SteveK

You are gold mine of information. I'm glad to hear Mexico does not require a visa for green card holders. You just saved me a day sitting in Mexican consulate. Thanks so much for the Delta link! That is a great resource.

My wife has her green card and Chinese passport. We are taking a cruise ship with stops at several Mexican ports, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia. Will she need to apply for a tourist visa for each country? Does having her green card make any difference? Or, will they only care about her country of citizenship (China).

Great news. Congratulations to you both.

in an effort to keep our wedding day romantic, we headed right over to the social security office with marriage certificate. It saved us a name change future visit. We also got married first. Just bring your marriage certificate and her passport along with the SS-5 form. I suggest arriving at the Social Security office before they open at 9am. Expect at least a 1 hour wait to speak to the officer.

Surely. It's actually quite amazing to watch. The speed that she can twirl those chopsticks...

You are right... Cantonese from Guangzhou. On the plus side, I have never seen her do this in a restaurant. But, on the other hand, she rarely orders rice at the restaurants.

My wife eats her rice in a manner I find a bit ill-mannered by western standards. At first, I thought is was just something she did, but then I saw an actor using the same technique in a Chinese movie. She puts the rice bowl near her mouth, then rapidly shovels the rice into her mouth using chopsticks while she inhales. She can fill her entire mouth with rice in just a couple of seconds! The whole process is a bit loud and distracting. If this is common practice in China, I can learn to accept it at home. Heaven knows I will never win any awards for table manners. I just wonder if I should discourage her from using this technique when we go out with friends.

Our congratulations to you and your fiancee!

Very good news! Have a wonderful holiday together.

You must weigh the pro's and con's. If you have many other photos showing you together, you may not need the studio photos. Or, consider removing the wedding gown photo from the album. In our case, we had many photos showing my fiancee and I together over a 12 month period, so engagement photos were not needed. Also, consider that the VO is looking for evidence that can not be easily faked. If a woman is faking a relationship, the easiest thing to do is have a studio take a bunch of photos of her with some guy and stick an engagement ring on her finger. These do not offer strong proof of relationship. I see couples who are denied a visa often complain that the VO did not look at the hundreds of pages of emails and chats they compiled. Again, these are easily faked by agencies that assist the cheaters. The strongest photo evidence will show you together on multiple visits, in multiple locations, and with family members if possible.

Congratulations on the pink. Don't worry about the lost X-ray. Immigrations will not ask for it.

I would hesitate to use photos that could be misinterpreted as showing you being married. If I remember correctly, the consulate in India denied a K1 visa to a couple who had a "party" where they wore traditional wedding garments. They were white-sheeted and told to reapply as a K3. The consulate returned the photo album after our interview.

Congratulations! Great news! Have a safe trip back to the US.

I arrived with my fiancee today at SFO. They gave her the I-94 on the plane. I accompanied her through customs where the agent opened the brown envelope and stamped a few pages plus the I-94. The whole process took less than 15 minutes. The agent and his manager were very polite, congratulated us, and wished us good luck.

The EMS website says our visa was mailed on Monday and should be ready for pickup Tuesday. Hopefully, yours is on the way too.