Carl

I downloaded my 325A off the internet and filled it out in Adobe PDF. It had 4 pages, but I only had to fill out the first and all the information was copied on the other three. As far as I know, nothing has changed.....

Trigg might. He lives in the Volunteer State, but first you need to seperate him from his sheep.......BAAAAA.

Don't worry about it. Some of the service centers are extremely backlogged. I sent mine to the Texas Center, which has also has a backlog. Apparently in an effort to clear the backlog the service centers transfer the petitions to service centers that afe either on or ahead of schedule. Mine was also transferred and was processed in less than 90 days. So being transferred is a good thing. Hang in there.

Ours is next next month~~ We are in the same boat. I know exactly how you feel. Our first anniversery is coming up in June. It will not be a happy one. Also, tomorrow (April 16th) is Ying's birthday and even though I sent her some birthday presents, it just is not the same as seeing her open them and being showered with kisses for remembering it.

8 months and you got a two year visa. That is an amazing timeline. It appears that our Department of Homeland Security and Department of State can learn a few things from your Visa department.

It depends on how large your family is, but 125% of the poverty level for a family of two is just over $16k, so you are well above that......You got no worries.

I don't want to get into a peeing contest with you, but you may be a moderator at other forums, but you are not here. Don't exceed your authority. If Don wants to move it he will, if he lets it stay..........LIVE WITH IT!!!!

Personally I wouldn't. It could up end up confusing the VO whenit comes time for the interview and might make them think you are already married and thus commiting fraud by applying for a K-1. You can still have the non binding ceremony for your SO's family, take the pictures, but don't add them to the photo album you show the VO. To be considered married you need a legal document that says you are. If there is no legal document, you may consider yourself married in name after the "ceremony," but legally you are both single.

Give me a break. To get the most answers to the question one puts it in the most read forum. Sorry newbie, it belongs in Culture & Immigration forum. It is in no way related to General Visa Discussion. Sorry to be curt, but you asked for it. Stats, Not wanting to cast aspersions in your direction, but unless Don or any of the other administrators say anything about this thread being in the forum, you should not either. Remember, at one time you was a newbie too.

I got this directly from the Department of State website concerning those whe do not have an offical birth certificate: Unobtainable birth certificates Your birth record may not be obtainable. Some reasons are listed below. Your birth was never officially recorded. Your birth records have been destroyed. The appropriate government authority will not issue one. Please obtain a certified statement from the appropriate government authority stating the reason your birth record is not available. With the certified statement you must submit secondary evidence. For example: A baptismal certificate that contains the date and place of birth and both parent¡¯s names providing the baptism took place shortly after birth An adoption decree for an adopted child, or An affidavit from a close relative, preferably the applicant¡¯s mother, stating the date and place of birth, both parent¡¯s names, and the mother¡¯s maiden name. Note : An affidavit must be executed before an official authorized to take oaths or affirmations. Information regarding the procedures for obtaining birth certificates is usually available from the embassy or consulate of the country concerned. Hope it helps.

I gave Ying a choice about what to do about her name. She decided on her own to keep her given name (Ying), use her family name as her middle name (Jiang) and take my name as her last (Sharp), adopting the western custom. I would be happy with whatever she chose because I married the womam, not the name.

I'll be 49 in June, Ying is will be 36 April 16th. That puts our age difference at 13 years. I however did not divorce my ex (there was 18 years difference between us) wife to marry her, but was single for nearly a year before we met. But they say love is blind, so who can say.

When I did my I-864 I had an employment letter done back in January. The NVC told me it needed to be less than 90 days old, so I had to get a new one. So just to be safe I would get a new one.

I agree with Robert, Maura Harty needs to be informed EVERY time our SO's report that a VO acts in a less than professional manner. If they do encounter a non-professional VO, we should have our SO's, once they are safe and sound here in the US do a few "sworn affidavits" on their interview, send one to Maura Harty, your congressman, senators, a few media outlets, and maybe a civil rights attorney interested in making a name for himself.

Thanks for the information. I just talked to Ying on Skype, and she told me that she has full custody of Peter, and that her EX surrendered all parental rights concerning Peter and he has severed any and all ties and contact with both her and him. So, I think I need not concern myself about the matter.

I have a translated copy of her divorce decree and it says.... Arrangement of Children: (Peter's Chinese name) born on September 17, 19XX, child by marriage will be brought up by mother and the father will pay alimony of 300 yuan each month. I read this to say Ying has sole custody.....I may be wrong, but it won't be the first time......

Ying has decided to leave her son Meng (aka Peter) with her parents for about a year so we can set up our household and have some bonding time. Since we decided to leave Peter off the petition when we start the process of bringing him here, we will be starting from scratch, but all the more wiser on the process. However, I am wondering if her EX will figure in the process. Basically he did not want to have children, so when Ying got pregnant he was not happy. When Ying got divorced it appears that she recieved sole custody of Peter, and he appears to not want to have anything to do with Peter. In fact he has not seen Peter since the divorce. So if that is the case will we have to get any type of permission from him to get Peter a visa and with us here in the US? Both Ying and I believe that he really has no say in the matter, nor would he oppose the matter. In fact he might be happy because it might mean that he will be able to stop paying the 100 RMB child support he has been paying. Let me know what you guys think or maybe suggest somebody Ying might be able to talk to in China to get some answers.

Ying has decided to leave her son with her parents for about a year so we can set up our household and have some bonding time. When we start the process of bringing him here, I was wondering about her EX. Ying has sole custody of him and Ying says that he really wants nothing to do with him. So I am wondering if she has to get his permission if she has sole custody?

Oh yes, I'm getting all the sheep I need. Thanks for asking. Trigg, I was wondering if you counted your sheep when you sleep?

Every big city has a really good brothel--They code name them to keep out the riff raff!! (Code name=ZOO) Trigg, I wonder if your favorite song is "It Had to Be Ewe?"

I figured that too, but how do you know it was touched?

Ying has said the same thing to me, but more important to her is the fact that I try to put her first in everything I do and pay attention to her. She appreciates that I am more of a loving and caring husband than her EX. On my last night in her home city a GF of hers invited us out to dinner. After we finished eating the GF's husband picked us up and took us to a nightclub. There I almost constantly had my arm around her, held her hand or was kissing her. Her GF looked at her and said, "I jealous of you." Then she turned to her husband (He is a good husband and my wife likes him), slapped him on the thigh saying, "Why you no do that?" We all had a good laugh, I could tell I made an impression on everybody there, but honestly I only had eyes for my wife.

I talk to my Ying every day she is home on SKYPE. We also both use a webcam so we can see each other. We talk about our days. She also teaches English in a school nearby. Whwn we talk I help her with pronounciation. We exchange news we read on both here and on 001. On days she is not online or she is at her parents house I am totally lost. But in the meantime I work, surf the web, talk to her daily and in the long run have absolutely no life.

Does the letter your employer signs need to be notarized? Where and how would you get it notarized if he signs it at your workplace and there is no notary?

Congratulations and you're welcome. The good news the majority of you pass along gives me and others hope and strength to carry on. Again.........Congratulations