VZCZCXRO2527
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHSH #0222 3560234
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 220234Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL SHENYANG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8945
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 8440
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0355
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0027
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0932
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 3237
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 2151
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SHENYANG 000222 
 
STATE FOR CA/VO, EAP/CM, EAP/PD and ECA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS PREL CH SCUL
SUBJECT: Consular Section Outreach on SAO Procedures 
 
REF: 29-MAY-2009 EAP Press Guidance 
¶1.  Summary:  U.S. Consulate Shenyang's SAO officer met with 
students, professors, and company executives at various institutions 
and enterprises in Northeast China in an effort to help them prepare 
adequately for the visa interview.  The institutions and enterprises 
were chosen for their large numbers of visa applicants and high 
percentages of applicants requiring Mantis SAOs.  Outreach materials 
were adapted from the May 29, 2009 press guidance regarding changes 
to the Visas Mantis program (Reftel).   Conoff and LES assistant 
fielded general questions about the B1/B2 and J-1 categories of 
nonimmigrant visas and received feedback on the process.  End 
summary. 
¶2. On November 24-27, 2009, Conoff conducted a series of outreach 
events at businesses and universities in Harbin, Shenyang, and 
Changchun.  Since most prior outreach events were focused on the F-1 
student visa, these talks were primarily directed toward a J-1 and 
B1/B2 audience.  The universities and research institutions that 
were visited send many professors and directors to the U.S. every 
year, either for research or educational exchange purposes.  The 
majority of these professors and directors are subject to the Mantis 
SAO, due to their backgrounds and/or purpose of travel.  Therefore, 
Conoff carefully laid out the validity periods of the various types 
of clearances and explained the Citic Bank drop-box procedure, in an 
effort to ensure that the applicants understood how they could waive 
the interview or avoid being processed for a new Mantis SAO.  During 
each of these talks, Conoff stressed the importance of applying 
early, keeping your visa valid, and bringing the necessary documents 
to the visa interview. 
¶3.  The professors and company directors were pleased with the 
shorter waiting times, which are currently around 3-4 weeks for most 
visa classes; at the same time last year, the average processing 
times were 2-3 months.  Several expressed the need for clearer 
guidance on the validity periods of the clearances and the 
relationship between the SAO process and purpose of travel and 
background of the applicant.  On the latter point, Conoff advised 
that a number of factors contribute to the decision-making process, 
and reiterated the guidance to apply early and bring all related 
documents. 
¶4. Comment: This is the first time that the Consular Section has 
conducted outreach directed toward this type of audience.  The warm 
receptions we received and the number of thought-provoking questions 
exceeded our expectations and testified to the need for this type of 
outreach in the future.  We succeeded in informing many educators 
and businessmen about the visa application process, and in turn were 
able to expand our contact base in the Consular district.  If you 
would like to use or adapt our outreach materials, please contact 
ShenyangSAO@state.gov. 
 
WICKMAN