New Document and Scheduling Procedure as of (3/16/2013)

[dnoblett]

Once approved and sent to Guangzhou from USCIS either through DCF process in China, or through NVC in the states, the Packet 3 and Packet 4 procedure has changed. This does not apply to already scheduled interviews that were set before (3/16/2013)

New Process for U.S. Visa Applications

 

As part of the U.S. Mission China efforts to streamline the visa application process, the Embassy and all Consulates General that issue visas are implementing a new visa appointment, fee payment and document delivery system starting on March 16, 2013. These services will be provided to visa applicants by our authorized partner, CGI Stanley.
Immigrant visa applicants who are qualified for an immigrant visa interview will be contacted directly by the U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou with instructions for making an appointment. Please do not try to schedule an immigrant visa interview until you have been contacted by the U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou.

New Applicants

To learn about the immigrant visa application process, please visit CGI Stanley, a website maintained by our authorized partner. General immigrant visa application information is also available on the State Department website and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service website.

Current Applicants

If your visa application is already in progress, our office will contact you if there is any action you need to take on your case.
If you have not yet had your visa interview, please follow the instructions sent to you by the consulate to schedule your interview. Do not try to schedule an interview appointment until you have been contacted by the U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou.
If you have already had your visa interview, please follow the instructions given to you by the consular officer to submit any required documents.

Warning

CGI Stanley is the only company that the U.S. Consulate General authorizes to provide visa information and visa application services. The U.S. Consulate General does not endorse or have a "special relationship" with any other individual or business that offers advice or assistance with the visa process. No one can guarantee the issuance of a visa to you. The only office that offers U.S. consular services in Guangzhou is located on the 5^th floor of Tian Yu Garden, Phase II, 136-142 Lin He Zhong Lu, Tianhe District, Guangzhou. All U.S. government forms are free. Beware: many visa applicants lose money or are permanently barred from the United States as a result of misleading information and fraudulent applications provided by visa consultants.

http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/immigrant_visas.html
http://ustraveldocs.com/cn/index.html?firstTime=No

[tsap seui]

Great stuff Dan. The visa process changes rapidly, and has for the last few years. Good to see you on top of it.

[Randy W]

Looks like this new web site is used for ALL visa types. When they announced it back in Jan., they had said this

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/45474-new-us-visa-procedures/?do=findComment&comment=597711

 

 

 

.

. . . with a caveat

 

New US visa procedures to help reduce waiting times

 

from the Global Times -

 

A new, simpler and less costly visa system for non-immigrant visas to the US will be launched in China on March 16, the US ambassador to China, Gary Locke, announced Wednesday.

An online reservation system will help streamline procedures and allow applicants to quickly register for an interview rather than having to reserve a time over the telephone. The application fee will be reduced by 86 yuan ($13.7) and will cost $160.

The system targets Chinese tourists, students and business people and aims to facilitate exchanges between the two countries, improve bilateral relations, economic development and cultural understanding, said Locke.

 

. . .

 

Liu said that the softening of visa application procedures for temporary visits is not likely to result in easier provisions for people seeking a green card allowing them to live and work in the US.

 

 

It'll be interesting to see how it affects the process for K-1's, K-2's, CR and IR. One noticeable difference is that you now schedule your own interview.

[Randy W]

They are currently giving these non-immigrant wait times for Guangzhou

 

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wait/wait_4788.html?post=Guangzhou&x=48&y=16

 

Typical Wait Time (Calendar Days*) for a Nonimmigrant Visa Interview Appointment

Visitors Visas: 7 Days
Student/Exchange Visitors Visas: 7 Days
All Other Nonimmigrant Visas*** (Excludes: A, G, K, and V): 7 Days

 

They don't seem to provide wait times for Immigrant or K-visas, but do say to wait until you are notified

 

http://ustraveldocs.com/cn/cn-iv-waittimeinfo.asp

[NUWORLD]

Not sure I understand?

Is this a good thing?

 

I know a lot has changed from when I went through the process but is it faster

And maybe more easy?

 

Will be interesting to see how this works out.

[Randy W]

Not sure I understand?

Is this a good thing?

 

I know a lot has changed from when I went through the process but is it faster

And maybe more easy?

 

Will be interesting to see how this works out.

 

 

It is new as of March 16 - we have not heard any feedback as of today. My guess is that it will create a little confusion at first, but is not really a substantial change in the immigrant/K visa process - EXCEPT that scheduling your own interview seems like it has the potential to introduce some flexibility that might come in handy.

 

It says somewhere (I can't find where right now) to wait until notified by consular officials to schedule your interview. I'm guessing this would be at the P-4 issuance - if so, this would mean that we won't hear anything until someone new reaches that point.

[Randy W]

It looks promising - I followed the procedure for scheduling a K-1 interview, up to where it asks for passport information. I don't want to go past that, but it seems to tie a lot of information together (including allowing for a group interview request), so I'm guessing it will be an excellent step forward in the process.

[NUWORLD]

Would be interesting to know if this new requirement applies to all visa types.

May it be for tourism or immigration.

It seams as though both country's (China and US) have been talking about stream lining the process for both sides.

 

This could work out for the best for both sides.

[Randy W]

Would be interesting to know if this new requirement applies to all visa types.

May it be for tourism or immigration.

It seams as though both country's (China and US) have been talking about stream lining the process for both sides.

 

This could work out for the best for both sides.

 

Yes it does apply to all visa types.

[NUWORLD]

 

Not sure I understand?

Is this a good thing?

 

I know a lot has changed from when I went through the process but is it faster

And maybe more easy?

 

Will be interesting to see how this works out.

 

 

It is new as of March 16 - we have not heard any feedback as of today. My guess is that it will create a little confusion at first, but is not really a substantial change in the immigrant/K visa process - EXCEPT that scheduling your own interview seems like it has the potential to introduce some flexibility that might come in handy.

 

It says somewhere (I can't find where right now) to wait until notified by consular officials to schedule your interview. I'm guessing this would be at the P-4 issuance - if so, this would mean that we won't hear anything until someone new reaches that point.

 

 

Very good point Randy, Only time will tell.

 

Though things are changing AGAIN! and everyone's timeline is different from then and now.

I'm thinking maybe would be a good time to bring CFL timeline up to date?

 

I know we have members timelines on VJ BUT i remember back in the days when David and i took care of CFL members timelines here on site.

Though the CFL time line is now gone and not up to date.

 

http://www.candleforlove.com/FAQ/Timelines/New_Timeline/CFL_History_Timelines_ALL_Final.htm

 

Back in the days it was very easy to see what member was going through any process at any given time with out leaving the site.

Everyone was on the same page at that time (Very easy) Now today unless a member post there status/out come were all left in the dark.

 

Back in the days we would all be glued to CFL to here the out come of a members interview.

 

Just a thought and thinking out load, Maybe we could bring back LIVE! timelines back to CFL and bring it all back up to date 2013?

 

Mike

 

Edited March 20, 2013 by NUWORLD (see edit history)

[Mick]

I am confused about one thing here. If CGI Stanley is handling visa application process, does this mean CGI Stanley will now do the interviews as well? Or will they simply make the appointments? If they are outsourcing the actual interviews, that can open up a whole can of worms, to say the very least.

[Randy W]

I am confused about one thing here. If CGI Stanley is handling visa application process, does this mean CGI Stanley will now do the interviews as well? Or will they simply make the appointments? If they are outsourcing the actual interviews, that can open up a whole can of worms, to say the very least.

 

CGI Stanley is simply a web-master, as far as I can tell. I don't see anything really changing in the overall process except that you are now scheduling your own interview and will have improved interaction with the process. Think of it more as a database, which both the Visa Officers and the applicants and petitioners can interact with. The Visa Officers' work load won't change.

[NUWORLD]

I am confused about one thing here. If CGI Stanley is handling visa application process, does this mean CGI Stanley will now do the interviews as well? Or will they simply make the appointments? If they are outsourcing the actual interviews, that can open up a whole can of worms, to say the very least.

Yes, Good question i too would like to know?

Who is this CGI Stanley? and where did they come from?

[Randy W]

From Wikipedia -

 

In March 2008, the U.S. Department of State, which is responsible for issuing U.S. passports, stated that two employees of a Stanley Associates subcontractor had been fired for improperly accessing the passport application file of (then) presidential candidate Barack Obama.^[5] The company published a press release^[6] on March 21, 2008. In each case, Stanley took immediate disciplinary action and employees were terminated the day the unauthorized search occurred. Stanley also stated its general policy and practice to cooperate fully with any potential Government investigation.

Additional information on the breach of passport information has yet to be disclosed to the public.

 

The project - http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/06/06/cgi-stanley-state-visas.aspx

 

And from the company - http://www.cgi.com/en/stanley

T

[thezippy]

My wife just received her P3 packet on Monday. There was no mention of the new procedures, the new website or any other changes that I could tell from previous posts I've seen on the P3 packet.

 

Maybe it'll rear its head when they receive the package we sent back per their instructions...?