Reaching the end! Medical and Interview set up for December. A few last questions.

[TerrySF 8]

We are reaching the end of this long journey! Medical at St. Luke's is scheduled for 12/5, followed by biometrics appointment near MOA on 12/20 and the interview on 12/23 (3 days after I land in Manila for Xmas). 

 

I'm double checking we have everything set up and ready and I noticed on the CEAC site that the financial documents uploaded are from 2023 (Federal Income Tax Statements, W2 and tax statements, and her police/NBI clearance certificate). Should we update these docs with the most recent ones we have? There's no mention of this anywhere on the USCIS emails or websites. 

 

Also, we read that for the interview, no cellphones are allowed into the embassy. We definitely need to have our cells before and after the interview to order a Grab back to the hotel. Is there a place where we can safely store our cells at the embassy or nearby? 

 

Thanks!

[Edward and Jaycel 286]

The NBI clearance should have a "Valid Until" date on it. As long as the interview is before that date, it should be ok. (If it's close then I would definitely get it renewed to be sure). For tax documents, 2023 is the most recent tax year. Unless you are saying your documents submitted to NVC are the 2023 documents from tax year 2022... then I don't know enough about the I-130 process to tell you if you should upload the new ones unsolicited. 

 

It is true that cellphones are not allowed into the embassy, but there are people right outside where you check in who will hold your phones for a small fee (200-300P I think). 

[top_secret 2,458]

1 hour ago, TerrySF said:

We are reaching the end of this long journey! Medical at St. Luke's is scheduled for 12/5, followed by biometrics appointment near MOA on 12/20 and the interview on 12/23 (3 days after I land in Manila for Xmas). 

 

I'm double checking we have everything set up and ready and I noticed on the CEAC site that the financial documents uploaded are from 2023 (Federal Income Tax Statements, W2 and tax statements, and her police/NBI clearance certificate). Should we update these docs with the most recent ones we have? There's no mention of this anywhere on the USCIS emails or websites. 

 

Also, we read that for the interview, no cellphones are allowed into the embassy. We definitely need to have our cells before and after the interview to order a Grab back to the hotel. Is there a place where we can safely store our cells at the embassy or nearby? 

 

Congratulations!!!

 

Any documents that you have updated be sure to upload and submit them to CEAC.  NVC won't review them but the Embassy will want copies of the actual documents you bring to be uploaded.  They have been sending people back outside the embassy on interview day to upload updated documents which is not fun.  NBI Clearance and CENOMAR should be less than a year old.  It's not strictly necessary to upload updated tax documents but if you have them and they are good then there's no harm in updating that.

 

On interview day they aren't going to let you into the embassy so you are the designated phone holder anxiously waiting outside on the sidewalk while your wife is inside.

[Edward and Jaycel 286]

4 minutes ago, top_secret said:

On interview day they aren't going to let you into the embassy so you are the designated phone holder anxiously waiting outside on the sidewalk while your wife is inside.

 

Oh yeah.... hehehe forgot about this 😆

[TerrySF 8]

22 hours ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

The NBI clearance should have a "Valid Until" date on it. As long as the interview is before that date, it should be ok. (If it's close then I would definitely get it renewed to be sure).

Oh yes, we didn't think about that one. Just checked and it expired on 7/24. We'll get a new one!

[TerrySF 8]

21 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

Congratulations!!!

 

Any documents that you have updated be sure to upload and submit them to CEAC.  NVC won't review them but the Embassy will want copies of the actual documents you bring to be uploaded.  They have been sending people back outside the embassy on interview day to upload updated documents which is not fun.  NBI Clearance and CENOMAR should be less than a year old.  It's not strictly necessary to upload updated tax documents but if you have them and they are good then there's no harm in updating that.

 

On interview day they aren't going to let you into the embassy so you are the designated phone holder anxiously waiting outside on the sidewalk while your wife is inside.

Thanks! We definitely have everything on CEAC and now we'll just update some of the docs from 2022/23.  And thanks for clarifying I (US spouse) won't be able to be there with her!

[top_secret 2,458]

2 minutes ago, TerrySF said:

Thanks! We definitely have everything on CEAC and now we'll just update some of the docs from 2022/23.  And thanks for clarifying I (US spouse) won't be able to be there with her!

 

They stopped letting US Citizen spouses in to attend interviews in 2020 "because of ronan-virus" and to date I have not heard of them reversing that policy. The same entrepreneurial ladies hanging around the sidewalk outside the Embassy who would offer hold your phone for P200 also have chairs you can rent for P50 so you can have a seat in the shade while you wait.

[TerrySF 8]

17 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

They stopped letting US Citizen spouses in to attend interviews in 2020 "because of ronan-virus" and to date I have not heard of them reversing that policy. The same entrepreneurial ladies hanging around the sidewalk outside the Embassy who would offer hold your phone for P200 also have chairs you can rent for P50 so you can have a seat in the shade while you wait.

 

Makes sense and it also helps clarifying some reports I read in the past about the US spouse being there physically during the interview