Actual Interview Scenario in Guangzhou

[concert500]

Below is what actually happened in Guangzhou 3/15/2010. My wife had thrown up all night form all the immunizations they gave her. She was very nervous and the VO, well you can see it for yourselves....

 

You asked me how the visa officer felt when she interviewed me. I felt that she was not friendly, she asked me:

 

1. “How do you know each other?”

 

2. “How many times has your husband been back to China to meet with you?”

 

Then she wanted to see our pictures, she didn’t want to see our wedding picture, she wanted me to show her our normal life pictures before the wedding. The third question she asked me was how do you both communicate? I said that I can speak a little English and my husband can speak a little Chinese. We communicate everyday by phone. I had to show my telephone bill to her. After she read the phone bill, she used English to ask me: “Where was your husband born?” I understood what she asked, but I did not directly answer her question, I asked her, “Are you asking me where my husband was born?” She looked at me in an unusual way that was not friendly and said “say it.” I explained to her that my husband and I have a special style of communication. He understands me when I speak English, and we both completely understand each other. After that she picked up a blue paper and wrote something on it, and then she told me that she has some questions that my husband needs to answer or explain. Our interview time was very short. It was probably only one or two minutes.

Edited August 26, 2010 by concert500 (see edit history)

[Lee VD]

Yup... communication. She was asking a basic question that she should quickly know the answer and she stumbled on it so the VO wrote her off right there and essentially asked for the boatload of info ont he blue to pass it on to someone else to make the final decision. That someone else only worked from paper files which is hard to show how you really communicate and it was easy for them to just click the deny button.

 

The wedding photos they don't care about because in sham marriages they know to do a good job to mock all that up. They just didn't want to spend the extra time to really dig in to see the way you interract in your relationship. Just sloppy rush work on their part and you have to pay for it

[concert500]

Yup... communication. She was asking a basic question that she should quickly know the answer and she stumbled on it so the VO wrote her off right there and essentially asked for the boatload of info ont he blue to pass it on to someone else to make the final decision. That someone else only worked from paper files which is hard to show how you really communicate and it was easy for them to just click the deny button.

 

The wedding photos they don't care about because in sham marriages they know to do a good job to mock all that up. They just didn't want to spend the extra time to really dig in to see the way you interract in your relationship. Just sloppy rush work on their part and you have to pay for it

 

 

She did know the answer to the question. She was just clarifying. . No matter, the treatment is wrong. I spent a ton these last two years on attorney fees and processing fees to get 1-2 minutes of attitude? As a paying AMERICAN customer I demand better!!

[TLB]

Playing devil's advocate here, what would you have had the VO do differently? If you were in her shoes, and the interviewee said she spoke "a little" English and you spoke "a little" Chinese and that you had a "special way" of communicating, what would you do next? How would you handle that? Remember that it's your job to judge "bona fide" relationship. (yeah, I hate that too and every day I thank God that it's not my job to make these judgments on others, and I also hate that evidently so much premium is put on verbal communication that one can't have a bona fide relationship without verbal communication in the same language -- but that's a philosophical issue for another thread)

 

I don't know that this would be sloppy work on their part; they have thousands of these to go through and it became obvious to the VO that they needed more info from you to go forward; why go on from there? Would you really feel better if the interview had gone on for another five minutes and then the deny?

 

I'll face the same thing probably, as my wife speaks very little English (probably less than yours); I expect I'll need to prove that I speak Chinese well enough to satisfy the VO.

 

Good luck going forward.

[concert500]

Playing devil's advocate here, what would you have had the VO do differently? If you were in her shoes, and the interviewee said she spoke "a little" English and you spoke "a little" Chinese and that you had a "special way" of communicating, what would you do next? How would you handle that? Remember that it's your job to judge "bona fide" relationship. (yeah, I hate that too and every day I thank God that it's not my job to make these judgments on others, and I also hate that evidently so much premium is put on verbal communication that one can't have a bona fide relationship without verbal communication in the same language -- but that's a philosophical issue for another thread)

 

I don't know that this would be sloppy work on their part; they have thousands of these to go through and it became obvious to the VO that they needed more info from you to go forward; why go on from there? Would you really feel better if the interview had gone on for another five minutes and then the deny?

 

I'll face the same thing probably, as my wife speaks very little English (probably less than yours); I expect I'll need to prove that I speak Chinese well enough to satisfy the VO.

 

Good luck going forward.

 

Good luck trying to let the VO know how much Chinese you can speak.... they have never contacted me. THAT's WHAT I would different. I'm not blaming the VO. I just cant believe we're starting over after 21 months....

[heyjimi]

Sorry to hear what happened.....Yeah, communication is very important,and while most of us on here know,two people will find their own unique way to communicate to each other,Guz assumes if you both can't speak the same langauage very well,then you must not be communicating,which is idiotic but in the land of Guz,they are without a heart.

My wife at her first interview,she had a very nasty VO ....My wife speaks little english,and i think this is a big issue with Guz.At her second interview,I went to the ACH,and spoke to a VO,and he asked me many questions on how do we communicate.My opinion is, the ladies that speak little english,should definetly be in english school while they wait for their interview date,and I think those ladies that speak little english will have to work extra hard to be prepared for their day at interrogation...i mean interview .

good luck next time around.

 

Jimi

[credzba]

I understand your frustration, but I believe you were naive going into this.

Lets pretend you ARE a visa vendor, utilizing sham marriage for pay, and look at it from that view:

 

1) Visited minimal time to meet the legal requirement.

2) Hired a lawyer to do everything, so very little personal investment.

3) Had marriage photos made to meet picture requirement, no personal pictures, none with her family.

4) Claims to speak a little of each others language, but cant answer basic question about her husbands birthplace.

5) Appears to be large age difference.

 

What more could a visa broker do to flag himself as visa fraud?

[concert500]

I understand your frustration, but I believe you were naive going into this.

Lets pretend you ARE a visa vendor, utilizing sham marriage for pay, and look at it from that view:

 

1) Visited minimal time to meet the legal requirement.

2) Hired a lawyer to do everything, so very little personal investment.

3) Had marriage photos made to meet picture requirement, no personal pictures, none with her family.

4) Claims to speak a little of each others language, but cant answer basic question about her husbands birthplace.

5) Appears to be large age difference.

 

What more could a visa broker do to flag himself as visa fraud?

 

 

I have said repeatedly I was NAIVE... I hired an attorney because I love my wife enough to make sure I did everything right. I missed meals for paying for the lawyer so don't tell me about very little personal investment!!!!!!!!!!

I have tons of pictures with her family. Have you seen my file? 12 years. She knows exactly where I'm from.

Edited August 27, 2010 by concert500 (see edit history)

[concert500]

I posted this for those going to GUZ. I'm not looking for 20/20 backvision from anyone. I understand we blew it and the fight continues. I'm a grown man, I can deal with disappointment. Lets pretend I'm not a VO lets realistically just be who I am a Manufacturing Supervisor with little knowlege of the Guangzhou Embassy. That is not a crime. And, we have never mislead anyone or falsified any form. They can slow us down but we will be sucessful eventually because we love each other. But, throwing me back under the VO bus is messed up. I have had enough. I get it. We messed up!!!!!!!

[cjr818]

Concert, at this moment this is nothing that can be done to change what happened at the consulate interview. How they treated your wife from your post certainly raises an issue of the Visa Officers that they are not courteous and sometimes downright obnoxious and rude. That aside, they are holding all the cards, so it's best to play by their rules. As you said, in time you shall prevail, and I believe you will. The wait for a response and the next action to be taken will seem to be forever. In my opinion, if your personal situation permits, and if I was in your shoes, I'd be on a flight to be with my beloved as of this writing.

 

The denial can and sometimes do bring on depression, so I think you should look into and talk with your wife about this issues before it snowballs into something bigger. As I previously stated, my wife and I had been very fortunate to have been approved twice for visas, the first one being a Fiancee visa which we let it expire and then applying for a IR-1, after being married in China.

 

That is one thing that I read about from previously obtaining visas, is that they want to see a history of normal life, and what demonstrates that is everyday pictures over a period of time. Consider what was said in the post so far, if a sham marriage was to happen, it is very easily to obtain wedding photos and professionally shot pictures over a period of days, while this will help others who can demonstrate a long history relationship, it can sometimes work against you as well, just as in your case.

 

I'm just going to give you some tips which I believe will help substantiate your case when you do hear from the USCIS and NVC once your case is returned to the US. You should start gathering the information now if it is available, as the older the documentation the better it is and having dated materials will work best.

 

If you get Christmas cards, letters addressed to you both as Mr and Mrs. XXXX, show copies of those, this will show that others are aware of your marriage and your willingness to make your marriage public and known, if you were to enter a marriage for monetary gains, you obviously would want to keep it a secret, so you can marry the woman of your choice.

 

Any legal documents that contain both you and your wife, ideally jointly, as my previous comment stated, filing a joint tax return with your wife, you'll need to get an ITIN for your wife to do so. You can legally do this as long as you financially support her.

 

The fact that you stated that your wife paid for all the wedding expenses, that my friend works against you, as it is very typical of sham marriages to work that way, that the US Citizen gains financially while having no expenses to bring the immigranr to the US.

 

If you are able to get your relatives to fly over to China and meet your wife, take lots of pictures, with different family members in the pictures and in different settings, different outfits, over a time period, this will show that the two families has meet with one another and been formally introduced, think about a large family that gathers over the holidays, when a friend sees those pictures, does any of them every think that something is wrong in the family?

 

The more trips you can take to visit her, the better, it shows that you cannot bear to be without your loved one.

 

Short courtships are a red flag, so it not having a common language, as I said before, my wife and I, when we first met, she had beginner English skills and I had nearly non-existence Mandarin skills. Over the course of a year or so, her English has improved significantly from us speaking to one another on a daily basis, for about 2 hours at a time. We never had to use any langauge translating software or website to understand one another.

 

If you can gather things now and get more as it is available, I don't think you'll have any problems in being together in say half a year, I believe this is the time frame that it takes for cases to be returned to the USCIS, of course I'm not sure, I've never been down this road before, just from what I read.

 

Good luck and keep us posted on how things go. Best wishes to you and your wife.

[concert500]

Concert, at this moment this is nothing that can be done to change what happened at the consulate interview. How they treated your wife from your post certainly raises an issue of the Visa Officers that they are not courteous and sometimes downright obnoxious and rude. That aside, they are holding all the cards, so it's best to play by their rules. As you said, in time you shall prevail, and I believe you will. The wait for a response and the next action to be taken will seem to be forever. In my opinion, if your personal situation permits, and if I was in your shoes, I'd be on a flight to be with my beloved as of this writing.

 

The denial can and sometimes do bring on depression, so I think you should look into and talk with your wife about this issues before it snowballs into something bigger. As I previously stated, my wife and I had been very fortunate to have been approved twice for visas, the first one being a Fiancee visa which we let it expire and then applying for a IR-1, after being married in China.

 

That is one thing that I read about from previously obtaining visas, is that they want to see a history of normal life, and what demonstrates that is everyday pictures over a period of time. Consider what was said in the post so far, if a sham marriage was to happen, it is very easily to obtain wedding photos and professionally shot pictures over a period of days, while this will help others who can demonstrate a long history relationship, it can sometimes work against you as well, just as in your case.

 

I'm just going to give you some tips which I believe will help substantiate your case when you do hear from the USCIS and NVC once your case is returned to the US. You should start gathering the information now if it is available, as the older the documentation the better it is and having dated materials will work best.

 

If you get Christmas cards, letters addressed to you both as Mr and Mrs. XXXX, show copies of those, this will show that others are aware of your marriage and your willingness to make your marriage public and known, if you were to enter a marriage for monetary gains, you obviously would want to keep it a secret, so you can marry the woman of your choice.

 

Any legal documents that contain both you and your wife, ideally jointly, as my previous comment stated, filing a joint tax return with your wife, you'll need to get an ITIN for your wife to do so. You can legally do this as long as you financially support her.

 

The fact that you stated that your wife paid for all the wedding expenses, that my friend works against you, as it is very typical of sham marriages to work that way, that the US Citizen gains financially while having no expenses to bring the immigranr to the US.

 

If you are able to get your relatives to fly over to China and meet your wife, take lots of pictures, with different family members in the pictures and in different settings, different outfits, over a time period, this will show that the two families has meet with one another and been formally introduced, think about a large family that gathers over the holidays, when a friend sees those pictures, does any of them every think that something is wrong in the family?

 

The more trips you can take to visit her, the better, it shows that you cannot bear to be without your loved one.

 

Short courtships are a red flag, so it not having a common language, as I said before, my wife and I, when we first met, she had beginner English skills and I had nearly non-existence Mandarin skills. Over the course of a year or so, her English has improved significantly from us speaking to one another on a daily basis, for about 2 hours at a time. We never had to use any langauge translating software or website to understand one another.

 

If you can gather things now and get more as it is available, I don't think you'll have any problems in being together in say half a year, I believe this is the time frame that it takes for cases to be returned to the USCIS, of course I'm not sure, I've never been down this road before, just from what I read.

 

Good luck and keep us posted on how things go. Best wishes to you and your wife.

 

 

I have so many things of which you speak...actually the guests at our wedding paid for it all.... I saw the envelopes and my wife settled with the facility, my point was I didn't pay....we never told anyone involved in our casae these details,.... they never asked. I just had back surgery so no flights to China any time soon. Maybe towards the end of the year. I know everything you say is right, its just a pain trying to rewrite history when you've done nothing wrong.

 

Yea, I pay 20.00 a month for 1,000 minutes and the VO wants to know what we talk so much? really?

 

 

I want to refile the I-130 but I dont want the same results.... Obviously, I will send all the family pictures, christmas cards, beneficiary information...etc....

 

 

Thanks for the ideas about letters and christmas cards... I found five I had covered up laying around!!!!! +

 

 

My mother wrote a dear notarized "Affidavit of Relationship" as well as ten other family and friends..... The USCIS read them and approved our petition... the Embassy would not look at them...

Edited August 27, 2010 by concert500 (see edit history)

[tsap seui]

I have so many things of which you speak...actually the guests at our wedding paid for it all.... I saw the envelopes and my wife settled with the facility, my point was I didn't pay....we never told anyone involved in our casae these details,.... they never asked. I just had back surgery so no flights to China any time soon. Maybe towards the end of the year. I know everything you say is right, its just a pain trying to rewrite history when you've done nothing wrong.

 

Yea, I pay 20.00 a month for 1,000 minutes and the VO wants to know what we talk so much? really?

 

 

I want to refile the I-130 but I dont want the same results.... Obviously, I will send all the family pictures, christmas cards, beneficiary information...etc....

 

Just take some time out. You'vew got the back to heal and you HAVE to wait on GUangzhou to send your case back, then deal with USCIS. No need to think of what woulda, coulda, shoulda been. The blue slip is history.

 

With that said, Candle is a great place to vent and learn. YOu can prepare for what the USCIS does in a (hopefully) few months. As I said earlier, now you can send e-mails to GUZ and inquire about when your case is being sent back. FInd that date and then folow it back through the NVC and on to USCIS.

 

USCIS is your focal point now. They will get the case and sooner or later send you your letter, or just plain reaffirm you and send everything back to Guangzhou. Most likely you will be asked to rebut the charges against you...prepare for THAT.

 

I know every emotion and idea in the world is going through both of your minds right now, but the wait and the energy is all on their letter to you.

 

Once your case gets back to USCIS I would give them a couple or three months and have a letter to your congressman, senator ready to them, asking for them to inquire about you case. THis should get your case in front of someone, and maybe the inquiry will get them to process it quickly.

 

I wish I had shortcuts to share with you, hell, the DOS even kept it a secret from me on when they sent our case back to the states. They never responded to my e-mails and the DOS operators in WAshington couldn't tell me anything...but that isn't the usual case.

 

If DOS drags their feet on sending the case back, get a congressman to inquire about it...again, this may work to help get it sent back quicker.

 

Hang in there, you never know what USCIS is gonna do. Let's hope they accept your rebuttal and sends the case back for another interview.

 

I can't scream it loud enough, follow your case back to USCIS, do those letters to congressmen, and play that up to your wife so she sees you are trying your best.

 

Good luck. The wait may be long, but it gives you two time to grow as a couple.There isn't much you can do now but wait, but you can play the few cards in your hand as your case moves from China to DOS. Use those congressional inquiries.

 

You guys will be successful, it's all a matter of time.

 

tsap seui

[concert500]

Just take some time out. You'vew got the back to heal and you HAVE to wait on GUangzhou to send your case back, then deal with USCIS. No need to think of what woulda, coulda, shoulda been. The blue slip is history.

 

With that said, Candle is a great place to vent and learn. YOu can prepare for what the USCIS does in a (hopefully) few months. As I said earlier, now you can send e-mails to GUZ and inquire about when your case is being sent back. FInd that date and then folow it back through the NVC and on to USCIS.

 

USCIS is your focal point now. They will get the case and sooner or later send you your letter, or just plain reaffirm you and send everything back to Guangzhou. Most likely you will be asked to rebut the charges against you...prepare for THAT.

 

I know every emotion and idea in the world is going through both of your minds right now, but the wait and the energy is all on their letter to you.

 

Once your case gets back to USCIS I would give them a couple or three months and have a letter to your congressman, senator ready to them, asking for them to inquire about you case. THis should get your case in front of someone, and maybe the inquiry will get them to process it quickly.

 

I wish I had shortcuts to share with you, hell, the DOS even kept it a secret from me on when they sent our case back to the states. They never responded to my e-mails and the DOS operators in WAshington couldn't tell me anything...but that isn't the usual case.

 

If DOS drags their feet on sending the case back, get a congressman to inquire about it...again, this may work to help get it sent back quicker.

 

Hang in there, you never know what USCIS is gonna do. Let's hope they accept your rebuttal and sends the case back for another interview.

 

I can't scream it loud enough, follow your case back to USCIS, do those letters to congressmen, and play that up to your wife so she sees you are trying your best.

 

Good luck. The wait may be long, but it gives you two time to grow as a couple.There isn't much you can do now but wait, but you can play the few cards in your hand as your case moves from China to DOS. Use those congressional inquiries.

 

You guys will be successful, it's all a matter of time.

 

tsap seui

 

 

I received a letter from Senator John Cornyn tonight actually. He states if I don't hear back from the USCIS within eight to ten months of my return notice, please contact him again...

 

In all honesty we are feeling better lately.... thanks.

Edited August 27, 2010 by concert500 (see edit history)

[shushuweiwei]

I posted this for those going to GUZ. I'm not looking for 20/20 backvision from anyone. I understand we blew it and the fight continues. I'm a grown man, I can deal with disappointment. Lets pretend I'm not a VO lets realistically just be who I am a Manufacturing Supervisor with little knowlege of the Guangzhou Embassy. That is not a crime. And, we have never mislead anyone or falsified any form. They can slow us down but we will be sucessful eventually because we love each other. But, throwing me back under the VO bus is messed up. I have had enough. I get it. We messed up!!!!!!!

I don't think anyone is trying to rub it in your face, but you must be in tremendous pain and it is a tender wound right now. The deconstruction of the interview "debriefings" helps people who are starting out and it is a noble thing that you put it out there for everyone's benefit.

Stay in touch with tsap seui, he went through the same thing. I'm sure there were moments when he wished his life wasn't being dissected by everyone here but in the end I think he'd say it was worth it and that it was a life changing experience, for the better. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm off base on those assumptions.

He may not even realize how much his story helped people like me navigate the process. Your willingness to share your story will help others who are close behind you as well.

That is little consolation to your broken heart now, I know, but when you get to where tsappy is it will be. In case you've read his story in detail, you don't have to try to die and scare the crap out of all of us to get where he is, like he did. I thought that was terribly inconsiderate of him to do that.

Life will get better and the courage to share your story will help you and others. One of the things I did, because of the abject fear of experiencing the pain you are feeling, was to make an appt the day before my wife's interview, ostensibly for the purpose of getting an EOR letter notarized. It gave me the opportunity to chat with a VO and ended up being an interview of my own that I think lasted longer than my wife's. After a little banter that established rapport, he went through the letter I had written and pointed out what aspects might raise questions for a VO. I was able to give more details about those things (including how we communicated) and he typed it all into her file. One of the comments he made was that he dreads the call to notarized an EOR letter because it is usually someone post blue slip who is pissed off and unpleasant. So he noted that it was a nice surprise to have it be someone who was "planning ahead" and was still pleasant and polite.

Maybe that opportunity will arise for you at a future interview or for someone else who is just starting out. Thanks for sharing your story and opening it up to this process. For now, skip over the posts that feel too difficult and save them for another day, when your heart is in a better place.

[concert500]

I don't think anyone is trying to rub it in your face, but you must be in tremendous pain and it is a tender wound right now. The deconstruction of the interview "debriefings" helps people who are starting out and it is a noble thing that you put it out there for everyone's benefit.

Stay in touch with tsap seui, he went through the same thing. I'm sure there were moments when he wished his life wasn't being dissected by everyone here but in the end I think he'd say it was worth it and that it was a life changing experience, for the better. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm off base on those assumptions.

He may not even realize how much his story helped people like me navigate the process. Your willingness to share your story will help others who are close behind you as well.

That is little consolation to your broken heart now, I know, but when you get to where tsappy is it will be. In case you've read his story in detail, you don't have to try to die and scare the crap out of all of us to get where he is, like he did. I thought that was terribly inconsiderate of him to do that.

Life will get better and the courage to share your story will help you and others. One of the things I did, because of the abject fear of experiencing the pain you are feeling, was to make an appt the day before my wife's interview, ostensibly for the purpose of getting an EOR letter notarized. It gave me the opportunity to chat with a VO and ended up being an interview of my own that I think lasted longer than my wife's. After a little banter that established rapport, he went through the letter I had written and pointed out what aspects might raise questions for a VO. I was able to give more details about those things (including how we communicated) and he typed it all into her file. One of the comments he made was that he dreads the call to notarized an EOR letter because it is usually someone post blue slip who is pissed off and unpleasant. So he noted that it was a nice surprise to have it be someone who was "planning ahead" and was still pleasant and polite.

Maybe that opportunity will arise for you at a future interview or for someone else who is just starting out. Thanks for sharing your story and opening it up to this process. For now, skip over the posts that feel too difficult and save them for another day, when your heart is in a better place.

 

 

I know. To be totally honest were doing fine. We laughed earlier on the phone and were back on track. It was important for me to lay it all out there for others. I know we blew it and I wished I had found this site before I flew to China and got married but that's water under the bridge. I also know that sometimes the truth "stings" to quote David Gray. I asked about meeting with an VO and they told me no way... We're still planning our future and are beginning to learn the unconvienent truth about this process. But, I have fantastic job, a great wife and a great life. I just need them all in one country!!! Oh and THANK YOU.