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The process of documents hand-in and interview


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Here is the process of documents hand-in and interview which happened on my interview day. Hope it helpful for you. I will post my interview details later.

The Day of Documents Hand-in.

1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. At about 12:20pm, start to go inside the building. Security guards check your passport and visa appointment letter, and give you a greenblue card.

2. Get up to the fourth floor by elevator. There are security guards who check your passport and visa appointment letter again, and take away the greenblue card.

3. Get up to the fifth floor by elevator and turn right. Here is security check. Turn off all electronic devices and hand them to the guards (they will keep them for you and return them to you when you leave. You can bring purse, backpack, food, water and even luggage into the consulate). Take off your shoes and belt, and pass the security door.

4. Turn right (there is a direction sign on the wall). A person there takes away your visa appointment letter and gives you a number.

5. Be seated and wait your number to be called. The number is not called in order. It is called according to your visa type based on my observation. How do they do it? Remember they have your visa appointment letter.

6. There are 14 windows open to take documents at the beginning, then 12 and another two for fingerprint. All officers are Chinese and they speak Mandarin and Cantonese. They are nice and patient. Documents hand-in may take 5-10 minutes. Some may take more time especially for elder applicants. Besides taking-in documents, the officers also ask some questions. At the end, they give your visa appointment letter back with the number nailed on it and a stamp telling you come back for interview on the next day at 7:30am.

7. Be seated and wait your number to be called for fingerprints. Fingerprint is at window 17 and 18. After fingerprint, it is done for the day!

The Day of Interview

1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. About 7:15am, start to go inside the building. Same as the process on the day of documents hand-in and get into the consulate. The only difference is that no number is assigned.

2. Be seated and wait. About 8:30am, all stand up and swear an oath to tell the truth at the interview. Then the interview starts.

3. Wait your number be called. The number is not called in order. Applicants with little babies/children and elder applicants are called first based on my observation. It is very thoughtful!!

4. There are 8 windows open and all officers are Americans. If there is a difficulty of communication between officers and applicants, there will be a Chinese officer as interpreters. It is typically for elder applicants.

5. The interview averagely takes about 10-15 minutes. Some may take less or more time. In my case, questions they ask are point-to-point because all cases may have been reviewed before the interview and some information was collected at the day of documents hand-in. I think it increases efficiency and accuracy of the interview. If you get a blue slip and have questions you can go to window number 30 to inquire.

Good luck with your interview!!

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Here is the process of documents hand-in and interview which happened on my interview day. Hope it helpful for you. I will post my interview details later.

 

The Day of Documents Hand-in.

 

1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. At about 12:20pm, start to go inside the building. Security guards check your passport and visa appointment letter, and give you a greenblue card.

 

2. Get up to the fourth floor by elevator. There are security guards who check your passport and visa appointment letter again, and take away the greenblue card.

 

3. Get up to the fifth floor by elevator and turn right. Here is security check. Turn off all electronic devices and hand them to the guards (they will keep them for you and return them to you when you leave. You can bring purse, backpack, food, water and even luggage into the consulate). Take off your shoes and belt, and pass the security door.

 

4. Turn right (there is a direction sign on the wall). A person there takes away your visa appointment letter and gives you a number.

 

5. Be seated and wait your number to be called. The number is not called in order. It is called according to your visa type based on my observation. How do they do it? Remember they have your visa appointment letter.

 

6. There are 14 windows open to take documents at the beginning, then 12 and another two for fingerprint. All officers are Chinese and they speak Mandarin and Cantonese. They are nice and patient. Documents hand-in may take 5-10 minutes. Some may take more time especially for elder applicants. Besides taking-in documents, the officers also ask some questions. At the end, they give your visa appointment letter back with the number nailed on it and a stamp telling you come back for interview on the next day at 7:30am.

 

7. Be seated and wait your number to be called for fingerprints. Fingerprint is at window 17 and 18. After fingerprint, it is done for the day!

 

The Day of Interview

 

1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. About 7:15am, start to go inside the building. Same as the process on the day of documents hand-in and get into the consulate. The only difference is that no number is assigned.

 

2. Be seated and wait. About 8:30am, all stand up and swear an oath to tell the truth at the interview. Then the interview starts.

 

3. Wait your number be called. The number is not called in order. Applicants with little babies/children and elder applicants are called first based on my observation. It is very thoughtful!!

 

4. There are 8 windows open and all officers are Americans. If there is a difficulty of communication between officers and applicants, there will be a Chinese officer as interpreters. It is typically for elder applicants.

 

5. The interview averagely takes about 10-15 minutes. Some may take less or more time. In my case, questions they ask are point-to-point because all cases may have been reviewed before the interview and some information was collected at the day of documents hand-in. I think it increases efficiency and accuracy of the interview. If you get a blue slip and have questions you can go to window number 30 to inquire.

 

Good luck with your interview!!

 

 

Nice write up, thanks.

 

tsap seui

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Great information. Thank you!

 

Could you provide any additional insight as to what exactly is submitted during the document intake?

 

The instruction packet form says: On the day of your interview document intake, bring the medical envelope, any necessary documents you did not submit to the National Visa Center, and any potential evidence proving the applicant(s) relationship to each other (as applicable) as well as the petitioner.

 

That would make it sound as if, assuming the required documents such as I-864 and various notarized certificates are also submitted during the intake, that essentially *everything* is to be submitted during the document intake. Is that correct? Being it says "any potential evidence" I wonder if they would treat that as a warning to be "all" potential evidence available at the time and not allow/ask for anything additional during the interview?

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Great information. Thank you!

 

Could you provide any additional insight as to what exactly is submitted during the document intake?

 

The instruction packet form says: On the day of your interview document intake, bring the medical envelope, any necessary documents you did not submit to the National Visa Center, and any potential evidence proving the applicant(s) relationship to each other (as applicable) as well as the petitioner.

 

That would make it sound as if, assuming the required documents such as I-864 and various notarized certificates are also submitted during the intake, that essentially *everything* is to be submitted during the document intake. Is that correct? Being it says "any potential evidence" I wonder if they would treat that as a warning to be "all" potential evidence available at the time and not allow/ask for anything additional during the interview?

 

We are doing IR1 electronic processing. In my case, what they take-in is:

 

1) Original I-864 with three most recent federal tax return (2007, 2008, 2009).

2) A copy of marriage certificate;

3) Original my birth certificate and police certificate;

4) Medical envelope (they will let applicant open it);

5) Packet 3 Supplemental Information Sheet which has my address in Chinese;

6) Two photography;

 

I think what documents take-in is case by case. But they only take in essential and key stuff. Like photos, emails records, calls and other evidence, they may ask at interview, which you do not need to bring with you on the day of take-in. Hope it helps.

Edited by dnoblett
Affidavit Of Support form number corrected (see edit history)
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1) Original I-184 with three most recent federal tax return (2007, 2008, 2009).

 

 

xiaozhu,

 

Thank you for your very detail account.

 

Mine is a k-1 petition, so I'll be submitting an I-134. I've got my last 3 years' tax transcripts from the IRS ready for my SO's interview (who knows when). Some people say in addition to the tax returns or transcripts, I need to submit W-2's and pay stubs too. But I also read somewhere (maybe in the I-184 instructions) that if I submit IRS tax transcripts then I don't have to submit W-2's.

 

Questions:

(1) Did you submit your husband's tax returns or IRS tax transcripts for the last 3 years?

(2) Did you submit your husband's W-2's and pay stubs along with his tax returns/transcripts?

 

Thank you! :)

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Questions:

(1) Did you submit your husband's tax returns or IRS tax transcripts for the last 3 years?

(2) Did you submit your husband's W-2's and pay stubs along with his tax returns/transcripts?

 

(1) Only my husband's tax returns (only first two pages) for last 3 years;

(2) Only his W-2 of 2009. We submitted it is because in I-864 form, we chose to submit the most recent year (2009) tax return and W-2. But for the interview, we know the recent three year tax return will be helpful. In fact, it does. Take-in officer asked for 3 year tax return, and interview officer looked at them seriously.

Edited by xiaozhu (see edit history)
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Thanks for the info. My wife hands in her documents tomorrow.

When we got the appointment letter from the consulate.... that's all we got. Just the appointment letter. A little frustrating. She has copies of everything we submitted from the I-130 to the DS-230 & I-864. We are doing CR-1... but we missed out on the electronic processing (partly my fault, and the agent we asked didn't help us in that regard either).

Anyhow, since it's traditional, not electronic, we gather she'll only need to hand in the medical, and bring any extra things to the interview (lot's of pictures, chat records, e-mails, a new employment letter - just in case, and statements by family, friends and coworkers).

I still wonder if we need more :P All the advice has been to have as much as possible, and I always try and think of 'more' I think I'm being obsesive

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Do need to worry. What you have is sufficent. I brought a backpack of evidences like pictures, emails, Skypes, emloyment evidence..., The officer did not ask for them. Based on my observation on my case, other K-1 and CR1/IR1 cases, for financial support, they first look over fed tax return. If they find it is not enough like your income is low, they ask for co-sponoser documents. For a true marriage, they care when and how you met, when you were married, they look over marriage certicificate. If not enough,they will look over pictures. They would not have time to look at emails, chats......

 

Good luck with your interview. :lol:

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I brought a backpack of evidences like pictures, emails, Skypes, emloyment evidence..., The officer did not ask for them.

 

 

xiaozhu,

 

That is very reassuring. I am confident that my tax transcripts for the past 3 years and W-2's are sufficient to show that I am financially capable of supporting my future family.

 

I will include pay stubs, but I prefer not to ask my employer for a letter of employment because I don't want to explain the purpose of this letter to my HR manager if I don't have to.

 

Thank you once again. :)

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xiaozhu,

 

That is very reassuring. I am confident that my tax transcripts for the past 3 years and W-2's are sufficient to show that I am financially capable of supporting my future family.

 

I will include pay stubs, but I prefer not to ask my employer for a letter of employment because I don't want to explain the purpose of this letter to my HR manager if I don't have to.

 

Thank you once again. :)

 

bobbyA, you are very welcome!! Your thought about a letter of employment is exactly as same as my husband's. He thinks it is very wired to ask his company for such a letter. He gave me a copy of his last month pay stubs but it was not used at interview :-)). Past 3 years tax returns are enough. They did not ask for W-2 either. But my husband's 2009 W2 was attached with his I-864 form.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is the OP's interview question from another thread:

 

My interview went well and pretty quickly although I was given a blue slip due to CCP, which was predicted.

 

Here are the questions she (the visa officer) asked:

 

1) Do you speak English? (Yes)

2) When did you meet your husband? (2005)

3) When were you married? (2008) Is it your first marriage? (Yes, both of us). Show me original marriage certificate. (Hand in). She took a serious look at the certificate and returned it to me.

4) What did you do when you were in USA? (I worked and studied in USA before)

5) Do you two have a baby? (Yes)

6) Are you a CCP member? (Yes, hand in statements from me and my husband, and she took them). Do you have resume? (Hand in) She looked but did not take it and she said they need more information and further processing.

7) I asked how long it takes. She said a couple of weeks, depends on cases.

 

No pictures, emails and other documents were asked. Here is my question: They ask for "degree to which you accept(ed) the structure, goals, methods, and practices of the party". Should I answer it generally or need to address it specifically to each item? Thank you.

 

Thanks for the info. Pinning for a while.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Here is the process of documents hand-in and interview which happened on my interview day. Hope it helpful for you. I will post my interview details later.

 

The Day of Documents Hand-in.

 

1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. At about 12:20pm, start to go inside the building. Security guards check your passport and visa appointment letter, and give you a greenblue card.

 

2. Get up to the fourth floor by elevator. There are security guards who check your passport and visa appointment letter again, and take away the greenblue card.

 

3. Get up to the fifth floor by elevator and turn right. Here is security check. Turn off all electronic devices and hand them to the guards (they will keep them for you and return them to you when you leave. You can bring purse, backpack, food, water and even luggage into the consulate). Take off your shoes and belt, and pass the security door.

 

4. Turn right (there is a direction sign on the wall). A person there takes away your visa appointment letter and gives you a number.

 

5. Be seated and wait your number to be called. The number is not called in order. It is called according to your visa type based on my observation. How do they do it? Remember they have your visa appointment letter.

 

6. There are 14 windows open to take documents at the beginning, then 12 and another two for fingerprint. All officers are Chinese and they speak Mandarin and Cantonese. They are nice and patient. Documents hand-in may take 5-10 minutes. Some may take more time especially for elder applicants. Besides taking-in documents, the officers also ask some questions. At the end, they give your visa appointment letter back with the number nailed on it and a stamp telling you come back for interview on the next day at 7:30am.

 

7. Be seated and wait your number to be called for fingerprints. Fingerprint is at window 17 and 18. After fingerprint, it is done for the day!

 

The Day of Interview

 

1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. About 7:15am, start to go inside the building. Same as the process on the day of documents hand-in and get into the consulate. The only difference is that no number is assigned.

 

2. Be seated and wait. About 8:30am, all stand up and swear an oath to tell the truth at the interview. Then the interview starts.

 

3. Wait your number be called. The number is not called in order. Applicants with little babies/children and elder applicants are called first based on my observation. It is very thoughtful!!

 

4. There are 8 windows open and all officers are Americans. If there is a difficulty of communication between officers and applicants, there will be a Chinese officer as interpreters. It is typically for elder applicants.

 

5. The interview averagely takes about 10-15 minutes. Some may take less or more time. In my case, questions they ask are point-to-point because all cases may have been reviewed before the interview and some information was collected at the day of documents hand-in. I think it increases efficiency and accuracy of the interview. If you get a blue slip and have questions you can go to window number 30 to inquire.

 

Good luck with your interview!!

 

Hi Xiaozhu,

 

I have a question regarding the interview. My husband is having his interview on July 12th with the11th being the document drop off day.

 

The appointment letter states to bring "any potential evidence proving the applicant(s) relationship to each other (as applicable) as well as the petitioner" to the interview. So I assumed that we can drop off all our evidence of relationship documents (phone records, chat records, email, letters, receipts of hotel stays and vacations etc... ) during the document drop off day so that the VO can look at it prior the interview.

 

However, I was just asking someone and they had told me that the embassy has a new policy and that they no longer accept any EORs during the document intake day. For electronic processing, I was told that they will only take in all the necessary documents (original DS 230, I-864, taxes etc...) during the document intake day and all EOR docs will be looked at during interview day.

 

Is this true? If so, when should we submit them? In the beginning of the interview or when they ask for it? I have 4 lbs worth of EORs and the interview is around 15 minutes. I am worried that what if the VO doesn't even look through everything and just denies my husband?

 

Any suggestions?

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1) Original I-184 with three most recent federal tax return (2007, 2008, 2009).

 

 

xiaozhu,

 

Thank you for your very detail account.

 

Mine is a k-1 petition, so I'll be submitting an I-134. I've got my last 3 years' tax transcripts from the IRS ready for my SO's interview (who knows when). Some people say in addition to the tax returns or transcripts, I need to submit W-2's and pay stubs too. But I also read somewhere (maybe in the I-184 instructions) that if I submit IRS tax transcripts then I don't have to submit W-2's.

 

Questions:

(1) Did you submit your husband's tax returns or IRS tax transcripts for the last 3 years?

(2) Did you submit your husband's W-2's and pay stubs along with his tax returns/transcripts?

 

Thank you! :)

 

In our case we did K-1, submitted I-134 + 3 years IRS Transcripts + Employer letter + past 6 months Pay stubs.

 

W2 or 1099 not needed when using transcripts.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Xiaozhu,

 

I have a question regarding the interview. My husband is having his interview on July 12th with the11th being the document drop off day.

 

The appointment letter states to bring "any potential evidence proving the applicant(s) relationship to each other (as applicable) as well as the petitioner" to the interview. So I assumed that we can drop off all our evidence of relationship documents (phone records, chat records, email, letters, receipts of hotel stays and vacations etc... ) during the document drop off day so that the VO can look at it prior the interview.

 

However, I was just asking someone and they had told me that the embassy has a new policy and that they no longer accept any EORs during the document intake day. For electronic processing, I was told that they will only take in all the necessary documents (original DS 230, I-864, taxes etc...) during the document intake day and all EOR docs will be looked at during interview day.

 

Is this true? If so, when should we submit them? In the beginning of the interview or when they ask for it? I have 4 lbs worth of EORs and the interview is around 15 minutes. I am worried that what if the VO doesn't even look through everything and just denies my husband?

 

Any suggestions?

 

HI, just read your post. Hope your husband already received visa!!

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