Update from GZ - 5/12

[Jatuke]

My fiancee passed her interview today. I waited for her outside, and it was a suspenseful experience. She went in at 7:40am, came back out at 8:40am because we were missing the 4 passport-sized photos, then went back in, then came back out around 10:30am after a successful interview.

 

The CO spoke to her only in Chinese, which surprised me. He only asked her a few questions:

 

1. Why do you want to go to the U.S.?

2. Is your fiance here? (Because I gave my fiancee my passport to take inside with her)

3. Has your fiance been to China? How many times?

 

He skimmed through our photo album, looked at our Onesuite telephone log printout, and that was it. She will go and pick up the visa and her passport tomorrow afternoon. I will post more in detail. Be careful of the handful of "visa experts" that mingle outside the Consulate.

 

Good luck to everyone else!

[jameschun321]

Congratulations. Now you both can move on and make wonderful memories together.

 

JC

[ChinaRose]

...we were missing the 4 passport-sized photos...

 

Be careful of the handful of "visa experts" that mingle outside the Consulate.

 

I am so happy for you and your fiance, Jatuke! Congratulations!

 

I thought your idea to give your fiance your passport was a very good one. But I'm wondering about the four passport photos. My K3 application has a place for one passport photo. Should I bring four photos, too (in addition to the one on the application)?

 

Also, I've heard here on Candle about those people outside the Consulate. What are they trying to do? Are they bad people who try to keep you from going inside?

 

Good luck to you and your fiance! Much, much happiness always!

 

Rose

[chinadave2001]

Congrats! It's great to hear of yet another veteran finishing this process. I wish you many years of love and happiness. Thanks for the info about the interview. Sounds relatively painless, especially compared to the rest of the process!

dave

[Mick]

Congratulations Jatuke.

 

I know it has been a long and difficult process for you and your loved one. Now is the time to move forward at last. Best wishes for a great life together. Keep us posted on your travel plans.

 

[tonado]

Congrats. I told people the interview is a piece of cake. I don't think it really matter if you are there or not. Have a wonder life together with your gal.

[ChinaRose]

If anyone can answer my questions (above), I would be most thankful.

 

[tonado]

If anyone can answer my questions (above), I would be most thankful.

 

ChinaRose,

 

It seems like you only need 2 photos for K3 (4 for K1). The people outside the GZ consulate are just trying to make money from people who are going for interviews. One of them charge my gal 100 rmb to make sure all her forms are there and everything is fine. I should have told her to ignore them.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

K3

 

http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/guangzho.../iv/gzfaqs.html

 

What documents should I bring to the visa interview?

The applicant should bring the following original documents:

 

Forms in the appointment packet

 

Chinese passport

 

Two visa photos

 

Notarial birth certificate

 

Notarial marital status certificate. If divorced before, previous divorce certificates for each marriage are required. If any child from previous marriage will also apply for visa, a divorce decree showing the child's custody is needed

 

Notarial police certificates are required from each visa applicant aged 16 or over issued by his/her local municipal notary office where he/she has resided for at least six months since attaining the age of sixteen. Police certificates are also required from all other countries where the applicant has resided for at least one year.

 

Medical report

 

Affidavit of Support - I-864 and copies of the three most recent years' tax returns if not already submitted to NVC.

 

Relationship evidence including family photos, correspondence and household registration to prove the claimed relationship.

 

Translations: Police certificates from other countries not in English, or in the official language of the country must be accompanied by certified English translations. Translations must be certified by a competent translator and sworn to before a notary public.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

K1

 

http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/guangzho...u/iv/kvfaq.html

 

What documents should I bring to the visa interview?

The applicant should bring the following original documents:

 

Forms in the appointment packet

 

Chinese passport

 

Application fee receipt

 

Four visa photos attached to forms DS-156

 

Notarial birth certificate

 

Notarial marital status certificate. If divorced before, previous divorce certificates for each marriage are required. If any child from previous marriage will also apply for visa, a divorce decree showing the child's custody is needed.

 

Notarial police certificates are required from each visa applicant aged 16 or over issued by his/her local municipal notary office where he/she has resided for at least six months since attaining the age of sixteen. Police certificates are also required from all other countries where the applicant has resided for at least one year.

 

Medical report

 

Affidavit of Support - I-134 and a copy of the most recent year tax returns from the petitioner.

 

Relationship evidence, such as correspondence and photos taken together to prove the claimed relationship to the petitioner

 

Translations: Police certificates from other countries not in English, or in the official language of the country must be accompanied by certified English translations. Translations must be certified by a competent translator and sworn to before a notary public.

[wolf]

Congradulations Jatuke, on your interview and visa. Here is hoping you a long and happy life together.

[ChinaRose]

Thanks so much, especially to Bob and Tony!

 

[notsosimple]

That's great news. If you are staying in Guangzhou for a few days, there are some pretty cool parks, museums, and such. If you are going shopping, be sure to bargain unless its a chain store. As you get a bit further from Beijing road, most of the shops allow bargaining. Also, near the DongShan Kou metro station, there are lots of clothing and shoe stores where you can bargain. (The road's name is NongLinShiaLu)

 

Have fun and hopefully it stops raining so hard.

 

Leisha

[Jatuke]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the support and the numerous advice I received in this forum. Like others who have gone through this, I am very appreciative that I am part of this group.

 

My fiancee didn't receive P4 in the mail, so I arrived in GZ on Thursday 5/8 at 12:15pm, and went to ACS at 1:30pm. I went inside to the Visa section room, and at 2pm, I went to the only window (window 5, there are about 6 windows) that was operating that day. I told the clerk that we haven't received P4 yet, and he went and got me P4. As I was looking through the glass, and from what I can see I saw a clerk working at a desk in front of a computer and he was on the phone. Probably was answering an inquiry because it was between 2pm-4pm. There was a lot of staff that day and I saw a lot of staff walking into the Consulate. I also saw some clerks carry stacks of folders (most likely petitions). Also, on Shamian Island I saw a lot of American couples with adopted Chinese babies there to take care of paperwork. The Consulate's appearance is totally different than the pictures that are posted on similar discussion boards. The photos online are from older versions of the Consulate. However, no need to worry about the layout because you will be escorted by the security guards throughout. Security is really tight there. I would recommend getting a map of Shamian Island and looking over the different streets and the location of different places. The island itself is pretty small, and everything is within walking distance.

 

My fiancee picked up her visa on Tuesday, 5/13. I would like to clarify something. She was interviewed by a Caucasian-American that only spoke to her in Mandarin. After her interview, she received a small white slip with 2 paragraphs in Chinese on it. The first paragraph stated for some people to come back the same afternoon at 4pm, and the 2nd paragraph stated for people with V or K visa to come the next afternoon at 4pm. So, after conferring with my fiancee numerous times, we assumed that she would go in Tuesday afternoon and pick up her visa, which she did. But, she found out that she was suppose to pick it up the same afternoon of her interview. So, just remind your fiancee to clarify the exact time and day for the visa pickup, because we could've saved one night's hotel fee.

 

We stayed at the Victory Hotel (the new one, the old one is a block down), 300 RMB/night, for 6 nights. The rooms were about a 3-4 star and very clean. We stayed on the 8th floor because according to my fiancee had the best rooms in the hotel. I would recommend this hotel to any couples or fiance/fiancee that needs accomodations near the Consulate. It's cheaper than the White Swan Hotel, which is 500 RMB/night. However, the White Swan is a 5-star hotel.

 

We did the medical exam at the Shamian Foreigners Hospital on the Island. The hospital was a couple blocks before the Victory Hotel. It was 700 RMB for the exam, and an extra 100 RMB for rush pickup. Medical exam Thursday afternoon around 4pm and picked up the results (a white envelope with the medical exam documents, a tube with the x-rays, and a small brown booklet with the exam results) Friday afternoon at 3:30pm (pickup time is from 3:30pm-4pm). The hospital was clean and especially now with SARS they are even more sanitary. The exam consisted of having the patient go to different rooms on the first floor. They are experienced in performing the visa medical exams and the entire exam and process was completed in about an hour. As for SARS on the island, I rarely saw any locals wearing a mask. Only hospital staff and the majority of food service workers wore masks. We did consistently use the alcohol hand sanitizers that I brought from the States, and we used it after each time we touched anything, especially RMB.

 

As for the CITIC Bank fee, they aren't everywhere in Guangzhou and we spent effort trying to locate one, but we finally found one in the Beijing Lu shopping plaza. It's right across from the 8-floor shopping center on the cross intersection of Beijing Lu and XiHu Lu. I think this is the easiest one you'll find and locate.

 

As for the 4 photos, the clerk sent my fiancee out to take 4 new photos at the next-door "Consultation Office" because she didn't have the 4 frontal facial shots. This was for the DS-156K applications. You also need to take photos for the medical exam. The Consultation Office is directly across the front gate, and the "visa experts" are probably associated with them. The office is probably only useful for photos, and it was 40 RMB for 4 photos. Make sure you know which photos you really need, because my fiancee went in by herself, while I was in ACS, and she apparently had the wrong photos taken. So, I'm assuming that they scammed her so that she had to come back a second time, which she did and had to pay another 40 RMB for the frontal photos.

 

Be aware of these "visa experts" mingling in front of the Consulate and among the applicants. These experts are mostly women that chase down people that exit from taxis in front of the Consulate and people that come through the front gate. In the morning, they also line up next to the waiting line next to the gate. They will try to "sell" you numerous advice. I guess they can provide somewhat of a beneficial service, like if you really forgot something and are in dire straits. Other than that, just tell your fiance/fiancee to ignore them completely because they will give you misinformation. But, within this Chinese society, I can understand their intentions, just trying to make money anyway they can in this huge economic gap that exists in China.

 

Personally, I firmly believe that GUZ does some sort of tally-keeping of the number of times that you call them inquiring about your fiancee's case. Back to the clerk talking on the phone and working in front of the computer, I noticed a screen similar to a data-entry screen with different fields. I am strongly assuming that one of these fields has a "Notes" fields. I know Mick and Owen actually went behind the windows, and can have a better view, but this is just my belief. I would recommend people to actively and persistently call GUZ and "push" your case. I haven't been on CFL lately, but if you are waiting longer for a name check clearance, I think you should inquire with GUZ more instead of just solely with DOS.

 

We are going back to LA next week, and I post more about that experience at the end of the month because we have to go through a personal quarantine.

 

Good luck to everyone else.

[owenkrout]

Just a note about the photos. Our daughter just applied for a tourist visa to accompany us on our trip to the US this summer. She had to have the photos done twice also.

 

The problem is two-fold. One is that in China people are used to close being good enough and that doesn't work in this case. My wife several times got frustrated with me inisisting that things be done exactly correctly. Even the issue of having to have notarized documents was a fight as she would insist that the red seal was "good enough in China". Also, the US government changed the photo size requirements back in April. The result is that the automatic poloroid cameras that everybody had for taking passport pictures now won't work for US passport or visa pictures. Many places still will use the old format which will result in having to have the picture taken again.

 

We ended up having to pay the same 40RMB fee (atrociously high for China) in order to get somebody that could comply with the new rules.