DV 2015 Selectees from Ghana

[Britsimon]

In his case, what was the avoidable mistake? He's not really stated why he was denied. What do we learn from this please?

It sounds like a combination of small issues. There was no one thing that caused a denial, but badly prepared documents, missing documents that prooved the education/time spent ion two countries and so on. I think the combination of a number of small issues builds up to be a bigger issue in the mind of the CO. A perfectly prepared case with one error might be considered ok, whereas someone who has a number of small errors, has failed to provide some documents, copies of documents, translations and so on might be denied. Remember, approval is at the discretion of the CO. No appeal. You have one chance to get this right and if you prepare well it will seem like a non event. But in Accra you are facing COs that are tired of cases with various mistakes and if the CO has had to deny 5 people that day, one more is not going to cause them to lose sleep so it is up to you to make sure they don't do that.

 

[aiguo]

It sounds like a combination of small issues. There was no one thing that caused a denial, but badly prepared documents, missing documents that prooved the education/time spent ion two countries and so on. I think the combination of a number of small issues builds up to be a bigger issue in the mind of the CO. A perfectly prepared case with one error might be considered ok, whereas someone who has a number of small errors, has failed to provide some documents, copies of documents, translations and so on might be denied. Remember, approval is at the discretion of the CO. No appeal. You have one chance to get this right and if you prepare well it will seem like a non event. But in Accra you are facing COs that are tired of cases with various mistakes and if the CO has had to deny 5 people that day, one more is not going to cause them to lose sleep so it is up to you to make sure they don't do that.

well said. i have learnt alot from this case. living abroad and having my interview in Ghana means i have to carry with me all necessary documents regarding my stay in the current country of resident. Although I was the one who told him the process of getting the certificate of non-criminal record, our mistake was not sharing with each other to know whether the notarize document is same.

 

[Polo4us]

thanks to all our friends from Ghana for sharing...and good luck with the visa process!

 

[USA14]

I must say I was tempted to let @EURO2014's post suffice as your response, but I decided to humor you and provide a bit of clarification. Simply listing your derivatives on your DS form is no indication of their desire to apply for a visa. The DS form is the official means of telling the embassy that the person the form is being filled or (or who is filling the form as the case may be) is putting in a formal petition to be issued with a visa.

It's such a shame that someone who is aware of this forum, and who partially participates would have ended up making such a big blunder as this!

To add to your point, which I very much "second", some members feel they have certain portions of the DV process under control and therefore don't see the need to pose questions on that, until they go for their interview and realise that what they thought they had a comfortable grasp of, is actually beyond their reach- to their surprise. Let's not think we know it all or feel certain queries might sound "so-childish" to ask or even think that what we know is superior to what others on this forum know and therefore there isn't the need to ask- certainly, those who have gone ahead of us in the DV process successfully know it better-especially our moderators. The reason we are on here is to give and take the best of advice/clarifications to benefit everyone. There were times I posed questions some might have thought it's "naive" but I knew what I was doing- leaving no stone unturned- and it paid off at the first attempt!

 

[aiguo]

@ Sm1smom,SusieQQQ, Britsimon

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/reciprocity-by-country/CH.html#policerecords-6 , it states that

Police Records
Generally available, reliable. Persons should apply for a certificate of no criminal record at the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) (or certain types of employers such as state owned enterprises), then make application to the notary office for a certificate based on the PSB document. Persons without a criminal record will be able to obtain a certificate to that effect. Certificates for individuals with one or more criminal convictions will list all convictions for which records still exist. The certificates purport to reflect all criminal convictions during residence in China. Police records are generally not available for the period prior to 1949. Certificates are available for those in the J-1, Z, and X categories. The GOC does not issue police records for temporary residents of China in L or F visa categories.


Based on koffis narration and your experience, do I need the notarised certificate of no criminal record authenticated by the Foriegn Affair Office in China? I have emailed the embassy(accra), waiting for their response.


We cannot authenticate documents that are not issued by the Department of State (US Federal Government). I assume that your non-criminal report in China was notarized by a Chinese official, correct? The best we could do is notarize an affidavit that states that you came in and swore to us that the document is real.
If you want to go that route, please see: http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/acs_notary.html
Regards,
American Citizen Services (ACS)
U.S. Embassy-Beijing

 

[SusieQQQ]

@ Sm1smom,SusieQQQ, Britsimon

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/reciprocity-by-country/CH.html#policerecords-6 , it states that

Police Records
Generally available, reliable. Persons should apply for a certificate of no criminal record at the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) (or certain types of employers such as state owned enterprises), then make application to the notary office for a certificate based on the PSB document. Persons without a criminal record will be able to obtain a certificate to that effect. Certificates for individuals with one or more criminal convictions will list all convictions for which records still exist. The certificates purport to reflect all criminal convictions during residence in China. Police records are generally not available for the period prior to 1949. Certificates are available for those in the J-1, Z, and X categories. The GOC does not issue police records for temporary residents of China in L or F visa categories.


Based on koffis narration and your experience, do I need the notarised certificate of no criminal record authenticated by the Foriegn Affair Office in China? I have emailed the embassy(accra), waiting for their response.


We cannot authenticate documents that are not issued by the Department of State (US Federal Government). I assume that your non-criminal report in China was notarized by a Chinese official, correct? The best we could do is notarize an affidavit that states that you came in and swore to us that the document is real.
If you want to go that route, please see:
Regards,
American Citizen Services (ACS)
U.S. Embassy-Beijing

Are you in Ghana at the moment? Is the above extract you quoted the relevant one for people who are not currently resident in China?

 

[aiguo]

Are you in Ghana at the moment? Is the above extract you quoted the relevant one for people who are not currently resident in China?

I am not in Ghana. the extract is for people who will need a certificate of no criminal record from China whether current resident or not. I am asking this question because koffis said the CO did not accept the certificate of no criminal record that He submitted.

 

[SusieQQQ]

I am not in Ghana, the extract is for people who will need a certificate of no criminal record from China.

So are you in China? Why are you talking about contacting the embassy in Accra then? I'm a little confused. There are very often different instructions for people who are in the country they need a police record from vs those who are no longer resident there. The one you quoted talks about local offices and makes it sound like it is for people actually in China. Are you in China now but interviewing in Accra? Or what?

 

[SusieQQQ]

Like this which is pretty different from the instructions you posted - if you read the link further up the page where it explains the notarial system in China:

Individuals residing outside of China may obtain notarial certificates from the notarial office with jurisdiction over the county of previous residence. Chinese relatives or friends may request issuance of certificates on behalf of someone now living abroad. Relatives and friends should have specific written authorization from the interested party before they request certificates. Alternatively, persons in need of notarial documents may contact the PRC Embassy or Consulate nearest to their residence abroad and ask that the request be forwarded to the appropriate notarial office. Obtaining a notarial certificate through a PRC Embassy or Consulate can require considerable time.

 

[aiguo]

So are you in China? Why are you talking about contacting the embassy in Accra then? I'm a little confused. There are very often different instructions for people who are in the country they need a police record from vs those who are no longer resident there. The one you quoted talks about local offices and makes it sound like it is for people actually in China. Are you in China now but interviewing in Accra? Or what?

I will need the certificate of no criminal report from China because i have been and still resident here for years. The extract is the requirement for getting the police records. koffis narrated from his interview that the CO did not accept his notarised certificate of no criminal record from China. Based on this that i am trying to find out whether i need to authenticate the document at the Foriegn Affair before submitting to the embassy in accra where the interview will be taking place. In the mean time, i have also emailed the embassy in Accra seeking their view on the matter. I emailed the embassy in Beijing asking whether they can authenticate the document to be used in accra which their reply was no but can offer me an affidavit if i want that. Hope you understand what i mean now

 

[SusieQQQ]

I will need the certificate of no criminal report from China because i have been and still resident here for years. The extract is the requirement for getting the police records. koffis narrated from his interview that the CO did not accept his notarised certificate of no criminal record from China. Based on this that i am trying to find out whether i need to authenticate the document at the Foriegn Affair before submitting to the embassy in accra where the interview will be taking place. In the mean time, i have also emailed the embassy in Accra seeking their view on the matter. I emailed the embassy in Beijing asking whether they can authenticate the document to be used in accra which their reply was no but can offer me an affidavit if i want that. Hope you understand what i mean now

So the short version is you are currently resident in China but will be interviewing in Accra?

Then yes you very clearly need to get the notary office to sign it. If you read higher on that page where it talks in general about documents from China it explains, as I said, how the notary system in China works and that it is different to what it means elsewhere. (I don't know what Foreign Affair you mean.) It is clear that the notary office stamp is how you prove Chinese documents are authentic - if you read the rest of that page. So what I suggest is that you print out that full page and take it with you to the interview so they can see you have followed instructions, and why they should accept the notarised version, because that is what you get from China. I'm assuming you will have all of this translated into English too as is the general requirement for documents not in English or the official language of the interviewing country. I'm not surprised the interviewing officer got confused by it, but it was poor form on their part not to check the reciprocity by country pages. (Unless of course he forgot to get an English translation?)

 

[aiguo]

So the short version is you are currently resident in China but will be interviewing in Accra?

Then yes you very clearly need to get the notary office to sign it. If you read higher on that page where it talks in general about documents from China it explains, as I said, how the notary system in China works and that it is different to what it means elsewhere. (I don't know what Foreign Affair you mean.) It is clear that the notary office stamp is how you prove Chinese documents are authentic - if you read the rest of that page. So what I suggest is that you print out that full page and take it with you to the interview so they can see you have followed instructions, and why they should accept the notarised version, because that is what you get from China. I'm assuming you will have all of this translated into English too as is the general requirement for documents not in English or the official language of the interviewing country. I'm not surprised the interviewing officer got confused by it, but it was poor form on their part not to check the reciprocity by country pages. (Unless of course he forgot to get an English translation?)

thanks for your advice on printing out the full page along. The document is translated into English language. I have done some research after koffis experience and think koffis got the right document since He notarized the document per what He has told us although my document is a four page booklet.

the issue of Foriegn Affair Office is because i read from http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/authentication2.html although it says documents to be used in USA

Authentication
Documents issued in one country and intended for use in another country must be “authenticated” or “legalized” in order to be recognized as valid in a foreign country. Authentication is the procedure by which the authority of persons who issue or execute documents in one country may be legally recognized by another country. Chinese documents issued by local Chinese authorities may be authenticated for use in the United States.

How do I authenticate my Chinese document for use in the U.S.?

• First, the document must be notarized by a local notary public;
• Next, the Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) of the provincial government which has jurisdiction over the city where the document was notarized must authenticate the notarized document;
• The Consulate will then authenticate the signature of the Foreign Affairs official.

 

[SusieQQQ]

thanks for your advice on printing out the full page along. The document is translated into English language. I have done some research after koffis experience and think koffis got the right document since He notarized the document per what He has told us although my document is a four page booklet.

the issue of Foriegn Affair Office is because i read from http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/authentication2.html although it says documents to be used in USA

Authentication
Documents issued in one country and intended for use in another country must be “authenticated” or “legalized” in order to be recognized as valid in a foreign country. Authentication is the procedure by which the authority of persons who issue or execute documents in one country may be legally recognized by another country. Chinese documents issued by local Chinese authorities may be authenticated for use in the United States.

How do I authenticate my Chinese document for use in the U.S.?

• First, the document must be notarized by a local notary public;
• Next, the Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) of the provincial government which has jurisdiction over the city where the document was notarized must authenticate the notarized document;
• The Consulate will then authenticate the signature of the Foreign Affairs official.

Hm. In your shoes, to be honest I would lean towards being overly cautious and getting it done. But then printing out the above as well. So if the CO in Accra has any questions about the notary seal, or the extra FAO one, or both, you can show why.
Incidentally is there any reason you're not doing the interview in China?

 

[aiguo]

Hm. In your shoes, to be honest I would lean towards being overly cautious and getting it done. But then printing out the above as well. So if the CO in Accra has any questions about the notary seal, or the extra FAO one, or both, you can show why.
Incidentally is there any reason you're not doing the interview in China?

Yesterday(friday) I called FAO in my city so for now, am waiting for the response from the embassy(accra). We chose Accra because per our calculation, we will be on maternity and paternity leave by then but later medical issues proved that we can not attend the interview leading to rescheduling from november to august.

 

[papa j]

Yesterday(friday) I called FAO in my city so for now, am waiting for the response from the embassy(accra). We chose Accra because per our calculation, we will be on maternity and paternity leave by then but later medical issues proved that we can not attend the interview leading to rescheduling from november to august.

Man it shall be well continue with the research. We are hoping for the best

 

[EURO2014]

Man it shall be well continue with the research. We are hoping for the best

"Interview date 8th dec( but i missed it)" - just out of curiosity: did you already get a new interview date? Sorry, if I had missed it in this thread...

 

[papa j]

"Interview date 8th dec( but i missed it)" - just out of curiosity: did you already get a new interview date? Sorry, if I had missed it in this thread...

You've missed nothing. Am still hoping to be rescheduled. The embassy informed me on 30th Jam that I have been placed on their waiting list. But till now am still waiting if only........

 

[EURO2014]

You've missed nothing. Am still hoping to be rescheduled. The embassy informed me on 30th Jam that I have been placed on their waiting list. But till now am still waiting if only........

You still have a lot of time, nevertheless I would follow up with them with a nice and friendly reminder, as and when appropriate. Best of luck to you, papa j.

 

[papa j]

You still have a lot of time, nevertheless I would follow up with them with a nice and friendly reminder, as and when appropriate. Best of luck to you, papa j.

Thanks. I do send them reminders from time to time. As you suggested just that they don't respond to such messages but will keep on sending them as you have suggested

 

[papa j]

Thowa hope you're enjoying your new environment?