Jatuke

For future travellers from GUZ airport... Yeah that luggage bounding they do is not required. They will try to con you into it, by pointing at you and yelling at you in Chinese to go to the bounding section. When we were there, I just blew them off. It's not needed. You can save a few yuan. You don't even need to argue, just ignore them and continue to the checkout counters.

There wasn't a "Tax form" when we picked up our P4, and GZ didn't request for one at the interview. I don't remember seeing anything about a tax form on the OF-169 list either.

How did you contact GZ, by email or by phone?

Here's our evidence: http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cf...hZ2U9MQ**&p_li= I plan to print this out and stuff it in the face of that dumb clerk.

We went to one of the local SS offices and were told by the clerk that a SSN can not be issued. She said SS does not issue the other two conditional SSNs anymore, which I believe as B.S. We will try another office or another clerk.

From my experience, I tried to deal and I dealt "directly" with my Congressman. I faxed my requests to his direct fax number in D.C., and not to his local office. His staff at the local office will just give you the runaround and send you a pre-prepared letter with a stamped signature. I believe he contributed somewhat to my fiancee getting her visa. For California, the two female Senators are useless. It is true that Sen. Di is anti-immigration, and Sen. Boxer is invisible. Also, the Senators are higher up in the food chain and could care less about their state constituents. So, the Congressmen would be more "concerned" about their local constituents. When I was actually inside the GZ Consulate, I did not see a "lack of staffing". Even when I was waiting outside, I saw many clerks going to work. The problem is not a lack of staffing at GZ, that is untrue based on my empirical obersavation when I was inside and outside the Consulate for 5 days. It is true that petitions sit and age and are "forgotten". I have advised people to contact GZ by telephone if they want to see progress on their cases. Remember, GZ has your petitions, and who handles them? The clerks over there, so contact them. There was a stretch of 2 weeks, in which I called GZ everyday until I got through, I wasn't successful everyday, but I firmly believe that it moved my case tremendously. I also contacted the Congressman through his direct contact numbers. Go to the heart of the problem, bypass the outsiders. My .02, keep persisting.

From my personal experience, you need to call GUZ to see any progress in your case including name checks.

Congratulations. O/W and R/T are non-issues. But FYI my fiancee/wife came in with a one-way ticket. The issue is where you can find the best deal for aifare.

You need to call GUZ to see any progress.

Have any of you tried calling the GZ Consulate? Calling DOS does no good.

What's the I-485A with a whopping price tag of $1,000???

Congrats and good luck!

Can anyone point to us a resource outlining the appropriate steps we need to take since my fiancee has arrived in the U.S.? Thanks.

Congratulations and good luck to all!

Hi all, Thanks for the support and the numerous advice I received in this forum. Like others who have gone through this, I am very appreciative that I am part of this group. My fiancee didn't receive P4 in the mail, so I arrived in GZ on Thursday 5/8 at 12:15pm, and went to ACS at 1:30pm. I went inside to the Visa section room, and at 2pm, I went to the only window (window 5, there are about 6 windows) that was operating that day. I told the clerk that we haven't received P4 yet, and he went and got me P4. As I was looking through the glass, and from what I can see I saw a clerk working at a desk in front of a computer and he was on the phone. Probably was answering an inquiry because it was between 2pm-4pm. There was a lot of staff that day and I saw a lot of staff walking into the Consulate. I also saw some clerks carry stacks of folders (most likely petitions). Also, on Shamian Island I saw a lot of American couples with adopted Chinese babies there to take care of paperwork. The Consulate's appearance is totally different than the pictures that are posted on similar discussion boards. The photos online are from older versions of the Consulate. However, no need to worry about the layout because you will be escorted by the security guards throughout. Security is really tight there. I would recommend getting a map of Shamian Island and looking over the different streets and the location of different places. The island itself is pretty small, and everything is within walking distance. My fiancee picked up her visa on Tuesday, 5/13. I would like to clarify something. She was interviewed by a Caucasian-American that only spoke to her in Mandarin. After her interview, she received a small white slip with 2 paragraphs in Chinese on it. The first paragraph stated for some people to come back the same afternoon at 4pm, and the 2nd paragraph stated for people with V or K visa to come the next afternoon at 4pm. So, after conferring with my fiancee numerous times, we assumed that she would go in Tuesday afternoon and pick up her visa, which she did. But, she found out that she was suppose to pick it up the same afternoon of her interview. So, just remind your fiancee to clarify the exact time and day for the visa pickup, because we could've saved one night's hotel fee. We stayed at the Victory Hotel (the new one, the old one is a block down), 300 RMB/night, for 6 nights. The rooms were about a 3-4 star and very clean. We stayed on the 8th floor because according to my fiancee had the best rooms in the hotel. I would recommend this hotel to any couples or fiance/fiancee that needs accomodations near the Consulate. It's cheaper than the White Swan Hotel, which is 500 RMB/night. However, the White Swan is a 5-star hotel. We did the medical exam at the Shamian Foreigners Hospital on the Island. The hospital was a couple blocks before the Victory Hotel. It was 700 RMB for the exam, and an extra 100 RMB for rush pickup. Medical exam Thursday afternoon around 4pm and picked up the results (a white envelope with the medical exam documents, a tube with the x-rays, and a small brown booklet with the exam results) Friday afternoon at 3:30pm (pickup time is from 3:30pm-4pm). The hospital was clean and especially now with SARS they are even more sanitary. The exam consisted of having the patient go to different rooms on the first floor. They are experienced in performing the visa medical exams and the entire exam and process was completed in about an hour. As for SARS on the island, I rarely saw any locals wearing a mask. Only hospital staff and the majority of food service workers wore masks. We did consistently use the alcohol hand sanitizers that I brought from the States, and we used it after each time we touched anything, especially RMB. As for the CITIC Bank fee, they aren't everywhere in Guangzhou and we spent effort trying to locate one, but we finally found one in the Beijing Lu shopping plaza. It's right across from the 8-floor shopping center on the cross intersection of Beijing Lu and XiHu Lu. I think this is the easiest one you'll find and locate. As for the 4 photos, the clerk sent my fiancee out to take 4 new photos at the next-door "Consultation Office" because she didn't have the 4 frontal facial shots. This was for the DS-156K applications. You also need to take photos for the medical exam. The Consultation Office is directly across the front gate, and the "visa experts" are probably associated with them. The office is probably only useful for photos, and it was 40 RMB for 4 photos. Make sure you know which photos you really need, because my fiancee went in by herself, while I was in ACS, and she apparently had the wrong photos taken. So, I'm assuming that they scammed her so that she had to come back a second time, which she did and had to pay another 40 RMB for the frontal photos. Be aware of these "visa experts" mingling in front of the Consulate and among the applicants. These experts are mostly women that chase down people that exit from taxis in front of the Consulate and people that come through the front gate. In the morning, they also line up next to the waiting line next to the gate. They will try to "sell" you numerous advice. I guess they can provide somewhat of a beneficial service, like if you really forgot something and are in dire straits. Other than that, just tell your fiance/fiancee to ignore them completely because they will give you misinformation. But, within this Chinese society, I can understand their intentions, just trying to make money anyway they can in this huge economic gap that exists in China. Personally, I firmly believe that GUZ does some sort of tally-keeping of the number of times that you call them inquiring about your fiancee's case. Back to the clerk talking on the phone and working in front of the computer, I noticed a screen similar to a data-entry screen with different fields. I am strongly assuming that one of these fields has a "Notes" fields. I know Mick and Owen actually went behind the windows, and can have a better view, but this is just my belief. I would recommend people to actively and persistently call GUZ and "push" your case. I haven't been on CFL lately, but if you are waiting longer for a name check clearance, I think you should inquire with GUZ more instead of just solely with DOS. We are going back to LA next week, and I post more about that experience at the end of the month because we have to go through a personal quarantine. Good luck to everyone else.

My fiancee passed her interview today. I waited for her outside, and it was a suspenseful experience. She went in at 7:40am, came back out at 8:40am because we were missing the 4 passport-sized photos, then went back in, then came back out around 10:30am after a successful interview. The CO spoke to her only in Chinese, which surprised me. He only asked her a few questions: 1. Why do you want to go to the U.S.? 2. Is your fiance here? (Because I gave my fiancee my passport to take inside with her) 3. Has your fiance been to China? How many times? He skimmed through our photo album, looked at our Onesuite telephone log printout, and that was it. She will go and pick up the visa and her passport tomorrow afternoon. I will post more in detail. Be careful of the handful of "visa experts" that mingle outside the Consulate. Good luck to everyone else!

I learned of my fiancee's interview date from calling GUZ a couple weeks ago. We still haven't received our P4, and our interview is on May 12. I'm leaving for GZ tonight, and I will arrive in GZ on Thursday at noon. Then, I will go to the Consulate during ACS hours and try very hard to make sure I get the P4 and appointment letter. GZ would NOT change an interview date, unless you request it to be changed by fax or mail. If you knew of your interview date from DOS, then it was scheduled by GZ, because the Consulate schedules interviews not DOS. It is true that the computers at GZ and DOS don't always correspond with each other. It is true that some mails may have been lost or just fail to show up on time. Have you tried faxing GZ? Do you have any emails from GZ stating the interview date? If you do, you can use that as a method to enter the Consulate. There's no staff at the gate, it's just two guards manning the gate entrance and they have no authority except manning the gate. Fax GZ and keep calling them. I tried to call them as well, but failed. However, I'm going there in person in a day.

When you stated "we", does that mean you and your fiance/fiancee? If your fiance/fiancee is an American citizen, he/she can go inside the Consulate during American Citizen Service hours and request for the P4. This is what I'm going to do, if my fiancee doesn't receive P4 in the next few days.

I'm going to GUZ on Tuesday, I'll keep everyone updated.

Key phrase, "...the guy who doin business around the consulate" Never trust those people "doin business around the consulate" Only trust people who work INSIDE the Consulate, and who have BEEN INSIDE the Consulate.

Thanks for all the advice so far. I am angry that GUZ would do anything like this, but then again I'm not surprised. I will be in GUZ with my fiancee next week, and we will beat and conquer this dilemma. If worst comes to worst, I will go in on Thursday during American citizen service hours.

My fiancee's interview is on May 12th, and we still haven't received P4. GUZ stated they mailed P4 on April 15th, it's May 1st in China now. I've emailed them our problem and they replied back by saying that: 1. Arrange a time to pick up another P4 in front of the main gate at the Consulate or, 2. Reschedule for another interview date by sending a fax - GUZ states this will take a month for them to receive and process We have planned to meet in GZ on Thursday, May 8th, in hopes that the P4 will arrive before the 8th. But still no sign of P4! What should we do??? GUZ is closed until Monday, May 5th, so our only last hopes if for P4 to arrive soon and to call GZ like crazy on Tuesday, May 6th and tell them to have a P4 ready for pickup in front of the gate. Our last alternative is for my fiancee to arrive in GZ Wednesday night, wake up early Thursday morning to pick up P4, and come get me at the airport and then we hurry on over to the Shamien hospital for the medical check.... Any thoughts????

You can actually download all the forms in P4 off the Internet. I was able to get each form online.

I believe what Long Strider is true, but I don't really remember exactly. Last time I flew into LAX with China Southern I exited through another terminal. As far as my LAX experience arriving from GUZ, I know of two exits: one where arriving passengers walk up a ramp to awaiting family and friends, and another where I had to take an escalator down (China Southern, I think).

Thanks for the encouraging and reassuring responses.