chuckandshuping

What a week this has been! My wife went for her interview on 2/16. She stood in line at the consolate for 5 hours just to be told that she would have to come back at 1:00 that afternoon. OK no problem. We go eat and go back. She is back in line at 1:00 and gets in pretty quick this time. Comes out at a little after 2:00 waving her white slip! WAIT! It gets better! We are overjoyed about getting the white slip and she tells me about the interview. First she tells me she is interviewed by a black woman. I thought, oh crap and you passed? Anyway, she was asked my name, my birthdate, how many times I had been to China, if I have any kids, if she has any kids, and when my first wife died. That was it! Never wanted to see any of the supporting documents or the I-134. I had a bad feeling but did not say anything at this point. Next day we returned to the consolate at 4 to get her visa. she was called at the beginning and went to the window. Instead of a visa, she got a blue slip! The yellow slip was attached and said they wanted to see supporting evidence of a bona fide relationship. We were both in shock and then the anger started to build. If I could have only spoken to this woman... you get the idea. This was on Thursday. The consolate does not accept overcome documents on Friday. Then I find out that they are closed Monday too. Geez! These people have it made. So it is tomorrow before I can take all the evidence that she had with her to begin with at the interview. Best case...she gets a visa on Thursday. Too late because our plane tickets are for Wednesday night. I cannot change mine. Maybe we can change hers for a later date but not sure yet. I have every possible piece of paperwork they could need along with video tapes, cd with 8 months of chats, and a ton of pictures. I don't know what will happen but I will try to let everyone know when I get back home. Bottom line here is, it ain't over till your SO has that visa in her hand. Even then, maybe they will come and take it away. This is the most cruel thing they could ever do to anyone. And this consolate is the most poorly run place I have ever seen. Almost none of the guards speak English. The security is a disaster. And these so-called lawyers pouncing on every poor soul they see with a blue slip. My wife is convinced that these people buy off the consolate to get people visas. I would not be surprised if some of that goes on here but I really do not think that is the case. I think that these "lawyers" just help people try to get their overcome documents in order and then collect a huge fee. They thrive because all Chinese believe that every government is totally corrupt. These nuts should be stopped. Yes, we did everything right. Yes, we waited patiently. Yes, we jumped through all the hoops. And YES, we got screwed! Maybe we will prevail. Time will tell. If she does not have a visa in hand by the time I get home, I am selling out and moving to China. We will be together and I will not wait on our government any longer. Sorry for the negative post, but I know many of you want to know what happens over here. I will also say that we saw many blue slips that day, and most were issued by the same VO. Off to Guangzhou so we can be at the consolate at 9 tomorrow morning. Good luck to everyone waiting and I hope yours is a lot smoother than ours.

Many Congratulations!

Many Congratulations Jason and Jun! You really have had a short timeline and now you cleared the last hurdle. I wish everyone that follows has a short wait too. Here's wishing both of you the very best on your new life together.

There have been quite a few posts here about whether to fill out just English or just Chinese or both for the various forms needed at the interview. Now we know that they want both! My wife just arrived in GZ to get her medical exam done. She went this morning with all the forms filled out in English. The hospital told her that they had to have all of the forms in English and Chinese. Her interview is not until Feb. 16, but due to Chinese New Year, she had to go early to have the medical completed. She did not take her passport either. They told her they would do the exam today, but she would have to present her passport before they could give her the results in the famous "brown envelope." She had to pay someone to help her translate the English forms to Chinese. The worst part is she has to go back to Nanning and get her passport, then turn around and go back to Guangzhou to get the envelope. We all know to take absolutely everything to the interview. Just some advise for those with upcoming interviews...take everything to the medical exam too! It is bad enough having to deal with all the crap here, but when they start giving my wife a hard time, I start really getting angry. The Cheetos aren't even working now...Geez! Sorry for the rant. We just have less than a month to go and for some stupid reason I thought the worst was over. I should have known better.

Sorry to hear about your mom. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Congratulations on your upcoming interview. Good things do happen!

My first visit to China, I got the standard tourist visa. After my laopo and I were married I got a one year tourist visa good for 30 day stays. I had requested a multiple entry visa and I think that is what I have. The courier I used billed me for a double entry visa so that makes me wonder. My visa is good through February 24 and I am going back for her interview on February 16. Where the visa says number of entries it has a "M". I would assume this means multiple. If it were a double entry would it have a "D" there? Any advise anyone can give would be appreciated. I have already made 2 trips on this visa. I just don't want any last minute surprises. Thanks

I got the best call of my life at 3:30 this morning. My laopo called to tell me she just got her p4. The interview is February 16. I don't have to tell any of you how excited we both are right now. The last email I received from Guangzhou said that our case was still "under processing". That was a little over a week ago. Last call to DOS reported that we would most likely have interview in March. It just goes to show that surprises do happen. For all those still waiting, there is light at the end of the tunnel. My best wishes to everyone still in the waiting game. Now it is time to start getting the airline reservations and everything else in order. If anyone else is planning on being in Guangzhou on February 16, let me know. I would like to thank each of you for the information posted here. This site has been most valuable and comforting through this long waiting process. Thank God the wait is almost over!!!

Hey Mark, It must be that all the Shupings are wonderful, right? We know ours are. Actually, my laopo has 4 sisters and all of their names start with Shu.... Her sisters call her Ah Ping and she calls her sisters Ah .... But to everyone else she is Shuping. All I can say is that she is the most wonderful woman I have ever known and I know that I am a very lucky man. Good luck on a quick interview date Mark and maybe we will be in GZ close to the same time. I am expecting to find out when her interview is most any time. I know the name checks have been complete for a while now and she is in que waiting for interview. Hopefully soon!!! Chuck

I just got back from 3 weeks in Nanning. There are numerous power outages there right now and yes, many businesses are running on generators for many hours at a time. Take her word for it. As many others have said, the grids are different there and a lot of the system is very old and not capable of handling the demands of all of the new technology. I don't think there are too many problems with the phones however. Phone service seems to be very good in Nanning. Internet there is horrible, no matter who the provider is. I think we are all very lucky to even be able to talk to our SO's most of the time. It is hard to be patient, but there isn't much anyone can do.

It has been a while since I have posted here. I just spent 3 weeks with my wonderful wife in Nanning and enjoyed the holidays there very much. It is good to know that more P4's are rolling out and we are still waiting for ours too. We are in the late September batch of returned P3's. We wanted to wait till interview to be together as my wife doesn't like to spend too much money. (I am sure most of you can relate.) The problem was that we had not been together since May and I just couldn't stand to be apart on our one year wedding anniversary, so I made the trip. We were both glad it worked out this way. I took all of the I-134 info to her along with a lot of pics and other supporting documentation for the interview. We even made the video of us talking to each other while I was there so I can now transfer to good old VHS tape for our GZ friends, if they decide they want to see it. Now we are just hoping for an interview in February or March, and maybe we will be lucky and they won't throw us any curves. I think all of the bases are covered, but as you know, there is no way to know for sure. And yes, I am going back for the interview. It does cost a lot to make so many trips but I look at it as a good excuse to go see the love of my life, which is the most important thing. Just wanted to check in and let everyone know that we are still here and waiting. Good luck to all who are still waiting for interview. May we all meet in Guangzhou soon. Chuck

Neal and Yaya, You guys should get some kind of award. I don't know how you have managed to keep your sanity through the long wait. Congratulations and hope everything is smooth from here on for you. Chuck

It is so good to see so many interview dates. Something must have lit a fire under GZ all of a sudden. Hope the trend continues, and congratulations to all with December interviews. Merry Christmas! Chuck

Congratulations and best of luck! Chuck

Exact same thing when I called last Friday. I asked for more information and got the same reply. Let's all hope this is good news. Chuck

The best thing is to tell the truth. I think if she is planning to work, she should say that on the form. In our case, we put no because my wife wants to concentrate on starting a family together and getting better with her English skills before she tries to work. She has worked her whole life in China until last year when we got married. She only quit because she had her own store and the government decided to widen the street where her store was located and they basically told her she was out of business. The timing was pretty good. It may not make a lot of difference how she answers that question, but personally, I think that honesty is the best policy when dealing with the government. Chuck

3 trips to China and never got sick there. Last time I was there for 6 weeks. I just didn't think about it. We ate in our apartment most of the time, but also ate at the street vendors and in various resturants. I think it has a lot to do with mental attitude too. If you think you are going to get sick, you very well could. My problem was coming back to the states. As soon as I landed in LA, I thought an American meal would be good. Got sick as a dog. I think my system got so used to eating everything fresh, that all of the preservatives and grease here just got to me.

We are hoping for a February/March interview as well, and we are in the same group of p3's with you. Who knows? Judging from the current timelines, I think that February/March is possible, but you have to keep in mind all of the holidays coming up. We have Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, and of course, Chinese New Year when GZ closes shop. I am going back to Nanning for 3 weeks in December and had hoped to be able to bring my wife back then, but there is little hope of that. It just means another trip when she has her interview. It is a pain having to spend the extra money, but she is worth every penny. Chuck

I am new here but find the information posted a great comfort. My wife and I are waiting for P3 currently. (Sent to Guangzhou August 16 and still in "clearance delay") Like many others here, I am becoming more and more concerned about Guangzhou and their ability to make up new rules as they go. My wife knows a woman who just went for her interview and she was turned down. Here is the reason the VO gave..."You and your husband were only together for 5 days before you got married. That is not long enough." Who do these people think they are? They are not there to judge, but to determine if the relationship is valid. Why does it matter how long a couple was together before they got married? They should be looking at the documentation presented at the interview, not using their own judgement as to whether it has been "long enough." And, my God, it takes over a year to even get an interview so any couple should know each other VERY well in that amount of time. This sounds like another case of a VO just doing whatever they please with no regard to the lives of the American citizens and their families that they are disrupting. My wife was very upset about this news and I keep telling her not to worry. The fact is, I am worried too. You can be sure that I will be with her waiting outside when she has her interview. We are going to have anything possible that they might ask for. That is all that any of us can do, but I am still worried that it won't be enough, especially if she gets the wrong VO. It is just a shame that nothing can be done about the way Guangzhou is treating people right now. There is no excuse for this! Sorry, but I just had to rant a bit. This whole process is so frustrating and it makes me so angry to be abused by a government that just does not care about it's people.