US EMBASSY MANILA

[Timmy Clark 1]

My wife has been DQ since Dec 1st 2023 how long is it taking for an interview and is it true about them having mass expedites in January 

[TBoneTX 44,873]

Thread is moved from the CR-1 Process forum to the Embassy/Consulate forum.

[pushbrk 12,684]

4 hours ago, Timmy Clark said:

My wife has been DQ since Dec 1st 2023 how long is it taking for an interview and is it true about them having mass expedites in January 

I'm not sure of the current timelines, but why do you think they are having mass expedites in January?  To be clear, no Consulate has time for mass expedites.  They only have so much staff and so much time for interviews.  What IS true is they do fewer interviews in December because of both the Philippine and American holidays.  They are closed for both, and many of the American staff in nearly all Consulates take time off around the holidays, like normal people.

 

[Timmy Clark 1]

I was reading everyone's post from 2022 and they said their was an mass expedite in January and June it's all over visa Journey and other message boards 

[pushbrk 12,684]

1 hour ago, Timmy Clark said:

I was reading everyone's post from 2022 and they said their was an mass expedite in January and June it's all over visa Journey and other message boards 

More likely what I wrote is closer to the truth for last year and now.  I suppose it's possible they brought in extra staff temporarily, but I doubt it.

 

[top_secret 2,314]

US Embassy Manila in 2023 apparently subverted the expedite system as a back door way to allow self scheduling of ordinary cases.  They had a so called "mass expedite" in mid January 2023 and then a second "mass expedite" the last week of January 2023 where they essentially cleared out all backlog whatsoever in CR1/IR1 cases.  IE, a case that became documentarily qualified January 20, 2023 got an "auto-expedite" and was able to self schedule on January 27, 2023.  However, then there was NO regular scheduling at all of newly documentarily qualified CR1/IR1 cases until the last week of June 2023 at which time there was another so called "mass expedite" encompassing all cases documentarily qualified up until mid May 2023.  There has been no regular scheduling of CR1/IR1 cases at USEM since.  IE, if you were a documentarily qualified CR1/IR1 case the first week of May 2023 you got an "auto-expedite" and could self schedule since the last week of June 2023.  However, if you became documentarily qualified the last week of May 2023 you are still waiting for scheduling to this day. 

 

Various people are speculating that since they did two of these so called mass expedites in January 2023 then they would probably do it in January 2024 but there is really little to base that on.  It is a fact that cases documentarily qualified the second half of May 2023 and later are still waiting for scheduling so the backlog is at least 7 months and has not moved for at least 6 months.  That is historically long for spousal cases at US Embassy Manila so it seems something would need to happen "soon".  There have been a handful of IR1 cases recently that had converted from F2A cases when sponsors naturalized and therefore had unusually old DQ date, that were scheduled by NVC for IR1 interviews in Feb 2024.  They are unusual cases but being the only IR1 cases to see regular scheduling recently and NOT being so called auto expedites it could be seen as indicating a return to regular NVC scheduling.  Anyone who says they know what US Embassy Manila is up to with CR1/IR1 interviews is merely speculating because all that is certain is they are being erratic.

 

They have cleared huge backlogs in K1's and B1/B2's and are making good progress clearing huge backlogs in various family based categories, but at the same time USEM developed a new backlog of CR1/IR1 cases that did that did not previously exist even during the rona-lockdown days.

[Timmy Clark 1]

Has anyone received notification for an cr1 interview recently?

[Jason and May 79]

On 2/3/2024 at 6:19 PM, Timmy Clark said:

Has anyone received notification for an cr1 interview recently?

I haven't heard of anyone receiving any interview letters for CR or IR whatsoever. What I have seen is this email I attached. 

Speculation is that wait times for interview wait times from DQ have lengthened from the previously oft-quoted 6 to 9 months to 12+ months from DQ. That said, no one seems to know much of anything. It's all been "I've heard," guesswork, and speculation. At least from my perspective, based on what I've seen. 

If you are able, save for a trip to see your wife, because you likely will need that renewal and time together during this time, while the Department of State continues to prioritize student, employment, and tourist visas, and USEM continues to quote "significant backlogs" of CR and IR cases (as top_secret mentioned above), which is probably true.