Leaderboard

Here is the process of documents hand-in and interview which happened on my interview day. Hope it helpful for you. I will post my interview details later. The Day of Documents Hand-in. 1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. At about 12:20pm, start to go inside the building. Security guards check your passport and visa appointment letter, and give you a greenblue card. 2. Get up to the fourth floor by elevator. There are security guards who check your passport and visa appointment letter again, and take away the greenblue card. 3. Get up to the fifth floor by elevator and turn right. Here is security check. Turn off all electronic devices and hand them to the guards (they will keep them for you and return them to you when you leave. You can bring purse, backpack, food, water and even luggage into the consulate). Take off your shoes and belt, and pass the security door. 4. Turn right (there is a direction sign on the wall). A person there takes away your visa appointment letter and gives you a number. 5. Be seated and wait your number to be called. The number is not called in order. It is called according to your visa type based on my observation. How do they do it? Remember they have your visa appointment letter. 6. There are 14 windows open to take documents at the beginning, then 12 and another two for fingerprint. All officers are Chinese and they speak Mandarin and Cantonese. They are nice and patient. Documents hand-in may take 5-10 minutes. Some may take more time especially for elder applicants. Besides taking-in documents, the officers also ask some questions. At the end, they give your visa appointment letter back with the number nailed on it and a stamp telling you come back for interview on the next day at 7:30am. 7. Be seated and wait your number to be called for fingerprints. Fingerprint is at window 17 and 18. After fingerprint, it is done for the day! The Day of Interview 1. Get into a line in front of the building where Guangzhou Consulate locates. About 7:15am, start to go inside the building. Same as the process on the day of documents hand-in and get into the consulate. The only difference is that no number is assigned. 2. Be seated and wait. About 8:30am, all stand up and swear an oath to tell the truth at the interview. Then the interview starts. 3. Wait your number be called. The number is not called in order. Applicants with little babies/children and elder applicants are called first based on my observation. It is very thoughtful!! 4. There are 8 windows open and all officers are Americans. If there is a difficulty of communication between officers and applicants, there will be a Chinese officer as interpreters. It is typically for elder applicants. 5. The interview averagely takes about 10-15 minutes. Some may take less or more time. In my case, questions they ask are point-to-point because all cases may have been reviewed before the interview and some information was collected at the day of documents hand-in. I think it increases efficiency and accuracy of the interview. If you get a blue slip and have questions you can go to window number 30 to inquire. Good luck with your interview!!

Unkie Chop Suie is right..ya gotta kiss it to break tha ummm... smell...spell and make it sexy!!!! http://i49.tinypic.com/2uivec0.jpg

On a little bit more serious note, when I look at his fat face, and think of the starving common people in N. Korea, I am sad. If only leaders (in all countries) had to bear some portion of the pain the common people bear, the world would have better leaders.

Another early topic, still pertinent - Chinese Characters accurate?

The I 751 is mostly about proving it is still a valid marriage. Things like joint bank accounts, mortgage or rental agreement in both names, mail received at the same address, credit cards in both names, statements from friends etc etc. For instance I showed bank statements from when we were first married along with ones current when we filed,

I agree with this assessment whole-heartedly, especially as it relates to tones. My tones may not be 100% absolutely perfect, but I've still become fluent, and as you said, through context 95% of what is being said is still clear based on context. Tones are also not needed when reading/writing/typing characters, etc. Environment is extremely important, try and surround yourself with Chinese speaking, be it talking with your significant other, being around Chinese friends/family, watching TV, etc. I've become fluent in Sichuanese just by listening to my significant other talk on the phone with friends/relatives back in Sichuan for about an hour each day for the past 2 years. For the beginner, even you don't understand what is being said, you're being desensitized to the "foreign-ness" of the language, and then slowly but surely over time it will become less foreign, and one day, it will click and everything will become clear. Also, if you need any music recommendations, please let me know! Be it ska, rockabilly, death metal (not my cup of tea), rocknroll, punk, etc. I'm deeply involved with the Chinese music scene. 加油！

Dear Candleforlove, I have been helped by you, now it's my turn to return the favor. If you look at my signature, it will give you a general outline of our process. I am an English teacher in China who has a wonderful Chinese wife. 1. I first payed the I-130 fee in Shanghai where I live, but now I think one must go to Beijing to pay if they are filing a DCF. That was in August of 2011. I prepared the following and sent it on December 26th 2011 with my I-130 (my wife became pregnant so we waited a while before mailing the I-130). This is the table of contents: 1. Receipt of payment for I-130 2. Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative 3. Copy of unexpired passport and all pages (petitioner) 4. Form G-325a (petitioner) 5. Passport sized photo (petitioner) 6. Form G-325a (beneficiary) 7. Passport sized photo (beneficiary) 8. Copy of US birth certificate (petitioner) 9. Copy of valid US driver's license and Social Security card (petitioner) 10. Evidence of a Bona Fide marriage: Copy of notarized translated marriage certificate (petitioner and beneficiary) Copy of Chinese marriage certificate (petitioner and beneficiary) Relationship overview Copy of coinciding flight tickets (petitioner and beneficiary) Copy of coinciding visas (petitioner and beneficiary) Copy of coinciding entry/exit stamps (petitioner and beneficiary) Photos of us throughout the years including wedding photos (petitioner and beneficiary) 2. We received a Notice of Approval of Relative Immigrant Visa Petition, form OF-169, form DS-230 and form I-864 from USCIS on March 10th, 2012. 3. Gathered all documents needed as stated in form OF-169 4. Mailed forms OF-169 and DS-230 (both parts) on June 11th, 2012. (note our son was born during this time so we delayed everything for about 2 months) 5. Received an email from Guangzhou on June 21st, 2012 as an appointment letter. The appointment was for July 18th, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. 6. Had the medical check done in Shanghai (the city we live in) on July 3rd, 2011. We had to bring the appointment letter, a copy of my wife's passport bio page and six US passport sized photos. Received the results of the health check a week later. 7. Prepared the following documents to give to the consulate (my table of contents): Copy of wife's passport bio page Six US passport sized photos Notarized marriage certificate Notarized birth certificate Notarized Chinese and Korean police reports Copy of my passport bio page I-864 (mine) Three year's of tax 1040s (mine) Letter of Salary from current company My bank statements (US and Chinese accounts in English and in USD) Copy of father's passport bio page I-864A (father's) Three year's of tax 1040s (father's) Relationship overview (letter) Coinciding visas and entry/exit stamps My Chinese Residence Permits Photos US Consular Birth Certificate of our son Copy of son's passport bio page Copy of valid driver's license My property deed in the US 8. Went to interview on July 18th, 2012 and my wife was finger printed, filled out a EMS delivery slip with our address in China. She then signed part II of the DS-230 and handed in the following documents: Copy of wife's passport bio page Six US passport sized photos Notarized marriage certificate Notarized birth certificate Notarized Chinese and Korean police reports I-864 (mine) Three year's of tax 1040s (mine) Letter of Salary from current company My bank statements (US and Chinese accounts in English and in USD) I-864A (father's) Three year's of tax 1040s (father's) 9. Returned at 7:30 a.m. on July the 19th 2012 for the interview. She was asked the following questions (less than 2 minutes): Where did you and your husband meet? When did you get married? How long have you been working and living in China together? Does your son have a US passport? How long did you stay in America on your B1 (visitor's) visa? 10. Handed her a white page saying congratulations and she would get the visa in a week. So, that was the entire process for us. I think we were blessed to have everything go so smoothly. So for all you other DCF'ers, good luck.