US VISA SAGA
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so today, my US visa and passport arrived via AIR 21. i got a 10-year visa, so a 2019 expiry, ok that makes the visa fee i paid (US $131) so worth it, making it only US $ 13.10 per year. talk about being cost-efficient.

i waited in the embassy for roughly 4 hours, getting bored (i actually don't know how i survived waiting for such a long time), i was tempted to leave and just leave everything of that behind (i know, patience is a virtue that i actually dont have).

upon queueing, i suddenly realised that i left all my bankbooks with mom, at home, and the funny thing is that its one of the supplemental requirements they are asking for. goodluck to me, i thought, i have my employment certificate that i requested for anyway. i was near cubicle number 2, when she denied the 3 women before me, so i was really hoping to get into cubicle number 5.

my number flashed and it was at cubicle number 2 - she asked me 3 questions:
1) the purpose of my visit
2) how long do i plan to stay
3) where i was working

after 5 minutes, she told me that my visa has been approved and it will be sent via air 21, etc. i was expecting for more questions -- won't you get my NSO birth cert? how about the employment cert and leave forms that i asked the office to prepare for me? no, nothing like that, they didn't even look at my old passport, just got the new one, and went on.

so that was my experience, they are actually very efficient (same with my china visa application a few months ago) - i wish all philippine agencies would have that same level of efficiency.