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Update: Naturalization approved! The officer commented that since it was over 10 years ago, there were no issues. Not even any questions about it — the reason, how quit, etc. He just examined the case notes from the 2020 interview, and said now it’s approvable. No requests for evidence. Thank you all for your guidance and encouragement!

I only have one worry in your response and that is that, yes my wife and yours under current SS laws can draw our SS account after we die...But the government has to look for ways to restore the entire SS system to solvency and what if one of those ways will be to cut off payments to non citizens and non permanent residents not living in the US...That, of course, is unknowable today...😶 Thanks very much for your responses...It is most appreciated....

Good afternoon everyone, joined CFL Nov 27, 2000. My wife and I have been married for 21 years now. K-1 visa. CFL had just started and we were all delayed due to 9/11. Many extra background checks and stressful on relationships. But most of us made it through the process. Be sure to share you experiences with each other and think positive.

Today, my wife became a naturalized US Citizen. 10 years and 2 kids later, her journey is now complete. I want to thank everyone on this site for all the assistance provided. This place is truly a gem and we'll be forever thankful! Cheers, John

Wife made it it back after 3 years of covid flew in JFK she was prepared had joint tax forms. Medical papers etc. She said they didn't ask too many questions or anything. and she didn't have to show the paperwork.

Always good to see you back in action Randy, hope all is good

Probably for the best tbh. I don't blame him for the "short grieving period" people are hammering him about. We lost my uncle to cancer some years ago, he died two years after being diagnosed. My aunt said that with his cancer, the grieving started the day he was diagnosed, not the day he passed away. Though publicly advertising yourself as "fairly well off" is probably not the best idea... 😬 Really hope things go well from him though I do think it'll be pretty slim pickings in Nanning with his zero Chinese ability.

Hello. Time to say. Happy New Years! Wishing everyone a great day. And a great Year. Happiness and a heathy and good life! Danb n

Haven't seen this here, but this story blew up in the past day or so: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1858438/fury-china-tourists-pianist-filming-row The video is here: What an embarrassment.

Good video. $500-2500/month in YouTube ad revenue. Another $500ish/month from Patreon. Plus some product promotions/tourism videos/junkets at $1-3k/each, and some other odds and ends like Buy Gweilo a Beer, direct donations via YouTube, and some small amounts of ad revenue from Chinese social media. Wouldn't put him the top 1% in the US, but definitely makes for a very nice living in Nanning, especially since he owns a home and doesn't have to worry much about healthcare, rai$ing kids in China, etc.

Awesome to hear Randy - there's no better feeling than getting back home after a hospital stay. Take care of yourself

Well I'm back home - still with the catheter. I guess they wanted the beds, but did say that I can go anywhere to get it removed. The (endoscopic) prostate surgery was Monday, today is Thurs.

Gweilo60 back on the streets in China: Couple of thoughts that came to mind: Hope he expedites his Mandarin learning, because getting stuff done on a daily basis is incredibly difficult in a city like Nanning without a Chinese spouse. I'm getting interesting vibes about the house situation. Seems like his the family is already trying to drive the situation (e.g. what to do with her remains, suggesting the house be turned over to his brother in law, etc.) The last thing I'd ever want to deal with is an inheritance in China. I've seen sibling relationships torn apart over 20k RMB as part of an inheritance. I've heard of judges being paid off. Foreigners getting screwed in favor of a Chinese national is also not uncommon. My wife specifically told her parents that she doesn't want anything and that her sister can take it all. Gweilo should be prepared to get screwed over and ready to find a rental, despite being totally in the clear. Hopefully it doesn't happen, but the chance ain't 0%. Wonder if Gweilo ends up moving to a different city. My wife is from a city similar to Nanning and while it's fun to be there with her for a couple weeks, there's just not that much to do as a single foreigner. Especially since Gweilo is functionally a tourist in Nanning and not working or going to school. I would much rather live in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Shanghai or even other smaller cities like Chengdu, Suzhou, etc. Maybe even branch out to Hong Kong or Bangkok. Once he has time to heal, it'll be interesting to see where he goes.

You should be 100% fine. In fact, you should have been fine during your first interview since her case clearly meets one of the exemptions. This is the big reason why we always took an attorney with us to any USCIS interview - not because we weren't sure, but to make sure the USCIS interviewer was fully aware. Wasn't an issue at all in either her I485 or N400 interview.

Hello, Yes, I am in China now. It was a very long trip from the east coast. A couple of long layovers. I flew United and Air China. Cost rt was $2010 I think. A bit higher than what I used to pay. I am very happy to be here but had some problems with phone, computer, ATM and my leg. I am addressing them as I can and as I go. Some of the problems are my fault. I was a rush and didn't plan well enough. One issue is the the ATM. I am able to use my B of A ATM card at a big B of C that might be the main branch downtown in the old part of city. I was able to withdraw 2500 RMB. And I was even able to use my B of A mobile app to access my account. My credit Union is a different story. Same B of C, same day, and same time. I could only take out 1000 rmb. The ATM would not let me take out 2500 rmb, they said due to insufficient funds. Now that is not true , because payday was the day before. But I said ok, let me check my account. I couldnt/ and now cant check it on my mobile or my computer. The first reason is because my credit union said that China is blocked. I got that notice from them three day after I got here. Also I was warned not to even to try to sign into my account or my profile may be locked. I sent them an email about this situation and all they did was to repeat that they blocked China from their site. I am aggravated with my credit union. In less than 5 days of leaving for China I visited my CU twice. I told them that I was going to China for a month. They took down my travel plans. They said that I was all set. I went back the day before I left for China and took out more money. Sent some money to my Lao Po. And got some extra cash due to some good recommendations made here. I should be ok but will need to watch my spending a bit. I am going to try to talk to and access my CU account but that will be another story. I am happy to be here. The weather is fairly nice. It is supposed to be nicer in the next ten days. Most of the time it is overcast or I think smoggy. Well time to go. I hope all are doing ok. Danb

Hello. You said, "Attitudes toward China in America have changed, but as far as I know, the attitudes of the Chinese people toward Americans have not changed so much." I am very glad to hear that. Three year ago, I was able to use my credit card for most hotels that I stayed at. I also my used credit card at the travel agency in the hotel. If I cant use them now then I will adjust how things get pay. My laopo has a credit card. Not sure what her limit is. Attaching a credit card to We chat is something I will explore. I read the VPN post and also the links that you posted in there. Thank You for posting them. I can't easily change plans, I bought my tickets already and have already made some travel arrangement. I will just have to be careful. I will bring some extra cash. To be truthfully if we have to I am okay with just hanging out at home with my Lao po. Just stay local. I will have more than enough cash to do that. It should be very good to be back in China for a visit. Danb

Wonder if this could be part of the "immunity debt" - China was on lockdown, hyper-sterilized, super-masked for years, and normal illnesses are now re-appearing and running their course. The US had massive issue with RSV fall/winter 2022 after everything opened up, and smaller kids were hit the hardest.

Thank You for the reply. I am going to get a VPN app. I went to the bank and my credit union yesterday. I wanted to notify them that I was traveling to China and would be using my debit and credits cards over there. They said that a VPN would probably be necessary to access my account over there. My credit union wasn't sure if there was a good number to contact them if I wanted to contact them when I was over there. Bank of America said that the first time I used a Bank of America card in China that I would probably get a text message about verification to my American phone and I would have to reply to them on my America phone. I normally don't use my US phone when I am in China. I have AT&T. I think they are expensive to use in China. DanB

That makes sense. Thank you as always for the tremendous amount of guidance you give!

It's generally a pretty complicated topic. Even inheritances among US citizens can be tricky - adding another of layer of non-residents/non-GC holders/non-citizens further muddies things up. Estate attorneys make their big bucks on these types of cases, not straightforward wills. There are several posts on other groups and forums (like VisaJourney) about this. I remember seeing a post where someone got a massive tax bill from the IRS for adding his wife to the deed of a house he had already paid off pre-marriage. I don't think she was even a green card holder and they blew way past the gift exemption for non-citizens. Not sure what actually ended up happening, whether they fought it, or ended up paying it. One reason why my wife naturalized was so we can avoid all of these issues.

Li has been in touch with the PSB in Hunan and Hainan and this is what she found out...For her to become a USC before we return to China is not a problem...We would just both have to get Q visas to enter...Then off to Hunan where they would issue what? a residence permit of some kind, and it would be for 1 or 5 years, a bit odd that choice but whatever...But in 2067 she will be 60 and then it becomes permanent...Or so they say... Since she owns houses in Hunan and Hainan we can reside in either province...If we hadn't bought the Hainan place before then that would not be an option...For several years now only Hainan residents could buy in Hainan but that may change with this 2025 opening up...

I believe SS to be mathematically and actuarially sound - just not politically sound. It's not SUPPOSED to turn a profit. Think about it - every dollar it takes in is immediately one dollar's worth of debt - a debt owed not just to the wage earner, but also their dependents. It is "insolvent" from the get-go, but as long as the politicians don't try to change the formulas, it will do just fine. The formulas are adjusted every few years as necessary. I will break even on my SS investment (including the employers matching share) in the next year. A good investment in my book, even though I would have preferred to invest the money myself - I don't have any objection there at all. I've been drawing SS checks for almost 10 years now with VERY little to nothing in the way of COLA, but still a reasonable return on my investment. Taxing billionaires to try to "close the gap" would MASSIVELY increase the debt. Think about having to fund retirement for those guys with 5 and 6 figure MONTHLY checks. Taxing them without providing benefits would likewise not be politically viable. But no, Jiaying is NOT eligible to draw on my SS since she did not reside in the US for the 5 year minimum. I didn't realize that at the time, but I'm still not sure if that would have been 5 years after getting her green card (her green card was delayed by three years by a fingerprint snafu - the City of Houston didn't like her fingerprints since she still has a meat cleaver scar from her youth).

Hainan is the only province I'm going to...Li does have 2 places in her home province of Hunan but I would only stay short term there...Hunan is just as hot as Hainan in the summer but is cold in the winter...Her family and friends can come to Hainan to visit any time, we'll have 2 guest bedrooms...We've just spent the last 10 years wintering in Florida so freezing again is not an option...🥶

My wife ended up filing earlier than she planner and actually had her interview last week - the CPC issue barely came up! She has her naturalization ceremony this coming week. I was shocked at how fast the process was. She applied mid-September. Got the interview notice 3 weeks later. Interview was early November (last week) and the naturalization ceremony is next week! That's 2.5 months from submitting the N400 to the oath ceremony!

As an update, my wife had her interview in March and they just confirmed that in her case she just joined for school and that was that. Pretty quickly approved and had her naturalization as part of a big group in may.

I haven't followed him for close to a year now but I just took a look at his recent videos. Looks like they took a short trip to China between May and August (roughly) this year. If I had to guess (and I hate to speculate), his wife's prognosis was not great and they took one final trip together while still able to. Looks like they came back to Canada a few months ago. My deceased uncle was in a similar situation, years ago he had cancer and was told he had less than 12 months to live. Despite being a US citizen for over 40 years, he went back to his home country of Poland immediately to re-visit his childhood home, see his remaining family and friends there one last time, closed out a bank account and pension, and transfer a small piece of land to another family member, basically wrapping up any loose ends and re-visiting his home country one final time. Though in his case, he ended up living with a decent quality of life for almost 3 years after that prognosis and actually died of a heart attack. Really sad, however, to see Gweilo putting out trash hit pieces on India, US, HK, Taiwan as well as a sprinkling of the usual Tibet and Uyghur nonsense, right up until last week. Despite that, I hope he makes it through these next few months in one piece. And RIP to his wife, it's truly heartbreaking to see anyone struggle with cancer for years and pass away that young.

My 2 VISA debit cards didn't work out at the Construction Bank ATM, but Agriculture Bank spit out the yuan.

Randy, just sent you a message. Danb

Ditto that. Randy, I dont post that often anymore but I try to visit and read some of the post every week. Always find interesting reads!! Thank you for all the time and effort you put forth on this site. Thank You.

Thanks for keeping this forum going Randy, really appreciate the time you put

the new data updated ( found at https://www.whois.com/whois/candleforlove.com, although the other whois links I've been watching, including whois.godaddy.com, still haven't updated) Domain Name: CANDLEFORLOVE.COM Registry Domain ID: 90507582_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com Updated Date: 2023-09-22T07:42:50Z Creation Date: 2002-09-22T00:52:52Z Registry Expiry Date: 2024-09-22T00:54:14Z Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC

The 15th day of the seventh lunar month in China marks Zhongyuan Festival, also known as Hungry Ghost Festival. According to ancient legend, on this day, the gates of hell swing wide open, granting passage to ghosts and spirits to traverse the human realm and partake in offerings. During this ancient festival, elaborate worship rituals are conducted by people to pay homage to their departed ancestors. Zhongyuan Festival has its roots in Taoism, which categorizes elements into three types: heaven, earth, and water. These are referred to as the shangyuan (upper element), the zhongyuan (middle element), and the xiayuan (lower element), overseen by the Celestial Official, Earthly Official, and Water Official, respectively. The 15th day of the seventh lunar month also marks the birthday of the Earthly Official, which is the origin of Zhongyuan Festival. In Buddhism, this day is called Ullambana Festival, and its origins are entwined with the Buddhist tale of Maudgalyayana, or Mu Lian in Chinese, a disciple of Buddha who journeyed into hell to rescue his own mother. from the Sixth Tone on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/posts/pfbid0HJRcfn6dzgSYxwn8vL2HCyMTkmgyuiCzmtzAsqoWMbYyUkFLZNCSnJN8TgNgyzGnl

Hi again Randy. I thought of another detail related to my wife's green card. As you probably know, the processing time/waiting time for "Removal of Conditions" right now is very long. We sent in her ROC application in October 2022, 90 days before the Expiration Date written physically on her Green Card (January 2023). The current estimate is August 2024 before it's approved. So, her Green Card that we're going to bring to my son's visa appointment appears as if it's Expired. Of course, we have her I-797 from DHS which states that her Green Card is extended for 24 months (or January 2025). We'll rely on US Immigration letting her back into the Country after our trip to China with the combination of her Expired Green Card and the I-797 letter. I just wonder if the Chinese side is familiar with the I-797 letter and will allow it. Or do I need to have it translated into Chinese? Have you heard of anyone with travel experience to China in this situation? Thanks

Yes - I think you'll find the whole process to be fairly straight forward. Just jump right in. They'll help you out where it's needed. Good luck, welcome back, and come on by more often!

We're planning to travel to China for 3 weeks. About 1 week of that time would be visiting her family, and the other 2 weeks would be visiting her friends and traveling. So, purely based on the way we're spending time, I'd say that L might be more appropriate than Q2. However, I just wonder if the consular official sees that we're planning to visit relatives, and then thinks well we should be Q2 instead of L. I guess I don't have to worry about what they think, though. They'll use their discretion, and either way, it doesn't really matter for my son. I think we'll have my wife's brother be the "inviter". That seems safer since he actually lives in China. The official seal requirement is probably only if the inviter is a travel agency, which is not the case for us. Thanks, Randy. I remember you giving us lots of advice 4 years ago when my wife was still a K1 applicant. Now she's 2.5 years into her green card and almost eligible for citizenship! Time flies

Contacted them again. It sounds to me like they have NO INTENTION of ever upgrading our present server, instead requiring that we move to a NEW server. Doing so would require that we change our IP address to the new server. The problem with that is that it is still owned by Carl, and somehow keeps getting renewed every year.

There's this about entering a foreign card with Weixin Pay. I'm not sure if it works, but I've already got my Chinese bank card entered, so it WON'T work for me (there IS no '+' or 'add new card' choice available - I would first have to remove my Chinese bank card - which I DON'T want to do). It's not clear where the document came from - use it if it helps. It seems this will only work if the "Add New Card" function allows you to enter a foreign credit card, or if it simply allows you to entrer a Chinese bank card. https://www.facebook.com/john.kent8/posts/pfbid07HrSNHJ6xJrWqFzGjbXJpk9oRT4LNzqYEuG2vTAdvvoJpUV9tT2XAKEKiBWu9VRLl

I don't watch him much anymore, especially any political stuff, but I saw his recent video about trolls - what a rambling mess. He really needs to stop making serious videos while clearly drunk.

The boys give more details on their exits from China. I've only made it through the first 10 minutes - I'll have to see later on if my attention span allows the rest. edit - it detioriates after that Confronting The Men Exposing China’s Lies (ft. Laowhy86 and SerpentZA) Winston and Matthew give their insights on the state of Chinese affairs, propaganda, de-dollarization, and much more!

See CFL discussion here - http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/50025-sending-us-dollars-to-china-electronically-best-way/ I'm still using wire transfers through my Bank of America account

Regular western style sandwich bread is now much more widely available. I managed to buy all the ingredients to make some pretty decent french toast. ( those are raisins in the bread) The bread and "concentrated milk" I bought locally. The vanilla extract, cinnamon, and Costco Kirkland maple syrup came from Taobao.

Regular western style sandwich bread is also now much more widely available. I managed to buy all the ingredients to make some pretty decent french toast myself. ( those are raisins in the bread) The video is about the older style of "Asian bread". Their "Asian bread" is VERY soft pastry bread like in the video, but their french bread (known as "Vietnamese bread", thanks to the bahn mi sandwiches) is more like baseball bats. from Goldthread Asian Bread Really Is Different. Here’s Why.

Well, the biggest stumbling block at the moment would be recovering the candleforlove.com domain name. This will most likely involve 3 months where that domain is not available. Basically, no one has access to Carl's account with GoDaddy. All we can do is wait for the payments to stop, and then be ready to recover the name once it is released.

Thanks Randy for all the hard work keeping this site up and running. Let me know if I can be of any help. Losing the 20+ years of content on here would be a huge bummer.

A new performance in Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu province, revives the musical and dance scenes depicted in the murals of the Mogao Caves and offers an immersive experience for the audience to experience the charm of the UNESCO World Heritage site. from China Pictorial on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ChinaPic/posts/pfbid022SHK412i8g4EM13z1UPVM5jV5A6CPRKLky68inWLJhzKNjqt3PrNnenpS4zAKuh5l

LOL Alex - a foreign "expert" - I needed a good laugh this morning.

Is it possible to procure a residence permit that's longer than 1 year? I've heard of some 3 year permits, and I **think** I heard a China vlogger saying he was granted 5-year permit. Major PITA IMO. BTW China should just rename "residence permits" to "long term tourist visas" since they don't allow you to do sh*t in China. Just a few days ago, I went to my wife's company work picnic (she works at an International Bilingual School in the US) and spoke to 2 American/Chinese couples who recently moved back to the US, thanks largely to the horrifically unstable visa situation for foreigners. Given that both couples have kids, I definitely don't blame them for fleeing the zhongguo.

Great information, thanks Randy

Sadly, the IRS just today cut me off from my IRS account. I'll have to finish activating my ID.me account in order to verify that they processed my return. Edit: That was easier than I thought - I just completed the video call to show my passport and SS card. Apparently, that's all I needed to do. The video call was through a web site accessed on my cell phone. They require a real cell phone for the 2FA authorization, but, for that, they do allow a Chinese number - it's able to get my authorization codes with no problem (although my cell provider - China Telecom - sometimes squawks about possible SPAM SMS's from foreign callers - no problem). The ID.me sign-up procedure required a US non-VOIP cell phone, but they now allow the online video call instead. Connecting back to the states like that is MUCH easier these days - I used to have to wait until around 2AM or so to have an adequate connection even for an audio call.

That's just plain wrong. That bus started to move quite easily, hardly even bent his knees to keep it moving. Wonder if there wasn't some waist support harness rig under the robes of both of them. I can't even push my pickup on a flat surface without putting in some serious oomphage, let alone try to pull it (and that's not with my pecker either). I don't remember young Kwai Chang Caine having to preform or train for any such feats like that, nor his Masters either. But hey, he got his world record certificate and the 2 women never even checked out his package, not even a glance.