Chat with GUZ Consular Officer

[pushbrk 12,969]

While my wife and I were in Guangzhou on business this past weekend, I had the opportunity to have an informal conversation with a Consular Officer currently serving in Guangzhou but about to leave for another post soon. Until recently, he's been doing immigrant visa interviews including K1 but for the last three months he's working in the NIV unit. He was quite gracious and when he learned that for various reasons I communicate with many IV petitioners etc. he asked what I though they could do to do their jobs better. He nodded agreement with a couple of my suggestions including giving better indications that they actually considered evidence presented. I wish I there had been time to suggest they allow folks getting blue slips to present what was requested on the spot, if they have it with them. Again, it was a social occasion, and conversation was both general and informal.

He explained and or confirmed some things we already pretty well know about how they prepare for interviews and have virtually decided the outcome before the first question is asked. In his words, "The interview is just one part of the decision process." He agreed that often the outcome of the interview would be different than anticipated, depending on how the first couple questions were answered but I knew that too. He did volunteer though that "ALL" the notations prior, during and after the interview could be obtained through a properly filed Freedom Of Information Act request.

He did make an interesting comment about the level of fraud from Fujian Province in that most of it comes from the smaller cities, not he Provincial Capital. He indicated about half Fuzhou cases were legitimate, where in outlying areas and smaller cities the fraud percentage was extremely high. We didn't have enough time to continue with more details but it was a very interesting conversation.

[xiaozhu 4]

Thank you for sharing the information. From my experience at interview, the VOs have done a good job. A suggestion for them would be speeding up administrative process

Edited March 22, 2011 by xiaozhu

[Eric & Jin 10]

He did make an interesting comment about the level of fraud from Fujian Province in that most of it comes from the smaller cities, not he Provincial Capital. He indicated about half Fuzhou cases were legitimate, where in outlying areas and smaller cities the fraud percentage was extremely high. We didn't have enough time to continue with more details but it was a very interesting conversation.

This is pretty consistent with what a GUZ VO told me when I had asked him about fraud & Fujian Province - he said that there are certain 'watch' areas within Fujian, which could trigger a red flag when certain other conditions also exist with the case. But he also pointed out that these 'watch' areas also exist in all the other provinces as well and being from Fujian alone does not make a visa applicant any more suspect than someone from any other province. My wife who is from Fujian had a very easy 5 question visa interview as did her parents for their B-2s. My wife and I know many others from Fujian who received their visas easily. The notion that seems to run rampant on many of the Chinese visa forums that being from Fujian automatically means extra scrutiny & a difficult interview is false.

[pushbrk 12,969]

This is pretty consistent with what a GUZ VO told me when I had asked him about fraud & Fujian Province - he said that there are certain 'watch' areas within Fujian, which could trigger a red flag when certain other conditions also exist with the case. But he also pointed out that these 'watch' areas also exist in all the other provinces as well and being from Fujian alone does not make a visa applicant any more suspect than someone from any other province. My wife who is from Fujian had a very easy 5 question visa interview as did her parents for their B-2s. My wife and I know many others from Fujian who received their visas easily. The notion that seems to run rampant on many of the Chinese visa forums that being from Fujian automatically means extra scrutiny & a difficult interview is false.

Generally, Chinese people generalize too much. Lots of "coincidental correlation" logic errors get passed on as indisputable fact.

[Sam and Fen 41]

He explained and or confirmed some things we already pretty well know about how they prepare for interviews and have virtually decided the outcome before the first question is asked.

When I went to ACH the VO at the end said this to me "You will not have any problems tomorrow".

But then again you have not read the transcript of my ACH It was hilarious, If any one is interested I will post it

[bobbyA 20]

He explained and or confirmed some things we already pretty well know about how they prepare for interviews and have virtually decided the outcome before the first question is asked. In his words, "The interview is just one part of the decision process." He agreed that often the outcome of the interview would be different than anticipated, depending on how the first couple questions were answered but I knew that too. He did volunteer though that "ALL" the notations prior, during and after the interview could be obtained through a properly filed Freedom Of Information Act request.

pushbrk,

Thanks for posting your chat with the Consular Officer.

Can you please expand on "some things we already pretty well know about how they prepare for interviews". I'm new at this and would like to know more about how they (CO) prepare for interview. Do they prepare for the interview the day before, meaning after they received the petitioner's I-134 and the beneficiary's medical, etc?

Even though the interview is just one part of the process, I assume it still carries some weight and the CO can deny a person if he/she finds something he/she doesn't like during the interview?

It's good to know that "ALL" the notations prior, during and after the interview could be obtained through a properly filed Freedom Of Information Act request. Of course the next logical question would be what is a properly filed request and where to file it

Wow!! "about half Fuzhou cases were legitimate", meaning the other half are not???!!!

Besides Fujian, what other parts of China are considered "high fraud"?

Thank you

When I went to ACH the VO at the end said this to me "You will not have any problems tomorrow".

But then again you have not read the transcript of my ACH It was hilarious, If any one is interested I will post it

Sam, please post your transcript. I'm interested.

Thank you

[Sam and Fen 41]

Sam, please post your transcript. I'm interested.

Thank you

Here it is BobbyA, don't know if you know but ACH is a thing of the past and GUZ no longer does it.

I had a young female Chinese American VO that I talked to.

The first part was very serious about the flags I had with my case and she told me how to handle it.

Then she asked me this:

She: So Fen will be here for her interview tomorrow morning?

Me: Right now she is driving me crazy and that's why I am here hiding from her. If I let her live till tomorrow morning she will be here or else you will get a call from the Chinese police asking for Consular access. So come and get me will y'a.

She starts laughing and then we got talking and I don't remember how or why we got to this point but here's how the rest of the conversation went:

She: Why a Chinese woman?

Me: Well everything in the US comes made in China so I thought why not a Chinese bride? Hopefully she wont be as toxic as the toys they have been sending us.

She just starts splitting up..........

She: Are you always like this?

Me: Yup.

She: so she has no idea what she is getting into

Me. Nope. I hope you don't tell her tomorrow or she will run for her life.

She: Sir, just go. I can see you guys are genuine and you should have no problems tomorrow.

Me: Oh Ok. Thanks.

I was about to leave but the wise #### that I am, I turn back and ask her this:

Me: Part of your job is to prevent Americans from getting into trouble in a foreign country right?

She: Yes.

Me: So you are going to send me right back to my hotel room where you know a Chinese woman is going to torture me

She: I have never met any one like you.

Me: So I can stay.

She: No. LEAVE, NOW! (laughing). you are going to get me into trouble.

So that was my ACH.

[bobbyA 20]

don't know if you know but ACH is a thing of the past and GUZ no longer does it.

I had a young female Chinese American VO that I talked to.

The first part was very serious about the flags I had with my case and she told me how to handle it.

Sam,

Yes, I know that ACH is dead

I thought I was going to read about the juicy red flags but you left them out

Reading the rest of your transcript is like watching you and the VO on SNL

Thanks for sharing!!

[Sam and Fen 41]

Sam,

Yes, I know that ACH is dead

I thought I was going to read about the juicy red flags but you left them out

Reading the rest of your transcript is like watching you and the VO on SNL

Thanks for sharing!!

Ah the red flags, Sure I can share that.

I am a lazy SOB and even after the divorce I was still using my old address every where and because of the Housing Market crash we were unable to sell the damn house.

I explained this to the VO and told her that my lawyer had advised me against changing my address till the house sold and hence I am still using the old address. It is a big Red Flag if you and your ex still share an address.

I told her that I know they look for things that do not add up, but in my case this was the reason.

The VO said that was a very logical explanation and told me to write a letter explaining my situation and for my fiancee to hand this in at the interview first thing even if it was not asked for by the VO.

The other thing was I own a business, I do not want to say much more about that but you can guess,

The rest is history and we got Pink.

BTW my ex eventually bought my share of the house out for pennies to a $

[bobbyA 20]

Ah the red flags, Sure I can share that.

I am a lazy SOB and even after the divorce I was still using my old address every where and because of the Housing Market crash we were unable to sell the damn house.

I explained this to the VO and told her that my lawyer had advised me against changing my address till the house sold and hence I am still using the old address. It is a big Red Flag if you and your ex still share an address.

I told her that I know they look for things that do not add up, but in my case this was the reason.

The VO said that was a very logical explanation and told me to write a letter explaining my situation and for my fiancee to hand this in at the interview first thing even if it was not asked for by the VO.

The other thing was I own a business, I do not want to say much more about that but you can guess,

The rest is history and we got Pink.

BTW my ex eventually bought my share of the house out for pennies to a $

Sam,

Thanks for sharing about your red flag.

I'm divorced too, but I bought a house in the next city 13 months before my divorce was finalized and have utility bills to show

However, I was in a relationship with my fiancee before the divorce was finalized. Well, if you ask me, I'd say an affair is a "bona fide" relationship, wouldn't you? I hope the VO thinks so too

I sent an EOR with my initial I-129F filing, and will send another for my fiancee's interview.

I'm glad you got the PINK smoothly.

Sorry you had to practically give away the house to your ex. Well, a guy can't have everything

[Bob g 11]

Thank you for sharing the information. From my experience at interview, the VOs have done a good job. A suggestion for them would be speeding up administrative process

Speeding up administrative would be nice. For Guz to do Interview schedules in some

tpye of order would be great. We see after a case leaves the NVC, there may be an

Interview in 5 weeks, or 5 months, no kind of order. Seeing Interview information

from people have Interviews all over the world in 4 and 5 weeks for the most part, and

then when it comes to Guz, wait, wait, wait, wait.........O well.....

[pushbrk 12,969]

pushbrk,

Thanks for posting your chat with the Consular Officer.

Can you please expand on "some things we already pretty well know about how they prepare for interviews". I'm new at this and would like to know more about how they (CO) prepare for interview. Do they prepare for the interview the day before, meaning after they received the petitioner's I-134 and the beneficiary's medical, etc?

Even though the interview is just one part of the process, I assume it still carries some weight and the CO can deny a person if he/she finds something he/she doesn't like during the interview?

It's good to know that "ALL" the notations prior, during and after the interview could be obtained through a properly filed Freedom Of Information Act request. Of course the next logical question would be what is a properly filed request and where to file it

Wow!! "about half Fuzhou cases were legitimate", meaning the other half are not???!!!

Besides Fujian, what other parts of China are considered "high fraud"?

Thank you

Sam, please post your transcript. I'm interested.

Thank you

Case filed are read by all who will be dealing with them and they make notes to the file regarding evaluations, red flags and whether they fit certain fraud profiles. Based on that, a direction is planned with regard to the outcome but that can go either way based on how the interview begins.

I didn't discuss a list of other high fraud locations.

For filing an FOI request, Google is your friend. I haven't done one since the 70's, so won't be doing any homework for you.

[bobbyA 20]

Case filed are read by all who will be dealing with them and they make notes to the file regarding evaluations, red flags and whether they fit certain fraud profiles. Based on that, a direction is planned with regard to the outcome but that can go either way based on how the interview begins.

I didn't discuss a list of other high fraud locations.

For filing an FOI request, Google is your friend. I haven't done one since the 70's, so won't be doing any homework for you.

pushbrk, thanks for your clarification.

Not expecting to do FOI, so won't be assigning you any homework

[pushbrk 12,969]

pushbrk, thanks for your clarification.

Not expecting to do FOI, so won't be assigning you any homework

In short, "properly filed" would mean you asked the correct agency for the actual material needed. Ask the wrong place or the wrong question and you won't get what you were looking for.

[Darnell 8,478]

Thanks Push ! Whaddya eat? What did he/she eat?