P4 guangzhou activity...

[hypoclear]

Wow ~!

 

Its been many years since I have seen a situation so "ripe" for revolution !  Ha, ha just kidding!!!  Sort of.... 

 

Hey Kim..

didn't the beatles do a song with that name?

 

and didn't they also speak about the mao mao?

 

well!! as a cat owner and lover I disagree whole heartedly!!! It seems our fuury friends are blamed for each and every bad thing that happens.. I for one will not... ooops sorry

 

That was Chairman cat.. my mistake.. carry on..

 

nothing here to see..

 

Mark and Bea

[Danny_Jade]

It is the not knowing that makes it so bad.

Why no packet fours and interviews for so long?

What is the reason? Why are our lives being put

on hold? It is very unkind and unfair way to treat

people. Has anyone tried the emergency visa interview

route? Does real danger qualify?

Oh, it goes on and on and on and on.

Last I heard, they are talking mid-september for a interview.

how long will it end up being? What is it going to take to

get some results? Being insane is understandable, it is a insane

system we have here.

[warpedbored]

I understand the frustration. The sad fact of the matter though is the general american citizen doesn't give a rats a$$ about your visa. Most americans are anti immigration. The polititians know this which is why your representatives are so useless to write to. Even if the Chinese press picks it up it would probably be a big yawn in america. Not many petetioners are going to stick their necks out, I know I wouldn't have. In the sage Don's advice to me in my recent dealings with GZ. "Use plenty of mouthwash to get the taste out of your mouth while kissing their a$$" They have the power and they know it. They are a long way from the american press and they know it. The system sucks but until public oppinion changes nothing is going to happen. To play the devils advocate a little they have a hell of a time keeping up with changes mandated on them by Homeland Security. Each change brings on delays. I have a hunch that biometric scanning is at the heart of the matter.

[Chinese Wife!!!]

Representatives: This dates to 1977 w/ my step daughter but may have some relevant issues now. I was then a Ca. resident. I wrote to MY Ca. Senator and Congressperson is SEPT.. Many, many phone calls for follow-up also. "Yeah, we are looking into it". After the ex-wife was there for 3 months thinking the visa was already to go in Bangkok I wrote to Ted Kennedy in MA. (mother's suggestion, newspaper reported him helping out w/ immigration problems and I was Ex MA. resident). About 10 days later Kennedy's Secretary called my job. She held on the phone for 10 minutes until I returned to the office. She told me they had contacted the BKK embassy and my daughter's visa was now approved. She also conveyed a message from the ex that she and daughter would be arriving Dec.10 (my birthday). Lo and behold I get a form letter DATED FEB.10th out of Senator Cranston's (CA.) office. It read " Please be advised that we are looking into this matter and are doing everything we can in your behalf". I think you know the red felt pen response letter he got from me- "My daughter has been here for 2 #^&$*@! months due to the EFFORTS of....."

Last night I got thinking about this- is VSC possibly faster due to Kennedy's interest/ political weight in immigration issues?

I also thought about (the slowness of) the CSC process. Should we. in this district, all write/ email our own representatives AND all those in the CSC district and point out the disparity of VSC and CSC? Timing and quantity probably counts. Also follow up. (One tiny squeak they can ignore- make a lot of noise and it is more likely to get attention).

To those of you in the other slow service centers. I will admit they have named many streets after me- "ONE WAY". I look out after number one- my future wife.

Personal aside: It frosts my backside- when in Las Vegas to know so many illegal south of the border people are here displacing Americans in the construction jobs. Often working "Off the books". The "green truck", INS, showed up on site when I was having my house built- BOY did it get quiet after I heard the yell "Inmigracio'n". But try bringing a wife or finacee' here from China (Russia) with an Affadavit of Support....

(((I thought I better explain the above comment. I have NOTHING against the people. I love the Latino culture, almost married a Latina and still email/visit my friends in Mexacali regularly. It is an issue of what our Government puts US thru and on the other hand offers amnesty, work and visit permits, driver's tests en Espa~ol, other programs and options because of a different border location. Maybe if we could move China adjacent to Hawaii......)))

[turtle]

I really don't know what we can do at this point, probably nothing. This is driving me crazy, I really don't think I've ever been so upset in my life. A few months ago, when things were zinging along, I thought maybe my fiance might be here by June or July. To be conservative, I predicted August. Now I've completely lost all hope of seeing her again before Thanksgiving (I hope I'm wrong). I'm sure it's a combination of the biometrics and the ridiculous need to pacify the tourist and especially the student visa applicants (don't forget school starts in August, so now is the time to be getting student visas).

 

While I think the human rights issue isn't going to get us anywhere, and I think a protest would likely do more harm than good (especially for the protesters), I don't agree that there would be a lack of public support for our cause. Our cause is not one of immigration. Our cause is the lack of equality in the process. This is a process which gives foreign tourists, students, and "temporary workers" (the same groups which comprised most of the 9/11 terrorists) precedence over US citizens trying to bring over their fiances, husbands, wives, and even their own children. That's the angle which the public could get behind, given some prodding. Anyway, that's my $0.02. Sadly I don't see anything we could do at this point impacting the p4 delay. The policy has been adopted, the decision's already been made. Once they have accomodated every other visa-seeking group, they will begin to address the backlog of k1s and k3s...

 

That said, please continue emailing, continuing phoning, and those with connections, write your reps as much as possible. It can't hurt, and even if it doesn't help us, at least we can hope to help the next group of people waiting to get shafted by this process...

[hypoclear]

As Chinese wife pointed out,

 

Letters to one senator fell on deaf ears while another, and let me here point out the great state of Mass which is in the north, heheh (ah hum to all sourthern, conservative members ) whose senator responded so quicking and effectively to your letters.

 

Kennedy is a powerful and astute senator and I am sure there are other's out there in the other 49 states. And if I remember correctly there are 2 senators per state plus a number of congressmen.

 

As this is the season of the form letter...i.e. Dear constituant. yada yada yada.... and your check for.. yada yada yada. sincerely;...

 

Why not put some of our time into composing a letter which covers all these points, pass it along to the members and ask that we all send a copy to our officials and perhaps a state close by that does not have members.

 

What this will do is perhaps nothing, your visa is stuck and in process, not much you can do about it. Oh the other hand you can and will!! sleep better at night knowning ...YES!!! I did speak , I did NOT lay down and wimper, I did something, what the results will be is another issue.. My issue is, I responded.

 

and that is all one can do, respond to and meet life, do not shrink from it.

 

Mark and Bea

[Jeikun]

Why not put some of our time into composing a letter which covers all these points, pass it along to the members and ask that we all send a copy to our officials and perhaps a state close by that does not have members.

 

That sounds like a good idea to me. Anyone who has wrote a letter in the past, want to post a generic version for us to look at and bang out a "form letter" of our own?

[oregonknl]

Yeah, Mark,

 

I'm with you, I already have contacted my congressman's rep for immigration issues (twice) for specifics, and once to voice my strenuous concerns about the delays in visa processing-- I could tell, that once I crossed the line between helping a constituent to suggesting Congressional intervention on a higher level, there was resistance --- but of course, if push comes to shove ---SHOVE.

 

I think we should keep the GZ protest option open! But if it does happen, it needs to happen when we can be effective ----

 

and when the American people can:

 

"compare and contrast---- the plight of those: "Who follow the rules" With those that get "special benefits" to come to America, and eventually become citizens... we are not quite there yet, but we are getting closer to something tangable that we can make an example of..

 

--Kim

[Chinese Wife!!!]

Thanks Mark,

That is my train of thought. I see a lot of griping above (and some humor resulting from our fustration). How many of us have actually written someone that POSSIBLY can affect change. My approach was to remind them that:

 

#1 The K1 and K3 Finance's and Spouse program was adopted to expediate our reunions. The program is not presently functioning as intended.

 

#2 The specific delays affecting the spouses from China and Russia. (The terror threats I read about emanate from a different part of the globe).

 

#3 Optional Item: Disparity between VSC and CSC (or other slow centers).

 

The front page of this web site has some very well put words that With PERMISSION of the site and some paraphrasing might be an excellent start of a letter. It is not a good idea for everyone to send a "chain letter".

 

(Small note: Politically (and otherwise) Senator Kennedy is not my favorite person but Credit PAID were credit is due on my prior issue.) Richard

[hypoclear]

I'm encouraged by the response so far on this idea.

 

What I did was after reading Triggs comments regarding a letter I wrote last month "Exiled in China" was to take an hour or so and researched newspapers on line.

 

I sent a copy of this letter to the Washington post and also found there a woman who focuses on immigration issues, the LA Times, the Detroit free press the village voice the la weekly the valley advocate, etc etc

 

I know we have enough good and qualified writers here at candle and as you have all mentioned there are anumber of good starts already written.

 

Tomeing is also an issue, but I believe if enough officials recieve the same letter it would leak out some how. Perhaps we could get together a little group here in China who might be interested in a BBQ in GZ and a mail delivery of our own.. timeing is of course important as well.

 

Mark and Bea

[Alex]

I would like to propose that the most eloquent one of this group compose that letter for our dear senators. I would give it a shot, but my words would seep too much acid.

[turtle]

I'm planning on writing a letter tomorrow. I think a nice formatting example are the watchdog reports the NSC Action Committee used to put out. Obviously we don't have the kind of database they do, but the basic idea is pretty fitting to our current situation.

 

NSC Action Committee

[SeaSame]

Most Americans are anti immigration.

 

Even most American are anti immigration as German Nazification, the most American has no right to deprive the other American's right of reunion with their Family members. Even if they drive out all Chinese/Russian/Mexican/Cuban/whatever like Germany did to Jews in the history, the historic lesson did tell us, such an attempt would not finally prevailed.

 

There is no such a Right to give a certain group of people power to overrule on the other people's family reunion. If they play it as a political game, they will receive the result of the game on themselves one day.

 

Fortunately, there are more than average number of people who are still consciously kind and righteous, whom 85% percent of the Americans claim themselves to be Christian, they are not unkind at all to any legitimate immigrants.

 

Sadly, some people on "power" do not realize this Gold Rule of "Treat others as you wish to be treated". Power is not given by itself, it is given by the American people. "Power" can't misuse the authority itself, if Power doesn't reflect what Justice is, the American people can turn the Power over to the others who are capable to do Justice.

 

Emotionally torture the others by forcing others separated from their loved one, their family, it is cruel, unkind, inhumane, and unjustic, they can't cover such crime under the cloth of POWER!

 

SeaSame

[hypoclear]

I was doing some research on email addresses and came across this commision.. hmm http://www.cecc.gov/

 

here are a number of other informative pages. http://www.cecc.gov/pages/general/links.php#USCHINA

 

and of course email addys:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_info...enators_cfm.cfm

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.html

http://congress.org/congressorg/home/

 

Now this might not be correct ... but, I don't see why I as a citizen of the united states one can not send an email to each and every congressman and senator and other governmental official.

 

And if members here were to do like wise during a certain period of time... "oh what a wonderful world..." Nat King Cole.

 

And should a number of persons happen to be in GZ during this time period and just happened to be at a local hotel, (White Swan) for a drink.

 

And just out of no where saw a copy of this letter and said... hey!!! the embassy is just around the corner and I'll bet they haven't seen this letter. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to inform them of this letter??

 

This could be the start of something big.

 

Mark and Bea

[Chinese Wife!!!]

There is a very related post in "Democrats unveil plan". (The first post has a link to the newspaper article.) Maybe ALL OF US should take time to write to Senator Ted Kennedy, Ma. and Representative Luis Gutierrez, Il.

 

On the lines of: Whoa buddy- hold on there, what about the plight of us with (potential/actual) SPOUSES. WE are doing things legally and being taxpayers? Richard