Distanttravelers1's US Immigration Timeline
Immigration Checklist for Allan & Marielle:
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USCIS DCF I-130 Petition:
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Dept of State IR-1/CR-1 Visa:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
National Benefits Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Manila, Philippines |
| Marriage (if applicable): |
2018-08-16 |
| I-130 Sent : |
2018-07-09 |
| I-130 NOA1 : |
2018-07-09 |
| I-130 RFE : |
2018-08-15 |
| I-130 RFE Sent : |
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| I-130 Approved : |
2018-08-30 |
| NVC Received : |
2018-09-12 |
| Received DS-261 / AOS Bill : |
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| Pay AOS Bill : |
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| Receive I-864 Package : |
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| Send AOS Package : |
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| Submit DS-261 : |
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| Receive IV Bill : |
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| Pay IV Bill : |
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| Send IV Package : |
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| Receive Instruction and Interview appointment letter : |
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| Case Completed at NVC : |
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| NVC Left : |
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| Consulate Received : |
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| Packet 3 Received : |
2018-09-11 |
| Packet 3 Sent : |
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| Packet 4 Received : |
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| Interview Date : |
2018-12-07 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2018-12-10 |
| US Entry : |
2018-12-16 |
| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-130 was approved in 52 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 151 days from your I-130 NOA1 date. |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Manila, Philippines
Review Topic: General Review
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
February 28, 2019 |
| Embassy Review : |
My wife and I were in Italy for three months honeymoon from Philipines, and I wanted to get her into the USA, but I found out that for DCF one has to be in a county for six months before filing so you look like a bona fide resident of the country from which you are applying. Since we had lived in the Philippines for two years already we decided to apply from there. reports that DCF could take as little as three months were encouraging.
The consulate was well organized, is on the coast of Manila Bay and I recommend getting a condo near there or near St Luke's because if you have some complex med exam needs you may need to make up to about 10 trips to the hospital.
There is a Filipina that evaluates your first application and she makes clear the standards which helps you although it seems a little strict-- you don't want to get an RFE as that is discouraging and interrupts your momemtum although sometimes it is unavoidable.
So listen to her and make sure you have a lot of "proof of relationship" because we were married for over a year when we went but she said pics aren't enough and so we produced our boarding pass scans and entry-exit stamps in Italy and Philippines to show we made a trip together, also got a landlord letter saying we were living there, so they didn't dispute our real marriage. I am semi retired and was living there so it was probably easier for me than for someone rushing around on a vacation in limited time frames. We also got copies of IDs and letters from acquiantances from where we lived.
PROBLEMS ( not with their performance just with our application)
1) I had a problem because I had an unfinished fiance K1 visa from over a decade before that I had partially applied for in Eastern Europe and did not mention when I should have on initial application so they asked about that , it was an RFE, luckily I found the email I sent to the embassy requesting the cancellation of that application and the response from the embassy saying it was canceled. The embassy wanted proof I wasn't married at any other time in any jurisdiction. I composed a statement saying ST like "never married, at any time, in any jurisdiction" and signed it.
2) My wife had to get a sputum test because of a minor dark spot on chest x-ray even though she has never had TB symptoms. This amounted to a total of about 7 visits. If we had lived in Cebu or outside of Manila it would have been expensive to keep paying two RT tickets or stay in hotels.
3) They asked what medications applicant was taking, there is a urine test and we don't know what they test for, so we wanted to be totally honest and reported the common anti-depressant that wife was taking. This did trigger a scheduled psychiatrist eval after TB screening was done, but the evaluation seems cursory and non-confrontational, my wife has never suffered from any serious mental illness like schizophrenia or substance addiction, so it seems they are enlightened enough to accept minor diagnoses. She also had to obtain a written diagnosis and prognosis from the prescribing psychiatrist she saw before we applied so keep in contact with any prescribers. If they give a urine test that shows a drug you did not report the applicant taking, I think there could be serious repercussions. For example they may test for drugs that are illegal in Philippines.
The biggest difficulty was the sputum test because they make you wait 2 months for the culture results and that caused our overall time from initial application to receipt of visa to be about 4-5 months.
I made sure I had proof of income and of my profession which pays more than the poverty level so the interview was more or less a formality, that's the only time we actually spoke to a State Dept employee and was a bit distant but polite and seems to relax a bit when he realized we had been married over a year already. I was concerned about our age difference, over 35 years, but that was not mentioned and I don't think they doubted the authenticity of the marriage, the Philippines certificates are pretty much impossible to forge I think.
Overall I was very impressed, expectations are clear and the employees seem helpful and without hidden agendas or biases. Ancillary staff such as the guards and clerks are all polite and helpful and my impression is that if you meet the requirements and don't have some red flags, they view it as their duty to issue you a visa. |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
