It was March 12, 2008, Wednesday when me and my husband, then fiance went to the embassy for my interview that was set for 6:30 A.M so, we woke up at around 4:00 and walked a few blocks to get a taxi cab that took us to the embassy.

$149 K1 Fiance Visa and $249 K3 Spousal Visa

We got there at around 4:30 a.m. and there were already 15 to 20 people sitting on the chairs outside the embassy. These chairs were actually owned by the vendors there who sell snacks and drinks and they pretty much made a good business with it because they rent it to anybody who wanted it since there's no seats on that area except those cement walls. We actually rented two chairs too because my butt was hurting already then, 30 seconds later, the guard started calling everybody who had appointments for 6-7 a.m. He asked for my appointment letter and I showed him my passport as my valid ID. He also checked my husband's passport then told us to sit on the benches in order. There's a strict rule for cutting in line there that's why we made sure that we would get there earlier than the others.

When the guard started letting everybody in one by one in order, we passed through this door that has a metal detector and put down our stuffs for x-ray just like when you go through security in the airports.

I was really nervous that time and I thought to myself "This is it!, The Moment of Truth".But, at the same time I was confident about it because my husband was there for me.

Later, the guard began taking us to the "Immigrant Visa Ticket Booth". There were two girls attending the booth and the girl on the left asked for two copies of my form DS-156, one copy of my DS-156K, and two copies of my DS-157.She also asked for the original copy of my appointment letter and printed two tickets that has my queuing number in it. She stapled one ticket to my paperworks and gave me the other one.

Around 7:30, the numbers began showing up on the boards. Our number came up at 8:15 for Pre-screening at window 14. The Pre-screener was a filipino guy and he was actually friendly. He asked for my Birth Certificate, CENOMAR, I-134 Affidavit of Support, NBI and my husband's 2007 Income Tax Return. He also asked me for our pictures together and I was gonna give him the Scrapbook I made but it wasn't small enough to fit in the hole so he just asked me to hold the scrapbook and flip though the pictures. He asked me few questions like when and where did we meet and have I travelled abroad. He also asked my husband about when did he arrived in the Philippines. After that, he told us to go to window 16 for finger scanning. When it was my turn, a girl took my hand and assisted me through the process.When it was done, we sat down and waited for 45 minutes until our number was called to room 29.
This time, the interview was already with an american consul. She was a pretty lady on her late 40's I guessed.

We greeted her good morning and she smiled to us. She then looked at our files in the computer and paperworks on her table. She made us swore that we we're telling the truth and not committing any immigration fraud. She asked me five questions and some of the questions were already being asked to us during the pre-screening. She only gave my husband 2 questions like his job and his previous residence. After that, she then congratulated us and said we were approved. We thanked her and asked for a visa pick-up but she said that they couldn't do it due to holy week and that they were closing Thursday and Friday next week after that. We told her that we already had airline tickets and that my husband wanted me to be with him when he goes back to US. She told us that she won't but would try her best to get our visa ready for delivery by Wednesday that next week. Then she told us to proceed to window 34 for our visa delivery arrangements and my husband tried asking the guy again about visa pick up but still no luck coz he said, the shedules were really tight due to holidays. The guy gave us back our original appointment letter and told us to go to the Delbros booth to pay for the visa delivery. We paid 250 pesos and gave them the hotel number and address for the deliver.

So pretty much it.The entire process that day took about 3 hours. My visa actually arrived one day earlier than the date the lady told us which was Wednesday. After having my visa, we then proceeded to that CFO seminar thing and had my passport stamped then, two days after that was my "America, Here I Come" Moment. And, here I am. All the waiting was over and now, a new journey has just begun...