pingme Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 I thought I would start a thread to collect any replies we have recieved from Maura or others about the state of things in Guangzhou. Today I recieved a reply and have included it below: ==================== United States Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 March 14, 2005 Dear Mr. XXXXXX: This is in response to your email of March 7 to Assistant Secretary Maura Harty regarding the immigrant visa application process at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China. I have been asked to respond to your inquiry personally on her behalf. The Assistant Secretary appreciates the hardships endured by both the visa applicants and their families due to the current limitations placed on the Guangzhou Consul General by their current location. A new larger facility is in the works as we speak and the Consulate hopes to take up residence there in the near future and more space allowing for more personnel will help alleviate many of the current problems. I understand your frustration at the processing times involved in the visa application procedure. The Department of State strives to provide a high level of customer service. However, we must work within budgetary and personnel constraints, which at times can impact our ability to deliver services. We are aware of and regret the many inconveniences this has caused our visa applicants. You mentioned that you don't understand why student visas are processed so much more quickly than K1 and K3 visas. In this case, the difference is that which lies between a nonimmigrant visa and an immigrant visa. For, while K1 is a nonimmigrant visa to allow a fianc¨¦(e) to enter the U.S. and get married to an American citizen, it leads to full immigration. Likewise, the K3 is a nonimmigrant visa that allows the spouse of an American citizen to enter the U.S. and wait there for their immigrant petition to be completed. What all that means is that the processing necessary for K1 and K3 visas is more like that of an immigrant visa instead of the nonimmigrant student visa and, it simply involves more steps and procedures which take more time. I hope this information is helpful. Sincerely, June O'Connell Chief Public Inquiries Division Visa Services Link to comment
hank Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 Thanks for the post pingme. Somehow, I don't buy Mrs. O'Connell's assertion that our immigrant visas are processed slower than student visas because of "more steps". Because most of us have already passed the name checks and are merely waiting to be scheduled for an appointment. What additional steps are there between passing the namecheck and the interview? In addition, if they are not favoring student petitons from Chinese citizens over our family petitions, why are our petitions only processed at GUZ, while student petitions are processed at all consulates? It seems unfair to me. But at least they are responding, and this is a good thing. Link to comment
pingme Posted March 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 I received today a second reply from my second email letter to Maura. I have included the text of the reply below:===================United States Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 March 14, 2005 Dear Mr. XXXXXXX: This is in response to your email of March 1 to Assistant Secretary Maura Harty regarding the immigrant visa application process at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, China. I have been asked to respond to your inquiry personally on her behalf. The Assistant Secretary appreciates the hardships endured by both the visa applicants and their families due to the current limitations placed on the Guangzhou Consulate General by its current location. A new larger facility is in the works right now, and the Consulate hopes to take up residence there in the near future. The current lack of space is the main reason U.S. citizen petitioners are not allowed into the K1 and K3 interviews at this time. A change in policy will be discussed once the Consulate is relocated into the new larger facility. I understand your frustration at the processing times involved in the visa application procedure. The Department of State strives to provide a high level of customer service. However, we must work within budgetary and personnel constraints, which at times can impact our ability to deliver services. We are aware of and regret the many inconveniences this has caused our visa applicants. You mentioned a situation in which the visa applicant initially received a "white slip" saying she would be given her visa then next day, but, instead, returned to the Consulate only to be given a "blue slip" and told she would given another interview date at a later unknown time. I checked with the Consulate in Guangzhou and was assured that this happens only infrequently and that there is a message on the "white slip" stating: "Should complications beyond our control arise with visa processing, the above-mentioned date for receiving your visa may be delayed." This message is included to let the applicant know that the "white slip" is not an absolute guarantee that the visa will be issued on the date given. A possible complication would be if there is any delay in receipt of any necessary security clearance, the consular officer has no choice but to delay issuance of the visa until all the clearances are complete. I hope this information is helpful. Sincerely, June O'Connell Chief Public Inquiries Division Visa Services Link to comment
hypoclear Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 hmmm well if you can get past the cut and paste form letter and the "Read the fine print" cover my a## aspects.. it's a good letter. But on the other hand they did respond and there is info which is still head and shoulders above GZ. Best of luck and I hope this last snag clears up quickly. Mark and Bea and Elizabeth Link to comment
boba Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 I too recieved a reply from Maura Harty today. It states just about the same stuff as the other two letters. Let the forms letters fly. I guess it is good that we at least got a reply. Dear Mr. xxxxx: This is in response to your email of March 6 to Assistant Secretary Maura Harty regarding the visa application process at our Consulate General in Guangzhou. I have been asked to respond to your inquiry personally on her behalf.The Assistant Secretary appreciates the hardships endured by both the visa applicants and their families due to the current limitations placed on the Guangzhou Consulate General by its current location. A new larger facility is in the works right now, and the Consulate hopes to take up residence there in the near future, and more space allowing for more personnel will help alleviate many of the current problems.I understand your frustration at the processing times involved in the visa application procedure. The Department of State strives to provide a high level of customer service. However, we must work within budgetary and personnel constraints, which at times can impact our ability to deliver services. We are aware of and regret the many inconveniences this has caused our visa applicants.We hope this information is helpful. Sincerely, June O'Connell Chief Public Inquiries Division Visa Services Link to comment
Mark62 Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 I also received a letter with no specifics, because I pointed none. Link to comment
boba Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 I sent a thank you reply and this is what I got back: The State Department Visa Office has received your e-mail inquiry. We regret that we are unable to send a personal reply due to the huge number of inquiries we receive daily. We have found that 95% of the inquiries we receive are readily answered by information available on our website. This response is designed to help you better access that information. This is the only response you will receive from the State Department Visa Office. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide any kind of status update on current pending visa applications via this or any other email address. Please call (202) 663-1225 or fax your request to (202) 663-3899, if you would like the status of your pending visa application. Please refer to the categories below, select the one that most closely matches your inquiry, and then click on the link provided. This will take you directly to the information about your visa inquiry on our website. If your question does not fit any of the categories given below, or you want to see the latest news about visas, please click on http://travel.state.gov/ for general access to our website. etc, etc, etc. I did not ask for any type of status I just said thank you for the information on the consulate expansion and for recognizing our hardships. Guess they didn't bother to read my reply. Link to comment
Dan R Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 I guess you were lucky someone read the first one. Now back to SOP Standard Operating Procedure. It is nice to have a response but they are avoiding an important issue with the expansion story. Having one Consulate only process the visas incurrs additional economic and emotional strain in a country as large as China. The Shenyang Consulate could easily handle Northern China visas and distribute the work load. If space is a problem They can rent space like the L.A. Chinese Consulate Visa Section does. I'm glad I didn't have to go to Washington DC to get my China Visa. Link to comment
boba Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 You mentioned that you don't understand why student visas are processed so much more quickly than K1 and K3 visas. In this case, the difference is that which lies between a nonimmigrant visa and an immigrant visa. For, while K1 is a nonimmigrant visa to allow a fianc¨¦(e) to enter the U.S. and get married to an American citizen, it leads to full immigration. Likewise, the K3 is a nonimmigrant visa that allows the spouse of an American citizen to enter the U.S. and wait there for their immigrant petition to be completed. What all that means is that the processing necessary for K1 and K3 visas is more like that of an immigrant visa instead of the nonimmigrant student visa and, it simply involves more steps and procedures which take more time. I hope this information is helpful. Sincerely, June O'Connell Chief Public Inquiries Division Visa ServicesI have been bothered by this answer all day. Why is the process shorter for nonimmigrant visas? Except for the fact that nonimmigrant visa applicants are not seeking long term residency it seems to me they are just as much a treat to national security as immigrant visas. How does our government know they are not here under cover? Didn't the terrorists on 9/11 enter this country to learn how to fly aircraft and not to become citizens? Why would their application process be shorter? Boba and Meixiang Link to comment
Alex Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 It looks like theres plenty of bulls**t at the top of the ladder too. I am curious to find out if they have a form letter for my problem. None of the above responses would answer my questions... Link to comment
Alex Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 It would also be interesting to know when all inquiries were sent to Maura's office. How long was it between the the mailing of the inquiry and the answer? Was it snail mail, fax, e-mail?? Together we can figure out how to get the fastest turnaround. Link to comment
beijingjenny Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 Just got this unsigned email from DOS, following the letter I delivered to Maura Harty on March 3. At least they took the trouble to look up my husband's case, though the rest of it's only a little interesting... United States Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 March 16, 2005 Ms. Jenny XXX Via email: XXX Dear Ms. XXX: This is in response to your recent letter to the U.S. Department of State. We checked our records and learned that an interview has been scheduled for XXX on March 23, 2005. Guangzhou is devoting most resources to processing and printing visas for people interviewed and approved some time ago. Processing of new cases has slowed as a result, but all are handled in order of receipt during regularly scheduled overtime. While it is not always possible to provide an up-to-the-minute status report on the receipt of a particular form or piece of correspondence, this does not mean that the case is not being processed. We are aware of the long delays that some visa applicants have endured. The State Department has already had some success in streamlining the process by trying a number of approaches in our attempts to clear pending cases as quickly as possible. The Department is committed to clearing this backlog and has taken many steps, including providing additional staff to Guangzhou, to help process visa cases in a timely manner. We ask for your understanding and cooperation as we simultaneously work to strengthen U.S. homeland security and process visa cases. We hope this information is helpful. Public Inquiries Division Visa Services http://travel.state.gov Link to comment
impatient Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 I sent my email off to Maura the frist week of March and have yet to hear anything back, good or bad. I guess it was what I was expecting considering the way GZ works with all of us. Bill Link to comment
eeyore Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 BeijingJenny, Not a bad response, at least IS a response. Link to comment
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