Could This Really Be Moving that Fast!

[screamneagle]

Well, like the rest of the relative "new guys" I'm sitting here waiting for the K-1 visa to run its course. If its one thing any of us have learned from this experience it is the old adage, "Patience is a virtue!" So with that in mind I settled in for the long wait after making my initial I-129F submission to the USCIS Processing Center in Vermont on April 2nd. As I mentioned on here before, I was astounded when I received my P-2 approval notice on June 14th... just 63 days after it was received.

 

This past Saturday, June 19th, I received the notice from the State Department informing me that they had received my file, assigned it a GUZ case number and would be forwarding it to Guangzhou soon. They also said that my lady would be receiving an information packet (P-3?)with an instruction sheet and a visa application shortly.

 

OK, so I'm now into the long and frustrating wait that everyone here has mentioned and experienced. So now its my turn, right? I am figuring that the NVC out date was going to be sometime in the middle or end of this week so for the heck of it I called the State Department last night and was informed the my file was sent to the consulate at Guangzhou on June 15th. Again I was surprised by the very fast NVC turn around time!

 

This morning (night in Chengdu) I received a phone call from my lady informing me that the Chengdu post office had called her and told her that there was a piece of mail for her there from Guangzhou and that she had to come to the post office to pick it up tomorrow. Both of are thinking ... Could this be the P-3 already!? Can this really be happening that fast!?

 

So my question is ... is there some other notification that Guangzhou sends to the beneficiary in the mail prior to sending the P-3 or could this be the P-3 itself? Am I reading more into this then is actually there? Is this too much to hope for?

 

This process seems to me to be moving very much faster than I had anticipated or thought possible. Love to hear your thoughts on this one.

 

Richard

[dnoblett]

1) The Increased fees paid to USCIS has finally improved their service as promised 3 years ago, so 60 days there is understandable, it use to be upwards of 6 months.

 

2) NVC Has always been fairly quick about turn around 2 - 4 weeks.

 

3) Another improvement recently NVC has begun scanning the cases and sending electronically to the consulate, avoiding the 2-3 month customs delay.

 

4) Surprising that the consulate was quick about sending P3, but they can always be slow about assigning an interview time depending on back log.

 

Mentioned earlier.

[screamneagle]

Dan:

 

As always, thank you for your insight! I'll let you know what happens tomorrow when I find out what the piece of mail is from Guangzhou. This could all be a false alarm. I don't want to get my hopes up but like I said ... to me, this all seems to be moving lightening fast ... even if there is a backlog for the interview date, the process seems to be moving much faster then I ever imagined.

 

Richard

[wawayu]

Yeah please let us know if the package is indeed the P-3 packet from Guangzhou consulate.

 

I posted a question about what to do with the address I put in for her in my I-129F application because my fiance is moving to a new apt. within the two weeks. So if Post Office calls her for pickup instead of delivering to her old address, my problem is solved. Does anyone know if this is how EMS works in China? (My fiance lives in Shanghai.)

[dnoblett]

Yeah please let us know if the package is indeed the P-3 packet from Guangzhou consulate.

 

I posted a question about what to do with the address I put in for her in my I-129F application because my fiance is moving to a new apt. within the two weeks. So if Post Office calls her for pickup instead of delivering to her old address, my problem is solved. Does anyone know if this is how EMS works in China? (My fiance lives in Shanghai.)

As soon as you have GUZ number, contact DOS visa services, as well as email the consulate an updated delivery address.

 

DOS Visa Services 202-663-1225 http://travel.state.gov/visa/about/how/how_1463.html

 

Consulate email: http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn//i...t-question.html

[wawayu]

Thanks Dan. I got the suggestions from you and couple other folks on my other post and was ready to contact DOS and the consulate. But now the problem is the new address my fiance is moving to is a temp, might be for just a few weeks and she doesn't even know how safe the EMS package can be delivered and received at this address. sigh...

 

so if Post Office over there usually calls the recipient before delivering EMS and gives the option of picking up the package at the post office, my problem is solved for now, at least for P-3, because we still need to find a permanent address for her P4.

 

Btw, my I-129F was approved on 6/14, received at NVC on 6/18, and delivered to Guangzhou via both electronically and DHL on 6/22, all just a few days behind Richard's case. That's why I'm hoping the package his fiance is getting in Chengdu is indeed the P3, which gives me hope that my fiance can get it before she has to move out from her current address ... one can always dream, right?

 

Thanks again!

[screamneagle]

As I said previously, my lady received a call from the Chengdu post office yesterday telling her that she had received a package from GUZ. They were calling to confirm the address prior to delivery. When they told her that they could not find her address in Chengdu my lady told them that was because she DIDN'T live in Chengdu ... that she lives in Xindu. It turns out that GUZ did not include her "Xindu Town, Xindu District" line in the address label on the package so it stopped in Chengdu which is about 30 minutes away from the main post office in Xindu Town (Whew! That's a mouthful!)

 

At any rate they told her that they would forward the package to the Xindu post office and that she could pick it up there. While we were chatting last night ... which was 9 a.m. in the morning in Xindu ... she began calling the post office in Xindu ... they hadn't received the package. I told my lady to call me last night, no matter what the time, to let me know if the package was, indeed, the P-3. You guessed it! No phone call. No luck!

 

I just spoke to her about an hour ago and she said that she had called both post offices every hour on the hour for 9 straight hours in an effort to locate the mystery package. Now, neither post office has it and it is supposedly in transit to Xindu. Both post offices told her she would have it tomorrow. So we will see what happens. You want to talk about nerve wracking???

 

I will keep you posted ... the saga continues ....

 

Richard

[dnoblett]

One note:

 

Many have simply sent OF-169 and DS-230 part 1 along with copy of passport bio page to the consulate the moment they hear P-3 has been sent, even before receiving the P-3 package. Packages pass each other in the mail. The way people know P-3 was sent is by calling DOS Visa Services in the states, they have this information.

 

You can download these things from the consulate website, and mail to the consulate.

 

http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/fo...and_packets.htm

 

United States Consulate Guangzhou

IV Unit

1 Shamian South Street

Guangzhou, 510133 PRC

 

Or:

 

广州市沙面南街1号

美国驻广州总领事馆

邮编：510133

IV Unit

 

I would include a cover letter explaining the CORRECT address so that the P-4 does not get hung up, at the wrong post office.

Edited June 25, 2010 by dnoblett (see edit history)

[wawayu]

Richard,

 

One way to find out if the package is indeed the P3 is to call DOS as Dan was suggesting. I called them this morning and was told Guangzhou consulate has just sent out P3 to my fiance. I'm sure your lady will get hers delivered to Xindu very soon.

[Stepbrow]

1) The Increased fees paid to USCIS has finally improved their service as promised 3 years ago, so 60 days there is understandable, it use to be upwards of 6 months.

 

2) NVC Has always been fairly quick about turn around 2 - 4 weeks.

 

3) Another improvement recently NVC has begun scanning the cases and sending electronically to the consulate, avoiding the 2-3 month customs delay.

 

4) Surprising that the consulate was quick about sending P3, but they can always be slow about assigning an interview time depending on back log.

 

Mentioned earlier.

 

Another reason that things are processing faster is that their are fewer family based visas now. The following link is to the USCIS Ombudsman updates. Scroll down to "Unused Family Based Visas." It talks about unused family based visa, and that now LPR's are moving faster, and that some of the allocation for FBV's are being given for employment.

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/gc_1221837986181.shtm#8

[dnoblett]

Another reason that things are processing faster is that their are fewer family based visas now. The following link is to the USCIS Ombudsman updates. Scroll down to "Unused Family Based Visas." It talks about unused family based visa, and that now LPR's are moving faster, and that some of the allocation for FBV's are being given for employment.

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/gc_1221837986181.shtm#8

Now that's just crazy. Would be logical to reassign to lower classes like F2B, F3, and F4.

 

Third: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.

 

Fourth: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html Edited June 26, 2010 by dnoblett (see edit history)

[screamneagle]

The mystery package showed up at my lady's post office in Xindu on Friday morning (China time). She open it and called me to say that it was, in fact, her P-3 packet! Neither of us could believe that it had arrived so quickly ... from NVO out on June 15th to P-3 in hand ... 10 days!

 

Needless to say, she was not only very excited about receiving her P-3 but she was on her way to the agency with her daughter almost immediately after the envelope was opened. Even though I had already filled out the DS 230, part 1 and the OF-169 for her and her daughter and left it with the agency, they spent the better part of the day going over the paperwork and making sure everything was properly filled in and all the information was correct. This Monday morning (China time) she called me to say that her forms had been mailed out and were now on their way back to Guangzhou. I have to tell you ... my head was spinning.

 

With everything moving so quickly I have to really put my nose to the grindstone to get all the rest of my material completed and organized to bring to her for the interview. We had plans to do this on August 31st. I held off purchasing the ticket to see if the fares would drop a bit. It is a good thing I did. It now appears that my lady could possibly have her interview by the end of August and I will be making the trip to Guangzhou rather than Chengdu ... thank you, Lord!

 

Now all eyes will be on the post office for the arrival of the much anticipated P-4. We are in the highest hopes that the speedy trend at which all of this is happening will continue to favor not only us but all those who are at this point in the process right now. Our prayers are many and our fingers are crossed!

 

One final note of interest ... when I called DOS on Friday evening to find out if the P-3 had been sent out, as suggested here, I was told that they did not have that information and that I would have to call the Consulate at Guangzhou to find out whether or not it had been sent out! Go figure!

Edited June 28, 2010 by screamneagle (see edit history)

[Lee VD]

Yeah, we had an agonizing wait for the interview date / P4. On that one, a call to DOS is useful when its time to start checking, (6 weeks out or so). They saw the interview date set about a week before the packet went out.

Edited June 29, 2010 by Lee VD (see edit history)

[Amaro]

With your stuff moving so fast, I am anxious as well to see how fast my girl gets the P3. I called NVC on Friday and they havent sent the packet to china yet. They told me to call them back at the end of this week for an updated status. Good luck to you!

[screamneagle]

Amaro:

 

I hope you will not have to call at all! The folks at my lady's agency said that things appeared to be moving very quickly with the visa process now and that she can expect an email confirmation of receipt for her P-3 from GUZ in 3 to 4 days. Then we move on to the wait for the P-4 and interview date. I've got almost all of my documents together and am just waiting for the tax transcripts. Got to get all this stuff organized for her and then just stand by for the big swoop to Honk Kong and on to Guangzhou where I will meet my lady and her daughter. I'll keep you up to date on the P-4 time frame as it develops. Good luck to you and your lady! I hope everyone's application moves more quickly now and that is the beginning of a new and welcomed trend at GUZ.

 

Here's a question for Dan or anyone who might know. The VJ site says that you should bring an entire copy of the original I-129F submission package with all the original documents to the interview. Is this true? Does my lady have to carry that boat load of documentation into the interview with her? If this has already been looked over and scanned into our case, is this really necessary? I thought that I would just bring the following in an accordion folder:

 

I-134

Tax transcripts

Letter from employer

Visa fee receipt

Airline receipts proof of visit from trip after the I-129 was submitted

Updated Letters of Intent to marry

Updated Evolution Of Relationship letter

Letter explaining divorce

Personal letters

e-mail

Chat logs

Skype screen shots

Photographs

 

 

She will have:

 

Appointment letter

Passport for herself and daughter

P-4 medical forms completed/x-rays

Birth certificate - notarized white book

Divorce certificate - notarized white book

Ex-husbands death certificate - notarized white book

Police reports for her and her daughter - notarized white book

Baptismal certificate - notarized white book

Letters from mother & father giving permission for daughter to go to US

4 Passport photos of both

 

What's your thought?