P3

[John C]

Is it possible to submit your P3 prior to getting it from GUZ? If so does it speed things up a little? Our paper work was sent to them on Jan.22

Thanks

John and Siyi

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Is it possible to submit your P3 prior to getting it from GUZ? If so does it speed things up a little? Our paper work was sent to them on Jan.22

Thanks

John and Siyi

 

No. You will need to wait until they send you the paperwork. Unfortunately, there is no way to speed up their processing as they have their order of precedence and they stick to it.

[Randy W]

Yes, but Shaq's answer is better than mine. If you time it just right, your P3 from the consulate will leave the mailroom just as yours is picked up by the mail man.

 

If you time it just a little bit wrong, it might get there too soon and be tossed.

 

You are talking about saving a day or two, while risking a big headache.

 

It's questionable whether this would even pick up any time at all, if the packets are processed in the order they were sent out.

[Sebastian]

John - actually, there is a way.

 

You'll need to monitor the DOS hotline, I suggest twice a day, once in the morning, once in the late afternoon.

 

When the status changes to 'P3 sent' - she can send in the pre-filled P3 documents - suggest an EMS drop.

 

Our members have reported very fast turnarounds after P3 is sent this way - near as I can tell - it'll cut off about 3 weeks in the 'calender' of events.

 

PS - I've no idea where ShaQuaNew got his info.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

John - actually, there is a way.

 

You'll need to monitor the DOS hotline, I suggest twice a day, once in the morning, once in the late afternoon.

 

When the status changes to 'P3 sent' - she can send in the pre-filled P3 documents - suggest an EMS drop.

 

Our members have reported very fast turnarounds after P3 is sent this way - near as I can tell - it'll cut off about 3 weeks in the 'calender' of events.

 

PS - I've no idea where ShaQuaNew got his info.

 

Okay, good information Darnell. I don't keep up-to-date with all the little tricks going on these days. The point I was trying to make is that you cannot send P3 paperwork UNTIL they send it to you. If there is a way to monitor when that happens, then I agree. Otherwise, as Randy says, they will simply toss it.

[Sebastian]

Yup - there's a way to monitor it - ya call the DOS hotline, ask for status. When the status changes to 'P3 sent' - then it's safe to mail in the beneficiary's P3 documents.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Yup - there's a way to monitor it - ya call the DOS hotline, ask for status. When the status changes to 'P3 sent' - then it's safe to mail in the beneficiary's P3 documents.

 

Calling it "Safe," is stretching it a bit, as it's still a gamble. There are probably some that are willing to take that gamble in hopes of it paying off with an earlier interview. It all comes down to whatever your comfort level is. Personally, I wouldn't take the gamble. I would prefer to wait until the paperwork is in hand before returning it. There is no way of knowing whether something new is contained in the packet, that must be completed. Web sites are usually updated several days after paperwork changes are made, so relying upon the Consulate Web site to provide you with the most up-to-date changes is also not prudent.

Edited April 13, 2009 by ShaQuaNew (see edit history)

[Sebastian]

ShaQuaNew - I disagree, in toto.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

ShaQuaNew - I disagree, in toto.

 

Yup - there's a way to monitor it - ya call the DOS hotline, ask for status. When the status changes to 'P3 sent' - then it's safe to mail in the beneficiary's P3 documents.

 

Calling it "Safe," is stretching it a bit, as it's still a gamble. There are probably some that are willing to take that gamble in hopes of it paying off with an earlier interview. It all comes down to whatever your comfort level is. Personally, I wouldn't take the gamble. I would prefer to wait until the paperwork is in hand before returning it. There is no way of knowing whether something new is contained in the packet, that must be completed. Web sites are usually updated several days after paperwork changes are made, so relying upon the Consulate Web site to provide you with the most up-to-date changes is also not prudent.

 

That's okay. We have lots of different sort of people on this site. Some, like yourself might be willing to take the gamble. Others just would not.

[mikepellicore]

Hello John, we called DOS, and received the P-3 sent from DOS on 5/30/07, we returned the P-3 on 5/31/07. We received the P-3 in the mail on 6/7/07. We had no problems, it depends on the computer and the operator at DOS, how much time you can save. The operator that told us the P-3 was sent, said it was sent a week earlier, I had called the day before and I was told that we were in queue. Many people now are saying to call twice a day. GOOD ADVICE! Check out the WIKI Shortcuts @ VJ, and be sure to call for the P-4 also, so you can have a few extra days to plan your trip. Get your paperwork in order and Good Luck, Mike & Yizhen

 

DOS - 202-663-1225-1-0

Edited April 13, 2009 by mikepellicore (see edit history)

[2mike&jin]

Hello John, we called DOS, and received the P-3 sent from DOS on 5/30/07, we returned the P-3 on 5/31/07. We received the P-3 in the mail on 6/7/07. We had no problems, it depends on the computer and the operator at DOS, how much time you can save. The operator that told us the P-3 was sent, said it was sent a week earlier, I had called the day before and I was told that we were in queue. Many people now are saying to call twice a day. GOOD ADVICE! Check out the WIKI Shortcuts @ VJ, and be sure to call for the P-4 also, so you can have a few extra days to plan your trip. Get your paperwork in order and Good Luck, Mike & Yizhen

 

DOS - 202-663-1225-1-0

 

 

I might add....MAKE SURE THAT WHEN YOU SEND IN THE P3 PAPERWORK - (WHICH WE DID AS SOON AS DOS SAID IT WAS TO BE MAILED) THAT YOU INCLUDE AN EMS FILLED IN WAYBILL...WRITE THE NUMBER DOWN...THEN MONITOR THIS NUMBER ON THE CHINESE EMS SITE...YOU CAN TELL EXACTLY WHEN THE P4 PACKAGE IS PICKED UP FOR DELIVERY. Having done all this -- we only saved about 5 or 6 days in the process.....but at least I was aware for scheduling and when to expect delivery, interview, etc. Of course you can always sit back and wait for the delivery -- usually within 48 hours of EMS getting it but some have reported lost, delayed, or other problems in getting the package. No need to wait.

[Randy W]

One fly in that ointment is that the interviews are scheduled in inverse order (last time I watched close enough to see). So getting in line earlier may get you a spot closer to the end of the month, unless you're lucky enough to advance a month.

 

Luke Jesse said, there are unknowns here - from when did the send the P3 to the mailroom, to when to it go to the postoffice, when did it get entered in the computer, when did it go on the network, and what order (P3 out/P3 received/case received from NVC/namecheck complete) are the interviews scheduled?

[dnoblett]

We had the P3 preped to send to GUZ, I called DOS about twice a week, once they told me that the P-3 was sent, we popped the package into the mail.

 

Send:

 

OF-169, and DS-230 Part 1

 

 

To:

 

United States Consulate Guangzhou

IV Unit

1 Shamian South Street

Guangzhou, 510133 PRC

 

OR

 

¹ãÖÝÊÐɳÃæÄϽÖ1ºÅ

ÃÀ¹úפ¹ãÖÝ×ÜÁìʹÝ

Óʱࣺ510133

[Sebastian]

Since the time that I've joined CFL, I've read numerous incidents of the P3 being mailed in prior to the actual P3 packet arriving at the benefiary's address, mostly with positive results.

 

As I understand the process, from reading here on CFL -

 

1. The P3 package is prepped to go out to the beneficiary.

2. a 'P3 sent' status change occurs in the Big Computer.

3. The P3 packet gets into the Mailroom at GUZ

4. China Post picks up the P3 packet from the MailRoom at GUZ

5. China Post sends out the P3 packet to the Beneficiary's address

6. Beneficiary receives the P3 packet.

 

it could take a week between steps 3 and 4, and another week between steps 5 and 6. As long as the status in the Big Computer reads 'P3 sent' - then it 'seems' safe to send out the P3 packet from the beneficiary to the GUZ address. I had suggested to use EMS to track the P3 packet to GUZ.

 

My 'knowledge', scant as it is, comes from reading prior 'instances' of what the others members have done for P3 submittal. Sure - YMMV - but this pattern 'seems' consistent.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Sebastian (see edit history)

[rogerinca]

It was a year ago, but I checked the Circling GUZ thread, and found a post from me on 05-01-08 #915:

 

I had my wife include a pre-addressed label with our P-3 package.

Please note, she still has not received the P-3 from GUZ. We returned our download package, with our own EMS label, as soon as I saw the P-3 was generated in the DOS system.

We may have P-4 before we have the GUZ version of the P-3 ??

 

I remember I generated a lot of discussion around this time, with thoughts of maybe just guessing at the time the P-3 would be issued and jumping the gun (within the process) so to speak, based on other members timeline experiences; however, I decided that this would not be responsible, given the possible negative consequences.

 

Therefore, I did the next best thing, as outlined in my post last year...I used the USCIS downloadable forms, had them all ready to go and had Lao Po mail them just as soon as I gave her the go ahead, which was the moment we showed up in the DOS system as having the P-3 issued.

 

This was my direct experience, and all in all, it turned out well, and I had the interview date earlier than most had predicted.