US Visa Policy Maker to Visit Beijing

[Deekdooken]

This is certainly worth a shot. I will email her and tell her of my experiences at GUZ. It seems we are treated more like criminals instead of U.S. citizens. Has anyone else got this impression? Even aside from the delays, GUZ just seems to approach our cases with disregard. Anyway, thanks for the contact information.

[hank]

Deekdooken,

 

I agree with you 100%. What is happening in GUZ is wrong, but the policy makers will not know that if we don't speak up. Remember that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease".

 

Right now, the only people banging the drum for change are those who want business visas and student visas. As a result, they have priority over us, and get processed rather quickly. Meanwhile, our visa cases sit on the backburner until GUZ can get to us. This is not fair, when other consulates in China can process temporary visas, but only GUZ can process ours.

 

In this respect, GUZ should give us priority. But we need to speak out. And we need to speak out about the insensitive disregard that VO's have towards our cases... especially after we have waited a year to be interviewed. Why is there no transparency in the Process? Why can't Alex sit down with a representative from the DOS to find out why his case was denied and sent back to the States? Why can't we attend the interviews with our so in order to prove our relationship?

 

As American citizens, we have the right to make these demands. We are not asking for too much. We are only requesting fairness. Unless we speak up, we can expect to be swept further under the rug.

[pingme]

i agree with you Hank,

 

you can be sure my senators and representative already know about, and will continue to know about it, and my vote for them will rest on what they have done about this whole situation.

 

i've also written to the ACLU about it. why in the world can't a US citizen, when at a US embassy, be present for an interview that he has paid for and has waited almost a year for (over a year in many cases) for his wife, finacee, child, etc.

 

if course it is also discrimination since the same interview at another embassy (still US soil) they are allowed at the interview, sometimes even required.

 

i can't think of a case of more clear discrimination than that!

[Mengxin]

A while back USCIS was open to critics also. It's good that they are at least willing to open themselves up for suggestion.

[Deekdooken]

affirmative to all the above. I certainly have communicated to my congressman about the GUZ circus. I went to the embassy in hopes to speak to someone, specififically, about my case, as did about 100 people that day.

All we got was a group interview full of spin. The typically response to our questions was " I really cannot answer that because I do not know about your case". One older man, a chinese immigrant, was trying to be reunited with his wife, who was still in china. He had been married to her most of his life. He got denied, with no instructions on how to overcome the denial. The consulate who was giving the interview could not tell him anything, and would not let him speak to someone who could. I witnessed this first hand. We were all shocked at this, and terrified because we are caught up in the same process, with our futures on-the-line.

We have the right to speak to someone who does know about our case, who can answer our questons, and to whom we can make an argument in support of our case. I agree we need to have the right to attend the interviews, or even the right to a fair and objective interview, not one dictated by agendas.

We need to be able to know what the hec is going on while we are waiting. We need to know exactly why things went bad, and not just a vague blue slip.

I agree, Hank - all we are asking for is fairness. We are good people, who want nothing more than a chance to live our lives with our loved ones.

[pingme]

When thinking about the whole situation in Guangzhou, the whole thing smells to me like mis-management or coruption from the top. Something this bad, going on for this long, without any remedy, is not the "work" of a few underling VOs.

 

i would also suggest, to those so inclined, to write to the other consulates in China, pointing out the problems with Guangzhou, the inadequacies of the system, and ask what is being done to correct it.

 

if your loved one lives closer to one of the other consulates, it would also be worth asking when they will allow interviews at the consulate closer to where they live.

 

here is the contact information from the other consulates in China.

 

No need to send anything nasty, just a kind letter pointing out what is going on in Guangzhou and a kind request to ask when the problems will be resolved. You can also mention that you have pointed out the issues to your senators and representatives.

 

The are probably well aware that the situation in Guangzhou is a mess, but for some reason, they are unable to fix it.

 

Its our tax money that pays their salaries, and we also pay for the visa processing. the least they could do is do their job in a professional and timely manner.

 

a glitch in a system might last for a few weeks or months, but it seems the system, or lack of it in Guangzhou has been going on for years. That's not a glitch ... thats incompetancy, mismagement, coruption, its a crime.

 

 

========================

United States Embassy of Beijing, China

Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr.

Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600

Phone (86-10) 6532-3831

 

Public Affairs

Public Affairs Officer Donald Bishop

Fax (86-10) 6532-2039

 

American Citizen Services

Consular Officer John Daniel Morris

Monday - Friday Hours: 9:00-12:00, 14:00-16:00

Fax (86-10) 6532-4153

E-mail AmCitBeijing@state.gov

==========================

The US Consulate General in Chengdu

No. 4 Lingshiguan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan, PRC 610041

Tel: (28) 8558-3992, 8558-9642 Fax: (28) 8558-3520

Email: consularchengdu@state.gov

==========================

The US Consulate General in Shanghai

1469 Huai Hai Zhong Lu, Shanghai, P.R.C. 200031

Tel. (86-21) 6433 - 6880 Fax. (86-21)6433-4122

Consul General Douglas G. Spelman

=========================

US Consulate in Shenyang

52, 14th Wei Road, Heping District, 110003

PSC 461, Box 45, FPO AP 96521-0002

Tel [86] (24) 2322-0848, Duty Officer Tel 137-0988-9307

Fax 2322-2374; PAO Fax 2322-1505; FCS Fax 2322-2206

Consul General David Kornbluth

[pingme]

a simple worded letter to

 

American Citizen Services

Consular Officer John Daniel Morris

Monday - Friday Hours: 9:00-12:00, 14:00-16:00

Fax (86-10) 6532-4153

E-mail AmCitBeijing@state.gov

 

============

Dear John Daniel Morris

 

I am writing to bring to you attention a situation at the Guangzhou consulate.

 

As you know, Guangzhou is the only consulate where immigration visas are processed. With a country the size of China, and the number of visa applications and interviews they are asked to process, they are not able to handle the load in a timely manner.

 

Often, to process a visa request takes 6-12 months. Guangzhou has the reputation of the only US consulate that takes such a long time. And China, with the volume of visas that processed each year, is one of the few countries were interviews are possible in only one location. Canada has two locations, one on the east coast and the other on the west coast. India also has 2 locations.

 

As a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I am writing to ask to you what is being done about this situation? It is not a short term or temporary situation, this has been going on for years, and the delays and mismanagement continues to increase.

 

Requests to Guangzhou continue to fall on deaf ears. I hope you will consider this matter and let me know what is being done to fix it. I will also ask the same of my Senators and Representative.

 

Thank you for your time

[impatient]

I sent her an email also.

 

Bill

[Carl]

I just posted a response from an E-mail I recieved from Maura Harty in a new thread. It does give me some hope, but as they say....Talk is cheap

[hank]

Excellent news Carl. Her response seems absolutely genuine and honest... in the fact that she personally answered your inquiry instead of sending you a canned letter. In addition, she was honest enough to say that she was travelling and unable to respond at the moment, rather than delegating the task to some assistant.

 

I think that she is the right person to deal with. With our combined numbers, we can create an email and registered letter campaign unlike anything that Mrs. Maura Harty has ever experienced in her career.

 

There should be transparency in the visa process at GUZ, and those with blue slips deserve an explanation. We should be allowed in the visa interviews, as our word is the best proof of a genuine relationship. And after we have paid good money (twice) to process our applications, the understaffed excuse doesn't float. There is no excuse for what is going on at GUZ. It is about time that we make our voices heard.

 

Especially for our CFL members like Alex, chuckandshuping, and ahhming888, who are stuck in a black hole... with no explanation of what's going on. They should be able to sit down with someone to get the full story. This is unacceptable.