D-Day

[Jerry & xiaomin]

OMG!!! I asked xiaomin to write her "Interview Story" for posting on CFL... Who'd of known that she would write an actual story? LOL -- It's long, but provides a great insight to those who've not yet made that journey... [and she tries to tell me that she can't write! pfffft...]

 

D-Day

[xiaomin¡¯s Visa Interview Story - 20 July, 2009

¨C U.S. Consulate, Guangzhou, China]

 

Honestly, looking back to July 20th, the longest day of my life (though the actual interview lasted barely 6 to 8 minutes) is the last thing I desired, especially now that the day is history, regardless of the result. Recalling that dreadful day is so much of an emotional disturbance to me that at the end of the day, I was totally physically exhausted, emotionally drained. But, as much as I want to scrub the memory of July 20th (at least the All-Mighty Queen BS part!) from my mind, I also have this irresistible desire to tell it to whoever cares to listen, so I'm not alone walking through every step there, so you'd know at least one thing about me, that I'm not a drama queen.

 

Jerry woke me up at 5:30 in my morning, saying, sounding upbeat as he always has, ¡°Honey, it's time to get up, and get this whole thing done and over with!¡±

 

That pep-talk definitely served as a motive to get me to drag my worn butt outta bed at this bank-robbing hour. Dear God please let it be over! Pink, Blue or White, I DO want to end this once and for all, after some 200 days of running around town, between bureaus, ... fighting, begging for my certificates, ... waiting in the dark wondering where my papers had been stashed ... trying to call, getting nowhere/nobody but a nice voice from an answering machine, ... pressing numbers ... finding that I had somehow gotten sucked into a black hole ... finally throwing my hands up in the air! Not to mention those hours of sitting our asses at a computer; printing, printing ... and more printing ... I'VE HAD ENOUGH!

 

Well, it turned out NOT to be over yet. It doesn't matter how thick Jerry sugar-coated it ¨C ¡°A PINK with a side dish of BLUE¡± -- the fact is that, I finally crawled my way to the end of the tunnel where a streak of bright light shinning, bathing my face! But, I can not move any steps further toward it. Again, the Chinese Government managed to screw up my life for me. As a going-away-present? I PRAY FOR THAT!

 

It must have been nearly 6:30am (if not even earlier) when we arrived there, feeling kinda stupid ¡®cuz I thought we must be the very first arrivals. NOPE! The lines were already constructed by dozens of people, and stretching out with newly arriving Morning-Birds. To the end, I was amazed at the length, or the size of the crowd. Of course then I was also very thankful to my friend, Mei, who'd given me this wise advice ¡­ "to get there much, much earlier than the Interview time given on the Appointment Letter". And I thought she was crazy!

 

Then it started drizzling, and very quickly turned into raining, on and off during the whole good hour while hundreds of people standing in front of the Consulate building, firm and still. Holding our breath, while trying hard to hold on to an umbrella in an ass-to-front queue. Í·¿É¶Ï£¬Ñª¿ÉÁ÷£¬Î»Öò»¿É¶ª (translation: ¡°Hold on to MY place in the line at any cost!¡±) ... At one point I was secretly praying for hail or a shaker, just so to pleasure my perverted-desire to see what's gonna happen next. Just 5 minutes before the Consular Officer started to check passports, letting us in, it poured! But everyone survived no casualty occurrences. YEAH£¡(Now I understood why we were labeled by the U.S Government as 'Immigrants & Fugitives', very accurate indeed, for it certainly looked like a herd of fugitives to me.)

 

In between, I got into chatting with a young woman behind me, telling her that one of my colleagues is still working after her retirement, and so does her husband. Her reason? 'We must send our only son to study in America, and we are spending our retirement money, but that's what we want for our son, and that¡¯s what our son wants too.' The old man before me turned his head, obviously overhearing me, and said, 'Your friend is lucky, she can send her son to America, not Europe, ... otherwise, no chance to even try to stay there, they will do everything to make them leave as soon as the kids finish their studies. What's the point of spending all of our blood-covered money if the kids can¡¯t stay there?'

 

After we went through the security check we finally moved into this big hall with some one-hundred chairs lined-up in front of a line of windows. I dragged all my luggage (12lbs of docs and evidence) to the end of the hall, but very quickly realized that wasn't a good idea, ¡®cuz I couldn't make out what names that guy was calling in his putonghua [translation: ¡°Native Language¡±, i.e. Mandarin] MOVE! Luckily I found a great seat, right in front of the windows. Now we wait.

 

'LUO XIAOMIN FROM SICHUAN ¡­ WINDOW 21!' (I should be thrilled right? But why the hell did I feel like I was in a prison on ¡°Family Visit Day¡±?)

 

This is where I met the All-Mighty Queen.

 

I was hit with a nasty surprise after I handed over all the required documents, the Chinese Officer wanted the copy of my passport, and she gave me a weird look when I stammered, "... I don't have a copy ... It wasn't required on the Interview Instructions, to which I followed to the letter.'

 

Jerry had taught me to just say 'Yes Sir/Ma'am' or 'No Sir/Ma'm', and 'Solly Shir, Solly Mdan!' ... Maybe I should have listened to him for a change.

 

Then it was a downhill ride from that point on.

 

A nastier surprise followed. 'Your Police Certificate is not acceptable.' -- 'Why?' -- 'It was issued by the Police Sub-station £¨ÅɳöËù£©. '

 

D'UH?! -- Ok, be calm girl! You can not afford to have an enemy here.

 

'Where was it supposed to be issued then? ... Please?'

 

'The Notary Office.'

 

Now, how do I present my plea with just 'Yes Sir/Ma'am or 'No Sir/Ma'am', and 'Solly Shir, Solly Madan' ? To hell with it! I'm not gonna swallow this, whatever it is that she's playing with me.

 

I mustered all my guts, 'Are you sure? How can a notary office issue a Police Certificate, or any certificate for that matter? What rights does it have to possess such power? ... And again, I was never instructed as to where and how to get one of these, actually I wish I had been blessed with such direction, so I wouldn't have been made into a football, and got kicked back and forth between those departments ...'

 

'It's just not what we want.' With that 'explanation', my Police Certificate was thrown out of the window back into my hands. And needless to say I didn't get the answer to my question. But hey, at least I did manage SOMETHING, to make an enemy in no time.

 

The shit just kept coming ...

 

When she asked for the financial papers, I had to struggle with my luggage to dig it out because Jerry had them stuffed into the Miscellaneous book, along with the Tax-return Records and such, which I did take out to submit. So I didn't exactly follow that instruction to letter after all, and I paid for this crime dearly. She rolled her eyes, jotted something on a slip and flipped it over to me, 'Go out for your passport copy, and come back to this window along with the right papers, I don't have time for your paper-hunt! ... And don't lose that paper, or you can't come back.' -- YES MADAN!

 

It took me a great deal of effort and time to pack everything back, and check around making sure nothing was left out. Then I made a bald move. I asked the All-Mighty Queen, and a guard too, whether I could leave my stuff under their watch, for just few minutes, so I could 'travel light'? The answer was of course a flat 'NO.' ... But the message in the tone was loud & clear -- "What the hell were you thinking?"

 

... Right, What the hell was I thinking?

 

WELLY WELLY SOLLY MADAN! WELLY WELLY SOLLY SHIR! I'M GONE!

 

This whole episode cost me more than half hour though there was some hawks waiting right down there one floor lower, to 'serve' me.

 

Now I'm back!!! Here's everything you asked. Thank you.

 

'Ok now, you wait for your turn. List carefully to Your LUN.'

 

'Excuse me, what?' -- What did I miss?

 

'The LUNBER, I give you.'

 

'No you didn't.'

 

'Yes, I did.'

 

NO! YOU DIDN'T! YES I DID! NO! YES! ...

 

'Go to Window 30!'

 

I went, wracking my brain trying to remember, and to come up with some explanation for the officer at Window 30, should I go into details or just say that I didn't get a number, and she said I had? ... Well, no explanation was needed, for sitting there at the Window 30 was the same All-Mighty Queen. And again we did this Yes-No jigsaw spat. Suddenly it hit me. 'Was it on the paper you gave me to get back in? Didn't I just hand it back to you. And that was the only paper you gave me.'

 

'LO LO LO! Another paper, very small. I told you don't lose it.'

 

'Then, can you please tell me what number that was assigned to me?'

 

'How can I remember so many numbers?'

 

'Don't you keep one identical number on my file, so they can call me? 'More eye rolling, but, '... Ok, I'm gonna give you another number. Don't lose it again.'

 

I kept my mouth shut. And that was the last time I saw that Queen that day. I must have done SOMETHING good in my life.

 

Gone with the All-Mighty Queen was the Dark-Age in my interview process.

 

Now back to waiting. But It was moving along smoothly. And at the finger-prints collection, the middle-aged lady seemed like an angel compare to the Queen I just had. Then everybody was called standing up to take the oath!

 

You don't have to ask any questions to figure out how everyone's interview went, the results were written all over their faces! And the pass rate was shockingly high, 80% PINK to say the least. But that didn't do any good to lift the heavy cloud cast in my heart. Lucky somehow my case was arranged almost to the end, that Queen's job for sure, but it worked out just perfectly for me. Because it gave me time to observe, and I found out that the VOs, 5 guys and 1 girl, are all very polite, patient, and seem to be pretty fair. So I determined to try my best to stretch my interview to the max, I must find a way to present my Police Certificate, I was determined not to let that All-Mighty Queen blow this chance for me. And I did it!

 

The VO I got, I was blessed with, it was that angel girl, who spoke the worst Chinese, I'd noticed that. So I must have played well on her, by surprising her with my English, the relief in her tone could not be disguised. I don't blame her, I'd be frustrated too if I had to speak a language I knew 20 words of, or had to try to understand their perfect Chin-glish all morning. (This is one thing that puzzled me, why the hell would the American Government allow anyone to get into their country without the ability to communicate? Haven't they imported enough English/Chin-glish-speaking rats already?)

 

How I miss that few minutes of my Interview. I had a great lousy, shitty day until that moment. It was a whirlwind, but I believe that the conversation, and interaction that took place between a VO and her interviewee had reached an up-close and personal level beyond my wildest dreams. When I asked the lady, 'Anything else you need me to provide?' She smiled, 'Your fianc¨¦¡¯s name for starters?' ... And we both laughed, not hysterically, not loud enough to catch some attention, I'm sure. And Jerry's expired drivers-license was stuffed in the pile, she picked it up and asked if he was there to, I said no but he so wanted to be, if only he could squeeze the trip in to his schedule to fit his 'fultime-job, single daddy' life.

 

She asked some questions like when, where and how we met, the times Jerry visited me, reviewed our scant number of photos, didn't ask any questions about that though, checked a few of our emails. After my answers, she asked 'U Neverous?"

 

I said, 'How can I not be Ma'am, it's nerve-wracking already this case itself, and I had a problem with my Police Certificate, notarized, but the Chinese staff there told me it wasn't acceptable. ... Can you please take a look at it, and give me some ... advice?'

 

'I'm sorry, but it's not my job to deal with the papers.' Then she was looking at a card (or something of that sort), I tried my best to stretch my neck, and could make it out that was a report of the paperwork-review, and I saw 3 X¡¯s on it.

 

She spoke again, 'And there's some other problems with your documents too, the Single Certificate. ...'

 

I was ready for this, 'Ma'am, I am not married, ever. But please let me explain, you have no idea how many departments I'd run to get this paper, and I did question about the legitimacy of my Single Certificate, but the Marriage Registration Office said that their company (can you believe what they called their Government department, or organization? a company?) was founded on July 13th, 2007, and their computer data can only go back to that period, that¡¯s why they could only prove my marriage record to that period. I even signed a personal statement of my single status, but they wouldn't budge, said this is how it would be issued, take it or leave it. ... It¡¯s just hard for us, just like my Police Certificate. '

 

That was when she decided to take a look at my Police Certificate, and sent a Chinese staff to the Window 30, 'Ask them what's wrong with this, please.' Off she went, I was worried that nothing would change with that Queen serving at that last window. But there was nothing I could do.

 

'Ma'am, I can also show you another proof of my single status, the notarized document of my Household Registration Book, my hukou, in which the box of my marriage status is also blank.'

 

She read it, and then asked for my personal statement, I had a hard time to dig it out, but she waited patiently. ... Then the Chinese Staff came back, and asked me in Chinese if I'd ever been abroad, I said no, she said then Your Police Certificate is good. I went on explaining, but the Lady said it's ok now, you don¡¯t have to do more explaining. I just wish that Queen was there to hear this.

 

The Lady then asked the Chinese Staff if my notarized single certificate was also ok, the answer was that they want the original, not the copy.

 

The VO accepted my argument of my single status, she said, 'Everything looks good to me, so I'm gonna approve your visa, but you must provide the original certificate before I can issue you your visa. But, don¡¯t you worry, you passed the interview, so, that's a good thing right?'

 

While I was still there, discussing about which way to provide the missing doc, 'do you prefer to mail it or walk it in?', I tried to discuss my options with her, explaining the complicity due to my position here in this town as an outsider, would they accept a notarized document from the local authority, she said, 'I'm sorry, I can't help you there, because there's some legality issue here which will be decided according to the law in China. ... But hey, don't worry, it's just few more days of delay, your visa is approved. So it's not all bad right?'

 

I just couldn't believe that I could be SO lucky to meet 2 women whose action, behavior and attitude had such great impact on my day, the first part of the Interview was like a long journey leading to hell, in which you couldn't help asking, 'What's next?', ... and in the second part, that sweet lady just lifted me from the bottom of the pit, and put me on the top of the world. Even though I still face some problems to re-gain the missing document, I cant express my gratitude to that nice lady. I wanted so much to ask her name, but of course I didn't. There's a line you don't cross.

 

This story may come out sounding like I'm accusing the American government of being unreasonable, putting us through a horrible experience in the process. But it certainly is not my intention to accuse the American government of anything. If anything, they are not keeping the door closed enough to stop the flood. I'm still shocked at the approval rate. 80% of hundreds of applicants (most of them don't speak one word of English) got PINK, in one day alone, from one consulate alone. Do some math yourself, then you'd know what I'm talking about.

 

P.S. How could I forget about a very crucial part of my interview¡­

 

Right before the VO approved my visa, she asked me, 'Do you love him? You DO love him right?'

 

I answered, 'OF COURSE!', I couldn't hid the glow on my face. We both laughed again.

 

Then she asked, 'Why?'

 

"¡­ because he loves me in a way that nobody ever has, and nobody ever could."

[kodokanron]

Excellent!!! Best wishes for to both of for a long, happy,

and healthy Life!

Ron & Jing

[ChadP]

'Go out for your passport copy, and come back to this window along with the right papers, I don't have time for your paper-hunt! ... And don't lose that paper, or you can't come back.' -- YES MADAN!

 

Hi,

 

 

Thank you for posting this detailed story, it is both encouraging and intimidating at the same time. May I ask, was the passport supposed to be copied ahead of time, or is this something that is only done at the interview?

 

Thanks!

[NUWORLD]

OMG!!! I asked xiaomin to write her "Interview Story" for posting on CFL... Who'd of known that she would write an actual story? LOL -- It's long, but provides a great insight to those who've not yet made that journey... [and she tries to tell me that she can't write! pfffft...]

 

D-Day

[xiaomin¡¯s Visa Interview Story - 20 July, 2009

¨C U.S. Consulate, Guangzhou, China]

 

Honestly, looking back to July 20th, the longest day of my life (though the actual interview lasted barely 6 to 8 minutes) is the last thing I desired, especially now that the day is history, regardless of the result. Recalling that dreadful day is so much of an emotional disturbance to me that at the end of the day, I was totally physically exhausted, emotionally drained. But, as much as I want to scrub the memory of July 20th (at least the All-Mighty Queen BS part!) from my mind, I also have this irresistible desire to tell it to whoever cares to listen, so I'm not alone walking through every step there, so you'd know at least one thing about me, that I'm not a drama queen.

 

Jerry woke me up at 5:30 in my morning, saying, sounding upbeat as he always has, ¡°Honey, it's time to get up, and get this whole thing done and over with!¡±

 

That pep-talk definitely served as a motive to get me to drag my worn butt outta bed at this bank-robbing hour. Dear God please let it be over! Pink, Blue or White, I DO want to end this once and for all, after some 200 days of running around town, between bureaus, ... fighting, begging for my certificates, ... waiting in the dark wondering where my papers had been stashed ... trying to call, getting nowhere/nobody but a nice voice from an answering machine, ... pressing numbers ... finding that I had somehow gotten sucked into a black hole ... finally throwing my hands up in the air! Not to mention those hours of sitting our asses at a computer; printing, printing ... and more printing ... I'VE HAD ENOUGH!

 

Well, it turned out NOT to be over yet. It doesn't matter how thick Jerry sugar-coated it ¨C ¡°A PINK with a side dish of BLUE¡± -- the fact is that, I finally crawled my way to the end of the tunnel where a streak of bright light shinning, bathing my face! But, I can not move any steps further toward it. Again, the Chinese Government managed to screw up my life for me. As a going-away-present? I PRAY FOR THAT!

 

It must have been nearly 6:30am (if not even earlier) when we arrived there, feeling kinda stupid ¡®cuz I thought we must be the very first arrivals. NOPE! The lines were already constructed by dozens of people, and stretching out with newly arriving Morning-Birds. To the end, I was amazed at the length, or the size of the crowd. Of course then I was also very thankful to my friend, Mei, who'd given me this wise advice ¡­ "to get there much, much earlier than the Interview time given on the Appointment Letter". And I thought she was crazy!

 

Then it started drizzling, and very quickly turned into raining, on and off during the whole good hour while hundreds of people standing in front of the Consulate building, firm and still. Holding our breath, while trying hard to hold on to an umbrella in an ass-to-front queue. Í·¿É¶Ï£¬Ñª¿ÉÁ÷£¬Î»Öò»¿É¶ª (translation: ¡°Hold on to MY place in the line at any cost!¡±) ... At one point I was secretly praying for hail or a shaker, just so to pleasure my perverted-desire to see what's gonna happen next. Just 5 minutes before the Consular Officer started to check passports, letting us in, it poured! But everyone survived no casualty occurrences. YEAH£¡(Now I understood why we were labeled by the U.S Government as 'Immigrants & Fugitives', very accurate indeed, for it certainly looked like a herd of fugitives to me.)

 

In between, I got into chatting with a young woman behind me, telling her that one of my colleagues is still working after her retirement, and so does her husband. Her reason? 'We must send our only son to study in America, and we are spending our retirement money, but that's what we want for our son, and that¡¯s what our son wants too.' The old man before me turned his head, obviously overhearing me, and said, 'Your friend is lucky, she can send her son to America, not Europe, ... otherwise, no chance to even try to stay there, they will do everything to make them leave as soon as the kids finish their studies. What's the point of spending all of our blood-covered money if the kids can¡¯t stay there?'

 

After we went through the security check we finally moved into this big hall with some one-hundred chairs lined-up in front of a line of windows. I dragged all my luggage (12lbs of docs and evidence) to the end of the hall, but very quickly realized that wasn't a good idea, ¡®cuz I couldn't make out what names that guy was calling in his putonghua [translation: ¡°Native Language¡±, i.e. Mandarin] MOVE! Luckily I found a great seat, right in front of the windows. Now we wait.

 

'LUO XIAOMIN FROM SICHUAN ¡­ WINDOW 21!' (I should be thrilled right? But why the hell did I feel like I was in a prison on ¡°Family Visit Day¡±?)

 

This is where I met the All-Mighty Queen.

 

I was hit with a nasty surprise after I handed over all the required documents, the Chinese Officer wanted the copy of my passport, and she gave me a weird look when I stammered, "... I don't have a copy ... It wasn't required on the Interview Instructions, to which I followed to the letter.'

 

Jerry had taught me to just say 'Yes Sir/Ma'am' or 'No Sir/Ma'm', and 'Solly Shir, Solly Mdan!' ... Maybe I should have listened to him for a change.

 

Then it was a downhill ride from that point on.

 

A nastier surprise followed. 'Your Police Certificate is not acceptable.' -- 'Why?' -- 'It was issued by the Police Sub-station £¨ÅɳöËù£©. '

 

D'UH?! -- Ok, be calm girl! You can not afford to have an enemy here.

 

'Where was it supposed to be issued then? ... Please?'

 

'The Notary Office.'

 

Now, how do I present my plea with just 'Yes Sir/Ma'am or 'No Sir/Ma'am', and 'Solly Shir, Solly Madan' ? To hell with it! I'm not gonna swallow this, whatever it is that she's playing with me.

 

I mustered all my guts, 'Are you sure? How can a notary office issue a Police Certificate, or any certificate for that matter? What rights does it have to possess such power? ... And again, I was never instructed as to where and how to get one of these, actually I wish I had been blessed with such direction, so I wouldn't have been made into a football, and got kicked back and forth between those departments ...'

 

'It's just not what we want.' With that 'explanation', my Police Certificate was thrown out of the window back into my hands. And needless to say I didn't get the answer to my question. But hey, at least I did manage SOMETHING, to make an enemy in no time.

 

The shit just kept coming ...

 

When she asked for the financial papers, I had to struggle with my luggage to dig it out because Jerry had them stuffed into the Miscellaneous book, along with the Tax-return Records and such, which I did take out to submit. So I didn't exactly follow that instruction to letter after all, and I paid for this crime dearly. She rolled her eyes, jotted something on a slip and flipped it over to me, 'Go out for your passport copy, and come back to this window along with the right papers, I don't have time for your paper-hunt! ... And don't lose that paper, or you can't come back.' -- YES MADAN!

 

It took me a great deal of effort and time to pack everything back, and check around making sure nothing was left out. Then I made a bald move. I asked the All-Mighty Queen, and a guard too, whether I could leave my stuff under their watch, for just few minutes, so I could 'travel light'? The answer was of course a flat 'NO.' ... But the message in the tone was loud & clear -- "What the hell were you thinking?"

 

... Right, What the hell was I thinking?

 

WELLY WELLY SOLLY MADAN! WELLY WELLY SOLLY SHIR! I'M GONE!

 

This whole episode cost me more than half hour though there was some hawks waiting right down there one floor lower, to 'serve' me.

 

Now I'm back!!! Here's everything you asked. Thank you.

 

'Ok now, you wait for your turn. List carefully to Your LUN.'

 

'Excuse me, what?' -- What did I miss?

 

'The LUNBER, I give you.'

 

'No you didn't.'

 

'Yes, I did.'

 

NO! YOU DIDN'T! YES I DID! NO! YES! ...

 

'Go to Window 30!'

 

I went, wracking my brain trying to remember, and to come up with some explanation for the officer at Window 30, should I go into details or just say that I didn't get a number, and she said I had? ... Well, no explanation was needed, for sitting there at the Window 30 was the same All-Mighty Queen. And again we did this Yes-No jigsaw spat. Suddenly it hit me. 'Was it on the paper you gave me to get back in? Didn't I just hand it back to you. And that was the only paper you gave me.'

 

'LO LO LO! Another paper, very small. I told you don't lose it.'

 

'Then, can you please tell me what number that was assigned to me?'

 

'How can I remember so many numbers?'

 

'Don't you keep one identical number on my file, so they can call me? 'More eye rolling, but, '... Ok, I'm gonna give you another number. Don't lose it again.'

 

I kept my mouth shut. And that was the last time I saw that Queen that day. I must have done SOMETHING good in my life.

 

Gone with the All-Mighty Queen was the Dark-Age in my interview process.

 

Now back to waiting. But It was moving along smoothly. And at the finger-prints collection, the middle-aged lady seemed like an angel compare to the Queen I just had. Then everybody was called standing up to take the oath!

 

You don't have to ask any questions to figure out how everyone's interview went, the results were written all over their faces! And the pass rate was shockingly high, 80% PINK to say the least. But that didn't do any good to lift the heavy cloud cast in my heart. Lucky somehow my case was arranged almost to the end, that Queen's job for sure, but it worked out just perfectly for me. Because it gave me time to observe, and I found out that the VOs, 5 guys and 1 girl, are all very polite, patient, and seem to be pretty fair. So I determined to try my best to stretch my interview to the max, I must find a way to present my Police Certificate, I was determined not to let that All-Mighty Queen blow this chance for me. And I did it!

 

The VO I got, I was blessed with, it was that angel girl, who spoke the worst Chinese, I'd noticed that. So I must have played well on her, by surprising her with my English, the relief in her tone could not be disguised. I don't blame her, I'd be frustrated too if I had to speak a language I knew 20 words of, or had to try to understand their perfect Chin-glish all morning. (This is one thing that puzzled me, why the hell would the American Government allow anyone to get into their country without the ability to communicate? Haven't they imported enough English/Chin-glish-speaking rats already?)

 

How I miss that few minutes of my Interview. I had a great lousy, shitty day until that moment. It was a whirlwind, but I believe that the conversation, and interaction that took place between a VO and her interviewee had reached an up-close and personal level beyond my wildest dreams. When I asked the lady, 'Anything else you need me to provide?' She smiled, 'Your fianc¨¦¡¯s name for starters?' ... And we both laughed, not hysterically, not loud enough to catch some attention, I'm sure. And Jerry's expired drivers-license was stuffed in the pile, she picked it up and asked if he was there to, I said no but he so wanted to be, if only he could squeeze the trip in to his schedule to fit his 'fultime-job, single daddy' life.

 

She asked some questions like when, where and how we met, the times Jerry visited me, reviewed our scant number of photos, didn't ask any questions about that though, checked a few of our emails. After my answers, she asked 'U Neverous?"

 

I said, 'How can I not be Ma'am, it's nerve-wracking already this case itself, and I had a problem with my Police Certificate, notarized, but the Chinese staff there told me it wasn't acceptable. ... Can you please take a look at it, and give me some ... advice?'

 

'I'm sorry, but it's not my job to deal with the papers.' Then she was looking at a card (or something of that sort), I tried my best to stretch my neck, and could make it out that was a report of the paperwork-review, and I saw 3 X¡¯s on it.

 

She spoke again, 'And there's some other problems with your documents too, the Single Certificate. ...'

 

I was ready for this, 'Ma'am, I am not married, ever. But please let me explain, you have no idea how many departments I'd run to get this paper, and I did question about the legitimacy of my Single Certificate, but the Marriage Registration Office said that their company (can you believe what they called their Government department, or organization? a company?) was founded on July 13th, 2007, and their computer data can only go back to that period, that¡¯s why they could only prove my marriage record to that period. I even signed a personal statement of my single status, but they wouldn't budge, said this is how it would be issued, take it or leave it. ... It¡¯s just hard for us, just like my Police Certificate. '

 

That was when she decided to take a look at my Police Certificate, and sent a Chinese staff to the Window 30, 'Ask them what's wrong with this, please.' Off she went, I was worried that nothing would change with that Queen serving at that last window. But there was nothing I could do.

 

'Ma'am, I can also show you another proof of my single status, the notarized document of my Household Registration Book, my hukou, in which the box of my marriage status is also blank.'

 

She read it, and then asked for my personal statement, I had a hard time to dig it out, but she waited patiently. ... Then the Chinese Staff came back, and asked me in Chinese if I'd ever been abroad, I said no, she said then Your Police Certificate is good. I went on explaining, but the Lady said it's ok now, you don¡¯t have to do more explaining. I just wish that Queen was there to hear this.

 

The Lady then asked the Chinese Staff if my notarized single certificate was also ok, the answer was that they want the original, not the copy.

 

The VO accepted my argument of my single status, she said, 'Everything looks good to me, so I'm gonna approve your visa, but you must provide the original certificate before I can issue you your visa. But, don¡¯t you worry, you passed the interview, so, that's a good thing right?'

 

While I was still there, discussing about which way to provide the missing doc, 'do you prefer to mail it or walk it in?', I tried to discuss my options with her, explaining the complicity due to my position here in this town as an outsider, would they accept a notarized document from the local authority, she said, 'I'm sorry, I can't help you there, because there's some legality issue here which will be decided according to the law in China. ... But hey, don't worry, it's just few more days of delay, your visa is approved. So it's not all bad right?'

 

I just couldn't believe that I could be SO lucky to meet 2 women whose action, behavior and attitude had such great impact on my day, the first part of the Interview was like a long journey leading to hell, in which you couldn't help asking, 'What's next?', ... and in the second part, that sweet lady just lifted me from the bottom of the pit, and put me on the top of the world. Even though I still face some problems to re-gain the missing document, I cant express my gratitude to that nice lady. I wanted so much to ask her name, but of course I didn't. There's a line you don't cross.

 

This story may come out sounding like I'm accusing the American government of being unreasonable, putting us through a horrible experience in the process. But it certainly is not my intention to accuse the American government of anything. If anything, they are not keeping the door closed enough to stop the flood. I'm still shocked at the approval rate. 80% of hundreds of applicants (most of them don't speak one word of English) got PINK, in one day alone, from one consulate alone. Do some math yourself, then you'd know what I'm talking about.

 

P.S. How could I forget about a very crucial part of my interview¡­

 

Right before the VO approved my visa, she asked me, 'Do you love him? You DO love him right?'

 

I answered, 'OF COURSE!', I couldn't hid the glow on my face. We both laughed again.

 

Then she asked, 'Why?'

 

"¡­ because he loves me in a way that nobody ever has, and nobody ever could."

 

xiaomin Great story and write up.

Almost a novel Just kidding.

 

Congrats on your journey.

 

PS: Jerry let me know when you pick up Visa so i can update your time line.

 

Mike.

[kodokanron]

Excellent!!! Best wishes to both of you for a long, happy,

and healthy Life!

Ron & Jing

[Jerry & xiaomin]

'Go out for your passport copy, and come back to this window along with the right papers, I don't have time for your paper-hunt! ... And don't lose that paper, or you can't come back.' -- YES MADAN!

 

Hi,

 

 

Thank you for posting this detailed story, it is both encouraging and intimidating at the same time. May I ask, was the passport supposed to be copied ahead of time, or is this something that is only done at the interview? -- MAKE THE COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT AHEAD OF THE TIME! HELL, MAKE 2 COPIES.

 

Thanks!

[Jerry & xiaomin]

'Go out for your passport copy, and come back to this window along with the right papers, I don't have time for your paper-hunt! ... And don't lose that paper, or you can't come back.' -- YES MADAN!

 

Hi,

 

 

Thank you for posting this detailed story, it is both encouraging and intimidating at the same time. May I ask, was the passport supposed to be copied ahead of time, or is this something that is only done at the interview?

 

Thanks!

Apparently she was suppose to have copies of her Passport ahead of time, but nothing that we could find says this... Go figure ay?

[Jerry & xiaomin]

 

 

xiaomin Great story and write up.

Almost a novel Just kidding.

 

Congrats on your journey.

 

PS: Jerry let me know when you pick up Visa so i can update your time line.

 

Mike.

Oh, thanks Mike... Reminds me I have to update my signature timeline!

[NUWORLD]

 

 

xiaomin Great story and write up.

Almost a novel Just kidding.

 

Congrats on your journey.

 

PS: Jerry let me know when you pick up Visa so i can update your time line.

 

Mike.

Oh, thanks Mike... Reminds me I have to update my signature timeline!

 

Not a problem Jerry.

Everyone in the time line tread i keep track of.

Just let me know when you get that Visa in hand.

 

Mike

[3timescharm]

 

 

xiaomin Great story and write up.

Almost a novel Just kidding.

 

Congrats on your journey.

 

PS: Jerry let me know when you pick up Visa so i can update your time line.

 

Mike.

Oh, thanks Mike... Reminds me I have to update my signature timeline!

 

 

Congrats and thank you for the very interesting story. I think this will help alot of people. I will tell Xiaona to make copies of her passport before interview.

 

Robert

[nandj]

Most comprehensive story. Thank you for sharing.

 

Best of luck,

Ning and Jim...

[Bill & Li Hong]

Congratulations!

 

You state "copies", how many copies?

The entire passport or just the information page?

I had read somewhere about a copy of the information page, which I have.

We're headed to GUZ this morning.

It would be nice to know exactly what they wanted.

[Jerry & xiaomin]

Congratulations!

 

You state "copies", how many copies?

The entire passport or just the information page?

I had read somewhere about a copy of the information page, which I have.

We're headed to GUZ this morning.

It would be nice to know exactly what they wanted.

When I sent our P-1 to The USCIS, I read ... "a copy of every page of the passports" which is what we submitted. I assume it's the same deal for the Interview requirements and I assume that's what xiaomin got from "floor 4" but I'd have to wait until I give her, her wake up call in a couple of hours to ask her for sure... One copy to turn in to them.

[3timescharm]

Congratulations!

 

You state "copies", how many copies?

The entire passport or just the information page?

I had read somewhere about a copy of the information page, which I have.

We're headed to GUZ this morning.

It would be nice to know exactly what they wanted.

When I sent our P-1 to The USCIS, I read ... "a copy of every page of the passports" which is what we submitted. I assume it's the same deal for the Interview requirements and I assume that's what xiaomin got from "floor 4" but I'd have to wait until I give her, her wake up call in a couple of hours to ask her for sure... One copy to turn in to them.

 

 

"This story may come out sounding like I'm accusing the American government of being unreasonable, putting us through a horrible experience in the process. But it certainly is not my intention to accuse the American government of anything. If anything, they are not keeping the door closed enough to stop the flood. I'm still shocked at the approval rate. 80% of hundreds of applicants (most of them don't speak one word of English) got PINK, in one day alone, from one consulate alone. Do some math yourself, then you'd know what I'm talking about. "

 

I read this with great interest the other day and believe that it will be of great help to everyone who is getting ready for the interview. After alot of thought though...I have to make a few comments on the story. I do not wish to offend anyone with my commments so please do not take them personally. You see the quote I have included in my response above. First I will say that YES, there are I think too many foriengers in this country, but the ones I am reffering to are illegal. Are too many visa's issued, maybe. The fact of the matter is that YOU were one of the 80% that got your visa approved this day so you should feel lucky that you were not one of the 20%. I personally think that most if not all student visa's should be approved as long as they are legit. Most have saved for a very long time or there parents are giving up there retirement to make there childrens lives better. As far as K visa's and CR-1, if they are BONIFIED RELATIONSHIPS and the financial paperwork is in order, I think they should have a 100% approval rating, whether they can speak english or not. How they communicate is there buisness. You are coming to this country to be with the person you love and they should also be able to do the same. For a person from another country to come to this country and tell us we have too many foriengers just does not sound right. They have the same right to come as you do. I am sure everyone was hoping that your visa would be approved as the rest of us are hoping that ours will be. We have a saying here in the South about people from up north, " You are welcome to come but.....do not try to tell us how to do things down here. If you do not like it.....got back to New York or were ever it is you came from". The same could be said for people from other countries. Do not try to tell us "US" how we should run our country or control our borders. Consider yourself lucky that you got the visa and WELCOME....we are glad to have you.

 

 

Robert

[warpedbored]

That was the most entertaining if not the best interview story I have read since I became a member of this board over 6 years ago. Thank you Xiaomin.