Successful interview and administrative processing

[Martin B]

Can your wife (I assume she is a US citizen) reach out to her representative/senator in the US?

[Randy W]

I've often said that the consulate keeping your passport any longer than overnight is ridiculous - you are supposed to have it in your possession at all times.

[sachinr]

Hello,

 

@Barfus: Yeah my wife is a US citizen. I am going to send another message first week of June and see what they say. In their previous reply they also mentioned that they were aware of my case and situation (I assume concerning my chinese visa expiring in July) I guess I am a man of hope and hoping they would process it in June. If their reply is negative then I would ask my wife to reach out to her representative and senators. I have waited so long, no harm in waiting another week unless if you guys have any other suggestions. (I have been hearing a lot of talk about consulates opening by June 4 or 5, lets see.... )

 

I will keep you guys updated.

[Martin B]

Hello,

 

@Barfus: Yeah my wife is a US citizen. I am going to send another message first week of June and see what they say. In their previous reply they also mentioned that they were aware of my case and situation (I assume concerning my chinese visa expiring in July) I guess I am a man of hope and hoping they would process it in June. If their reply is negative then I would ask my wife to reach out to her representative and senators. I have waited so long, no harm in waiting another week unless if you guys have any other suggestions. (I have been hearing a lot of talk about consulates opening by June 4 or 5, lets see.... )

 

I will keep you guys updated.

 

Someone received a reply from Guangzhou about a week ago, which said there is still no timeline on when visa processing will resume. There may have been changes since then. Apparently F1 visa interviews have been cancelled for July as well. Not sure if it's because of one of the endless proclamations/executive orders, or if the Department of State still doesn't anticipate the consulate being open in July, or if they clearing space to get thru the cancelled Feb/March/April interviews first.

 

I would personally get moving on any alternative solutions ASAP. Even contacting a congressman can take several weeks. If you are from a third country, be prepared to obtain an emergency passport from your home country's consulate in case you need to leave.

 

I don't get why they cannot process a small amount of applications. Even just 10-20% of normal capacity. China has (allegedly) eliminated the virus, consular officers already work behind glass with lots of space between themselves and the interviewee. Why can't they send at least a skeleton crew to keep things moving along and be available to at least process CR/IR visas and be available for critical situations like sachinrs?

[sachinr]

UPDATE:

 

So I got the same reply from the consulate, in fact this time it was even shorter. " Please refer to the previous email and follow the instructions as per that email" which basically says they wouldn't accommodate my request and will resume processing once things open up.

 

Wife is writing to her Senators and representative. I think all consulates are understaffed and heard some news that it may be possible they won't open till the elections in November (I hope that isn't true).

 

I would get an automatic extension of my Chinese resident permit for 2 months till September 5 due to Covid-19. Well if the US consulate are not willing to do anything , I would need my passport back to get a new residency permit from my university. Hopefully they do process it before that.

[Randy W]

I would think that simply getting your passport back would be a high priority for you, even without the visa. I would think that it would be possible to find the right cage to rattle to get that done. There is no justification for them to keep it, unless you prefer that they do keep it until they can put the visa in.

 

You've fallen into a pretty nasty crack there. Keep trying and good luck.

[sachinr]

Thank you for all the encouragement

 

@Randy, Yes That is my highest priority right now to get back my passports. Spoke to my employer and they told me I need to renew my chinese resident permit by end of June if I have to stay in China beyond the automatic 2 month extension. I hope they send it back on an urgent basis and like you said if nothing is happening at the consulate they should just send back the passports anyway.

 

Once I get my chinese resident permit in the passport, I would send the passports back to the consulate (if they are open and accept it). I mean they would still process it at a later date, correct? They would collect or receive my passport a second time for processing when the consulates open??

[Randy W]

I would expect so, but there are no guarantees of anything. I would think that as long as they open within the year, they would then issue your visa.

 

I would suggest that if you can get the passport back, that you hold on to it until you can verify that they will issue the visa.

[sachinr]

UPDATE:

 

I wrote to the consulate on Friday and they confirmed the same day that they would send back the passports without processing IV in order to renew my Chinese resident permit. I just hope they dispatch it soon. The passport tracking page of ustraveldocs still says There is no status update available for the passport number submitted. Does anyone know how long would it take from the Consulate to Citic bank for passport pick up? Thank you.

 

Its been giving the same message in Red for months now.

 

Regards,

[sachinr]

UPDATE:

 

So I asked the consulate to send back the passports in Early June for me to process my Chinese resident permit and they did so. So I got my chinese resident permit valid till end of the year and I sent an email yesterday asking the consulate if I need to send back my passports for issuance of visa and if there are any extensions granted for expired medical reports due to Covid-19. (You never know, these are extraordinary times)

 

Good news is that I have my passports with me. With US diplomats returning to China in phases I am hoping that they will start some operations by August.

 

I will keep you guys updated

[Randy W]

Thanks for reporting in!

[sachinr]

UPDATE:

 

So received I was told my medical could be extended by 1 month upto August 9 but my visa would be valid only till August 9 or to get a new medical if I wanted a longer validity period. I opted for longer validity period because they are quarantining people for 14 days even at transit airports (a few of my colleagues are stuck at different transit airports for 14 days). I don't want to get stuck somewhere and then my visa expires... and the flight situation from China to the US is not very good right now

 

So I plan to go and get my medical done in Guangzhou because thats where I did it in January. Hopefully everything goes well.

[sachinr]

Hello ,

 

I wanted to know if there is a CITIC bank close to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. After I collect my Medicals from Hauli road , I was thinking of sending the report to the consulate through CITIC bank the same day. I would send the Passports later because I need them to get back to Henan Province. This way at least , the consulate has my medical report and I don't have to carry it all over the place. Thank you.

[Randy W]

I found these through a Google search. Enter "Guangzhou consulate Citic bank locations" as the search term. Click on any of the locations to get the address

 

 

Check on ustraveldocs CITIC bank locations to make sure they will accept document deliveries

 

I found this one:

 

 

Apply for a U.S. Visa | Bank Locations - China (English)

[sachinr]

Hi Randy,

 

Thank you for the information. Yes, You are correct. That particular address is a 10 minute walk north of the US consulate in Guangzhou. So I can send it from that particular branch.

 

Do you think I should send everything together once I reach Henan or Is it ok to send separately (Medical report from Guangzhou Citic and passports once I reach Henan) from different Citic bank locations? I don't know if you have heard of anyone sending it separately.

 

Thank you.