How to reach a human on the ustraveldocs/China help desk phone line

[Hemutian 68]

Fiancee's interview was Sep. 26. Result: approved. Told her visa would arrive in the mail in ~2 weeks. 

It's been 10 business days now, and status according to the CEAC website is still stuck on "Administrative processing". Needless to say she's starting to get really nervous that something's wrong.

 

Also, the document delivery status on the USTRAVELDOCS website has changed from "passport still at consulate" to [blank]. Not at all sure what that means. At first, though maybe that's good news, means that the passport is no longer still at the consulate, but if the passport had been mailed, wouldn't it say so under the status? Also, the CEAC status wouldn't still be stuck on "AP". 

 

Tried to call the USTRAVELDOCS/China help desk phone number to find out what's going on, as suggested by @Darnell in an old thread from 2014. In that thread, @Darnell said that it's possible to reach an actual human on that number. However, all I seem to be able to get on that phone number is the computer system, no physical human. Anyone know the sequence of numbers needed to get an actual human?

 

I've seen other users recommend checking whether her visa is still filed under "Nonimmigrant" or "Immigrant" as a sign to whether it's made any progress yet. I don't see anywhere where it actually displays this status. What I see is, on the CEAC login page, there are two choices, one for "Immigrant" and one for "NonImmigrant". When we log into the "Nonimmigrant" section, that's where we get her status as "Administrative Processing". When we try to got into the "Immigrant" section, it says there is no record of her case. Is this how you check "Immigrant" vs "Nonimmigrant" status? @samnrong suggested checking Immigrant/Nonimmigrant status on the USCIS website, but when I check the USCIS website, it still shows the latest status update as way back in May when they issued her NOA2 and shipped the case to the NVC.

 

Sorry for the deluge of questions. Hope to gain a bit of clarity going forward.

Thanks

[samnrong 52]

20 minutes ago, Hemutian said:

I've seen other users recommend checking whether her visa is still filed under "Nonimmigrant" or "Immigrant" as a sign to whether it's made any progress yet. I don't see anywhere where it actually displays this status. What I see is, on the CEAC login page, there are two choices, one for "Immigrant" and one for "NonImmigrant". When we log into the "Nonimmigrant" section, that's where we get her status as "Administrative Processing". When we try to got into the "Immigrant" section, it says there is no record of her case. Is this how you check "Immigrant" vs "Nonimmigrant" status? @samnrong suggested checking Immigrant/Nonimmigrant status on the USCIS website, but when I check the USCIS website, it still shows the latest status update as way back in May when they issued her NOA2 and shipped the case to the NVC.

Yes, this means that your visa is in the NIV unit. They've already transferred from IV to NIV and now they are getting ready to issue the visa. The status will read "ISSUED" when the Visa is issued and ready to mail.

 

Weird that you can't see the status of the passport anymore per the website. Could be a systems issue. Try checking through the email option.

 

 

I wouldn't start to worry yet. 10 business days is still within a normal processing timeframe. Maybe there is just high volume and they have a lot of visas to process.

 

 

[Hemutian 68]

12 hours ago, samnrong said:

Yes, this means that your visa is in the NIV unit. They've already transferred from IV to NIV and now they are getting ready to issue the visa. The status will read "ISSUED" when the Visa is issued and ready to mail.

 

Weird that you can't see the status of the passport anymore per the website. Could be a systems issue. Try checking through the email option.

 

 

I wouldn't start to worry yet. 10 business days is still within a normal processing timeframe. Maybe there is just high volume and they have a lot of visas to process.

 

 

Oops. I got it backwards. It's in the "Immigrant" section that I get the "Administrative Processing" message and the "Nonimmigrant" section that there is no record of the case. Which means it's still in the IV, not yet transferred to NIV. We've still got more waiting on our hands.

[Hemutian 68]

12 hours ago, samnrong said:

Yes, this means that your visa is in the NIV unit. They've already transferred from IV to NIV and now they are getting ready to issue the visa. The status will read "ISSUED" when the Visa is issued and ready to mail.

 

Weird that you can't see the status of the passport anymore per the website. Could be a systems issue. Try checking through the email option.

 

 

I wouldn't start to worry yet. 10 business days is still within a normal processing timeframe. Maybe there is just high volume and they have a lot of visas to process.

 

 

Doing the email check you suggested gets this response: "There is no status update available for the passport number submitted."

[samnrong 52]

3 minutes ago, Hemutian said:

Doing the email check you suggested gets this response: "There is no status update available for the passport number submitted."

You probably won't get an update on the passport until it transfers to NIV.

 

Not sure of the current workloads in GZ, but could just bet that they're busy. Your fiancee was given the "acceptance" letter and not given anything requesting further information. Also, as others mentioned, they would not take her passport if they needed additional info.

 

It's possible that while going through the final checks something has popped up and you'll soon get a mailed letter requesting more information, but I think this is less likely than the consulate just being backlogged and processing of visas is taking a bit longer.

 

Remember, they are not just processing K-1's, they are processing all types of visas (tourist, work, etc.).

 

For what it's worth, I called the number on the UStraveldocs website and was able to speak with an individual. Maybe just keep trying that line (I think there's only one number per the website).

[Hemutian 68]

5 minutes ago, samnrong said:

You probably won't get an update on the passport until it transfers to NIV.

 

Not sure of the current workloads in GZ, but could just bet that they're busy. Your fiancee was given the "acceptance" letter and not given anything requesting further information. Also, as others mentioned, they would not take her passport if they needed additional info.

 

It's possible that while going through the final checks something has popped up and you'll soon get a mailed letter requesting more information, but I think this is less likely than the consulate just being backlogged and processing of visas is taking a bit longer.

 

Remember, they are not just processing K-1's, they are processing all types of visas (tourist, work, etc.).

 

For what it's worth, I called the number on the UStraveldocs website and was able to speak with an individual. Maybe just keep trying that line (I think there's only one number per the website).

Thanks for the reassurance. That they're simply busy is a perfectly logical explanation. 

It just seems strange that this other girl in her Wechat group was interviewed after her, and got her status switched to Issued within just 1 day of the interview. But again, every case is different, so it's no use to compare. 

 

[samnrong 52]

6 hours ago, Hemutian said:

Thanks for the reassurance. That they're simply busy is a perfectly logical explanation. 

It just seems strange that this other girl in her Wechat group was interviewed after her, and got her status switched to Issued within just 1 day of the interview. But again, every case is different, so it's no use to compare. 

 

Exactly. Unless you hear something from the embassy I wouldn't start to worry.

[Hemutian 68]

10 hours ago, samnrong said:

Exactly. Unless you hear something from the embassy I wouldn't start to worry.

Good news.

Just tried using our AA number instead of the our case number under the "Non-Immigrant" section on the CEAC website, and this time it shows a status of "Application Received". That must mean that it's now been transferred from the Immigrant Division to the Non-Immigrant Division, which means it should switch to Issued any day now.

What a relief!

[Hemutian 68]

Visa just received.

 

Post-interview timeline:

• Aug. 26 Interview
• Aug. 27 - Sep. 5 Immigrant Division "Administrative Processing"
• Sep. 6 - Sep. 9 Nonimmigrant Division "Application Received"
• Sep. 10 Nonimmigrant Division "Administrative Processing"
• Sep. 10 Nonimmigrant Division "Issued"
• Sep. 11 UStraveldocs.com status "Origination scan" —> "Ready for Pickup"
• Sep. 12 Visa delivered to home address by EMS (cost 59 RMB)

Time from interview to visa-in-hand: 17 days (13 business days)