The Article 5 Letter

and the US Embassy in Guangzhou

Once you have emailed your NVC letter to your agency, they will forward it to their in-China representative.

The in-China rep will take the NVC letter to the US Embassy in Guangzhou along with your DS-230 application and Parental LOA. The US Embassy only allows representatives to drop off the paperwork on certain days.

UPDATE: Effective February 28th, 2011, pickup days will changed. Article 5s will now be picked up and dropped off on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!!! This is GREAT news for families!!! Monday will no longer be a pickup/drop off day.

Why is my paperwork going to the consulate?

The consulate needs to review your new child's visa application (the DS-230), make sure it meets the qualifications for an immigrant visa, and then signs off that everything is in order for the adoption to be completed. This is called the Article 5 letter. You cannot obtain custody of your child until the Article 5 letter is issued!

The consulate takes a standard two weeks to complete this process. If your paperwork is dropped off on a Monday, it will be picked up from the consulate by your agency rep two Mondays later.

Once it's picked up from the consulate, it will be delivered directly to the CCAA for Travel Approval!

Contacting the Consulate

• There really is NO NEED to contact the consulate, especially if your agency is good about informing you when your paperwork was dropped off and picked up. Contacting the consulate will not speed up the issuance of your Article 5 letter. I would only recommend contacting the consulate if you feel there might be a problem, your child is aging out and you wish to expedite the Article 5, or your agency is uncooperative and won't update you on the status of your documents. Please note that some agencies caution against emailing the consulate; they feel it is frowned upon by the US Embassy and can cause problems with your case or for the agency representative. Please use your own judgement when deciding to contact the consulate about your Article 5. Also take into account the guidance of your agency.

Contact Info

PHONE: 011-86-20-8121 8000

DIRECT LINE: 011-86-20-8518 7653

FAX: 011-86-20-3884 4420

EMAIL: GuangzhouA@state.gov

US Embassy Website

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