143Xin

It wasn't so much the Job (she was a reporter) it was something for them to throw a red flag at. Look at some of the other posts here about the Interviewers. Sometimes they will grap any excuse to say no. I am pleased that our State Department is more realistic and that they operate in a timely manner.

About 6 weeks ago my wife was denied a Visa for having been a member of the Communist party. Some of you may remember the post. She was required to write 2 letters, one in English, and one in Chinese, explaining her history with the party, the case was sent to the State Department for further review. 2 weeks ago, my wife received a telegram from Guangzhou telling her to return to Guangzhou, with her passport. They took her passport and returned it the following day complete with a CR1 Visa. That was 5 weeks from the interview until an issued Visa. My hat is off to the State Department for their rapid response!

I have been traveling for the past few days and have not had the opportunity to check, or respond, to some of the questions raised. The question was, according to my wife, asked in the form of "When did you join..." and she was not asked if she was still a member or when she left the party. As for those who have received their Visa's even after acknowledging their prior experience for with the Communist Party, I am happy for them. Granted this may be inconsistant with past practice, but, that I don't know about, I do know that this was the reason supplied to Congressman Boucher when his office inquired on my behalf. As for lying, I am against that for any reason, I am pleased that my wife told the truth, even if it means a delay for us to be together. We have been at this for 18 months, and for a CR1 VISA, that isn't too bad. Waiting a few more months to be with my honest woman, it's worth it.

Chinese Wife, As China has opened up to the outside world, membership has not been as commonly mandatory. So, under 30 may never have been in the Party, but those over 40 probably were, at some time in their lives. I guess I could have said, less likely to be a problem. Yes, Membership is manditory to get a job at a state owned company. Over the past few decades there have been fewer and fewer State owned jobs opened, and a huge increase in private or Joint venture jobs, where party membership is not manditory.

Simple really, She had to write a letter to the Consulate, both in English and Chinsese explaining her history, benifits from and reason for leaving the party. Those are sent to the State Department for review and we are told to go away and wait for further instructions. No timeline has been offered, and direct questions have been answered with "we have no way of determining..." We are now back where we were in Jan. of this year, no date, no idea and no one to give us hope.

I just returned from Guangzhou where my wife was refused her Visa because she used to be a member of the communist party. She left the party over 6 years ago. INA Section 212(a)(3)(D) prohibits someone with a recent or current membership in the Communist Party from immigrating to the United States, with certain exceptions. The case is now at the State Department where they must decide if her membership was "serious". For Chinese under 30 year old, this should not be a problem, but for Chinese over 40, it could be. For many of those, membership in the party was manditory at some point in their lives. Questions about party membership may be asked during the interview. Why it isn't asked much earlier in the process, I have no idea.

Nothing much happens. Let them both ride. The I-129 (K3) Visa might catch up, and even pass the I-130 in the next few steps. Or, the I-130 (CR1) may just flow right along. WHen they both get top the consulate, they will stop the I-129 if the I-130 is already being processed. In my situation the K3 and the CR1 were in an almost dead heat through the process. The K3 made it to Guangzhou first and that put my wife on the list waiting for an appointment. Guangzhou cancled the I-129 when the I-130 was finshed, but we kept the priority date from the I-129. Relax, you have many hoops ahead of you, oh, and congratulations!

I-129F for K-3 always gets mailed to Chicago - never to one of the regional service centers. Tell that to my former lawyer. In my experience, the lawyer caused more delays than he prevented. When I curse the delays, I curse more at the lawyer I fired, than at the government. Being a Democrat, I have other reasons for cursing the government.

It is both. The I-129 initially went to Vermont, where it sat for 3 months before being sent to Missouri. For some unknown reason, Missouri handles (handled?) all I-129 requests for Married I-129 Visa's. So, I have 4 NOA's for one I-129 Visa, 2 from Vermont and 2 from Missouri. In May of this year, GZ phoned my wife (no prompting, totally unexpected) and informed her that the I-130 had caught up with the I-129 and they were combining the 2 cases.

I received an e-mail reply this morning from GZ that will make my whole day, week, month, life better! Here is what it said: Dear Petitioner Ms. Wang is scheduled for an interview on August 30, 2004. We mailed the appointment packet to her address as provided, we hope she will receive it soon. Finally, something besides, "We don't know, so hurry up and wait". For those doing the math, her P3 was entered 3/26/04 and her name check was completed Mid April. We started this process in Feb, 2003. By the way, GZ does have a pattern in answering e-mails. They seem to answer Tuesday e-Mails on Wednesday, and Wednesday e-mails on Friday, everything else seems to get lost in the internet ether.

It does take awhile for the insurance to kick in, all the more reason to start the paperwork now. That way she is eligible when she arrives. Also, check with your work insurance, Companies that have overseas facilities, often have overseas coverage. This is a benifit you are already paying for, but it is seldom talked about, it is just "kinda there". My HR department informed me about it, so now my wife is covered here AND in China. The insurance is limited, there are certain hospitals covered and certain treatments, and there is a deducable that is billed to me. But it means that I have a little better sleep at night, knowing that I have already started protecting my Wife.

Thanks for the laugh, I needed it. Like many of us I have traveled in China, one of my more memorable experiences was on a hard sleeper train. A squat toilet is difficult, but try it on a moving train. Lesson learned. Carry extra paper, and the window makes an excellent hand hold.