sichuan red

We just handed in the White Book. I never saw the original report, the notary office likely kept it.

What he said! We did the same. Handed in the white book with no problems.

Good Luck Chris!!

Hi, I have seen the wiki about what to included in the DS-230, I am preparing it ahead of time while waiting for my NOA2

"Two passport-style photographs (2X2 inches) of the beneficiary. (Write down NVC Case# and beneficiary’s full name and date of birth on the back side of both photographs lightly)

Completed and signed form DS-230 Part I by the beneficiary

Completed and unsigned form DS-230 Part II by the beneficiary

Photocopy of the beneficiary's passport biographic data page

Original/certified copy of beneficiary’s birth certificate

Original/certified copy of beneficiary’s and petitioner’s marriage certificate

Original police certificate(s) of the beneficiary"

But I saw on some other threads that with Guangzhou its a different case, they said Guangzhou only wants the following sent to NVC, and not to send any white books, and just hold on to those for the actual interview?

Two passport-style photographs (2X2 inches) of the beneficiary. (Write down NVC Case# and beneficiary’s full name and date of birth on the back side of both photographs lightly)

Completed and signed form DS-230 Part I by the beneficiary

Completed and unsigned form DS-230 Part II by the beneficiary

Photocopy of the beneficiary's passport biographic data page

The threads seem to be from 2008-2009, maybe things have changed, the postings were about how this DS-230 stuff just goes straight to the Medical office, not the Consulate after NVC.

I am planning to do regular mail and not EP,

When in doubt, get the info straight from the horses mouth. Here's the link. Packet three

I am writing a fairly detailed overview of our ride on the visa roller coaster for the benefit of those who will travel this I am writing a fairly detailed overview of our ride on the visa roller coaster for the benefit of those who will travel this path after me. I have benefited from the writings and advice of those who went before me. Now it is my turn to share with the community for the benefit of others. First, I would like to share our timeline and red flag list with you.

Red Flags:

Recently divorced before meeting (Filed 02/2010 and finalized 05/2010)

Multiple previous divorces

Engaged on my first trip to China

Short relationship prior to filing the petition

Timeline:

06/26/10 - met online

08/12/10 - 08/23/2010 - 1st trip/meeting in Chengdu

09/27/10 - 10/11/2010 - 2nd trip/meeting in Chengdu/Deyang

11/02/10 - I-129F sent to NSC (stoopid da lawyer sent the petition in da slow mail)

11/12/10 - NOA1

12/07/10 - 12/14/2010 - 3rd trip to Chengdu/Deyang

01/27/10 - 02/17/2010 - 4th trip to Chengdu/Deyang (Spent a week together in Thailand with a Chinese tour group)

05/12/11 - received P2

05/19/11 - NVC received

06/01/11 - NVC file scanned and uploaded to Guangzhou

06/13/11 - P3 sent from GUZ

06/23/11 - P3 forms sent to GUZ (Did not receive the packet from GUZ yet)

06/28/11 - P3 received by GUZ

07/04/11 - P4 documents received

07/26/11 - Interview Day - Approved!

Other than the 6 month wait for P2 things were fairly smooth. We had everything prepared long before P2 was received and wanted to try to get an August interview date. Surprisingly, our file went to Guangzhou solely via SAFEFILE, a fact I was very happy about. I was calling NVC regularly to stay on top of the process. Now, we only had to time the P3 docs to be received at the consulate. Watching the timelines I estimated 30 - 45 days out from receipt of forms to interview date. I tried to strike the balance so the interview would occur some time in August. No luck, GUZ receives the packet on June 28th and the interview gets scheduled for July 26/27. Oh well..... We did not want to take the chance on a reschedule so we let it goes as it is and sent in the P3 docs right away.

Well, the twists and turns now begin and here is our first twist. It comes in 2 parts. First, she realizes that she did not sign the DS-230. The second part is that now her son has changed his mind after she submitted the first P3 packet and now he wants to come to the U.S. I think it would have been difficult for her here without him, but we both felt it was better to let him make the decision. I had no issue with her son changing his mind, in fact I expected this to happen at some point and I really wanted him to join her.

Having recently read a horror story about contacting GUZ and making changes with the P3, I was concerned about the impact this may have. However, I didn't say anything to her about that situation and I contacted GUZ immediately. I had GUZ void the irst package and we sent out a new one right way.

Ok, that issue is now taken care of and we recieve the P4. The twists and turns only continue at this point. Now, her son's name is not on the appointment letter. SNAFU. Apparently they went by the first packet's information. Damn, this ride is beginning to get a bit wild. More emails to GUZ, again. I'm thinking that this is now a major a disaster in the making. GUZ decides to bypass me and work with her directly which is fine by me. It gets resolved quickly and her new appointment letter is good! Now, this wild ride is not over yet, it only gets better. I sent the I-134, tax returns, etc. to her on the 8th with an expected delivery date no later than the 15th. Sorry Charlie, time for P4 turn 2. This is one hell of a hairy ride now. On the 18th we both try to track the package from our ends. We can't find the problem and she leaves for Guangzhou in a few more days. Considering that she leaves for Guangzhou on the 22nd, I begin to prepare a new package to send her. On the nineteent we find out what the problem is. Apparently there was a suspicious package in the EMS shipment that had my documents to her. The shipment (with my financials in it) could not go by air and had to travel over land. I guess if a truck blows up it'sier to sweep under the rug than if a plane does. Good gravy, can this get any worse? Maybe I shouldn't ask.

Ok, we steel ourselves for a Blue slip on the financials while I prepare a new package to send to her. I manage to get all the info together again and I am ready to overnight it to the Yang's in the morning so that she will have it for the interview. We coordinate so that her and the Yang's will expect the package as I will send it overnight first thing in the morning. The following morning (let's not forget the 12 hour time difference, it is now her evening) She tells me that she recieved my original package. Whew! What a relief! Ok, so 12 hours of scrambling on my end for naught but now everything is good and she is ready to head to Guangzhou. Man, it has got to get better now.

On Saturday they have their medicals at United Family. She had a medical exam for work in April so we knew this would be a walk in the park. Once again, sorry Charlie, enjoy the ride. After getting all the preliminary work completed and the X-rays taken she is notified that there is a problem. She has another X-ray taken and she is cleared. She thanks them but the doctor makes a comment that stops her and her son in their tracks. It troubles her but she continues on. Since I have not been able to accurately translate this portion of her narrative, I will leave it to those who are better versed in the language than I am. Here is her original narration of the medical. If you can accurately translate this, I, along with others, would be grateful:

体检波：七月二十三日到达广州住在杨家，下午杨先生陪同我和儿子去和睦家，这是周六，下午没有什么人体检，填表、换衣、然后抽血、量身高、体重、拍摄胸片，我先拍摄胸片，然后是儿子，大概有五六分钟，拍胸片女医生表情严肃地叫我再次去拍胸片，我的心一下紧张，天呀，这都什么时候了，不要在这上面把我卡了，那就什么都完了，我忙走过去，心里嘀咕我四月单位才体检拍胸片没事呀，不会那么快我肺部就出问题了，她让我把头发扎起来，换个方向再次给我拍摄，拍摄完后不再理我，我心里一个劲念着不要出问题，不要出问题，最后是日本医生那里检查，还好非常简单，一会就完成了，返回坐位上我用眼睛描着拍胸片女医生，看她坐在那里，只看到她的一点点头发，我按耐不住走过去问她：我没什么问题吧，脸上充满讨好的表情，见她的嘴角咧了一下：没事了，哦，这下放下心来，然后是等拿体检包，大概30分钟，小医生叫我和儿子名字，恭喜你们，体检合格，我非常高，忙说谢谢，又走到日本医生那里与他礼貌道别，说谢谢你，辛苦了，他微笑着说，不谢，去美国看一眼，我和儿子正转身走，听到他最后那句突然心里不是很舒服：什么？看一眼，不会我的胸片还有什么问题吧，不会到美国机场检察胸片不正常让我返回，晕哦，我的敏感的神经一直不停的转，这拿到体检包心里怎么不是个滋味呢。。。。

Document turn in was pretty much uneventful except for a minor incident and the scorching sun while they waited outside. The Chinese person taking the materials in seems to have a bad attitude but it is chalked up to the person just being very serious. The document checker reviewed a welcome letter from both a friend of mine as well as one from my son that was attached to my I-134. After going back and forth about it they finally decided to include them with my I-134 during the checkin. She was then questioned about the way her hair was done in the passport pictures and why it was different today. The implication being that it was not the same person and that the pictures were old.

On interview day, she begins her review at 4 A.M. since she could not sleep. She wants to make sure her answers are short, accurate, and decisive. At 7 A.M. they are lined up and ready. Fortunately, it is not hot at that hour of the morning. She receives 2 text messages, one from me and one from her eldest sister, wishing her good luck and to take the Pink slip.

The interview itself was surprisingly easy. Naturally, Yuhong was nervous. She was worried because her English is not very good. However, she knows that this is her only weak point and is confident of our relationship. About 10 A.M. her number is called and her and her son gather the materials and head towards the window. As she approaches the window she takes the initiative and blurts out "Good morning, nice to meet you!" in English. The VO responded with "nice to meet you, too" and immediately followed it with several English sentences spoken very quickly. At this point she was expecting a simple interview question and was totally unprepared for a long string of quickly spoken English. She is initially flustered and filled with fear at not understanding what the VO said to her. Fortunately, we had practiced this scenario and she quickly regains her composure and is able to reply right away. In English, Yuhong apologized and said that she only speaks a little English and asks if she can use Chinese. The VO said "OK" and switched to Mandarin and said "Chinese is fine". Now that the interview is in Chinese she is fully confident in her ability to answer any question.

The questions she was asked (in no particular order) were:

VO: How many times did he come to China?

Y: 4

VO: When was the first time?

Y: Gives the dates

VO: When was the second time?

Y: Gives the dates

VO: When was the third time?

Y: Gives the dates

VO: When was the fourth time?

Y: Gives the dates

VO: What does he do for a living?

Y: Tells her my occupation.

VO: What city does he live in?

Y: Jacksonville, Florida

VO: What do you love about him?

Y: She provides very specific things

VO: Your fiance has several children?

Y: She tells the VO about my children

VO: When was he divorced?

Y: Divorced in May 2010, but seperated in February

VO: When were you divorced?

Y: Gives the date

VO: Have you been to the U.S.?

Y: No

VO: Where have you traveled?

Y: Thailand with my fiance

VO: How do you communicate?

Y: Some English and Some Chinese

Her son was asked:

VO: Are you are a student?

S: I just graduated

VO: What will you do when you go to the United States?

S: The first thing I must do is study English

Returning to Yuhong:

VO: Do you have photos?

Yuhong hands the photos over to her.

The VO looked at some of our pictures (many of them include her family and close friends), read some of our video chat screen shots (shows us writing English, Chinese, and Pinyin). The VO then picked out a screenshot of me holding my grandson during one of our chats. She asked Yuhong "Who is this?" while pointing to him. She tells the VO that it is my grandson and tells her his name.

The the VO immediately pulls out the pink slip (apparently it was already prepared) and said "You Passed" She replied "Thank you, have a nice day" and went to sit down and gather her materials and put them away. The others mentioned how quick it was and her son replied, "about 10 minutes". They all laughed and said "No, maybe two minutes at the most"!

Matt,

The hard and fast rule is, "don't make plans until the visa's in hand."

My fiance passed her interview on the 27th. They issued the visa 8/2 and we don't know when they will mail it out.

Since you fall under the new rules, they will mail it directly to her. See this link

Good luck to you and Lili.

In my case, I believe that the letters from my daughter, as well as from my fiancees friends, in my petition, along with the letters from my son and those from my friend and colleague at document turn in, helped us immensely. We also had many pictures from my trips that were taken with her friends and family as well as pictures from a trip we took with a Chinese tour group. All of this provided proof of a bonafide relationship. I suggest to anyone going down this path that they show proof of support from family and friends from both sides. These need to be provided in the initial petition as well as the interview. This seems to be one aspect that is often overlooked by many. Oh, one last thing, screen shots of us communicating via YIM video chat with my grandson on my lap helped immensely. The VO appeared to focus on and enjoyed seeing these pictures. I will post a full write up soon.

Congratulations to my brother across the continent for a job well done.

Ignore the time entry on my post to your profile.

Congratulations to you both! Hope to join you in a couple of days.

Good luck to the two of you. July has been a good month for many people.

阿弥陀佛保佑你

What ever color you want to call it, Red, Pink, or Orange, we got it today!!

I will post details in a couple of days. She said it was an easy 2 minute interview.

The only question she can recall right now is "Have you ever been to the U.S.?"

LOL

Edit to fix a typo

Hi Inky,

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

Trying to get my fiancee to do anything is like trying to get a Panda Bear to take a bath, so I want to do as much of the paperwork as I can for her...

She gets overwhelmed and stressed out of her mind real easily.

That's why I'm going to try to gather as much of the info needed on the forms as I can and fill it out for her. Then I'll translate it to have her double-check what I did.

So I would appreciate it if someone could lessen my work load by telling me which of the above forms we are not required to complete and submit.

Take care,

notmuch88tosay

Hey not, I was a bit late in my reply but gave you the info.

I filled all the forms for my fiance and validated the information with her.

I hope she can handle the stress of the interview if she is getting overwhelmed at this stage.

It is up to you buddy to take control of the situation and guide her through it and keep her on a level plane.

We are here for you. You can also visit the The two china specific forums (Candleforlove and Chinafamilyvisa for advice).

Hello,

After receiving my NOA2, my understanding is that me and my fiancee now need to prepare for the interview and submit some forms prior to the interview. We are petitioning for a K1 Fiancee Visa.

My questions are:

1) Do me and my fiancee only need to complete and submit forms that are classified as "immigrant" forms, or also the "non-imigrant" forms?

2) Which of the following forms below are we not required to complete and submit:

* Form DS-230 Part I * Form DS-230 Part II * Form 169 * Form GIV-8 * Form DS-156 * Form DS-157 * Form DS-156K * Form GNI-2 * Form I-134 * Form OF-169 * Packet 3 * Packet 4

3) I understand that I'm the "petitioner", my fiancee is the "beneficiary", but who is the "applicant"?

It seems like the same forms are sometimes used for multiple Visa types, which creates alot of confusion, stress and wasted time trying to figure things out. But what else would you expect from beaurocratic forms? :-)

notmuch88tosay

I know that you are a Chinese visa petitioner but it would help a lot of the other people here if you would disclose that in your profile along with your visa type and adding your timeline. The best advice can be given when we have more of the facts.

The forms to return to the Consulate for P3 (Packet 3) are the DS-230 Part 1 (Part II is not used for a K-1 visa) and the OF-169.

The forms required at the interview (P4, Packet 4) are DS-156, DS-156K, DS-157, GNI-2, I-134.

Form GIV-8 are instructions for the beneficiaries medical examination.

The petitioner is the person requesting permission for a person to apply for a visa (you)

The beneficiary is the person who will apply for the visa (your fiancee, she receives the benefit of your petition)

The applicant is the person applying for the visa (your fiancee)

The Guangzhou website has the forms separated out by visa type. You can download them and work with your fiance to understand them.

Hope this helps.

Go here and send the email request to reschedule the interview. GUZ contact form

My fiance sent her ds-230 without a signature. Will GUZ kick it back or will they let her sign at her document intake/Interview?

Guys I'm sorry if my frustration is showing in my posts I really do appreciate everyone's input and advice.

I asked this very question of DHL and they said that the difference in clearance and delivery times is a function of weight of the package. I don't doubt that the consulate regulates their intake of petitions.

It's probably best for me to stop trying to predict when things will happen and just continue to be patient.

No need to apologize. We all know what you are going through.

I expected to have our file sit in Chines customs for 3 months. Somehow I was lucky and my file went solely via SAFEFILE.

Vent any time you need to. That's one of the things we're here for.

I have been watching what I believe to be our petition through the DHL's website. It has been sitting in "Clearance Delay" for the past 30 days and has recently been released. I didn't intend to imply that we had passed some procedural milestone.

My intention was to only make you aware and not get any false hopes. I know quite well how it feels to be on this ride.

I hope that things go quickly for you and that you are not stuck there any longer than you already have been.

OK so Red got me thinking. Maybe I have been watching the wrong package. So since I get paid to do nothing (not really) I decided to do some more DHL research.

NVC told me the package left NVC on May 19th. Maybe...maybe not, who knows. I received the letter dated May 20 that said it would be sent to GUZ within a week. I will conclude that it was shipped sometime between the 18th of May and the 30th.

I decided to check all of the May shipments using the shippers reference going to China. My search showed up six shipments to Guangzhou

1. 04 May - still not delivered (ouch)

2. 06 May - Delivered 18 May

3. 13 May - Delivered 20 May

4. 18 May - Delivered 26 May

5. 20 May - Cleared customs 22 June but not delivered yet (could be ours)

6. 24 May - Delivered 03 June (could be ours also)

It's possible they send it in June but I hope not so I'm going with either 5 or 6.

What do you folks think? Should I start calling DOS? Jane is still finding inner peace in Kathmandu so I know she hasn't heard anything but she's supposed to surface today (I hope).

Not sure where you got the 30 day clearance delay that you have in your signature.

Have you seen this page? GUZ K1 Procedures

It discusses the delay and they indicate a 3 to 4 month hold before the documents can be released to the consulate.

Perhaps things have changed and they release them after 30 days.

Hey ...did I call this one or what ? I called this one years ago.

Let that study be a WARNING to all you politically correct overly sensitive emasculated sexually confused metrosexuals out there.

Surprising how they left out the choices from the control group. Wonder which way the neutral priming group swayed.

Hi Bobby,

Yeah my daily DHL check. I guess I'll start to call DOS at the end of the week once I've seen it was delivered. Jane has all her packet 3 stuff ready to ship since she has had plenty of time to get it ready.

I've got my fingers crossed for you guys, I've got a feeling you'll be hearing something soon.

Not to rain on your parade, Operator, but are you sure it's your file you see moving? It is usually 2 - 4 months to clear Chinese customs. I hope for you and Jane that it is your file and you get a speedy interview date.

I guess the next question is, How are the GUZ case numbers assigned? :-)

For K-1 visas the NVC assigns the number as follows:

GUZ + Current Year + (the sequential day of the year that NVC received the file + 500) + a 3 digit sequential number for that day for GUZ

Thus if NVC received your file on April 24th ( the 114th day of the year) and yours was the 47th file for GUZ that day your Case number would be GUZ + 2011 + 614 + 047 = GUZ2011614047

Congratulations Vince!!

You could wait until your fiancee receives her P3 before sending it out. My fiancee got her official P3 today, and she said it is identical to the forms we downloaded form the website.

Also, the P3 she mailed out on Saturday was delivered today.

I'm really hoping for a July interview, hoping to take advantage of the July 4th weekend to fly out to save a day of vacation, but it looks like it could take over 1 month from P3 to interview date, so it may be the middle or end of July for us at the earliest, I would think

I hope you get the interview date you want

Keep me posted please, thanks!!

That is exactly what we are doing, Bobby. We already have the forms completely filled out. I will monitor the times for interview scheduling and TRY to time it for mid August. My best guesstimate at this point is around 45 days from GUZ receiving the forms to the interview date. Then again, now that she knows she has P3, she may change her mind and want to interview ASAP.

I'll keep the updates coming and hope you do the same!!

Vince, please call DOS and let us know if the consulate received your file and sent out Packet 3 I got my NVC letter yesterday with our case number. Have you received your NVC/DOS letter with case number yet?

My fiancee mailed out her Packet 3 yesterday.

Good luck to you and yours!!

Bobby,

I called DOS and Packet 3 was sent today. I haven't received the NVC/DOS letter with the case number yet. I expect to have it within a day or two.

We may hold off on returning the P3 information for a couple of weeks. We want her to have her interview in August.

Thanks, Booby and good luck to you and yours as well.

Vince,

I called DOS this morning at 8:32am EST, I was put on hold for 30 minutes. I gave the nice lady my case number, and she told me Guangzhou mailed out Packet 3 to my fiancee!! I asked her when they mailed it, she said this past Wednesday.

After I hang up, I was too happy to think of anything else but to text my fiancee and tell her the good news.

Later I realized that the DOS lady didn't even ask for our names and DOB's before giving me the information So I called again at 11am EST, this time a lady asked for all the details and confirmed that Packet 3 was sent. However, she could not tell me when it was sent

So yes, double and triple check, because each "human" handle our cases differently and they may not give the same information each time

I better call DOS Monday morning! Our P3 should have been mailed if we follow the same time-frame.

Thanks Vince, you're a couple days ahead of me. Please keep us posted if you get any updates. I'll do the same

Bobby, I was told that my file was uploaded electronically to the consulate. I haven't gotten a straight answer yet on if it was solely via SAFEFILE or not. I hope that DHL is not getting involved.

Hopefully in the next day or two I'll have that resolved.

Case Left NVC!! (finally)

After being told last Tuesday by an NVC operator that my case was under "additional processing", I called DOS this morning at 7:30am EST. After 6 minutes on hold, I got the good news that my case is on its way to the consulate!!

The DOS visa specialist could only tell me that my case was sent recently. So I called NVC, and was told my case was sent out from NVC last Friday.

So YES, definitely double and triple check what the DOS and NVC humans tell you. Great advice!!

I concur. I received much the same info as you. My case was sent 6-1-2011.

Chris, thanks for your prompt reply

I'm watching you and others ahead of me for clues and direction.

It's comforting to know that I'm not alone in this journey

I called NVC today. My file was scanned and uploaded to GUZ on Jun 1, 2011.

I don;t know if they will require the physical file or not. I haven't been able to get a consistent answer on how my file is being sent.

Good luck to us all.