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Coronavirus Delays in China

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retry Newbie

retry   1

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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 by retry
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Ryan H Grand Master

Ryan H   3,810

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: China
 Timeline
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Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to China regional forum.

Our journey:

Spoiler

September 2007: Met online via social networking site (MySpace); began exchanging messages.
March 26, 2009: We become a couple!
September 10, 2009: Arrived for first meeting in-person!
June 17, 2010: Arrived for second in-person meeting and start of travel together to other areas of China!
June 21, 2010: Engaged!!!
September 1, 2010: Switched course from K1 to CR-1
December 8, 2010: Wedding date set; it will be on February 18, 2011!
February 9, 2011: Depart for China
February 11, 2011: Registered for marriage in Wuhan, officially married!!!
February 18, 2011: Wedding ceremony in Shiyan!!!
April 22, 2011: Mailed I-130 to Chicago
April 28, 2011: Received NOA1 via text/email, file routed to CSC (priority date April 25th)
April 29, 2011: Updated
May 3, 2011: Received NOA1 hardcopy in mail
July 26, 2011: Received NOA2 via text/email!!!
July 30, 2011: Received NOA2 hardcopy in mail
August 8, 2011: NVC received file
September 1, 2011: NVC case number assigned
September 2, 2011: AOS invoice received, OPTIN email for EP sent
September 7, 2011: Paid AOS bill (payment portal showed PAID on September 9, 2011)
September 8, 2011: OPTIN email accepted, GZO number assigned
September 10, 2011: Emailed AOS package
September 12, 2011: IV bill invoiced
September 13, 2011: Paid IV bill (payment portal showed PAID on September 14, 2011)
September 14, 2011: Emailed IV package
October 3, 2011: Emailed checklist response (checklist generated due to typo on Form DS-230)
October 6, 2011: Case complete at NVC
November 10, 2011: Interview - APPROVED!!!
December 7, 2011: POE - Sea-Tac Airport

September 17, 2013: Mailed I-751 to CSC

September 23, 2013: Received NOA1 in mail (receipt date September 19th)

October 16, 2013: Biometrics Appointment

January 28, 2014: Production of new Green Card ordered

February 3, 2014: New Green Card received; done with USCIS until fall of 2023*

December 18, 2023:  Filed I-90 to renew Green Card

December 21, 2023:  Production of new Green Card ordered - will be seeing USCIS again every 10 years for renewal

 

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SoSol Apprentice

SoSol   27

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: China
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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.

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jd_malachi Contributor

jd_malachi   59

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (pnd) Country: China
 Timeline
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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.

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supportdesk Apprentice

supportdesk   42

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: China
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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?

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jd_malachi Contributor

jd_malachi   59

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (pnd) Country: China
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Posted

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

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  • 2 weeks later...
lilybells Apprentice

lilybells   9

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Chile
 Timeline
Posted

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!! :)

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retry Newbie

retry   1

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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! 

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lilybells Apprentice

lilybells   9

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Chile
 Timeline
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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... 

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quibily Contributor

quibily   2

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa (DCF) Country: China
 Timeline
Posted (edited)

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 by quibily
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Justjake Contributor

Justjake   23

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Timeline
Posted

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?

 

Getting married February 2019 prior to filing I-130

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quibily Contributor

quibily   2

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa (DCF) Country: China
 Timeline
Posted (edited)

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 by quibily
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Constantinople Rookie

Constantinople   4

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: China
 Timeline
Posted
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 ?

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quibily Contributor

quibily   2

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa (DCF) Country: China
 Timeline
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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.

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Constantinople Rookie

Constantinople   4

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: China
 Timeline
Posted
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. 

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