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| Manila, Philippines |  Review on December 27, 2018: |
confusedshoes
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
+Update for Dec 28, 2018: CEAC status says "Administrative Processing".
+Update for Jan 2, 2019: CEAC status says "Issued".
My interview was scheduled for 8.10am of Dec. 27. We had checked in to an Airbnb the day before to avoid travelling too far on the morning of interview. There was not much traffic going to the embassy and got there around 7am. We only wanted to check the line and see what's up, leave to have breakfast nearby, then come back 15 minutes before my schedule but when we saw 'Now processing 8.15am appointments, we just went straight in, skipping a short line of about 10 people (probably for the next time slot).
At the first 'check' outside where people line up, they asked to see my DS 160 confirmation page with the barcode and asked what time my schedule was. I showed also my appointment page (it also has a barcode) but it was returned to me. Then they let us through. I was with my fiancé and he was allowed to go inside the embassy with me. He went through a separate entrance (for US citizens) and I went through the other one where we had to go through baggage check/xray and met up on the other side. He had to deposit both our phones by leaving an ID before we went in. There are greeters milling about and they tell you/you can ask them where to go. K1 visa applicants were told to go through Door 2 this time. There was no line for us, although there were other people lined up outside the Doors. Went straight in, through another baggage check/xray, and to the 1st window for pre-screening.
1st window: pre-screening. Lady asked for passport and DS 160 confirmation page. She put my passport in a plastic ziplock, put a sticker on my DS 160 confirmation page and told me to prepare a 2x2 photo and go to another window.
At the 2nd window, (the only hiccup of the day for us). She asked me my full name and birthdate and my US address. I was asked for the DS 160 page and passport again and the 2x2 photo. I explained that my photos that were meant for the embassy were put in the Medical Exam envelope by SLEC when I had my medical exam. She asked for the envelope, tore through it badly (she looked pretty annoyed), tearing uneven chunks of the envelope and pulled out some papers quite roughly, creasing them in the process. There is a small ziplock bag stapled to it where SLEC put my ugly photos*. She tore that ziplock off the paper and took one photo out, checked the back (I had printed my full name on the back) and did her thing with computer (she was tsk-ing, shaking her head and huffing throughout all this, specially when she saw the photos in a ziplock). She kept the medical result envelope, returned my DS 160 page and passport and told me to go to another window.
At the 3rd window, I was asked for my original birth certificate, medical exam envelope, NBI clearance, CENOMAR, I-134 forms and the BPI MRV deposit slip/receipt for the interview fee. Then she said she already has my medical exam from the other lady. And then I explained I had paid through BPI online so no receipt but gave her the email confirmation of the online payment that I had printed out and she said that was fine. She filed everything and gave me back my DS 160 page and told me to go to another window.
At the 4th window, my fingerprints were taken and after that we went to the line for the interview- the only line we waited in for the whole day.
At this point the whole process has taken about 30mins from when we first entered.
Line moved pretty quickly, we were always seated. We could all hear the interviews going on because the chairs were facing the windows where the interviews were taking place. We saw some denials and approvals. You could tell by how they looked after leaving the windows. Pretty soon, it was our turn.
We were now in the first row of seats and were asked to stand up and line up in front of the interviewer windows. We could hear the interviews going on right in front of us more clearly. Before we got to the front, the interviewers were mostly Filipino. But by this time, all of them seemed to be caucasian. We were 3rd in line. Then a pregnant lady was guided to the front of the line which made us 4th, which was so lucky because we almost went to the stern interviewer lady who spoke louder than everyone else (you can hear everything going on, all her questions) and people in line were pretty much scared of her. She seemed fair though, just stern/strict.
At the interview, we got a nice lady. I got fingerprinted again and I was asked to raise my right hand and swear that I was telling the truth and that all the contents of the file in front of her are all true to the best of my knowledge. She asked my full name and birthdate and my US address. I introduced my fiancé as the petitioner and the lady said it was nice he could come with me. She asked us how we met and we told her the story of how we met. She seemed surprised in a good way and remarked 'Wow it's like a movie.' Lol. And everything went fine. Nothing else was really asked except about more details about our relationship- did his parents like me, how many more times we met. We didn't feel like we were grilled at all- just asked those questions because she genuinely just wanted to know more, lol. We also had more evidence of ongoing relationship photos and chatlogs but she didn't ask for those anymore. She clearly said at the end that she has approved my visa and handed me 2 pamphlets (English and Filipino) and said if I ever feel abused, that I can call the police, it's free and it won't affect process or something. I can't remember, we were just so happy at this point. She also told me to take one of the flyers by her window. It's a number to call to register a delivery address for the passport.
I called the number and opted for the pick up at a nearby 2GO branch. We had originally chosen to have it delivered to our address but changed it to pick-up because then we don't have to make sure someone is home to sign for it or deal with any delivery confusion/mistakes. We signed in to the http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/ website to confirm the change and we saw that the call center agent had updated the delivery method accordingly.
The end!
Footnotes:
*During the SLEC medical exam, they asked for 1 photo for them and 3 photos of the US Embassy. I gave them my 2x2 photos but I was told the photos I had were unacceptable because my ears weren't showing. They said they will take one of the photos for the SLEC file but they are requiring me to take new photos for the US embassy. I don't agree because all the guidelines I have read clearly said my photos were fine. But I know full well that you can't argue with Filipino red tape. So I had to have new last minute photos taken at a place very conveniently located in front of SLEC entrance and it was a really bad photo because they used a small point-and-shoot digicam with flash and photoshopped me in a white shirt and blazer thing and I had not even a bit of powder on my face (because medical, didn't want to wear any makeup or perfume-nothing) so I looked really shiny. Also I would like to note that outside the SLEC entrance are many posters and example photos of what is an 'OK' US Visa photo. I don't even know why they're the ones so strict about it when they should just be about the medical.
(updated on December 27, 2018)
(updated on December 27, 2018)
(updated on January 2, 2019)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #25266