Wow, lots of mixed up information out there, isn't there? From "The World is ending" to "Everything is fine" and everything in between.
I COULD be wrong, but from the news on Guangzhou's website, news my fiancee read in China, and the Voice of America article this is what I understand:
1. The All China visa call-center, which is located in Shanghai was closed due to complaints by the Chinese that it was overcharging, and perhaps other things. The US insists nothing was wrong with it, but...
2. The center handled information calls, and scheduling for ALL visas including K visas. It has done this since sometime in April.
3. This means that NO interviews are currently being scheduled. It does not mean that visa's aren't being processed. The process is unaffected up to the point that an interview must be scheduled. This is why those who already have a date, were instructed to proceed as planned.
4. As far as a fix, and when interviews will be scheduled again, who knows. I imagine, it will begin when either the call center is allowed to re-open, or the embassy and consulates go back to scheduling their own interviews as they did up to just a few weeks ago. The only delays will be those caused by a backlog of unscheduled interviews when the flood gates finally open back up.
Again, I'm not the "master of information" here, and I could conceivably be wrong. But if you read the various news sources, it is pretty self-evident, if you understand what the visa call center's function is/was.
Basically, it's screwed up, but no reason to panic as I'm sure there will be at least a patch-up temporary fix to get things moving again coming soon. In the face of all the months of waiting, a few extra possible weeks probably won't seem like too much.
ALL VISAS are on hold!!!
in General Visa Discussion & First Steps
Posted
Wow, lots of mixed up information out there, isn't there? From "The World is ending" to "Everything is fine" and everything in between.
I COULD be wrong, but from the news on Guangzhou's website, news my fiancee read in China, and the Voice of America article this is what I understand:
1. The All China visa call-center, which is located in Shanghai was closed due to complaints by the Chinese that it was overcharging, and perhaps other things. The US insists nothing was wrong with it, but...
2. The center handled information calls, and scheduling for ALL visas including K visas. It has done this since sometime in April.
3. This means that NO interviews are currently being scheduled. It does not mean that visa's aren't being processed. The process is unaffected up to the point that an interview must be scheduled. This is why those who already have a date, were instructed to proceed as planned.
4. As far as a fix, and when interviews will be scheduled again, who knows. I imagine, it will begin when either the call center is allowed to re-open, or the embassy and consulates go back to scheduling their own interviews as they did up to just a few weeks ago. The only delays will be those caused by a backlog of unscheduled interviews when the flood gates finally open back up.
Again, I'm not the "master of information" here, and I could conceivably be wrong. But if you read the various news sources, it is pretty self-evident, if you understand what the visa call center's function is/was.
Basically, it's screwed up, but no reason to panic as I'm sure there will be at least a patch-up temporary fix to get things moving again coming soon. In the face of all the months of waiting, a few extra possible weeks probably won't seem like too much.