The process of documents hand-in and interview at Guangzhou

[xiaozhu 4]

Here is the process of documents hand-in and interview which happened on my interview day. Hope it helpful for you.

The Day of Documents Hand-in.

1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. At about 12:20pm, start to go inside the building. Security guards check your passport and visa appointment letter, and give you a greenblue card.

2. Get up to the fourth floor by elevator. There are security guards who check your passport and visa appointment letter again, and take away the greenblue card.

3. Get up to the fifth floor by elevator and turn right. Here is security check. Turn off all electronic devices and hand them to the guards (they will keep them for you and return them to you when you leave. You can bring purse, backpack, food, water and even luggage into the consulate). Take off your shoes and belt, and pass the security door.

4. Turn right (there is a direction sign on the wall). A person there takes away your visa appointment letter and gives you a number.

5. Be seated and wait your number to be called. The number is not called in order. It is called according to your visa type based on my observation. How do they do it? Remember they have your visa appointment letter.

6. There are 14 windows open to take documents at the beginning, then 12 and another two for fingerprint. All officers are Chinese and they speak Mandarin and Cantonese. They are nice and patient. Documents hand-in may take 5-10 minutes. Some may take more time especially for elder applicants. Besides taking-in documents, the officers also ask some questions. At the end, they give your visa appointment letter back with the number nailed on it and a stamp telling you come back for interview on the next day at 7:30am.

7. Be seated and wait your number to be called for fingerprints. Fingerprint is at window 17 and 18. After fingerprint, it is done for the day!

The Day of Interview

1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. About 7:15am, start to go inside the building. Same as the process on the day of documents hand-in and get into the consulate. The only difference is that no number is assigned.

2. Be seated and wait. About 8:30am, all stand up and swear an oath to tell the truth at the interview. Then the interview starts.

3. Wait your number be called. The number is not called in order. Applicants with little babies/children and elder applicants are called first based on my observation. It is very thoughtful!!

4. There are 8 windows open and all officers are Americans. If there is a difficulty of communication between officers and applicants, there will be a Chinese officer as interpreters. It is typically for elder applicants.

5. The interview averagely takes about 10-15 minutes. Some may take less or more time. In my case, questions they ask are point-to-point because all cases may have been reviewed before the interview and some information is collected at the day of documents hand-in. I think it increases efficiency and accuracy of the interview. If you get a blue slip and have questions, you can go to window number 30 to inquire.

Good luck with your interview!!

[Shenzhen 34]

Thank you for the synopsis! Seems pretty straight forward except for the waiting? I bet it is a really long wait, oh how long is the wait on day 2?

Edited March 12, 2011 by Shenzhen

[xiaozhu 4]

Thank you for the synopsis! Seems pretty straight forward except for the waiting? I bet it is a really long wait, oh how long is the wait on day 2?

I waited for three hours. Some waited more. When I left, still there were 60-70 applicants. Applicants with baby\children and elder get interview first. Each day about 160 people are interviewed.

[bobbyA 20]

I waited for three hours. Some waited more. When I left, still there were 60-70 applicants. Applicants with baby\children and elder get interview first. Each day about 160 people are interviewed.

xiaozhu,

Thank you for your consulate review and detail account of your observation at the consulate. This is very helpful to me and my SO.

Good luck on your administrative review. Hope you come out of it soon!

[pushbrk 13,166]

Have they changed the layout? Last time I was there, you took an escalator, not elevator to the fifth floor.

[payxibka 10,047]

moving thread to:

US Embassy and Consulate Discussion

This is the place to post your experiences or questions related to this last step before moving to the US. Topics relating to I-134's, packets sent from consulate and medical & police certificates should be posted here.

[xiaozhu 4]

Have they changed the layout? Last time I was there, you took an escalator, not elevator to the fifth floor.

Yes, it is escalator not elevator. In chinese, both are generally called Dian Ti. So I did not make a difference in English, which I should :--))

[xiaozhu 4]

xiaozhu,

Thank you for your consulate review and detail account of your observation at the consulate. This is very helpful to me and my SO.

Good luck on your administrative review. Hope you come out of it soon!

I am glad it is helpful for you. Good luck with the interview. Thanks for the wish and I hope AP could be done soon!

[moneybags 0]

What documents do you hand over on the first day, just the required documents or every piece of evidence you brought?