Interview Successful at GUZ Consulate for CR-1

[Darnell 8,478]

ya, can actually pay this at most CITIC bank locations. must have a form, however. at least I think so.

[yunnan_couple 0]

Hi,

It seems like the DCF filing of the I-130 confused the whole process for consulate and CGI Stanley. Called someone at the consulate today and they told me follow the instructions in the email... which was to fly back to Guangzhou and pay the fee at 1:30 on the 3rd of Sept.

Any idea what form or number is needed? According to this site only NIV fees can be paid at CITIC.

Hopefully will get a response to my response tomorrow so we can make plans...

- Scott

[LBeachey 45]

Unless things have changed, they don't accept credit cards :-(. My Chinese geography is a little poor but is there another consulate closer where you can pay and then mail the receipt to GUZ?

When I DCF'd, I paid the I-130 fee in Shenyang and mailed the petition to Beijing with the receipt.

[yunnan_couple 0]

Hi LBeachey,

We are in Kunming,... I suppose we could go to Chengdu, but there is little difference in terms of flight time and prices. Guangzhou has the subway from the Airport which is nice.

I am miffed that when my wife asked after the interview about payment, he said she was all done. Did not give her any instructions to pay anything. According to this link (http://www.ustraveldocs.com/cn/cn-iv-immigrantkvisa.asp):

"All Immigrant Visa fees are payable in U.S. dollars or Chinese Renminbi (RMB) at the Consulate's exchange rate on the day of the applicant's interview. Payments may be made in cash (U.S. dollars or Chinese RMB) or "logoed" credit/debit card: Visa, Master Card, American Express, and Discover. Personal checks are not accepted. A combination of U.S. dollars and Chinese RMB will not be accepted.

Applicants who have paid their immigrant visa fee to NVC are not required to pay additional fees unless the applicant has paid only a partial amount to NVC. Anyone subject to a balance of IV fees will be informed during his or her visa interview."

我正在吐血！！！

- Scott

[LBeachey 45]

The thing to keep in mind is you likely haven't talked to an American yet, if they now accept credit cards, you would think they could fix this without a trip. I might send another email and make a direct but exact request to send credit card payment by phone/mail/email. I had some success when over there telling Chinese (in general, not necessarily with consulate) what was going to happen and not asking. I would be specific in my request that this issue be brought to the attention of a Consular official. My experience is the US officials embrace they are there to service US citizens.

You need to solve the problem for them in a way they accept. You asked them to solve the problem and they reverted to a standard procedure they understood.

Or you can get tickets to GUZ :-(

[yunnan_couple 0]

Hi LBeachey,

I basically told them that they needed to reply with a way for me to pay without having to go there. I tried to get a live person through the phone and failed. This morning all i got was someone who barely could speak English but this all before I got their crappy email telling me to go back to Guangzhou to pay the fee. After I got the email I called their 020-3814-5880 number, but even at 4:10pm nobody answered and it tried to go to a voicemail box that was not configured (extension 5075) and then hung up on me. I then called and entered extension 5XXX and got some young American lady who told me I should not be calling that number and it wasn't public and to follow the instructions in the email. I begged her to put me in touch with relevant people and explained in a calm friendly tone that I am US tax paying citizen and needed help. She hung up on me mid-sentence. I will try again in the morning and try to talk to someone who will listen to me. It seems time is ticking since September 3rd at 1:30pm will come very soon...

Any other suggestions for making contact with someone over the phone in Guangzhou?

Thanks...

- Scott

[JD & Coconut 35]

Sorry for the problems you are having, my guess is that you are going to have to make that trip. We have tried every avenue we could find to contact someone in the IV unit and they seem to have a nice big Great Wall set up to prevent any of the horde from getting to them. You could also try calling DOS though I doubt they will be of any help, still might be worth a try. Is taking a train an option for you? It is a lot cheaper than flying.

I am utterly befuddled by the complete incompetency coming from both the embassy and CGI Stanley. Just more fuel for the flames; we all need to report these issues to the IG.

[yunnan_couple 0]

JD & C,

I agree they are incompetent and it seems basically beyond reproach... It was weird after the interview my told she passed and they took her passport! We were so excited and then I asked her how much she paid in RMB for the fee. She told me she was NOT instructed to pay any fee. She asked the interviewer... "is that it, are we done?" and he said "Yes.. we are done, congratulations" and then she followed the other applicants out the door. At first, we were both excited and then began to be nervous... Her spoken english is pretty good after being with me for so many years and her comprehension is excellent (yeah we watch alot HBO!), so I a confident there was no mis-understanding on her part.

I've been in China for 9 years and ready get out.... I am probably more excited about going to the US than my wife is... I'd fly to Guangzhou ten times if I had to, to get her the visa, but it still feels wrong what happened.

Oh well... I only filed the I-130 in May 2013... so I suppose even given this i should not complain (much). Some of you folks have had to wait years for your spouses.

- Scott

[Ming 1]

Congratulations!

[LBeachey 45]

Hi LBeachey,

I basically told them that they needed to reply with a way for me to pay without having to go there. I tried to get a live person through the phone and failed. This morning all i got was someone who barely could speak English but this all before I got their crappy email telling me to go back to Guangzhou to pay the fee. After I got the email I called their 020-3814-5880 number, but even at 4:10pm nobody answered and it tried to go to a voicemail box that was not configured (extension 5075) and then hung up on me. I then called and entered extension 5XXX and got some young American lady who told me I should not be calling that number and it wasn't public and to follow the instructions in the email. I begged her to put me in touch with relevant people and explained in a calm friendly tone that I am US tax paying citizen and needed help. She hung up on me mid-sentence. I will try again in the morning and try to talk to someone who will listen to me. It seems time is ticking since September 3rd at 1:30pm will come very soon...

Any other suggestions for making contact with someone over the phone in Guangzhou?

Thanks...

- Scott

I sympathize with your frustration. The problem you are faced with while obviously they made a mistake; the fee has to be paid and the Chinese employees you are dealing with are reverting to the method they know. I am a little surprised that an American hung up on you like that, that is unacceptable. I assume the Dept of State has some form of ombundsmen that you should file a complaint with. I might also send a letter to your congressman or senator explaining the entire situation. The only outcome may be an apology if that will make you feel better.

Unfortunately, your application fell out of the normal process and GUZ is not very good at dealing with exceptions.

Sadly, you probably need to be buying tickets. Good Luck. One thing to keep in mind, this process while stressful on you is even more stressful on your wife. Being Chinese if she is anything like my wife, she will not show it. I am sure she thinks she did something wrong. I did not realize how much my wife's extended AP for CCP membership affected her until we actually got her passport with the visa, she was convinced she should have been able to fix the problem at the interview.. Try to focus on solving the problem and move on.

[yunnan_couple 0]

Hi LBeachey,

Good advice all around. While I would like an apology, I am not sure if it would be worth the work to get one.

Surprisingly my wife seems to accept that she might have to go back, and I think she took my word for it when I blame the consulate. She had the money and tried to pay. We won't have a dog sitter so I won't be going with her this time. I am more worried about her showing up at the consulate and them not knowing what she is there for and her not getting inside. There is also the possibility after she pays the fee they will behave like she didn't or not know what is happening. There is a major dis-connect between the Consulate and CGI Stanley so anything is possible.

My friend's wife was CCP and that added about 3 months to their processing times... it's no fun. She worked at Bank of China so (I think) had to be a member to work there. How long did it take for your wife to get

Likely we'll get the visa not long after this payment is made... next hurdle, getting our 90 pound doberman to Hawaii!!!

- Scott

[LBeachey 45]

The CCP took us 3 months as well. Under my profile, there is a link to the whole story. In a similar situation, my wife asked them if they needed anything else, they said No and two weeks later sent a letter asking for her resume (which she had that day) My wife was not happy and neither was I but at least we could EMS the resume and it didn't involve plane tickets.

But you are right, with DCF you are almost done while many people who filed in the States when you filed are still waiting on the I-130 approval.

Are you planning on moving to Hawaii? I believe Hawaii has some pretty strict quarantine laws and getting a dog there can be difficult? May make GUZ seem like a piece of cake :-)

[shekoujay 0]

Congratulations !! We also filed in May, but are now stuck in P4 limbo. CEAC status changed to "Ready for Interview" on July 31, but CGI still has no record of our case number, so no way to pay the fee or schedule an interview. Waiting 10 days for a reply from GUZ as to why there's been no P4 email yet. Reply from CGI: "you have no interview scheduled." No kidding !! As Darnel says, something seems to be broken. Luckily we are close to Guangzhou so i can go back and forth daily if required

[Darnell 8,478]

I wonder if another person with their own interview letter,

and a printout of Yunnan_Couple's GUZ IV reply email,

could pay for them on their own interview day.

I'll leave it to anyone reading this to step in...

[yunnan_couple 0]

Well...

Friday night here in China... despite multiple attempts to contact someone at the consulate that cared I never did. Always ended up talking to a Chinese consulate worker who told me to send an email or call a phone number with only automated systems.

My email inquiry sent on Thursday requesting payment method online or over phone was never replied to... and won't be any earlier than 9/2 which is when my wife would need to fly there to be 100% ready to make the 9/3 appointment...

Oh well... I give up. Nothing to be done except send her there with the money and the letter and hope they let her in and let her pay. I can't even consider my state of mind if she goes and is turned away...

狼心狗肺！！！