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11/10/2001 |
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Roderick Provido comes across Rod's profile while searching
the online community for a guy his sister might be interested in.
First email is sent to Rod |
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11/11/2001 |
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Rod writes his first email reply |
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01/22/2002 |
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First phone call |
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06/01/2002 |
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Rod arrives in Manila, Philippines to meet Jennifer face to face |
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06/02/2002 |
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Rod officially proposes to Jennifer. |
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06/16/2002 |
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Rod returns to Florida and begins putting together his I-129F
Petition for Alien Fiancée |
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06/27/2002 |
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Rod mails the I-129F
Petition for Alien Fiancée to the INS Texas Service Center |
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07/06/2002 |
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Rod
receives 1st Notice of Action, dated July 3, 2002, from the INS Texas
Service Center |
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07/29/2002 |
|
Rod
decides to begin calling in daily, starting today, to the automated
information number given on the Notice of Action. Much to his
surprise, the first call to that number reveals that THE PETITION WAS
APPROVED ON FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2002!!!! |
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08/02/2002 |
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Rod
receives 2nd Notice of Action from INS Texas Service Center! TWENTY-SEVEN DAYS FROM 1st NOA to 2nd NOA...
WOW, that is almost a record!!!! |
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08/05/2002 |
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Rod
made the call to the Embassy in Manila on Monday, August 5, 2002,
(Sunday night, August 4th, in Florida) and requested that they forward the K1
Packet (forms) to Jennifer so she can begin getting everything filled
out for her trip to St. Luke's in Manila as soon as the embassy
receives the petition from Texas. |
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08/07/2002 |
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Jennifer receives K1 Packet from the embassy at around 12:00 noon.
And then, about 30 minutes later, she also receives her telegram from
the U.S. Embassy stating that they have received Rod's I-129F Petition on
her behalf! She is just waiting for Rod's I-134 Affidavit of
Support and she will be on her way to Manila!!! (12 Days from
INS Approval to Embassy Telegram) |
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08/15/2002 |
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After
a small mix up on my request for a referral letter from my bank, I
finally received it in the mail today. So tomorrow I will
package it up with the rest of my I-134 Affidavit of Support documents
and FedEx the box to Jennifer. She should receive it by
Wednesday of next week (August 21). The pesos are in place and
all systems are GO for her trip to Manila on Monday, August 26th!!! |
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08/16/2002 |
|
My
I-134 package and all the supporting documentation went into the FedEx
truck today at 4:30pm! Jennifer should have it by Wednesday,
August 21st. But in the meantime.....................
Oops! Yet another little snag in the
process. Jennifer was talking to a neighbor about her upcoming
trip to Manila and somehow managed to show her the birth certificate
she has been using for everything up to this point. AND IT ISN'T
NSO ISSUE ON SECPA! This little note in our timeline is mostly
for any of you who are also going through this process. BE SURE
that your girl understands you perfectly when you ask her about
specific things like this. I have asked Jennifer countless times
whether she has everything she needs, including the "NSO birth
certificate on Security Paper". And just as countless many times
she has assured me that she does. Only now, when we are planning
her trip to Manila, we find out that she actually has a birth
certificate issued by the courthouse in her city; apparently not the
NSO variety that she will be required to present for visa application!
Jennifer had a brand new birth certificate and just assumed that it
was the variety I kept mentioning because it had worked for everything
else until now. It is not a big deal for us because we had
already ordered two more for her from
eCensus and they
will be delivered soon. She should not be delayed more than
one extra week in waiting for this little item. But for any
couple in a bigger hurry than we are, this could have been really
frustrating. |
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08/21/2002 |
|
Wow,
what a week! Jennifer's brother, Roderick, took all her
documents and went to the NSO in Davao on Monday to request another
birth certificate SPECIFICALLY for a K1 Visa Application. They
looked over all her stuff, checked his ID and told him he could pick
it up on Tuesday. So he returned Tuesday and - sure enough -
they had the NSO Birth Certificate ready to go! In the meantime,
my FedEx delivery arrived a little after lunch the same day.
With everything now in hand, Jennifer went to the PAL office Wednesday
and bought tickets for her and her mom to travel to Manila on Monday,
August 26th. She is right back on schedule and REALLY excited at
her progress. It should not be long now!!! |
|
08/26/2002 to 08/27/2002 |
|
The
trip to Manila... and A CFO FIASCO!!! (Jennifer's troubles at
the CFO are detailed on a following page) |
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08/28/2002 |
|
After
our little opportunity to relearn James 1:2-4, we are right back on
track today. Jennifer lost one day in her pre-planned Manila
schedule due to the CFO Fiasco (see above). But then, in an
amazing turn of events, she made it through the entire St. Luke's
Experience in only ONE DAY!!! Now she has to go back to Manila
on September 6th for an interview at the U.S. Embassy, where she will
turn in all of her paperwork for the Visa Application. And then
we will "hurry up and wait" for the courier to drop her visa at her
doorstep. WooHoo!! |
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09/06/2002 |
|
Jennifer arrived in Manila around noon on September 5th, 2002,
the day before her scheduled walk-in interview. She and her mom
checked into the Soriente Hotel, and were joined later by Jennifer's
new friend Anna, whom she had met the week before at CFO & St. Luke's.
Jennifer ended up studying (until midnight) the information
contained in the duplicate copy of my petition that I had sent to her.
Then after only a couple of hours sleep, she and her friend Anna awoke
and prepared for their big day. They arrived at the guard gate
at about 3:45 on Friday morning. The guard was surprised and
asked them if they were aware that interviews would not begin until
around 7:30. They told him yes, but they wanted to be first in
line! He laughed and assured them that they had succeeded there!
They
ended up being the first (Anna) and second (Jennifer) in their area at
the Embassy to get walk-in interviews. Three Embassy officers
were involved in Jennifer's process. The first reviewed all her
paperwork and passed her to the second. That was the actual
interview. They asked her a couple of questions about the
reasons my first two marriages had failed. She told them it was
because "they had many vices that broke up their marriage". That
sufficed, and Jennifer was also told that they did not need any
further supporting information from her because the original petition
package I had sent was "very thorough and complete".
They
laughed with her during the interview and said that her Kano
probably would not ever let her go once he got her to the States.
She laughed with them and said, "For sure I do not think so! He
does not believe in divorce anymore!!". Amen, Angel!
The
third Embassy officer she met with was the one who issues the little
green stub that states, "Your Visa Has Been Approved..." He
asked Jennifer who she thought was the kindest man of the two; him or
her Kano sweetheart? Ever the diplomat, Jennifer told him,
"for sure, sir, I cannot pick only one right now - because you are
both so very kind to me!" She got her little green ticket! |
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09/13/2002 |
|
VISA
DELIVERED BY FED-EX!!! Seven days after her interview, Jennifer
has received everything she needs to come home to Florida. I
will now finalize my arrangements at work and book the flights for
sometime in the middle of October. Can't wait to see my
Angel again!!!!! |
|
09/19/2002 |
|
With
credit card in hand, I made the call to the travel agent shortly after
getting the news that Jennifer had her visa in hand. Due to this
time of year being low season for travel from the U.S. to the
Philippines, I was able to book my round trip tickets all the way from
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to General Santos City, Philippines; as well
as Jennifer's return tickets from GenSan all the way back to Fort
Lauderdale with me; for just $339 more than my first solo round trip
tickets from Fort Lauderdale to Manila. And on that trip I had
to buy all the domestic flights for Jennifer, her mother, and myself,
adding about $80 per person/per trip to the total outlay!
|
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10/11/2002 |
|
Right
on schedule, I left Fort Lauderdale bound for General Santos City to
bring Jennifer home! |
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10/19/2002 |
|
Homecoming! Of course not everything went exactly
according to schedule during the trip. But, all in all, we
managed to get everything done that needed doing. And
finally we are home and together in South Florida. What a
year this has been, and one I know we will never forget! |
