Against all odds

According to the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the United States of America the Adjusted Refusal Rate (B–visas only) by Nationality for the fiscal year 2013 for the Filipinos was 24.1%, the Thais 11.1% and Malaysians 5%.

Based on the above-mentioned facts anyone can see that it is more difficult for a Filipino to acquire a B-visa (tourist visa) compared to a Malaysian or a Thai. On top of that is common knowledge among Filipinos that acquiring a visa is expensive, intimidating and frustrating and a refusal is almost sure for one who belongs to the middle-class, a fresh graduate, a nurse and a single mom and toddler daughter and a whole family applying together.

At the planning stage of our attempt on this visa project we fairly well knew how low the chances for us were. JP and Kukie were both nurses less than a decade into their professions and both were single. Kailee was 6 years old and she would be applying for the visa without a father and Nok was a single employee with no document to prove that she would come back to Thailand. It was also very clear that we had the intention of traveling together as a family.

Jo ann and I were not concerned very much about our own visas since we had been to America already, but it was not right that it would be just her and me on this planned trip.

You can imagine the preparations that went into the gathering of documents, which some of our friends recommended after going through the same process. We did the online application, had photos taken, secured the bank statements, photocopied the passports and work permits, acquired the letters of certification from our employer and then we were ready.

Ready in the sense that our papers were all inside a clear envelope, but our minds couldn’t stop dwelling on the possibility of a rejection. In other words we were stressed to the last neuron of our brains. Sleep on the night before our scheduled interview did not come for some of us.

We were up early on the day of the interview and we made sure that the travel time from the house to the embassy had the notorious Bangkok traffic covered. Entry into the US Embassy compound was a breeze through very tough security. A clerk arranged all our papers and another took the necessary biometry and made sure that our papers exactly matched our physical identities. We were given our queue number and finally the family of Philip Eleazer J. Moreno entered the ‘most holy place’ for visa interviews.

For the actual interview we were broken up into four. Kukie and Kailee at one window, JP at another, Nok at still another and Jo Ann and myself in a separate interview. The questions for me were simple: what is your name, what is your work and why are you going to America? For Jo Ann it was: how long have you been working at Yanhee and what is your work? Our supporting documents – bank statements, employer’s certification, etc were not asked, which means that the only documents that the consult required was our appointment confirmation, photo and passport.

JP and Nok had the same ease in going through the interview, but Kukie had to answer questions related to Kailee’s father and the legality of Kailee traveling with her. She took the longest to get done and while at it Jo Ann and I were already outside silently praying for her deliverance.

This family was such a sight when we finally got together outside the interview area. We were joyously hugging each other and Kukie was actually in tears. I could see the other applicants who were lining up to process their papers staring at us and I could imagine that they were wishing that they too would end up with the same jubilant results.

The most profound realization that entered our minds after this experience was the fact that we got our visas just like we were buying something off the counter at the mall (sans the emotions) and we did it against all odds.

We know that God had a direct hand in this visa project and we give Him all the praise and the glory.

that's us celebrating after the successful interview.