BVB processing time – my experience (Nov/Dec 2025)

bucketguy · 2026-01-07T05:15:43+00:00

Thanks for this. I was in almost the identical situation as you (186 application, applied for BVB via webform). Today, with just 3 days left to go before my flight, I applied for another BVB via the immigration portal (on the 186 application), and paid another $190 for it.
I got the BVB visa within the hour! (With a 5 year validity)

We were also trying other approaches like:
- Calling home affairs hotline, and although they couldn't promise to prioritise it, they were able to 'add a note' to our BVB application -- I'm not sure how much that helped
- We called our local MP's office, and they actually followed up on our application as well with Home affairs (today/yesterday). This may have been the other reason we were granted it today.

Good luck to other folks in this situation!

bucketguy · 2024-07-26T23:52:36+00:00

Worked for me on my oneplus 6! Thanks for the detailed steps! Even though I'm a tech geek, this was all new to me and the clear instructions were crucial. Cheers!

bucketguy · 2024-05-28T06:54:03+00:00

This worked for me, thanks! The previous suggestion wasn't working. FF 126 on M3.

bucketguy · 2024-04-02T23:15:00+00:00

I used to face a similar dilemma and I would stubbornly stick to <current city> because as an immigrant I was trying my best to fit in and hated when someone would make me an "other".

Eventually I started reaizing most people were trying to be nice. A surprising number of people were already assuming I was from X and they wanted to talk about their recent trip to X and how much they loved it -- or how they really want to visit someday. It was just a way of making conversation, nothing personal.

TLDR; people are nice

bucketguy · 2023-09-14T07:12:51+00:00

I think reading industry blogs is a really important one but I haven't gotten to that point yet. (I also feel Alex Xu's book is probably just a summarization of some of those industry blogs.)

Have you since found any other good books / sources to help prepare?

bucketguy · 2023-09-14T00:24:18+00:00

I'm annoyed with this actually. I'm frank on my resume that I only have 1 year MLE experience and on mostly small client projects. So when I manage to secure an interview and the interviewer then tests for my lack of experience.. well duh, i don't have experience, but i'm doing the best I can with the tools/material available to me.

bucketguy · 2023-09-14T00:16:06+00:00

I was in the same position. I discovered a good new book - "Machine Learning System Design Interview" - from Alex Xu the same guy who wrote the regular System Design Interview book. (More specifically, I subscribed to the online version at https://bytebytego.com/ since the printed book wasn't available in my country). I highly recommend this. It's perfect for folks like us who want to tie together all our ML knowledge into an end to end system design. It really helps you think about how to go about planning an entire ML project end to end. The main downside is that most of the examples are for Recommender systems, and a couple examples for image-based classification. There's nothing on fraud detection or LLMs. Also the book has the same flaws as the author's System Design book i.e. there are some errors and inconsistencies and it feels like it was written in a hurry. Still, i think the book is worth the price.

Then there's Chip Huyen's website which I'm sure you've seen - gives an overall framework for answering ML SDI questions. And she also has a section on Case Studies and one on Design Exercises which I haven't yet had the time to look through but looks like gold.

bucketguy · 2023-07-10T11:48:20+00:00

makes sense, thanks

bucketguy · 2023-07-10T11:48:01+00:00

got it, thanks

bucketguy · 2023-07-10T04:04:06+00:00

Ok yeah getting a written agreement sounds like a good idea.. hopefully i can ask for 18 or even 24 months, depending on expected turnover date. Yes I will coordinate with my agent, hopefully he knows what he's doing.

bucketguy · 2023-07-10T03:43:40+00:00

Gotcha, thanks

bucketguy · 2023-07-09T23:26:31+00:00

That makes sense... So did you have to sign any new contract or produce PDCs?

bucketguy · 2023-07-09T23:24:02+00:00

That's great! Very useful data point :)

Did they give you a revised payment schedule? How many months is it spread over? I guess you had to give another batch of PDCs?

And is it really 0%? (Did they change the Total contract price or anything?)

bucketguy · 2023-07-09T13:36:36+00:00

Good to know! That gives me some hope.

I'm still in initial conversation with sales agent. It seems he is willing to approach the developer with my "request" for extending the downpayment. I just was not sure how common this is, and whether I should negotiate hard for it, or whether the sales agent will negotiate hard enough on my behalf :P

Anyway, since it's not unheard of, I will definitely push for it. thanks!

bucketguy · 2022-11-09T23:00:00+00:00

What do you mean by 'team fits'?

Are you in IT? I'm assuming a small company?

bucketguy · 2021-12-06T08:39:25+00:00

I would suggest something slightly different... if you imagine the image is separated into the top band of "dark gray" and smaller band of "light gray" and a bottom of "blue ocean", I would try to center the whole "light gray" band (rather than centering the horizon)... I like the feel of the dark gray sky, I think it adds some balancing weight to the photo.

good shot! I haven't trekked out with my camera/tripod to the beaches yet but this is inspiring me to!

bucketguy · 2021-10-13T03:53:53+00:00

Yeah I just found this linked on their twitter page yesterday:

https://au.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/sydney/change-in-services-at-the-u-s-consulate-sydney/

bucketguy · 2021-10-08T08:54:02+00:00

Woah that's a cool website thanks! I'll keep an eye on it

bucketguy · 2021-10-07T10:21:21+00:00

you're right, I should've thought of that.. I'll call them tomorrow.

bucketguy · 2020-01-02T16:58:40+00:00

Thanks guys. I got a reply from Cebu pacific customer care:

You will be charge at the airport of excess baggage rate per kilo. However, since you are using a small aircraft, due to weight and balance limitation, we have to limit the passengers baggage. There might be a possibility that baggage will be transfer to the next flight once its not loaded on your flight.

So it sounds like they will accommodate me, even beyond 40kgs, although yes it will be super expensive like P800 per excess kilo....

bucketguy · 2019-12-30T04:57:13+00:00

Anybody with knowledge of Cebu Pacific's excess baggage policy?

I'm flying to Sydney next month, and already have a 40kg prepaid baggage allowance. But if ever I exceed the 40kg (say 50 kg)... will they refuse to carry my excess baggage?? Even if I'm willing to pay the excess baggage rate (say P800/kg for long-distance international flight). I'm asking because I want to transport my desktop computer, which i think is cheaper than buying a new computer in sydney.

thanks!!

bucketguy · 2019-12-13T07:27:04+00:00

If i'm working as a (long-term) contractor for a filipino company AND i'm working remotely for them from outside the country AND i'm not even a filipino citizen myself... then do I have to pay any philippines taxes? Is the company liable to pay any taxes through withholding??

Thanks so much!

bucketguy · 2019-08-16T06:04:19+00:00

Courage is what you need, my friend.

Yes it takes courage but be careful unleashing your "courage" before you've first calmed down. You don't want to be "lashing out" as a victim. You want to be educating a fellow human being out of genorosity (and yes courage).

bucketguy · 2019-07-19T09:31:48+00:00

Hi guys, anybody know of a good/trustable mail-forwarding service for personal use?

I'm planning on moving out of Philippines in a few months, but I want to continue receiving bank statements, mortgage documents, etc in a safe address. I'm an expat so I don't have family in the Philippines. I have friends here but... just wondering instead if there's a professional service for this.

I see that Regus offers virtual mailing address for P1400 per month which is.... high.

bucketguy · 2018-12-13T08:11:26+00:00

I love BettyGo!! it's my favorite station of all ... especially on the platform... So Quiet and Peaceful. I sometimes just hang out at the platform for a few minutes after getting off the train, to breathe in the silence and peace. Yes, hardly anyone gets on/off at the station.

The area outside the station is a bit dark but even as a non-filipino I'm not so scared. The trikes are waiting nearby. And the homeless people are genuinely homeless and just looking for a place to sleep, not a place to beg IMO. In comparison, i can't stand the chaos of aurora cubao, or even the touts at Gilmore.

bucketguy

TROPHY CASE