US Consulate Citizens Hour In Guangzhou China

[Ron-n-Linlin 0]

I am here in Guangzhou, China with my fiancée for my second vacation here. Every Monday AT 1:30 PM, the US Consulate in Guangzhou has what is called Citizens hour. This is for US citizens who are working on getting their spouses, relatives or fiancée entry permits into the US. So this is the procedure and anyone that is here in Guangzhou should attend if possible because you can have all your questions answered by some very friendly US Gov't officials.

First you arrive at the US Consulate. When we got there, there were only about 20 people, but by the end there were well over 200. They open the security gate and you must show your US Passport. At this point only US Citizens are allowed past this point, so make sure you are clear on what questions you want to ask because your fiancée will not be allowed past this point.

After you pass through the first security check point, you now enter another security check point. They scan you, no laptops or cell phones are allowed past this point, but they will give you a number and once you are done you can come back and claim your items. You then enter a big waiting room where everyone sits down and after a few minutes your are directed to which line you need to go to in order to get the number they will use to call your case.

Then the wait for your number to be called starts. The bad part about this is the waiting. You have a little time to burn, so you get to hear stories around you about petitions being denied and you can hear the sadness in their voices.

Once your number is called, you go up to the windows, show your passport and you are free to ask as many questions as your heart desires. This is not like when you call the DOS where they are short and seems like they are in a very quick hurry to get you off the phone. I must admit I was a little nervous, but even now I can’t believe how friendly and patient the Consulate officer was.

I waited about 30 minutes for my turn and all my questions were answered in about 10 minutes. Considering our biggest concern at the moment is that my fiancée has not yet received her P3, but when I asked the Consulate officer, he stated that it was sent out one day before she left to come meet me in Guangzhou. I will say that he made it seem more believable than when you talk to DOS over the telephone.

If you have any furthers questions on this matter, please feel free to drop me a note on here or you may email me at ronb@infosystems.biz But I will probably not respond to any emails until I return to the US in mid Decemember. I wish everyone great luck and success.

Regards,

Ron

11/26/2007 @ 6:45 PM Chinese Time

[Brian & Kathy 0]

Thanks for sharing. That's very interesting and I'll have to keep it in mind.

[Ursa Tripudio 2]

That is a nice description of the Citizens Hour. Much appreciated!

I'm hoping for no questions and no problems, (like everyone). But, from what I've read, you can never be certain until it's over.

I'll be there this summer. If I do need to talk to a VO, it's nice to know what to expect.

[dan0321 0]

  Richard and Li said:

That is a nice description of the Citizens Hour. Much appreciated!

I'm hoping for no questions and no problems, (like everyone). But, from what I've read, you can never be certain until it's over.

I'll be there this summer. If I do need to talk to a VO, it's nice to know what to expect.

hello, you sent your p-3 back about the same time we did, do you have any idea how long for the p-4 and interview time? thanks dan

[Rob & Jin 0]

Its actually at 3pm now .

[Rob & Jin 0]

  dan0321 said:

  Richard and Li said:

That is a nice description of the Citizens Hour. Much appreciated!

I'm hoping for no questions and no problems, (like everyone). But, from what I've read, you can never be certain until it's over.

I'll be there this summer. If I do need to talk to a VO, it's nice to know what to expect.

hello, you sent your p-3 back about the same time we did, do you have any idea how long for the p-4 and interview time? thanks dan

check this out for recent timelines.

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29846