What does Packet 4 look like?

[muddy1112]

I am living with my fiancee on a university campus in China where I am a teacher. She is a teacher also, but at a different school.

 

Because we live together, Packet 4 is being sent to the university campus where I teach. (By Packet 4, I mean the packet that contains the interview date and information about getting the medical checkup.) The mail system on the university grounds, however, is a bit disorganized, and there might be a delay if a package arrives addressed to her, c/o my address in the Foreign Teacher's Apartment Building.

 

It would be extremely helpful if anyone could tell me what, exactly, the Packet 4 will look like when it arrives. Will it be in one of those standard EMS envelopes? Will it be in a regular-sized envelope? Will it come via Federal Express?

 

If we know this, we will be able to tip off the mail department that packages addressed to her name in Chinese c/o my own name (and that fit a certain physical description) should be sent directly to my doorstep.

 

I look forward to your replies.

 

Best,

Matt

[Mengxin]

looks like a 8.5 x 11 inch paper with writing on it. There's a couple pages like that. It's gonna have you interview date on it. It's the 2nd happiest letter you can get besides the white slip or visa itself. Oh you know that already. What took you so long to join the gang? Welcome to CFL. Where the men are men and the sheep are scared. (of Trigg)

 

I'm kidding, I am waiting for mine too. Ditto your question... and raise you one.

 

Does both the Agent and benificiary both get copies of P4?

 

and the survey says.....???

[muddy1112]

Haha, that's sort of what I figured Mengxin.

 

Seriously, though. If anyone can tell me what this Packet 4 will look like when it arrives in the mail sorting station at the university, that would be extremely helpful.

 

Thanks,

Matt Waters

[xulei601]

Hey Matt,

 

I'm in the same situation as you. I was freaked out about ever receiving P3 because the only address they had for her was our residential address on campus - which of course no mail is ever delivered to. I was finally able to change her address to "c/o ME, Foreign Affairs Dept." and received a P3 on each of the following two days, one addressed to our apartment, and one to me in the F.A.D. Both made it to me because I'd given my waiban a heads up and he gave the mail room a heads up (just as you had planned to do). I would get the waiban (FAO) involved, as the mail room staff might take it a little more seriously.

 

P3 was a regular EMS parcel so I expect P4 to the be the same, but I have no experience. I think I will have moved by the time they ever send it, so I'll have to panic all over again.

 

What school do you work at, by the way?

[muddy1112]

Thanks for that. It's really a nerve-wracking experience, isn't it?!

 

I am in Xi'an at a small private university--more like a college--but it's called Xi'an International University in English. Are you in Guangzhou?

 

It sounds like our situations are somewhat similar, then--both living and working in China as we wait for this stuff to develop. I happened to be away when my fiancee received P3, and I didn't think to ask her what the package looked like, actually! Maybe that would have been a better place to start.

 

I expect that Packet 4 will come the same way. We'll go over to the mail room ourselves on Monday first, and then get the FAO to reinforce the importance. I was thinking of making a diagram for them to hang on the wall complete with our telephone number and instructions to dial immediately when the package is spotted.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. It's good to hear there's someone with a similar situation.

 

Best,

Matt

[xulei601]

Hi Matt,

 

One thing I might as is to check in again with the mail room as the expected arrival of P4 draws near (3-4 months after P3). Staff could change, or they might just forget. Maybe even take them a couple packs of cigarettes or a bag of fruit to really get them working on your side!

 

Good luck!

 

btw, I'm just a little ways down the expressway from Guangzhou - Shenzhen.