lilacblues

Thank you for your kind words I picked up my passport and visa packet today after 7 agonizing days... So ready to head back to Shanghai to start finalizing and packing away my life in China.

Looks like I'm one of those who have to wait for more than 3 working days to personally pick up my passport + visa packet. As of today, I still have no news of my documents and it's been 4 working days since the interview date last week. I opted to pick up at the post office in the CITIC Plaza since I needed my passport as my travel document at the airport. I have stayed in Guangzhou for over a week now and have been away from work just as long. Phew.... this is a whole new stage of anxiety and worry. Have been checking the www.emsgz.com website regularly for my tracking number to show some activity and calling the post office as well. We e-mailed the consulate a couple of times and received generic responses such as "Please note that given the high volume of the visa applications we are processing, visas are not delivered to the China Post once they are printed. Normally, visas are sent China Post in one or two days after they are printed out as we need to finalize the printing process by packing visas into packets. Please check with China Post to see if your beneficiary's visa is ready for pick up." I just feel like yelling but I know it's pretty useless since patience and waiting have always been part of this entire process all along...

Received my visa approval today!!!! Am very happy. Now just have to pick up my passport with visa at the Post Office in Citic Plaza

If K1 visa DS-3025 is separate and if CR1/IR1 visa DS-3025 is kept with rest of medical report. K1 needs to send it to USCIS when adjusting status after marriage, CR1/IR1 turns it in to consulate because they don't adjust status. From past posts, are you doing a K-1? If so you may want to revisit medical center and request the DS-3025 separated and placed into a separate envelope, you will need to bring that to the USA and attach it to the I-485 you file to adjust status. Sounds like medical staff confused you for an immigrant visa case like CR1/IR-1, and not a non-immigrant K-1. I'm for the K-1. I saw the DS-3025 enclosed in the sealed envelope. I asked them to separate it but they said no and gave me a separate vaccination booklet with some signed papers. Does the consulate return the entire medical report package after the visa interview?

Picked up my medical report just now. I have a sealed X-Ray film and the sealed envelope containing the medical report. The sealed envelope also contained the vaccination documentation worksheet (DS-3025). Separately, I have a vaccination booklet and a paper signed by a physician. I asked about sealing the vaccination documentation and records separately and the staff said that's not required. Does that sound right?

Quick debrief.... Just had my medical examination at the Health Care Center of Shanghai International Travel (上海国际旅行卫生保健中心). I almost forgot about this place, as I had had my medical examination before I received my work and residence permit a few years back. Anyway, all US immigration related health check-ups are located at Building 3. I was surprised to find a few who could communicate in English. After the consultation with a medical officer, I was informed that I only had to receive 2 vaccines. The entire process from registration to each medical examination took a long time because it was pretty crowded. So it's better to be there early or later, after the first round of crowd is done (but remember you are fasting so it's likely you wanna get it done early!!!). The vaccination particularly was the longest wait. The report will be ready a week from yesterday.

My visa appointment is on September 4, 2012. Will be posting.

Finally moving along after the delays with CSC and NVC! Need a clarification here.... When you said to include "EMS Mailing Label from your China Post office," did you mean to include a new self-addressed EMS mailing label with the rest of the forms? Or was it an implication to employ EMS service to send the documents to Guangzhou? The OF-169 (English version) didn't mention about the EMS mailing label. Thanks!

Was reading through the posts about the before and after interview processes. Now I have a silly question to ask. For a non-Chinese citizen (like me) who flies in from Shanghai, does that mean I have to wait till I receive my passport before I can leave Guangzhou? As far as I know, passports are required for airport check-ins. I realized that people normally spend a few days before and after the interview get things done (medical check-up, document submission, interview day, etc.). My imagination up till now was that I would fly in from Shanghai for the interview 2 days before, then leave right after the interview as I have to get back to work and I will wait for the return of my passport via EMS. But now thinking of it, this doesn't seem to work out. Any comments?

Despite what your approval notice or even an operator might say, no file goes directly to an Embassy or Consulate from USCIS; it always goes via the NVC. This is because a file must be assigned a case number and the only entity that assigns case numbers is the NVC. For K1 cases, the NVC is nothing more than a mail stop, when they receive the file from USCIS, they assign it a case number and sent it to the appropriate Embassy or Consulate; therefore, for K1 cases the NVC usually does not contact the petitioner or beneficiary as their involvement in the case is minimal. Even though you wrote Shanghai on the I-129F form, the file will not be sent there. Interviews for K1 visas are only done at the Consulate in Guangzhou. In your future dealings with the NVC, ask them what the case number for your file is. If you do not get very far with the NVC, try the State Department's visa information helpline at (202) 663-1225. When it connects, you would push 1, then 0 to go be connected to an operator. Our case was stranded at USCIS for more than 30 days. Actually, plenty of Dec filers (referring to the folks who posted on VJ) encountered similar situation. After many phone calls, we finally received our GUZ case number from NVC today!!! Will have to check again on the date that P3 leaves the embassy.

Hey! Greatly appreciated the feedbacks! Now, my fiance and I are encountering a new problem. Maybe I should start a new topic, but anyway let me post it here first. Our I-129F was approved and notified by USCIS on May 16 (case processed at CSC). My fiance received the approval notice in the mail stating the next steps. So it's been more than a month and we didn't hear from NVC. My fiance called NVC today and NVC said they did not receive our case from USCIS. Oh man. Then he called USCIS and USCIS said they'll review our case and respond in 5 days. Also, the person from NVC told my fiance on the phone that USCIS "may" have forwarded the case to the consulate in Shanghai (that's what I put in my application) directly. Well, I thought this was quite impossible. Has anyone experienced such a situation before????

Thanks!! One more thing, do you have any idea whether it's necessary for a non-Chinese to obtain a marital status certificate in China? I did obtain one from my home country, so I wasn't sure if I need to get another one in China. Nope, not needed from China, they would have no record anyway. Yes evidence free to marry and/or prior marriages terminated is needed at interview, if country provides a cert of no marriage (Philippines) , have it for interview. Thanks!!

Thanks!! One more thing, do you have any idea whether it's necessary for a non-Chinese to obtain a marital status certificate in China? I did obtain one from my home country, so I wasn't sure if I need to get another one in China.

I am a Malaysian and can speak some Chinese, but I can't read Chinese. I have already obtained my police clearance certificate from my home country. I am still in the progress of finding out how to get one in Shanghai. I called the Shanghai Public Notary Office a few days ago, and the person asked that I come with my passport and residence/work permit. He said I don't need other documents and the notary office will do the background check. I can probably get a certificate in a week or two. Does that sound about right? Any comments on this? My fiance and I haven't heard from NVC yet, so we're still waiting.

Typically the consulate schedules interview for 3 weeks to a month after you return the P3 forms to them. And why I say get the vaccination DS-3025 record done over there is because if you delay that and do it in the USA you will have to deal with doctors that want to hit you for a LOT of money. SEE: http://candleforlove...-and-the-i-693/ So at the medical examination, we could also get the vaccination and the sealed report?