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"Is it true that you can be denied if you make mistakes during the interview at the U.S. Embassy in Manila?" Everything comes down to the discretion of the consular officer conducting the interview and asking the questions. If you're filing for a fiance visa, they're really looking to see that you truly intend to […]

The USCIS has updated to a new version of form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. However, up until the time of this post, they are still accepting the old version of the form. Starting September 23, 2019, the USCIS will only accept the 07/15/19 edition. Until then, you can use the old version of the I-693 which is the 10/19/17 edition.

Once your I-130 is approved for a spousal visa, the USCIS is going to send it on to the National Visa Center. Once they receive it, they will send you an email that contains an invoice for the two NVC fees. The first is the affidavit of support fee, then the visa application fee. At the time of this writing, these fees together are $445.

Based on our experience, most customers receive their SSN after they’ve received the combo card. At least, that’s what we’re seeing right now. They usually receive it one to two weeks after they receive their combo card. The combo card looks like a driver’s license. That’s your authority to work in the United States and also authority to travel outside of the United States.

In the Ombudsman Report of 2019, we discover that the USCIS has quietly killed the InfoPass process for getting an in-person meeting with a USCIS agent to get an update about a dragged-out or stalled case. The process is now called InfoMod.

Unfortunately, no you cannot choose the processing center or USCIS office where your paperwork is sent to. It’s going to be sent to one of two lock boxes either in Phoenix, Arizona or Chicago, Illinois. From here, they’ll receive your documents and then they use a process which we refer to as “load balancing” to distribute them to various centers.

"I'm about to go through the AOS (adjustment of status) process. When is the best time to get the medical examination?" If the alien beneficiary entered on a K1, they should file for adjustment of status after getting married, but before the medical examination expires, which is one year from the time the DS-3025 was […]

"How many days after we send them the RFE documents do we receive the NOA2?" First, NOA2 is Notice of Action 2, the approval notice. Currently, it's usually about two to three weeks after submitting the requested documents along with the original RFE letter they're issuing the approval notice. This is just an estimate, and […]

The White House recently issued a memorandum on the enforcement of legal responsibilities of immigrant sponsors & joint sponsors. The memo directs relevant federal agencies to update procedures, guidance, and regulations to comply with current law and ensure that ineligible immigrants do not receive federal means-tested benefits.

"What is the CFO Seminar (Philippines) and why is it required?" The CFO (Commission on Filipinos Overseas) Seminar is a Philippine government requirement for Filipinos leaving the country. It's partially for their internal counting of people expatriating, but also it gives a crash-course on a few things Filipinos should know when emigrating out of the […]