shalaowai

I asked the information officer at my local BCIS office if it was ok to send the print-out from the website in place of the actual I-797(noa2), she said that its acceptability would depend on the officer processing the AOS. Sounds like a crap shoot! what kind of odds will I get on this action in Vegas?

We are now married and in the U.S. after our K-1 visa was approved last month. Now we are starting what seems to be an even bigger pain in the @$$ of paperwork. I was so confused by the differing opinions on which forms needed to be submited that we went down to the local office here in AZ to get the forms directly from them. This way I was hoping that I would get only those forms that I would need to file for my particular filing location. According to the stack of papers I was given at my local BCIS office, my filing location for AOS is Chicago. Included in the packet they gave me was a checklist. The checklist requests several forms and documents in order to complete the process. one of the forms is listed as I-693(medical examination), my wife has already had her med exam during the k-1 process and it has been within the one year. what should I do about this form? my next question is in regards to the I-797 petition approval notice. We seem to have misplaced it. I have heard of some people printing out the confirmation of approval from the BCIS "case status" webpage. has anyone had any eperience with this in the past? and what experiences in general with the Chicago office for AOS? Thanks!

WE stayed 4 nights last week at the Customs Hotel on Shamian, price was 298RMB per night. It is just a five minute walk from the Consulate. Just got home from Beijing with the SO, we nailed the interview on the 9th! I'll post some notes on our GZ experience here in the next few days. Met some great people from 001 and from CFL while in GZ, you know who you are! And Congrats to all who got there visas!!!

I'm going to have to go along with the Idea that what is going on with the myserious "black Pearl" is not as bad as it seems. Aside from the fact that the damn process for these visas take way to long I will try to limit this post to the actual VO and interview process. Anyone who has been to China will tell you that fraud, piracy, and counerfeiting are rampant. I have been several times over the past year and a half and I have seen plenty of examples of these acts of artifice. Now, put yourself in the shoes of a VO who is surounded by this. For some people trying to obtain visas to the U.S., they will do whatever they can to make it through the interview. The VO's are then faced with the task of trying to determine who is really entering into this legally and who has other intentions. So it is not really the VO's fault that they may seem jaded or incompassionate. We as petitioners and applicants have to do the best we can to provide the best possible evidence we can. Just a thought.

I purchased the tickets for my roundtrip to China, and the one way for my fiance to return with me this December. I booked our tickets over the phone on United. As far as buying for just her, I payed for it and if I needed to I could e-mail her the E-confirmations that we need to take to the Ticket counter in Beijing. So I'm sure you could do something similar to that for your SO and her daughter.

HK is not an option for us. So I need to find some other option with or without travelers checks. I have also heard of people in China setting up credit cards with Visa and/or Mastercard to use their money in the US. anyone have any experience with this? (I mean this particular type of arrangement, not just an ordinary CC account that most of us here probably have several of.) just exploring the options

I talked with someone from my bank (bank of america) they said that if I bring in Chinese RMB to deposit into my acount they will do so at the rate set forth by the Gov. They said they have no control on the conversion rate. My fiance said that some girls on 001 had mentioned travelers checks as an option for bring their money out of China. Still trying to figure out a way for her to bring some of her money here to the US. more importantly, in a way that allows her to do so without losing to much of the value. one minute we're talking about moving funds, the next minute it is fish stories. nice tangent. lol

Hi, Just a few questions about handling money situations. My Fiance will be coming here to the U.S. from China in the very near future. We are trying to figure out some ways to handle the issue of bringing or transfering money To the U.S.. We are trying to figure out some options. I realize that we can each carry up to ten thousand USD through the US port of entry. That is the limits posted on US customs web site. that doesn't mean we will be carrying that much, but I am just mentioning the limit of what is allowed. What are some other options? what have you guys done? Can She open a bank account here in the U.S. after she arrives? what does she need to be eligible for an account? is a social security card enough? B)

I cut and pasted that version of question 11 from the new form

another I-134 question. In the fillable form I found online question 11 states: 11. That I intend __do not intend____ to make specific contributions to the support of the person(s) named in item 3. (If you check "intend," indicate the exact nature and duration of the contributions. For example, if you intend to furnish room and board, state for how long and, if money, state the amount in United States dollars and state whether it is to be given in a lump sum, weekly or monthly, or for how long.) The boxes on this question on the fillable form are unchecked and the following stament is added: N/A ( K1 visa process for permanent residence ) is that the way I should do this? (I am filing K-1 btw)

I already did my I-134 in june of 2004 when we recieved our package 3. I had letters written by my bank and my employer, and my last years tax return. Now, all of the letters are outdated because they fall outside of the 45 day window. I am now in the process of redoing my I-134 so it is current. I had my forms notorized at the bank last time; However I noticed in the instructions that the affidavit can be affirmed at a BCIS office, should I go to a BCIS office to have it done there. think it will have any more benefit than just going to a notary?? The next thing is, in section II of the I-134 instructions. the second paragraph states, " Evidence should consist of copies of any or all of the following documentation listed below that are applicable to your situation." Last time I did my I-134 I was able to get the letter from my employer and the bank. this time I went to the bank and they said that they changed their policy on writting such letters since the last time I was in. They could only provide me with a print out of the accounts with balances and opening dates. they could not put anything in writting with stationary or signatures. So my question is this, If my tax return shows that I make well over the amount set forth in the minimum requirements to sponsor my fiance, and I have a letter stating that I have been gainfully emloyed with the same company for ten years, how important is the bank letter? I am cosidering just adding the current statements from the bank as addendums to the letter that the bank wrote in June, think that will work?

Got an e-mail reply from GZ last night telling my lao po that her interview would be on 12/8, Lucky 8! I was afraid that after my last reply from GZ, that stated "we might schedule you for a interview between mid dec and mid january." I thought I was screwed, I checked flights for that period and found that flights to anywhere were up by at least 50% due to holiday rates. Anyhow, I am glad that I will be with my girl soon! And Yes, I will be accompanying her to GZ for the interview. Right now I am happy as can be, and then some. From 129f noa1 to the interview will have taken 460 days to complete our timeline.

I contacted GZ today via e-mail, they responded in under an hour. Our P-3 was returned early june, and GZ got around to finding it in July, luckily we called to make sure they had it or who knows when they would have entered it into the system. Here is today's e-mail: Me to GZ: According to the last call I made to DOS, my fiance is suppossed to be in que for her appointment. Has her appointment date been set yet? When will we see an appointment letter sent from your office? Reply from GZ: Based on our current schedule we might schedule the applicant for an interview at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. guangzhouiv "Might"????? WTF!?

I spoke with a "visa specialist" at DOS on this past Thursday 10/14, she said June p-3's will get Interviews in Nov - Dec, July p-3's will get interviews Dec & into Jan. I also found out that the P-3 we sent to GZ in the first week of June was not entered into the system until the first week of July! Thank you GZ!

I was doing a little research and visiting some websites looking for some information on immigration stuff and ran across some pages with other people having problems and issues too. I think you might find it interesting that you can request a copy of your name/background check. It has something to do with the freedom of information act and the government is required to release a copy of the information. It won't speed anything up, but atleast you can know what the hell they were looking at for 10 months. yeeesh!