THE MEDICAL EXAM AT ST. LUKE'S

It's July 26, 2001. After leaving Quezon City via tax cab at 4:30 AM, I arrived at St. Luke's Extension Clinic at approximately 5:15 AM. I was the first US Embassy applicant there. The guard asked for my appointment letter and passport. I told him I don't have an appointment letter but showed him a copy of the NOA #2 as instructed by the Immigrant Visa Center. After that, he gave me a queue number. Although the clinic information included in the Embassy packet says that St. Luke's opens at 7:00 AM, the receptionists begin handing out documents at around 6:00 AM. When the receptionist called my number, I again showed my passport and a copy of my NOA #2. She then looked for my name in a list of people who called the Immigrant Visa Center to schedule the packet delivery. After finding my name, she gave me forms called Patient Data Sheets (PDS) to fill up.

I was the first in line, but since I did not have the two ID photos required by St. Luke's, I had to look for a photo shop that was open at the time of morning! This was not in the list of requirements and so it caught me off-guard. One of the security guards gave me a referral slip for one of the photo shops nearby that can do the photos in a few minutes. This has no affliation whatsoever with St. Luke's. I assume that this is a commission upon referral collaboration with the photo studio.

When I came back, I had dropped down to number six in line because it took me about fifteen minutes to look for the photo shop. After having my PDS checked by the receptionist, I was directed to a room where a digital photo was taken for their records.

After this, I went up to the document checking section on the 2nd floor. The receptionist there asked what visa I was applying for, and when I told her I was a K-1 Visa applicant, I was instructed to proceed to the cashier on the 5th floor. There I paid 4,590 pesos for the medical exam and immunization fee. Have your passport ready all the time. You will need it with every transaction you make at St. Luke's.

I was then told to proceed to the 4th floor to have a urine sample collected. I assume that this is for a pregnancy test. After this I was directed to another room for blood sample collection. This was for HIV/AIDS testing. After this, I went to the 3rd floor for the chest X-ray. A word of advice: wear clothes than can easily be taken off. The ladies will have to remove everything but panties and change into a hospital gown. During the X-ray, I was given a protective shielding for my abdomen.

After the X-ray, I had the physical examination on the 5th floor. After giving my passport and PDS to the receptionist, I had to wait for my name to be called. The nurse I was assigned to took my blood pressure, heart rate, and my height and weight. I then had a my vision checked. I was led to a room with dim lights and asked to identify letters on the chart. One good thing I found out today is that I still have 20/20 vision.

After this, I was assigned to a lady doctor who did a thorough physical examination. During this part of the medical, she asked for my medical history. After this I had to undress completely. I was asked to stand, bend over, and lie down. She also did genital examination. I have to say that the physical examination part upset me, though. While she was asking my medical history, there was an item in the questionaire asking how many pregnancies I had. She asked if I had ever given birth when I was younger, so I answered "No" to her questions. But while she was doing the exam on me, she just had to ask the same question about five times! I was upset because I already told her I had never given birth in my life and so I don't understand why she had to ask the same thing over and over. She did the same thing when she asked about my asthma. I told her I don't remember when my last attack was because my asthma has been inactive. Nevertheless, she insisted that I give an approximate date. At this point, I had to make up a date when I thought my last attack was!

I had a vaccination interview afterwards. The doctor asked if I am allergic to anything and then gave me the option to either have the shots in the US or at St. Luke's. I opted to get them at St. Luke's since I paid for them anyway.

That was it for the day. I finished at about 9:00 AM. I went to the check out counter at the 2nd floor where I was informed that I have to come back tomorrow to pick-up the results of the medical and receive my vaccinations. I can't submit my visa application without the results, so I have no choice but to return the next day.

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THE COMMISSION ON FILIPINOS OVERSEAS (CFO) GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SEMINAR

On September 3, 2001, I went to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas for the Guidance and Counseling Seminar. I was there at 7:15 AM, and already, there were about forty people queueing infront of me. Here's some advice: BE THERE EARLY! We lined up outside the building. The guard only lets a few people in at a time. When it was my turn to go in, I left a valid ID at the information counter and I was given a yellow gate pass. Another note: bring two valid IDs with you. One you will leave at the information counter to receive a gate pass and the other you will present during your registration. I used my copy of the NBI clearance for registration. The yellow gate pass is given to applicants who are fiancé(e)s and spouses of foreign nationals/former Filipino citizens.

I then went into a room where everyone queued for the registration for the counseling sessions. There were seats so I didn't have to stand the whole time. The majority of the applicants there are spouses and fiancé(e)s of foreign nationals from Japan. The counselors only handle eight people per session so they wanted to fill up the first session with eight people. Since there were very few applicants bound for the US, we were asked to go ahead of the line so that we can attend the first session at 10:00 AM. After submitting my registration for the guidance and counseling session, I proceeded to the third floor upon claiming our official receipt from the cashier.

The whole session lasted for two hours and was very informative. For the first few minutes, we saw an exposé from a show called "60 Minutes". This feature is about the mail-order-bride business in the Philippines...probably an eye-opener for the kind of stereotype we Filipinas would be facing when we get to the US. Then, we were oriented on our types of visas and the status we would have when we get the US. We were also given a quick run-down of the steps we have to take depending on our status upon entry. The last bit of information we were given was the procedure that we will have to go through at the airport, from departure to the Philippines to the final stop. To close off the seminar, our counselor called us one by one and interviewed us. The questions were simple and unintimidating. I was then asked to sign a section in our registration. I went back to the room in the first floor and proceeded to Counter I-A. There I submitted my signed forms and had my picture taken with a digital camera (this was supposed to be done before the seminar, but the camera wasn't working when we first registered). This picture will be printed on the CFO certificate of attendance.

My certificate was released after a few minutes, but since it was past noon, most employees had gone on their lunch break. I was advised to take lunch as well. After lunch, I went back but didn't get my passport with the CFO sticker until 1:30 PM.

As a final note, I would like to say that the CFO Seminar is a good idea. It wasn't at all a bad experience, if you exclude the all the waiting. I even made friends with the other spouses and fiancé(e)s who were also bound for the US...now if I can only find that piece of paper with all their email addresses...
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THE ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS INTERVIEW

We received our interview notice on June 18, 2002, with the interview set for June 20, 2002 at 9:45 AM. That was only two days away and not much time to prepare! Good thing we did our homework and collected all the documents we needed way ahead of time. All the work we needed to do is photocopying all the documents for the INS and organizing the documents into their own little category. It only took a few hours to accomplish the task, and since we had everything, we weren't running around in a frenzy.

On June 20, 2002, we headed to the INS Norfolk Sub-Office and got there at around 9:15 AM. The security guard at the door did an ID check on us before showing us where to go and what to do. He instructed us to put our interview notice in the box that was specified in our letter (Box #2). We did not need to take a number since we had a scheduled appointment.

At exactly 9:45 AM, our names were called by the INS Adjudications Officer that was going to do our interview. We were led into her office, and the first thing she asked Nile to do was to sign a form and do fingerprints. We were asked to stand, raise our right hands, and take an oath that everything we will say to her is the truth. After that, the officer took out our file and went through the documents and forms that were in it. She asked Nile to answer with a yes or no questions that she read from one of the forms. She asked both of us questions about our employment and then asked for documents to prove that we live together as husband and basically, that our marriage isn't a fraud. As she got each document, she highlighted the part which shows both of our names. While she was doing this, she asked us how we met and how our relationship developed over the time that we have known each other. She did not ask us silly questions such as where the alarm clock is or what color of toothbrush each of us use. After she reviewed all our documents and after we answered all her questions, she put a stamp on Nile's passport. She also gave us a letter with instructions on how to file for removal of Nile's conditional status. The officer also explained that Nile can now leave the country without applying for a travel document. She did caution us, however, that Nile should not be out of the U.S. for more than 365 days.

The whole interview only took about 15-20 minutes. After Nile got her stamp, we stayed in the office longer and just talked to the INS officer. She answered the questions we had about naturalization and travel very clearly. The rest of the time in the office was spent in friendly conversation with the INS officer, who was very professional, knowledgeable, and pleasant.
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THE I-751 (REMOVAL OF THE CONDITIONS ON RESIDENCE) INTERVIEW

Finally, after a little over a year of waiting, we had our removal of conditions interview at the San Antonio District Office yesterday, April 4, 2005. Entering the building was like going through an airport security check--purse and cellphone inspection and the metal detector. Our interview was scheduled at 10:30 AM, but we arrived at 10:00 AM. After the security measures, Nile handed her interview notice to the security officer. We were asked to take a seat in the waiting area. We waited for only about 10-15 before an INS adjudications officer escorted us into her office.

The officer was very professional but amiable, so that made us feel more relaxed. Upon reaching the office, the INS officer assisted Nile in the fingerprinting process. The interview itself was short. She asked us what our occupations were. Aside from asking if we had any children yet, she didn't ask us any other questions about our marriage. She went straight to asking for the required documents that were listed in the interview notice . I submitted our 2004 tax return, two passport photos (frontal, not the three-quarter face ADIT photo), and our most recent bank and mortgage statements. The officer also asked for two pictures of us together and two pictures with family, but when she saw that we already submitted four pictures with the I-751 application, she only asked for one more photo. After she filed our documents, she stamped Nile's passport with a temporary proof of permanent residence (employment authorized) in case we needed to travel. She informed us that Nile's 10-year renewable green card will be mailed to us within 6 months.

Before we left, the INS officer asked us if Nile had already filed for citizenship. Nile had just recently mailed her application for naturalization. She is already eligible to file even if her conditions have not yet been removed. The INS officer advised Nile to send a follow-up letter to the Texas Service Center with a copy of the I-551 stamp to make sure the service center knows that the conditions on Nile's residence have already been removed. The INS officer said that it was important for Nile to do this as soon as possible because although the adjudications officers can look up the current immigration status of applicants, it would be best to notify them of Nile's change in status so that the naturalization process won't be delayed or even denied. And that was it for the day! Pretty painless interview, don't you think?

After the interview, Drew asked Nile if it was okay to divorce her now. Of course, Drew was smacked pretty hard on the arm. :) To celebrate, we went out for some nice juicy steak burgers at the Texas Land and Cattle! Mmmm-mmmm!