interesting conversation

[warpedbored]

As some of you know I am an avid woodworker and assistant manager of a woodworking supply store. Today a customer came in and while helping him I learned that he is the recently retired consul general from Chengdu. While I resisted the urge to tie him to a chair for intense interogation I did manage to solicit a few interesting tidbits from him. He was reluctant to discuss my own immigration case (I asked him if I could be his friend since he has contacts lol) Of course he told me that the main reason things are so slow is underfunding from congress. (not news) I also asked him why all the visa petition are processed in Guangzhou. He said that historically from the days of building the railroad that about 95% of Chinese immigrants came from the southern provinces. Now though rumor has it that they are seriously considering processing visas in Bejing for everyone north of the Yangtze river. I also asked him why tourists visas were so hard to get for Chinese nationals and cited the story of one of our member's mother in law who wanted to come over for the birth of her grandson. He said that little old ladies coming to visit are a big problem for the BCIS because once here they don't want to leave and end up on medicare. I'm not buying it myself but he seemed sincere in his conviction. I would have loved to talk to him for hours but I was working and other customers were waiting. Perhaps he will come in again and I can pump him some more.

Carl

[keelec]

Of course he told me that the main reason things are so slow is underfunding from congress.  (not news)  

...

 

I also asked him why tourists visas were so hard to get for Chinese nationals and cited the story of one of our member's mother in law who wanted to come over for the birth of her grandson.  He said that little old ladies coming to visit are a big problem for the BCIS because once here they  don't want to leave and end up on medicare.

Funding?

 

It probably does play a part, although I do wonder if they could do better with the money that they get. Or, perhaps they could try to be more efficient and thus do more in less time. In many domestic government funded jobs, a very high percentage of the money is wasted.

 

Oh, and I've lost track of how much the visa is costing us. We pay (no dependents) $110 for the visa application to BCIS, $100 for the interview, and an additional $400 for a visa status change later.

 

How much does it actually cost to process each application? Can the fees be modified to better cover the costs? If GZ does 150 interviews per day, then they would be bringing in over $15,000 per day in visa processing fees (only counting the $100). Multiply that by 250 days and it is about $3,750,000 per year in visa processing fees. If we divided that by $100,000 per employee, one could hire 37 employees at a decent wage just to process those 150 applications per day (4 applications per employee per day, start to finish (approx 1/2 hr for visa, and 2 hrs other work)). Of course, if the fees would be increased to $400, that would reduce it to about 1 application per employee per day.

 

The mother in law story makes a lot of sense. I could imagine the mother in law seeing a cute baby and then wanting to take the roll of babysitter, and just want to stick around here.

 

I still think the sponsor should be able to take more responsibility for the sponsored person returning home at the end of the visa. Few mother-in-laws would risk their daughter being deported or their son-in-law being thrown in jail (unless, of course, they didn't like the son-in-law). But, I have also read a few horror stories on this website of women coming on K1/K3 visas, then completely disappearing shortly after arriving in the USA. I would hate to be harassed by the government for the unscrupulous actions of one of those women.

 

----- Clifford -----

 

(sorry I originally goofed on the number of work days per year in my initial estimate)

[bobmal99]

Really now, did you re-read exactly what you just wrote. First of all you were only charging for the K-1, K-3 visas.

 

The GZ Embassy issues a ton of business and tourist visas also. So they would be bringing in even more money then you stated.

 

However, the reason this will simply never be done by our government is because it actually makes sense.

 

So why on earth would our government do somethig that seems to make sense, be fair, and equitable!!!!

 

[keelec]

I am not sure what the exact charges are.

 

As far as interviews, based on the 3,000 or so K1-K4 visas issued each year in China, I can only account for about 10 to 20 interviews per day being K1-K4. An equal number is likely V1-V4 (Alien sponsors).

 

GZ claims to do around 150 interviews / day. The remainder is likely the tourist visas, student visas, and business visas.

 

Overall, I presume they bring in $3 - $5 Million a year in visa and passport fees (paid in GZ to GZ). I would imagine this only a fraction of the consulate's total operating expenses, but it has to come close to supporting the visa section. If it doesn't support the visa section of the consulate (without subsidizing the rest of the consulate), then it would be appropriate to adjust the fees within reason.

 

Of course, I wonder if "Denial" applications should be charged the same as "Approval" applications.

 

What about funding for the FBI activites in relation to Visas?

 

----- Clifford ------