givionte

Just now, Mattgz14 said:

Hi guys,Is that means that all the services will be close down temporary?
I suppose to have my citizenship interview 24th of April but due to Covid19,It’s already been cancelled.So for until further notice this ban would affect my citizenship process as well?any kind of  information would help🙏🏼

Nobody can possibly know.  He tweeted this out at 10pm, and nobody will know what he meant until the next morning.  Keep your eyes glued on the morning news when the administration will be grilled with questions.

2 minutes ago, cd37 said:

You are no better than media who just do incorrect reporting.  You r speculating on something which is only a tweet. One of the poster said there is no end date of ban, where is it written ?

Tweets are official record of the President.  Nobody is speculating.  The fact is he said he would temporarily suspend immigration.  That's all we know so far, besides some digging reporters are speculating on.

2 minutes ago, vkrishn said:

May he will come back and say tomm that Russians hacked his phone and send the tweet... 

100% he'll tweet something completely different in his morning executive time after his staff corrects him about whatever EO they drew up he never read.

2 minutes ago, FreyandRyan said:

There's a lot of incorrect reporting saying he said "all." He never used the term all. 

Quote

"..temporarily suspend immigration..."

That means all or nothing.  He didn't say some, or a part, or certain/specific.  The reporting is 100% accurate.

The first trials of a pre-check blood test have begun in Dubai with Emirates flights.  They can determine in 15 minutes if you have the virus or not.  China has also approved a  more reliable 45 minute test anyone can take and has performed 15 minute tests in trials, and are already requiring Chinese nationals to test for Covid-19 before boarding.  China also tracks these passengers whereabouts, so they can get data whether the testing is working, so they can adopt it for foreign nationals as well.

If these fast test results can accurately determine if someone has traces of the virus,  I would bet all major international airports adopting a program coordinated with government to test 48 hours before boarding.   Of course in Europe and the US, test kits are still hard to come by, but that is quickly changing as manufacturing test kits has become more reliable. This type of testing would be the sure method to get some jets moving again and open up borders, at the inconvenience of perhaps an extra hour in the airport getting a blood sample taken and processed.  Everyone should prepare for the new normal of needing a doctor's exam before flying internationally in the future.

No 1st world country can afford to keep their borders deadbolted until Fall, so I foresee many requirements popping up like in the UAE, China or South Korea have already adopted.

8 hours ago, SoSol said:

Anyone have updates from their respective embassy regarding when they'll resume working? Passports held at GZ for over 3 months now

Chinese government told US diplomats they are welcome back on May 15th, no earlier.  A couple diplomats got a bit upset being told what they can or can't do by the Chinese government (international law says they can come back anytime they want, and are exempt from quarantine rules).  So who knows, they might try to keep tensions low and wait until the 15th, but after the disgusting situation with African's in Guangzhou recently, the US government might want to come back quickly and help African-Americans get out of here asap.

That's all that is known.

1 hour ago, Boosweet said:

Thanks for your answer, I appreciate.

Do you know if we can book a flight on line by ourselves or if we need an authorization from the us embassy?

Citizens or green card holders don't need authorization.  You just need to find an available flight.  But you should get enrolled in the STEP program if you aren't already in case there are no flights available from your area, and need to locate a reparation flight.  They provide info to those living overseas, and will send information of any schedules flights to bring Americans home.  If you have any issues, you can always contact the us embassy with questions you have.

7 hours ago, mountgaijin said:

Which airline are you booking with, if I may ask?

 

We are flying with Korean Air operated by Delta.

Ah.  Well, they seem to be running a reliable set of flights from SEA to ICN right now, it's one of the few flights Delta hasn't cut, so hopefully they'll get ya there soon.

If you live overseas, no, you can't be domiciled in the US.  But what can be done is you can prepare a statement that says you intend to domicile on or before the date of your husband's admission into the USA. I actually wrote a similar formal note like this on the I-864 addendum page, and on country of domicile I wrote to see the notes. That's generally sufficient, assuming you have a worthy joint sponsor lined up.  If you will be living with someone else, such as the joint sponsor, you may also wish to include a letter from them stating your intentions to domicile with them.  Otherwise, bring some proof you absolutely intend to move back to the US, as you mentioned you have, bank statements, dl license renewals, recent voting records, etc. Anything that proves your intention is helpful.

They check your temperature, ask you questions about your health status, and if they suspect an illness may do a basic doctor screening of your ears, throat and lungs.  It's pretty worry free.  If they mildly suspect an illness, they'll just ask you to do a self-quarantine for 14 days.  If it's obvious you are ill, they may quarantine you for full test, but that is true of anyone who might come walking through who looks severely ill.

That's how me and my wife did it for the DS-260.

Which airline are you booking with, if I may ask?

Fully normal?  You are gonna wait a long while if you want normalcy.  That said, there will be some improvements in parts of the world in May one would assume.  China and South Korea are well within control and will likely allow already planned May schedules to resume.  International flights will stay about the same as they are now. A handful will slowly come back online, Qatar already added a few flights recently.  Most schedules are already planned out through the end of May, so it's unlikely already cancelled flights will come back online early, save a few that find an opportunity to help fill some gaps that are needed to get people home.

But most flights coming back online and tourism being freely available again?  Summer at best, Winter at worst.  Even if the US lifts the travel bans in Europe at the end of April, most flights are already cancelled, and it would be logically difficult to get the planes re-positioned, and staff back from furloughs or lay-offs, and it's unlikely there will be much, if any demand to fly.

Or, you know, just do social distancing and wash your hands instead of worrying bout whether you need a mask or not.  If you don't go outside into crowded places during the lockdown, you don't even need to worry about what you should wear to protect yourself.  Experts today including Dr. Fauci are already saying social distancing is working really well, so we should continue what's already working for us, and not worry so much about something that has no supportive research.  Social distancing has been proven to work.

Contact your local government officials.  Registrar's office, mayor, county admin, anyone you can get in contact with.  It's possible they can make an exception for exceptional needs.  They may not know there are people like you with a K-1 that must marry within an allotted time.  If they don't accept your calls, keep going higher up the government ladder until someone listens.

Otherwise, it's going to be time to make a road trip to somewhere that will marry you.

10 minutes ago, quibily said:

 

 

 

We are in Sichuan province and have been here since July.  We live in an apartment complex inside the campus of the university we teach at, and since early February, the campus has made the rule that we can't be gone more than two hours.

 

Last time my husband was in the Guangzhou hospital for a medical exam, he said he needed to show a confirmation code for an appointment.  He even had to go back to the hotel to look for it because they flat-out refused him.  I assume this was to prove his interview appointment, but this time, we don't need an interview, so how will they let us in?  Maybe he needed the code to be let in quickly, and otherwise, he would have been in the six-hour-long line?

 

Oh damn, living on a school campus, ok yeah, I see why you are being put through such strict measures, they are desperate to open the schools back up soon so are trying to keep them in pristine condition.  Thoughts and prayers on that living condition, sounds like you might have to just eat the financial loss and get out somewhere better.

I would contact the consulate to ask about that process.  They may need to send you a replacement confirmation so that they'll do the exam, because yes, they do ask to see the appointment letter, but I'm not sure they'd accept an old appointment letter from last year.  That seems unlikely considering how strict I remember them being.  We didn't print off the Visa Instructions email last time, which seemed really pointless since other papers had my wife's case number and we had the appointment letter, but they demanded we print it out.  Luckily we were able to print my email at the help desk there instead of being sent home.

20 hours ago, quibily said:

And it looks like the hospital is not accepting appointments for immigrant visa medical exams.  He's worried that they will turn us away if we don't turn everything in on time, but I think they won't because the delay isn't our fault. 

 

 

The Guangzhou exam hospital does not do appointments.  It is first come, first serve, and you should expect to get there at least 2 hours before they open and stand in line.  If you arrive at, or after opening, it can be up to a 6 hour wait until your number is called.  There's a sit-down Luckin Coffee in the same building, so at least you can get a latte and some carbs while waiting around.

How long have you been in Guangzhou, are you in a 14 day arrival quarantine?  If you've been here longer than 14 days, to be honest, I'd tell the guards at your complex to 'f' themselves, and go get your business done.  They can't legally be forcing you to only go out for 2 hours, unless you have clear instructions from government CDC quarantine officials to stay indoors.  I've had guards at my complex try to claim I need stamps, or I need to scan a QR code, and I just ignore them, it's my house, and I got keys, and the Chinese locals don't have these rules, so why should I.

On 3/28/2020 at 3:06 PM, OliverBa said:

Yes, I’m aware. For whatever reason that Level 4 is tied that specific presidential proclamation suspending travel to the states to anyone who has been in China within 14 days of entry to the States. That is supposed to be reviewed every 15 days and either cancelled or renewed, my frustration is with the logic of it all. There is a lower threat in China of catching the virus now than Australia. China banned foreigners because all their new cases within the last two weeks were from people who had been to other countries and traveled to China, so that makes total sense. The consular officers would still be able to travel back to China as the ban does not apply to holders of diplomatic passports and as Foriegn Service officers, they all have diplomatic passports. So really the only reason we all are still forced to be in this situation, is because of the Dude in the White House and his ego. 

I totally understand the frustration.  Me and my wife still have our flight out in May, and the last thing I expected last week was China putting a total ban on incoming foreign nationals, and cancelling 99.9% of international flights.  Was the opposite of what I expected come April, and throws our flight in a flux, we wanted to avoid the awful Chinese airliners since we are bringing a cat on board, but unless the government allows Korean Air to have their flights back, we may have no other choice to at least put our cat in cargo for the first 3 hour leg.

China seems to be getting nervous, I think second wave numbers are higher than they are willing to admit, hence the bans, not to mention the movie theaters and entertainment places once again closing down again today. What tee's me off is 95% of the new cases are imported, from Chinese nationals, not the handful of foreigners who made the difficult decision to come back for work or family.  They already were going to be put under heavy scrutiny upon arrival, you certainly couldn't just go self-quarantine at the Westin Hotel or something.  I suppose the possibility of a scandal with those corrupt quarantine scandals might have pushed the CCP to just have a blanket ban instead of trying to manage an entire network of inbound quarantine policies.  Who knows, just speculating.

I expect in the weeks to come China will begin to slowly relax some restrictions, and score a deal with the Trump admin to get some of the diplomats back in China.  They will be both trying to score a few pandemic victories soon to boost the economy and keep people optimistic.

I think it's bad to provide an estimate because as we have seen thus far, no one really knows how much longer this will go on.  But if you go by China and South Korea as models, the curve will likely be flattened by the middle of April, and we'll start to see a more positive trend of more people recovering than getting sick.  As long as people follow lockdown and quarantine guidelines, no reason it can't happen, so I'm quite optimistic as long as testing is being done properly, which seems to be iffy to non-existent in some states, but exceptional in others.

Once the curve starts to drop even a little, governments will be willing to slowly open things back up, allowing a bit more free flow of passengers for business or family reasons to travel (tourism will still be at a halt far longer), but under more intense scrutiny, including tests before and after a flight.  Best thing we can do to make everything go more smoothly is do our part and stay quarantined, and be sure to advise your loved ones and friends.  Don't be afraid to shame those who think they are above all of us and can do what they want, when they want.

12 hours ago, OliverBa said:

This is some ########. I have two friends, one in Australia, one in the Philippines who just got notified that their cases arrived at the embassy there today. So all the other countries are still processing as normal, granted interviews are delayed at this point, but everything else, going smoothly. Why are we who are processing in China still being held up? Cases in China at this point is way lower than other countries, this is just straight up BS. Our case has been “AT NVC” for two and half months. I’m gonna lose my marbles

Its real simple why.  Australia currently only have a minor Level 1 travel advisory, Philippines slightly elevated level 2.  China has a Level 4 Do Not Travel advisory.  Until the Trump admin lowers the warning for travel to China, they won't be sending diplomats and officer's back.

As of today, all foreigners are banned from entry into China, so expect that level 4 to continue to last a while, now that China has walked themselves off from the entire world.  Even before the ban, foreigners were being subjected to awful quarantines in unknown locations upon arrival.  The US won't put government workers in that kind of unsafe situation, and I understand why they refused to lower the level 4 warning beforehand.

Also, it's nearly impossible to leave now or find an incoming flight,  as only a few flights a day are running countrywide.  We're all pretty much stuck where we are for the foreseeable future.

1 minute ago, JFH said:

Also misreported in the UK as “all travel between the U.K. and the US cancelled”. 

Well, it inevitably will come true as most airlines will cancel 99% of their flights now.

Should have happened in the first place.  A blanket ban excusing the UK and Ireland was a bit ridiculous.  Well, there goes any hope people had about hopping over to the UK to get a flight out or quarantine there for 14 days.

9 hours ago, Sego said:

Yeah i know... It is pretty clear K1 holders are not an exception, just some naive hope from me! Seeing the finish line but not being able to cross it is so frustrating but it is life!

Waiting to know more details about what will happen over the next few months!

Join the crowd with China.  Loads of people being screwed right now because of the China travel ban.  It's been over a month now, and no change.

13 hours ago, jiajia1 said:

Does anyone know if the visa office has resumed work in China?

Definitely not happening anytime soon.  They may lower the warning down a level, but consulates would still not be up and running even at that level.  It's in the US's best interest right now to hold the bans for 30 more days, much like they have in Europe.