Coronavirus Delays in China

[retry 1]

Hi all! First time posting here but have followed along for a while. My wife and I received notice from the NVC in early June that we are "documentarily qualified". So as I understand it, we now wait for the interview date. My only concern is what impact the coronavirus has had on scheduling in China, and at Guangzhou in particular. I've read a few things online that people's interviews were cancelled earlier this year and still have not been rescheduled.

 

Has anyone done their interview recently? Has anyone who needed to be rescheduled successfully done so? With a lot of the restrictions in China having been lifted I would assume embassy operations should be a bit smoother, but I'm anxious to know how long we might have to wait.

 

I'm also here on a visitor's visa and am applying for my second extension in hopes I can be here for the interview. I usually do visa runs to Hong Kong but with the border closure, I can't do that. If I don't get an extension I'll have to go back to the US with no idea if or when I can come back due to COVID restrictions, which is something we never planned for. 

 

Hope to hear about your experiences. 

Edited June 29, 2020 by retry

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to China regional forum.

[SoSol 27]

They may not send the package from NVC to Guangzhou consulate with a huge backlog. Cancelled CR1/IR1 interviews are slowly being rescheduled. The earliest Guangzhou consulate appointments from a few data points is happening the second week of July, these are for interviews initially scheduled in Febuary/March.

[jd_malachi 59]

Back in February the Guangzhou consulate instructed NVC not to forward them any cases until they are caught up with the cases that already there and have to be rescheduled,.  The consulate is just now reopening so it is still in phase one, which means a maximum of 40% staffing, so it will take some time.

[supportdesk 42]

22 hours ago, jd_malachi said:

Back in February the Guangzhou consulate instructed NVC not to forward them any cases until they are caught up with the cases that already there and have to be rescheduled,.  The consulate is just now reopening so it is still in phase one, which means a maximum of 40% staffing, so it will take some time.

Can you possibly cite where you got the information about them starting to re-open?

[jd_malachi 59]

My information came from my fiance, she was told the consulate is trying to start opening July 7th.  There has been no formal announcement.

[lilybells 9]

Hey all! Just wanted to let you all know that I added the official Guangzhou Consulate WeChat (which I got from the official consulate website) and spoke to someone on staff this morning. Immigrant visa services have partially reopened (I was specifically asking about CR-1/IR-1, and the person confirmed that interviews for these are beginning again - not sure about other visa types :/). Hopefully this is good news for anyone else wondering!!

[retry 1]

On 7/17/2020 at 9:16 AM, lilybells said:

Hey all! Just wanted to let you all know that I added the official Guangzhou Consulate WeChat (which I got from the official consulate website) and spoke to someone on staff this morning. Immigrant visa services have partially reopened (I was specifically asking about CR-1/IR-1, and the person confirmed that interviews for these are beginning again - not sure about other visa types :/). Hopefully this is good news for anyone else wondering!!

I also sent them an email and they confirmed they have partially resumed visa services as of July 6th.  They said the following:

 

Quote

As of July 6, 2020, U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou resumed limited immigrant visa services.  This includes case processing of spouses and children of U.S. citizens, employment-based health care professionals, children who will imminently become 21 years old, and qualified emergencies.  U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou continues to prioritize adoption visa processing.

That's good news! 

[lilybells 9]

17 hours ago, retry said:

I also sent them an email and they confirmed they have partially resumed visa services as of July 6th.  They said the following:

 

That's good news! 

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. 

 

Now just have to wait and see how long the COVID-19 interview backlog will take... 

[quibily 2]

Has anyone done any interviews this month, yet?  I'd like t to know what it's like, if there are any Covid procedures we need to know about--and just to make sure they're actually happening ...  We have an interview scheduled for September 1st and are keeping our fingers crossed.

Edited July 24, 2020 by quibily

[Justjake 23]

My wife had her interview earlier this month, a few days after the consulate opened, and she was accepted.  Currently she is waiting for her Visa.  

From what I understand, Hong Kong will open its borders on August 6th.  

It is much cheaper to fly out of Hong Kong than mainland China.

Can anyone offer any information from what they've heard?

Would she have to quarantine in Hong Kong for two weeks before flying out?

 

[quibily 2]

Thanks for letting us know!  Sorry I don't know the answers to your questions.  (I flew Shanghai to New York City.  Guess I should have looked at Hong Kong....) 

 

But please keep us updated on how long getting her visa takes, and hope it's speedy and successful!

 

Where was her interview?  Ours will be in Guangzhou.

Edited July 25, 2020 by quibily

[Constantinople 4]

On 7/25/2020 at 12:37 PM, quibily said:

Thanks for letting us know!  Sorry I don't know the answers to your questions.  (I flew Shanghai to New York City.  Guess I should have looked at Hong Kong....) 

 

But please keep us updated on how long getting her visa takes, and hope it's speedy and successful!

 

Where was her interview?  Ours will be in Guangzhou.

Do you mind sharing when your items were qualified at NVC. i am trying to figure out how long a wait to expect considering the Guagzhou consulate is just starting to reopen for limited visas. Was your visa also expedited or was it regular processing ?

[quibily 2]

6 minutes ago, Constantinople said:

Do you mind sharing when your items were qualified at NVC. i am trying to figure out how long a wait to expect considering the Guagzhou consulate is just starting to reopen for limited visas. Was your visa also expedited or was it regular processing ?

We’re kinda an unusual case because we had an interview a year ago but we were missing some documents, and Sept. 1st is our second interview.  So our file was sent to the NVC over a year ago—not during the pandemic.  Sorry.

[Constantinople 4]

1 minute ago, quibily said:

We’re kinda an unusual case because we had an interview a year ago but we were missing some documents, and Sept. 1st is our second interview.  So our file was sent to the NVC over a year ago—not during the pandemic.  Sorry.

okay thanks for the update. Wishing you all the best with your interview. Still good to know that interviews have resumed in Guangzhou.