GOT A GRIPE WITH GUANGZHOU????

[pingme]

i've tried to summarized in the letter below some of the many problems/issues with the visa process and Guangzhou.

 

Feel free to edit as you wish, and forward to your local representative or news agency.

 

i've tried to include the major issues dealing with the backlog, delays and unfair treatment we are being given by our embassy and officials in Guangzhou. Hopefully if they will not listen to us, their "customers requesting their service", then they will listen to our elected officials, the local or natioanl news.

 

please read and consider if it is worth the cost of a stamp and envelop.

 

thanks

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

Dear [senator, Representative, local/national CNN News, ACLU etc]

 

Introduction:

I am writing to you as one of your law abiding, tax paying, voting constituents, about a matter that is near and dear to my heart, as well as most likely many others in your voting area. I hope you will take the time to read my letter, and respond to me to let me know how, and when you will help.

 

The United States is a country of immigrants. For most Americans, unless you are a Native American, we are all either immigrants, or descendants of immigrants. So Immigration, for Americans, is a very important and dear issue to our hearts.

 

The words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty say: Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. This letter is an appeal to also include my loved one, as well as the countless thousands of loved ones.

 

I am one of many thousands who are waiting for a visa for a wife, fianc¨¦(e) or family relative (loved ones) from China. I would like to bring to your attention several procedures that seem to affect this one embassy, and respectfully ask what you can do to correct these matters.

 

These practices include discrimination, abuse of power, denial of basic US civil rights to US citizens, deception and break of contract or agreement.

 

Imagine one of the following scenario happening to your wife, daughter, or loved one:

 

You and your loved one, after living in China for several years, wish to return to the US and make your home here. You follow all of the legal routes, file all of the proper forms. After a year or more of waiting for the paper work to be process£¬the endless waiting and delay, the day finally arrives for your loved one to have their interview. They live in XinJiang China, which is in the western most part of the country, and it will take at least a 20hr train ride, following by a 6 hour plane flight to reach Guangzhou. She needs to leave a week early, so that she can have the required medical exams for the interview. She is traveling with all the possible proof of your relationship you have gathered, over 25 lbs of documentation, photos, papers, videos of the two of you together etc. When it finally comes time for the interview, you are not allowed to accompany her, but you tell her it will be alright, your relationship is legitimate, clearly documented, the US government is fair and equitable. At the interview few questions are asked, the Visa Officer can clearly see that everything is in order, and the evidence is overwhelming. A white slip is issued, (which means the visa can be picked up the following day). Your loved one surrenders her passport in good faith, and the Visa Officer says, welcome to American, come back tomorrow to pick up your passport with visa.

 

You both are elated, and celebrate that evening, make plans for your return trip to the United States, and rest peacefully for the first time that night in over a year.

 

The following day, when your loved one's name is called, you are informed that the Visa Officer was in fact not telling the truth, a visa will not be issued, but rather now a blue slip is issued and more evidence will need to be seen. Of course your loved one already had all the required evidence the day before, carrying the 25lbs of evidence, but at the time that was not asked for or needed.

 

You have already now made your flight reservations for the return trip to the US, but now they need to be canceled due to this sudden change. It may take several days before you can schedule for your loved one to reappear in front of a Visa Officer, with the same 25lbs of evidence that she was carrying the other day, to present to them the one page or video evidence that is now being asked for.

 

This is not an isolated story, in fact Guangzhou is famous worldwide for its delays, its mismanagement and inappropriate and at times, dishonest and unethical behavior. The following points summarize what has been happening at Guangzhou not just recently, but for the past several years.

 

1) Guangzhou - Longest Waiting time of any other Embassy.

The waiting time to obtain an interview to finally receive a visa is one of the longest in the world. Obtaining an adoption visa from Guangzhou take a matter of days, but a visa for a loved one typically takes 6-12 months These are family based visas, for our loved ones, and they should not and do not need to take so long to process.

 

China is a large country, and each month thousands of visas are processed. All the more reason that the current procedures and backlog be investigated, especially since many of the visas may affect people in your voting area.

 

The UK has realized this and will begin opening several Visas Centers across China:

 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2...tent_417365.htm

http://www.uk.cn/bj/index.asp?menu_id=321&artid=795

 

Why can the UK government take better care of its citizens and those wishing to travel to the UK than the US government?

 

This also makes sense given how large China is, and the effort and inconvenience that is required for our loved ones to make the trip to Guangzhou for an interview. In some cases, the trip just to appear at a 5-10 minute interview can take over 25hrs by train and plane. Even in Canada, their citizens are not required to travel such far distances, as they can have their interview either on the east coast or west coast. And the time required to receive a similar visa from Canada is only on the order of 30-45 days. Obtaining the same visa from China should not take more than 10 times longer.

 

When we petition for our loved ones to obtain a visa to come to the US, and if they are denied without good reason, or in some cases, given the white slip and then denied the following day, that is our government working on our behalf (since we have petitioned the US government for a visa for our loved ones.) Their slow response, their delays, their mismanagement, their incompetence, is their service to us, as well as our loved ones. Rather than a service, their current procedures are an offense to me and many others like myself.

 

If the one embassy in Guangzhou is over burdened, then changes need to take place to spread the work to one or more of the many other embassies in China. This would also make sense given the large geographical area of China.

 

2) Accountability:

We have paid the people at Guangzhou to perform a certain job, in a reasonable amount of time. This is paid through our tax dollars, as well as the large visa process fees that we must pay. The fact is, they are failing to do this, and should be held accountable.

 

It is a Presidential goal to process immigration visa in 6 months or less:

http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/repsstud...ies/backlog.htm

 

I would like to know what steps are being done in Guangzhou to reduce the current 9-12 month time frame to 6 months or less? why does it take so long? Is the fee we already pay too low, and so they cannot hire enough workers to process them in a timely manner? Is Guangzhou overburdened and cannot handle the current load? Then why don't they do something about it? Do they expect the burden to get any less? If anything it will get even worse, so what are they doing about the current situation to resolve it?

 

3) Unjust practice at the Guangzhou Embassy

One practice that appears to be on the rise in Guangzhou is the issuing of white slips (meaning that a visa will be given the following day) only then to be issued blue slips the following day (meaning that it is now denied). This does not appear to be to be correct, fair or following procedures. The white slip is a form of contract. The applicant is given the white slip, is asked to surrender their passport, and told that they will be given their passport WITH VISA, the following day. The applicant surrenders his or her passport, an act of trust and good will, with the expectation that they will receive their passport back the following day with the visa they have been promised both verbally and in written form by the white slip. A contract can be both verbal or written, and in this case it is usually both.

 

If they will not be given their visa, then why are they given a white slip, and told to pick up their passport and visa the following day, only later to discover they have been deceived and lied to, their visa has been denied? In these cases the Visa Officer has not faithfully completed their duties and should be held accountable to their superiors.

 

While our loved ones are in the US embassy, they are on US soil, and as such they are government and protected by the same US laws that we know here in the States. Anyone and everyone should be treated with the same respect and dignity as if there were here in the US. They should not be lied to, they should not be deceived to , and if an agreement is reached, it should be honored.

 

After receiving a white slip, a written agreement indicating that the US government has done its job and found the applicant suitable for a visa, I do not understand how during the nigh, everything could change, and the applicant, without any say or representation, is then found unsuitable for a visa.

 

This is just wrong, unfair, unjust, and should be held accountable for their breach of contract.

 

The Visa Officers who are doing this should be held accountable to their superiors as well as to us the tax paying citizen, the customer who has paid for the visa, and ultimately to you our voice in government.

4) American Civil Liberties

The embassy in Guangzhou is one of the few, if not only embassy in the world, where the Petitioner, a US citizen, is not allowed to be present for the Visa Interview. In most other embassy's this is optional, and in several, it is required. It helps to demonstrate the requirement of a valid relationship. While at the US embassy, this is US soil, and the laws and operations should follow US standards and ways. The embassy in Peru is one of those that requires that the US citizen be present. While these two embassies are a far from each other in distance, they both represent US interest and are on US soil. Why is it, at only this one embassy, US citizens being discriminated against? The US citizen in Peru and the US citizen in China are still under US protection against discrimination, and are governed by the same immigration laws.

 

Without allowing the US citizen the right to be present at his loved ones interview, there is no second witness to the mismanagement or incompetence that happens during these interviews. There is no second witness to the verbal agreement that a visa will be issued the following day, only to be denied within 24 hrs.

 

5) Delays Through out the Process

There are delays built into the immigration visa process for China that do not seem to affect any other country.

 

- After the petition is approved in one of the several services centers here in the US, it is send to the National Visa Center (NVC). There the petition can take several weeks to months for the required security/name checks that are completed. But for other countries, this may take only a matter of days. (UK, Canada, etc) Why are visa petitions for China discriminated against?

 

- After the required name checks are completed. The petition will wait at the NVC for several weeks, until many thousands of papers are ready to ship to Guangzhou. As a petitioner, I have paid my fee not to have them wait for others, but to be processed in the quickest possible time. Petitions from other countries do not need such a long waiting time, and are sent directly to the consulate in the beneficiaries country as soon as possible.

 

- After they are sent to the beneficiaries country, since there are now usually many boxes of papers, the papers sit in local customs for an unneeded amount of time. If each petition were individually sent, then there would be no need to have customs inspect and process every page. Again as a petitioner, I have paid a fee to have my petition processed, and that does not included waiting for other papers, or waiting in local customs with boxes of other petitions. A simple Fedex or DHL envelope would not only clear customs in a matter of days, but I would then be able to track where it is at anytime. I can send a Fedex or DHL package to China, and it typically only takes a matter of a few days, why cannot the US government do the same?

 

- The longest delay, after all the papers have been received at Guangzhou, is spent waiting for Guangzhou to schedule the interview. This can take anywhere from 3-4 months. Again this is only happening at the one embassy in Guangzhou. If they are over burdened at that one embassy, then they should follow the example given by many of our other US embassies around the world, and spread the immigration visa processing around. This would not only simplify their operations, but also allow for quicker processing of the immigration visas, and allow for more local places for the interviews to take place.

 

Contact Information

To help you in your investigation, I have included a list of contacts from the Guangzhou embassy website the following contact information below:

 

http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/guangzhou/index.html

 

Contact Information

Address: No. 1 Shamian Street South, Guangzhou 510133

Phone: 020-8121-8000

Fax: 020-8121-9001

 

Consul General: Edward Dong

CG OMS: Martha Petitt

ECO/POL: Harvey Somers

COM: Robert Murphy Tel 8667-4011, Fax 8666-6409

CON: William Martin Fax 8121-8428

ADM: Jeffrey Rock

RSO: Michael Brenn

PAO: Wendy Lyle Tel 8335-4269, Fax 8335-4764

FAS: Keith Schneller Tel 8667-7553, Fax 8666-0703

DHS: Thomas Wong DHSGuangzhouGeneral@dhs.gov

DHSGuangzhouAdoption@dhs.gov

DHSGuangzhouV92@dhs.gov

Tel: 020-8121-8000 Ext 5951

Fax: 020-8121-7735

 

Conclusion

In summary, I am writing to find out how and when you and your office will help resolve these issues. The current situation and practices are unjust, unfair and are a disgrace to the US, and our loved ones.

 

This is also not an isolated case. I am sure there are many, possible thousands of people in your constituency, who have experienced these practices, or who know someone who has. I am sure your efforts to look into this situation will not only be remembered by myself when it comes time to vote, but by many others in your district or state.

 

To help receive some attention to these practices, I will also be forwarding a similar letter to my local and national news companies, as well as to the ACLU. I am not the only one affected by these practices of abuse and discrimination, but thousands each month are affected, many in my local area.

 

I hope I can include your name as someone who has listened to these unfair and disgraceful practices and will be able to do something about them.

 

Please respond to me within a timely manner (2 weeks) to let me know what specific actions you will be taking to review and correct this situation, so I can include you name among the list that are actively supporting their constituency, and is willing to do something about this.

 

When it comes time to vote again, I will remember how you have responded (or not responded) and you can be sure I will let your support (or lack of support) be known among all of my friends and family.

 

Immigration is an issue that affects nearly every American living today.

 

The words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty say: "Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free".

 

Does this not also include the loved one of any US citizen? And if it were your spouse, your child, your fianc¨¦(e), what would you do about it?

 

References:

www.candleforlove.com

You do not need to look far for countless stories about the misconduct of this embassy. The Candle For Love website has documented several years worth of stories from real live people, real live cases of everything that I have included in this letter.

 

http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/repsstud...resentation.pdf

- Restore Public Confidence in the integrity of Immigration Services

- Make certain the right applicant receives the right benefits in the right amoutn of time, and preventing the wrong applicant for accessing our benefits

 

The right amount of time - The target 6 month cycle time

USCIS Commitment - Six Months Every case type, Every Office

 

http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/repsstud...inal-signed.pdf

It is a Presidential stated objective to eliminate the application backlog and achieve a cycle time of six-months or less.

Objective: Achieve a high-level of performance by establishing clear, concrete milestones and actively monitoring progress towards these milestones.

 

http://uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/fa...ct_06_17_04.pdf

Resource Allocations:

The USCIS Headquarters Backlog Elimination Taskforce - staffed by highly experience senior staff members - will work to achieve the rapid adjudication of severely backlogged applications while ensuring the integrity of immigration services. USCIS will work to identify areas of greatest needs for resources to make sure that all offices are supported to meet monthly backlog elimination goals.

http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/repsstud...s/BEPQ3v2_1.pdf

Cycle Time in months for Forms: Why is there no mention of I-129F backlog?

 

http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/handboo...k/RFE021605.pdf

http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/repsstud...ies/backlog.htm

 

http://www.aclu.org/ImmigrantsRights/Immig...sRightsMain.cfm

[beijingjenny]

Good letter! I'm not expecting a lot of time to actually speak to Maura Harty, but I have put together a letter with many of these questions and stats from the other thread too that I hope I can at least deliver to her for her to consider and reply as able.

 

Since I've not got loads of time or energy, a lot I have just copied, edited of course for clarity/brevity and reworded. Hope nobody minds. Nobody is sourced, don't worry

 

Thanks,

Jenny

[Chinese Wife!!!]

I brought this back to life for a reason. There are a number of threads concerning problems at GZ and I support ALL efforts. I still however have the oppurtunity to take OUR questions and comments DIRECT. The window that I have to list our concerns is rapidly coming to a close- maybe two more days. I have gotten word that the interview will take place shortly either in person or by phone.

 

I am very busy with my own situation right now but I have read many of the other threads here and at VJ. There are some incredible ideas. The problem quite of becomes one of LENGHT!

 

I need one or two liners to supply the contact person with.

 

Personally I believe these are issues that need addressing but want OTHERS input and ideas on priority.

 

There have been a number of cases at GZ lately where the applicant has been issued a "white slip" and verbally told that they have passed the interview. Upon returning for the visa the following day they were issued a "blue slip"- request for additional evidence. Not only is this personally devastating it undermines the integrity of the GZ Consulate.

 

The time from the sending of the FAMILY based visa form NVC to interview often exceeds 180 days. This is one of the slowest consulates in the world. The average at other Consulates is ??? days.

 

China is one of the largest and most populated countries yet only processes FAMILY based visas at GZ in the Southeastern part. Many other places have multiple consulates that process FAMILY based visas. Why can't some of these petitions be done in perhaps another area such as Beijing or Shanghai.

 

Please give me a hand in this- resource shifting etc but brief statements. Time is a precious commodity for me personally AND the rapidly approaching deadline. Thanks, Richard

[ptcrusier333rph]

my biggest gripe is the fact that I can get a visa to travel to vietnam in a matter of days, but for someone to come here you have a year of grueling proding and probing.

 

There should be a faster was of allowing SO and spouses to come to the states and wait out some of the process.

 

The biggest reason US have illegals coming here is it just faster to walk across than do the paperwork. if the process was more friendly oriented maybe it could possiblity of focusing less resources on our boarders and more on checking who coming in. I have no problem with background check and fingerprinting. But in this day and age of Computer software the process should take a lot less than a year to do. Cutting the time to half would be a greater improvement.

 

But I still get in a argument with a friend that works in DC. a piece of paper at her government job past through 10 people before it could be sign by her, then it sent to the next level and it has to pass 10 more people. my friend feel that this seem to be normal and not change and get very mad at me when I said we should fire the ten people that look at it before she can pass it on.

 

At this moment I just think it strange they can upgrade their computer and delay the process by 3 months.

 

Hell i got my refund back from IRS in 3 days after eleconic filing

 

So how are they doing the visa processing old chineese manual calculator?

[pingme]

The number 1 gripe must be the waiting time for US to receive the K1 or K3 visa. I think if that issue was resolved, the rest would be insignificant.

 

Fact: The US citizen submits and pays for the peition for his or her wife, husband, fiancee or child. From that point, the time it takes to receive the visa is at least 6 months, and in many cases a year or more.

 

Fact: A Chinese tourist request a tourist visa, and receives it in much less time, days, weeks?

 

Fact: A Chinese student requests a student visa, and receives it in much less time, days, weeks?

 

Fact: A Chinese business person request a business visa, and receives it in much less time, days, weeks

 

All categories should require the same security background checks, so this cannot be the problem. Since a terrorist could be a tourist, student or business person, i would hope they are checking these 3 categories just as much as they are checking our wives, husbands, fiancees and children.

 

I would be curious to know, of the 9/11 hijackers, what percentage of them used K1 or K3 visas to obtain entrance into our country, vs, student, tourist, or business visas?

 

And of course a terrorist looking for a way to get in from china, will use the simplest and easiest and quickest way to get in. K1 or K3 would not be the way.

 

 

The problems with K1 and K3 visas is not temporary, it does not affect a small percentage of K1 and K3 applicants, it is for every single one.

 

The possible solutions to the long wait are many. There is no reason why it cannot be fixed.

 

Bottom line, our government, the consulates in China, are giving higher prority to Chinese citizens than they are to US citizens.

 

We are not asking for preferential treatment, that would be too much to ask for after years of being cast aside. But at least equal treatment to Chinese citizens.

 

Reduce the wait time, that is the first step.

[beijingjenny]

Security check isn't the prob (except in a few cases). Prob is hundreds of thousands of applicatins going through one consulate. If they did that to non-imm visas, they would also be waiting months (right now average wait is 19 days, according to Mata Hari, and used to be even less). But the US gov't would never allow that - they need the tourism/spending/students to indocrinate to go back and teach American values to their motherland. Our SO's, and other applicants such as for work visas, will stay in the US and more likely be a "burden" than a boon. At least I can imagine that's how they see it.

[Mengxin]

As everyone here knows, my so and I got the #1 treatment..it is one of the most horrible things that can happen. I have questioned the credibility AND legality of GZ's actions.. I can't believe a "first world"democratic government does this to its own people ...nuff said

Alex, Welcome back. I can imagine your feeling. I just got my package letting me know the things that I needed to get together. I can tell you that "picture of ex-husbands photo, taken with a newspaper, with today's date, was NOT on the list."

 

other noteables not making the list are...

 

1. Your better half.

2. Video Tape

3. Phone records

4. Notarized passport

5. Barry Bonds #700 HR ball

 

If these are going to be requirements of evidence to present at the interview, it would be on the list right? My paperwork is on it's way soon. I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin'. Go GZ, I love you, you guys Rock!!!