Some P3 Questions

[DocMartin817]

Hi, My name is Marty and this is my first post, though I have been reading posts at the very helpful site for awhile. I have read all the info here that I can on the P3 but still am a little confused. When my fiancee gets the packet, it seems there are several enclosures. Does she need to have them all ready to send or does she just send the OF-230 back immediately? Or does she need to have all of the forms ready before she sends it back.

 

Second question: When I called Immigration, they told me the petition had been sent to Guanzhou on Dec. 2nd. How long do I wait before I start enquiring if it has cleared customs? Where do I inquire? Is sending an e-mail the best way to go -- its seems from what I have read, the embassy does not seem to responsive to e-mails.

Thanks for any help

[John & Hai Yan]

Hi Marty,

Welcome to CFL!

When your fiancee gets the P3 packet in the mail she must return 3 forms: DS-230, OF-169, and P3 Supplemental Sheet.

 

You should have your fiancee return these as soon as possible. You will have plenty of time afterwards to collect all the information they tell you to get for the interview. It helps if you practice filling these forms out ahead of time. (Post was edited. Some incorrect info removed.)

 

You can find sample forms in the links and resources section.

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....be26797ac85df4b

 

Here is a link for your second question about tracking your petition after NVC sends it to GZ. It often takes 4 to 6 weeks to to get from NVC to GZ.

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....7196f991152e930

[Guest Gene]

Welcome Aboard Marty

 

 

 

But tell her to return the forms that she receives in the packet and not forms that have been downloaded from the internet.

Where did this come from John?

When my wife got her P-3 it only had one set of forms and Guangzhou told me it was ok to make copies or download the forms from the internet.

Did they change that and say no copies or downloaded forms?

[John & Hai Yan]

Welcome Aboard Marty

 

 

 

But tell her to return the forms that she receives in the packet and not forms that have been downloaded from the internet.

Where did this come from John?

When my wife got her P-3 it only had one set of forms and Guangzhou told me it was ok to make copies or download the forms from the internet.

Did they change that and say no copies or downloaded forms?

Gene, I got it from this thread.

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....bce94c9c521f07e

 

I got it specifically from this quote from Mengxin(Doug) in the first post of that thread.

 

Note: At the top of the bill it says... "When we recieve your fee you'll receive the DS230. Return only the original application that we send you. Do not use any downloaded computer forms."

 

 

It seems there is a lot of confusion about whether you can use the DS-230 downloaded forms. When there is doubt I would advise to use the downloaded forms only. It may be that either forms will ultimately be accepted. But why are some people being told to not use the downloaded forms?

Gene, perhaps they allowed you to use the downloaded forms because they screwed up and failed to send you the correct forms. But for some unknown reason they seem to prefer that we use the forms that they send. Some say it is because of the barcode but there could be other unknown reasons.

[Guest Gene]

John,

Doug is doing a CR-1 visa through a I-130 that is being processed at the NVC not Guangzhou. I got an email from Guangzhou saying to use copies or download forms from the internet when I was doing my P-3.

[lele]

Always the interesting question!

 

It seems that *most* people sign and send the forms back, asap.

 

However, in our case we *did not*. We took the extra 2 days that was needed to obtain all of the paperwork (that was it for us), and then sent the forms back.

 

The reason why: we do not want to give *any* excuse for any red flags or other reasons to issue anything other than a white slip.

 

Clearly, this is not an issue for most people. However, it seems there have been some pretty dubious non-white slips issued, and based on what people have said, were still questionable (although in others, it could have occurred based on what was said). I *hence* believe that this is a *possible* red flag for some VOs, especially as security concerns continue to tighten. However, it is your call. We decided to follow it to the letter...

 

For us, it was only 2 days to get all of the documents, but that is because she lives in her hukou, and we knew about such issues before hand, she has never been married before, etc. Take it all in stride, and do what you feel is best.

 

Good Luck!

[Jim - Portland, USA]

Here's what my sweetie sent to the Consulate shortly after she received P3:

 

Packet 3 Supplemental Information Sheet

(questions 1 thru 6 answered)

 

DS-230 PART I

(questions 1 thru 25 answered)

 

OF-169 Optional Form

(page 3 signed and completed)

 

Your sweetie will present all that other stuff during her interview.

[John & Hai Yan]

Gene,

I stand corrected. Thanks for setting me straight. If you are sending DS-230 to NVC for a CR-1, then it is best to use the forms that are sent to you. If you are sending your DS-230 to GZ then you can use downloaded forms. Is this correct?

[Guest Gene]

John,

Yes, that is correct, until it changes. The deal with using "original" forms from NVC is something new

[Mengxin]

Maybe it's just new for me and Bahan. We're special like that.

 

I noticed some other comments about people having thier wife/fiancee mail papers to GZ. Seemed odd to me, because I'm not going about the process like the majority seems to be. (nothing new, lost and going in the wrong direction is typical for me. just got used to it at an early age.)

 

There is now a handful of us married guys that got our 130's approved through CSC quicker than the 129's through Chicago. This CR-1 process is new to many of us that went K3. This strange phenomina occurred last July as part of the back log reduction act. There were no visa papers moving slower than a 130 through CSC last spring, now it's almost as fast as the 129's through VT. The logs that were backed up, are moving through the bowels of the visa process freely now. ahhh.... :D