IR-1 Interview Success

[yanglan]

Hey everyone! We just got back from Guangzhou so I figured I'd share our experience over the past few days to help those going through the process now...

 

 

The perfect hotel for us

 

We decided to stay at the Leeden Hotel just off of Huasui road. When I booked it I figured the walk would be 20-30 minutes to the medical exam center, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was actually less than 10 minutes, with the consulate under 15! I guess I'm just used to the huge city blocks of Shenyang... Anyway, the hotel was very nice with my only complaint being the daily room cleaner ignoring our "do not disturb" sign twice while we were out.

 

I drew a map of the correct hotel, medical exam, and consulate locations since none of the map services I used got them all right: http://imgur.com/b21Dw09- The medical exam office is located on the 5th floor of the "Poly building" which is right on Huali Road. The left door goes to a Guangzhou tax office while the right leads to a variety of businesses including the medical exam location.

 

Here's a Tripadvisor link for the hotel for anyone interested: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g298555-d1459913-Reviews-Leeden_Hotel-Guangzhou_Guangdong.html

 

 

Medical exam

 

The day before my wife's medical exam we gave the Guangdong International Travel Healthcare Center a call to do a last minute check/verification of the process. During the call we were notified that there was a new system in place for setting an appointment for the exam. You can read my play-by-play here: http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/46807-guide-to-ir-1-dcf/page-2?do=findComment&comment=621321- Long story short, we had to fill out and email a one page document to the center then call them to verify it was received. Be sure to bring a printed copy as well.

 

On the day of the exam we arrived a little after 7AM and five women were already there and waiting. Over the next half an hour the fifth floor lobby slowly increased to maximum capacity until the center finally let us in to get tickets. Here's where having submitted the above mentioned document seemed to expedite things: Those who didn't email the document had to go to the side and fill it out on their own before they could get a queue number. My wife was #3, we got in at around 7:45, and we were out of there by 9:20. The exam consisted of an X-ray, blood test, eye/ENT exam, and vaccinations (MMR, Varicella, and Influenza).

 

Even though we set the appointment, arrived early, and got an "expedite" stamp on her file, they still told us to come back the next day at 8AM to pick it up. If you've scheduled your visa interview for before 10AM I highly recommend you plan the exam two days in advance just in case of delays!

 

 

IR-1 Interview

 

We got up bright and early again and walked through light rain to the Poly building only to find 2 of the 3 elevators out of service. We decided to take the stairs to the fifth floor where we got my wife's exam documents after a ten minute wait. We were able to catch the elevator down and walked to the consulate for her 10:20 appointment.

 

As you can see in the thread here: http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/47726-ir-1-interview-final-checklist-and-questions/- I made sure my wife had everything I could possibly provide. This turned out to be overkill in our case. The Chinese document intake worker straight up refused to take any of our relationship stuff and only took one white book (the "Marriage" one) and all of the support/financial documents.

 

Next she paid the fee and waited for her interview. She was called up by a middle-aged guy who was very friendly to her. The interview went something like this:

 

Interviewer: So tell me why you married your husband?

Wife: (Tells him my positive traits and explains how our relationship started)

Interviewer: You should tell him I gave you a hard time.

Wife: I can say that you denied me...

Interviewer: Don't do that, you'll give him a heart attack!

 

And that was pretty much it! All in all, just 2-3 minutes of light conversation. At the end he even gave the photo album we provided in July's I-130 application back.

 

My wife came out and showed me the paper he gave her which says "Congratulations! Your visa has been approved." Surprisingly, it's just a standard white piece of paper. My wife said she didn't see anyone receive anything blue/pink so perhaps they've scrapped that system? We celebrated for the rest of the day/night and flew back the following morning (today).

 

 

Closing thoughts

 

1. Stay somewhere close by. Being able to walk from our hotel to the consulate in under 15 minutes was just so convenient!

2. Schedule the medical exam appointment. You don't want to be #50 and have to spend more time waiting for your turn than the actual exam.

3. Bring all of your relevant documents. Whether the consulate wants them or not, it's always better to be safe than sorry in this journey.

 

Finally, I want to give a big thanks to the fine folks who have helped me so much over the past year! Especially Randy and Dan, you guys deserve recognition for the countless people you've helped through this difficult process. It takes a special group of people to devote so much time to selflessly helping others

 

Let me know if you have any questions or want more details!

[dan1984]

Nice write-up!

 

Congratulations!

[tsap seui]

Great job on the write up, and congrats. It is always great to see other's success stories.

 

tsap seui

[Joecy]

Congrats!

Thanks for the experience in great details.

[Doug]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

HOOOOOOOOO

We stayed just a little closer. Good map though. I may put it in my thread. I like pics.

 

http://i.imgur.com/b21Dw09.jpg

Edited March 29, 2015 by Doug (see edit history)

[wawster]

Congrats buddy! Thanks for the write-up. It'll definitely help guys like me who aren't quite at that stage yet. I've got this bookmarked underf "Need to know info"!

[Randy W]

I added a few little details on the west side of the Consulate, along Huali Rd.

 

[yanglan]

Good idea! There's also a restaurant on the corner of Huaju (or Huajiu) and Huaxun, just south of the section of Huali you highlighted, called Osteria Il Matto. It's one of the highest rated restaurants on Tripadvisor and has some great Italian food, though expensive! If you're like me and have been stuck in a Chinese city lacking good western restaurants, I highly recommend it.

[Doug]

I added a few little details on the west side of the Consulate, along Huali Rd.

 

I stayed at a hotel just a scoash further than Yangs, but many little restaurants near Yangs. Isn't 7-11 on Huajiu Rd, not that I went? If you can't sleep there is place called Family Café or something, open 24 hours. It is very small but they have whole meals you can heat in a microwave and a place to sit and eat it. Wish I had mapped out the area better.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Doug (see edit history)

[Randy W]

 

I added a few little details on the west side of the Consulate, along Huali Rd.

 

I stayed at a hotel just a scoash further than Yangs, but many little restaurants near Yangs. Isn't 7-11 on Huajiu Rd, not that I went? If you can't sleep there is place called Family Café or something, open 24 hours. It is very small but they have whole meals you can heat in a microwave and a place to sit and eat it. Wish I had mapped out the area better.

 

 

Yes, the 7-11 is on the south side of Huajiu Rd directly opposite the consulate and has a small selection of celebrating booze.

 

The area I highlighted in green has Chois Coffee, Starbucks, and Honey Beam's Korea-Mex - all excellent for snacking. Gail's has a good selection of bland-tasting American food.

 

My own walk-around was posted at

 

Some Pictures of the New Consulate

[yanglan]

Question: Does the ustraveldocs visa status update beyond "Your passport is still with the US Embassy/Consulate" anymore? I seem to remember seeing screenshots of a page showing that the visa was in processing/printed/being sent/etc. Just wondering since it's been a week since the interview.

[summerlove]

Congratulations! Very happy for you. You said you brought both your wife and your passports into the interview - it was just your wife going inside, right, so in the end was it necessary for her to bring your passport on her person? Doesn't seem to be in any documentation that this is needed, and it also seems a little dangerous to not have proper identification on your person as you are waiting outside of the Consulate, no?

[yanglan]

I've seen it mentioned before as a way to show that her husband is waiting right outside. I don't think my wife needed it in the end but if you're looking for some additional relationship proof it couldn't hurt. I had a copy of my passport with me while she was in the consulate *just in case*.

Edited April 4, 2015 by yanglan (see edit history)

[yanglan]

Question: Does the ustraveldocs visa status update beyond "Your passport is still with the US Embassy/Consulate" anymore? I seem to remember seeing screenshots of a page showing that the visa was in processing/printed/being sent/etc. Just wondering since it's been a week since the interview.

 

Found the website showing the actual status: https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx- Issued

[yanglan]

Just updating our current status - CGIFederal has changed from "Your passport is still with the US Embassy/Consulate" to now showing "Document Delivery Information:" but no location, just blank. Does this mean it's in processing, on the way, or has arrived?