Approved, pending document submission

[msittig]

We started our application process in earnest back in September 2013, finishing up in Jan 2014 (pending submission of one more document, probably next month). We've lived in Shanghai since 2004, have been married since 2006, and have 3 kids.

 

Disclaimer: the immigrant visa application process is not static, it evolves, especially recently with the move to the new consulate building and online with ustraveldocs.com. So don't take the story below as a recipe for what the application process should look like; at best, let it serve as inspiration and a rough guide.

 

This first post is the TLDR version; if you want a more in-depth story, jump to post #2 below.

 

MICAH AND JODI'S DCF IR1 VISA ADVENTURE 2013/2014 – TLDR version

I-130

Sep 8-9: E-mailed back and forth with USCIS in Beijing and made appointment. Collected these materials:

* I-130, signed
* Micah's G-325A, signed
* Jodi's G-325A, signed
* Marriage Certificate Notarial Translation (white book)
* Passport photos, with names written lightly on the back in pencil
* Rental contract showing common tenancy
* Birth certificates of daughters
* Photos of major life events together
* Timeline of the relationship, including meeting, wedding, honeymoon, birth of children, trips to the US

Sep 16-17: Travelled to Beijing, submitted documents. Paid the $420 fee.

Sep 23: Received e-mail from USCIS with an attached scanned notice of petition approval, and a follow-up paper copy by mail.

* Tip: There are a dozen print/copy shops on Xiaoyun Rd just north of the consulate.
* Tip: Don't wait in line at the embassy; show your passport and waltz to the front of the line.
* Tip: Deposit your backpack across the street from the embassy.

DS-260

Oct 15: Received a phone call from Guangzhou asking for my e-mail address, and ten minutes later an e-mail with instructions for submitting these documents to CITIC:

* Document Submission Letter (with download link)
* DS-260 confirmation page print-out (filled out online)
* One copy of biographical page of applicant passport
* Two US-style passport photos of applicant

Oct 25: Submited docs to CITIC at 331 Caoxi Rd, Xujiahui Metro exit 5 behind BuyNow.

* Tip: Print out *every* piece of communication/documentation/attachment from Guangzhou.

Interview

Nov 5: Received E-mail from Guangzhou with case number, interview appointment instructions, and a link to a checklist on ustraveldocs.com of documents to prepare for the interview. Began to file back-taxes, find co-sponsor, collect documents on the checklist.

Jan 6: Made an appointment through ustraveldocs.com for Jan 23 at 8:45am, the earliest interview date and time available.

Jan 21: Travelled to Guangzhou

Jan 22: Went to do medical check-up. Prepared:

* Printout of P-3 email ("invitation letter")
* Printout of the interview confirmation attachment
* Applicant's passport
* Any previous vaccination records
* 5 photos

Doors opened at 7:30, checked-in by 8:30, check-up was done by 9:30, report ready the same day at 3pm.

Jan 23: Arrived at the consulate gate at 8am, let in at 8:15, lined up outside security for 30 minutes. Wife went in, I stayed outside. Documents submitted: see checklist on traveldocs.com, we went strictly by it.

Result: Approved, conditional on submitting a new police report (ours was from Jan 2013, considered too old).

* Tip: Make an appointment with ACS for same day so you can go inside the consulate; otherwise, you wait outside.
* Tip: Check your bag/phone at the newspaper stand down the street.
* Tip: For the consulate -- implement a more secure way for people to check bags, give line priority to babies/kids/elderly, and either prepare more change or use round numbers for the visa fee.

Lessons learned

Overall impressions carried away from this process:
* Just follow the instructions from the consulate.
* Don't try to do it all at once.
* Keep good records, helps be consistent in filling out forms.

[msittig]

The looong version:

 

MICAH AND JODI'S DCF IR1 VISA ADVENTURE 2013/2014

I-130

Super-easy to make an appointment, e-mailed back and forth with USCIS in Beijing very quickly (Sep 8-9) and got an appointment for just 8 days later, though it could have been sooner. Collected these materials:

* I-130, signed
* Micah's G-325A, signed
* Jodi's G-325A, signed
* Marriage Certificate Notarial Translation (white book)
* Passport photos, with names written lightly on the back in pencil
* Rental contract showing common tenancy
* Birth certificates of daughters
* Photos of major life events together
* Timeline of the relationship, including meeting, wedding, honeymoon, birth of children, trips to the US

Don't forget the American credit card to pay the $420 fee.

Took them to Beijing (Sep 16-17). Twenty-four-hour trip from Shanghai: flew up Monday night to stay at Hotel Ibis at Sanyuanqiao, Tuesday spent touristing and traveling to the consulate, backpack deposited across the street, fairly smooth submission of docs, touristing and dinner in the evening, then Airport Express back to airport and 3-hour-delayed flight back to Shanghai.

Had a scare when the person receiving my docs insisted that I needed a notarized copy of the red booklet marriage certificates. I had thought that the white booklet would be enough (had the original + copies) so I insisted, and after checking with another USCIS employee he accepted the documents I had prepared. One thing I forgot to bring was photocopies of my daughters' passports - to establish their citizenship - but they were gracious enough to make copies for me.

About ten days later (Sep 23) I received an e-mail from USCIS with an attached scanned notice of petition approval, with a follow-up paper copy in the mail.

* Tip: If you have any documents that need last-minute printing, there are a dozen print/copy shops on Xiaoyuan Rd just north of the consulate.

DS-260

Three weeks later (Oct 15), received a phone call from Guangzhou asking for my e-mail address, and ten minutes after that an e-mail popped up with instructions for submitting these documents to CITIC:

* Document Submission Letter (with download link)
* DS-260 confirmation page print-out (filled out online)
* One copy of biographical page of applicant passport
* Two US-style passport photos of applicant

Submited these docs to CITIC at 331 Caoxi Rd, Xujiahui Metro exit 5 behind BuyNow (Oct 25).

A couple issues came up. First, the e-mail instructed me to register a document pick-up location on the ustraveldocs.com website before submitting the docs, but the website assumes that you will register a pick-up location when you are ready to make an interview appointment; I got around this by starting the interview scheduling process but closing the web browser once I had completed the pick-up location registration. I'm not sure this was even necessary at this point.

The other issue was that the CITIC bank clerks had never taken this first round of documents directly from an applicant; I'm guessing this was a new process. So they were very careful about following all directions to the letter: asking me for a print-out of the e-mail from Guangzhou, calling Guangzhou to confirm, asking lots of questions... in all, very professional and efficient. Also, they requested the CGI UID to be written on the Document Submission Letter. This number appears in the upper-right of the dashboard page of ustraveldocs.com after you log-in, next to your e-mail address.

Tip: Print out *every* piece of communication/documentation you have with the Guangzhou consulate in case you need to prove something to somebody, or reference some information when you are offline.

Interview

 

Received an email from Guangzhou (Nov 5) with case number and instructions to make an appointment, and a link to a very helpful checklist of documents for the interview online at UStraveldocs; I won't include the documents that I prepared for the interview, just followed the checklist. The most difficult was the Evidence of Support documents attached to the i-864. Delayed making the appointment until January while I filed back-taxes and got better-safe-than-sorry co-sponsor docs. Finally, logged onto ustraveldocs.com (Jan 6) and made an appointment for Jan 23 at 8:45am, the earliest date and time available.

Took the high speed rail to Guangzhou (Jan 21), stayed in a cheap windowless room for RMB 398 at the Guomen Hotel, right around the corner from the medical center and consulate. Arrived at the medical center (Jan 22) at 7:20 to find almost 20 people already waiting, door opened at 7:30 where we were given number 11. Numbers started being called *before* 8am, we were called and checked-in by 8:30, and the check-up was done by 9:30. We were instructed to pick up the results on the same day at 3pm; we arrived 20 minutes early but were served almost last, leaving at around 4pm. The medical center was very clean and professionally run. Prepared for the medical check-up:

* printout of P-3 email ("invitation letter")
* printout of the interview confirmation attachment
* applicant's passport
* any previous vaccination records
* 5 photos.

The next day, arrived at the consulate gate (Jan 23) at 8am for the interview. The consulate was very slow on the intake; the guards asked us politely to wait because even some 7:45 interviewees hadn't been allowed to enter yet. We amused ourselves by people-watching: the gate hosts a lively mix of nervous applicants, lively family-members, and colorful and talkative older women who will hold your bag for a small fee (one wore about a dozen different backpacks at one point!) and also give you advice and directions if needed. At about 8:15 the line inside was short enough that the gate was opened to all immigration applicants so we lined up inside, probably for another 30 minutes. I wasn't allowed inside the consulate; so I went back to the hotel to check out of our room and came back to the consulate. My wife was one of the last immigrant visa applicants to exit, and the result was: conditional approval, based on submitting a new police report. We had gotten the police report the previous Chinese New Year and it was a few days from reaching its one-year expiration date. We expect the visa to be approved once we submit the new police report and passport to CITIC once we're back home in Shanghai.

My wife ran into two wrinkles during the interview process that were smoothed over quickly. First, the interviewing officer had somebody else's documents when the interview started, and he began by doubting my wife's identify based the passport picture. It took calling over another consular officer and finally asking where she lived and what her name was to clear up the mistake. Second, my wife was asked to pay the RMB 1403 immigrant visa fee (USD 230 * 6.1 exchange rate) and the cashier didn't have change for RMB 1500, nor did she have any other solution besides sending my wife outside to get money from me. In the end, my wife just asked the other applicants to lend her RMB 3, which they generously gifted to her.

* Tip: The smart thing to do would be to make some sort of appointment with American Citizen Services for the same day as the interview, then you would at least be able to enter together and see the inside of the consulate.
* Tip: If you forget to leave your bag/phone at the hotel, you can deposit it at the newspaper stand at the norteast corner of the consulate, near the Zhujiang Xincheng metro station exit.
* Tip: The following tips are for the consulate, which needs to be more proactive about problem solving. First, solve the problem of people bringing phones and bags, and having nowhere to store them while they're in the consulate; it's really sketchy to have to leave your stuff with a stranger on the sidealk outside the consulate. Second, solve the problem of charging RMB 1403 for a visa and then not giving your cashier enough change; and then topping it off by hiring a cashier with a very unhelpful attitude. Third, have some sort of priority system for young/old applicants, both inside and outside the consulate; especially for those older people whose Chinese is not so good, given that your visa officers are trained only in basic Mandarin. Your consulate building is impressive; your service should match it.

Reflection

Overall impressions carried away from this process:
* Just follow the instructions from the consulate. Some processes/requirements have changed over time, and just following the instructions will work for 19 out of 20 applicants.
* Don't overplan/overwork. I tried to get every document ready all at once and got bogged down/did unnecessary work. Take things as they come and give yourself time.
* Keep good records. I ended up making a timeline of everywhere my wife and I worked, lived and studied over the 10 years we've been together. It helped in filling out the various forms in a consistent and efficient way.

[dan1984]

Excellent write-up! Saved for future reference.

 

But more importantly, congratulations!! All the best to you guys moving forward!

[Randy W]

Thanks for the level of detail there! And Congratulations!

 

Congratulations !!

[Randy W]

Tip: The smart thing to do would be to make some sort of appointment with American Citizen Services for the same day as the interview, then you would at least be able to enter together and see the inside of the consulate.

 

 

 

Gotta take issue with this, though, since you'd be taking a slot that might be needed.

 

Even so, my understanding is that both you and the person whose slot you'd be taking should be able to gain admission simply by showing your American passports. You may have to get the attention of an American supervisor to be able to do so.

[msittig]

Can't seem to edit the original two posts, so an update here:

 

Additional Documents
As soon as we were back in Jodi's hometown, we got a new police report from the local police station and had it translated/notarized. Her parent's mailed the finished document to us in Shanghai and we turned it in (Feb 17) at the CITIC that we had registered as our document pick-up location, the Xujiahui branch:

• Document Submission Letter (from ustraveldocs.com)
• New police report
• Jodi's passport (original)

After compulsively refreshing the CEAC website, the application status finally changed to "Issued" a few weeks later (Mar 3). Then I switched to compulsively refreshing the ustraveldocs dashboard for the document delivery status, which showed that the document was on its way from Guangzou until my wife received a phone call (Mar 10) requesting us to come pick up the passport with immigrant visa at the CITIC bank. At this point we had already been considering plans to return to the US separately as I had already given notice at work and we were ready to book plane tickets, so the phone call was a great relief!

Passport Pick-up
When I went to the CITIC Xujiahui branch (May 15), which I had registered on ustraveldocs as our document pick-up location, the staff checked for the passport in various piles and drawers, scanned for Jodi's Chinese/English names on several paper lists and computer spreadsheets, failed to find anything relevant, and finally gave up and suggested I walk down the street to the larger CITIC Xuhui branch at Shanghai Stadium where the passport may have been delivered in error. I did this, but the staff at Xuhui also denied having the passport, and asked me to check my phone call logs and find the number that had called to report the passport's arrival. I confirmed with my wife that the number was a Xujiahui number and walked back to the first branch. After asking politely that they look some more and calling to hear the office phone ring, I waited until they looked into a bottom drawer and found the passport and sealed immigration packet bound together in a clear plastic sleeve. Success! Now was the moment when we had physical proof in our hands that the visa was issued, and how sweet it felt!

Immigration Fee
This was pretty straightforward. After creating an account in my wife's name on elis.uscis.dhs.gov, along with various passwords and security questions/answers, I paid the $165 fee with my credit card.

POE at LAX
This was also as straightforward as described on the forums. We flew into LAX, waited in the US Citizens line at Border Control, were processed by a friendly border guard (visual check for US citizens, digital fingerprints/photo for Chinese citizen), and then escorted over to the first booth to be processed. My wife had one fingerprint taken twice, signed a form twice, and was given back her passport with the expected entry stamp and a page of information about the status of the stamp as a provisional green card. During the waiting an airline representative took down our last names and helped pull our luggage off the carousel while we were being processed. Then it was customs, a short walk, and a warm welcome to LA/CA/USA. Next up: SSN, DL and green card in the mail.

[dan1984]

Sounds like a smooth transition, congratulations!!

[Randy W]

Can't seem to edit the original two posts, so an update here:

 

. . .

 

Passport Pick-up

When I went to the CITIC Xujiahui branch (May 15), which I had registered on ustraveldocs as our document pick-up location, the staff checked for the passport in various piles and drawers, scanned for Jodi's Chinese/English names on several paper lists and computer spreadsheets, failed to find anything relevant, and finally gave up and suggested I walk down the street to the larger CITIC Xuhui branch at Shanghai Stadium where the passport may have been delivered in error. I did this, but the staff at Xuhui also denied having the passport, and asked me to check my phone call logs and find the number that had called to report the passport's arrival. I confirmed with my wife that the number was a Xujiahui number and walked back to the first branch. After asking politely that they look some more and calling to hear the office phone ring, I waited until they looked into a bottom drawer and found the passport and sealed immigration packet bound together in a clear plastic sleeve. Success! Now was the moment when we had physical proof in our hands that the visa was issued, and how sweet it felt!

 

. . .

 

 

There is a time limit on editing old posts - I'm not sure what it is, but it's something less than 2 hours after it was posted. This is so someone coming along to read new posts will notice the changes and what you had to say

 

Thanks for the excellent detail in your write-up - we usually don't hear some of the details in the immigrations fee, passport pick-up, and POE areas.

 

I find your story about the passport pick-up VERY distressing, however. There needs to be a MUCH more secure method of delivering the passports so that the kind of run-around you experienced NEVER occurs.

 

But, it all comes out in the wash (well, hopefully not)

 

Congratulations again!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[msittig]

Even with the CITIC run-around, our DCF has been a smooth process overall.

[mekluger]

Even with the CITIC run-around, our DCF has been a smooth process overall.

Hi Msittig,

 

Congratulations!

 

So did your wife also receive a white and pink slip that stated you were preliminarily approved, pending document submission? Did you pay any fees at CITIC bank for sending the documents? Did you send it in a sealed or unsealed envelope?

 

I'd appreciate the help.

 

Marissa

[msittig]

So did your wife also receive a white and pink slip that stated you were preliminarily approved, pending document submission? Did you pay any fees at CITIC bank for sending the documents? Did you send it in a sealed or unsealed envelope?

Good questions! We received a white form with my wife's name and case number filled-in by hand near the top and a checklist of requests for further work on the application; for us, the "updated police report" item was checked. I think this form is called a 221(g), but it didn't have this code on it so I may be wrong. We didn't pay any fees at CITIC for sending forms, and I turned in the documents without an envelope so that the bank employees could inspect them before they were sent.

 

Hope that helps.

[mekluger]

 

So did your wife also receive a white and pink slip that stated you were preliminarily approved, pending document submission? Did you pay any fees at CITIC bank for sending the documents? Did you send it in a sealed or unsealed envelope?

Good questions! We received a white form with my wife's name and case number filled-in by hand near the top and a checklist of requests for further work on the application; for us, the "updated police report" item was checked. I think this form is called a 221(g), but it didn't have this code on it so I may be wrong. We didn't pay any fees at CITIC for sending forms, and I turned in the documents without an envelope so that the bank employees could inspect them before they were sent.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Yes, this definitely helps and since you completed P4 recently, I'm glad to have some up-to-date info on these proceedings.

[mekluger]

 

So did your wife also receive a white and pink slip that stated you were preliminarily approved, pending document submission? Did you pay any fees at CITIC bank for sending the documents? Did you send it in a sealed or unsealed envelope?

Good questions! We received a white form with my wife's name and case number filled-in by hand near the top and a checklist of requests for further work on the application; for us, the "updated police report" item was checked. I think this form is called a 221(g), but it didn't have this code on it so I may be wrong. We didn't pay any fees at CITIC for sending forms, and I turned in the documents without an envelope so that the bank employees could inspect them before they were sent.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Another quick question about the requested documentation submission form. Any idea what the UID number is or where I may find that info? Is it on the barcode attached to the passport?

[msittig]

That's another good question, and the first time I went to CITIC I had to look it up. The place I found it was on the top of the ustraveldocs.com page after I log in. It says: "Logged in as XXX@gmail.com (NNN)" where NNN was my wife's UID.

http://msittig.wubi.org/imgs/ustraveldocs_uid.jpg

Edited April 7, 2014 by msittig (see edit history)

[maxfusion16]

 

 

So did your wife also receive a white and pink slip that stated you were preliminarily approved, pending document submission? Did you pay any fees at CITIC bank for sending the documents? Did you send it in a sealed or unsealed envelope?

Good questions! We received a white form with my wife's name and case number filled-in by hand near the top and a checklist of requests for further work on the application; for us, the "updated police report" item was checked. I think this form is called a 221(g), but it didn't have this code on it so I may be wrong. We didn't pay any fees at CITIC for sending forms, and I turned in the documents without an envelope so that the bank employees could inspect them before they were sent.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Another quick question about the requested documentation submission form. Any idea what the UID number is or where I may find that info? Is it on the barcode attached to the passport?

 

 

yes, it's the barcode attached to the back of the passport, it's also in the appointment confirmation email.