people hounding interviewees at Guangzhou trying to "help" them?

[birdman2010 0]

Is there a gauntlet of hounders (aggressive salesmen) and people who ask "can I help? can I help?" when a person tries to reach the 5th floor at Tian Yu Garden (Phase II), 5th Floor 136-142 Lin He Zhong Lu, Guangzhou?

On the 5th floor itself of the building are there such people, or are they kept off the 5th floor?

When my fiancée went to the Health Care Center of Guangdong International Travel to have her medical done there were such people there hanging around outside asking if they could help. She ignored them and spoke to as few people as possible. Is there a similar situation and gauntlet at Tian Yu, and how does one reach and speak to a real employee of the consulate, on the document intake day, and the next day for the interview?

Here's relevant quotes from

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/guangzhou/47024/IV/Pkt%204%20Lt%20_With%20Chn_%20Aug%2010.pdf

WARNING: The U.S. Consulate General does not endorse or have a “special relationship” with any individual or business that offers advice or assistance with the visa process. No one can guarantee the issuance of a visa to you. The only U.S. consular office is located on the 5th floor at Tianyu. All U.S. government forms are free. Beware: Many visa applicants lose money or are permanently barred from the United States as a result of misleading information and fraudulent applications provided by visa consultants.

郑重声明：美国领事馆不认同并且不与任何个人或签证咨询机构存在“特殊关系”。没有人能够保证您的签证获得批准。美国驻广州领事部唯一的办公地点位于天誉花园二期五楼，所有美国政府提供的表格均是免费的。请注意，许多申请人由于使用了咨询机构提供的错误指引和虚假文件而导致金钱的损失或被永久地拒绝进入美国

[garfield529 47]

Yes, they exist and are there EVERY day. You have everything that you need and in order. Unless you have your own personal assistant that you hired, you do not need anyone else. Once your fiancee is inside the office on the 5th floor, the only people she will have contact with are the intake personnel and the VO. Tell her to not even make eye contact with anyone else outside of the building or in the stairwell, except the consulate personnel directing her to the 5th floor. Vultures.....

[Casprd 167]

They weren't too bad on document drop off day or on interview day or maybe we just didn't pay attention. The day before when I went to the ACS for a notary, they were definately in the lobby of the building then and annoying as hell. We went at about 3:00 then so maybe it is just more noticable when there isn't the mad Who Concert dash from the outside line to the escalator.

[birdman2010 0]

Ok thanks. Here's some additional questions:

1. How early to arrive on the interview day (for 7:30AM interview start - is 7AM ok or 6:30)?

If a person arrives at 7:30 sharp, presumably behind the mass of people already there, does that mean you'll have a later interview in the day (having to wait a long time on the 5th floor)? Is it really first come first served for the huge crowd that shows up before 7:30?

2. Is there a consulate employee either outside the building or on the first floor who directs people? Or is there just an escalator inside that leads one eventually to the 5th floor? If there is someone on the 1st floor, what are they wearing so they can be identified by legitimate interviewees?

[LBeachey 44]

Ok thanks. Here's some additional questions:

1. How early to arrive on the interview day (for 7:30AM interview start - is 7AM ok or 6:30)?

If a person arrives at 7:30 sharp, presumably behind the mass of people already there, does that mean you'll have a later interview in the day (having to wait a long time on the 5th floor)? Is it really first come first served for the huge crowd that shows up before 7:30?

2. Is there a consulate employee either outside the building or on the first floor who directs people? Or is there just an escalator inside that leads one eventually to the 5th floor? If there is someone on the 1st floor, what are they wearing so they can be identified by legitimate interviewees?

For my wife's interview, we weren't bothered much at all but I am a pretty big guy and had on my 'unfriendly' face :-) I accompanied my wife up to 4th Floor Security.

To answer your questions:

1. You have to show up the day before (the day on your interview letter) at 12:30 for document intake. There will be people there much earlier. The order they actually take people once you are inside the consulate is not first-come firs serve so the general advice is there is no reason to stand in line for multiple hours. Unless you get there by 10 AM or so, you will be in the back of the line so most recommend 11:45-12:00. The next day they start letting people in at 7:30. Again 6:45 to 7:00 is early enough. My wife was in the consulate by 8:00 AM. Again it is not first-come first-serve so being first in line is not that important.

2. You line outside the consulate on the left side (first 3-5 lines), the rest are for non-immigrant visa's. Consulate security (Chinese but in uniform with American flags) checks the beneficiary's passport and interview letter and gives you a green card. Proceed up the escalators on the left as you enter the building up to the fourth floor. Another line forms where security is again checking passport/letter/card. Once they are through there they are in the consulate. There is airport style security past there. No cell phones allowed but they can check it there or my wife just gave her cell phone to me.

[birdman2010 0]

For my wife's interview, we weren't bothered much at all but I am a pretty big guy and had on my 'unfriendly' face :-) I accompanied my wife up to 4th Floor Security.

To answer your questions:

1. You have to show up the day before (the day on your interview letter) at 12:30 for document intake. There will be people there much earlier. The order they actually take people once you are inside the consulate is not first-come firs serve so the general advice is there is no reason to stand in line for multiple hours. Unless you get there by 10 AM or so, you will be in the back of the line so most recommend 11:45-12:00. The next day they start letting people in at 7:30. Again 6:45 to 7:00 is early enough. My wife was in the consulate by 8:00 AM. Again it is not first-come first-serve so being first in line is not that important.

2. You line outside the consulate on the left side (first 3-5 lines), the rest are for non-immigrant visa's. Consulate security (Chinese but in uniform with American flags) checks the beneficiary's passport and interview letter and gives you a green card. Proceed up the escalators on the left as you enter the building up to the fourth floor. Another line forms where security is again checking passport/letter/card. Once they are through there they are in the consulate. There is airport style security past there. No cell phones allowed but they can check it there or my wife just gave her cell phone to me.

Thanks very much. So for a spouse visa it's the left side. What about K-1 (fiancée)? Since K-1 is treated in some ways as an immigrant visa I don't know if the K-1s line up outside with the spouse visa people, or in the line that's also for tourist & student visas.

[LBeachey 44]

Thanks very much. So for a spouse visa it's the left side. What about K-1 (fiancée)? Since K-1 is treated in some ways as an immigrant visa I don't know if the K-1s line up outside with the spouse visa people, or in the line that's also for tourist & student visas.

K-1's line up with immigrant visas.

[Casprd 167]

Everyone lines up together and when you get to the front of the line they will give you a green card. I believe when you get up to the fourth floor you will get the number that the VO calls. They use this same number both days so arrival time the second day doesn't matter as it won't change your number. We showed up at 12:15 the first day and at 7:30 the second day. The second day, they will split the people up based on the green sticker. and those with the sticker go in first, but it still makes no difference as they go by the number from the first day. never did figure out what that was for.

[Darnell 8,478]

eeek - the first 3 or 4 floors of that building are chock full of 'helpers', 'visa consultants' and 'immigration attornies' with a smattering of travel agents.

Mostly, anyone in the hall is a TOUT for each of the businesses - they work on commission - when they bring someone in from the corridors, they get a percentage of the fees that you've paid to the business for 'services'.

If yer lass is by herself - tell her to ignore them, as 99 percent of what they 'can do' is already covered in the instructions on all of the forms that you've submitted into USCIS/NVC/GUZ IV.

But - if she has a pink slip on interview day - ask her to roam around the travel agents stuff - get 4 or 5 quotes for the jump to usa - sometimes there is huge discount to be found there... sometimes..

Now, as yer getting closer to her interview date - I ask you review the GUZ IV red flag discussion over at http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/234971-red-flag-list-for-visa-denial/page__hl__appointment - and note it's for K-1s - but many issues are similar for spousal visas.

Good Luck !

[ifearyeti 0]

I didn't notice any vultures, just the travel agent magpies handing out brochures to everyone. There are a lot of lines and a sign in Chinese up front saying what they are for. We got in the wrong line on interview day. The uniformed chinese guy will just tell you to get in the other line. They form lines with these aluminum barricades that they shove around. There are 3 or 4 chinese guys in uniform that move things along. They yell through a megaphone and try to keep all of the lines in single file. Eventuall they will start giving people in the line cards and sending them up to the 4th floor. Another set of guards takes over there and regulates traffic between fourth and fifth floors. On document intake day my fiance remembered that she forgot her passport just as they were moving everyone from outside to the escalator. We got back about 1:10 PM and they let her up. She was the very last person to leave the immigration area that day though; 3:30 ish I think. On interview day, she came down at 10:10.

If you want to sit down in the coffee shop on the 4th floor to wait, it will cost you 49 yuan. You get a drink, but you're really paying for the chair. The matron of the place has a limp and she like to chase people out who haven't paid the 49 yuan. 2 kids work as waiters and it's funny when someone refuses to get out of a chair and they call for the old woman.

The other guy I noticed was the chubby fuzzy bossy guard. He likes to shoo small crowds of people back five or ten feet from where they were. If you're not Chinese he'll let you stand wherever. He only herds the Chinese immigrants.

The magpies must have rented out the table nearest the escalator where potential immigrants and non-immigrant visitors come out. That's where they've set up shop.

If it's raining, everyone just stand in the rain under umbrellas until the Chinese guys motion you up. They started a little late on our interview day and it was raining.

I was suprised at how many female K1 fiance visa applicants were there and how few USA male fiances. Fang thinks that most people got pink slips. She only specifically remembers one denial.

Edited July 26, 2011 by ifearyeti