AZwolfman Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 Read Kenneth's post on G7He has provided his email and has offered to be of assistance to us while he is in GZ next month. He will be there for 7 weeks. I know Mick and Owen just got back from GZ, but maybe we could put some "follow-up" pressure to bear on the place that apparently is now just sitting on our visas as they allow a very few pickup notices to trickle out. Perhaps we could get together an agenda or a group communique for Kenneth. What do you think? We send faxes, make phone calls, send emails, etc., but we haven't barraged them with personal visits - yet. And here is a man offering to do what he can. Any ideas on this? I'm getting really fed up with the run-around we have been getting so far. The only thing that seems to get their attention is our constant combined yelling at them Link to comment
AngryTexan Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 I will also be in GZ either during the week of 3-3, or 3-10. Obviously, I plan to pay a visit to our dear friends there, and I am more than open to suggestions as to how to proceed. Please let me know if I can be of help to anyone, although I must caution you that I do not intend to take any cr** from them, so if you want someone to take the gentle approach, I'm not your man. Link to comment
AZwolfman Posted February 21, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Texan, thank you for your offer. I personally think that we are just a bit beyond the need for the "gentle" approach which we have already tried. You seem to have the attitude that we need in dealing with this bureaucracy. You can bet that if I lived anywhere near GZ, I would be a semi-regular pain in the A** to them. They would probably all recognize me on sight by now. If we are going to do this, we perhaps need to pin a thread inviting everyones' input. An idea I have for one piece of ammunition to take to GZ is for everyone to write a one-page personal account (with a pic of the happy couple at top of the page for a letterhead) of their situation, including timeline - similar to the "congressman template form" that you posted a while back. There is enough time to fax or mail these to you. I prefer priority mail because it seems a bit more personal than fax (regular snail mail even more personal but not so reliable), and it also allows one to imbed a color photo letterhead. Easy to carry a bundle of priority envelopes to the consulate. Open them one at a time in front of the officer until he screams, "All right already; here are all your visas!" Just throwing out ideas here; probably more ideas later. What does everybody else think? I especially want ideas from you newbies. New members = new ideas. Link to comment
carhil24 Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Wolfman, great idea! I think letters are the best choice, as if we could get together about 200-300 of them in envelopes, that would surely make a lasting impression. Will it work, who knows? But at this point, I'm willing to try anything! Link to comment
AZwolfman Posted February 21, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Wolfman, great idea! I think letters are the best choice, as if we could get together about 200-300 of them in envelopes, that would surely make a lasting impression. Will it work, who knows? But at this point, I'm willing to try anything! The theme of my campaign has always been, "MAKE IT PERSONAL." I of course assume that each official we deal with is a human with loved ones of his own. And all that I have talked with seemed to be such humans, and many were compassionate whenever I told them my story. Link to comment
Mick Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Wolfman, Texan, et.al: I think another visit to GZ would be a great idea. The more of us they see the more personal it will be for them. When Owen and I met with them we took along a group letter to Richard Adams which he in fact did read in our presence. I think the more often we appear in their face, the more likely we are to get a response. When Owen and I went over, we scheduled an appointment with Richard Adams in advance. Whoever you plan to meet with, I suggest you do the same or you will never get past the outer layers of workers. Perhaps another appointment with Adams is good, or better still, maybe try to go up the food chain another level to Linda Donahue. Maybe both. Whatever you do I support you completely. Let me know if there is anything I can do from this end. Also, keep the "personal" approach at the forefront. Letters, photos, and the like are excellent ideas. Link to comment
AZwolfman Posted February 21, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Do we need to get out our copies of the emails and faxes that we sent to obtain Mick and Owen's meeting with R. Adams, and modify and resend? I smell a plan emerging. Link to comment
Guest agl88 Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 I totally agree we need to complain about the GZ consulate inability of communicating with the public. It is acceptable: 1) Each day, there is only two hours people can make call 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. And you have to be lucky to go through the line. I have terrible experiance making call to INS or Dos. I had been hold more than one hours several times to call Texas INS. But still, it is better than GZ consulate. Some people in 001 reported that they never go through the GZ telephone line for more than two months. Why does GZ only set up two hours for public inquiry??? 2)Sometime in last December, GZ consulate seems to stop answering email inquiry. I used to get pretty quick response before last December. But I have received NO response for last emails sent on Jan 16 and Jan 29. 3)I sent two emails to Richard Adams last 5 days, but both of them are transferred to the information officers who will never reply to me. Solve the communication problem could be one of the important agendas when meeting with GZ consulate. Link to comment
carhil24 Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 I think the problem is that these offices are over-whelmed, under-staffed, and efficiently-challenged. The problem is, if we ask them to fix the communication problem, they will pull 1 or 2 of the 3 or 4 people they have processing the visas, and have them answer the phones. And the response will always be the same anyways: "still pending!" Do I sound pessismistic yet! BTW, you are correct, they have stopped responding to emails as of mid-December, but I personally am not overly-concerned about it, because most of the responses were form-letters anyway. I still think that our best chances lie in contacting the h... out of DOS/CA, although I have actually talked to a live person in GZ twice during the past week. But of course the response was the same, "still pending!" Somewhere there must be a school for government workers that teaches all of them these retread phrases! Link to comment
carhil24 Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Oh, and I forgot the famous, "give us a couple of more weeks!" Link to comment
carhil24 Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 This situation reminds me of an old joke about the difference between a person who works in (insert GZ/DOS/CA or whatever office you choose) and a chess-player! Answer: A chess-player has to move once in a while! Link to comment
Alyse Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Hi all, This is Alyse in Guangzhou, I too am very frustrated with what is going on with my visa process. I am always here, if you need any help here, count on me. Link to comment
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