32 replies to this topic

[ren]

I'll launch right in here...not sure how often anybody comes here.  It seems like a lot of the posts are months apart but maybe I'm just not using the site correctly.

I met the love of my life 3 years ago and have been to Mindanao 7 times to see her.  I fell for the kids in her village and started a charity 2 years ago to help them with school, medicine, dental, and nutrition and that's going pretty well now.  She said oo to the big question last February and we started the I-129 on March 6, 2013. We had an interview scheduled for September 17 but St. Luke's said she might have TB (she doesn't) so that set us back a few months and we were able to get re-scheduled for 3 weeks ago on December 20, 2013. As I write, today is Jan 4, 2014.

 

I'll cruise around the site and see if I can add anything that might help someone else cause I've been there 7 times and I've dealt with a lot of stuff in the course of setting up the charity and helping out the kids.  I do have a question that maybe I can get some help with myself: AFTER a successful interview for a K-1 has been completed, how long should we expect to wait for the visa to arrive by courier?  We hear anywhere from 7 days to 4 months from other people who have been through it.  So I just don't know whether to be concerned now or not.  I know 3 different couples that said it only took them 7-10 days to receive it and we're going on 3 weeks.  Should I be concerned?  I know everything takes a lot longer than you expect.  Boy, howdy! do I ever know that!!  But my experience with Philippine couriers has been so horrible, I can't help but wonder if her visa is lost and her passport along with it.  Of course, there's no way I know of to get a tracking number if it HAS been issued.

 

Anybody?

[Mr. Lee]

Welcome to WOF!!! My wife is from Bukidnon  and was working in Cagayan de Oro where we met.  

 

I cannot answer your questions but I am sure someone will before too long.

 

I hope you will stick around and help our members with your knowledge and experiences.  

[ren]

Mr. Lee,  Salamat for the quick welcoming reply!  I guess people DO visit the site more than once a blue moon. 

[Mr. Lee]

Mr. Lee,  Salamat for the quick welcoming reply!  I guess people DO visit the site more than once a blue moon. 

Yes sir, I am on here often and so are quite a few other members. Hopefully one with experience will reply to your question quickly. 

[HAWK]

If I remember right it only took 3 days for my wife's visa to be delivered , but that was 8 years ago. We stayed in Manila and waited for it. I do know it takes a lot longer depending on what island they are sending it to. You might want to call the US embassy in Manila and ask if it's been sent out yet.

Welcome to WOF !!

[ren]

Hawk:  thank you so much.  I have a feeling something is wrong as many other people said it should be really quick after the interview.  Next question if I may...does anyone know how to contact the Embassy?  The only numbers I have are either non-working numbers or they connect you with a call center and the call center people, while delightful , don't seem to know anything other than general information.  They tell me to call the Embassy and that they cannot divulge the Embassy phone number but I need to go to the Embassy website for it and...you guessed it...the Embassy website gives you the call center number (along with the non-working numbers).

[Mr. Lee]

The Embassy’s main trunk line 301-2000 is experiencing technical issues and  prone to congestion. If your call can’t get through please use these numbers: 301-2166 or 301-2177

 

You can also send us an email to acsinfomanila@state.gov.  Please allow one to three business days for a response.

 

Link

[HAWK]

I'm sorry but I don't have the phone number any more, I guess that's something we should try to find and get it posted on WOF. I'm sure there are others that need it as well. I'll see what I can dig up. 

[HAWK]

Damn Lee, you're to fast for me lol

[Mr. Lee]

We aim to please lol

[ren]

Wow...you guys are great.  Thank you so much!  I will definitely become a regular here if I can possibly help anyone else. 

[HAWK]

Hey Ren, I have a question for you if you don't mind. How did you find WOF ?

[ren]

Not at all!  But I don't really remember.  It was about 3 years ago and I had met my mate and was probably searching around for anyone with a similar experience vis-a-vis Filipina girlfriends, wives, etc.  I don't remember if I Googled or followed a link here from somewhere else.  I hadn't been back cause, frankly, I forgot my password and then forgot the password to the e-mail that I used to recover the password form WOF.  (Long story.)  But with a lot of persistence, I was able to backtrack today and I made it back here.

[HAWK]

lol you're not the first one that's had that happen. I was just wondering, any way welcome back. 

[JLW36]

I'll launch right in here...not sure how often anybody comes here.  It seems like a lot of the posts are months apart but maybe I'm just not using the site correctly.
I met the love of my life 3 years ago and have been to Mindanao 7 times to see her.  I fell for the kids in her village and started a charity 2 years ago to help them with school, medicine, dental, and nutrition and that's going pretty well now.  She said oo to the big question last February and we started the I-129 on March 6, 2013. We had an interview scheduled for September 17 but St. Luke's said she might have TB (she doesn't) so that set us back a few months and we were able to get re-scheduled for 3 weeks ago on December 20, 2013. As I write, today is Jan 4, 2014.
 
I'll cruise around the site and see if I can add anything that might help someone else cause I've been there 7 times and I've dealt with a lot of stuff in the course of setting up the charity and helping out the kids.  I do have a question that maybe I can get some help with myself: AFTER a successful interview for a K-1 has been completed, how long should we expect to wait for the visa to arrive by courier?  We hear anywhere from 7 days to 4 months from other people who have been through it.  So I just don't know whether to be concerned now or not.  I know 3 different couples that said it only took them 7-10 days to receive it and we're going on 3 weeks.  Should I be concerned?  I know everything takes a lot longer than you expect.  Boy, howdy! do I ever know that!!  But my experience with Philippine couriers has been so horrible, I can't help but wonder if her visa is lost and her passport along with it.  Of course, there's no way I know of to get a tracking number if it HAS been issued.
 
Anybody?

It may take a little longer since she lives in Mindanao. I know long time ago DELBROS The courier that delivers your visa will text you if they are on their way to your home to deliver your packet I dont know if they still text you now a days with their new 2go courier. My daughter's packet was delivered 7 days after her US embassy interview and She lives in visayas.

Edited by JLW36, 04 January 2014 - 10:15 PM.

[rbacon]

I'll launch right in here...not sure how often anybody comes here.  It seems like a lot of the posts are months apart but maybe I'm just not using the site correctly.

I met the love of my life 3 years ago and have been to Mindanao 7 times to see her.  I fell for the kids in her village and started a charity 2 years ago to help them with school, medicine, dental, and nutrition and that's going pretty well now.  She said oo to the big question last February and we started the I-129 on March 6, 2013. We had an interview scheduled for September 17 but St. Luke's said she might have TB (she doesn't) so that set us back a few months and we were able to get re-scheduled for 3 weeks ago on December 20, 2013. As I write, today is Jan 4, 2014.

 

I'll cruise around the site and see if I can add anything that might help someone else cause I've been there 7 times and I've dealt with a lot of stuff in the course of setting up the charity and helping out the kids.  I do have a question that maybe I can get some help with myself: AFTER a successful interview for a K-1 has been completed, how long should we expect to wait for the visa to arrive by courier?  We hear anywhere from 7 days to 4 months from other people who have been through it.  So I just don't know whether to be concerned now or not.  I know 3 different couples that said it only took them 7-10 days to receive it and we're going on 3 weeks.  Should I be concerned?  I know everything takes a lot longer than you expect.  Boy, howdy! do I ever know that!!  But my experience with Philippine couriers has been so horrible, I can't help but wonder if her visa is lost and her passport along with it.  Of course, there's no way I know of to get a tracking number if it HAS been issued.

 

Anybody?

Use the following Embassy link to track status  of visa processing following interview:

https://ceac.state.g...er/Status.aspx?

 

--Ray B

[ren]

Thanks everybody --  for the help.  In case anyone else is following this thread for help with a similar problem, I will say that none of the links, e-mail addresses,  phone numbers, or websites are of much use.  Maybe they once were, but we've had so many problems and delays with our visa application that I've been to all those in the past and I tried them all again with our current situation.  The emails all go unreturned, the websites only offer general information or, if they purport to offer information on your specific case, they blow up with an error message when you try to use them, and the many phone numbers are either non-working numbers, or they take you to the call center that doesn't have much specific information either.  (The call center told us we have to call the embassy for one of our earlier issues but the embassy number they gave us was a non-working number.)

 

I super-appreciate everyone's efforts to help.  Now we're afraid we're going to go up against the expiration of her medical clearance (according to St. Luke's) before we get the visa.  If that happens, I'm not sure what we do next.  Start all over from the beginning?  Has anyone here ever gotten as far as a successful  interview but then never received their visa and had to start over?  Again, many many thanks!

[rbacon]

Thanks everybody --  for the help.  In case anyone else is following this thread for help with a similar problem, I will say that none of the links, e-mail addresses,  phone numbers, or websites are of much use.  Maybe they once were, but we've had so many problems and delays with our visa application that I've been to all those in the past and I tried them all again with our current situation.  The emails all go unreturned, the websites only offer general information or, if they purport to offer information on your specific case, they blow up with an error message when you try to use them, and the many phone numbers are either non-working numbers, or they take you to the call center that doesn't have much specific information either.  (The call center told us we have to call the embassy for one of our earlier issues but the embassy number they gave us was a non-working number.)

 

I super-appreciate everyone's efforts to help.  Now we're afraid we're going to go up against the expiration of her medical clearance (according to St. Luke's) before we get the visa.  If that happens, I'm not sure what we do next.  Start all over from the beginning?  Has anyone here ever gotten as far as a successful  interview but then never received their visa and had to start over?  Again, many many thanks!

The link I just posted to you last night provides the current status of your post interview processing.  Try it again:

https://ceac.state.g...er/Status.aspx?

 

If you reach six months from the medical exam completion, your wife will have to be recertified by St Luke's.

 

--Ray B

[ren]

Thanks again, so much for trying to help Ray!  But in desperation I've tried that link dozens of times.  After you type in your case number, that link takes you to a State Dept. "Application Error" site that says "An unexpected error has occurred while processing your previous request.  The error has been reported to the site administrator; no further action is required."  And that's it.  It's been that way for 4 months because we've tried to check our status every which way conceivable due to other types of delays (my fiancé was first misdiagnosed by St. Luke's with TB, then we got over that hurdle and re-scheduled her interview but the next interview was cancelled for no reason given, so we re-scheduled again only to have that one cancelled by the Embassy -- again no reason given -- so we've been around the block quite a few times trying to find out where we stand.  We've been at this almost a year now -- and there is nothing unusual about us; no health issues, no children involved, no criminal history, no previous marriages, more than adequate income on my part.

 

St. Luke's told us that she has to be out of the country by February 14 or her medical exam will have expired.  She finished the interview last month and now we have no idea what to expect.  Everyone else we know who has been through it has had their visa pretty soon after a successful interview but we don't know -- and can't seem to find out -- if ours was ever issued.   All we want now is a status update because Feb 14 is not so far away.  If the visa was issued and the courier lost it (we've had LOTS of documents lost by couriers), then her passport is also lost.  So we would need to begin the process of getting a replacement passport which is rather daunting here in the U.S. if you've ever been through that.  I can't imagine the process in the Philippines.

 

Thanks again Ray.  I mean it.  We really appreciate anybody who offers any suggestion.  But that link is a non-working one after you enter your case number.  Has anyone else gotten a status update, recently, from that site?

[rbacon]

Thanks again, so much for trying to help Ray!  But in desperation I've tried that link dozens of times.  After you type in your case number, that link takes you to a State Dept. "Application Error" site that says "An unexpected error has occurred while processing your previous request.  The error has been reported to the site administrator; no further action is required."  And that's it.  It's been that way for 4 months because we've tried to check our status every which way conceivable due to other types of delays (my fiancé was first misdiagnosed by St. Luke's with TB, then we got over that hurdle and re-scheduled her interview but the next interview was cancelled for no reason given, so we re-scheduled again only to have that one cancelled by the Embassy -- again no reason given -- so we've been around the block quite a few times trying to find out where we stand.  We've been at this almost a year now -- and there is nothing unusual about us; no health issues, no children involved, no criminal history, no previous marriages, more than adequate income on my part.

 

St. Luke's told us that she has to be out of the country by February 14 or her medical exam will have expired.  She finished the interview last month and now we have no idea what to expect.  Everyone else we know who has been through it has had their visa pretty soon after a successful interview but we don't know -- and can't seem to find out -- if ours was ever issued.   All we want now is a status update because Feb 14 is not so far away.  If the visa was issued and the courier lost it (we've had LOTS of documents lost by couriers), then her passport is also lost.  So we would need to begin the process of getting a replacement passport which is rather daunting here in the U.S. if you've ever been through that.  I can't imagine the process in the Philippines.

 

Thanks again Ray.  I mean it.  We really appreciate anybody who offers any suggestion.  But that link is a non-working one after you enter your case number.  Has anyone else gotten a status update, recently, from that site?

Ren,

 

That link is a working application if the case number is inputted correctly.  I use the link all the time for cases I am processing.  You should input the entire MNL case number as either an immigrant or nonimmigrant case, as it might be handled either way.

 

All that link will tell you, however, is whether the case is on Administrative Review or a visa has been issued, but there will be a last processed date included in the resulting message.

 

--Ray B