K1 China, wrote Beijing on I-129f and more

[Larry_and_Xinji 1]

Hi all, this site has been a great help to me in this process, but at this stage I have several questions I couldn't fully answer by searches.

I am an American that petitioned for my Chinese fiance by I-129F sent to Vermont. That was approved by NOA2 on April 24, 2012.

1) I am currently in South Africa without easy phone access so was going to try to e-mail the NVC on Monday to find out if they're received it using NVCINQUIRY@state.gov with my CIS receipt number as subject. Is that reasonable?

2) I wrote Beijing on the I-129F as the consulate we would be using, but now I've learned Bejing surprisingly doesn't handle K1 visas. Will this delay things greatly for the information to go to Guangzhou?

3) My fiance is in Beijing. Can she get the medical there? Can she schedule the interview from Beijing and pay the fees?

4) Does anyone have an idea for the timelines for China? How long till Guangzhou gets the paper work? How long till my fiance will receive packet 3(right?)? How long to interview then?

5) What can we do to get prepared in advance? I am sending the documents VJ lists in the K1 guide for after the petition is approved as soon as possible - is that all I need to send?

Thanks so much. I just visited her and her family for 12 days ending last week then got back here to find out the petition was approved, so I'm happy, but I just want her with me as soon as possible.

[bigdog 376]

Sign up for text or email so you get immediate notifications, she should be able to get a medical in Beijing, look for an approved MD there. You do not have to pay in GZ, there are instructions. Check out our time line for an idea, i have not checked recently. You she should be getting her packet soon and hopefully you have documents ready, criminal check, since you are out of US the burden will be on her to get this done, both of you should see the postings on k-1 and those which apply to you. Ryan H is a great source of information and was on top of this long before me. The guides a right on and should help lots. My wife now did all her own stuff since she lived in GZ. Personal opinion it it better to get the required shots in China. Keep in touch.

[Larry_and_Xinji 1]

I had submitted form G-1145 with the petition for E-Notification but only got an e-mail they received the petition - nothing since. Is there another process for signing up for electronic notifications at this stage?

I will be back in the USA in a few days. I suppose the criminal check is just for her in China, I was not aware I would need to supply one? Should we just wait for the packet for instructions or can we begin doing things?

I've been reading as much as I can, definitely the general guides, but information specific to country would be nice. I would be willing to help put together somethings specific for China if others could help me.

Do you have a link to the information from Ryan H?

Thank you

Sign up for text or email so you get immediate notifications, she should be able to get a medical in Beijing, look for an approved MD there. You do not have to pay in GZ, there are instructions. Check out our time line for an idea, i have not checked recently. You she should be getting her packet soon and hopefully you have documents ready, criminal check, since you are out of US the burden will be on her to get this done, both of you should see the postings on k-1 and those which apply to you. Ryan H is a great source of information and was on top of this long before me. The guides a right on and should help lots. My wife now did all her own stuff since she lived in GZ. Personal opinion it it better to get the required shots in China. Keep in touch.

[Darnell 8,478]

don't wait for squat.

read a bit?

GUZ IV forms http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/forms_and_packets.htm

white books - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/228853-notarial-birth-certificate/

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

GUZ P3 shortcut - http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/GUZ_P3_Shortcut

re: - prior K1 timelines - we've a tracking system for that. click the flag under yer name, that'll drop you to the CHINA portal. Then study the left panel, looking for K-1 visa' in the timelines section.

Do all this when logged in from a PC. Handphone web browsing SUCKS for VJ usage.

[Larry_and_Xinji 1]

Thanks so much Darnell - I've seen your helpful posts in other topics.

This P3 shortcut is the type of slick move I was hoping for.

Do you know if it will be a problem because I filled in Beijing on the I-129F?

don't wait for squat.

read a bit?

GUZ IV forms http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/forms_and_packets.htm

white books - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/228853-notarial-birth-certificate/

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

GUZ P3 shortcut - http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/GUZ_P3_Shortcut

re: - prior K1 timelines - we've a tracking system for that. click the flag under yer name, that'll drop you to the CHINA portal. Then study the left panel, looking for K-1 visa' in the timelines section.

Do all this when logged in from a PC. Handphone web browsing SUCKS for VJ usage.

[Darnell 8,478]

not a problem, just a bonehead move on your part. We all make those on occassion. GUZ IV will ignore it, nothing to worry about there. NO WORRIES about it, at all.

Study the forms and the medical stuff in the forms section, as well.

I know you mentioned yer not able to use the phone much.

For NVC intake/turn-around - they can/will email you the GUZ casefile #, if'n you inquire via email.

as for the rest of it - here's a useful post - study post #1 and then the timeticks I listed in the middle..

Dodi - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/264972-shortcuts-when-checking-for-updates-from-the-nvc-and-dos/

Edited May 6, 2012 by Darnell

[Larry_and_Xinji 1]

Fantastic.

None of the DS-230 forms I can find online are current, the newest one expired 4/30/2012. Suggestions?

Also, regarding the P3 shortcut, I have noticed that fees changed recently, yet the fees listed on the OS-169 instructions are obsolete.

I'm assuming using older forms is not a good idea? They are, however, the ones supplied on the USA consulate in Guangzhou's website... so???

Darnell, I've seen you reply to topics regarding birth, single certificates and police records. My fiance was taken out of her family hukou book for school, and her company where she's worked almost 1 year gave her the hukou for Beijing. She was born at home in Shandong province. Will she be able to get all these records at the notaries in Beijing? Is it district specific even?

not a problem, just a bonehead move on your part. We all make those on occassion. GUZ IV will ignore it, nothing to worry about there. NO WORRIES about it, at all.

Study the forms and the medical stuff in the forms section, as well.

I know you mentioned yer not able to use the phone much.

For NVC intake/turn-around - they can/will email you the GUZ casefile #, if'n you inquire via email.

as for the rest of it - here's a useful post - study post #1 and then the timeticks I listed in the middle..

Dodi - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/264972-shortcuts-when-checking-for-updates-from-the-nvc-and-dos/

[Darnell 8,478]

that's a strange hukuo problem, to be certain.

I say try first inside the district where she holds current hukuo and see what happens. It may be she can get the PCC and nothing else, there, and then have to get the birth certificate elsewhere. Also, I think she can get the single certificate where her hukuo is currently registered.

The hukuo system is supposed to be the 'do all, be all, end all' for individual registration, but, alas, she won't know exactly till she first attempts getting the docs where her hukuo is currently registered.

re: ds-230 form being current - that's the OMB date, not the expiration date. Choose the latest one, just to CYA.

re: Fee payment - ya, it recently changed. payed at CITIC, a specific branch, in Guangzhou. They know about the change, so that's a plus.

[Big Baby 11]

Packet 3 and Packet 4 forms are available online for download at Guangzhou IV Unit. http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/iv_k1/k2.html

Here's how it works. When Guangzhou receives and documents the snail mail letter from NVC, they will send your fiancee a notification letter and a "Packet 3." When your fiancee completes the "Packet 3", they will do a background check, schedule an interview (if she passes the background check), and send her a "Packet 4" which she will also have to bring with her on the intake date, the day prior to interview. Before the interview (the interview is only in Guangzhou), she will have to obtain a medical examination (the form is on the "Packet 4" link above & it has addresses both in Beijing and in Guangzhou) and vaccinations (may be at separate location, my fiancee's was). Also, she will have to pay the fee for the visa application and present her receipt on date of intake (day prior to interview in Guangzhou). Timeline? I can only answer that for me. NVC sent I-797 to Guangzhou 12/15/2011. Guangzhou admitted they received it (after several contact attempts) about 3 weeks later. "Packet 3" arrived to fiancee about 2 weeks later (It took China regular post 11 days for mail to travel from Guangzhou to Chengdu). The 2 week Chinese New Year celebration halted all progress. Interview was scheduled fairly quickly, March 19 (intake) and 20 (interview). Subsequent to interview, she received "approval letter" from the Consular official & her passport was collected. After waiting another week in Guangzhou, she attempted to call the Embassy. She was told that she could not call them, only use the website. After another week of waiting for the Embassy to respond, the response was that she was going to receive a "blue letter" (soft denial = delay & further processing required) and to kindly go back home and wait for instructions. That has been going on for 6 weeks now. Every week, I contact the Embassy. I am told only that "further processing is required" and "we do not have an exact date." I don't think that our government is intentionally rude/disrespectful to Chinese immigrants (although it comes across that way), but I think that they are simply slow and inefficient. Best wishes. -Still waiting....

Edited May 9, 2012 by Big Baby

[Larry_and_Xinji 1]

Thanks for your reply Big Baby. Sounds like it was really smooth up to the interview. Are you aware of any red flags that could have been thrown?

Sorry about your luck there, hope it is something minor and you hear something positive very soon. Keep me posted, I'll do the same.

Packet 3 and Packet 4 forms are available online for download at Guangzhou IV Unit. http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/iv_k1/k2.html

Here's how it works. When Guangzhou receives and documents the snail mail letter from NVC, they will send your fiancee a notification letter and a "Packet 3." When your fiancee completes the "Packet 3", they will do a background check, schedule an interview (if she passes the background check), and send her a "Packet 4" which she will also have to bring with her on the intake date, the day prior to interview. Before the interview (the interview is only in Guangzhou), she will have to obtain a medical examination (the form is on the "Packet 4" link above & it has addresses both in Beijing and in Guangzhou) and vaccinations (may be at separate location, my fiancee's was). Also, she will have to pay the fee for the visa application and present her receipt on date of intake (day prior to interview in Guangzhou). Timeline? I can only answer that for me. NVC sent I-797 to Guangzhou 12/15/2011. Guangzhou admitted they received it (after several contact attempts) about 3 weeks later. "Packet 3" arrived to fiancee about 2 weeks later (It took China regular post 11 days for mail to travel from Guangzhou to Chengdu). The 2 week Chinese New Year celebration halted all progress. Interview was scheduled fairly quickly, March 19 (intake) and 20 (interview). Subsequent to interview, she received "approval letter" from the Consular official & her passport was collected. After waiting another week in Guangzhou, she attempted to call the Embassy. She was told that she could not call them, only use the website. After another week of waiting for the Embassy to respond, the response was that she was going to receive a "blue letter" (soft denial = delay & further processing required) and to kindly go back home and wait for instructions. That has been going on for 6 weeks now. Every week, I contact the Embassy. I am told only that "further processing is required" and "we do not have an exact date." I don't think that our government is intentionally rude/disrespectful to Chinese immigrants (although it comes across that way), but I think that they are simply slow and inefficient. Best wishes. -Still waiting....

[Darnell 8,478]

red flag list in post #4. please read all of it

[Larry_and_Xinji 1]

Hey Darnell, I had read about red flags in your link, that's why I asked the poster who is having bad luck!

We have a problem from where my fiance has moved around her hukou. She is from Shandong province and went to college in Qingdao for her undergraduate degree. Apparently before college she was able to get her own hukou. She then went to a university in Beijing for a master's degree in one district, Haidian. She now works for a company in Beijing in Daxing district. Apparently for her single certificate she can't get it for her whole life as being single, only since she lived in her current district, without going to each place her hukou has been(home village, Qingdao, two districts in Beijing). I don't really understand the hukou system that well, she explained to me her hukou is only 1 page, not a book.

Is the intent of the single certificate to show she is single now, which we can prove easily, or that she has never been married at all? The latter is more difficult as she'd probably have to travel to each place it seems...

Do I need to repost as a new topic?

Any help?

Thanks

[Darnell 8,478]

there are different TYPES of hukuo, as well.

I was hoping not to dig into it, thinking yer lass just have one type, but

she doesn't ..

she's had 3 types of hukuo now. one for her family, one for school and now one from her job.

that's 3 types , and 3 'versions' and 3 somethings.

so, she needs a buddy in each town where she's had hukuo, to get stuff researched with the PSB.

[Pitaya 2,576]

OP: Big Baby and Darnell have provided you with some great information. Darnell has helped many people, including us, successfully navigate the GUZ part of the visa process. Hopefully soon, my fiancee and her son will be making the trek from Liaoning province to Guangzhou for their interview.

It is good for everyone that uses the forum to fill in their timelines. It helps make the site's statistical predictions more accurate. (Hint, hint.....) Thank you for doing so. Good luck on getting your hukuo issues resolved.

Wishing you good fortune on your immigration journey.

[Larry_and_Xinji 1]

hen fuza

she can get the birth certificate and police record from the current office in her district. but, she said her hukou does document her always being single yet the current office can only notarize for as long as she lived there.

i ask again, is the intent of the single certificate to show she was never married or that she is currently not married?

also, she says you can not legally marry in china until age 20 - so if she can get just from where she went to undergraduate school that will extend before the legal marriage age which might seem sufficient, she wouldn't need to go to her hometown to show she was single then?