Dan

Barey, I can be of help. Contact me offline. Check your mailbox for my access information. Dan

of course. unfortunately they do not extend to "potential" Americans who have yet to cross over the boarder. Dave Perhaps we ought to amend this concept from "civil rights" to "human rights". The latter is a common foundation for US government international policies. History is replete with the US government's howls of protest when a country violates the "human rights" of its citizens. Consider the US reaction when Cuba and Libya were allowed to continue on the UN Human Rights Commission. Though the US is almost all talk, this may be an option to consider. Dan

Count me in too. Lisa and I go back to the original "black hole" group. My second Notice of Action (NOA) was in August of 2002. For newbies, this is the notice that gets forwarded on to the Consulate, the notice that begins the remainder of the process. Lisa had her interview December of last year where she was given the infamous "you're approved for a visa, but must wait for your security clearance" paper. She was re-submitted for clearance in December, January, February, April, and twice in May (once by GZ, once by the State Dept) ... but it's been nothing but silence. We've been waiting nearly six months for us since her visa was approved. Subsequently, I can truly understand and appreciate what everyone here feels, and more so. We MUST continue to be heard. The vocal ones from last year have virtually all been cleared. Sadly, there are still some stragglers from last summer - Lisa and I amongst them. As a helpful note, faxes may have more impact than net-based communication. E-mail, even though addressed directly to Ms. Harty or Cabral, is NOT answered by them. Instead it's read, filtered, and replied to by contract staff. Moreover, e-mail is easily deleted. Faxes leave a paper trail, a trail whose existence cannot be denied, especially since most fax machines print out a status report at the conclusion of the transmission. In any event .. you have my support 110%. Dan

I agree .. name checks SHOULD have cleared by mid-February, but it's not the case, nor at least in our case is it caused by a hit. Lisa and I are waiting for her namecheck clearance. She still hasn't cleared, nor is she "on hold". Regrettably, there appears to be yet another black-hole group developing, of which we are a part. It's now been almost 14 weeks since Lisa's Dec 31 interview, and more than six months since her initial namecheck submission .. with no end in sight. Recent conversations with DoS, as well as a form-letter boilerplate reply from Maura Harty to my written complaint of March 20, all indicate "no problems" .. just "pending". Our timeline thus far: Sep 28, 2002 - Packet #3 Oct 15, 2002 - Initial namecheck submission Dec 17, 2002 - Namecheck resubmit Dec 31, 2002 - Interview (approved, but no visa) Jan 10, 2003 - Namecheck resubmit Feb 04, 2003 - Namecheck resubmit (final resub) Feb 20, 2003 - False report to me of Lisa's clearance (DoS error) Mar 03, 2003 - Lisa's data disappeared from all DoS databases Mar 20, 2003 - Sent e-mail to Maura Harty requesting assistance Mar 24, 2003 - Received form-letter reply that didn't address the issue Mar 31, 2003 - Sent follow-up letter to Maura Harty - no reply received Mar 31, 2003 - DoS Answerline says Lisa's data visible again, still "pending" Apr 04, 2003 - DoS stated Lisa is still "pending" and advised me my only option is to wait

Give yourself as much time as possible. Most clinics were quoting 3-5 days when we were there in December. The hospital on the island near the American Consulate was quoting 1-day turnaround, but for a higher fee. The hospital on the island also appeared to be the most organized of the clinics we visited. I'd strongly recommend paying the extra fee and get the results expedited. It's worth the peace of mind. A week early isn't too soon. To give you an idea what I mean .. due to equipment malfunctions, holidays, and errors committed by clinic personnel, my fianc¨¦e¡¯s checkup results took 19 days and required numerous visits to the clinic before the problems were resolved. We were in Guangzhou for 23 days as a result. Admittedly our situation was unusual, but if it happened to us .. it could happen again. Dan

Hello all, Being a rather private person, I've not posted anything of a personal nature - until today. I'm now using this opportunity to break that silence, if only on this one occasion. Yesterday, I received an exceptionally touching letter from Lisa, my fianc¨¦e. She has a beautifully expressive way with words when she writes to me. Her latest letter was no exception. This is a difficult public admission .. but for this old man .. as I read Lisa's letter .. I sat here with tears of love and appreciation in my eyes. Words from her heart of such eloquence only serve to strengthen and deepen my love, affection, and admiration for this wonderful woman, who, upon her arrival in America, will become my wife. It also strengthens my resolve during this very difficult period, reinforcing my patience with a profoundly frustrating visa process, particularly at a time when my tolerance with the delay was dwindling. It is my sincere hope in sharing Lisa's letter today that it serves the same purpose of encouragement for all who, like Lisa and I, anxiously await the day when we are reunited. I'm exceedingly fortunate to have Lisa in my life. She is a truly remarkable woman, and the light of my life. I am honored now to share her words with you... ¡°I am very far from you, and I deeply miss you. We have not seen each other for a long time. We are not able to talk or write often, so I think of you frequently. In any woman's life, it is not meant for her partner to be kept from her at a distance. No matter what happens today or in the future, we will protect the love we have for each other. Our love is pure, and we will be together in time. You do not have peace for yourself without the love of my heart. I know you are very lonely without me. I am also very lonely without you. No matter where you are, while we are far from each other, you are always on my mind.¡± "In any woman's life, it is not meant for her partner to be kept from her at a distance. " Never truer words were spoken... My best to all. Dan

Hi all, During a return trip to the US from China last fall, I came through LAX as usual. Knowing I would be making this same trip with Lisa in the future, I made a point of asking the [then] INS officials at LAX about accompanying her through the entry process. The officer in charge told me even though the lines are differentiated into "citizen" and "non-citizen" categories, they would permit me (a US citizen) to be processed back into the US through a non-citizen line without difficulty. The only time I'd be excluded would be at the actual Point-of-Entry (POE) processing. Granted things may have changed since then due to security issues, but it won't hurt to ask for permission to do this when you arrive. I've found the INS [now BCIS] folks I've met and talked with at LAX to be very friendly and understanding, especially about K-1 issues.

Pending: This indicates the applicant has been submitted for the namecheck, which is now in process. No status has yet been returned by the investigating agencies, thus it is "pending". At this juncture, neither the Dept of State nor the Consulate can accurately report anything other than the case status. If the applicant's name or other data merits further investigation as deemed by the agency, this status is updated in the database by the investigating agency. This then becomes visible to Dept of State Information personnel, and is thus reflected as "On Hold". "On hold" On hold does not mean a case is pending at the Consulate in Guangzhou. To wit: "A government agency has placed a hold on the process...". It means one of the investigative agencies has cross-referenced the applicant's name or other related information to an existing case of interest, or one similar in nature, and has stopped the process at that point to verify that the person is, or is not, the one of significance to them. If not, the cross-reference check continues. Once complete by all agencies, an “NR” is entered (No Record) and the applicant’s namecheck is finished and is then forwarded to the Consulate for further visa processing. Period. Guangzhou visa officers may not know of the internal workings of this aspect of the process. Their job duties don't involve them at this level, nor are they required to do so. Thus, the aforementioned lack of knowledge by the visa officer is not at all out of the ordinary and is not cause for concern. Yes, multiple dispositions are forwarded in a group. Source: Internal within the Dept of State .. Further affiant sayeth not.

"On hold" means a namecheck has generated a "hit" in one of the Dept of Justice computer systems. In virtually all instances, this is caused by the name being identical or very similar to a name of someone of interest to the DoJ, such as someone who was deported in the past, refused entry, and so forth. In the same manner as the American Consulate in Guangzhou stated in the now infamous "white paper" that a case could be delayed for "up to eight weeks or longer" pending the namecheck, the Department of State is telling applicants a case is "on hold", which could be for up to six months. Inasmuch as the DoJ checks are totally out of the hands of the Dept of State, the DoS folks don't have any idea how much additional time a "hit" will add to the processing of a given clearance. Subsequently, they issue a blanket statement of delay. Recent experience by others who experienced a "hit" shows the delay to be less than six months, usually much less.

Eric, As I recall, December 4 was the day the first large release of visa clearances was due to arrive at the Consulate, hence the Dec 3 date here. Dan

How very true. In spite of encountering some less than pleasant folks on the phones at times, there ARE some *very* kind, considerate, and understanding people at the Dept of State. We have met two of them on the phones who I'd publicly like to thank .. Sarah and Greg. (If there are others who are equally deserving, please forgive this oversight, but these are the two I've met by way of phone calls to DoS.) Sarah and Greg have been patient, gentle, compassionate, AND helpful during a time of great frustration, disappointment, and heartache for us all. I would like to go on record as expressing what I'm sure many of us feel .. a very sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU to both for the humane and caring way in which they treated us. They were a most welcome calm in the midst of this very troublesome storm. To Greg .. and to Sarah .. "thank you" does not come close to the reward you deserve for being the quality people you are .. but it's the best I can do at this time. Dan & Lisa

Hi all, Greetings from a chilly Guangzhou (7C this AM). They had their coldest couple of days here in almost 30 years, and it got below freezing two nights ago. Think "Miami, Florida", and you almost have the same climate here, except summers are even warmer and more humid than Miami. Lisa and I are here for her interview on Monday (12/30). Afterwards, she and I are planning to go to Shenzhen for a day or so. Lisa speaks fluent Mandarin and has offered to talk with Liyan. Perhaps we can even meet with her in person if it can be arranged. I've already contacted Joe offline with this offer as it's the least we can do to return some of the assistance everyone here and on other boards has provided to Lisa and me in times of need. We'll be in the Guangzhou area for a few more days, and possibly as long as two more weeks depending on several variables (visa outcome, etc.), so we have a good possibility of providing some direct moral support to LiYan. Best to all for the new year... Dan and Lisa Guangzhou, China (for now) December 28, 2002 10:46 PM China time

Congratulations Dawn! When was his Packet 3 submitted? I'm trying to estimate if my fiancee Lisa might also receive a visa after her interview on December 30. I'm flying to China this Sunday (Dec 15) to accompany Lisa and her daughter to their interview - a distance of 3,000 miles one-way, even though I'll be waiting outside the entire time . I was hoping to hear some good news about Lisa's security check being finished, but as of Tuesday (Dec 10), it wasn't. Her Packet 3 was sent back to the Consulate via overnight mail on Oct 8. Thanks! Season's Greetings... Dan Dallas, Texas

Eric, I have some good news. Contact me offline. I sent you a private e-mail here on the message board with my e-mail address. Thanks! Dan

Hi all! Lisa received Packet 4 yesterday, a month ahead of what we expected (but who's complaining??). Specific questions: 1) How much time should we allow ahead of the interview date for the medical exams for Lisa and her daughter? We want to have all results back and in-hand without any time panic at the end. 2) Are any of the exam facilities generally better than the others? (shortest time to get results, lowest cost, etc...) 3) Recommended hotels in GZ .. and it doesn't have to be walking distance to the Consulate if it means getting better quality lodging at a reasonable cost. 4) Any other suggestions for someone now going through what many of you have already experienced? I'll be watching others who interview between now and the end of the month to see if/when visas are granted after a successful interview... Thanks! And congrats to all for the patience .. it does indeed appear that the worst part of this "drought" is over. Season's Greetings to you and yours, Dan Dallas, Texas