This is for anybody applying for an NBI clearance from the US.
What the Philippine embassy, located in downtown Los Angeles, is actually giving is just an application form with their signature/stamp on it. You still have to mail the completed forms to the NBI office in Manila. I hope they're not doing it on purpose to make money but when I got my results back after one day, they told me that what I got from them is the "actual" NBI clearance. When I showed it to my immigration consultant, they told me that what I got was just an application form.
Just a little piece of information so future applicants would know what to do.
This situation also happened to me. I am here in the UAE and I also need to get an NBI clearance so I went to the embassy, asked the procedure, they told me me the system but one in the embassy was a little bit rude and this I confirmed the things that I always hear about some people in our embassy though in the first place we should be the one helping each other here. The fact that our tax, OFW tax, is were they get part of their salary. After realizing the clearance procedure is so tough I decided to ask my wife to try to get it in the Philippines, I send her my old one and authorization letter and then I had it right away after my wife's effort. Just my experience...
I think the process was just not clearly explained to you.
I'm in Singapore but the process, I believe, is the same.
The embassy will give you an application form, which is basically a finger-print card. After you fill this up, the police/army representative will help you impress your fingerprints on the card. He will also stick your photo there, then sign and stamp the card. You will then have to send this to the Philippines to a person you know along with an authorization letter. That person will then go to NBI office and apply on your behalf. That person will get the actual clearance, send it back to you, then you will have to bring it back to the embassy so they can stamp it with their seal.
