Mr. Eric

Good, but slightly strange news - my status remains Application Received, but the Guangzhou (China) consulate finally responded to my email from mid last week. They did not explicitly say my fiancee's visa was accepted, but said that the printer is having an issue, and that there are an larger than normal amount of applicants, so we should be patient in waiting for the Consulate to deliver our visa. We'll take it! 

So, initially my fiancee was denied. She was not given a reason or 221g, but suspect it had something to do with my income which was literally $24 lower than the poverty requirements because I was a full-time graduate student (although I did have my father sign a joint I-134) OR that her parents were members of the Chinese Communist Party, which shouldn't in theory be grounds for denial. I mention these two things, because that was what the line of questioning was during the interview.  

She then asked for a second interview, and was granted one two weeks later. At that interview, her application was accepted - she submitted her passport at that time. 

Nobody knows what this Application Received status means, unfortunately. It seems very new... this is forum is the only place I've seen any information about it. Will post when I hear back, hope others will too!

So hardly an update, but my fiancee's case remained in Application Received status but the Last Update changed from 5/17 to 5/19. 

I did send an email Thursday evening, but the Consulate did not respond on Friday. 

Oh the suspense...

Hey Dave,

My fiance's application just had a similar update in the last day. Must be a new thing - I could also not find information on this. Our timeline of relevant events is as follows:

3/22 - Denied on first interview attempt (Guangzhou, China) 

3/25 - Asked for second interview - surprisingly was granted

4/5 - Successful second interview

4/10ish - Visa not yet mailed, we get concerned. Find out that our case is in Administrative Processing, last update 3/22. 

4/20 - Inquire with consulate about status via standard website inquiry form. 

4/25 - Generic response about 'larger than normal volume of applications, please be patient'

5/14 - Case updated, but still in Administrative Processing

5/15 - Status changed to Ready

5/17 - Status changed to Application Received *NOTE: the last update still says 5/15, don't know what that's about, as it was updated today, 5/17

I guess we'll just have to wait, see what comes up. Will post here. Feeling optimistic (and not much about this process has left me feeling this way!)