An D

Yeah, I guess I am mostly referring to those who get married just to file for CR-1 instead of K-1. It's hard to ever justify K-1 over CR-1. However, I consider this ridiculous backlog an extreme circumstance. It's impossible to predict the future, but with the data in front of us now and the lack of evidence that it's going to improve? AND if time is the most important for the petitioner and beneficiary? Then, for a new petitioner, holding off on marriage and going the K-1 route at this moment in time is pretty valid despite the drawbacks later on. But that's assuming this is the new normal and that it will be this way in another year plus still.

K-3 is dead, it's never issued anymore. Some speculate filing both I-129F for K-3 and I-130 at the same time speeds up the I-130 but there's no concrete evidence of that. But it will almost certainly never be approved over a I-130 petition. CR/IR still has a ton of benefits over any K visa anyways, but this fairly recent (last year and a half or so) massive backlog created at USEM certainly makes you question those benefits. As many will agree that the large amount of lost time isn't worth any benefit.

Yes, fiance(e)s and tourists are currently more important than spouses and children, unfortunately.

The information is not exactly officially released. This is based on anecdotal evidence of other people in the process (through this site, Facebook, or other means). As far as next month, nobody has any idea what is being planned at USEM. They were starting to move things along a little bit in late March, April and May, and then they took a big step back. Now, the backlog seems to be expanding even further. The furthest back DQ case yet to receive an interview date is sometime in late August (perhaps August 23rd or so). If you are very early to mid September, it's possible you could be included in the next wave of interview letters, which COULD happen in the next month or so (if one even happens). They are REALLY dragging their feet and it just appears to be getting worse than better.

What category?

If your case was DQ in November, then you hopefully have just a couple months of waiting left for it to make its way to the embassy and to receive an interview date (or schedule your own if you become part of another 'mass expedite', as they've done before). That's a total guess, since there is nothing predictable or consistent for the past 17 months at the US Embassy in Manila when it comes to IR/CR cases. An educated estimate would be 9-10 months, assuming the situation does not get any worse. Unfortunately, USEM has shown they are more than willing to make the situation worse. They are moving extremely slowly in clearing the massive backlog they have manufactured. There is honestly zero way to say absolutely what the 'current wait time' is.

Everything is in Manila. If you get married online do not forget to file report of marriage. I do not know how long that process takes at this point. Timeframe at the moment from a case's National Visa Center documentarily qualified date (which, not sure how much research you've done, but that's something that happens after the arguably longest wait of the process which is the USCIS petition approval), seems to be 9-10 months at the moment for CR (which would be your case as you would not have been married for over 2 years by that point unless you had some massive USCIS delay or something). You may consider the fiancé(e)/K-1 visa instead, as it seems to be much faster at this point. It does not seem to have the same ridiculous delays at the embassy as spousal visas do. Although it comes with its own set of drawbacks compared to a spousal visa which you can research on your own. Expediting is nearly impossible at the Manila embassy unless there is a serious medical issue for the petitioner or something. A rushed job offer certainly isn't that. As far as DCF I don't know how receptive this embassy is to DCF requests due to job offer requiring relocation back to the US (assuming that's what would be the case for you). Lastly I would strongly recommend not using an attorney or other third party assistance unless you have a very complicated case (perhaps if there are annulments/divorces/criminal convictions involved on either side) as the process is quite easy and you will have absolute control every step of the way.

It's more fun in the Philippines.

Totally irrelevant. In regards to USEM, it's a bit of a crapshoot at the moment. Getting any faster at scheduling...since when? If you mean since a year ago or less, the answer is no. Same as it's been for the past year - maybe slightly better since there has been SOME limited movement of long since DQ'd cases, occasionally. Still, looking like 9 months of waiting at least for CR/IR cases (from DQ). There is however some limited evidence that IR are in a better position than CR, as a few months worth of IR cases were "mass expedited" in late March. At this point it seems that IRs are ahead of CRs now. I wonder if that is the new norm going forward - focus on processing large batches of IR and leave CR to mostly rot until converted to IR. I wonder if we will see another mass expedite for IR in the next couple of months.

Let's be honest, IRs aren't faring that much better than CRs at this point. They're both in awful situations. It is completely unacceptable that tourist and fiance(e) visas are totally fine though.

Aren't IR up to mid October right now? They still seem to be ahead of CR. I thought there was a mass expedite of IR cases up to mid October at the start of April (or was it end of March...I lose track of time).

I honestly don't have a lot of insight into this, but I have heard that being a current registered sex offender is almost certainly immediate denial when entering the Philippines. I don't know about if it's in the past though.

Are you currently a registered sex offender?

Any prediction would be a wild guess. There is little that makes sense about the past 15 months at USEM. Figuring it out is pretty much impossible.

I saw an October 16th 2023 DQ included in the mass expedite, (supposedly).

What does your case say when you enter it? https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

Medical: July 6/7 (Thursday/Friday) Interview: July 11 (Tuesday) Had no problems at all with only one complete working day between 2nd day of medical and the interview. All information is sent electronically - you do not carry anything physically to USEM from SLEC.

Yeah I've seen it stated by Clark both on that and another post from 2022. Unfortunately, still no way to verify it with the airline...so it's better to be safe than sorry I suppose.

We can see the tax line items but none seem to be it. I've seen it called passenger service charge and terminal fee both. None of the line items appear to match that by either abbreviation or amount (PSC/TF) or ~750 pesos. I called twice to Eva and neither could confirm it. Both representatives seemed confused. It's not that much, so it seems it's just better to show up with enough to cover it since its unclear.

What about the terminal fee? My wife is flying Eva from Clark on August 23 and Eva can't confirm if the terminal fee is on the ticket already...so we're preparing for her to bring enough to pay it at the airport, but still would be nice to know.

What does your case say when you check the status? https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

You don't apply for an auto expedite...that's why it has the word auto. On 6/26, USEM auto expedited seemingly all CR1/2 and IR1/2 cases that were DQ and waiting for an interview, up to cases that became DQ in mid to late May. I don't know the exact cutoff date for that batch. It is impossible to predict when another batch may be done. You can apply for a normal expedite by emailing NVCExpedite@state.gov. Chances are slim to none it will be approved.

I was part of the auto expedite on 6/26. Interview date for 7/11. Approved. Not sure when June and further DQ cases will move to the embassy. Seems a little past mid May was the DQ cut off for the 6/26 batch.

My spouse had her medical 7/6 and 7/7 (Thurs/Fri) and visa interview 7/11 (Tuesday) and there was no problem. Leave an entire empty work day between the two and it seems like it's fine.

But you do need a visa to complete the process. You can complete the face to face seminar without one but you still need the visa to actually receive a certificate. You would have to go back again when you have the visa. You replied to my post about the online counseling saying no visa is required. That's wrong. If you're doing it online you can't proceed without a clear copy of the visa. For face to face, just straight up saying no visa required is false. It is required to complete the counseling process.