Moview Review: TITANIC

Titanic is a 1997 disaster romance film directed, written, produced and edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It features Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson and Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, two members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ill-fated 1912 maiden voyage of the ship. The main characters and the central love story are fictional, but some supporting characters (such as members of the ship's crew) are based on real historical figures. Gloria Stuart plays the elderly Rose, who narrates the film in a modern day framing device.

Personal K1/K2 Visa Processing Experience

This is my personal K1 Visa Process. The following is the step-by-step process that I went through to get my K1 Visa.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as I can and will answer your questions with the best that I can.

K1 Visa is a type of visa for fiance(e) of a US citizen and would come to the US to be wed to his/her petitioner within 90 days after arriving to the US.

My K1 Visa Timeline

07 Feb met online
07 June 6 got engaged
07 Sep 12 met in person

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07 Oct 19 sent packets to USCIS, Vermont Service Center via attorney
07 Nov 03 received receipt/tracking number(NOA1)*
08 Feb 19 petition approved(received thru email)
08 Feb 25 NVC* sent packets to US Embassy Manila
08 Feb 29 received letter from NVC containing the case number
08 Mar 07 should receive NOA2* but USCIS said that they had the wrong address; should receive it within 45 days(sucks!)
08 Apr 01(AM) called USE to set an appointment date
08 Apr 01(PM) letter from USE arrived stating that I may call the service center to set an appointment date (I already did)
08 Apr 17 paid DELBROS for document verification
08 Apr 24 done with my medical examination at SLMCEC.
08 Apr 29(PM) done with my son's medical exam
08 Apr 29(AM) first Interview date - was postponed due to delay of my son's medical examination
08 May 05 request for Document Verification forwarded to NSO from DELBROS
08 May 06 final Interview date
08 May 30 Visa on hand

Total processing time: 7 months and 11 days



*note:
NOA - Notification of Action from the USCIS
NOA 1 - notice that the USCIS received your case and would be queued for processing.
receipt/tracking number - comes with NOA 1; used for checking the status of your case on the USCIS website.
NOA 2 - the approval of the petition
NVC - State Department's National Visa Center; would receive the approval from USCIS, do a background check for the petitioner, and forward the case to US Embassy if case found eligible.

Details

10/11/07

initial sending of packets to attorney

attorney seen discrepancies, requested hard copy of pictures

10/18/07

final sending of packets to attorney

10/19/07

attorney received packets

attorney forwarded packets to USCIS Vermont Visa Center

11/03/07

USCIS Vermont Visa Center received packets

We received tracking number (Notice of Action 1)to be used on checking the status of our case on http://www.uscis.gov.

02/19/08 (EST)

petition was approved

02/25/08

NVC sent packets to US Embassy Manila

02/29/08

a letter received through mail from State Department's National Visa Center (NVC).

stating the approval, the action taken, and the case number

03/07/08

Received an e-mail from the USCIS saying that the post office returned the Notice of Action (NOA) 2 on 03/06/08 because it was undeliverable.

03/08/08

called the USCIS and said that the address they have was wrong and they would send the notice again in 45 days.

called the attorney to verify if this would really affect the processing of my Visa, they said that the processing would continue even if we didn't receive the NOA2 yet since the NVC aready had the NOA2.

03/12/08

called NVC, said that they already sent the packets to US Embassy Manila.

04/01/08

called US Embassy Manila (1-808-101-7878) to set an appointment date

got appointment date: April 29, 2008 at 7:30 AM

04/24-25/08

medical examination at SLMCEC.

my son was referred to a dermatologist because they found something in his skin that seems to be not normal

brought my son to the dermatologist and good to know it's nothing serious

04/29/08

my son's medical exam results was released and would be forwarded to the USE

04/30/08

called USE to re-schedule my appointment date

got appointment date: May 06, 2008, 7:30 A.M.

05/06/08

Interview - approved

05/09/08

called Delbros and talked to Robbie - in charge of document verification request

knew that my document verification request was forwarded to NSO last 05/05/08

05/23/08

Andy called US Embassy and was informed that our visa is in final review and we should hear from them next week

05/30/08

8:15:31 am - got 2 text messages from Delbros saying that mine and my son's visas is for delivery starting tomorrow up to the next 2 days

around 3:00 pm - visa was delivered (it was very quick) ::dance:: ::dance:: ::dance::

Getting nearer

Seems like all the things are moving in the right direction and we thank God for this, always.

At last, I have an appointment date for my K1 and my son's K2 visa interview which would be on April 29, 2008. To set an appointment, you need to call the US embassy's Customer Service department. Click here to view the Interview Preparation Instructions, this is the same as the K packets that used to be sent to the beneficiary or the K1/K2 applicant. Or you may click here for more information about any updates for the K1/K2 application or other visas related to that.

In my case, I didn't receive any letter from the US Embassy. I called them about 2 weeks ago to verify if they had received the packets from NVC and to ask about some informations that confused me regarding the documents required and the processing. Then they told me that I can call by March 19 for me to set an appointment date with them. By the way, if you have checked on the link, the new process was effective on March 19, 2008. The first lady told me that I need to have the passport number(s) for each Visa applicants, since it was me(K1) and my son(K2) who'll be applying. But I still need to get my son's passport on March 31, that's why I ended up calling them today. This time, the 2nd lady only asked for my full name and my son's, our case number(which would be indicated on the NVC's letter), address, phone number, and type of visa applying for. Then they would give you the dates available and you just need to select and confirm it. They also advised me to have our Medical Exam taken a week before the Interview.

So, that was it! I got my appointment date and is more than ready for the interview. We are so excited. My honey can't even go to sleep because we decided that he'll join me on the interview which means that we'll be seeing each other soon, and of course would be married soon. Yehey!

New in Davao

I left Davao City last February 14, 2006 and stayed in Cagayan de Oro City for some reason. But I still prefer to stay in my Homeland than anywhere else because I have my friends and relatives living there. I still visit Davao 3-4 times a year but only for a few days and those days that I am in Davao, I mostly spend it with some of my friends and close relatives and I always love it. But, just this recent visit that I have, I realized that there are some changes in Davao since I left.



First thing that I've heard is about the People's Park which stands on the four-hectare vacant property that used to be a sports center of Davao City, called the PTA grounds. The park cost PHP72 million and was officially opened last December 15, 2007. It has lots of trees, playground, man-made pool/lagoon and the sculptures made by a Mindanaon artist Kublai Millan.