American Citizen's Hour in GUZ

[Steve and Aiwen]

I recently attended ACH in GUZ, May 11 to be exact.....I listed 6 questions on the form....I pretty much knew the answers from here, but I wanted to hear what they would say....I had a male VO, very nice, about early 30's I would say....he was very patient, friendly, and informative....he answered all my questions, looked our case up in the computer.....it showed in transit, electronic copy on file at GUZ. He said they were giving out June interview dates now...he also told me that the files right now are sitting in the customs warehouse for about a month at present, "Just to make us mad, I guess." he said....referring to the Chinese officials...he logged me into the computer as attending ACH, and said it will show up at the interview that I was there...I plan to be there for the interview anyway, but since I was here.....why not make time and get another bullet in my gun, so to speak.....I only waited about 20 minutes, no line at security....Americans go the head of the line...there were about 60 Chinese waiting to be admitted. I must admit I enjoyed the special treatment....too bad this is about the only experience in the visa process where this might happen, lol.....

 

I also ran into a group of fellow lao wei doing the same thing I was....including David from this site...(David and Wendy)....I also met Mr. Paget, the immigration attorney who sharks the water at GUZ....

 

Strategic note:....I scoped out the hallway where the restrooms are between the IV unit and ACS....if I get too antsy, I can peer into the waiting room from there when the time comes....maybe give a little wave of encouragement....

 

...end of report....

 

Steve

[tsap seui]

Thanks for the report Steve. At this point our application is just a few weeks ahead of yours, but this could change if anything slows down our progress in the name checks, etc.

 

 

The timeline for us went like this...NVC forwarded our case to Guangzhou on January 12 and I called the DOS on April 27th to find out that GUZ had logged it as "open" on April 27th (107 days). When I called the DOS one week later, after I got back from China, the computer now said our P-3 packet was "sent" on Apri. My girlfriend actually picked up the packet this past Friday and will send it back tomorrow.

 

We had filled out the P-3 forms during my January visit so she didn't have too many questions to ask me...LOL

 

Thanks again for telling us about your visit to ACH. It really helps to hear about everyones experiences as I'll be going to ACH in July or August before the interview.

 

Good luck, I hope that P-3 packet gets sent out quickly for you two.

 

tsap seui

[Steve and Aiwen]

Thanks for the report Steve. At this point our application is just a few weeks ahead of yours, but this could change if anything slows down our progress in the name checks, etc.

 

 

The timeline for us went like this...NVC forwarded our case to Guangzhou on January 12 and I called the DOS on April 27th to find out that GUZ had logged it as "open" on April 27th (107 days). When I called the DOS one week later, after I got back from China, the computer now said our P-3 packet was "sent" on Apri. My girlfriend actually picked up the packet this past Friday and will send it back tomorrow.

 

We had filled out the P-3 forms during my January visit so she didn't have too many questions to ask me...LOL

 

Thanks again for telling us about your visit to ACH. It really helps to hear about everyones experiences as I'll be going to ACH in July or August before the interview.

 

Good luck, I hope that P-3 packet gets sent out quickly for you two.

 

tsap seui

 

 

Thanks for the comments....I hope our P-3 comes along soon....the whole process is very unpredictable, it seems.....we are practicing for the interview already!

 

Best of luck to you and your SO.....THINK PINK!!!!

 

Steve

[jim_julian]

....I also met Mr. Paget, the immigration attorney who sharks the water at GUZ....

 

 

Heheheh ... such an appropriate characterization.

[TootTaLu]

....I also met Mr. Paget, the immigration attorney who sharks the water at GUZ....

 

 

Heheheh ... such an appropriate characterization.

 

I dont think I ever met him,but my fiance and I certainly met some of his minions,misleading official looking ID badge and all.I think he recruites these people from outside the Chinese train stations or the Silk Market in Beijing.

When she is exiting her interview,or even walking NEAR the US Consulate building,they will descend on your fiance like a pack of...well...train station pimps or hungry wolves.

As she exitis the interview there is a bunch of people screaming at her to buy air tickets,and these people are also there offering you the services of the lawyer.

Please tell your fiance to CONCEAL ALL PAPERS when exiting the interview,blue,pink,white,anything.And try very very hard to not show any emotion and keep a poker face until you are well away from the entire US Consulate building.

I say this because like most people,you enter the building with expectations of getting the visa,but when she comes out with no visa she is usually near tears and in a very fragile emotional state.

God forbid you meet one of these official looking ID badge wearing people and make the mistake of asking them "wheres the restroom" or "wheres the TianYu Apartments" or "wheres the US Consulate",because they will lead you in to their office and start the sales pitch.

Personally,I really have a problem with their wearing official looking laminated ID badges.

[bosco]

They approached me when I first walked in a few days before our interview. I told them I didn't need help and turned my back and they never bothered me again. It seems like some people aren't just very convincing when they say no. *shrug*

[david_dawei]

One thing to consider about ACH is that the VO you talk to in all likelihood will not be the one your SO talks to.

This is a good reminder.. and can be broadly applied... ANYONE you talk to in this process from USCIS to NVC to GUZ is not the VO your SO will talk to. Yes, take everything at face value and then against the bigger picture of issues we know and are shared here.

 

I do think one has to be very careful about listening to discrete stories and experiences; They are someone else's experience, not necessarily what you will experience... and may be something someone experienced years ago and not relevant any more... but in the end, what we have is a set of experiences rolled up into 'data'.

 

So, for me, it's a balancing act: One must know the trends and the likelihoods, as well as the individual case issues at hand. The more you share here on CFL, the more people can help advise... yet I know the more expose some will feel.

 

I would only encourage people to open up more here than with the consulate, since anything you ask them at any step will end up in your case.

 

This has nothing to do with what steve has done at ach.. so don't want that taken the wrong way. I think that ACH can be used to some advantage... I'm still on the fence as to what truly useful advantage without knowing specific case situations...

[TootTaLu]

One thing to consider about ACH is that the VO you talk to in all likelihood will not be the one your SO talks to.

This is a good reminder.. and can be broadly applied... ANYONE you talk to in this process from USCIS to NVC to GUZ is not the VO your SO will talk to. Yes, take everything at face value and then against the bigger picture of issues we know and are shared here.

 

I do think one has to be very careful about listening to discrete stories and experiences; They are someone else's experience, not necessarily what you will experience... and may be something someone experienced years ago and not relevant any more... but in the end, what we have is a set of experiences rolled up into 'data'.

 

So, for me, it's a balancing act: One must know the trends and the likelihoods, as well as the individual case issues at hand. The more you share here on CFL, the more people can help advise... yet I know the more expose some will feel.

 

I would only encourage people to open up more here than with the consulate, since anything you ask them at any step will end up in your case.

 

This has nothing to do with what steve has done at ach.. so don't want that taken the wrong way. I think that ACH can be used to some advantage... I'm still on the fence as to what truly useful advantage without knowing specific case situations...

I am a new participant her.

 

I agree with Dave (above).

It is BEST if you participate here on a regular basis.

Every week I learn more stuff from different people sharing their experiences.

At first glance of the message board you can get some useful info,but if you participate for two or three months,the people here will keep you updated on their progress,and it is DIFFERENT for each case.

Edited May 21, 2007 by Threadbare (see edit history)