Another Guangzhou Blue slip story

[ChinaDavid]

David,

Sorry to hear about the blue slip.

I think we may need a bit more information if we want to figure out what the reason was. If you care to, could you please elaborate on some of your and your wife's backgrounds. Do either of you have previous marriages for instance? Kids?

 

Sometimes previous marriages/divorces are reasons for the "timing" of a relationship to be questioned. Could this be possible in your case?

 

If it's none of our business, you can just say so.

 

We both were previously married and divorced. She has two sons, I have four daughters. She divorced on April 18, 2000 and I divorced on October 4, 2004. It is doubtful that the dates of our divorces had any bearing on the decision. I think the issue was that we married on my second trip, hence the timing question. Perhaps he thought the marriage was not bonafide since we married so soon after my first visit to her. What he cannot know is what true soul mates we are, and that we saw no reason to delay our marriage knowing this. There was no documentation of what our hearts and minds knew, so he asked me to hand write a statement of our first meeting. My response was 5 pages, telling about all my trips and the exact timing of our meetings and our marriage and all the subsequent trips. I could have written a book, but chose not to.

 

No, the divorces don't seem to be the problem. Thanks for clarifying. I guess you're right, this VO just wanted to give you another hoop to jump through.

 

Good luck with the overcome.

 

Yes, another hoop to jump through. All he has to do is tell me how high to jump. The overcome will be no problem (I hope!). If you want to know my personal opinion, and it may be way off base (but is based upon what my wife told me about her interview)... he couldn't understand how I had no job, she had no job, yet I had come to China 10 times in the past 26 months, bought an apartment there, still met the asset requirements (as there was no income to speak of); she answered all his questions in English until he spoke too rapidly for her to understand, and he didn't believe that we actually could talk to each other and understand each other (although she explained that I spoke some Chinese and clearly understood her English and she understood my English); it was 8:00am, his first interview of the day, he knew I was there in Guangzhou, and he just wanted to make our lives a bit more difficult... just a little bit... as his wasn't all he dreamed of. He is maybe 23 years old (my wife's estimate) and just doesn't have the proper perspective. In a year or two, if he lasts that long, he will know which visas to deny and which are obvious no-brainers. That's my opinion. Also, being that young and having such power over the lives of people can be a heady thing, and there is sometimes an overwhelming desire to flex that power for personal reasons, not for valid professional reasons. A little more training and maturity will go a long way with this particular VO.

[Corbin]

Reading this thread has brought a question to front of mind. It is about divorce. What would be considered a red flag in divorce finalized to looking for a new relationship. We all know that divorce proceedings take awhile. We also know that everyone heals at different rates and move on in their life at different speed. The thought that a choice I made now could haunt me in the future scares me.

 

Please fill me in what you all know about this and if more info is needed I can fill in the blanks.

[jim_julian]

Reading this thread has brought a question to front of mind. It is about divorce. What would be considered a red flag in divorce finalized to looking for a new relationship. We all know that divorce proceedings take awhile. We also know that everyone heals at different rates and move on in their life at different speed. The thought that a choice I made now could haunt me in the future scares me.

 

Please fill me in what you all know about this and if more info is needed I can fill in the blanks.

Corbin ... look at our timeline. Divorce timing, in itself, is not a problem. You and yours just need to be free to marry and have met each other once before filing for a K1 or be legally married for a K3.

[ChinaDavid]

We anxiously await the letter to see what it actually tells her what she must do, bring, and when.

 

The GUZ letter will arrive via EMS, same as your P3 and P4 did. If all is well, it will say to return to GUZ Mon-Wed 2pm-3pm with your passport to continue your visa application. Turn in your passport and wait 2 days for the pink. Then wait another 2 working days for the visa.

 

That is wonderful news, but how did you know that??

 

Coming from someone in waiting for a dange P-3????

 

That would be from first hand knowledge.

 

The general advice is to go to the Consulate on Monday or Tuesday to turn in the passport to have the visa ready for pickup on Friday or Saturday. Those who go on Wednesday end up spending an extra day in GZ to get the visa on Monday.

 

This is assuming everything went right and there were no hiccups in preparing the visa, such as someone unplugged the visa machine or they ran out of official US Government glue.

 

LOL, Lee. I have already told my wife to expect to go on a Monday, no matter what day she gets her letter, and hopefully return home on Friday with visa in hand. Then the following Sunday or Monday catch a flight to the USA....assuming the visa machine is plugged in and there is sufficient official US Government glue available. BTW, we share the same surname. I am David Fisher. Hopefully she is here in time for Christmas.

If not soon into the new year.

 

Best wishes to all and to all a good journey to that visa. Expect bumps along the road, but eventually for virtually all it will end gloriously and the bumps will be a distant memory.

[chilton747]

We anxiously await the letter to see what it actually tells her what she must do, bring, and when.

 

The GUZ letter will arrive via EMS, same as your P3 and P4 did. If all is well, it will say to return to GUZ Mon-Wed 2pm-3pm with your passport to continue your visa application. Turn in your passport and wait 2 days for the pink. Then wait another 2 working days for the visa.

 

That is wonderful news, but how did you know that??

 

Coming from someone in waiting for a dange P-3????

 

That would be from first hand knowledge.

 

The general advice is to go to the Consulate on Monday or Tuesday to turn in the passport to have the visa ready for pickup on Friday or Saturday. Those who go on Wednesday end up spending an extra day in GZ to get the visa on Monday.

 

This is assuming everything went right and there were no hiccups in preparing the visa, such as someone unplugged the visa machine or they ran out of official US Government glue.

 

LOL, Lee. I have already told my wife to expect to go on a Monday, no matter what day she gets her letter, and hopefully return home on Friday with visa in hand. Then the following Sunday or Monday catch a flight to the USA....assuming the visa machine is plugged in and there is sufficient official US Government glue available. BTW, we share the same surname. I am David Fisher. Hopefully she is here in time for Christmas.

If not soon into the new year.

 

Best wishes to all and to all a good journey to that visa. Expect bumps along the road, but eventually for virtually all it will end gloriously and the bumps will be a distant memory.

 

Good luck and best wishes to you too David. I share your same enthusiasm

Charles

[Guest Mike and Lily]

Sorry about the blue. If you try to apply logic and reason to their decision making process, you will only give yourself a whole lot of grief. You just need to realize, it's their show, you play the game their way and by their rules, which they may change at any time, and if you're in their face long enough, you bound to come away with the visa. Just persevere and give them what they ask for every time.

 

Good luck!

[warpedbored]

My guess is this would be the crux of the matter right here.

Yes, another hoop to jump through. All he has to do is tell me how high to jump. The overcome will be no problem (I hope!). If you want to know my personal opinion, and it may be way off base (but is based upon what my wife told me about her interview)... he couldn't understand how I had no job, she had no job, yet I had come to China 10 times in the past 26 months, bought an apartment there, still met the asset requirements (as there was no income to speak of)

Anytime there isn't enough income to cover expenses like these raises a big red flag for VOs. It isn't uncommon for people to pay as much as 50K to get someone to pose as a spouse. Just give them what they want and in the words of our sage leader Don "use a lot of mouthwash to get the taste out of your mouth while kissing their a$$.

Good luck.

[chilton747]

My guess is this would be the crux of the matter right here.

Yes, another hoop to jump through. All he has to do is tell me how high to jump. The overcome will be no problem (I hope!). If you want to know my personal opinion, and it may be way off base (but is based upon what my wife told me about her interview)... he couldn't understand how I had no job, she had no job, yet I had come to China 10 times in the past 26 months, bought an apartment there, still met the asset requirements (as there was no income to speak of)

Anytime there isn't enough income to cover expenses like these raises a big red flag for VOs. It isn't uncommon for people to pay as much as 50K to get someone to pose as a spouse. Just give them what they want and in the words of our sage leader Don "use a lot of mouthwash to get the taste out of your mouth while kissing their a$$.

Good luck.

 

And thus my earlier post. GZ has tunnel vision which is why they do not want to see everything at the interview. Their minds are fixed on a red flag issue(s).

[david_dawei]

There is absolutely nothing in any evidence, initial or otherwise, that would "red flag" my wife's visa. The application was reviewed and accepted by the NVC and Homeland Security. There was overwhelming evidence of a bonafide marriage. The guy just was flexing his muscles. In a year or two he will be more seasoned and better trained and not delay the visa because of reasons never to be known or understood.

Sorry to hear of your blue slip.. but if everything was clear then there would probably be no blue; the fact is, for close to 2 years, GUZ has been more critical on the relationships and IMBRA may be part of that reason.

 

While USCIS will see if you two meet the requirements to file for a visa via DOS, NVC does not 'approve' of the case in any real way; they just enter some info and verify a few things but hardly can they deny any part of the case.

 

GUZ wants to know how people first meet more for immigration reasons, rather than requirements (like USCIS); Is the intention for immigration without fraud and/or can they issue it based on what they see in the case. If they cannot issue a visa based on what they see, they will ask for more...

 

The important thing is, you satisfy their inquiry. Without hearing the interview in detail and not knowing what you submitted, it's hard to advise any outcome... but overall, the rate of overcome success is very high. good luck.

[ChinaDavid]

There is absolutely nothing in any evidence, initial or otherwise, that would "red flag" my wife's visa. The application was reviewed and accepted by the NVC and Homeland Security. There was overwhelming evidence of a bonafide marriage. The guy just was flexing his muscles. In a year or two he will be more seasoned and better trained and not delay the visa because of reasons never to be known or understood.

Sorry to hear of your blue slip.. but if everything was clear then there would probably be no blue; the fact is, for close to 2 years, GUZ has been more critical on the relationships and IMBRA may be part of that reason.

 

While USCIS will see if you two meet the requirements to file for a visa via DOS, NVC does not 'approve' of the case in any real way; they just enter some info and verify a few things but hardly can they deny any part of the case.

 

GUZ wants to know how people first meet more for immigration reasons, rather than requirements (like USCIS); Is the intention for immigration without fraud and/or can they issue it based on what they see in the case. If they cannot issue a visa based on what they see, they will ask for more...

 

The important thing is, you satisfy their inquiry. Without hearing the interview in detail and not knowing what you submitted, it's hard to advise any outcome... but overall, the rate of overcome success is very high. good luck.

[ChinaDavid]

There is absolutely nothing in any evidence, initial or otherwise, that would "red flag" my wife's visa. The application was reviewed and accepted by the NVC and Homeland Security. There was overwhelming evidence of a bonafide marriage. The guy just was flexing his muscles. In a year or two he will be more seasoned and better trained and not delay the visa because of reasons never to be known or understood.

Sorry to hear of your blue slip.. but if everything was clear then there would probably be no blue; the fact is, for close to 2 years, GUZ has been more critical on the relationships and IMBRA may be part of that reason.

 

While USCIS will see if you two meet the requirements to file for a visa via DOS, NVC does not 'approve' of the case in any real way; they just enter some info and verify a few things but hardly can they deny any part of the case.

 

GUZ wants to know how people first meet more for immigration reasons, rather than requirements (like USCIS); Is the intention for immigration without fraud and/or can they issue it based on what they see in the case. If they cannot issue a visa based on what they see, they will ask for more...

 

The important thing is, you satisfy their inquiry. Without hearing the interview in detail and not knowing what you submitted, it's hard to advise any outcome... but overall, the rate of overcome success is very high. good luck.

 

It's not a big deal. The overcome should be no problem. I hand wrote the statement they asked for and overnighted it while still in Guangzhou. They've had it for over 2 weeks now, so she should receive her letter telling her to return with her passport in the next 2 - 4 weeks and receive her visa.

 

But it is not so much as what was submitted that angers me about the decision, it is the things submitted that they chose to not look at: the deed to the apartment we bought December 2006, logs of twice+ daily internet communications for 16 months (usually 2 hours each time), 6 months of recent phone bills (151 calls), and a log of internet contact showing DAILY contact for over 16 months, except for the 4 months I was with her during my 6 visits. It would take someone very dedicated visa fraud to have such contact for so long, have such photos, and purchase a home together to perpetrate such a fraud.

 

He DID look at the date-stamped 22 photos, a few from each visit, but most were from our wedding celebration on my 3rd visit. He DID look at my passport very carefully and saw the 6 entry and departure stamps. He refused to look at the rest of the documentation. Perhaps that first meeting is more important than I thought. I thought it was the subsequent meetings, the marriage, the proof of all those trips to be with my wife that were of greater importance than the first meeting.

 

I think a better trained or more seasoned VO would have easily realized this was not a marriage of convenience or visa fraud if he had not shoved back to my wife all the other documentation she tried to show him without his looking at it. The photos alone should have told him. Look at our gallery of just 7 photos and decide for yourself if this is a bonafide marriage or not.

[chilton747]

David with all due respect buddy, it does not matter what we think or for that matter what you think or what another VO might think. It took me several months to get over my white slip as I hammered on about the incompetence of our VO. I too had mountains of evidence that they did not want to see. Just be thankful that you have a chance for overcome in which you will most likely succeed. Then all of this will be behind you and later become a distant memory. Looking forward to hearing about your good overcome.

[warpedbored]

It seems to be consistant that once a VO decides to issue a blue slip they refuse to look at any evidence you may have with you that would refute it. They simply just shuffle it on to the next stage which is to over come the decision. I still think the issue that has made them suspicious is the income to visit factor. I would be prepared to make that crystal clear for them but don't offer them anything not asked for.

[david_dawei]

Let's not forget that the blue slip is not a refusal to look at evidence.. in fact, it's a request to look at it, at a later time and in more detail...

[Corbin]

It seems to be consistant that once a VO decides to issue a blue slip they refuse to look at any evidence you may have with you that would refute it. They simply just shuffle it on to the next stage which is to over come the decision. I still think the issue that has made them suspicious is the income to visit factor. I would be prepared to make that crystal clear for them but don't offer them anything not asked for.

In other words you are saying something like the don't ask, don't tell policy that the military has. Though in this case only tell what they ask for.