Gordon & Kathy

I was told yesterday in GZ that they are going ahead with some interviews without getting the clearance finished just so they won't get too backlogged.

I want to thank you all for maintaining a great web site for all of us frustrated about waiting for so long. It has truly been a moral booster to read and discuss our problems and solution. You all work very well together helping each other and that is what is truly important in our lives. God bless you all and I am praying for all of you. I visited GZ yesterday and picked up my fiancee's visa from Mr. Hays a true gentlman and an excellent consulate officer. He is working to help us all out. He told me of a possible fraud problem happening here in China with regard to the EMSs and we should warn our friends waiting. I mentioned I thought the EMSs were taking a longtime to arrive and he told me that sometimes they are held up by an individual who calls the receiver and tells them I understand you are waiting a visa and say, "I can help you get it right away for $100 they pay the $100 and then releases the EMS. So be careful and contact someone at the consulate to find out how to take care of the matter. Wishing everyone the best. I will be monitoring the site and offering help if I can.

Our timeline: Petition: Feb 14th, 2002 INS approval: April 8th, 2002 Packet 3: July 4th, 2002 Packet 4: Oct 7th, 2002 INterview: Oct 30th, 2002 Visa issued: Mar 5th, 2003

No I am not going to waste time. I will be there before 2 PM to get in line and pick it up personally. I am afraid it will be raining tomorrow we got a lot rain today in Shenzhen. We have been out to Wal-Mart and other places doing our shopping. You guys have encouraged my fiancee to shop she has always been a little tight about spending the money. I try to tell her I believe it is much cheaper here than in US. Though I haven't been in the U.S. for a long long time. Sure looking forward to returning though since I have such a wonderful love in my life.

I got the message I can pick up my fiancee's visa tomorrow afternoon. Such wonderful news for such a long wait. I will be praying for all of you that you will be getting the good news soon. I know GZ is working extra hard to get them out for us. Keep up the spirit and we will all be united with our loved ones very soon.

I don't believe they were lost but truly piled up into a mountain of work to be followed up on once the new procedures were installed. All of us were unfortunate to be caught post 9/11 when we finally learned we have no border protections. This has been stated many times for the past 30 years and now we are trying to do something about it. I believe it will be a little be of a guessing game how best to bring increased security in the near term but eventually it will get ironed out. I know one individual who just applied for a student visa this past week and got visa the same day. The schools are now responsible to do the reporting of any student and I believe the I-20 is cleared before sent to the student. So they must be getting more efficient. Once the backlog is finished that we are a part of I believe they will get back to a more normal response of 6 to 9 months. I am an optimist though.

I don't believe it is only the name that brings up the alert. It could be professional background or certain organizations you belong to. If you have been in the science or security functions and possibly the parents that might raise a flag. Any of course this will take time to pursue.

I believe it is from the time they discover they have to put it on hold because something has alerted them about the case. I talked to a leader in the DOS organization and feel my information is credible.

Well I contact DOS and found out our case cleared and was cabled to GZ on Thursday Feb. 27th. We haven't heard from GZ yet but they are receiving 1000s of clearances daily so I guess it is up to how they float to the top! I hope it won't be long. About cases on hold they told me that the delay is substantial at least 6 months and they do have a procedure in place to bring it to final conclusion. So sorry for those who have been told it is on hold. Part of the delay we are all experiencing that had ours resubmitted is that it doubled the number of cases and they are having a hard time pulling all the pieces together from the different systems. No visas get lost or ignored they are there and it is just a matter of time for them to get to them. I did inquire about one case who gave me their number, Lillian from Beijing, her EMS was sent out March 1st. So that was a piece of good news. Also know, DOS doesn't know about an EMS unless GZ has entered in their DB. I have a friend who accompanied a student to GZ for an interview and he had warned her that it would probably be 3 or 4 months before she got her visa if she passed the interview but she got it the same day. I guess the colleges have it together with the I-20 submission. Well I hope we will all get good news soon. I assume GZ takes the cabled clearances in order so lets hope ours are floating to the top. Good luck to all of us and I wish the best to Lillian.

I believe all of us who petitioned prior to April 2002 are blackhole people because they submitted our clearances also in July. They just held up our interviews. We were suppose to be interview in Sept. but they began cancelling any interviews unless you insisted. I insisted in Sept. and got an interview Oct. 30th. So I believe many in Sept., Oct, Nov. and some in Dec. got left behind. But it is great if they are now following up on all of us forgotten one in a logical order based on interview date or petition date. Lets hope we all get cleared out this month. I am praying so.

Congratulations Tine & Ella!!! I do hope you have a great shopping spree! Where do you find the best shopping? Shenzhen is very expensive unless you find a good sale. Blessings to both of you. Gordon & Kathy

Congratulations Mick!!! Hope we all here much more this week in a new month. Wishing you both much love, success and prosperity in your future lives. God bless you both. Gordon & Kathy P.S. When were you cleared and how long for the EMS to arrive

Thanks, and good to post it incase someone else needs to know. Also you have done a good job we appreciate it.

Good post, I will want to share it with others.

Sorry, I figured it out. I didn't think to look in the bottom right hand corner box.