Squonk

My mother-in-law passed her B-2 visa interview (the first time) and was awarded a 10 year visa. I am once again surprised at the ease in which a visa that I am involved with is awarded. Only 3 questions were asked. Why do you want visit the US? How long do you intend to stay? May I please see your retirement information? Although my mother-in-law brought a hefty data package, my wife's invitation to her, letter for the Consulate, I-134 with all the supporting data, copies of passports, copies GC's, marriage certificates, etc...none of this data was evaluated. The same thing happened with my wife's K1 a few years back. Very simple questions were asked with no request to see any of the data that my wife brought except for pictures of her and son together when he was a very young I helped a few of my wife's friends husbands in their preparation (complete, comprehensive data packages) and once again it turned out in the end to be seemingly overkill and unnecessary. I would not never change my approach in preparing for a visa (I have followed the advice and suggestions offered on this website), but it seems based on my experience in dealing with these visas there is something happening behind the scenes at the Consulate and that a decision has already been reached before the beneficiary reaches the window.

From the DOS DS-160: Frequently Asked Questions section: Can a third party complete the form on my behalf? Who is exempt from signing the form? If an applicant is illiterate or unable to complete the application, the applicant must be assisted by a third party. The third party must be identified on the “Sign and Submit” page of the application. While the third party can assist the applicant in completing the application, he or she must instruct the applicant on how to endorse the application on his or her own behalf by clicking the “Sign Application” button Not knowing how these interviews are conducted and what questions are asked, what is the risk that the Foreign Affairs Office will ask my mother-in-law a question concerning the above process?

I apologize for asking what could be deemed lame questions on such a straight forward process, but I and I alone am on the hook for getting the DS-160 application completed as well as rounding up all the supporting documents. And I and I alone will be held accountable if my mother-in-law's visa is denied (this was a decree, an edict, levied on me by my loving, caring wife). So with fate of the free world in my trembling hands, I want to make extra sure that I understand this process so that I minimize the chance of making a mistake that could cost my mother-in-law her visa. 1. Does the I-134 get submitted prior to or in parallel with the DS-160? Or is it submitted at the time of the visa interview? 2. Do any documents get submitted prior to or in parallel with the DS-160? Or are they all submitted at the time of the visa interview? 3. Should my mother-in-law have all the supporting documents in hand prior to officially submitting the DS-160 for processing or can they be arrive after the DS-160 is officially submitted? 4. It is my understanding that pressing the submit button on the on-line application is the official applicant signature. Can I submit (i.e. sign the application) on my mother-in-law's behalf. I do not believe she can do it herself nor will she be able to find anyone who can help her. The risk is that if there is an error message displayed or something goes wrong, no one will be able to explain it to me in a language or manner that I would understand in order for me to fix the problem. I would prefer just to do it myself, but I do not want to invalidate the application by doing so. Thank you for all your help, -Squonk

Is the I-134 a required document or a "nicety"? In either case, should the primary income earner fill it out? My wife has a job but I do not think she makes enough money that the DOS would consider adequate for support for an extended visit. If I fill it out, do I have to reference the I-134's that were submitted for my wife and son's K1/K2 visa?

Do any of the documents and/or letters from the USA (provided by my wife and I) need to be notarized?

So would my wife would create her own PayPal account and link it to her BOC UnionPay ATM account? Then I would send her money from my PayPal account and it would be deposited into her BOC account. Is that how this works?

Has anyone used Paypal to transfer money to a friend/family member in China? The Paypal website indicates that it can be done, but is very skectchy on how the person in China is able to withdraw these funds. My wife has a BOC account. We would like to either transfer funds directly to her account or send the money to one of her family members and let them deposit it. The reason i am interested in Paypal is that it appears to have very low transfer fees. Would there be fees on the BOC end when the funds were converted to RMB? Thanks, -Squonk

Thank you all for the responses. This is what I know which is not too much. My wife's friend, her husband, and her son came to the US a few years back on a Business visa. The husband returned to China and they subsequently got divorced. She stayed in the US with her son. Her son finished high school and now is a freshman at a major university. The business visa has expired, so now she is out of status. She applied for asylum for her and her son. After the application was received by the USCIS, the "clock: had started, but was stopped at the 100 day mark. i asked her why it was stopped and she did not know. She said her previous lawyer had it stopped. She wants me to contact the Immigration court and have the clock restarted. I told her that even if I knew what I was doing, which I do not, I thought it was imperative for her to find out why the clock was stopped in the first place. I do not think she was happy with this, but I told that her that I do not know what I am doing and that I could easily make a mistake that could jepardize her application. -Sqounk

My wife's friend has an active asylum petition with the USCIS. I do not know how she qualifies for asylum, all I know is that she applied. Apparently she qualified for a CA driver's license under another circumstance that apparently no longer exists. So in parallel with her asylum application she applied for an EAC, She was denied the EAC. So my wife wants me to contact the USCIS on my wife's friends behalf and ask the USCIS if they can provide documentation to facilitate the renewal of her driver's license. Looking at the list of documentation that the CA DMV accepts, I cannot see anything on the list that the USCIS would be able to provide. Assuming that the CA DMV list is not exhaustive, does anyone know if there is a document that the USCIS could provide her so that she can renew her driver's license. Thank you, -Squonk

Does anyone know how to upload music to Qzone?

I sent a package (candy, chips, gum) to my wife and son who are on vacation in China. I sent it via one of the low cost shipping services that specialize in shipping items to China. Accoriinding to this shipping service, the package has been in Chinese Customs since 7/11. How long does it usually take to clear Chinese Customs? I really hope that they get the package before they come back to the States. -Sqounk

Does anyone know how to set up a Windows Live email account so that it can receive QQ email? Tecent sent me some instructions but it was written in Hanzi. Thanks, -Squonk

Oops, sorry about the double post. I just to want have the "warm fuzzies" that my son and his mother will not go into 2ndary after they rtn to the US because the boder patrol officer is confused. My wife is bringing copies of my son's adoption order as well as his California issued Delayed Registration of Birth. And of course his US Passport.

Yes. I married his mother one month after arriving to the US on a K1. Per the USCIS requirements, both adjusted status. Both received their 2 yr GC.

Yes I married his mother 1 month after arriving to the US on a K1. Both of them adjusted status as required by the USCIS and both recv'd 2 yr GC's in 2009