Squonk

My son has been in my custody since entering the USA back in July 2008. I successfully completed his adoption on 7/2/2010. He has been in the USA and in my custody for over 2 years now. I believe I can file the N-600 for him. Question: I have gathered all the documents but one, The USCIS is asking for proof legal custody. What document would satisfy this requirement? Isn't the mere fact that I have a legal adoption order satisfy that I have legal custody of him? What about the K2 visa and the CR2 greencard. Don't the granting of those documents imply custody? Thank you, -Squonk

My wife is also stuck at home all day, partly because of her own choosing. My wife QQ's and Skypes to a plethora of people, some of them men. I do not like it, but at least she does it in front of me, meaning that she does not seem to want to hide it from me. Based on her tone of voice the conversations do not seem to be romantic in nature. I am assuming that these were people that she previously knew in China. Although I have no idea. Yes my wife should spend less time on the computer and more time carving out a life for herself in her new country. Should I be concerned?

Ok, I will see if I can remove it from my machine.

I am using the Firewall (medium setting) that comes with the ZoneAlarm Extreme Security package.

Does anyone out there consider themselves a QQ expert? My wife has QQ2009 installed on her Dell laptop (Vista). I have the same program on my Dell tower (Xp). We have no problem doing audio calls in both the USA and China. The video calls to China are very sparodic. Sometimes they work sometimes they do not. Usually my wife's friends and family can see and hear her and she can see them, but she can not hear them. Sometimes they can not hear her either. The folks in China test their video systems out by contacting each other. No problem for China-to-China video calls. Same here in US, no problem with US-to-US video calls. The audio calls always work. Does anyone have a clue as to what is going here and how I can resolve it? Thank you,

Speaking of travel, my wife and her son will be travelling back to China later this summer. I just want to confirm that all they need to get back into the US is their Chinese passports US Green Card I also wanted to confirm that there typically is not an issue if my wife's name shown on her GC (my last name is shown) and her name on her passport are different. I plan to provide my wife a copy of our marriage certificate to show to the Chinese officials if this issue comes up. Thank you, -Squonk

My friend pulled a miracle out of his hat. He finally listened to me at the 11th hour. Drew up an EOR letter and a letter that explained the demise of his previous marriages which included a K1 from a different Asian country. Had them notarized at the GUZ the day before his interview. After a benign interview, his wife and steps-son are now happily living here in States.

Out of respect for my friend, I do not want to provide the details of his case, but let's just say that it will be a miracle if his fiancee is awarded a visa. At this moment in time, he is not focused on the task at hand. He would rather waste precious energy and time being combative and argumentative about why he has to do so many things for this interview. Most likely he will learn the hard way. He applied for K-3 visa. If this gets white slipped, what are his options? Thank you, -Squonk

Yeah, I know that this does not look good. I told him quite awhile ago that he should have the data like SSN's and last known addresses of his previous wives readily available for his new wifes interview. He stated that he does not have this info and does not know where to begin to try to find it.

Lee: I contacted a Chinese attorney. She told me that the letter of consent would have to be signed and notarized at the nearest US Consulate. This is a non-starter. The father is not going to take extrodinary measures, like travelling a significant distance to the US Consulate, to sign his son away. I heard that all one needs is for the letter of consent to be officially notarized, similiar to the letter she showed the GUZ that her ex-husband gave permission for his son to immigrate to the USA. If I can find a sample letter, I have Chinese friends who can translate it for me using MS Word. Any thoughts? Thank you, -Squonk

There was a recent tradgedy in my wife's family. My wife and step-son are going back to China to take care of family business. They will leave at the end of June (2009) and will not return to the USA until late September (2009). At this moment in time, I do not think I can go back with her. My wife and step-son have recently recv'd their 2 yr GC's. Does anyone know of any potential issues (besides the normal ones, like criminal activity, terrorism, etc..) that could come up that would prevent them from being able to leave China? They both have active Chinese passports, however my wife's passport still shows pre married name. Her GC shows her married name (her full maiden name and my last name). I know that Chinese citizens go back and forth between China and the USA everyday, but I am concerned that this being her time using her GC something may come up and I will not be there to assist her. Thank you,

On behalf of my friend whose K3 interview is rapidly approaching, I am asking the experts for advice on the subject of multiple marriages. My friend, counting this latest marriage, has been married 5 times. I know that multiple marriages do not sit well with the GUZ. I do not know much about the previous 4, but I know that he truly loves his present wife. What can he do between now and his wife's interview (she has recv'd P4) to prepare his wife so that she can address this potential issue? Thank you, -Squonk

My wife and step-son have to go back to China this summer to take care of some family business. My wife was not planning to go back until 2010, but something has come up that has forced the trip 1 year early. I was planning to go back for a few weeks during the original 2010 trip , but I can not make the 2009 trip. This will be the first trip back to China for both of them since coming to the USA back in July 2008. They plan to stay for 2 months. My wife and her son have their 2 yr GC's. Is clearing Chinese customs to go back to the USA with a US GC a non issue? Does anyone know of any issues in past where the Frontier Officers would not allow the Chinese citizen (who had a valid GC and passport) to pass customs to go to the USA? I am concerned that since I will not be with them, they might not be able to return. Will this trip have any adverse impact on our 10yr GC application. As a married couple, spending 2 months apart is not a good thing to do, but she really needs to go back and spending a week for the money we paid for the tickets would be stupid. Thank you,

The question isn't whether or not they have documents, the real question will you comply with the instructions. The I-485 instructions clearly defines what supporting evidence needs to be submitted. I used the instructions as a checklist and mark off the items as I collected them. Plus, you will be requested to bring all these documents again if you have an AOS interview. My wife and I had an AOS interview and after the multiple times that we submitted our divorce decrees, the IO claimed that those divorce records were not in our file. Thankfully, we had copies to give him. You have gotten this far, don't risk things by failing to comply.

Yeah, I know that the FAO should have been able to deduce that there was high probability that my friend, being born in China, could speak Chinese. Maybe the FAO's line of thought was that my friend being born in GUZ spoke Cantonese and his fiancee spoke Mandarin. But who knows what they FAO was thinking. Who knows what documents the FAO's have in front of them. Maybe this is where the real issue lies. At my GC interview the IO stated that he had no documents that indicated my wife and I had previous marriages. In fact, from what I saw on his desk, he did not have a lot of documents in front of him at all. What happened to all that paperwork that my wife and I submitted along the way? With all these interdepartment hand-offs, maybe documents and other pertinent info is being lost/misplaced and the resulting files completely misrepresent the actual case. Just a thought.

Form I-485 Supporting evidence filed with Form I-485 Criminal History Birth Certificate Photos, passport, Qty: 2 Copy of passport data page copy of US visa Certified Marriage Certificate USCIS I-129F approval notice Copy of form I-94 (front and back) Form G-325A (4 copies) Form I-693 Form I-864 Supporting Evidence filed with Form I-864 2006, 2007, & 2008 Tax Rtn w/ W-2 or Tax transcript Letter from you present Employer Copies of last 6 months paystubs All the aforementioned forms/supporting evidence gets filed with the I-485. Form I-765 (if you want to file with the I-485 at no charge) Supporting Evidence filed with Form I-765 Copy of form I-94 (front and back) Photos, passport, Qty: 2 Form I-131 (if you want to file with the I-485 at no charge) Supporting Evidence filed with Form I-131 Photos, passport, Qty: 2 Copy of passport data page Copy of US Visa I also added a cover letter that specified who I was, who the I-485 was for, and the details of all the supporting evidence that was enclosed. Of course, do not forget to include the AOS fee. NOTE: Make copies of everything. DO NOT lose and/or misplace any documents that the USCIS sends you

I would like to add another Blue Slip success story. My friend at work, naturalized AC but born in GUZ, was recently "blue slipped" (Feb 2009) because the FAO did not believe his finacee when she stated that they communicate in Chinese. The FAO told her to get a video of them speaking to each other. They found a place in GUZ that does these types of videos (although the video shop stated that they have not done them in a quite awhile). The video was very comprehensive. He and his fiancee discussed (in Chinese)/displayed the various forms of relationship evidence that they had. So not only did the GUZ staff get to hear his Chinese, but also saw all the relationship evidence. The video was submitted 2 days after the interview. 20 days later, his fiancee was notified that she was approved. I think that this is a great story. The process worked. The FAO had a concern. The concern was addressd. And the visa was awarded. I advised him to get this type of video done, but I also told him that I learned about this on CFL. He wanted me to thank all of you for sharing your knowledge/experiences with everyone. It helped him succeed and it helped me succeed. Kudos to all.

She is a CR-1. She does intend to get her Citizenship. So it sounds like that we can get the I-130 rollin now without any issue.

Forgive me for my ignorance, the acronym LPR = ??????

My marriage is not even a year old and I am faced with my 1st crisis. My wife's father passed away late last year. Her mother, for reasons she believed were valid, directed other family member's and my wife's friends not to reveal this tragedy. Recently, one of my wife's friends, after finding out that she had her GC, told her the tragic truth. Previously, my wife and I briefly discussed this inevitable event, a death of one of her parents, but the time frame was 10 years in the future. Well the future is now and we need to establish new plans. My wife is very concerned about the welfare of her mother and wants her to join her here in the USA. I told her that I concur. Can someone please advise me on what the general immigration process/procedures are and if we qualify for any special consideration to expedite the case? Thank you, -Squonk

I plan to adopt my 9 year old step-son who is living here in California with his mother and I. I have all the required adoption forms for California. I need to create a consent statement and have my wife's ex-husband sign/notarize it (in China). He stated that he had no issue in signing this statement if it was mailed back to him. Does anyone have a sample consent statement? Thank you, -Squonk

This website may be of assistance: http://www.visarite.com/Chinese_Passport_Name_Amendmant.htm -Squonk

My wife and step-son's AOS interview was held on 2/10/09. They both passed. I should rephrase that, all three of us passed. It was relatively easy, but not trivial. It started out in an alarming way. The IO saw my step-son and figured out that he was not my child. The 1st question the IO asked was whether or not my wife and I had previous marriages. We answered "yes" and the IO said that there is nothing in your file that shows this. I gave him copies of our divorce decrees and he spent 1/3 of the interview asking questions about our divorces. I was somewhat stunned, where were the multiple copies of our divorce decrees that were submitted along the way? Every box on every form that we submitted that asked if we were previously married and if yes give details was checked "yes" with all details provided. Another 1/3 of the interview was spent on whether or not our families had accepted each other considering the mechanism that brought us together (the internet). I answered these questions not only verbally, but with affidavits from my Mom, Dad, and sister. The IO was very receptive to these personal statements. He also was pleased to see photos of my family, my wife, and my step-son together. The final 1/3 was spent on general questions like what are your phone numbers, what is your address, our employment, etc... I made it a point to let my wife answer most of the questions. I only stepped in when the IO could not understand her (the IO did not know what KTV was) or the question was directed at me. My step-son was disappointed because the IO did not ask him any questions. He told this to his mom in Chinese at the end of the interview. I told the IO this and the IO apologized to my step-son and said that the next time he sees him he will have some questions just for him. The interview concluded by the IO telling us, "thank you, can you please wait outside while I type up the approval letters". -Squonk

I wanted to share my thoughts; My visa journey began after I hired an immigration lawyer who prepared and submitted my I-129F. A few months later I joined CFL. After reading several posts on CFL, I became concerned about my I-129F package. It seemed to be very weak. I brought the information that I found on CFL (info about front-loading and ensuring that the case can be adjudicated on what has been submitted) to the attention of my lawyer. My lawyer told me not to worry. He said that his firm was an expert in preparing cases for the GUZ. He stated that it is best to keep your case very simple because neither Immigration nor the GUZ are interested in a lot of information/data. He told me that CFL and other similar websites are inaccurate and just scare people. "Just sit back and relax" I challenged some of the posts that I read on CFL and was responded to by a fellow CFLer with a "slap in the face¡± statement. I was told very abruptly that it is the GUZ's game and if are not going to play by their rules then don't play. After spending hours studying case histories on CFL and Visa Journey, I noticed that there was a lot of consistencies in the posts and the information seemed to make common sense. I came to the conclusion that this was not "BS". After my I-129F was approved, I never used the lawyer again. The rest of my case was prepared based on what I read on CFL. Relationships take commitment and effort. Being in a relationship with a Foreign National takes extraordinary commitment and effort. What would be suspect in an American/American relationship is magnified as if under the microscope at the GUZ. Any small thing that would be of no consequence in an American/American relationship can be blown up into a major issue that could lead to failure. They expect to be convinced that you, the petitioner have take these extraordinary measures and have evidence to prove that the beneficiary is worthy and qualified to receive the visa being requested. You can ride into GUZ at sunrise with false confidence and claims of poor management and incompetence, but you may find yourself leaving town in the sunset of failure. I sincerely hope that this does not happen to you. I wish you the best of luck.

Yes, I followed the I-485, I-131, I-765, and the I-864 instructions to the "T". Both the K-1 and K-2 AOS packages that I submitted were extremely well organized and very easy to follow. I believe that is why both my wife and step-son's AP and EAD were approved so quickly and why they both have AOS (2 yr GC) interviews coming up in early February. I did not submit anything document or information that was not requested in these instructions. Yes, I received the AOS NOA. The NOA does list a variety of items to bring to the interview. I plan to bring, to the greatest extent possible, the originals and copies of the requested items. Some items like the forms listed above I only have copies of, the USCIS has the originals.