shentaro

SHE PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE MANY PHONE CALLS TO MAKE!!! I WILL POST MORE WHEN I GET MORE DETAILS!!! THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!! MY BABY CAN FINALLY COME HOME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks everyone! Well, I will be giving her a wake up call here in about 3 hours... I'm guessing the interview should be finished between 10 and noon china time, so that makes it 7pm - 9pm tonight pacific time... so I should know in about 8 hours!!! The feeling is almost like waiting for a baby to be born, only this time it has been about twice as long of a wait! heheh I gotta run... hopefully be posting some good news tonight! Take care everyone

that is the weather channel's lingo, for those of you that don't know... tomorrow is the big day!!! the almighty interview!!! god, it's been so long waiting for this day... hard to believe it's really finally happening... I have to say, it really is surreal when it finally does come... am I dreaming? you wait and hope and call and worry and wait and fill out more forms (and yes cry) and wonder and wait and wish and pray and call DOS over and over again... and then one day it actually comes!!! ... my god!!! is the interview day really tomorrow???!! I had to leave work early today because I really could not concentrate on anything today... I can only imagine how I will be tomorrow, waiting for that phone call from her... I just wish I could be there with her right now... luckily her mother was able to go with her to support her... I know she will do fine... she is the love of my life!!!! and I'm looking forward to posting the infamous "she passed" post tomorrow well, words cannot say how helpful this site has been for me... I may be a bit of a quiet and shy one that doesn't really post much, but please know that I've spent many a day (and nights) reading the postings here... Thank you all for your stories and support throughout the past year... you guys have always been there for me when I needed you... thank you all for making it (almost) bearable and helping me get me through this visa nightmare... best of luck to you all...

I found this page very useful when sending in my forms. Hope it helps and good luck! http://uscis.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/scn...nal/index.htm#H

that's great news, thanks everyone and good luck to you all too

there is also definitely an element of luck involved... I think writing to my congressman may have also helped, even though I got the standard 'canned' response...

Thanks eeyore, sorry to hear about that... good luck to you too...

Visas awarded on Thursday may be picked up on Saturday. Perhaps someone can fill you in on the times. 203212[/snapback] thats great news! yes, if anyone knows about this please let me know

thank you! hehe yes, you make some very good points also we are used to knowing at least when things things will usually happen... if from the beginning they said you will have your interview xx/xx then I think it wouldn't have been so bad... but the way it is now you don't know up until one month before or less... and the other part that sucks is that each step of the way is so variable in how much time it will take to the next step... and there's so many places along the way that there can be problems that you never really feel you're out of the woods and can just sit back and relax... all the way up to the last minute... hmmmm, even though the post office is open saturday, I think since the consulate is closed they will not be able to deliver it to the post office (unless it is the post office that actually does the visa), it will not matter, right? but that would be great if it's true

well, I found out from my wife that it takes 2 days to pick up the visa, and since our interview is on a thursday and 2 days means saturday, that equates to a monday pick pick up date unfortunately... so it seems thursday is the worst day for an interview... on top of that, it's going to be during some big convention they are having that week in Guangzhou, so all the hotels have doubled and tripled their prices and most hotels are already filled, luckily my wife was able to find one... (and of course they wouldn't just take my credit card over the phone, so my wife had to go to a bank to transfer the money directly). Funny how even a wonderful thing like going to the interview can cause stress and be difficult... I tell you, I don't think any step of this process has been even the slightest bit easy or uncomplicated... and I wonder why in P4 they ask all the same questions all over again... I really cannot wait until this is all in the past for sure. I think we all deserve some type of medal or t-shirt we can all wear to show we made it through this heheh (that includes the SO's)... even basic training in the military wasn't this stressful or difficult for sure... I think if we all can make it through this we can surely make it through anything! P.S. I have to say, all my days of playing adventure games and games like Asheron's Call has surely helped alot.. I just looked at each step as a "quest received and a quest advanced", it was my way of turning something that was a pain to do into something not quite as bad... sort of like a quest to save my princess, only this time it is real hehe Good luck to you all.

My wife just got hers in the mail today, DOS said it was sent out on the 17th... so that is 6 days... we're actually very lucky it arrived... they somehow put her old work address in Shenzhen on the appointment letter itself, but thankfully it was sent to her home address where she is now near Shanghai.... good luck!

CONGRATS MAN!!!!!!

couldn't have said it better myself, YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!! thank you and good luck to you all!!!!

same for me!!! I called DOS this morning and we got P4 and an April 20th interview too!!!! CONGRATS!!!!!

well, I finally got the answer I have been looking for!!!!! called DOS this morning and we are now scheduled for an APRIL 20TH interview!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe my ears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CAN IT REALLY BE TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

unfortunately that's not the case for me... my case was complete NVC Oct 24, forwarded to GUZ around 11/2 and they did not enter our case into their computer until Feb 13th! The only good news was the namecheck completed fairly quickly on Feb 21st... although I called DOS last week and they said all the security checks completed March 6th... do you think we may still be able to get an April interview? or do you think May or June is more likely? Thanks

Is there any way that the name check can be started before the consulate physically receives the package? it is my understanding that the consulate receives the case electronically from the NVC almost immediately, or maybe have the NVC initiate the name check before they send it off? I think that is the main reason people are upset about the long wait into the computer, because during that time nothing is happening with their cases. Then once it's there, they must wait again another few months for the name check to complete. 2 months is alot, especially when it means the difference between spending christmas and anniversary and valentines together, or not, and seems a constructive use of this "down" time. Thank you for taking the time to respond

I have been reading that blue slips have been issued for needing proof of where the ex husbands of the beneficiaries are. I don't understand the need for this. Under what circumstances is this needed, and what does it prove other than they are still alive? It should be very easy to check with local authorites to see if a divorce paper is legit or not, and what if they don't even know where they are or want to know? I really do not understand this, and I think I speak for everyone else as well.

Well, we have a (blue?) P3 case forward to GUZ date of 11/02/05... so i'm guessing that will put us in for a Apr/May estimate? I'm hoping (praying) our case will be entered into GUZ's computer within a week or so, and somehow our interview is in feb or mar. We are CR1. I will surely end up in the nut house if I have to wait another 6 months! So if you guys don't hear from me you'll know where I'll be Thanks Mark

yes, both tracking #'s say exactly that... Signed for by STAMP I just mailed some documents to my wife in china, and what's interesting is that my local post office said that I didn't need a customs form for it, since it was only documents... interesting eh?

yes Larry, I believe I found the tracking number and it appeared it was delivered on the 14th... but it's only an educated guess (I found it using the EXPEDITE IV SECTION search, and it left NVC on the 4th, 2 days after NVC said it was sent). There was also an I-730 one I found that went out on the 2nd, that also showed delivered on the 14th, so I'm pretty confident it's there now... at least in the building somewhere hehe yes David, I guess the saying about "a watched pot never boils" comes into play here...

Please post your timeline. It provides readers a quick peek as to what's been going on in your case and from there will be better able to respond.... ....welcome to Candle.... 169344[/snapback] hehe done... thanks...

I just got off the horn with the DOS to see if GUZ has physically received our petition yet, and the lady said "I see you've called on this before" and then she said it usually takes 3 weeks to get there. So I said ok I'll call back in 1 week, and then she said "well it takes longer than that..." then she said they have to enter into their system and do security checks until the interview is scheduled.. I felt she was implying for me to not call back for a few months... not even for the status of our name checks... What I wanted to know was if they received our petition physically yet, because she said they do not do any further processing until they get the actual papers from the NVC, even though she said our case was transferred there electronically on Nov 2 (whatever that means). Looking at DHL it appeared maybe it was delived to GUZ on the 14th. Isn't calling the DOS how we find out if the consulate received it and status of name checks? I did not get the feeling she wanted me calling every few days, or even every few weeks

Yes, indeed they are checking everyone that is involved during the process. 168289[/snapback] I'm Curious Shaquanew. Name/background check on the petitioner??? What is the source of this information, Please? Richard 168503[/snapback] See the following link.... http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress04/garrity022504.htm While having a common name may generate "hits," the FBI claims that it can quickly resolve whether or not a "hit" belongs to that person. Where the problem begins is when the "hit" is legit. Then, it's placed in another pile for someone to determine whether it's significant. 168624[/snapback] these are the interesting parts... “Approximately 85% of name checks are electronically returned to the DOS as having "No Record" within 72 hours. A "No Record" indicates that the FBI's Central Records System contains no identifiable information regarding this individual. By agreement with the Department of State, partially due to our concern about the time factors in approving visa requests, a "No Record" equates to a "No Objection" to the issuance of a visa." and "How long does it take to complete a visa request name check?" As shown on the graph, 88% are completed in 30 days and 98% of the requests are resolved in 120 days." (feb 2004) This is an interesting web site I found about chinese last names and their meanings/popularity... if you click on the name it says how popular it is... http://www.yutopian.com/names/ This says Chen is the 5th most common in china.. so who knows who is right hehe

well it would be great if they receive it.... instead of leaving it in customs for week after week..... 167612[/snapback] Hey Hank, You are right........the little stopover in customs generally adds a month or so to the process. How are you and your SO? Ken 167815[/snapback] Wish we were off to see the wizard of GUZ! But maybe we will -- our "received in GUZ date was August 18, 2005. So . . . we should be getting an interview date this month? Here's wishing for us, and everyone else. 167849[/snapback] My *guesstimates* are that your actual GUZ date is in Sept, and your P4 will go out the end of this month or beginning of next month for a January interview... Mark's estimate shows your P4 the end of Jan for an early March interview... I'm guesstimating my wife's interview around late February if we're really really lucky, but more likely March or April... guess it depends how much the recent speed up is also affecting CR1's... good luck! http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...ndpost&p=166150