Eric & Jin

may i ask about guidance on applying for a visa? my parent in laws would want to visit us in the near future.

Everyone's case will be different of course and I can only comment on my own in-laws experiences. Both my in-laws applied for and received their first B-2s in October of 2010. For a visitor's visa, the applicant can choose to interview at either the Embassy in Beijing or at any of the consulates in China which issue non-immigrant visas - they do not have to interview at the embassy/consulate which has jurisdiction over their place of residence as is the case with immigrant & 'K' visas. My in-laws were originally going to interview at the consulate in Shanghai but then decided to interview in Guangzhou after discovering that they could schedule a much earlier interview at GUZ. I filled out and submitted a DS-160 visa application form for both of them and had the confirmation page emailed to them - this is what they will need to print out and take with them to their interview, not the entire application. The DS-160 is suppose to be submitted by the applicant of course however assistance with this is allowed.

My in-laws took the following items with them to their interview: DS-160 confirmation pages, receipt for visa fee payment, passports, passport size photos, hukou (original & copies), copies of son's & grandson's National ID's (for proof of relatives still living in China), bank account statements, ownership deeds for multiple apartments, stock portfolio statement, proof of retirement income, I-134 (filled out by me),an invitation letter from my wife and I and a small photo album with photos of my in-laws with relatives still living in China. In the end, the only documentation asked for during the interview was the I-134 and my mother-in-law also showed the VO her photo album.

Here is what was asked and the answers given during their interview:

1. Why do you want to visit the US? To visit our daughter and her husband and to help them out whenever their baby is born in February.

2. How long do you plan to stay? We will go in February and stay 2-3 months - we need to return to China before the summer break starts because we will need to keep our grandsons in Xiamen during that time.

3. How did your daughter and her husband meet? They originally met online and then my son in law came to China to visit 4 times before they were married.

4. When did your daughter move to the US? July 2009

5. What company does your son-in-law work for? My mother-in-law gave the VO one of my business cards

6. How many family members do you have that live in China? My Mother in law had made a small photo album of family photos which she showed to the VO and briefly explained who the various people in them were.

The VO then asked to see the I-134 which I had filled out for them - she briefly scanned over it and then returned it to my in laws at which time she said - "No problem - you get the visa".

So they had a pretty easy interview and a good outcome for their first B-2s. And of course obtaining the second B-2 was a piece of cake, without the need to attend another interview.

I posted my mother-in-law's recent experience with using the visa drop off service over on CFL a couple of weeks ago and since I really have never seen much posted on VJ about it, I decided to go ahead and post about it here as well. For those of you who may not know the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in China offer a visa drop of service when applying for most types of non immigrant visas (B, C1, D, F, J, M and O) provided that the person making the application has been issued the same type of visa in the past and that the most recent visa as not been expired for more than 4 years. The drop off service allows an applicant to apply for a visa locally without the need to travel to the Embassy or Consulate to attend a visa interview.

In my mother-in-law's case, she had originally received a B-2 in 2010 and several weeks ago received her second B-2 by using the visa drop off service - it was a very quick and efficient process. She did not submit any financial or property ownership documentation with her application this time, just the minimum requirements - Passport, DS-160 confirmation page, 1 passport sized photo, receipt for visa fee payment, plus an invitation letter from me. Her passport was received by Guangzhou and the visa was approved and sent back very quickly - her time line was as follows:

Monday: Dropped off passport & visa materials at a CITIC bank branch in Xiamen

Wednesday: Visa approved/issued by Guangzhou Consulate

Thursday: MIL received a text message from GUZ stating that her visa had been approved & was being mailed back to her

Friday: Passport/visa delivered via EMS in Xiamen

This is a great service which is much more convenient on the applicant than how things used to be. In many ways, it is very much like when we use a visa service to apply for our visas to China in order to avoid a trip to the Chinese Embassy or Consulate.

Because your mother-in-law is a farmer, it will probably be an uphill battle for her to be approved for a B-2 but I think that it is definitely worth a try. If she has a lot of family members still in China then I would try and show this as having strong ties to China. During my in-laws B-2 interview they were asked about the number of relatives that they had in China and my mother-in-law had brought with her a small photo album with pictures showing her & her husband with their sons & grandsons in China and with other relatives as well. They showed these photos to the VO and explained who the various people in the photos were.

I would advise you to go ahead and fill out an I-134 for her, as they are sometimes asked for by the consulates in China especially for retirees who are visiting family in the US. The first time that my in-laws interviewed for & received a B-2 visa in China, they had all types of proof which verified their financial independence (ownership of multiple apartments, sizable bank account balances, good retirement incomes, stock portfolio, etc) but none of that was asked for during their interview however an I-134 was.

They were asked 5 pretty simple questions during their interview and then were asked if I or my wife had filled out an I-134 for them. Luckily I had been reading several Chinese immigration forums and had noticed a trend of retirees being asked for an I-134, so I had one filled out for them. The VO took a quick look at the I-134 and then told them that they were approved. I had also typed up an invitation letter for them however, the VO was not interested in looking at it when my mother-in-law offered it. I would still advise you to type of an invitation letter for her though as every interview/interviewer is different and it may be helpful in your mother-in-law's case.

I live on the Canada border. Anybody know what it takes to get back and fourth across the border for weekend vacations and days trips to Toronto after we are married? Special visa for her? Do we have to wait for change of status?

If she wants to visit Canada before her AOS is completed then she will need to obtain a Canadian tourist visa to do so - however as Inky as already stated she will also need to obtain Advanced Parole first so that she can be admitted back into the US. Once her AOS is complete and she receives her green card then she can travel to and from Canada without a visa - Permanent Residents of the US are admitted to Canada without a visa if they have their green card.

Really… dude you don’t understand difference between visiting and helping.

If they were same why you think there are forums or site which suggests grandparents not to disclose they going for delivery or help preg daughter?

Coz immigration considers that as job of nanny sorry if you cannot 1+1=2

Totally false. A grandparent coming to visit for the birth of a grandchild and helping out afterwards is in no way, shape or form considered employment. The first time that my in-laws visited my wife and I on a B-2 was for that exact purpose - I filled out their DS-160s for them and for purpose of visit I stated that they wished to visit the US in order to be here for the birth of their grandchild and to help out afterwards. I also wrote up an invitation letter that they gave to the VO during their visa interview in which I restated that we would like for them to come visit us for the birth of our child and to help out for a few months afterwards. The VO also asked them what the purpose of their trip was and they restated the same - the VO did not give it a second thought and approved both their visas based upon the fact that they have strong ties to China. At POE they were again asked the purpose of their visit and again repeated that they wished to visit their daughter during the birth of their grandchild and to help out for a couple of months afterward - and they were admitted without further questioning.

The wait times for B-2 visa interviews vary & fluctuate depending on where the interview is to take place (Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou or Shenyang) and what the current work load of that particular Embassy/Consulate is. You can get a general idea of the current wait times by selecting the Embassy/Consulate at this site: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wait/wait_4788.html?post=Guangzhou&x=57&y=11

You can get the most up to date/actual B-2 wait time information by calling the Visa Information Call Center in Shanghai - this is where all B-2 visa interviews in China are scheduled through. Last year, my in-laws had originally planned to interview for their B-2s in Shanghai but were able to get a much earlier interview date in Guangzhou when they called the visa call center.

Approval/Denial decisions are made during the interview and if approved, it usually takes 2-7 days before the passport/visa is mailed back to the applicant - my in-laws received their passports with visas in the mail 5 days after their interview took place.

They are not going to allow you entry and give you more time than the visas is good for. If you want to stay past August, apply for a new visa now.

This is not true. The visa' s expiration date only determines up to what period in time that a visitor can enter the US and has no relation to the length of stay after entry. In the OP's case, the fact that they have already entered the US and stayed for 5.5 months on the same visa will most likely be much more of a determining factor when the officer at POE decides the length of stay on the next trip than anything else.

The related question/answer below comes from the US State Department website: http://travel.state.gov/visa/questions/questions_1253.html#6

My visa expires in 5 years, what does this mean?

A visa must be valid at the time a traveler seeks admission to the U.S., but the expiration date of the visa (validity period/length of time the visa can be used) has no relation to the length of time a temporary visitor may be authorized by the Department of Homeland Security to remain in the United States. Persons holding visas valid for multiple entries may make repeated trips to the U.S., for travel for the same purpose, as long as the visa has not expired, and the traveler has done nothing to become ineligible to enter the U.S., at port of entry.

EDIT: My in-laws did not use their first B-2s until 3 months prior to their expiration dates and were both given a 6 month stay on their I-94 at POE.

How about the SAR bit where a Chinese citizen has lived for more than six months?

Your wife will need to obtain a separate police certificate for the S.A.R. I remember this same question came up a couple of years ago and the beneficiary contacted the consulate in Guangzhou and was told a certificate was needed for the mainland and another was needed for Hong Kong. Checkout post #s 12 & 15 in the following thread:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/44131-china-police-certificate/

The multiple entry 24 month visas are really easy to get within the US these days (although I have heard that the consulate in San Francisco does not issue the 24 month visa). I just recently obtained my second one and was also able to get one for my son without any trouble at all. As others have already mentioned the option for the multiple entry 24 month visa is not actually listed on the visa application form however there is an 'Other' option listed under question 2.2 (Intended Number of Entries) which is used for this - you just check the 'Other' box and then write in "Multiple entries valid for 24 months" on the line provided. I have always used a visa service to obtain my visas and they were very familiar with the 24 month visas and have an option for it on their order form (both www.mychinavisa.com & www.oasischinavisa.com which I have used do any way).

If you use a visa service, then there is no need to send in any original documents with your application other than your own passport & photos - you can send photocopies of your wife's passport bio pages, your redbook or US marriage license and if your wife is already an LPR then you will need to send in a photocopy of her green card as well. In addition to these items, for my son's visa I also needed to send in a photocopy of his US birth certificate with the application as well.

I made this mistake before in trying to get my wife a tourist visa, but found when considering a tourist visa app, they care very little about relatives and focus only on the applicant.

I disagree with this because when my in-laws received their B-2s, the VO asked more questions about my wife and I during the interview than she did about my in-laws. The VO asked them questions such as who was my employer and what my job title was (in response my MIL gave the VO one of my business cards) and how long my wife had been living in the US. I also believe that they place an emphasis on the number of relatives still in China - the more the better in my opinion (shows strong ties to China). My in-laws were asked how many immediate family members that they have in China and my mother in law came armed with a photo album that included pictures of them with their sons & daughter-in laws, grandsons, brothers and sisters in China that she showed to the VO.

I have always been able to find lower priced airfares into Hong Kong than into Guangzhou - so I usually fly into HK and then take the train from HK to GUZ. The train ride costs about $25 and takes you to the Guangzhou East Railway Station which is the station located within easy walking distance of the Consulate. You go through Chinese immigration/customs at the GUZ railway station, so unlike taking the bus from HK to GUZ you do not have to stop at the border. You may want to consider this as an option, if you can find a lower fare to HK than to GUZ.

I checked the US Airways website and they have a Travel Documentation Requirements link which takes you to a Star Alliance travel tool that is similar to the one that I used with Delta in the post above. I entered the same information as I did in the Delta Travel tool and received the same information - Greek nationals can travel to Greece using an expired passport and/or National ID card.

http://www.staralliance.com/en/services/visa-and-health/

Forgot to mention: we're not traveling via any other country. We have one stop in Philly from LAX, and then straight Philly to Athens.

Delta Airlines has a travel tool which you enter your Citizenship, Country of residence, destination country, connecting country (if any) and it will then show you what the passport & visa requirements are for that trip. I entered Greece as Citizenship, USA as country of residence and Greece as the destination country and received the following information:

Information for Normal Passports

Passport required.

- Expired passports and passport replacing documents issued to

nationals of Greece are accepted.

Passport Exemptions:

- Nationals of Greece:

- holding a Temporary or Emergency passports, allowing them

to be able to return to Greece;

- holding a National ID Card;

- holding any other state issued document proving identity.

http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations/plan_flight/international_travel_information/visa_passport_information/index.jsp

So according to Delta, they will allow you to travel to Greece using your expired Greek passport and/or your National ID Card. I would of course verify all of this with US Airways but it looks like it is possible.

I attended ACH when GUZ still offered it and found it to be very beneficial. I had a couple of questions about our case and the VO was more than happy to help me out. I have no idea why GUZ decided to stop offering ACH while the Beijing Embassy as well as the Shanghai Consulate both still offer ACH for non-immigrant visas (Mondays in BJ and Tuesdays in SH).

The overall percentage of denials of B visas from China is not nearly as high as one might expect - in reality the overwhelming majority of those who apply for them are approved. Official State Department statistics show that the refusal rate for B visas in China has been steadily decreasing every year for at least the past 5 years. In 2006 the B visa refusal rate for China was 24.5% however in 2010 the refusal rate had dropped to 13.3%. Granted these rates are based upon on all B visas (B1 & B2) however this is very encouraging news for our families.

http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY10.pdf

http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY09.pdf

http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY08.pdf

http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY07.pdf

http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY06.pdf

My wife's parents received B-2 visas last October without any problems at all and used them to visit us earlier this year for the birth of our son. They took their bank statements, proof of retirement income, evidence of real estate & stock holdings and proof of other family members still living in China (copies of their 2 son's Hukou and national ID cards and family photos) as well as an I-134 which I had filled out for them. In the end only the I-134 and family photos was asked for. They were allowed to interview together and my mother in law ended up doing all the talking. Here are the exact questions that they were asked at their interview and their answers.

1. Why do you want to visit the US? To visit our daughter and her husband and to help them out whenever their baby is born in February.

2. How long do you plan to stay? We will go in February and stay 2-3 months - we need to return to China before the summer break starts because we will need to keep our grandsons in China during that time.

3. How did your daughter and her husband meet? They originally met online and then my son in law came to China to visit 4 times before they were married.

4. When did your daughter move to the US? July 2009

5. What company does your son-in-law work for? My mother-in-law gave the VO one of my business cards

6. How many family members do you have that live in China? My Mother in law had made a small photo album of family photos which she showed to the VO and briefly explained who the various people in them were.

The VO then asked to see the I-134 which I had filled out for them - she briefly scanned over it and then returned it to my in laws at which time she said - "No problem - you get the visa".

BTW - my in laws interviewed for their B-2s at Guangzhou and they remarked that the majority of those who interviewed for B-2s on the same day were also approved. I filled out and submitted their online DS-160 visa applications for them.

You may know this and have already passed it onto your wife but I will make mention of it just in case. Upon arrival at Narita she will be required to go through a security screening before being allowed to the departure gates for her connecting flight. It is no big deal really - she will just need to go through a metal detector and have her carry-on bags pass through an x-ray machine again. Things can sometimes get backed up at this point though if there are several international flights arriving around the same time - I usually get through it in short order (5-15 minutes) but did have almost a 45 minute wait in line during one connection. Most international airports don't require this extra security screening when connecting between international flights but they do in Japan.

Out of curiosity; where did they interview?

They interviewed in Guangzhou. They were originally thinking of interviewing in Shanghai but ended up choosing to interview in GUZ instead because of a shorter wait for an interview - my wife was able to get an interview scheduled for them in GUZ after only a 3 week wait.

Ok, I'll try to give enough detail without putting everyone to sleep. I'm really confused here, as I always am with government forms.

My wife is a Permanent Resident from China that came on a CR-1 visa when we were married. She has been living here since May 2009. We are applying for visa's for her sister and mother to come for a visit later this year. I am filling a form I-134 for each of them but I am confused how to answer the following:

9. I have previously submitted an affidavit of support for the following person(s):

a. Should I list my wife, because i filled one for her when she was immigrating? b. On my sister-in-law's, should I list her mother and vice versa?

10.I have submitted a visa......for the following person(s):

I need to list my wife for this one I am pretty sure, right?

Please help if you can. I'm waiting for the day that I can fill out a government form that is easy to read and makes sense.

The interviewing VO may or may not ask for an I-134 during the interview - it seems to be an increasing trend though in China to ask for one, especially if the visa applicant is retired. The VO who conducted my in-laws B-2 interview did ask to see an I-134 from either me or my wife and luckily I had filled one out and they had it. The VO did not actually keep the I-134 though - she just looked it over and then returned it to my in-laws after saying that their visas were approved. For my in-laws I-134 , I only filled out one form for the both of them (listed both their names on it) and only listed my wife on the part where it asks if I had previously submitted an affidavit of support for someone else.

Your fiancee will need to fill out the GNI-2 supplemental form which is part of the K-1 Packet 4. Question 7 on that form asks the applicant to list all organizations & political parties that they are now or have been a member of or affiliated with since their 16th birthday. Since she will need to disclose her past party membership on that form anyway, there is no benefit in trying cover the fact up by answering 'No' to the potential question of is she currently a CCP member. If I were you, I would suggest to her that if asked that question that she answer truthfully with a response such as - "No, I have not been a member since April".

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

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/guangzhou/47024/K12%20p4/Supplemental_Form_GNI-2.pdf

Hi fellow VJ,

I'm now here in Alabama. we talked to one person that she showed only her EAD and she was able to have a written exam,but that was before. i just don't know now if they have change. any insight? thanks

I live in Alabama also and my wife (who entered on a K-1) had to wait until she received her green card approval notice before she was eligible for her driver's license. Alabama is very picky - they will accept an EAD but only if combined with a SS card and a visa authorizing a presence in the U.S. of over 160 days. So a K-1 visa does not qualify as it only authorizes a presence of 90 days. Basically they want proof that you are allowed to stay in the U.S. for at least 160 days which an EAD alone does not prove (at least according to their regulations).

Thanks Eric - This is the kind of feedback I was looking for ... it's more curiosity than anything else, but the process is hard to figure out... talking to others at the interview seems like a great way to learn what's in common or not ... thanks for this! I guess the next question is, How are the GUZ case numbers assigned? :-)

If I am not mistaken the GUZ case number is based upon the expiration date of the petition which in turn would be based upon the NOA2 petition approval date. I just looked up my wife's old GUZ case number and it looks like it is comprised of the year, month and day of the petition expiration then followed by a number which I assume is the XXXth Guangzhou petition which expires that day. So for example, if a petition expired today the GUZ case number would be GUZ2011613XXX. Someone please correct me if I am wrong put looking at my wife's GUZ# that is sure what it looks like to me - her's was definitely comprised of her petition's expiration date but again, that could be something that has changed over the past 2 years.

Thanks Dan ... yes I'm a member of CFL and read that site all the time as well ... what I am looking for is any specific information people have with regards to how the scheduling process works.

I've heard you say that interviews are batch processed every week or so ... im looking for other anecdotal evidence of how the process works. Here are some questions to give you an idea of what I am thinking:

1) Do they assign the VO based on the specifics of the K-1 case? If so, that might influence the date based on the VO availability.

2) Do they give priority to applicants based on the NOA1 to NOA2 processing time?

3) Is the P3 sent date the only factor in triggering the next step in the process?

My personal theory is that they give priority for interview scheduling based upon the GUZ case#. I say this because when my wife interviewed for her visa she had met 7-8 other women online (on the 001 board) who were scheduled to interview on the same day that she was. We met up with several of these ladies in GUZ for dinner the night before their interviews and in discussing all of the cases the girls quickly found out that they had GUZ case numbers which were all within a pretty specific numeric range.

Also as you may have already heard that the ladies are called up to the interview windows out of order from the numbers they were given when entering the consulate earlier seemingly without much rhyme or reason. However my wife and the other 7-8 women who she had met quickly determined that they were being called up to the interview windows based upon their GUZ case # - the person with the lowest GUZ case# was called first, followed by the next lowest case# and so on. So I really don't think that the interviews are assigned to a particular VO based upon the specifics of the case but simply by case#. That is my theory anyway based upon the feedback received from my wife and the 7-8 other ladies we spoke with who interviewed with her. That was 2 years ago though, so things could have changed since then.

You are right and whatever embassy has told you is right too.

1. letter of support not required - As most tourist are required to show that they have enough funds on their own that they can afford to take a vacation in US.

Depends upon the country/embassy/consulate. When I was putting together all the paperwork for my in-laws B-2s, I had noticed a definite upswing in postings over the past year on Chinese immigration forums indicating that the embassy & consulates in China were increasingly requesting an I-134 during B-2 interviews for retirees who wanted to visit family members in the US. Because of this I decided to play it safe and filled out an I-134 for my in-laws just in case one was asked for during their interview. It was a good thing that I did because the VO asked them 6 easy interview questions and then asked them if either I or my wife had filled out an I-134 for them. The VO took a good look at the I-134 and then told them that their visas were approved. They were never asked to show proof of their own funds/finances even though they had documentation with them showing sizable bank account balances, stock & real estate holdings.

I am a citizen and my wife is a resident of the US. Her parents in China are applying for a tourist visa to visit us. They will interview at the US Consulate in Guangzhou shortly. We are wondering, if successful, how long they will be allowed to stay in the US. Who decides, when is it decided, and what are the possible periods allowed. It will be their first here. Is there some standard 6 month Visa given? Is multiple entry an option? Is multiple entry something that must be asked for?

Someone told us that the allowed visit length is not determined until they reach the immigration portal at the US arrival airport, and it is arbitrary as to what time period an officer choses to put on their passports. But this sound illogical to me. So we are wondering..... Thanks for any help. Dog&Snake

The B-2 tourist visas issued in China are multi-entry visas with a validity of 1 year and with a maximum stay of up to 6 months. The duration of each stay is not guaranteed however and is decided upon by the immigration officer at POE. For what it is worth - my Chinese in-laws were given the maximum 6 month stay at POE with no questions asked.