China K-visa timelines compared to others?

[Emery]

Hi guys. In trying to make a case for my congressman's aide to look into this matter more deeply, it would help if I could show him that Chinese K-visas are being held up far more than Russian or other ones, in the security namecheck phase. His contact at DOS keeps telling him that my 3 months of waiting for a security namecheck is not all that long. I think it is, but I don't have data to back it up.

 

Do any of you have this info, or know where I can look for it?

 

Thanks!

 

-Emery

[tonado]

Emery,

 

Three months is not long compared to others in black hole group. My gal has been waiting since 9/11/02 (6 months).

 

Go to:

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....3e5d0b3118d7ce7

[Robert S.]

Comparatively, three months is not long. Looking at it in realistic terms, though, why should it take 3 weeks let alone 3 months for the name check? In doing some research to make your case to the aide, why don't you go to the links and resources section and there you will find links to other sites where people have fiancees from other countries, such as the usenet group alt.visa.us.marriage-based and there you can glean examples of the waiting times others are going through. I think you have a valid point that the name check for Chinese people takes much longer than for other countries. How much would you bet that it would not take nearly so long if the lady were from Japan? Or Thailand? I am fairly sure it does not take so long for Russians, you can check this on the Russia board on G7 or perhaps here on Candle if we still have any Russia guys.

[Mick]

Yes, the name check from China seems longer no doubt. It is interesting and kind of a twisted logic, but when Owen and I visited GZ and talked with Richard Adams, he told us that no one really felt the Chinese were a security risk but that this fact, in itself, was the reason the name checks took so long. The FBI, who conducts the checks, operates from a law enforcement mentality. Therefore, those applicants from nations which are viewed as higher security risks get checked first. Chinese visas are, in their mind, not associated with terrorism and therefore go on the back burner. I am not making this up, this is what he told us. He did say he didn't agree with this but he understood the FBI mindset and why they did things in this way.

 

Like I said, the logic is kind of twisted but it makes sense. Especially when viewed from the priorities of law enforcement.

 

BTW: I am not saying I agree with this at all. That's just the info we were given.

[chinadave2001]

To find this information just do a search under "fiance visa delays" on Google. You will find lots of indexes that track these things and can give you data about other timelines. You will quickly discover as I have that, generally speaking, if your loved one came from a European country, Korea or even the Philipines that she would already be here. China has the longest delays by far, with Russia next. Be prepared to get really angry. To be fair, eveyone seems to be suffering longer delays at the initial INS service centers -

Dave

[tonado]

I think part of the problem is that there are so many Chinese fiance(e)s compared to other fiance(e)s from other countries. Still, it shouldn't take more than 2 months for security check.

[chinadave2001]

Actually, I think the problem is not only the security checks but also GZ's processing of them. (or lack thereof) As I have said in many posts, I really think that this is a problem of priorities and manpower. Those of us who are still waiting need to pick up the slack and keep the pressure on....all the good letter writers are getting their visas!

Dave

[tparrent]

I agree with some of what you all say but I think there are other elements as well. Besides having a very large number of petitions, China also has a very high fraud rate for immigration. That has to slow things down.

 

I also think additional manpower has been added to high risk countries. Think about it - one additional staffer in Saudi Arabia is going to make a lot more difference in terms of speed than one additional one in GZ.

 

On the other hand, China has also been slow (see fraud and volume above).

 

Don't look at the other timelines. You have enough stress already

[Emery]

Thanks for the info, guys. From your posts, I gather 2 things:

 

1) 3 months isn't that long, Chinese visas are supposed to take longer

2) keep putting pressure on the INS et. al, squeeky wheel gets the grease.

 

I'm wondering, however, that if it is justified to delay Chinese visas more, because of numbers/fraud/etc., then on what basis do we complain? Is it only those in the black whole that should complain? Should I wait 3 more months before I start pestering them?

 

Thanks.

 

-Emery

[Robert S.]

Looking at it from the history of the relationship between China and the US the delay for China visa applicant processing must be because of the sheer numbers of people in China, which America has always been very afraid of. The government maintains a slow pace in order to dampen people's desire to get involved in such a tedious process.

[chinadave2001]

Looking at it from the history of the relationship between China and the US the delay for China visa applicant processing must be because of the sheer numbers of people in China, which America has always been very afraid of.  The government maintains a slow pace in order to dampen people's desire to get involved in such a tedious process.

Robert, I agree with you completely. If there is a delay to get a visa out of China, I really believe that it is by design. Why? I don't know. Clearly if there is such a high demand there needs to be sufficient staffing.

 

If you have a school with 100 students, then you need about ten teachers. If your school has 2000 students, then you need about 200 teachers. They are staffing GZ like it's a 100 student school. Why????

 

Dave

[tparrent]

Ok, I promote Don to a position of authority! Rebalance those staff levels.

 

I really have to disagree with Dave and Robert - I do not think there is real intent behind these delays but what do I know? I really think it's just volume. Otherwise, why not just reject a bunch of applications? Also, you are assuming that the authorities believe the waiting times will act as a deterrent. For that to make sense, people would have to be aware of the delays BEFORE they meet their loves and begin the process. How many of you knew about the delays before you even met your fiancee?

 

I could be wrong.

[chinadave2001]

1. If there is no intent behind the delays, then there is incredible indifference. I'm not sure which is worse - neglect by design or by apathy.

 

2. I wasn't aware that the increase in volume was so dramatic. It does beg a different question though - maybe should be a different thread - why the dramatic increase in marriages between Chinese and Americans? What happened in 2001 so that the numbers doubled? Interesting....

Dave