesn't really change anything for us and things are still pretty messed up there as they go into one of the biggest (if not the biggest) holidays of the year.  I have only been paying attention to the update page since end of August, and it seems, to me, that this was a more direct and comprehensive update lacking the weird fluff (like references to the "global situation" * ) of the last big update. Just a little refreshing if nothing else. That's all I was trying to convey. Thanks for understanding someone in the "oh you just need to be patient" crowd.

 

 * = (in my best John Oliver voice) "Yeah, because I'm going to the Philippine Embassy website to read about the f****** global situation! Oh, you are restricting services because of a global pandemic you say? I just thought everyone was wearing masks in anticipation of of another marvel comic movie release!" Hahaha

[Joe & Jer 7]

In case you missed it.

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/764899-ceac-status-changed-to-refused-but-we-havent-interviewed-yet/page/2/#comments

 

Looks like the embassy may be beginning on their backlog of regular K1s now.

[brightfuture78 118]

I got the following response today via email, after contacting from the Embassy about scheduling an interview for our case that's been sitting in Manila for 2+ years:

 

 

Quote

 

The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines is currently processing a limited number of mission-critical K-1 visa cases given local conditions and available resources:         

• K-1/K-2 visa cases where the K-2 child will age out (turn 21 years of age) before December 31, 2021.      

• K-2 follow-to-join applicants who will age out (turn 21 years of age) before December 31, 2021.       

• K-2 follow-to-join applicants who will lose follow-to-join eligibility (normally one year and currently extended by 180 days, for a total of one year + 180 days) from the time the K-1 principal alien was issued a K visa.                

• K-1 applicants who are waiting for visa appointments in order to travel to the United States with their U.S. citizen child.                  

• Petitioner is an active-duty U.S. military member with pending deployment orders, pending Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders, or other logistical considerations.                

• Petitioner with documented medical issues who is currently in the Philippines and unable to travel to the United States without assistance from the K-1 applicant.

 

 

Based on this, it doesn't seem like anything has changed from how they've been doing things for the past year, despite them changing up the verbiage on their website.

[Commish10 427]

16 hours ago, brightfuture78 said:

I got the following response today via email, after contacting from the Embassy about scheduling an interview for our case that's been sitting in Manila for 2+ years:

 

 

 

Based on this, it doesn't seem like anything has changed from how they've been doing things for the past year, despite them changing up the verbiage on their website.

This is the newest guidance as of June 25. 

 

Immigrant Visa (IV): The Embassy continues to have a significant backlog of all categories of immigrant visas.  We are using a tiered approach to triage immigrant visa applications, based on the category of immigrant visa, as we resume and expand processing.  While we are scheduling limited appointments within all four priority tiers every month, the following lists the main categories of immigrant visas in priority order:

• Tier One: Immediate relative intercountry adoption visas, age-out cases (cases where the applicant will soon no longer qualify due to their age), and certain Special Immigrant Visas (SQ and SI for Afghan and Iraqi nationals working with the U.S. government).
• Tier Two: Immediate relative visas; fiancé(e) visas; and returning resident visas.
• Tier Three: Family preference immigrant visas and SE Special Immigrant Visas for certain employees of the U.S. government abroad.
• Tier Four: All other immigrant visas, including employment preference and diversity visas.

[brightfuture78 118]

4 hours ago, Commish10 said:

This is the newest guidance as of June 25. 

 

Immigrant Visa (IV): The Embassy continues to have a significant backlog of all categories of immigrant visas.  We are using a tiered approach to triage immigrant visa applications, based on the category of immigrant visa, as we resume and expand processing.  While we are scheduling limited appointments within all four priority tiers every month, the following lists the main categories of immigrant visas in priority order:

• Tier One: Immediate relative intercountry adoption visas, age-out cases (cases where the applicant will soon no longer qualify due to their age), and certain Special Immigrant Visas (SQ and SI for Afghan and Iraqi nationals working with the U.S. government).
• Tier Two: Immediate relative visas; fiancé(e) visas; and returning resident visas.
• Tier Three: Family preference immigrant visas and SE Special Immigrant Visas for certain employees of the U.S. government abroad.
• Tier Four: All other immigrant visas, including employment preference and diversity visas.

I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me. Again, I received that correspondence yesterday in rejection to my K1 interview request.

[flicks1998 1,044]

59 minutes ago, brightfuture78 said:

I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me. Again, I received that correspondence yesterday in rejection to my K1 interview request.

There have been a few different types of auto emails released by USEM over the last few weeks or so.  None of them have resulted in the moment of K1s.  The latest visa issuance statistics by Embassy has only be released through April 2021, however it doesnt appear there has been any movement on K1s except for the 50 or so per month in Manila.  Someone posted stats in another thread that K1s had an 11K+ backlog at USEM.  I would imagine its more now.  Even people who had their interviews cancelled due to TB testing issues at SLEC are having issues on rescheduling.

Edited July 8, 2021 by flicks1998

[Joe & Jer 7]

17 hours ago, brightfuture78 said:

I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me. Again, I received that correspondence yesterday in rejection to my K1 interview request.

Its the difference between the two  The correspondence you received is the actual policy USEM is implementing (based on available evidence) while the other, taken from their website, is the policy from DoS that USEM ought to be following but isn't.

[Joe & Jer 7]

On 7/6/2021 at 10:17 PM, brightfuture78 said:

I got the following response today via email, after contacting from the Embassy about scheduling an interview for our case that's been sitting in Manila for 2+ years:

 

 

 

Based on this, it doesn't seem like anything has changed from how they've been doing things for the past year, despite them changing up the verbiage on their website.

 

18 hours ago, brightfuture78 said:

I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me. Again, I received that correspondence yesterday in rejection to my K1 interview request.

 

Woops... I missed the context from your earlier comment, sorry.

[Joe & Jer 7]

17 hours ago, flicks1998 said:

 Someone posted stats in another thread that K1s had an 11K+ backlog at USEM.  I would imagine its more now. 

Well, according to lawyers representing DoS, its actually less. This is an excerpt from the Ramirez vs. Blinken motion to dismiss:

Quote

As of June 2021, there is a backlog of 3,912 K visa applicants located at the NVC waiting to be scheduled for an interview, and a backlog of 3,593 K fiancé visa cases at the Embassy itself.

I imagined it would be much more too based on past trends. Weird, LOL.

[RO_AH 1,659]

3 hours ago, Joe & Jer said:

I imagined it would be much more too based on past trends. Weird, LOL.

You can't really go off of past trends. Philippines has been closed to foreign travel for a long time and you are required to meet in person to file.