Well we are here now in the USA and now i have some time to catch everyone up.
I went to Manila in March to attend the interview with Gretchen. I had missed her desperately since last July and we both were ready to be united again. Gretchen arrived in Manila first to have her medical exam at St. Lukes extension clinic. We booked the Hotel Frendy for our stay. It was a nice hotel within walking distance of St. Lukes, the US embassy and Robinsons Mall. The room was clean and it was affordable at 1500 pesos per day ( $36.50 US). Gretchen shared the room with Jocelyn, another couple that were going thru the process at the same time from visajourney. They got along great, and waited out the time between the medical exam and the arrival of us guys with alot of laughs and some suffering from the vaccines they received. We made some friends with other couples and ladies going thru the process that Gretchen still keeps in touch with. It was great to have company there and to share the adjustment phase together.
Our interview was on March 11th, curiously one year from the day we met. We got to the embassy at about 5am. We were allowed to enter around 6am and started our interview process. First you turn in your state documents (DS forms)and they make sure all is signed and done correctly. Then we waited an hour before we got to the prescreener. The prescreener collected all our accompanying paperwork, phone bills, emails, letters, pictures, support documentation etc. After that Gretchen had her fingerprints taken and then we had to wait again about an hour to have our consul interview. At the actual interview we were both sworn in and then each asked about 4 questions, all very minor. How did we meet, was Gretchen ever married or pregnant before, how much did i make last year, when did i visit etc.
After that we were approved and told to go to window 37 to arrange pickup of our visa. We requested to pick up our visa so we could travel the following sat and it was approved. Of course by friday we had no visa, so i had to go to the embassy and throw a small fit to get our visa. They were very accommodating and rushed to get our visa done. We received her envelope with all her documentation and her passport with visa in time to fly that weekend. All the flights were booked for saturday so we booked a flight on sunday. Then Gretchen had to attend a CFO seminar before she could leave the Philippines, there is a stamp required in her passport from this seminar.
It is supposed to be a seminar teaching her about the USA culture, and about abuse, domestic violence, where to go for help, who to contact etc if she got into trouble. However the counselor there was on a huge power trip and wanted to be like the US embassy and began interrogating Gretchen about our relationship. Then started demanding documents she had no business asking for. She demanded photocopies of Gretchen’s uncles and father ID’s, demanded a copy of my USA passport, a copy of my divorce decree, and even demanded a copy of my mother’s birth certificate.
I was ready to go upstairs at PRISM and bitch slap this woman. We spent 5 hours there with Gretchen in tears and me standing outside on the street ( as i am not allowed in) trying to provide documentation to this Nazi woman so we could get the certificate from this seminar. Needless to say they didnt counsel Gretchen at all.
After the woman counselor got done interrogating our relationship and keeping copies of my personal documents she demanded we provide a notarized self affidavit specifically stating Gretchen would come to the USA and marry me. Funny how the Notary that was next door to PRISM had never heard of such a document. The counselor was just making stuff up. Finally after 5 hours Gretchen was given the certificate, though several ladies that were there at the same time were forced to return with more documentation and didnt get their certificate.
I have since written a letter to the US Embassy there demanding my documents back from this counselor. As of today (3 weeks) i have not had a response back. I would not recommend anyone use the PRISM branch but to go to a different CFO facility. One of our friends was denied her certificate at PRISM so she went to another location the next day and got her certificate within an hour. That branch couldnt believe what the other one was doing. Once we had our certificate and CFO stamp we were able to fly home.
Gretchen’s POE ( point of entry) was Las Vegas and it was very quick and easy. She again had her fingerprints taken and a photo taken. We had to go into the immigration office there at customs and they took her envelope of papers from her and explained we need to marry in 90 days and then adjust status. We grabbed our bags and home we went.
Now its been almost a month living our life as a couple. There have been some adjustment tears, and some culture shock but countless more smiles and laughter. Being together everyday is a miracle that i cant even explain how happy it makes us. It was worth all the wait and stress and the immigration hoops we had to jump thru, though i would still like to bitch slap that woman at PRISM CFO. She should not have that job.
Now our wedding is booked, and we are just waiting for the big day and to celebrate it with family and friends. I love having Gretchen with me now. Life is perfect and everyday is better and better. I know it will still take time for Gretchen to adjust to her new life here, and we still have hurdles of immigration to jump thru once we are married. The second half of the immigration process will begin.
