June and Roger get the PINK 6/30/2008!

[RogerJune]

CFL Friends,

 

Let me start by saying that the resources on CFL and the assistance from others has greatly contributed to our success with getting a PINK on the interview. Jeff and JianLi made a comment about how unprepared others who obviously had no CFL support seemed to be and we now realize how essential the kitchen sink list and the list of 100 questions was to June's performance. Thanks to everyone for prayers, support and giving us direction along the way.

 

We stayed at Mr. Yang's place and we are still hanging around Guangzhou for June's visa. I've stayed in rooms all over China and not many that match the standard of the typical American so I'll leave it at that. I think the real value in Mr. Yang's place is certainly the location, his assistance and wisdom he provides. He helped us with logistics, sightseeing, printing paperwork and also came and escorted us from the train station. We also shared a room with some other people petitioning for K1's and made some great friends from June's home province.

 

Now to the good stuff....June will relate her experience from the interview day:

 

We got up around 6 O'clock, and Mr. Yang suggested there is no need to go and line up in front of the gate too early since the order of the interview has nothing to do with the order of the line. We showed up around 7:15am and queued up in the left lines. Not long after, I was given a number at the gate and allowed in the building. Roger accompanied me and took the escalator up to the 4F, and I continued to go up to the 5F of the US Consulate office area by myself. Then I sat down in the waiting area to wait for my name to be called. The Chinese staff are then busy opening up the sealed envelope for each applicant before before 9:00am. The VOs are showing up around that time. After the Chinese staff has checked the envelope, she gave me a number which is the actual interview number. Then I returned to my seat and wait for the number to be called to have the fingerprint done in other windows. I observed that some VOs already started the interviews while others still waiting their names to be called. Around 9:00am, one of the officers called up all in the hall to stand up to make the vow both in Mandarin and Cantonese. I only waited for about 20 minutes, then my number was called. My VO is a very young looking white girl, but very serious looking. Here is how the interview went:

 

VO: ÄãºÃ£¡

Me: Good morning!

VO:Can I have your passport please?

Me:Yes sure. Here is my fiance's passport too, he is waiting downstairs for me.

VO: Thank you!

VO:May I have your middle finger print?

Me:This one?

VO:Yes.

VO:How did you know each other?

Me:We met online.

VO:Which website?

Me:chineselovelink.com

VO:When did you start to know each other?

Me:We first contacted and sent email to each other on Nov 14th, 2006.

VO:What does he do for a living?

Me:He is a sales manufacturers representative for Meixia International in Xiamen. He actually has stayed in Xiamen for half a year before we knew each other.

VO:Where does he work?

Me:He works from home.

VO:When did you first meet with each other in person?

Me:He actually flew to Beijing on Feb 19th 2007, but came to Shenyang on Feb 20th 2007, and I went to pick him up from the Shenyang airport.

VO:How many times did he come to China?

Me:First time was in Feb, 2007 and second time was in Sep to Dec 2007.

VO:How come he stayed for three months if he has a job to do?

Me:Actually before his second trip to China, he was with another company, Dr. Pepper. But he quit that job, that's why he could spent so long time with me. He only got his new job with Meixia from Jan this year.

VO:I see (nodded)

VO:Did you know that he was married when you first knew him?

Me:Yes I did, but I was also aware of that he was going through the divorce process then.

VO:Do you know why your fiance got divorce with his ex?

Me:Yes. He and his ex were actually separated long before back in 2005. They have different faith, and his ex also had outside marriage relations. His ex first filed the divorce in June 2006, but he found that it was way too expensive and got another attorney to do it for cheaper. Then he re-filed the divorce in Oct 2006, and that's why the divorce was dragged too long till Feb 13th, 2007, just before he came to China to visit me.

VO:Do you have any financial support from your fiance?

Me:Yes sure. I have also got his father as the co-sponsor, so here are both of the documents. But actually, he and his father have the same name, he is junior and his father is senior. Please take a notice of that.

VO:Yes I understand. (nodded)

VO:Does your fiance have any pay stubs?

Me:Yes, it is on the second part of the document. Flip over please.

VO:What does his father do?

Me:He works for the transportation industry.

VO:Do you know where your fiance studied?

Me:Yes. John Brown University Arkansas.

VO:Why did he stay in Xiamen?

Me:Because as part of his marketing course, he needs to study in Xiamen university for half a year.

VO:So your fiance can also speak some Chinese?

Me:Yes.

VO:Where did you study your English?

Me:English was my major in the university, and then I went to the UK and lived there for four years.

VO:What do you do for a living?

Me:I am a hotelier.

VO:Hm? (seemed to be puzzled)

Me:oh, I am the personnel manager at the InterContinental Shenyang.

VO:I see. (The VO typed something on her computer and went to look for the slip in her drawer)

VO:Ok, here you go, your visa is approved. Good luck to you in the U.S.! Please go to the counter for the package.

Me:Thank you very much!

 

I think we took the 20 folder approach! On the day prior to the interview, we condensed documentation from both our collections and practiced calling for various documents. We also reviewed questions that might be asked to make sure she was ready. One thing that we did was to separate my father's financials from mine in two different folders, partly because of the potential confusion with JR> SR but also just in case they only wanted to see the co-sponsor file alone. June had spent 5 months putting together an awesome scrapbook with photos, accoutrements and her personal touch but it was never requested. I can't wait to show it to my family in a couple weeks.

 

P.S...Anyone coming to Guangzhou in the near future should know there is no internet at Mr. Yang's. You can walk right across the street to Starbucks for free internet (with a coffee), the subway terminal is close by and there is a sweet XinJiang restaurant on the block behind the apartments.

 

Best Regards from Pinksville!

 

Roger and June

Edited July 1, 2008 by RogerJune (see edit history)

[Corbin]

Congrats..........

Great account of what happened at the interview.........

[Jay & Ping]

Welldone! and Congratulations. Wishing you a smooth journey to the US.

[yemmie]

Congrats!!! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

[Jing Quan]

Wow, so many questions, and the answers were perfect. Congrats.

[b.c]

Congrats to both of you! And many thanks for the detailed report. We have interview tomorrow and we have some similarities in our cases.

 

FYI, Mr. Yang does have business rooms available with internet access. I am on the internet now in the room as I type.

 

Ditto to your comments about Yangs. The true value here is the knowledge and advice of the Yangs and their gaciousness to help if the need arises. They are truly an asset.

[DongDong]

Congratulations, Roger and June... excellent news and thank you for sharing! Very detailed, indeed. Best of luck on the rest of your journey...

David

[tsap seui]

That is great news Roger and JUne. I'm very happy for you both.

 

Great report June!!

 

My fiancee is from near Shenyang...those northern women are the BEST!!

 

tsap seui

[Guest Rob & Jin]

CONGRATULATIONS

 

[AmyAndDoug]

That is great news Roger and JUne. I'm very happy for you both.

 

Great report June!!

 

My fiancee is from near Shenyang...those northern women are the BEST!!

 

tsap seui

Congratulations, Roger and June!

 

I'm from near Shenyang, too. Thanks - tsap seui~ =P

 

The 1 bedroom apt I rented from Mr. Yang did have internet, just needed to plug in the cable into your laptop. If any problem, his wife is better in IT to help. =)

[Guest Mike and Lily]

That is great news Roger and JUne. I'm very happy for you both.

 

Great report June!!

 

My fiancee is from near Shenyang...those northern women are the BEST!!

 

tsap seui

Congratulations, Roger and June!

 

I'm from near Shenyang, too. Thanks - tsap seui~ =P

 

The 1 bedroom apt I rented from Mr. Yang did have internet, just needed to plug in the cable into your laptop. If any problem, his wife is better in IT to help. =)

 

Congratulations!

[Reddragon75]

CONGRATS TO YOU BOTH!

 

It makes me happy to find out when a couple gets the visa approved.

I enjoyed reading June's account of the interview. It was very interesting and could prove to be helpful to me and my SO in the future.

[rogerinca]

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

 

Best wishes to you both !!!

 

'Circling GUZ' has brought forth a lot of PINK !!!

[jim_julian]

Congratulations to you both!

 

 

... and, FYI, I was in a non-Internet room at Mr. Yang's but there was an unprotected wireless signal I was able to latch on to. (Yes, there are security issues when you do that.)

[IllinoisDave]

I've stayed in rooms all over China and not many that match the standard of the typical American so I'll leave it at that. I think the real value in Mr. Yang's place is certainly the location, his assistance and wisdom he provides.

 

Very tactfully put. And very true.

 

Congratulations on the PINK!

And thanks for the detailed debriefing. Sounds like you both were very well prepared. Great job!