Guangzhou Passport Delivery Following Interview (IR1)

[Dead8oy 18]

Hi everyone,

 

We have our scheduled interview date from NVC (December 5th 2019) 😁, and when we registered on the CGIFederal portal we requested "Premium Delivery" for return of the passport, rather than collection from CITIC bank (this option can be changed at any time prior to the interview). My wife lives in Shanghai so we will be travelling to Guangzhou together.

 

Question:

For those of you who didn't encounter any issues like AP or RFEs during or following the interview process (ever the optimist), which option did you select and how long did it take until the passport was in your hands following the interview?

(We are trying to figure out which would be faster.)

 

Thanks everyone. We are so close we can taste it.

🙏

 

 

[RamonGomez 259]

We got out interview for Dec 3. Do you need to set up an account with CGI? We never registered with them... We made it thru NVC without any issues. I'm a bit nervous now. 

[Dead8oy 18]

1 hour ago, RamonGomez said:

We got out interview for Dec 3. Do you need to set up an account with CGI? We never registered with them... We made it thru NVC without any issues. I'm a bit nervous now. 

 

For Guangzhou they require the beneficiary to register on their portal to confirm contact information and address details. Once NVC has scheduled the interview, you click the registration for NVC scheduled interview.

 

You can register anytime. Information below:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/GUZ-Guangzhou.html

https://www.ustraveldocs.com/cn/index.html

https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/?language=English&country=China

 

 

[RamonGomez 259]

3 hours ago, Dead8oy said:

 

For Guangzhou they require the beneficiary to register on their portal to confirm contact information and address details. Once NVC has scheduled the interview, you click the registration for NVC scheduled interview.

 

You can register anytime. Information below:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/GUZ-Guangzhou.html

https://www.ustraveldocs.com/cn/index.html

https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/?language=English&country=China

 

 

Got it - I filled out and submitted the information. All that happened was a I got a pdf of something to bring to the interview (has a barcode, address, trip purpose says "Registration"..). Is it really as simple as just bringing this to the interview? I also selected "Premium Delivery" to her house, but there was no option to pay - I believe the fee is around 60 RMB. Do you know when/where that is paid?

 

Thanks again for the information!

[Dead8oy 18]

31 minutes ago, RamonGomez said:

I got a pdf of something to bring to the interview (has a barcode, address, trip purpose says "Registration"..).

Is it really as simple as just bringing this to the interview?

I also selected "Premium Delivery" to her house, but there was no option to pay - I believe the fee is around 60 RMB. Do you know when/where that is paid?

 

 

Yes she will need to take this confirmation printout to the medical, as well as the interview.

The premium delivery requires that she pays the EMS delivery person on arrival.

 

Took me a while to figure all this out too.

[RamonGomez 259]

10 minutes ago, Dead8oy said:

 

Yes she will need to take this confirmation printout to the medical, as well as the interview.

The premium delivery requires that she pays the EMS delivery person on arrival.

 

Took me a while to figure all this out too.

This has been such a headache - it's super unclear how everything is pieced together. I really appreciate your help on this. So it's looking like Medical Exam + CGI Confirmation + All Other Docs (original birth certificates, etc.) are what we need at the interview.

 

I have one final question - the CGI confirmation doesn't list the phone number of the person living at the delivery address. My understanding is EMS will call and someone needs to personally accept the passport. Will this be an issue? All I see is the name/address/passport number and a UIC. I know these numbers were typed in to the CGI application, so I'm hoping they store them internally somewhere... Thanks again.

[RamonGomez 259]

And actually, now that we have everything lined up for the interview, I am wondering the same thing - how to get the passport back ASAP (assuming no problems). My wife would prefer to stay in Guangzhou for a few days until the visa is issued and then fly back the next day, rather than waiting another 2-3 days for delivery to her hometown, and then she'd need to travel back to Guangzhou....

[Dead8oy 18]

19 hours ago, RamonGomez said:

I have one final question - the CGI confirmation doesn't list the phone number of the person living at the delivery address. My understanding is EMS will call and someone needs to personally accept the passport. 

 

I noticed that too and presume that since the phone numbers are all over your casefile, they should be fine. We have an interview briefing with our attorney next week. I'll provide any feedback to the forums.

[RamonGomez 259]

6 hours ago, Dead8oy said:

 

I noticed that too and presume that since the phone numbers are all over your casefile, they should be fine. We have an interview briefing with our attorney next week. I'll provide any feedback to the forums.

I looked into this today and apparently it's common to put the phone number as part of the address in China, so I entered the address like this:

 

888 Lucky Wang Street, Building 2, Unit 5

Guangzhou

Guangdong

124000

Phone: 800-867-5309

Edited November 16, 2019 by RamonGomez

[Dead8oy 18]

5 minutes ago, RamonGomez said:

so I entered the address like this:

 

 

I'll caveat this by first of all saying that there is some conflicting information, but I read on the forums that a few people have had trouble if the address is in English or Pinyin and not Hanzi (simplified Chinese). I took a chance and entered the address in Hanzi rather than pinyin. I'll let you know if we get any issues.

 

 

[RamonGomez 259]

2 minutes ago, Dead8oy said:

 

I'll caveat this by first of all saying that there is some conflicting information, but I read on the forums that a few people have had trouble if the address is in English or Pinyin and not Hanzi (simplified Chinese). I took a chance and entered the address in Hanzi rather than pinyin. I'll let you know if we get any issues.

 

 

Ah yes - I also entered the address in Chinese characters. I was just trying to show where I put the phone number. I've also been advised by numerous sources to avoid pinyin if possible.

[Dead8oy 18]

The Guangzhou/China forum isn't too busy here, but I hoped that some folks would be able to provide some insight into how long it took to receive the passport/visa from the consulate following the interview.

 

Still hopeful as it's a metric that is useful to everyone.

 

 

[kgkg 9]

My father-in-law interviewed this morning and was approved. I submitted request to mail to home in Shanghai. The shipping fee will be paid upon receipt. Currently the status shows administrative processing. I am not sure how long it will take to reach my father-in-law's home given the Thanksgiving break. 

[Dead8oy 18]

Just now, kgkg said:

My father-in-law interviewed this morning and was approved. I submitted request to mail to home in Shanghai. The shipping fee will be paid upon receipt. Currently the status shows administrative processing. I am not sure how long it will take to reach my father-in-law's home given the Thanksgiving break. 

 

Great news. Please let us know how it goes!

 

My best wishes to you all.

[RamonGomez 259]

I have an update on this - apparently if you select pick up at the CITIC bank near the embassy in Guangzhou, the passport will be available for pick up as soon as it's received.

 

If you select another CITIC branch, or if you request delivery it will be another 1-3 days depending on the courier's speed, holidays, etc. My stepdaughter had her interview two days ago and the status just changed to issued a few hours ago, so we're hoping to get it by next Monday at the latest... we chose premium processing and she lives in Guangdong.