After NOA2: Detailed Summary

[Faith & Andz 3]

In response to a few messages from people asking me what I did after I got my NOA2, I am posting a thread for everyone to see. Im nearing the end of the process, and several VJ members have helped me (a special thanks to Beth & Chard), so I just want to put all of the knowledge of these members into one thread so that people dont have to research so many different threads. I hope this post will help people in the process after the NOA2 and most importantly, scheduling the interview. More advanced VJ membersfeel free to add or edit any information in this post!

Now, Im assuming that everyone already has their NBI, Cenomar, Birth Certificate, passport, and other required documents, and there are several posts and links with the list of requirements, so Ill save you the trouble and skip over that section. I do recommend getting all of that done ahead of time, except for the I-134 since you want your bank account to be up-to-date. Once I got my NOA2, I had to rush and get all of my evidence together to send to my fiancée, so its better if you already have this done. I also have another post http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/291731-shipping-documents-to-the-philippines/explaining why I think Johnny Air is the best carrier for shipping your documents to your fiancée. So, here we go!

After receiving the NOA2 and sending all the necessary documents to your fiancée in the Philippines, the first thing to do is to find out your case number from the NVC. By the time I received my NOA2, my case had already left the NVC and was on its way to the embassy. I called the NVC at 603-334-0700 to find out if the NVC had received my case. Note: be patient because its busy half of the time; you just have to dial it over and over until you get through. When you get the automated recording, you can follow the instructions to enter your USCIS case number by using your phone keypad (this is your receipt number, which begins with something like EAC followed by numbers). Or, you can do like I did and talk to the operator, who can give you your embassy case number and tell you when your case left the NVC. When I used the automated system, no record was found on my case. It was at that point that I discovered that my NOA2 said my case had been forwarded to the consulate, not the NVC, so I decided to speak to an operator instead of using the automated system. The recording will tell you which number to press for the operator (I think its #5), and then youll give them your USCIS receipt number and answer a few general questions about you and your fiancé. Im not sure how long it takes to get to the NVC, but the general estimate Ive got from most people is a week (sometimes more, sometimes less) from the day you got your NOA2. In my case, since I was actually approved a week before I received my NOA2, my case was already on its way to the embassy, so when I asked the operator, he told me that my case had already left on Jan. 7 and gave me the number to call the embassy to see if it had been received. He also gave me my case number to reference when calling the embassy (Mine started with MNL plus 10 numbers). Make sure you get 1) your case number and 2) the day it left the NVC. At this point, you can track your case through DHL by following the instructions in this thread. When you read it, you will see why you need the day your case left the NVC.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/194465-how-to-track-your-case-from-nvc-to-embassy/

Once you have your case number, you can go ahead and pay the visa fee at BPI since you know your case is on its way to the embassy. Youll just need to bring your passport w/ you plus $350 (to be paid in PHP). After payment, make sure they give you your receipt because you will need to take this with you to your interview. Then comes the fun part--you get to be on the phone or online every afternoon trying to schedule your interview! Of course, you can wait for the embassy to send you further instructions, but as many VJ members warned me, some people wait a long time before they receive the letter from the embassy and others never receive it at all. Thats why I recommend calling the embassy to find out when they received your case. After I tracked my case on DHL, I saw that it left on January 10 and that the embassy received in on January 12. After they have your case, youre ready to schedule the interview.

Even though the embassy physically has your case, it may take a week for them to enter it into their system. It is important to know this to save you some frustration when you try to schedule your interview online. The first thing I did after my fiancée paid her visa fee at the Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) was try to schedule online. Go to this link:

http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/ScheduleanAppointment.html

and click on K-Visa Appointment Scheduling. You will need the passport number of the applicant, the day your visa fee was paid (or validated), the applicants birthday, and you will have to create a password that you will need to log in. As I mentioned, it gave me all kinds of problems. First, it said that I should check the fee payment date. After trying several times and calling the call center to no avail, one call center agent realized that the fee payment date should be Jan. 18, even though my fiancée paid it on Jan. 17. So, if youre receiving an error that tells you to check your fee payment date, try the day after. Once you have that date right and all of your info entered correctly, youll probably get an error that says Case Number is not valid. This is because, as I mentioned above, the embassy has either not put your case in their system or not sent the info to the call center so that you can schedule. I called the embassy after I finally received the error Case Number is not valid, and the operator told me that the instructions were mailed to my fiancée on Jan. 18 (6 days after the embassy received my case). She told me I was ready to schedule, but after trying again online and calling the call center without success, I realized that I needed to call the embassy again to get them to set me up in their system. You can reach the embassy at 632-301-2000. When the operator comes on, press 7 and enter the extension 5184# or 5185#. You may have to call back several times before you finally get someone on the line, but its worth the wait =). Anyway, I told the operator the problem, and she said she would enter my information so that I could be scheduled for the interview. The next day, I checked online, and I was able to schedule!!! After you enter the basic info on the first page, it will take you to another page where you can specify where the visa should be delivered. I entered my fiancées address, but Ive been told by others that there is an option to select for a visa pickup at a 2GO branch. I didnt see it, though, perhaps because I was in a rush. The system will automatically generate a UID number, which you need to PRINT. If you leave the page without writing down your UID number, I do not think you will be able to schedule since it will ask you for your UID and password. After printing the page with your UID number, you will be brought to a page with a calendar to select the interview date. Just a warning: when you schedule online, avoid the mistake I made. Before you ever log in, decide which date you want because you only have a short time. When I looked at the calendar to select the interview date, I had to think about it, and my session timed out after being idle for only about 30 seconds (I read of other VJ members that had the same experience). Once it times out, theres nothing you can do to get back in and schedule it, so youll have to call the call center to get them to finish it for you. Its not a big deal, but it was frustrating since I made the mistake in the day (U.S. time) and was unable to fix it until that night. The call center phone number is 214-571-1600 for U.S. callers.

Your interview is now scheduled, and youre ready to go! You just need to fill out your DS-156, DS-156K, and DS157, print 2 copies of each, and bring them with you to your interview along with your other documents. For your info on what is needed for the medical, refer to this excellent post http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/221658-st-lukes-medical-exam-walkthrough/. Ive been told its not required, but the guard at St. Lukes asked my fiancée for her official letter from the embassy (the one I mentioned that some never receive). Thankfully, she received it the day before she left for her medical, but Im pretty sure you can bring any documentation that has your MNL case number on it. You might even be able to give it to them verbally, but youd have to ask someone with that experience, since Im not sure. One helpful tip I got from another VJ member was to email the embassy at IVManilaReplies@state.gov to find out if your case has been received. That way, if your letter does not arrive in time, you will have some documentation with your case number on it. To ensure a prompt response, include the applicants last, first & middle name, MNL case number, and visa class (K1 visa). I got a response in about 3 business days. Then, you can print the email showing your case number and take it with you to the medical and interview.

Well, once youve got all of that, youre ready for the medical and the interview! I think 3 business days is plenty to allow for St. Lukes to send your results to the embassy. My fiancée went to her medical on a Monday, completed it on Tuesday, and has her interview schedule for this Friday, and St. Lukes indicated that it wouldnt be a problem since they knew her interview date.

Anyway, I hope this helps, and thanks to VJ for all the help Ive got during this long process =).

Summary:

1) Send documents to applicant in Philippines

2) Obtain case number from NVC

3) Track through DHL

4) Pay visa fee at BPI

5) Schedule Interview

Edited February 2, 2011 by Faith & Andz

[edp333 9]

Nice write up. I would like to add that you must speak to an operator at the NVC to get your case number for a K visa.

[Marizhell 11]

In response to a few messages from people asking me what I did after I got my NOA2, I am posting a thread for everyone to see. I’m nearing the end of the process, and several VJ members have helped me (a special thanks to Beth & Chard), so I just want to put all of the knowledge of these members into one thread so that people don’t have to research so many different threads. I hope this post will help people in the process after the NOA2 and most importantly, scheduling the interview. More advanced VJ members—feel free to add or edit any information in this post!

Now, I’m assuming that everyone already has their NBI, Cenomar, Birth Certificate, passport, and other required documents, and there are several posts and links with the list of requirements, so I’ll save you the trouble and skip over that section. I do recommend getting all of that done ahead of time, except for the I-134 since you want your bank account to be up-to-date. Once I got my NOA2, I had to rush and get all of my evidence together to send to my fiancée, so it’s better if you already have this done. I also have another post http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/291731-shipping-documents-to-the-philippines/explaining why I think Johnny Air is the best carrier for shipping your documents to your fiancée. So, here we go!

After receiving the NOA2 and sending all the necessary documents to your fiancée in the Philippines, the first thing to do is to find out your case number from the NVC. By the time I received my NOA2, my case had already left the NVC and was on its way to the embassy. I called the NVC at 603-334-0700 to find out if the NVC had received my case. Note: be patient because it’s busy half of the time; you just have to dial it over and over until you get through. When you get the automated recording, you can follow the instructions to enter your USCIS case number by using your phone keypad (this is your receipt number, which begins with something like EAC followed by numbers). Or, you can do like I did and talk to the operator, who can give you your embassy case number and tell you when your case left the NVC. When I used the automated system, no record was found on my case. It was at that point that I discovered that my NOA2 said my case had been forwarded to the consulate, not the NVC, so I decided to speak to an operator instead of using the automated system. The recording will tell you which number to press for the operator (I think it’s #5), and then you’ll give them your USCIS receipt number and answer a few general questions about you and your fiancé. I’m not sure how long it takes to get to the NVC, but the general estimate I’ve got from most people is a week (sometimes more, sometimes less) from the day you got your NOA2. In my case, since I was actually approved a week before I received my NOA2, my case was already on its way to the embassy, so when I asked the operator, he told me that my case had already left on Jan. 7 and gave me the number to call the embassy to see if it had been received. He also gave me my case number to reference when calling the embassy (Mine started with MNL plus 10 numbers). Make sure you get 1) your case number and 2) the day it left the NVC. At this point, you can track your case through DHL by following the instructions in this thread. When you read it, you will see why you need the day your case left the NVC.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/194465-how-to-track-your-case-from-nvc-to-embassy/

Once you have your case number, you can go ahead and pay the visa fee at BPI since you know your case is on its way to the embassy. You’ll just need to bring your passport w/ you plus $350 (to be paid in PHP). After payment, make sure they give you your receipt because you will need to take this with you to your interview. Then comes the fun part--you get to be on the phone or online every afternoon trying to schedule your interview! Of course, you can wait for the embassy to send you further instructions, but as many VJ members warned me, some people wait a long time before they receive the letter from the embassy and others never receive it at all. That’s why I recommend calling the embassy to find out when they received your case. After I tracked my case on DHL, I saw that it left on January 10 and that the embassy received in on January 12. After they have your case, you’re ready to schedule the interview.

Even though the embassy physically has your case, it may take a week for them to enter it into their system. It is important to know this to save you some frustration when you try to schedule your interview online. The first thing I did after my fiancée paid her visa fee at the Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) was try to schedule online. Go to this link:

http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/ScheduleanAppointment.html

and click on “K-Visa Appointment Scheduling.” You will need the passport number of the applicant, the day your visa fee was paid (or validated), the applicant’s birthday, and you will have to create a password that you will need to log in. As I mentioned, it gave me all kinds of problems. First, it said that I should check the fee payment date. After trying several times and calling the call center to no avail, one call center agent realized that the fee payment date should be Jan. 18, even though my fiancée paid it on Jan. 17. So, if you’re receiving an error that tells you to check your fee payment date, try the day after. Once you have that date right and all of your info entered correctly, you’ll probably get an error that says “Case Number is not valid.” This is because, as I mentioned above, the embassy has either not put your case in their system or not sent the info to the call center so that you can schedule. I called the embassy after I finally received the error “Case Number is not valid,” and the operator told me that the instructions were mailed to my fiancée on Jan. 18 (6 days after the embassy received my case). She told me I was ready to schedule, but after trying again online and calling the call center without success, I realized that I needed to call the embassy again to get them to set me up in their system. You can reach the embassy at 632-301-2000. When the operator comes on, press 7 and enter the extension 5184# or 5185#. You may have to call back several times before you finally get someone on the line, but it’s worth the wait =). Anyway, I told the operator the problem, and she said she would enter my information so that I could be scheduled for the interview. The next day, I checked online, and I was able to schedule!!! After you enter the basic info on the first page, it will take you to another page where you can specify where the visa should be delivered. I entered my fiancée’s address, but I’ve been told by others that there is an option to select for a visa pickup at a 2GO branch. I didn’t see it, though, perhaps because I was in a rush. The system will automatically generate a UID number, which you need to PRINT. If you leave the page without writing down your UID number, I do not think you will be able to schedule since it will ask you for your UID and password. After printing the page with your UID number, you will be brought to a page with a calendar to select the interview date. Just a warning: when you schedule online, avoid the mistake I made. Before you ever log in, decide which date you want because you only have a short time. When I looked at the calendar to select the interview date, I had to think about it, and my session timed out after being idle for only about 30 seconds (I read of other VJ members that had the same experience). Once it times out, there’s nothing you can do to get back in and schedule it, so you’ll have to call the call center to get them to finish it for you. It’s not a big deal, but it was frustrating since I made the mistake in the day (U.S. time) and was unable to fix it until that night. The call center phone number is 214-571-1600 for U.S. callers.

Your interview is now scheduled, and you’re ready to go! You just need to fill out your DS-156, DS-156K, and DS157, print 2 copies of each, and bring them with you to your interview along with your other documents. For your info on what is needed for the medical, refer to this excellent post http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/221658-st-lukes-medical-exam-walkthrough/. I’ve been told it’s not required, but the guard at St. Luke’s asked my fiancée for her official letter from the embassy (the one I mentioned that some never receive). Thankfully, she received it the day before she left for her medical, but I’m pretty sure you can bring any documentation that has your MNL case number on it. You might even be able to give it to them verbally, but you’d have to ask someone with that experience, since I’m not sure. One helpful tip I got from another VJ member was to email the embassy at IVManilaReplies@state.gov to find out if your case has been received. That way, if your letter does not arrive in time, you will have some documentation with your case number on it. To ensure a prompt response, include the applicant’s last, first & middle name, MNL case number, and visa class (K1 visa). I got a response in about 3 business days. Then, you can print the email showing your case number and take it with you to the medical and interview.

Well, once you’ve got all of that, you’re ready for the medical and the interview! I think 3 business days is plenty to allow for St. Luke’s to send your results to the embassy. My fiancée went to her medical on a Monday, completed it on Tuesday, and has her interview schedule for this Friday, and St. Luke’s indicated that it wouldn’t be a problem since they knew her interview date.

Anyway, I hope this helps, and thanks to VJ for all the help I’ve got during this long process =).

Summary:

1) Send documents to applicant in Philippines

2) Obtain case number from NVC

3) Track through DHL

4) Pay visa fee at BPI

5) Schedule Interview

GOODLUCK...I WILL BE HAPPY TO HEAR FROM YOU WHEN YOUR HERE IN US

[Jimmyzr1 36]

Does the girl need 4 copies of their Birth Certificate? Do they all have to be certified or can they be copies of the original? Very expensive for them if they need 4.

[HEART 2010 2]

helpful tips, thank you.. Good luck for the interview

[jrmejia 31]

Thanks...nice write.

[Richie Rich 70]

Thanks for the very informative post . It will come in handy for me and my fiancee soon .I appreciate all the detials .This post should be pinned . best wishes on yr interview . Post yr interview experience also .Good luck .

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

Does the girl need 4 copies of their Birth Certificate? Do they all have to be certified or can they be copies of the original? Very expensive for them if they need 4.

She only need one copy from NSO.

To the OP:

Good luck your upcoming interview!

[Ms.M 4]

thanks for the info.. it really helps... we are approved last january 24th... thanks again..

[edp333 9]

Does the girl need 4 copies of their Birth Certificate? Do they all have to be certified or can they be copies of the original? Very expensive for them if they need 4.

It is best to get several certified copies of the birth certificate (BC). If the immigrant is comming over on a K visa a BC is needed for Adjustment of Status. You can use a xerox copy for citizenship, but the USCIS can request an original certified copy.

You may need a copy for other purposes such as insurance, marriage license, etc. It is much easier to get at the same time time rather than trying to get a copy while in the USA.

[Faith & Andz 3]

I forgot one thing in my post; don't forget about the CFO seminar, which is necessary to attend prior to leaving the Philippines. There are plenty of detailed posts on that elsewhere. Does anyone know if there is a way to edit my original post to include this info? I was able to edit it yesterday, but for some reason, I can't find the button to edit it today =/.

Does the girl need 4 copies of their Birth Certificate? Do they all have to be certified or can they be copies of the original? Very expensive for them if they need 4.

I agree with the most recent poster. It's better to have several copies. You'll definitely need it for the interview as well as a copy of it for the CFO seminar.

[my God's Gift 0]

Wow, Congratulations! May God Bless you.Thanks for sharing. Your post will be of great help for me and my fiance. We are still waiting for NOA2 and hoping that it will be so soon.

[fixed6373 0]

Nice post Faith and Andz very helpful indeed. Good luck on your interview.

I would like to know if the beneficiary of the K1 visa can do the interview scheduling here in the USEM or should the USC have to do that for the beneficiary? Many thanks everyone for whatever info you can give on this one.

[Faith & Andz 3]

Nice post Faith and Andz very helpful indeed. Good luck on your interview.

I would like to know if the beneficiary of the K1 visa can do the interview scheduling here in the USEM or should the USC have to do that for the beneficiary? Many thanks everyone for whatever info you can give on this one.

Either one can do it. You can do it online at the website I mentioned in the post or on the phone. There's a phone number for you to call if you're in the Philippines and one for the U.S.

[Faith & Andz 3]

Wow, thank you Lord!!! My fiancee was approved yesterday! Aside from getting the NOA2 after a long wait, this is the happiest day of my life! Now, I can buy my plane tickets to go get my pinangga =).

God is good!