hi, all:

this is more for the Chinese applicants and their US counterparts. I was wondering if anyone knows if the Consulate in China follows any kind of rule when assigning interview date. i'm asking this question because it seems that Fiona's (my fiancee) interview was scheduled at a much later time than everyone's else who's in the same P3 time frame. for example, i know that several people sent in their P3 around the time same time as Fiona; some even sent theirs later than Fiona did, but they all got interview date prior to hers. if you take a look at my timeline, you'd notice I've been in this K1 thing for a quite long time (longer than almost all of you). it seems that every step takes way longer than others. am i just this unlucky??

i'm the worrying-type. i always thought to myself that there is something suspicious with my or fiona's files. the consulate needs more time to investigate everything. and this in turn means potential visa rejection. am i worrying too much?

i know there is an old Chinese saying, basically says everything good will eventually come, at a (much) later time. i just hope my long wait time would eventually translate to successful interview and getting the visa quick for Fiona.

P4 out dates tend to track with P3 in dates but K visa interviews assigned within any given month are pretty random. Nominally, there are 20 interview days in a month. For example, if they issue 100 P4's on July 25, the interview dates are likely to be spread out to all 20 available interview dates for September. On the same day, 20 CR or IR P4's sent will have interviews spread over all 20 available interview dates in October. It's as if the computer randomly picks the date from among those available in a given month. Don't ask me to explain why there is an extra month lag for the immigrant visas. That's just the way it is. Appointment times are not "appointments". They are times for admission to the Consulate to start the interview process with everybody else. Actual interviews could be completed as early as 9:30 but commonly no later than 1:PM. I've heard of some as late as 2:30 but it is rare. There is no advantage to getting in line out front ahead of everybody else. First in line is just as likely to have the last interviewed as the last in line is.

On the other hand, if your P4 date tracks behind others with similar P3 in dates, there may be a case specific hold-up. It's good to keep checking with the DOS visa information line to see if any new name checks have been ordered. Once they tell you the case is document qualified and in queue for interview, the P4 will go out within a week or two.

Other readers, the above answer is specific to Guangshou and is intended to imply nothing about other Consulates.