Dreams that are Dashed

[eeyore]

IMHO the interview should not be scheduled until all of the documentary stuff is completed and a visa is ready for issue - barring something that comes to light during the interview.

Good point, then if something 'comes to light' and you get sent away you could/should know why and be given a chance to fix it before everything is sent back.

[MarkLuvsShuPing]

God, this makes me sick to my stomach. What a load of crap! Mike and Xiao are a very happy couple, very much in love with each other, why would they do this to them?

 

I don't know where Xiao worked, but it seems to me Mike told me she was a secretary, could've been anywhere, but it really should be worked out before she goes to GZ, especially if he goes too.

 

When ShuPing and I met Mike and Xiao we were celebrating and everyone was in great spirits and confident of a white slip. I can't imagine the disappointment and pain they're going through and I feel terrible about it.

 

I haven't been following this letter thing, but I'll check it out and support anything we can do to make things like this not happen.

[olemanoman1950]

I talked to mike last night again. He told me his SO told him the the VO looked at his passport, financial documents and some e-mails. His plans are to come home a week early and start the E-mail and calling campaign with Congress men, Senators etc.. My SO and I will have Dinner with them this week before we leave, maybe I can get a clearer picture on what happened.

[hypoclear]

I talked to mike last night again. He told me his SO told him the the VO looked at his passport, financial documents and some e-mails. His plans are to come home a week early and start the E-mail and calling campaign with Congress men, Senators etc..  My SO and I will have Dinner with them this week before we leave, maybe I can get a clearer picture on what happened.

Wayne,

Didn't you mention someone before had this happen and just bulled their way thru on it?

 

Anyone good at searching the archives here? Seems it would be better if Mike could put the pressure on them now while he is here rather than waiting and spending more time and money.

 

Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

[C4Racer]

Knowing Mike's job I could understand the need for extra processing. He has a very sensitive job, but why when it is listed all over the application do they need to schedule the interview before it is ready. It is also highly unprofessional and shows no customer service skills to tell them just go home, we'll call you don't call us. They have no worries about Xiao, she doesn't care what he does. Do they think she was just lurking around the internet waiting for someone like him? It is just common curtesy to tell someone why.

I think I would try and talk with someone before going home. Shake the tree and see what falls out. The worst thing can happen is they say not now.

[John & Hai Yan]

This is the kind of thing we all fear. I really believe the USC deserves an interview with a visa officer or some consulate official when this sort of thing happens. Keeping the USC in the dark about why these things happen is very painful to all those concerned. It is also totally unnecessary.

[rogerluli]

This is the kind of thing we all fear. I really believe the USC deserves an interview with a visa officer or some consulate official when this sort of thing happens. Keeping the USC in the dark about why these things happen is very painful to all those concerned. It is also totally unnecessary.

For sure !!! It is too cruel for a USC to go through all of this and then have HIS consulate deny him the ability to become part of this process to find out - WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON !!! This is mentioned lightly in 2) of the letter but it would seem to deserve a little more ink. The process really should include a provision for the USC to be involved IF there is a denial.

[chuckandshuping]

This is another horror story and makes all of us sick! Bottom line is that the USC has NO rights as far as Guangzhou is concerned. Something needs to change! Best of luck for a speedy solution. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

[olemanoman1950]

My SO and I will have lunch today with Mike and Xiao. Maybe I can see his blue slip and get more information. But to make matters worse his Daughter was on an Amusement Ride and she broke her Collar Bone, talk about bad luck.

[John & Hai Yan]

My SO and I will have lunch today with Mike and Xiao. Maybe I can see his blue slip and get more information. But to make matters worse his Daughter was on an Amusement Ride and she broke her Collar Bone, talk about bad luck.

Wayne,

Send him our best wishes. Let him know we are thinking about them.

[ptcrusier333rph]

this was posted by eli a attornory on the visavourney forum

might be a option for those that having problems with GZ

 

DOS wins almost every time they are sued, unfortunately.

But for some reason, DOS doesn't like being sued very much. A colleague of mine

filed a Mandamus against them last year because a consulate would not

schedule an interview.

 

The issue of standing was dubious in his case. It was an employment

case. The petitioner was not a US Citizen or Permanent Resident, and

was outside the US at the time he sued.

 

DOS has a lot more power in employment visas than they

do in family cases. A similar standing issue was decided against his

position in Bruno v. Albright Argued September 10, 1999 Decided December 3, 1999

in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Before that, the good guys lost in the case of Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers v. Department of State, Burea of Consular Affairs, 45 F.3d 469 (D.C. Cir. 1995).

 

Despite the real possibility that my friend might lose on the standing issue,

DOS scheduled an interview for his client. (I helped him craft an argument distinguishing his case from Bruno. But DOS scheduled the interview before

he could test it. ) It was quite a good argument. But in an employment case where the petitioner is outside the US, I think he would have lost even with my argument.

 

Not so with family-based petitions where a US Citizen petitioner is inside the US. On a case like that, DOS has consistently lost the standing issue.

 

US Citizens have fundamental rights. The right to procreate and choose the spouse

of your choice has been held by the Supreme Court to be fundamental. Consular immunity does not extend to violating the fundamental rights of US Citizen petitioners. (Abourezk v. Reagan, 785 F.2d 1043), affirmed by the US Supreme Court.

 

When a consular officer insults a US Citizen in the way you describe, it comes very close to violating your fundamental rights. It certainly shocks the conscience. I was shocked when I read it.

 

That's the way the case law seems to come down. Foreigners outside the US have no standing to sue consular officers. That was the holding in both Bruno and Vietnamese Asylum Seekers. However, as the US Supreme court affirmed in Abourezk, US citizens DO have standing to sue them when their fundamental rights are violated.

 

But just because you can sue doesn't mean you can win.

The Feds have free lawyers. You have to pay for yours.

 

Better to stay out of the courts. Better for everyone involved.

But if you have no choice but to sue. Go for it.

 

I'm surprised consulates have dodged a large class action for this long.

 

 

 

 

just thought it was interesting

[king]

The following quoted text is from a AILA lawyer. As you will read, she is expressing her professional frustration with GUZ. I don't know if she willgo ahead with a Mandamous action. If anyone want s to pursue an inquiry into this with her I would be willing to act as a go-between to see if she has any interest in discusing any of your cases.

 

As to the situation in general about the telling people to wait for further processing, it has several aspects. One is that the SO is told on a blue sheet to wait until GUZ gets back to the beneficiary, then the next thing they hear is that the case has been/will be sent back to the US more processing/investigation or revocation. The other situation is, as has been occurring recently, issuing the white visa pick-up sheet and then when the time comes to supposedly pick up the visa GUZ issues a blue sheet plus maybe others instead.

 

In both types of situations I generally do not see any explanation for why there is a hold up, except for "need more time," "need further processing" and the like. In some cases, I have been able to break down GUZ's wall of silence with persistence and perhaps properly phrased arguments, to get more information as to what is going on with the specific case, but not often.

 

This situation has been happening for some time. I have several cases bringing the situation to the IV unit's attention. No answers yet from GUZ to the challenges made to the handling of those cases.

 

 

The following is from an AILA member lawyer to other lawyers:

Hi all,

I filed a K-1 visa on behalf of a China national in 2003 which was sent to Guangzhou in 07/2004. Guangzhou is finally interviewing the fiancee in March 2005, even though the validity of her I-129F has long expired.

 

I filed a K-3 for another China national in 2004 which was sent to Guangzhou in 05/2004 and my client was just interviewed last month (Feb. 2005). The interviewing officer asked for cassette tapes of the petitioner/husband's voice & Chinese-speaking ability and useless things like used calling cards (since husband and wife do not maintain telephone bills).

 

It seems that Guangzhou is sitting on or delaying cases on purpose. Has anyone else out there dealing with Guangzhou experienced the same unreasonable delay of their cases? Clients are anxious to have their fiancee/spouse enter the U.S. to join them. What is going on w/Guangzhou? Do you recommend filing a Mandamus action? Is there anything else that can be done to push the cases forward? I have done numerous inquiries and in every response, Guangzhou states that they need more time to review the cases.

 

Frustrated,

[king]

Probably that is "98%" correct. My experience is that the IV unit does get out most of its decisions on overcome submittals the next day. There have been many instances of one or two of my cases not being finished at the time every other beneficiary has obtain their decision and gone, but the IV unit does continuing working on the case and I get it later that day. Several times I have waited outside until (from 2:00pm) 4:30pm to 5:30pm to get the results.

[olemanoman1950]

My SO and I had lunch with Mike and Xiao and daughter. They seem to be in good spirits considering their current situation. Mike said that he thinks there was something in the E-mails that caught his attention and he had a visa in his passport that was questioned because he never came. Darn I had one in mine also and the VO looked at it. Some of us get a Visa and something happens to where we can't go. His Employment is a little sensitive, he deals with Nucelear Reactors. He's headed back to Guangzhou the 28th I told him to look for King and maybe he could get some words of wisdom from him. I hope King is the Tall Silver Haired Man with Glasses I saw standing there everyday with the big leather brief case that said Peter ???? U S Immigration Atty. Mike will attend the US Citizens thing in the afternoon and make another attempt to get an answer why. So I myself am heading home in another day with a stop in Guangzhou and heres to wishing Mike and Xiao all the Luck in the World.

[tonymasiello]

Wow... my heart goes out to Mike and Xiao. I don't know them personally, but from all of my impressions of Mike from this site, I would never have guessed that this could happen to him. I really believe they will overcome this.