jfrankli512

You can look at my recent posts to get an idea of the paper process...

My case happened earlier this year and went from 1/6 case complete to 3/7 P4 receipt, so expect about 2 months of waiting...

The most frustrating part is that there's no indication of how much longer you have to wait.

My DHL status tracker showed it clearing chinese customs on 1/23, but that didn't correlate at all with the actual results.

I e-mailed the Guangzhou embassy every week for an update, but they had the same response every week and wouldn't provide an ETA.

The best think you can do is monitor the CEAC Status website for the "case updated" date. Whenever that actually changes, that's when the consulate actually has your file and has started working on it, so you can expect the P4 e-mail within a couple days. Note that if you e-mail the embassy, that "case updated" date gets updated when they respond to you, so it's almost better to just sit and start at the status screen instead of trying to push them to find out where things are at.

She passed her interview without any issues.

She conducted it in Chinese, and they did ask us how we communicate, and she told them I speak Chinese (which is true).

She had prepared a mountain of chat logs to prove this, but they didn't ask to look at them.

Overall, it was a very easy interview.

How well will the CO believe that I speak Chinese and my wife and I communicate in Chinese?

My wife doesn't speak English at all (aside from a few basic sentences), so she'll have to do the interview in Chinese.

Hooray!

I just applied for a new visa and got the 10-year multiple entry one!

On the official application, I only checked the "1-year multiple entry" option. Thinking back on it, there was an "other: _____" option right below that, and I probably should've put in there specifically that I wanted the 10-year, but I guess in the end it didn't matter.

I did use an agent though, and on their website I filled in that I want the 10-year option, so maybe they did something extra to help that go through.

So GUZ sends Packet 4 or a notification of Packet 4 availability via email only? Packet 3 was a physical piece of mail sent by express mail.

There's so many different processes that go through Guangzhou that I don't think there's any single statement that covers all cases.

1. DCF (Direct Consulate Filing, for when both parties live in China) has P1, P2, and P3, plus P4.

2. File with USCIS, then to NVC, then to Guangzhou:

a. Depends on wither you did regular processing (case starts with GUZ)

b. Or whether you did electronic processing (case starts with GZO)

For NVC route, we only get P4 packets from Embassy.

And that's for the IR1/CR1 route (marriage-based).

I'm sure the K1 (fiance) route has its own caveats.

You only need to go through this lengthy process once. (USCIS -> NVC -> Embassy, with many months of waiting)

If your husband enters the US before you two are married for 2 years, then he will receive a conditional green card. It is a valid green card on the condition that you two stay married. After you two have been married for two years, you can file a form to remove the condition which converts it to a regular green card (10-year duration with no conditions). It's a separate form, and could take a month or so to process, but it's nothing like the original filing you need to go through to get the initial green card. Moreover, you two can stay together during the filing, which is multitudes better.

Since you haven't started filing yet, and the total process will likely take ~1 year or more, you should go ahead and start as soon as possible. By the time he has his immigration visa to come to the US it will already be two years and he will get the green card without conditions on it, and you won't need to do anything else afterwards.

Ok. Back at ustraveldocs, you should download the appointment letter.

use that for the medical exam.

consider getting new police clearance white book if the one she has us over 6 months ild by interview day.

Guz iv has all of your docs, already but if you not submit certified copy of prior divorce decree [yours] then she will need it.

We've already gotten a new police clearance since her previous one was from January 2014.

Good idea on the certified copy of the divorce decree... it's better to be over prepared than not have the things they ask for.

It's funny, when we were getting married in China, nobody asked to see the divorce decree even though I stated that I was previously married.

Not when I went to the US Consulate to swear an affidavit of marriageability, and not at the marriage license place...

Wait, where does my timeline show that? (because I need to change it...)

I did the snail-mail processing and paid a 2-month penalty waiting for our paperwork to clear customs.

We didn't get any checklists at NVC and submitted original documentation at the time (sent to NVC two weeks before they changed their process to allow photocopies), so I'm not expecting any actual new documentation to be required.

I was expecting it to come in a packet mailed to my wife's actual address, so I was a little surprised that I got an e-mail with instructions to setup an appointment electronically...

I'm not complaining though, since it let me signup and schedule an appointment without error.

My CEAC Status still shows "Administrative Processing" though, and I thought it should've changed to "Ready" when the P4 packet was sent out...

Here's a very brief timeline:

3/6 - CEAC Status changes to "Administrative Processing"

3/10 - Received "P4" email (copied above), CEAC Status date updated to 3/10 (still AP)

3/10 - Registered on USTravelDocs.com, setup Delivery Address, scheduled Interview Appointment

3/12 - CEAC Status date updated to 3/12 (still AP)

No changes since then.

I really want to believe that things are okay, and that worst case we get a follow-up e-mail before the actual interview date. I'm worried that maybe the e-mail was a mistake, and that they will actually send out a physical P4 letter with a different interview date. If that were the case though, wouldn't the online method give us an error when trying to schedule it ourselves?

Hi all,

We finally received an e-mail from the US Consulate, instructing us to register an account on http://ustraveldocs.comand schedule an appointment. We completed the process successfully, and the website shows our correct interview appointment of 4/14. However, other people on this site mention a "Document List" in their P4 packet, which describes what additional documentation (if any) they need to bring to the interview. Our P4 packet didn't contain any such list.

Does anybody know what we need to do to get the document list? Does it get sent in a separate e-mail? Does it get mailed to the beneficiary?

Below, I'm including the letter we received in the e-mail. Is it actually the P4 letter? Or is it something else?

I think it must be the P4 letter since it told us to schedule the interview, and we could successfully schedule the appointment.

Any insight people can provide is greatly appreciated.

P4 e-mail:

1. Once you receive this notice, please visit http://ustraveldocs.com and register a document pick-up location by selecting the “Select Document Delivery Address” option in the Immigrant Visas section of the website. If you have already registered, you do not need to register again. Failure to register prior to your visa interview will result in delay of your visa application.
2. Once registered, visit http://ustraveldocs.com and select “Schedule My Appointment” in the Immigrant Visas section of the website to schedule your visa interview appointment.
3. Once you have scheduled your appointment, download the Immigrant Visa Instruction Packet (or K visa Instruction Packet for K visa applicants) and follow the instructions inside it to prepare the necessary documents for your visa interview. Instruction packets can be found by selecting “Prepare Documents” in the Immigrant Visas section of http://ustraveldocs.com.
4. All applicants, regardless of age, must complete a medical exam and vaccination(s) with one of our designated panel physicians prior to the visa interview. (Please refer to the detailed instructions in the instruction packet.) Applicants must bring a copy of this letter with them to their medical exam.
5. On the scheduled date and time, the applicant(s) should come to the Consulate with all required documents and a copy of this letter. Applicants who do not bring a copy of this letter may not be allowed into the consulate for their interview.

1. 收到此通知后,所有签证申请人必须立即登陆签证申请服务网站http://ustraveldocs.com的移民签证信息页面点击“选择文件送达地址”进行登记。如你已经在此网站登记，无须重复此步骤。未能在签证面谈前登记将会对你的申请造成延误。

2. 登记完成后，所有签证申请人必须登陆同一网站选择“安排约见时间”进行签证面谈时间的预约。
3. 一旦你安排面谈时间后, 你必须从此网站上下载“移民签证申请说明”包裹，(K类签证申请人应下载“K类签证申请说明”)，并务必仔细阅读所有的相关信息，严格按照指引准备面谈所需的材料。签证申请说明包裹可从网站http://ustraveldocs.com移民签证信息页面的“准备资料”链接中下载。
4. 请注意, 所有移民签证申请人，不论其年龄大小，均应在签证面谈前到指定的机构进行体检与接种疫苗（详见签证说明包裹内指引）。请上述的申请人带上此通知并在体检时向体检机构出示该通知。
5. 申请人应在安排好的面谈约见时间，带上此通知和面谈所需材料来到领事馆。签证面谈时未能够出示此信的申请人将无法进入领事馆面谈。

YAY!!!!!!!

Finally got the P4 letter and interview date of 4/14

CC on 1/6

Note to others filing for Chinese person: DO THE ELECTRONIC PROCESSING!!!!!

Sitting around for two months waiting for paperwork to move through Chinese customs without any update or hint at when it might finish is pure torture!!

GUZ is off until next Monday due to Chinese New Year holiday.

Since she was denied previously you might want to get an immigration lawyer to help you. Aren't you worried about the prior denial?

I'm not particularly concerned... (although maybe I'm just being naive...)

Her previous denials were for tourist visas, not immigration visas. And she was denied because she lacked strong ties to China and they didn't believe she would return after vacation. I.e., they were worried she would try to immigrate to the US while on her tourist visa. It's a common reason for Chinese, and it happens frequently enough. I think the fact that now she's actually applying legally for an immigrant visa that her previous denials (due to them thinking she wants to immigrate) wouldn't affect this application.

We're not at the interview step yet though, so I can't really say for sure whether it's a real concern or not.

To follow-up on this topic though, I didn't find any correlation between the DHL tracking and when the casefile gets processed and a P4 letter sent...

According to the DHL page, shipments have "customs clearance events" for < 1 week, compared to November 2014 (the earliest history I could find on the DHL page) where the shipments would sit in "customs clearance events" for ~1 month.

However, it's been 3 weeks since my shipment was received in Guangzhou, and no noticeable movement has happened. I think I've read other people mention, and what I believe is happening here, is that after it clears customs it sits in a holding area (some people refer to it as a warehouse, but I'm not sure exactly), and the Immigration Unit of the Consulate infrequently goes to this holding area to pickup a batch of cases to process, instead of processing them realtime as they come in.

Anyway, still frustrated over here without any clear estimates and without getting a straight answer out of the Consulate...

Just to answer my own question:

I'm almost certain (99% sure) that asking a question to the embassy and getting a response changes that update date...

Three weeks and no change, but I ask for an update each week, and each time they respond my status update date changes...

Wish I could just go and hibernate for a while until this process is done.

ya, sorry, you gotta wait.

how to know the IV Unit in Guangzhou has the physical casefile?

CEAC status changes to 'administrative processing' .

you keeping a running log , checked daily, on CEAC status, right?

Oh, I'm checking 5+ times a day...

I know it doesn't really do any good, especially since my daytime is their nighttime.

But it's really the only thing I can do to pass the time...

At least now I know to look for the change to "Administrative processing".

I heard the date might mean something, but someone else in this thread added that it changes for them whenever the embassy replies...

That's good to know too.

So I'm stuck in customs limbo for now, and basically trying to look at any indication about when I might get out...

(I've gotten a case complete and they've sent the package to the embassy, and it has to go through Chinese customs before my interview can be scheduled)

According to the CEAC Status page, my status is "Ready" (I already saw it transition from "At NVC" to "In Transit" to "Ready").

But according to the embassy, that means that NVC "uploaded" the case electronically, but my documents have not yet been received physically.

I've been using the CEAC Status tracking page to try and see when things might actually change, using the "Status Updated Date" as my guide. I've ready other posts that mention anytime they do somethign to my case, that date gets updated.

I've also been submitting an e-mail to the embassy every 1.5 weeks to ask about my case. So far it's just a boilerplate answer, they haven't received the physical case file and I need to wait.

Does anybody know if asking them about the case causes the CEAC Status date to change? Like, does them opening up my case to see nothing's changed cause the date to get updated? Or is it when actual meaningful events happen (like receiving my file and giving an interview date) that the date gets updated?

I'm sooooo tired of not knowing... Some places say I need to wait 2+ months, other places say 4+ months, and even other places say 6+ months...

also study

http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Supplemental/GUZ%20-%20Guangzhou.pdf

as it contains updated info on what's next.

I'm not sure whether to ask here or start a new topic...

I found that PDF and started reading and preparing.

So to begin, I went to USTravelDocs.com to create a new profile.

I figure at least I can sign-up and update my profile while waiting for the interview notice to come.

After putting in my wife's info as the beneficiary, it gave me an error that her info is registered to another e-mail address.

I have a case logged with USTravelDocs to investigate this and figure out what to do about it... talk about scary though.

I think what happened was that last year she had an acquaintance help her apply for a Tourist Visa (and was denied... sigh), and that person used their e-mail address to register her info on the site and schedule her visa interview with the embassy.

Has anybody had to go through the process to remove someone's info from one account on USTravelDocs so that it can be added to another?

I really don't want that acquaintance to be involved in our process (and if I had known that's what they were going to do last time, I would've insisted that I do it instead), and I want to make sure we don't miss any correspondence from the Consulate while trying to get everything sorted out...

maybe. suggest to use the webform email interface on the IV website, inquire.

Thanks!

I sent them a request, hopefully I can hear something from them tomorrow.

I sent them a question last week and they were pretty quick getting back to me.

Now my status on the CEAC website changed to "Ready".

Does this mean it cleared Chinese customs and is actually at the Guangzhou consulate?

Hi all,

I didn't understand the benefits of EP, so we're here with a CC awaiting our documents to get sent to Guangzhou so we can have our interview scheduled.

Using the CEAC Status website, I can track things a little bit, and I saw the status change from "At NVC" to "In Transit".

Other topics mentioned waits upwards of 2-6 months to clear Chinese customs, due to a treaty which limits incoming official documents.

I read in another thread how to track the package's progress on the DHL website, and found what I think is my package.

However, on the DHL tracking site, it shows updates which seem to indicate that it's cleared customs and then finally signed and delivered (to what I assume to be the Guangzhou consulate).

I'm basically grasping for any sign of movement to keep me from going crazy...

Below is the details from the DHL site.

Does anybody have an opinion with regards to getting stuck in customs?

Friday, January 16, 2015 Location Time
24 Delivered - Signed for by GUANGZHOU 10:40 AM
23 With delivery courier GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 10:04 AM
22 Arrived at Delivery Facility in GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 9:11 AM
21 Departed Facility in GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 1:23 AM
20 Processed at GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 1:20 AM

Thursday, January 15, 2015 Location Time
19 Clearance processing complete at GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 3:18 PM
18 Customs status updated GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 2:56 PM

Wednesday, January 14, 2015 Location Time
17 Clearance event GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 7:53 PM

Tuesday, January 13, 2015 Location Time
16 Clearance event GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 8:04 PM

Monday, January 12, 2015 Location Time
15 Processed for clearance at GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 10:45 PM
14 Clearance event GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 10:45 PM
13 Arrived at Sort Facility GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 10:39 PM
12 Customs status updated GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 7:50 PM
11 Departed Facility in HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 12:43 PM
10 Processed at HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 12:42 PM
9 Clearance processing complete at HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 7:18 AM
8 Arrived at Sort Facility HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 6:44 AM

Sunday, January 11, 2015 Location Time
7 Customs status updated HONG KONG - HONG KONG 9:46 PM

Saturday, January 10, 2015 Location Time
6 Departed Facility in CINCINNATI HUB - USA CINCINNATI HUB, OH - USA 5:16 PM
5 Processed at CINCINNATI HUB - USA CINCINNATI HUB, OH - USA 6:48 AM
4 Arrived at Sort Facility CINCINNATI HUB - USA CINCINNATI HUB, OH - USA 1:30 AM

Friday, January 09, 2015 Location Time
3 Departed Facility in BOSTON - USA BOSTON, MA - USA 10:52 PM
2 Processed at BOSTON - USA BOSTON, MA - USA 10:09 PM
1 Shipment picked up BOSTON, MA - USA 3:49 PM

Can anybody help me understand DHL?

I have a couple questions about it and was hoping somebody could help answer them.

1. What is our Shipping Reference for our package?

Our Case Complete from NVC came on Jan 6 (website's status changed, called and confirmed with representative)

We received the CC letter via e-mail on Jan 13

I've been checking the CEAC Status page to check for any changes.

Jan 12, the status was "At NVC"

On Jan 15 or Jan 16, I noticed the status changed to "In Transit"

I called NVC on Jan 16 and they told me it was sent out yesterday (which I take it to mean Jan 15).

I read the instructions on how to check the DHL website, and I came up with several possible Shipping References:

EXP 13 JAN 2015A

EXP 14 JAN 2015A

EXP 15 JAN 2015A

However, none of those have any packages according to DHL. I've actually tried a wider range, from Jan 10-15 and even A/B references, but nothing was found.

I tried going back a little further, and found some packages sent on Jan 6, 7, and 8, but that would be too close to our CC so I don't think those are our packages.

It looks like at least for China that the packages get picked up by DHL on Friday though, so I'm hoping it just hasn't been registered on their website yet.

2. Does the status on the DHL site indicate having passed Chinese Customs?

I didn't find my package yet, but I found one that left NVC on Jan 6.

Using Jan 6 as a reference, I found the following shipping reference: EXP 06 JAN 2015A

Here are the shipping details... I've never used the site before, but it looks like it shows that the package went through Chinese Customs, cleared customs, and then was delivered to the consulate. Is this right? If so, that package only waited < 1 week instead of the 2-6 months that can happen in some cases...

Here are the shipping details of that package:

Friday, January 16, 2015
26 Delivered - Signed for by GUANGZHOU 10:40 AM
25 With delivery courier GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 10:04 AM
24 Arrived at Delivery Facility in GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 9:11 AM
23 Departed Facility in GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 1:23 AM
22 Processed at GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 1:20 AM

Thursday, January 15, 2015
21 Clearance processing complete at GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 3:19 PM
20 Customs status updated GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 2:56 PM

Wednesday, January 14, 2015
19 Clearance event GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 7:53 PM

Tuesday, January 13, 2015
18 Clearance event GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 8:02 PM

Monday, January 12, 2015
17 Clearance event GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 8:14 PM

Saturday, January 10, 2015
16 Clearance event GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 10:08 PM
15 Processed for clearance at GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 10:08 PM
14 Arrived at Sort Facility GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 10:03 PM
13 Customs status updated GUANGZHOU - CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC 7:54 PM
12 Departed Facility in HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 12:17 PM
11 Processed at HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 12:16 PM

Friday, January 09, 2015
10 Clearance processing complete at HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 5:46 PM
9 Processed at HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 5:46 PM
8 Arrived at Sort Facility HONG KONG - HONG KONG HONG KONG - HONG KONG 5:01 PM
7 Customs status updated HONG KONG - HONG KONG 5:26 AM

Thursday, January 08, 2015
6 Departed Facility in CINCINNATI HUB - USA CINCINNATI HUB, OH - USA 5:57 AM
5 Processed at CINCINNATI HUB - USA CINCINNATI HUB, OH - USA 4:23 AM
4 Arrived at Sort Facility CINCINNATI HUB - USA CINCINNATI HUB, OH - USA 1:26 AM

Wednesday, January 07, 2015
3 Departed Facility in BOSTON - USA BOSTON, MA - USA 11:11 PM
2 Processed at BOSTON - USA BOSTON, MA - USA 10:23 PM
1 Shipment picked up BOSTON, MA - USA 1:55 PM

For some silly reason, I didn't understand that Electronic Processing was an option for us. China is different from other countries when not doing EP. We don't get our interview scheduled by NVC. We have to wait for our papers to be sent to the Consulate in China and then they will schedule the interview at that time. China also has a treaty with the US to limit the inflow of official documents, so anything sent to the Consulate has to wait in Chinese Customs for an indeterminate period of time. There are reports about it taking 2-6 months (yikes!).

I'm so discouraged at this point... We waited through the NOA1-NOA2 wait, then waited through the NVC process... I thought this would be the final step and things would move quickly, but we are just met with more waiting...

We finally got a CC on 1/6 and are awaiting an interview at the Guangzhou consulate in China.

Does anybody know the process for that consulate?

I called NVC today to ask if the interview was scheduled, and the person told me that they send the file to China, then the consulate will schedule the interview and contact the beneficiary directly with the details.

This is different from what I read about on here; it sounds like for most people here that NVC will schedule the interview, contact the petitioner with the details, and then send the file to the embassy / consulate overseas.

I don't see many people on this site who are going through the process in China, so I'm not sure what to expect or which process it will actually be.

Hi all,

I just saw my status change on the website this morning!

I called and confirmed that it is indeed a Case Complete!!

My scan date was November 10, 2014, no checklists.

I'm so happy this long period is finally over, and I hope that everyone else's waits are short!

Thanks. That's vey helpful, hope you get very fast and smooth process.

I didn't get notification from USCIS regarding case being shipped to NVC. I checked online status and its still says "post decision activity" and also it mentioned that they have sent approval notice to my address.

Did you get notification text/email about your file has been shipped to NVC, or you randomly check on USCIS website?

Yes. I got an email and text today saying that it was shipped today. My NOA2 was over 3 weeks ago. If your USCIS case status isn't updated, it might not have been sent yet.

I got my NOA2 on 9/24 and didn't get any notice that they shipped my case to NVC.

I just called NVC today and they received my case on 10/7 (a week ago), so I don't think the notice about being shipped is required.

Just keep calling them to check up on it...

Now I'm just waiting on a case number to be assigned...

I filed with VSC back in May (NOA1 is 5/27) and just received the NOA2 on 9/24

I'm usually a silent member, but since this site and users are so helpful, I thought I'd send out my update and give hope to others that the USCIS is (slowly) processing things...

Now next week I begin the NVC process, which I was hoping would go quickly, but now we shall wait and see.