RogerJune

ON this same topic..... My LP got her mom prepped for the consulate interview in Shenyang and she apparently got approval for the visitor's visa. However, LP is telling me that the VO did not tell her mother the duration of the visa. She says they give you the duration when you arrive in the US for entry....but I thought you were required to show a round trip booking back to China?? - How do you do that if you don't know how long your visa stay is beforehand? Am I losing something in translation here? Roger

When you filed the AOS did you also file for a EAD? Many states will take a EAD card as proof of legal residency. It comes much faster than the green card. I know in CA that you take the EAD, and your passport & SSN to the DMV (plus marriage licence if you changed names) to get the permit or the State ID card. Yes I did file for the EAD together with the AOS and got the receipt for both of them. However, I called the DPS Texas today to find out whether the EAD is valid or not to get the driver's license, but was told that only green card is acceptable. I started to question whether that lady knows what she is talking about or not. Maybe she doesn't even know what EAD is?

Does anybody who are Texas residents have the same problem as me? I entered the US on 8th July of this year, and got my I-94 valid for 90 days till 6th October, which is today. I went over to the DPS of Texas in August and was told that my primary ID is not acceptable since my I-94 is only valid for 3 months, and they said the law of Texas about driving license was changed early this year. I was pissed off at first of course because I am an legal alien as I wait for my AOS. I called the DPS again today to enquire about what documents that I have to have to get the driving license, and was told to use the green card as the primary ID and Passport as the secondary. But the waiting process for green card could take about half a year. The problem here is my I-94 which is supposed to be my visa validation expires today, and in between now until I get my green card the US government still accepts that I am lawfully present in the US, but wouldn't give me any kind of documentation for proof, and that is what I need to show to the DPS to get my driving license. It's just a night mare to not be able to drive living in Texas, cuz the public transport sucks. So can anybody help on my confusion? Even in other states, you don't have the problems in getting the driver's license, but still have the same problem of having the proof of legal status on the visa. Anyway, I am just totally confused about this issue now.

We got June's SSN last week and went down to the DMV to see about getting her an instructional permit for driving in TX but they pointed out we had to have an "unexpired form I-94 with a defined expiration date: Form I-94 must have been issued for a period of at least one year and have at least six months validity remaining." On the K1 visa, you only get 90 days on the I-94. We pointed out that we are married and that according to the INS, she is in the country legally as she waits for the AOS with intention of family-based immigration. We were told we don't have acceptable identification documentation for getting her a drivers license in Texas. Oh and they said it made no difference that she had a driver's license in China. She still has to start from square one. So, it seems that the only way we can get what the DMV requires on the I-94 is if we wait out the AOS approval and get her green card or EAD right? Gosh, so she will be unable to drive for several months according to the wait times at the Texas processing office, right? That's a real hardship on us. Somebody please tell me there is an angle I am not seeing here. P.S. This is new regulation that was enacted as of March 2008 in Texas. Thanks a bunch!

June and I arrived in the States July 8th and we decided to go to our local SS Admin office on the 9th and apply for her number since we had some travel for the next week. Well, we have been waiting a month and many other couples we know already have their SO's SSNs. So, we went to the SS Administration office today and they tell us that our application is held up at USCIS. So, we call the USCIS and the young guy I talked to there said we would have to get married first and file AOS before June can apply for a SSN. We have our license but our ceremony is not scheduled until Sept 6th. I was under the impression the SSN was the first thing we should do when she arrives and it seems nobody at SS Administration or USCIS really understands what is going on. Now that makes three of us. We're going to go ahead and get married and file again with her new name and see what happens. Anyone have any advice or wisdom on this? Rog

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

Good luck! We're praying for your victory.

I thought that there was a change and the service is only available on Monday. Is that true or not? I'm getting confused on this maybe I'm not sure what ACS is compared to ACH. I'm also confused about the wait time on the visa. Some people are reporting (and Mr. Yang told us) that the wait time on the visa is taking 10- 14 days but I'm seeing on visajourney timelines (thanks to the link supplied by JeffUSC) where recently there is only a 2 day wait between the interview and visa receipt. Can anyone clear these things up for me? Our interview is June 30th and I'm going to be there with my girl for it. A 10 day delay would really screw up our planning and not very convenient since June is from way up north in Shenyang. -Roger

Reading your post made me anxious about my upcoming visit to GUz. I feel so bad for you because I know how tough it has been waiting all this time...one year....for this process to take its course. I remember how ticked off I was when June got denied for a visitor visa and all we wanted was an opportunity for her to meet my parents and family. How naive I was back then! Now, after finding CFL, I know one can be well prepared and they still don't give you due diligence. I'll pray for you guys and your patience. I'll pray that your overcome will be effective and you guys will finally be together.

Is there any other way to get your letter in front of them say..If your SO interview is scheduled on a Monday (which screws your ability to attend ACH if you don't fly in over a week early)? I also wanted to ask if there is a sample evidence of relationship letter on CFL somewhere. I can't seem to find one.

Well, I wonder what kind of trouble they will give me if we are staying with one of Junhua's former classmates in Shenzhen? I just sent off my passport for visa service and didn't put a hotel reservation on it. Crap! We just happen to have a lot of friends in China with open invitation to stay at their places. After all the comments, staying at Mr. Yang's place might be a great option as well. I tried his website link but it was a bad link. Anyone have a link for his apartment booking that works?

Another question, I have been staying in more than one city in the UK, such as London, Birmingham etc. Do I have to send request to the police station of Birmingham too? I read some related info about that before and it seems like someone suggested to get it from different cities. I thought their network is all connected, if you get the certificate from police station in London, the Birmingham one should also be notified and checked. Sorry, this question might be a little stupid.

The thing is I have already opened it to check what it is, and I have no other police clearance report still sealed now. Shall I ask for an extra copy of it to make sure it is valid? Thanks.

Another question. I just read about a message about the police report in Japan, and it said that if the report is open by anybody, then it is void. But I made teh request a month ago, and as the receiver, I have to open it to see what it is inside, otherwise, I never know what the letter is written about. It might be something about requesting some more documents from me to assist in the case. Anybody can answer whether my report is still valid or not? many thanks.

Thanks a lot for your response. It is on their stationary But I didn't see any official stamp on the letter. Also UK is not always particular about official stamp or something.