Kanohi Solis

Hello everyone, This forum has been an extremely helpful resource for me as I prepared (and agonized over) my K1 journey. I didn't make any posts but rather just went through others' experiences. Honestly, it's like a dual edged sword since many of the topics were about possible hurdles and contradictions, but still helpful in setting my expectations. Now, I wanted to share my positive K1 experience and the preparations I had to do to help my fellow Filipinos who may be in my shoes: searching forums and blogs to prepare and set expectations. I also want to provide a more updated experience since changes were made to the US Visa process last August 2024 for Medical and October 2024 for USEM. Background: My fiance is a former Filipino citizen who has been naturalized as a US Citizen. We've been together long before his family immigrated to the USA and somehow still stayed together despite the long distance. He is currently an active US military officer. For a few years, he was stationed in Japan so we were able to see each other a few times a year until he was stationed back in the US by 2023 and so we started filing for a K1. June 18, 2023 - submitted I-129F July 2, 2023 - NOA1 May 11, 2024 - NOA2 September 24, 2024 - Sent to NVC At this point, the email notification and the embassy website state that I should wait for a letter from the local embassy for further instructions but forum posts from 2020 to July 2024 state that no physical letter will be sent and that it's okay to proceed to completing DS160, medical, and interview once the CEAC status is ready. October 11, 2024 - CEAC status changed to Ready but I didn't receive any physical letter yet. Assuming that the forums were right, I proceeded to complete my DS160. I then went to the usvisascheduling site and paid the $265 fee to schedule (1) Biometrics at the VAC and (2) Interview at the Embassy. Starting October 1, it is required to schedule separate appointments for biometrics and interview. The biometrics should be done BEFORE the interview. Also, I read late that the Medical should be scheduled 2 weeks before the interview but I scheduled mine 4 days beforehand. The US Embassy in Manila required that medical exam be done at only 1 hospital which is in Ermita, Manila. I am from Northern Mindanao and it's costly for me to do multiple flights so I made sure that my whole visit will last only 7 days. Biometrics at the VAC - November 22, 2024 at 730AM Medical at SLEC - November 22, 2024 at 1PM Interview at the USEM - November 26, 2024 at 630AM During the weeks before the scheduled dates, I made sure to prepare all the needed documents. Here's the thing, the embassy website, ustraveldocs site, the St. Luke Medical website, the DS160 confirmation instructions, and all the appointment confirmation instructions all list different requirements that are present in one but not the other. So I prepared all the requirements listed despite the contradictions. I requested all PSA documents online and got them mailed to me within a week. For the NBI clearance, please note that your name will also be flagged if you made an official police report -- you reported a theft, a disturbance, etc. So criminals, victims, and witnesses will be flagged in the NBI database and it will take up to 2 weeks processing to get a clearance. This is my experience since I reported a theft almost 2 decades ago and have been flagged ever since. On October 30, I received an email from USEM that I should proceed to do the stuff that I've actually already done days beforehand. At the same time, I received a physical copy of the sent to NVC email. I honestly wasn't expecting either based on the experiences I've read here. I just continued on what I was already doing. On November 21, I flew to Manila and stayed at 2 different airbnbs during my entire stay. One in Pasay near the VAC and one in Ermita near the Embassy and SLEC. I recommend having someone accompany you, especially if you don't live anywhere near those places because cellphones aren't allowed inside the VAC and Embassy. I've seen applicants denied entry because they have phones and those locations will not hold them for you so they either had to reschedule or trust a stranger to keep their phones safe. The biometrics took less than an hour to complete, this included waiting time. The medical took longer but the process was very efficient. I prepared many documents based on their website but they won't check any of them unless you offered (by this, I meant the immunization records, xray, and 2x2 ID). Guess they are used to people having incomplete documents and must find it faster to just assume you don't have everything. Of course, the passport, the appointment schedule, and the PSA docs were asked of me. Since IGRA test is required for all since August 2024, the fee jumped from ~14k to ~29k in Philippine pesos. They won't accept any other currency. This covered all the needed exams and vaccines (even if you don't need the exam or vaccine, you won't be refunded the difference). Since I'm over 30 y/o, urinalysis was not required for me. Day 1 took 2 hours to complete and I had to come back on November 25 at the appointed time for the IGRA result and immunization. On November 25, IGRA test is negative and no abnormal X-Ray results so I was immunized for MMR, Varicella (they'll give you this shot even when you said you had chicken pox if there is no scar to show as proof), and HepB. I had a final assessment before they gave me a sealed brown envelope of my medical results to submit to the embassy. Thank God everything only took 2 hours! To my surprise as well, my mom messaged me that the embassy sent a physical copy of the email I received a few weeks ago. LOL. On November 26, I had my interview and the wait time was nerve wracking! It's really important to overprepare as some applicants had to be rescheduled because of the lack of documents. Actually, if there are documents missing, you had 1 hour to complete them to continue the interview else you'll be rescheduled. I'm glad I didn't assume that one website was better than the other and just did everything. By the time my name was called though, only a few documents were needed from me. I'm assuming that the need for additional documents would depend on how you met your fiance, the last time you've met each other face to face, how long you've been together, and current profession. The consulate only asked those 4 questions and verbally approved my visa. December 3 (yesterday!) - CEAC status showed Issued and I received an email that my passport will be sent back to me by December 9. So that's my journey and I hoped this experience will help others!