Richieboy67 Posted August 20, 2015 Author Posted August 20, 2015 (edited) Might be cheaper to buy a laptop here and maybe good quality.Look online.I was hoping to use a bestbuy card or something. The main reason though for the post office box is for my mail from the USA and my immigration documents I may have to mail. Edited August 20, 2015 by Richieboy67 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthdome Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 Might be cheaper to buy a laptop here and maybe good quality.Look online.I was hoping to use a bestbuy card or something. The main reason though for the post office box is for my mail from the USA and fly immigration documents I may have to mail. Do everything you can via the internet. Use a mail forwarding service in the US for everything else, one that can scan your incoming mail for you. For any documents you must receive physically, they must be important, have them sent by courier. With a mail forwarding service they can hold mail for you then you can have it all bundled up and sent to you FedEx, DHL, etc. Do not trust the Philippine post office for anything important. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richieboy67 Posted August 20, 2015 Author Posted August 20, 2015 Might be cheaper to buy a laptop here and maybe good quality.Look online.I was hoping to use a bestbuy card or something. The main reason though for the post office box is for my mail from the USA and fly immigration documents I may have to mail. Do everything you can via the internet. Use a mail forwarding service in the US for everything else, one that can scan your incoming mail for you. For any documents you must receive physically, they must be important, have them sent by courier. With a mail forwarding service they can hold mail for you then you can have it all bundled up and sent to you FedEx, DHL, etc. Do not trust the Philippine post office for anything important. Good advice! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richieboy67 Posted August 20, 2015 Author Posted August 20, 2015 (edited) Did any of you guys send and receive your I - 130 petition from here, the Philippines? If so what was your method and how long did it take? Edited August 20, 2015 by Richieboy67 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthdome Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 Did any of you guys send and receive your I - 130 petition from here, the Philippines? If so what was your method and how long did it take? I made an appointment online with the US Embassy in Manila to file the form. Then I filled out the form and put together all the necessary supporting documents. Then my wife and I traveled to Manila and went to the embassy an hour before the appointed time. When called to the window I filed the paperwork. Took about 5-10 minutes. Note that you have to provide proof that you have resided in the Philippines for at least 6 months before you can file DCF. If you are in the Philippines I strongly urge you to file your I-130 petition in person at the US Embassy in Manila (DCF) after scheduling an appointment online. It only took 2 weeks for the I-130 petition to be approved when filing at the US Embassy. Then it only took another 3 months until we were all done and had the visa stamp in my wife's passport. We could have done it faster if we had been in a hurry. If you send in the paperwork to the USA it will take you 1-2 years before you have the visa. We met a couple while waiting at SLEC for my wife's medical exam. They lived in Manila but decided to use one of those services and file the paperwork in the USA. What took us less than 2 months, getting to the medical exam, had taken them over a year. FYI, by filing DCF I did not have to send/receive any paperwork in the USA. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richieboy67 Posted August 20, 2015 Author Posted August 20, 2015 Thanks! That helps! What exactly is dcf? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthdome Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 Thanks! That helps! What exactly is dcf? Direct Consular Filing - That is when you file the visa petition and application at the US Embassy rather than mailing in the paperwork. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richieboy67 Posted August 20, 2015 Author Posted August 20, 2015 Ok, I know this has gotten off topic but this information is very helpful to me. I have a couple more questions. #1 - What documents do I need to bring when I file the I - 130 form at the embassy? #2 - After it is approved will they mail me something or do I have to go back? Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthdome Posted August 21, 2015 Posted August 21, 2015 Ok, I know this has gotten off topic but this information is very helpful to me. I have a couple more questions. #1 - What documents do I need to bring when I file the I - 130 form at the embassy? #2 - After it is approved will they mail me something or do I have to go back? Thanks again It has been a year since I filed the I-130 and don't recall everything I needed. Just do an internet search for I-130, DCF, Manila. As I recall we received notification both by email and by postal mail. You can also call the embassy to check on the status. The email contained all the information we needed to proceed with the visa application. We ended up going to Manila 5 times. 1. Attending the CFO class. 2. Filing the I-130 petition at the US Embassy, required an appointment which you can get online. This does not require your wife, you can do this alone. 3. Getting the medical exam at the St. Lukes Extension Clinic (SLEC). This also had to be scheduled. This took several days. This only needs your wife. 4. Getting a letter of good conduct from the Malaysian embassy (my wife had worked OFW in Malaysia) Just my wife for this. 5. Final interview at the US Embassy. This required a scheduled appointment done online. This required both of us. You may be able to combine some of these and get down to the minimum of 3 visits to Manila. If your wife has not lived outside the Philippines for more than 6 months then you won't need any good conduct letters from foreign embassy's. Of course we did everything together that we could. During the final interview the US Embassy kept my wife's passport and returned it to us by courier several weeks later after her visa was approved with the visa stamp affixed inside her passport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted August 21, 2015 Posted August 21, 2015 Ok, I know this has gotten off topic but this information is very helpful to me. I have a couple more questions. I understand how someone could be busy and not be bothered to start a new topic, so long as you can understand that moderators may also be busy and haven't the time or inclination to move the posts to their own topic. Sometimes that means it easier to just hit the delete button . . sorry if that sounds grumpy but you admit taking the thread off topic and that is a pet peeve of management here. :cheersty: Please DO start a new thread if you intend to discuss this further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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