AP... after IV was approved

[tsap seui]

Sorry to see you guys have to experience the uncaring insanity one gets when dealing with the US State Department. Where everything is broken, the workers say "SCREW YOU, we don't have any Congressional oversight or anybody else looking over our shoulders"....and the sky's are cloudy all day.

 

Good luck. You guys WILL get through this. Just keep your hip wading bullshit boots on at all times until a couple of days after she gets the visa firmly stuck in her passport.

 

tsap seui

Edited March 12, 2014 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[Multistrada]

Thanks Tsap. I've learned a great deal from this site so I figure it's time to pay back. My experience is a case study because it was approved before it's un-approved. I want to share every piece of the puzzle I picked up along the way so folks after us can use it as a guidance to plan their way through the process.

[tsap seui]

Yessir, you pay ahead with your experience.

 

Again, good luck this crap will pass.

 

tsa pseui

Edited March 12, 2014 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[Multistrada]

Last episode of my story:

 

At crack of dawn I checked the passport status, and it's changed to Ready for Pickup. I hopped on a cab first thing in the morning and waited outside the Citic Bank for 26 minutes. The girl at the counter searched for thick stacks of passports and asked me: are you sure it's supposed to be sent to this bank? I said yes, this is an immigration visa application, you are not going to find a passport without a huge envelope. She dove into a big safe and fished it out.

 

We are flying out tomorrow. The airfare is close to $1000 per, not cheap, but we are glad it's over.

 

Last but not least - thanks for all the help and support the wonderful people on this site have given us. I will come back often to help other peeps who encounter similar problems. I'm a medical device scientist and entrepreneur, and I'm hopping between both sides of the ponds doing all sorts of business - bringing American products to this shore, and vice versa. Anyone needs a beer buddy/business partner, shoot me a note. supernova1987a@gmail.com

[Multistrada]

Oh BTW - excuse me for going off-topic a bit. My wife and I know many beautiful, well-educated (some educated in US or Canada), classy women. So you know what to do.

[Multistrada]

PPS: A detail I want to add to the phone conversation with the consulate official when she called us on Mar 6: She asked me to provide a letter from the AIRLINE that my wife can get on the flight. In desperation we called Air China. Air China flatly rejected our request: the letter ought to come from a doctor, not us. She called back half an hour later and told us that letter is no longer necessary because her boss has agreed to expedite the visa processing. It was a heart-wrenching half an hour - we honestly thought that was the end. We were trapped, stonewalled, and mightily screwed by the State Department.

 

My wife's due date is Apr 7. If all goes well our baby Sabrina will be born in Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California. As you can see: we weren't lying about my wife's pregnancy. My wife still looks small and agile, so hopefully we won't encounter any problems at the airport tomorrow. We were forced to lie to the airline staff if inquired, but I see no other choice. This didn't have to happen had the consulate not "approved before un-approved" her application on Feb 6.

 

Now the story is complete.