RufusDawes

NOA2 was 12/27/24, ready status was 2/26/25

I was just going to tell you that here!!! I was able to book VAC, USEM, and then SLEC... praise God!

What you say about payment is correct, just wait a day or two and the payment screen will appear and it will recognize your case number. We paid with cash at RCBC and it cleared in about 8 hours. I have been waiting to book for 2 weeks now, some have been waiting since late January... we are all waiting for the next batch of K1 interview slots to be released by USEM. i only know of one person who booked in the last two weeks, and they caught a cancelation and snagged it. I am guessing when the slots are released they will be for April and May, but I don't know for certain. This is all I know and I follow the situation closely... just have to pray and wait it out, it shakes out how it does.

You have book both the VAC and USEM appointments at the same time, if you just book VAC only the system will cancel it. We just have to wait it out... it was like this in September, then one day USEM opened up 1000 slots and everyone could book. I am hoping we are close to another batch of slot openings coming soon.

Complete your DS160 and print the confirmation document that has your confirmation number on it. Then create a ustravelsdocs account so you can pay the visa fee and enter your case information, along with the DS160 confirmation number. In Manila (PH) once you have done this and your case is at the "Ready" status like yours you can then book your biometric and embassy appointments via the ustraveldocs account. Each embassy seems to have their own rules, so not sure how it works for yours.

Two more thought, Does you case say "Ready" on the ceac website? I have heard of people having trouble with payments when trying to pay before the "ready" status, and it got to "ready" they could make pament. Since you have done everything you can think and still no resolution it's time to get your congressman and senators involved, you are their constituent and its their job is to help you in situations like this.

Does it allow you print off a receipt that you can take to a bank to make payment? This is the option we have for the Philippines and it is very reliable.

How did you submit payment, credit card or pay cash at a local bank? In the chat groups I have heard of this issue, one solution is to start a new application in your ustraveldocs account and try to pay again. I don't recall if this ended up in a double payment, but I believe this resolved the issue. Also, I have heard of issues with credit card payment, but not with paying in cash at a bank and entering the receipt number. these are the notes I saved from someone who started a new application: "So after researching a little I clicked "start new application", this action closed out the old application and started a new form to schedule a new appointment. All the information was prefilled in from the last application except the MNL case number and DS160 confirmation number. I had to re-enter that information. Once I continued it goes to the Visa Fee payment screen, which I had already paid. Once I selected "credit card" the next screen showed that my payment had already been made and I owed no money. So basically the payment fee reciept # was attached either to the MNL # or the DS160 confirmation #. So I did not have to pay the fee again."

The whole interview decision by the visa officer during the interview is completely subjective, they can deny for no specific reason... it is up to you to prepare for the interview and overcome any burden of doubt to the best you can and prepare for questions like these and overcome them with evidence to give to the visa officer.

You have to have met in person within two years prior to filing the I-129F, and you have done that, and hopefully submitted evidence of the meeting in your application. During the interview is when they will ask for evidence of an ongoing relationship, meeting in the last two years will no longer be an issue because USCIS has already vetted that. IMO meeting again isn't necessary at this point.

I agree get your congressman involved.

I'm just a little ahead of you, got my NOA2 3 weeks ago. Waiting for case to be sent to NVC, this seems to be taking 4-8 weeks right now. I didn't account for this early on and was surprised at this delay. Anyway, seems like NVC to get you at the "ready" stage is another 4-8 weeks. I have decided that once we get our case number from NVC we will complete the DS160. Next step is to pay for the visa on the ustraveldocs website, once that is done AND you are at the "ready" stage you can then schedule biometrics and interview. Medical can be scheduled without an intverview confirmation, but you need to sign a waiver. Seems like inverview dates are 3-4 weeks out right now. I plan to schedule then look for cancelations for an earlier date. My fiance lives in Mindanao, so we will have to do this in two trips: biometrics/medical, then the interview.

How many of you completed the DS160 for your fiance, submitted the application, and printed off the confirmation? My fianace is more than capable, but she has very unreliable internet from her village, and she has no printer. Any issues doing it all myself here in the US?

Thanks for sharing these tips! The new website has its own peculiarities compared to the old one.

Green card application fee is $1440 (I-485) 🥲

Yes the new website still has a 3 login limit per day, I have seen others in the chat groups get locked for 24 hours. Also there appears to be a limit on how many times you can refresh the webpage while you are logged in. The old website was great, very easy to have several accounts to check for openings right when you login, and avoid the daily login limit... the new website has eliminated all these loop holes and now you can only access the appointments page if you're status is "ready" and you have paid the visa fee. This will eliminate all the booking services and their traffic, and should make it easier to access the website. I'm waiting for "received" status so I am right behind you. FWIW, when I was "playing" on the old website slots seem to open up most from 7am-10am Manila time during the days USEM was open.

The new ustraveldocs website is proving to be a klunker, loads slow, sometimes times out, often times takes several attempts for login page to show, anyone have issues with this as well?

I would anglicize your swedish wording, you reader will be someone who lives in Southern California and speaks english as their primary language... 8th grade standard english, I did this in my write up and got approved no ref.

What do you mean by blue slip? No updates status quo, expecting NOA2 any day so we can proceed.

1) IMO you are good to go with what you have done... 2) & 3) only list assets that you are willing to provide evidence for... I only included my income because it was easy to verify with paystubs and tax transcripts and my income is above the threshold... if you list your house, for example, you would have to provide a professional appraisal, etc.

This is not from experience because I am still waiting for NOA2, but from what I have read lately on the chat groups is that your case must be "ready", then you have to make payment for the visa, and once that clears you can schedule biometrics and the embassy interview.

Right now the 129 approval time is running 6-8 months if you file today. Overall timeframe is about 12 months. If you are a DIY filer this youtube channel is the best out there and the price is right LOL https://www.youtube.com/@SurajandYasmin

Where on the I-129F does it ask for this information? If it doesn't ask for it you don't need to list it. However, when you complete the DS-160 that is when your question will be relevant.

1. put "N/A" here, do this for all fields in the entire application that don't apply to your situation, they are picky about leaving fields blank. For part II #18 "occupation" you could put "full time college student" here 2. I checked box 5d, same situation as you this was my first I-129F 3. In her country do they use roman alphabet like we do in the US? If yes then you put "N/A" for all these fields. For example, my fiance is Filipino, in the Philippines names are spelled using the roman alphabet. But say your fiance is Chinese, then you complete this part using the Chinese alphabet! Great DIY video for completing the I-129F, highly recommended:

If you are using MS Edge there is a bug on that form and it won't show what you need.... just print it out, use some white out, then write the correct number using black ink. Glad you got it to work, I'm too cheap to buy the version of adobe needed to make the form work Lol