[2021-03-09] 13A Visa Intramuros Update **Implementation" with notes

[DaveB]

2 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I was going to tell you how I do it, but after a few experiments, it would not work the way I do it, without paying.

I use https://www.freepdfconvert.com/ for all kinds of PDF work.  I liked it and needed it a lot last year and this year due to selling my house remotely and now working on my family's US visas.  So I bought a monthly subscription.

I tried using the free PDF to Excel, but it will only do the first two pages.  So I used the pay version to convert the PDF to Excel.  If you don't want to pay and can't find another way, I am happy to do it for you.

t

Well...like I said...I'll play with it.  Haven't anything better to do with my time right now..  All it would do for me in the future is help find any entry, on subsequent Agenda postings, that would pertain to my application going forward, and I kinda can do that already, though some of the scrolling time would be nicely reduced if you could just keyword search that morass.  My main question was if there's any way to track the progress of the damn things before they get to the punchline.

[graham59]

2 hours ago, DaveB said:

Well...like I said...I'll play with it.  Haven't anything better to do with my time right now..  All it would do for me in the future is help find any entry, on subsequent Agenda postings, that would pertain to my application going forward, and I kinda can do that already, though some of the scrolling time would be nicely reduced if you could just keyword search that morass.  My main question was if there's any way to track the progress of the damn things before they get to the punchline.

Did you read my last post ? 

[DaveB]

OK...went down to the Angeles BI office today to sort out the mysteries (yeah, I know...should have done that in the first place, but I'm DIY sometimes to my own detriment).   Hung around in the parking for an hour and half because today they decided to open at 9:30 instead of 8:00 - and no, I don't know why.  Sometimes things just are what they are.

Anyway, minimal effort - no crowd (the COVID lockdown probably helped), walked up to the window, showed the agent a printout of my Agenda page..  So here's the details in a nutshell:

1. If you show up on one of the bi-weekly Agenda pages, it means your application is approved.  That removes one source of worry.  I will say - absolutely never knew that until graham59 brought it up.  Thanks to him.  He obviously had better coaching than me.

2. However...the BI office has to wait for the approved "Implementation Order" to come back from somewhere out there in BI land. 

3.  When they get the approved Implementation Order, they will stamp your passport with the one year provisional 13A visa (during the next year I'll start to engage the process for getting the permanent one - not dealing with that yet)

4.  He kept my passport, made sure he had my phone number, and said he'll call when they get the Implementation Order, and don't worry about the words on the BI website that say you have two months from the Approved Agenda date to finalize it or it is considered abandoned

So...took out the uncertainty and attained peace of mind.  Application is alive and well and working through the system.  I didn't miss any prior phone or text notifications, don't have to worry about my two month activation period expiring next Monday, and no, there is no way to monitor status or where you are in the process as its chugging along.  Get it in, watch for approval agenda, someday the process finishes.  I appear to have been plagued with unrealistic expectations.

Should note - when I submitted this thing Dec 15, I was advised it would take about 3 months - so I wasn't too expectant to see any completion until about now, so I just didn't worry about it and feel the need for any follow up.   Then when I did want to follow up, couldn't find any way to do it except the usual Philippine fall back - go see someone and sort it out.  It's noteworthy that at this point, it is two months since it was approved and "some day" (April?) ;they'll call me to come pick up my passport.  Slow, ponderous wheels are turning, but at least they're turning. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

3 hours ago, DaveB said:

OK...went down to the Angeles BI office today to sort out the mysteries (yeah, I know...should have done that in the first place, but I'm DIY sometimes to my own detriment).   Hung around in the parking for an hour and half because today they decided to open at 9:30 instead of 8:00 - and no, I don't know why.  Sometimes things just are what they are.

SUBPORT DIRECTORY

as of February 23, 2021

Click here to download

ANGELES IMMIGRATION FIELD OFFICE
ACO: JUPITER B. TAJONERA
Office Hours: 9:30 am - 5:00 pm (Cut-off Time 3:00 pm)
Direct Line(s) (045) 404-0215
Facsimile Numbers (045) 404-0215
E-mail Addresses: bi_cdo@yahoo.com.ph, angeles_fo@immigration.gov.ph
Office Address: Ground, Floor, Metro Supermarket, MarQuee Mall, Pulung
Maragul, Angeles City 2009

https://immigration.gov.ph/contact-us/other-immigration-offices

[DaveB]

Back on the Forum after a few day absence.  Been fussing with medical appointments and a bunch of Balikbayan boxes that finally made it here after a wandering three month journey, so our household shipment has finally made it.

So...thanks to JollyGoodFellow for this last post.  Appreciate you taking the time to get it and send it.  If I'd known where to find that info earlier, I'd have noticed the BI office changed its business hours and would have saved an hour and a half wait in the parking lot.  Not sure when they changed them.  My first few months they were opening at 8:00.  If they've done the change to accommodate the Pampanga lockdown, it's a good sign that someone is actually keeping this up to date on a fairly timely basis.  But maybe they changed a while ago and I just didn't notice it.

That leads me to note that I've noticed JollyGoodFellow always seems to be tuned in on just where to find official, late breaking information.  OnMyWay does a pretty good job of that, too.  I'm wondering how much of that is due to having been here long enough to establish that most precious of Filipino existence: personal contacts.  If so, you guys sure have some nicely placed contacts.  But I also wonder if it is just the fact you know where to look and how to ask.  I spend a moderate amount of time chasing info on the websites, and what I do come up with takes a lot of digging.  Some of that, I think is me breaking down pre-embedded American expectation, which is likely especially built into my perspective due to my 25 years managing system developments.  For example, I just assumed I could go to the main BI website and find links and/or information regarding the regional and provincial officers.  I did eventually find a listing of such offices, but can't remember how I dug it out.  What I see on the BI website seems to be very Manila and main office oriented.  That's just an example of what I mean by unrealistic expectations.  Haven't quite figured out how to navigate my way around the information pool except defaulting to the personal one-on-one approach.

A passing question: this contact sheet you sent has phone numbers and email addresses.  What's the general consensus?  If I call one of those numbers does someone actually answer the phone - and is the resultant discussion actually informative?  If I write to the email address, does someone actually monitor the in-box and write back at some point?  Or is it much like all the other official interactions: kinda depends on how that particular office operates?

Regardless, once again, Thanks to JollyGoodFellow for sending this.  Appreciate your help in getting this rooky homesteader get settled. 

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, DaveB said:

A passing question: this contact sheet you sent has phone numbers and email addresses.  What's the general consensus?  If I call one of those numbers does someone actually answer the phone - and is the resultant discussion actually informative?  If I write to the email address, does someone actually monitor the in-box and write back at some point?  Or is it much like all the other official interactions: kinda depends on how that particular office operates?

Like everything here, it is location dependant.  My BI office has replied 100% of the time to my emails - actually I should say email as I've only contacted them once by email but they did reply within a few hours hence the 100% reply rate!

[Shol]

Woops lost access to the forum for a bit and actually forgot about it LOL.

Glad to see you guys helping people from this thread.

I will post some stuff later as will at some point try to do the permanent one and I am sure that might bring along it's own nonsense :)

[Jollygoodfellow]

On 3/27/2021 at 11:10 AM, DaveB said:

That leads me to note that I've noticed JollyGoodFellow always seems to be tuned in on just where to find official, late breaking information.  OnMyWay does a pretty good job of that, too.  I'm wondering how much of that is due to having been here long enough to establish that most precious of Filipino existence: personal contacts.  If so, you guys sure have some nicely placed contacts.  But I also wonder if it is just the fact you know where to look and how to ask.

The only contacts I have are two guys on a motorbike with full face helmets  Easy to find info.  Follow the BI Facebook page so you get every new bit of info they release. For other info Google is your friend, type in a question say, "when is the BI  Angeles city open" and find it at the top of Google's search page. I also have Google and Yahoo Philippines email alerts to news so do abit of reading each day. You can set it to all of the Philippines or just your local area or both so anything in the news going on you get it in email. I also used to belong to a couple of Expat Facebook groups but removed myself, argumentative people on those groups I have found and some not to bright.

Also I have been running this forum for years, visited over several years and lived here I think getting up to 5 years so you learn a bit over time.

      

 

[DaveB]

Well..the smoke cleared and the dust settled...finally landed my 13A (probationary version).  As usual, not as straightforward a path to conclusion as advertised, but got there.   As noted before, when I was at the BI in Angeles City a month or so ago, I confirmed I had been approved on the Jan 28 agenda.  The agent there kept my passport and said when they got the implementation order he'd call me to come finalize everything.  So...my 9A is up for renewal later this month, and I THINK I had heard , if you are approved for a 13A and waiting, you don't have to renew your 9A.  I decided, just in case, to go visit the BI and ask about that specifically in case I needed to get my passport back - and maybe while I'm there, get a hint on how close I was to the 13A.  Next thing I know, I'm being called to the window, handed a document and told to go make a photo copy (just happens to be an office supply store next door who lives and thrives on supported BI customers - a case of someone hitting the jackpot in regards to the old adage "location, location, location".)  So five minutes later I'm at the window, hand in my paper copies, and get back my stamped passport.  

Not sure how long that implementation order had been there...might have come in recently and I just happened to show up before someone processed it and called me.  Regardless, I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth - took it and ran.  Gotta wait another month for my ACR card.

So...for those that like keeping score: Submitted 13A package on Dec 15, approved on Agenda on Jan 28, implemented and passport stamped on May 3.

Sometime in January, I'll pull the trigger on the mysteries of converting to the PERMANENT 13A.

[graham59]

5 hours ago, DaveB said:

Sometime in January, I'll pull the trigger on the mysteries of converting to the PERMANENT 13A.

Same for me next year. 

I have the 13A (probationary) stamp in my passport now... also the ACR-1 card, so bit the bullet and sent my passport back to UK for renewal, as it expires Jan 2022. 

Apparently delivered (via Fedex) to UK Passport Office today. Fingers crossed now, but at least I've allowed plenty of time for the usual fkups...I hope.