Visa Taking Forever! What’s Going On?

Guys, it's almost August once again! We're past the 7-month mark now and we still don't know what we can expect from the status of our visa. This is already a burden to me and especially to my dear husband! It seems like everything they require will expire before I even got the visa. Every time they require something, they wait for one month to ask for the next thing. It sure seems to take a toll on our nerves. I am almost going nutty with the wait! Anyway, we are still waiting for their reply once they get hold of the documents before forwarding it to the Manila Embassy. We filed last November of 2010 and still waiting.
I will be sharing you some information and tips on how to save time and $$$ in case you are about to file a visa or still in the early process of filing. We did the IR/CR -1 (Immediate Relative/Conditional Resident) Visa. Since we are not yet 2 years from the time we got married, that makes me under the CR-1 Visa.

Birth Certificate- It is an advantage if you have extra copies of your birth certificate certified by the National Statistics Office. You may apply in person in any NSO office or have it delivered to you thru their online website. But since I don't like the long queues and I was often at the mall when I was in Manila last year, I got my copies thru SM Business Center in Mall of Asia or any branch. It's like working with the papers as we shop! You just simply need to sign the forms, make the payments, and then come back after a few days. For a P160 pesos per copy and 5 business days of waiting you can already obtain the documents without standing all day long in NSO offices. I had more than 6 copies of this document since I had to send few copies for my husband. You will also need to submit one of each when you apply for a new passport, CFO seminar, etc. By the way, you will also need an original or original certified copy of your husband's birth certificate that you will need during the interview.

Marriage Certificate- same with the Birth certificate, I got mine thru SM Business Center. I also made sure that I made extra copies because they will really ask for a copy every time you need to apply for a new identification card and you want now to use your married name like PRC, SSS, Passport, etc.

Cenomar- I had two copies of the Certificate of No Marriage before I got married here in the Philippines. We had to submit a copy at the Local Civil Registrar when we filed for the marriage license. But I read in the VJ site that some Consular Officer will ask you to still show this even when you are already married and you brought with you your Marriage Certificate. I am not sure the reason/s behind but I think they want to make sure that you were really single before you married your foreign husband.

NBI Clearance- I really believe you need two copies of this document. One is for your husband so he can send it to the National Visa Center when they are already asking for the original documents. And two, at the interview before you can get inside the building the guards will ask you to present a valid NBI Clearance together with other documents. Be sure that your NBI clearances are still valid or still not almost to expire.

Tax Records- You may do this ahead of time while waiting for the approval from the USCIS. This is one of the causes of the delay in our case. The legal assistants did not ask us to prepare while we were just in the waiting period. Your husband should get the latest 3 years tax transcripts and W2's if possible. My in-laws are my co-sponsors because my hubby was not earning enough not until last year. We also asked the tax records of my in-laws which took weeks before the Bureau of Tax sent it. Don't forget that if you have a co-sponsor, you will also need their birth certificates. They want to make sure that the sponsors are religiously paying their taxes.

Employment Letter/Certification-Remind your husband (and co-sponsor) to request from their company's Human Resources Department for an Employment Certification. It should include the name of your husband, title, date of employment and current salary (if salary is hourly, include the number of hours worked per week) signed by an officer of the company using the company's letterhead.

The days are going by so slow… the wait is unbearable. The unbearable part of it all is it could come any day now until whenever! So close yet so far. All I think about is this. I didn't expect the wait to be so difficult! I wish I can get over this stage this year. But I am willing to wait; it will be worth it because I know my husband is waiting for me at the other side of this planet. Oh well, I am still trying to be positive. Fingers crossed indeed!