kkimm

my co-worker used to (and still) joke about "it's easier to get in this country illegally and stay, than to try the legitimate way" heard in the news that congress is pushing a bill on illegal immigrants (similar to 245i)...are they aware people cannot get a visa in a timely fashion these days???

As far as I know, both INS and DOS has been failed in this "blaming game" after the 9/11 event. The Bush administration wouldn't take any responsibilities, nor does the FBI, CIA, etc...so it is these agencies that related to the ultimate decision of visa issuance to take the heat. Even with namecheck, DOS has to wait on other "agencies". With China and Russia being singled out, this has become a blackbox operation that is quickly out of hands (other question is who is advising and overseeing such actions?). If this happens to americans being not able to get visas to some other countries, I would not be surprised to hear about "human rights" motions... I myself is really disappointed...

Soon it will be "a matter of months or years". what we are really concerned is "a matter of HOW MANY weeks"?

yes, They destroyed our economy and prevented our loveones to come. However, the USA discriminated against Chinese and Russian fiance(e)s. agreed - but the root is that our gov't didn't do their job

Nothing about doing background check on Chinese fiance(e). Maybe that is why we are still waiting. Items 2, 6 and 10 - definitely not item 5

what I meant to say is there is no progress in processing cases in a timely fashion - before the relevant authority "open" the case, the beneficiary, who if were a terrorist, has already fulfilled the "mission"... For many years, on INS and others, the problem is the delay. Now welcome DOS into the circle...

Back in October, it used to be an two-day turnarond to get a reply from GZ, now...my last email to GZ was sent..eh...last Thursday...exactly one week ago...still no reply yet...

What they said is totally BS - It takes only week's time for ppl from India to get an IV...what computer are they using for that...Pentium 6? There are two reasons as far as I could gather going through the list, purely personal guessing: 1. Transition of power to Tom Ridge, header of deparment of homeland security (maybe we should write to him) 2. Post-cold war effects. During the cold war, these agencies or divisions aiming at communist countries have sufficient funding for "activities"; but at this time when anti-terrorism is the top priority and communist is quickly becoming yesterday, they suddenly found they are in deep s**t and would like some "job security"... vaguely remember once there was a piece of news of FBI missing some classified laptops...I am guessing they are using abacus nowadays to figure out their budget

Exactly the old problem. (no offense) If the person got the visa is a terrorist...and it takes over a year for INS to process a letter

yeah, reminds me of the "Shawshank Redemption" - the movie

300 days vs 330 days, as time goes on...what's the difference?

maybe it were not flooded enough..sigh...

image - pattern recoganition could be used, something like the way they used for fingerprints, but i doubt they actually immplemented that...

I bet what they actually did was to spent money on an automated system to reply such email using form letters...creating intelligent, networked, and smart database system to reply all kinds of inquiry emails Of course before they clear the backlog

We are also paying for those ppl at DOS and GUZ...so what

Mick - try playing some Tai Chi - Can't stand this delay, too, but on the other hand, DOS don't worth your headache...

Hey ! I'm rich and famous! How come then?? LOL.. Oh, you meant rich in famous like "hockey" perhaps?? You have to be as rich and famous as Whitney Houston and be able to say in the national tv interview "crack is cheap", etc. However, her delay album might be because of this namecheck

I don't think that has anything to do with the Chinese government, who will find out who left the country anyways by the Custom. Basically the US government still use technology that is over 10 years old - which is the telegraphic code, even before computers, that can be easily used in cable communications..

Vince - Are you the one on CPTracker.com that had an interview on 12-30-2002...I am looking for that guy to see how he got the interview so soon

in your pm

Maura Harty's website info at DOS is out of date, like her title and phone number. I called that "old" number and talked to a lady there...She told me Maura Harty is at CA now, but I did verified her fax number, she wouldn't gave her phone number at CA, though...

I called today, onhold for more than half an hour: was told GZ will resubmit only after 90 days...

I mailed a letter to NBC dateline to suggest this visa delay topic. Their address is: ----------- If you have a specific story suggestion please send it to: STORY SUGGESTIONS Dateline NBC 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112 If more people sent their request, I think there will be enough story for one episode, and dateline is a good match for what has been happening for visa delay...

I sent a group letter (about 20 ppl) to Harty last week, but so far no response. This whole thing is based on national security, and I guess everyone except "the few" are on a need-to-know base. I am not discouraging you guys, but unless your case is really late (like over a year), nobody can do anything. I myself is frustrated enough already...

Given the code, experts can actually write down the Chinese characters, because they are uniquely organized (I read it somewhere). It's an easy two way translations between the code and the character, which is important for cable... I spent several good hours in the library trying to look for the right reference when I was filling the form. Pinyin will have too many words for the same pronunciation. Anyways, I don NOT think the current situation is a technical problem any more, but rather a managerial and executive one - given the random processed cases...