we were approved!

after how many days of gruelling over the requirements and asking people what to expect, the moment has finally arrived! we are finally going to texas!

yes, our application for a visa was approved yesterday! it's just a matter of days before we know how long we are allowed to stay in the u.s. we still have to wait for our passports & visa to be delivered to us before we can finalize our plans.

so what did happen yesterday? it was an experience i don't think i'll ever forget...

we were scheduled to be interviewed at 1:30pm yesterday. so nelo & i, along with the in-laws went to the embassy a bit earlier. we just wanna make sure that there'll be no glitches or anything. we were able to line-up outside of the embassy by 12nn. but the guy who was doing the initial screening said that it's still too early for us. he'll allow us to go in if we just line-up again instead, which we agreed to.

at the time we were lined-up outside, nelo wasn't smiling at all. he's so tensed and looked agitated. who wouldn't be! in as much as you don't want to feel tensed, you just can't help it.

so anyway, we were finally able to go in after the initial review. inside, we had to line-up at the pre-screening to have all our papers checked. there were a few items we needed to mark so we had to line-up again. finally, we were given a number -- 3232.

we proceeded to the pavilion where we patiently waited for our turn. it was funny looking at all these people, us included, waiting for their number to show up on the screen. we were squinting our eyes everytime we look at it lest we miss seeing our number being displayed. after a long wait, we were finally up.

we then proceeded inside to window 2 where the finger scanning will be done. funny, the girl conducting the procedure was telling this man a few places ahead of me that his right index finger is a bit dry. so he has to rub it on his nose to make it a bit oily. i was giggling while the lady was telling that to him. when it was my turn, it was a breeze when my left index finger was scanned. but, when my right was about to be scanned, it was dry! sheesh! there i was giggling about somebody else's experience but ended up in the same predicament! oh well!

after the scanning, we then waited for our interview with the consul.

it was an amercian lady who interviewed us. before we were even interviewed, 2 groups had already lined-up for her. the first group, we don't know if they were given a visa. the next one though was denied, i think. i didn't see the yellow form which everyone was hoping will be given to them. the couple who's number came before us and was interviewed in the same booth was there for only less than 5 minutes and they were approved.

so when our number was called, all 4 of us simultaneously stood up and proceeded to the consul's window. i couldn't help it but i feel tensed at that instance. what were asked from us: how are you all related? how long will you be staying there? who's paying for your fare? who's in the u.s? how long was nelo working with pki? what does he do? does he have people under him? how long have i been with id? what do i do? how many children do my mil have and where do they live?

that was it! those were the only things asked from us! afterwhich she was already giving us the much coveted yellow form! yahoo! funny thing though, when she was handing out to us the form, we were all just staring at her. and the consul said, smiling, get this already? don't you want to get your visa? and why do you all keep staring at me? good luck and have a safe trip. hahaha! we probably looked like idiots just standing there and looking at her.

we were all so happy! i can see my mil's eyes sparkling as we went out of the interview area. she was really beaming. well, the same goes for me & nelo. after that, we proceeded to the delbros area and filled-up a form for our passports to be delivered to us once the visa is released.

it really is a joyous day. we were so grateful to HIM for his guidance on this thing. imeagine, we were granted the visa and we were not even asked to present any supporting documents. it really is a blessing.

all we have to do now is wait as to how long our visas will be and then do the final planning for our trip. as it is, we are already eyeing october 1 for our departure.

thank you lord for your guidance and this chance that have been to given us.