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  • Philippine visa help and or advice

    I immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 1990. I then petitioned my son and my daughter with a priority date of September 21, 1992.
    I was informed that when I became a U.S. Citizen, it would change my son and daughter’s petition from a F2B to a F1 (First Preference), which would enable them to immigrate to America sooner.
    I was proud to become a U.S. Citizen on August 28, 1997. When my son received the notification, in 2002 from the U.S. Consulate in Manila, that he was to have an interview on March 1, 2002, I was overwhelmed with enthusiasm. He completed his physical along with all of the other requirements. We also assumed that my daughter, would soon be receiving a notification for an Interview. Although, when my son went to his scheduled interview on March 1, 2002, the U.S. Consulate in Manila terminated his interview. The reason they gave was that since I changed my status from immigrant (Green card holder) to U.S. Citizen, my children’s date of priority for their interview also changed to an ever later time.
    I do not understand this. Since I became a U.S. Citizen, my son and daughter must wait even longer to come to America? This all seems backward to me. I became a citizen of this spectacular country to live in a land proclaimed to be full of hope, happiness, and freedom for me as well as my family. Now we are expected to wait even longer for the petitions to be approved? This makes little sense to me.
    I am proud to be a citizen and call myself an American. But there is another thing that troubles me; and so far, it seems as if no one is willing to help. Since my son’s petition was set back to a later date, I believed the same thing would probably happen to my daughter as well. So when my daughter did not receive the notification for an interview, we were not surprised. I was under the impression that the interview was also set back, just like my son’s.
    From then, we were just waiting for the proper notification from the consulate to be called to another interview. But then we learned that my daughter’s petition was terminated since she supposedly failed to show up for her interview in 2002. How can this be? First of all, she did not receive a notification for the interview. Secondly and most importantly, showing up for the interview would have not done anything because of my status change from an immigrant (Green card holder) to U.S. Citizen, which would have delayed the interview date.
    After hearing this news, I went to the U.S. Embassy in Manila of January 18, 2006 and spoke to a woman by the name of Kim Russell (vice Consul), which I later discovered was her given alias. When I explained the situation to her, she said my only option was to repetition my daughter. This is ridiculous! If I am to repetition her, we must, once again, wait many years.
    I believe this is wrong. How and why would anybody in their right mind cancel my daughter’s petition for not showing up to an interview we were not informed of? On top of that, it is almost a certainty that the interview would have been terminated to a later date due to my status change. Becoming a U.S. Citizen is an honor and my daughter would not have missed such an important interview for the world. I explained all of this to Kim Russell, Vice Consul, at the U.S. embassy in Manila. Believe me when I tell you this, I was a Police Officer in the Philippines for seventeen years before I came to America and it appeared to me that she was not forthcoming. It seemed as if she was attempting to cover up a mistake that was made.
    I am asking for anyone with advice that could help me with this problem.

    Thank you for your time,

  • #2
    sharing

    hello there.
    i am also a filipina who has a family petition process. my father filed the petition for me and my sister 1997 when he was just an immigrant he became us citizen 2001 i am concern about the petition status since he hasn't updated the file that he is already a us citizen. Hearing your story i think i will have to pursue him to update the petition. It is just so unfortunate for us filipinos that the priority dates for F1 unmarried sons and daughters of US citizen are being processed much later than the f2b unmarried sons and daughters of immigrants. from the NVC bulletin it will take about 15 years of wait for a visa interview for the unmarried sons and daughters of citizens, which is certainly unfair.

    Comment


    • #3
      Advice for F2B

      I am a Filipina and my situation is similar to your children's case. My mother petitioned me as an F2B in 1994. When my mother naturalized as a US citizen in 2000, I thought that this would expedite my Immigrant Visa application but, on the contrary, the priority date for aliens chargeable to the Philippines is earlier for F2B than for F1 probably because there are less IV applications for F2B than F1. I thought that my visa application would automatically be upgraded ( or downgraded in my case as a Filipina ) from F2B to F1 but I was wrong about this assumption. When my priority date as an F2B became current in Dec. 2002, NVC sent me an instruction packet ( DS-230 ). Although I was confused about my status and hesitant to pursue the application process, I consulted an immigration specialist and he told me that my IV application would be terminated by the US Consulate upon interview due to the change of status of my petitioner from a Legally Permanent Resident to a US citizen so he advised me to write to NVC about my case. In May 2003, I informed the NVC of the change of status of my petitioner and attached to the letter, a photocopy of my petitioner's Certificate of Naturalization as reference. I inquired about what procedures should be taken regarding my case. ( When writing to NVC, your children should indicate the name of the visa applicant, their case number and foreign state chargeability for easier reference for NVC ). I did not receive, though, any response from NVC after a year ( must be backlogged with paperwork and pending applications ) so I followed-up my case, in writing, since I received notification from the US embassy in Manila that my IV registration will be terminated 1 year from date of this notification. I wrote again to NVC signifying my interest to pursue my IV application. After a few months, NVC replied and informed me that my case is currently under review for applicability of Section 6 of the Child Status Protection Act which President Bush signed in August 2002. This Act allows an F2B to opt out of conversion to F1 upon naturalization of the petitioning parent. The applicant's eligibility for an IV shall be made as if such naturalization had not taken place which means that he / she may prefer to remain as an F2B and NVC will continue processing the petition as if it were an F2B. I was advised, though, that there was no timeframe for which my case will be approved. After 1 and 1/2 years of waiting, I received notification from NVC that my case has been reviewed and I may change my visa classification to F1 or pursue the opt-out provision ( remain an F2B ) under Section 6 of the CSPA. I have opted to remain as an F2B since the priority date for aliens chargeable to the Philippines is earlier for F2B than F1. I have been receiving instructions from NVC regarding my IV application. Finally, after a long wait, my papers are being processed and I am just waiting for my interview appointment. Mr. 1186gibri, I would advise that your children inform NVC about their case. They may write via snail mail =) or send an email to [email protected] or you may consult a reputable immigration lawyer in the US regarding your children's case. Ms. jenspec, I would advise that you also pursue the same since your priority date for F2B is almost current.

      Good luck! Keep me posted =)

      Comment


      • #4
        OPT out letter wait period?

        Hi Sam!
        How long did you wait for your interview after you've sent your opt out letter?

        thanks

        Originally posted by sam_p09
        I am a Filipina and my situation is similar to your children's case. My mother petitioned me as an F2B in 1994. When my mother naturalized as a US citizen in 2000, I thought that this would expedite my Immigrant Visa application but, on the contrary, the priority date for aliens chargeable to the Philippines is earlier for F2B than for F1 probably because there are less IV applications for F2B than F1. I thought that my visa application would automatically be upgraded ( or downgraded in my case as a Filipina ) from F2B to F1 but I was wrong about this assumption. When my priority date as an F2B became current in Dec. 2002, NVC sent me an instruction packet ( DS-230 ). Although I was confused about my status and hesitant to pursue the application process, I consulted an immigration specialist and he told me that my IV application would be terminated by the US Consulate upon interview due to the change of status of my petitioner from a Legally Permanent Resident to a US citizen so he advised me to write to NVC about my case. In May 2003, I informed the NVC of the change of status of my petitioner and attached to the letter, a photocopy of my petitioner's Certificate of Naturalization as reference. I inquired about what procedures should be taken regarding my case. ( When writing to NVC, your children should indicate the name of the visa applicant, their case number and foreign state chargeability for easier reference for NVC ). I did not receive, though, any response from NVC after a year ( must be backlogged with paperwork and pending applications ) so I followed-up my case, in writing, since I received notification from the US embassy in Manila that my IV registration will be terminated 1 year from date of this notification. I wrote again to NVC signifying my interest to pursue my IV application. After a few months, NVC replied and informed me that my case is currently under review for applicability of Section 6 of the Child Status Protection Act which President Bush signed in August 2002. This Act allows an F2B to opt out of conversion to F1 upon naturalization of the petitioning parent. The applicant's eligibility for an IV shall be made as if such naturalization had not taken place which means that he / she may prefer to remain as an F2B and NVC will continue processing the petition as if it were an F2B. I was advised, though, that there was no timeframe for which my case will be approved. After 1 and 1/2 years of waiting, I received notification from NVC that my case has been reviewed and I may change my visa classification to F1 or pursue the opt-out provision ( remain an F2B ) under Section 6 of the CSPA. I have opted to remain as an F2B since the priority date for aliens chargeable to the Philippines is earlier for F2B than F1. I have been receiving instructions from NVC regarding my IV application. Finally, after a long wait, my papers are being processed and I am just waiting for my interview appointment. Mr. 1186gibri, I would advise that your children inform NVC about their case. They may write via snail mail =) or send an email to [email protected] or you may consult a reputable immigration lawyer in the US regarding your children's case. Ms. jenspec, I would advise that you also pursue the same since your priority date for F2B is almost current.

        Good luck! Keep me posted =)

        Comment


        • #5
          Re : Opt out letter wait period

          Originally posted by alvirtuoso
          Hi Sam!
          How long did you wait for your interview after you've sent your opt out letter?

          thanks
          Around 10 months but it was worth waiting for. The interview went well and finally I'm here in the US

          Comment

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