American Citizen's Hour

[jackc 0]

If I attend will they look at all the forms and certificates for me? make sure everything is good to go on interview date?

[garfield529 47]

ACH is for YOU to ask specific questions, not for the VOs to double-check your paper work. Others will chime in, but ACH has a specific purpose. If your case is straight forward, most guys will tell you it is not that beneficial...but it might take away your jitters and that is worthwhile. Good luck!

[jackc 0]

ah...

any suggestion where to get the papers double checked by experienced people?

[jackc 0]

i'm kinda afraid the certificates are not notarized correctly. my fiancee asked the local notary public today about marital status certificate and police certificate, the notary said the validity of these two are only 3 months and 1 months, but the consular instruction says they should be 1 year. so i'm confused.

Edited May 14, 2010 by jackc

[garfield529 47]

that is a hard one...I suppose you can find someone that you can trust who has been through this already. maybe asking questions on here about specific areas you are not sure about is the best advice I can give. A couple of the folks who rent apartments near the consulate have good marks from previous members regarding their help in "double checking" paper work and helping with final interview prep. My fiancee stayed at such an establishment and they gave her good advice and looked over our papers. Just depends on your self-confidence and how much you trust others for help.

[garfield529 47]

Most of the documents needed can be obtained from one of China's Notarial Offices (Gong Zheng Chu). All Chinese documentation to be used abroad is processed through the notary offices and issued in the form of notarial certificates. Notarial offices are located in all major Chinese cities and in rural county seats

The documents required are the GongZhengShu 公证书

did you go to the 公证书? or some other place?

[jackc 0]

yah, my fiancee went to the local 公证处 office asked them about 公证书. should be the right place, not sure they are right or wrong about the validity of certificates.

Edited May 14, 2010 by jackc

[Darnell 8,478]

fwiw - the birth certificate won't 'expire'

The police clearance certificate has a 1 year validity to it, per GUZ IV. Same on the 'free to marry' certificate.

fwiw, that 'chinese notarial document' should resemble a 'white book', A4 size, bound, and inside is:

1. certified copy of the original document

2. english translation

3. translator's attestation and 'chop'

I'm a fan of prepping an 'evolution of relationship' letter - to be notarized during ACS (not ACH) - but COVER in that EOR, among other things, EXACTLY how you two communicate (not the medium or mode, but in which languages). Communication ability is a big thing at GUZ...

Have a read - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/234971-red-flag-list-for-visa-denial/page__hl__appointment

and prep yer EOR letter !!!!

[jackc 0]

does notarial document has a expiration date written on it?

or GUZ IV will accept the notarial document as long it's notarized no longer than 1 year ago?

I think the reason of the notary told me fiancee certificates only valid for 1 and 3 months is because he doesn't know exactly what GUZ IV accepts.

[Darnell 8,478]

GUZ IV will accept the notarial document as long it's notarized no longer than 1 year ago? YES.

compare 'issuance date' to 'interview date'. IF less than 1 year, yer golden.

[jackc 0]

cool, i get it now.

guys, thanks for the help again!

[Darnell 8,478]

Hey - yer welcome -

strongly suggest you give this a read, though (for a day or two, map out yer red flags)

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/234971-red-flag-list-for-visa-denial/page__hl__appointment

[Cortr 3]

Just returned from China for my fiancee's successful visa interview. Our case had a couple of hiccups and I hadn't seen her for 9 months, so I made sure I was there at the time the interview rolled around so that I could attend ACH.

ACH is probably not somewhere that you can have a visa officer "review" your paperwork, unless you perchance got one who was feeling particularly generous. If you have specific questions about aspects of the paperwork, they can definitely answer those sorts of questions, but they are supposed to answer "general questions about the visa process," not individual cases.

In our case, I went up to the window and greeted the officer, and asked about how certain aspects of our case should be addressed. The officer was nice, but answered in generalizations. They do note in the computer that you attended and asked questions. I asked her if attending the ACH was beneficial, to show support for the case, and she said: "Well, it can't hurt," and sort of winked at me. Despite what people say, I think being in China during the interview is helpful.

It could certainly be true that simply handing your passport to your fiancee when she interviews and making sure the visa officer SEES it (and is able to note by your entry/exit stamps) that you are currently in China may have the same effect, but getting to meet one in person still seems more benficial to me, especially if that officer would be the one to perform the interview later. (In our case, it was two different officers).

It just adds an intangible human element to it that while not officially a "benefit" per the Guz specs, is probably helpful.

As for your question about the translated documents mentioned above. As Darnell mentioned, it is a "white book" or more specifically, some A4 sized papers bound together into a booklet along the left margin. They use a white thread to "sew" the pages together, almost looks like a sewing machine was used to stitch them together. The contents are exactly as Darnell described.

[endoftheroad 1]

all of our stuff is 1+ years now - sorry, wet blanket