nousername

I forget where you are, but why wife won't consider going through Chicago - her son was stuck there for 2 days while O'Hare was snowed in. Even so, he apparently didn't have any difficulty, it's good to know he was fine. were you guys able to contact him during the ordeal? we're in Minneapolis, and my mother in law has a connection through Newark, NJ ... perhaps worse than chicago. She arrives on Dec 28.

great, i just saw that thread after i posted. i'll check it out some more. as for #1, i guess i wasn't that specific in my post, but i was really wondering if there are any good and easy way for a non-English speaker to use pay phones to call us. if she has coins or a credit card it would be easy, but she won't. i guess your option isn't bad though, we could tell her how to call collect as you suggest. thanks!

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=364327 They should be able to get any help they need either from the airline, or the airport will have an international desk. To call you, I would think they could buy a SIM card at the airport for their own cell phone (Chinese phones are generally not locked to a specific carrier) You might get a map of the airport they will be arriving at. Then make some cards with questions that they might ask of strangers that can be answered by pointing (both English and Chinese on the same card) Good job (and perseverance) on the visa. Congrats. Drop by more often hey, thanks. Actually, my wife has done most of the work already, and has made a summary of common questions/phrases in english/chinese. But with all the weather these days, we are more fearful of some airport mess and confusion, and we are worried we haven't done enough to prepare her. we just want to make sure she has a couple options for reaching us, such as calling collect, borrowing a cell phone, or some sort of airport traveler's assistance. as for the visa, we had 2 senator's letters this time, and the visa officer looked at the letters, asked ZERO questions, and issued a 1yr multiple. it was quite nice and quite a relief. i really probably should stop by more, but life's busyness has started to take off ... baby #2 is almost here!! in spite of my "lack of involvement", i am really grateful for all you who are still patient and helpful to us drive-by types. =) thanks!

Hello All Well, we managed to get my mother-in-law a tourist visa to visit us (FYI, it was our 3rd attempt. We are quite happy!). Anyway, we have a couple questions about her journey over here: 1) Is there an easy was for a non-English speaker to make calls from US airports? She will have 1 connection, in Newark. I'm just worried she will get lost and not know what to do, and if we can at least explain to her how to make a call from a pay phone that would be great? Also, please provide any addition general advice on how to navigate US airports as a non-English speaker. 2) Any recommendations for companies that sell "catastrophe" type of med insurance for a temporary stay in the US? thanks! Ryan

hey, we haven't been too active here lately, but we have been going through the I-751 process... hopefully, this is informative. we sent ours to Nebraska Service center, and this is our timeline: 1/17/08 - 1st I-797C NOA notice date 1/28/08 - 2nd I-797C NOA notice date (biometric appointment notice) 2/15/08 - biometric appointment -> our case was transferred to California Service Center, not sure at what point in the process this happened, but we first noticed it sometime after we got our 2nd NOA. i'm not sure if this is a unique case, nor am i sure if this is a good or bad sign. immediately, it sounds good since california is processing much faster than nebraska. i'm curious if this has happened to others too.

nice! ... just what i was looking for. =) thanks for the help.

hey amber... how have you been? i see you guys already applied for removal of conditions... cool, hope it goes well for you.

so do they give a fixed date for the biometrics? can it be rescheduled?

do you need the extension letter to travel while the i-751 is pending? does the extension letter take the place of the 2yr green card? if the 2yr has not yet expired, the extension letter shouldn't matter, right? ... those may sound like a stupid questions, but i never want to take any chance with the uscis. we plan on filing 90 days before the card expires, and the trip will certainly be shorter than that.

hello... how have you all been? anyone still here who remembers me? ... it's been only forever since i last posted... =) things have been going relatively well for us... the biggest news (which i don't think i mentioned before) was the arrival of our son Isaac last year, Nov 30. yep... it's been that long, he's almost one yr now. life has really been great, we just can't get enough of our little kid. the good and fun times sure out weigh the "bad". suppose it helps given the fact he is smiling 99.999% of the time. i'll try to post some pics or update my profile sometime so you can see the little dude... now for *real* question... is it safe to travel after we send in the removal of conditions? i know there is a biometrics thing, but i don't know how/when that gets scheduled? what about the i-751 "approval"? is there an interview? edith and i would like to travel to china early next year, but that is also right in the time frame we need to file the i-751. we just don't know if traveling is a good idea. any experience/advice anyone? thanks ryan

I congratulate you on your success. However, I am not in agreement with the above statement. There are a few of us here who have been very honest in legitimate relationships and end up in unexplainable black holes. 209171[/snapback] right. sorry, i edited some of my initial thoughts before the final post, and i meant to say that that there are always exceptions, even in the ligit and honest relationships (which basically everyone at this site). didn't mean any to express and lack of understanding to those in that situation. i'm thankful for the speed and ease of our process... i feel fortunate. and seems like things are changing, there apparently are fewer hang-ups. hopefully, not too many others will have to go through too much crap anymore.

well, we beat the beast... edith's aos was approved and we have her green card in hand!! wow, what a relief that was. we passed the interview on April 11, and shortly thereafter we received a "welcome note". and just today we got here green card! the reason i waited to mention our approval is that i wanted to make sure no other hurdles came up. i wanted to have the card in hand... and now we do! i've been somewhat quiet about it, but that is not to say that we did always have this lingering dreads about "the issue"... edith's past membership with "the party". and in spite of that fact, we DID NOT RUN INTO A SINGLE SNAG IN THE WHOLE PROCESS.... k1 petition to AOS approval. so for those out there wondering, there's no need to worry about the issue, imho. our advice is to just be honest, and there won't be any problems as long as the relationship is ligit. so here are some of our AOS interview details... at the first sight of our immigation officer, we both were rather intimitated. he was very cold and stern looking, but thankfully that impression quickly changed after the interveiw started. truned out to be a pretty nice guys... He first just asked a few basic things to both edith and i... give me your name give me your address does edith work? ... where? how did you first meet? how many times, and when, did i go to china? when and where were you married? do you live together? where do i work? how long have i worked there? ... there may have been other questions too... don't remember Then he got to the "taboo list" of questions in the I-485 (or one of those forms). He went through each and every one of the questions. of course, the communism question eventually came up, but edith just told her story, the truth, and there were no problems... no waiver form or anything. after that he asked us about our joint assests. i gave him a bunch of stuff in both our names: bank statements, copies of bills, property tax records, and a copy of my 05 taxes, which we filed jointly. he just took that stuff, DID NOT even glance at them for a second and proceeded to put them in our file. that was it, he didn't even ask for any pictures!!!! shortly thereafter, he told us we were APPROVED, and he gave her a temp LPR stamp in her passport and we where on our way. again, WHAT A RELIEF!!!! this is truly a blessing and we're just praisin' the Lord!!! thanks all you CFL'ers... you guys have been an INVALUABLE resource!! thank you, thank you ryan and edith (we are happy people)

thanks guys... it looks like we got most of it. we have pretty much everything that pkfops mentioned.... we are bringing as much "joint asset" evidence we can find. we have gas bills, joint checking statements, mortgage and title papers, property tax statements, etc. a few things i never got in both our names: electricity bills, internet service, phone service, and others. does that matter? also, to be honest our mortgage and title papers make my head spin ... our names and signatures are on a lot of them... but most of it is just jargon... any advice on which of these type of docs are important to bring???

hey everyone... well, haven't given much as far as updates lately, but things are going well. right now, the aos interview is on our table... her interview is next tuesday. i think we got most of the documentation together, but there are a few things i'm uncertain about... 1) the notice says to bring "All documentation establishing your eligibilit for lawful permanent resident status." specifically, what docs are those? (we probably have them... k1 petition approval, k1 visa, i-94s, etc.) 2) it says also to bring "original and copy of each supporting doc submitted with your application"... does this refer to just the AOS application docs? or everything all the way back to our K1 petition application? thanks ryan

i have a couple suggestions: first, some chinese cooking is quite simple too. some of my favorites dishes from my wife are the simple ones. she stir fries corn and peppers. she also makes this egg and tomato dish that is great. or just a simple stir fry of lettuce is good too. they all are very simple but great. second, i got this gag-type gift from my uncle before. it's a cook book for guys... simple dishes. it's called "A Man, a Can, and a Plan". some of the food isn't too bad. anyway, if you want details about any of the dishes just PM me and i can get more details about the dishes from edith. also, she highly recommends getting a few good cook books from china and bringing them to the US.

our experience seems a little different from the one you mentioned, david. initially we tried to file all 3 (aos, ead, and ap) simultaneously, but missed a check box on the ead app. and the return everything and said try again. at this point, it was as if we filed aos alone and waited for the aos receipt to file ead. so we got everything together for the ead and resent it. and later got the noa. both our aos and ead receipt said "wait for us to schedule your biometrics". we waited and eventually got the biometrics appointment. we got two notices, one for aos and one for ead. even though we got two notices they were the same appointment: same place, same time. maybe i am mistaken, but this was a little different from your experience right?

do you mean that the parole should be valid for one year from the date the AP application was approved. Ours was approved on Nov 29, 2005, and it says "Presentation fo the original of this documnet prior to 11/29/2006 will authorize an immigration officer at a POE in the US to permit the named bearer ... to enter the US"

well, i think the main problem was that my drive wouldn't even read the VCD. i cannot even view the files on the disc. i now suspect it's just that the drive is bad... i mentioned earlier that the VCDs DO work in other drives. BUT, if it merely a matter of having the right software, that'd be better. i usually use winamp or window media player to play stuff like this. is this software you mention freeware or shareware? if not, do you have other suggestions? 164751[/snapback] The drive is probably not bad. There are several formats out there, much like the VHS and Beta versions on tape systems. One drive generally can not read the other, unless it is made for multi-format discs. Your DVD drive is most likely an earlier version and can only read DVD/CD US format. Keep this in mind when purchasing new drives. Always look for systems that are set to read multi-format as the US is set for one format and the rest of the world is using the other. I recently bought a DVD for my SO. I took a Chinese VCD into the store and told the clerk what I needed to accomplish. He was well aware of the different formats and helped me buy the best system for long term use of US and Chinese videos. 164778[/snapback] i guess i feel the drive is bad... the drive in question is "newer" lite-on drive (link given in my first post) and does support VCD decoding, but i cannot play the VCD. i also have an older lite-on drive that WILL play the VCD. ??? so i do think it's the drive. i may try re-burning the discs, but i'd rather get a drive that just works... eventually, i am going to try to replace it. thanks for the input everyone.

well, i think the main problem was that my drive wouldn't even read the VCD. i cannot even view the files on the disc. i now suspect it's just that the drive is bad... i mentioned earlier that the VCDs DO work in other drives. BUT, if it merely a matter of having the right software, that'd be better. i usually use winamp or window media player to play stuff like this. is this software you mention freeware or shareware? if not, do you have other suggestions?

ok, i'm a moron... there are 2 other drives in house, and i didn't try them. and, lo and behold, the VCDs work in the other drives. so... guess the problem is not the VCDs but my drive... does anyone know, can i fix it? ... that's probably more difficult and more expensive that buying a new one. i think it's still new enought that i can just send it back for a replacement... probably my best option? thanks for the help randy.

no, the drive cannot even read the chinese VCD... so i cannot see any info about the files. when i play it in my tv's DVD player i cannot see if any special "modes" get set. also, when i view the setup menu, nothing appears to be different compared to my other "US" VCDs... ???

hello all... just wondered if someone could help me out with the problem. edith gave me a set of VCDs for learning chinese, but they won't work with my computer's cd/dvd/vcd drive (if it helps, this is the one i have: here.) a couples things to keep in mind: 1) the drive mentioned above DOES play VCDs here from the US, additionally: 2) the chinese VCDs DO work in my TV's DVD player are there different VCD/mpeg encoding algorithms? is that what i am running into? the bottom line is: how can i get my comp to play the chinese VCDs? if you need more technical info about my system, just ask, i'll provide what's needed.

i just found the MN dept of pub safety's ID requirements, and EAD is on the list. it says it must be of the I-688 or I-766 variety. we applied for the c(9) class ead. is that one one of the above?

hello all, the MN dept of public saftey is withdrawing edith's driving privileges on Oct. 27, 2005. this expiration of her K-1 visa. we are told that we need an "updated" doc from the DHS in order to renew her privileges. they said they need something with a "new" date. i tried to explain that she is current... i.e. married in <90 days, filed AOS and have notice, etc. NOPE, they say... she needs a something more. it actually sounds like we may need to wait until we get the green card???? that would suck.... may be more than a year out for us. it seems hopeless. any suggestions for documentation that might appease them? it there anyway i can prove to them that she is legal? once, we get our EAD card, we will try that, but until then is there anything else we can try? thanks ryan

actually... this is NOTHING... for AOS processing, the st. paul district office went from SEPT '04 last month to JAN. '04 this month!!!! now that's "progress" my friends.