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

And yes I have not told the entire story. I received a letter from the USCIS stating that my son's CoC application was approved. The provided me a list of additional documents to bring to the interview. These documents were not requested as part of the CoC application. I showed up early for my son's CoC interview. Approx 2 hours later the interviewing officer comes out and tells me that he just got the case and that he needs some additional time. 45 minutes later he comes out again and calls me back for the interview. It was very clear that he was very unhappy. We go into his office. There on his desk is file as thick as a phone book. Before I could sit down, he begins to request for various documents. Most of them were submitted with the original CoC application and others were never asked for until then. I show him the USCIS approval letter and tell him that I only brought the documents listed. He tells me that he does not need any of those documents and he needs what is asking for. I tell him that I don't have them. He tells me that he does not have the time to look for them in my son's file. So he calls his supervisor in. They discuss the situation and conclude that if I can provide a copy of my son's 10yr GC and show that it has been 2 years since the adoption, they will grant me the CoC. I tell them that per the CoC instructions only proof of permanent residency (.i.e. 2 yr GC) and that my son was legally adopted were the requirements. They tell me I am wrong. The supervior pulls out an immigration law book and shows me some verbiage that supports their position on the 10yr GC. I do not know immigration law so I have no idea if the section they were showing me truly applied to my case. There was no point in continung the interview. They were not going to approve the CoC. I just packed up and left. As of this date, my son now qualifies under their understanding of the CCA for his CoC, but why bother since he has already been issued a US Passport.

Thank you for the responses. Before I ask my question again, I will provide some clarification. My son came to the US back in 2008 on a K2 Visa. Chronological Sequence of Events October 2010 1. Apply for CoC after adopting my son 3 months earlier November 2010 1. Apply for my wife's (his mother) 10 yr GC. I did not apply for his 10 yr GC 2. Apply for US Passport for my son December 2010 1. USCIS writes me a letter stating that I did not apply for my son's 10 yr GC and without it he could potentially go out of status and be deported 2. I write the USCIS back explaing that I believe that my son is a US Citizen via the CCA. I provide the repsective documents/information 3. The USCIS writes me back stating that they "don't care" and if my son does not have a 10yr GC he will go out of status and be deported. 4. I apply for my son's 10 yr GC January 2011 1. I receive a letter from the USCIS stating that my son's CoC application has been approved and that I will need to attend an interview at the local field office 2. The DOS informs me that my son's passport has been approved 3. I attend the USCIS interview for my son's CoC. The Interviewing officer and his supervisor deny the CoC stating that I have not met the requirements of the CCA. They tell me that I can appeal their decision. I elect not to appeal their decision because my son already has his US passport. March 2011 1. My son receives his 10 yr GC My question: Under the assumption, maybe it is false, that my son has to do the fingerprint scan (maybe this is only for non US passport holders), will the Border Patrol officer be confused because my son's file would show that he was issued his 10yr GC 2 months after he was issued his US passport?

Background I legally adopted my wife’s son in 2010. My wife applied for her 10 yr GC in November 2010. I applied for a Certificate of Citizenship for my son in November 2010. I did not apply for a 10yr GC for my son. In December 2010 the USCIS wrote me and told me unless I apply for the 10 yr GC, my son could potentially be out of status and subject to deportation. I then applied for his 10 yr GC. In January 2011 I had my CoC interview. The USCIS officer stated that I did meet the requirements of the CCA because my son was not an unconditional LPR at the time of CoC interview and that it had not been 2 years since the adoption. They told me that I could file for an appeal at a cost of $600.00. I elected not to do this. In March 2011, he received his 10 yr GC. In parallel, I applied for a US Passport. Apparently the DOS has different CCA requirements. Based on near identical information that was submitted for his CoC, the DOS deemed I met their requirements and awarded him a US passport. He has never used it since obtaining it in early 2011. He plans to use it on his 1st trip back to China in July of this year. He has an active Chinese visa in his passport . He will return to the States in early August. Question Has anyone heard of a problem/incident at a POE (in this case LAX) for an adopted Chinese child that now bears a US passport? The DOS awarded the passport but the USCIS will be at the POE. What happens when they run his fingerprints? Won't they show that he is a GC holder and perhaps deem the passport fraudulent. I am going to have his mother bring the adoption order and his California issues delayed registration of birth with him. -Squonk

He was 10 at the time the adoption was finalized.

Forget the N-600 just take copies of the required paperwork to the Post Office and submit a passport application, it's much faster and cheaper. I completed the adoption of my son in July 2010. I familiarized myself with the CCA, but I still wanted to have an official document in-hand so I applied for the N-600. The N-600 processing times are a year+ and I was hoping to avoid paying the fees associated with his 10 year GC, so I took the US Passport route. I supplied the DOS with all the required documents, but they came back with an RFE. The DOS stated that his California Delayed Registration of Birth and the adoption order was not sufficient to prove that my son was in my legal custody since entering the US. They requested copies of my tax returns, my son's school record, and my son's medical record. Got all that together and sent it in. Unfortunately 10yr GC time came around. I initially did not pay his I-751 fee, but rather sent the USCIS a copy of the adoption order, a copy of his California Delayed Registation of birth,copies of my tax returns showing him as a dependent, and a polite letter stating that via the CCA, that my son should be considered a US citizen now. The USCIS sent me a letter back basically stating that my son will only be considered US citizen after the USCIS deems him so, until then, he is conditional resident that needs to have the conditions removed, otherwise he will be deemed illegal. I paid the fee. So his passport appilcation is still being processed and he is scheduled to have his I-751 biometrics in the near future. -Squonk

Back during my I-129F days, I was told of a "trick" about getting your receipt number before you recv'd the NOA1 form and that was to use a personal check for the fees. The cancelled check would have the receipt number stamped on the back. Well, it appears that the Los Angeles Field Office uses electronic check processing so no hard or soft copy of the check is available. So I cannot use the cancelled check to obtain the USCIS receipt number. However, the USCIS did send me a small paper receipt (like the ones you would recieve in a store). It has a receipt number on it, but when I enter it into the USCIS Case Status System, it returns an error message that the number is not valid. I am pretty sure that it needs a 3 letter prefix (or some additional chracters) in front of it, but I do not know what the prefix should be. Does anyone know? Thank you, -Squonk

You're exactly correct (although there are age limits to that) - the N-600 is simply a citizenship certification - certifying that he is ALREADY an American citizen. Thank you all for the replies. I guess I'm still a little confused. What do I enter for his immigration status in Part 5 of my wife's I-751? I have asked 2 immigration lawyers and they did not know. I cannot find in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 where it explicity says that he is automatically deemed a US citizen. Requirements are provided, but doesn't some official entity have to verify them? He is considered a citizen only after the USCIS says he is? I was told that he may be able to apply for a passport and be deemed a US citizen via the passport. He has been issued a California birth certificate (Court Order Delayed Registration Of Birth). Thank you, -Squonk

He is now considered a US Citizen? No interview? What will happen next?

I completed the adoption of my son. I submitted the N-600 data package to the USCIS at the beginning of October. The USCIS has cashed my check and I have revc'd a receipt from them in the mail. I recently received a statement from the USCIS that it is time for me prepare his I-751 (via his mother) package. Since the N-600 process is now active, do I need to submit and pay the fees for his portion of the I-751? Thank you, -Squonk

They are asking for the adoption order too. The instructions imply that both the proof of custody and the adoption order are required. Maybe I can have my sister write an affidavit stating that he has been in my "custody" since July 2008. She picked us up at the airport in July 2008.