kkimm

just read this, totally speechless!!!!!!!!

You must be sending an email in HTML or Richtext format, try using plain text without any formatting. It seems they are limiting the email size of 1 KB...

This is a very interesting thread that I have been reading this whole morning. After all, no matter how bad the system is, it is the staff people at GZ IV sections who are using the system. The loop hole on the system could be the actualy cause of this whole mass, but the real problem is the people who manage this system did not follow procedures, or did not show their care... This is sad...

Disney is wise that they are planning to open a park in Hong Kong, and Universal is so in Shanghai. The safety can be secured by tightened security, but the free economy (business) will go to its most favorable places that people do not have to wait for over a year to get the visa to visit... I thought Universal was planning to open in Shenzhen. Good, too! I don't need another visa to go from Shanghai to Shenzhen!

The truth is nobody wants to take the blame, so each time somebody asked the question, they will say we have so many cases.so little resources...blah blah blah... It's the attitude

Disney is wise that they are planning to open a park in Hong Kong, and Universal is so in Shanghai. The safety can be secured by tightened security, but the free economy (business) will go to its most favorable places that people do not have to wait for over a year to get the visa to visit...

the good reason for these elected officials... is not to elect them next time!!!!...

These numbers REALLY reminds me of the wall street stock markets...they must be day trading, or i must be day dreaming of these numbers...

NVC should be a branch office of DOS...but with DHS comes in, who knows who's taking what...

I don't really understand what GZ means by "a large number of clearances..." If they have only one staff on this, then I would assume 10 would be a "large number"

not only for business, some people I spoke to about studying in the US is more towards Canada, both for safety reasons and visa reasons.

I am suggesting using the website, post case number and last name would do just fine!

I think I talked to the same guy you did. I called the CA number, nobody answer the phone, the automated system said to press 0 for assistance and so I did. I was told to call back tomorrow, since they have a snow emergency. BTW, I am getting any responses to my emails sent to GZ. They don't reply to emails any more???

I agree with what you said, I've made similar posts before on this: For all new applicants, GZ shouldn't arrange any interview if it cannot issue visa right after the interview... I believe this is a request we should all make to GZ, this will not only make them work to clear the backlog but also help all those in the waiting queue. I am not sure at which stage GZ can set up interview, but they definintely do not need clearance to do so. The only reason I can guess is they want to collect the money!!

Here are some links on Visa delays in the media: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...13/MN146503.DTL http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-0...9-08-visa_x.htm http://www.coolname.com/pipermail/maplepos...ust/009820.html http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/4.../printstory.jsp http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/jan/30us.htm http://jsons.collegepublisher.com/news/307118.html

A lot of the applicants are family based, most of them have already been waiting for years, if not tens of years, so this whole visa thing they might feel already irrelevant to them. The other category is Employment based case, however, the number could be really small.

Congrats! Ana but what do you mean by " this new batch", did DOS said that?

The FBI might as well hire some construction workers from Saudi to get to Bin Ladden...instead of sending troops...

They why is the AUG group beeing passed up...I belive total screw up!! This whole situation cannot just be simply described by "screw up", or "mess up" or "mis-communication" or "mis-management", etc. There was a thread on public media targets, that's really a good idea to get the things out to the public. In the meantime, I don't think there is any need to ask DOS/GZ to sort things out, like we've been asking for over 6 months... Let's put somethings more clear in action, like we can ask GZ to put case number and waiting days (or interview date) on their website, something like the Indian Embassy has been doing for a while.

That's a good point. I have emailed Harty on the predictibility of processing times, but so far no response. I don't think GZ will take full responsibility of this, since things are not in their hands, they have to get the nods from other agencies not controllable by DOS, I am guessing... But that does NOT mean we should be the victims in this whole ordeal At least they should do something positively!

My idea on VISA FEE is that GZ should not collect any money if they could not get the case to a conclusion at the time of interview. Which also means: If IV section at GZ cannot issue a visa within some one week, the IV section won't make any money. I am sure they will be really upset by that, but that's the button we should really push... I am not seeing Gz/DOS has showed any good faith in sorting things out YET...

Here are my 2 cents that we should set our target on GZ/DOS: 1. At the time of sheduling an interview, if GZ knows the applicant(s) won't be issued the visa because of security checks, GZ should indicate this in the appointment letter clearly. In addition, GZ should also give the applicant(s) the option of asking for re-schedule when the security checks are done, by returning a response form within a certain time frame. 2. If the applicant(s) passed the interview, but visa(s) could not be issued right away due to security background checks, GZ should NOT collect the visa fee. 3. When the applicant(s) were notified of visa pick up at a certain later date, only at the time of visa pick-up, should they pay the visa fee. Personally I don't really know how long this issue with background checks will be going on. The least we can do now is to protect our rights (human rights) in a minimum way These are just some specific requests, I believe it would be far more effective than just asking them to approval each individual's case...

folks, it's been half year since the change of procedure back in August 2002, and I am sure there are still many people interviewed in August but still holding the "white slip"... Thinking about what we should do and this idea pops into my mind: MONEY TALKS The size and number of people at a Consulate must be set according to how much money it will make, similar to what we have in private sectors, there is always a budget issue. I REALLY DO NOT understand why GZ is still interviewing and handing out the "white slip" these days, instead of waiting to resolve the backlogs...they rely on the visa fees to sustain. If I were scheduled an interview but know I couldn't get a visa, I would rather wait and ask for re-schedule when the clearance is completed. If ALL people apply IVs do this as an action plan, we should make enough pressure on GZ post. What do you guys think?

precisely, and they would probably take one or two from the top while sipping startbucks...

You and just about anyone else PJ! And upon closer reading of the article, I discovered that this manager was 24 years old.......hmmmmm.....that seems a little young for such an important position. The article mentions the "four processing centers". Does this mean the others, Texas, Nebraska, and Vermont are also run by "private contractors"? That's how I read it. Geez....the fireworks are popping outside my window now like crazy. 25 minutes until New Year. As far as I know, the mailroom of VSC (Vermont Service Center) is sub-contracted to a third party. Earlier this year, they (VSC) switched from one contractor to another. This was stated in their public statement and is said to be the cause of the delay in processing times at that time...