Carl

I just returned from China and brought with me my wife's Chinese passport. I immediately had her passport notarized here in the U.S. and mailed it back by U.S. Express Mail. If you want the American Consulate to notarize it, then I read somewhere that she has to go the American Consulate in China. I am not sure whether the Consulate would let her in without you being there. She can call the Consulate and ask the question herself. Paul 173252[/snapback] It might be a good idea of when you make a copy of the passport to print on the top of the page: TRUE COPY OF PASSPORT ISSUED TO _____________ And at the bottom of the page below the image: I___________ ON _______________ DO CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE DOCUMENT IS A TRUE COPY. MY COMMISSION EXPIRES ON ____________. SIGNATURE OF NOTARY ___________________.

I sent transcripts and w-2s of 2002 and 2003 (transcripts are free from the IRS) with an employment with my I-864. It went through with no trouble because my income was above the 125% level.

Please thank your wife for going with Ying. It just goes to show how much we all are a tight-knit family we have become both here and on the other side of the pond.

Last night in our nightly chat before she left for a side trip to Nanjing, Ying told me she picked up the results of her physical. She said the results were all good. When I asked her about shots she said she got three. She did not tell me what she got, so maybe when she gets here I can look at her records. The final step will be when she gets to GZ for her interview. Here is a hopin', a wishin' and a prayin' she will get her visa and will soon be on her way here.

At the beginning of our visa process Ying had put her home address on the I-130 instead of her mailing address. I later added a continuation sheet on the back with her mailing address in both English and Chinese characters. She got all her mailings with no trouble at all. Maybe I was lucky enough to get a workerbee there who had their stuff together.

I sent Ying the filled out W-7 and the 1040, had her sign and date it and send it back to me. I also had her send me her passport which I copied and printed at the top of the page:TRUE COPY OF PASSPORT #XXXXXXXXX BELONGING TO XXXXX XXXXXXX At the bottom of the page I printed: I ____________ certify that that this is a true copy of the document entitled PASSPORT #XXXXXXXX BELONGING TO XXXXX XXXXXXXX. My commission expires __________________ . Signature. I had it notarized, sent the notarized copy, the signed W-7 and the 1040 to the IRS office in Philadelphia (they are the only place to process ITIN's). I had no problems doing it this way. Once I had the copy I sent Ying's passport back to her. According to the IRS I could claim my wife because we were married, but I could not claim her son because he was physically in the US with me.

Ok, see if I can at least get you started....I am doing this from memory, so I am sure if I forget anything, others will pipe in. 1) you need to file an I-130 filled out. There is a section where your wife needs to put her name and mailing address in Chinese. She can either write it herself, if you have it on a computer you could use cut and paste or write in there "see continuation sheet" and print it out on a seperate sheet of paper. 2) have a completed G-325a Biographcal sheet, one for both you and your wife. 3) copies of your marriage certificate, your and hers birth certificate, your and her divorce decrees (if applicable) 4) passport sized pictures of both of you with your names printed on the back. 5) A money order or something similar of the filing fee. When I filed it was $185, and I am not sure if it has changed. If any of your documents are in Chinese, you will need them translated. The translator needs to have this statement at the end. I _________________, certify that I am fluent in both English and Chinese languages and this is a accurate translation of the document attached entitled _______________. Signature/Date Company The NOA1 will be mailed to you once the Service Center recieves it. Once you recieve the NOA1 for the I-130you can then file the I-129 for the K-3. Since I decided not to file the I-129 I don't know if you need to send in another fee. For that you will ask to ask somebody else. Once the Service Center finishes the I-130 they will send it to the NVC where you will get a bill and the form for verifying your income ($65), then the visa filing fee ($380). Your wife will get a form where she can designate an agent to act in her behalf. Most select their husbands or Fiancees. You will get the P-3 which you need to send to her (you can fill out some of it, but she needs to sign it). The P-4 will be mailed to her. I hope this helps

Ying also owns an apartment in her home city of Yanji. She wanted to sell it before she left but we need to fix the heat. We are planning on sendind her brother the money to fix it then try to sell it when we visit China in October 2006. She would like to get about $12000 for it, but I think she would be happy with what she can get for it.

I believe that's correct. GUZ only does name check on our SO's. NVC and CSC do background and name checks on the American citizen as well as on the China SO's. 169992[/snapback] If there was a namecheck is done on the USC, then why weren't there any red flags in Ginny's case? For those who are new to the board, Ginny was a Chinese woman with a young daughter, who married what she thought was a decent man but turned out to be a convicted child molester whom she caught molesting her daughter. If a namecheck on the USC were in place the man's record might have been known and and Ginny could have better protected her daughter.

Ying left Yanji on the 17th to take an extended trip to visit her family before going to Gz for her interview. She wants to leave GZ for the states on the 9th. I need to come up with an additional $400 so I can get her ticket. I am going to talk to my parents to see if they can loan me the money to get it. I hope they can. Ying is so excited that the process is nearly done, but like me her happiness is tempered with the thought that our son will not be able to join us in our new life together.

Thanks for this, I will try this #. Anything would be better than the Visa call center. And just to correct a typo.....the # is 202 663 1225 (not 1255) 168199[/snapback] OOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carl, when I called I had to listen to it seems like 10 minutes worth of recordings before I figured out which key to press. Have you figured out a faster way to press the phone buttons to make this wait shorter? That might be helpful if you have. Larry 168196[/snapback] as soon as you connect, press 1-1-0 You bypass the menu's and go right to a visa specialist.

I called 202-663-1225 at least twice a week. One time the visa specialist asked my why I didn't e-mail the consulate with my questions. I explained to her the consulate was no longer taking e-mail questions and that they had a new imformation service system that you had to pay for. She said to not bother calling the consulate, but to call them instead. She said they were much nicer there, and that if I wanted to call them every day. I did just that week before last (called every day) and learned that my dear Ying's interview was scheduled for December 5th. So don't be afraid to call, you get the same information the consulate can give you at the cost of a long distance call.

Thank you......Ying told me that your wife will assist her when she goes for her physical. Please thank her for me and Ying.

I did and I also sent her birthday presents. As far as I am concerned, nothing says I love you more than to send your SO that special gift.

Today before I went to work I saw a message from Ying that she has recieved her P-4 . The final piece of the puzzle is finally here. Now I need to send Ying a new employment letter and pray that GUZ will do the right thing and approve her.

I know The Consulate has said they cannot comment on specific cases and I am not asking them to. I just want to let them know that somebody very precious to me will be appearing before them on December 5th, my dear wife Ying. Because of the visa process and my duties at work it has been over a year since I have been able to be with her. I miss her very much. The last six months, since the death of her son, have been very diffucult for her. I have tried to support her as well as I could in spite of the distance between us. My life and her's have been in limbo during this long, drawn out and sometimes painful process. I don't know if this will make it to the visa officer that will handle her case, but if it does, know this, I love this woman with all my heart and soul. I miss her and pray for the day she and I are reunited never to be seperated again. Thank You Carl

That phrase seems to be popular with them. It almost feels like we won the lottery.

I had Ying e-mail me her mailing address written in Chinese. I added her name in English above the the Chinese and below it in English her city, province, country and her city code. She has never had any trouble getting anything I sent her. When I sent her the P-3 packet I used the US Post Office Global Express. She had the package in less than a week. Nothing wrong with USPS and I like the sanctity of the American Postal System.

She might be able to get a cheaper flight, but I know I can get her a flight out of Shanghai-Osaka-Dallas-San Antonio (Air Nippon-American Airways) for $697 or Shanghai-Tokyo-Dallas-San Antonio (China Eastern-American) for $698. We will wait and see.

Thank you!!!!!!!! That is all I need to know

I am no expert, but it is no understanding that once you apply for a emmigration or fiance visa, your SO is barred from getting a tourist visa. I guess they are afraid she may decide to stay in the US after the visa is expired.

In light of your news the penalty for unofical wahoooing will be suspened. Congrats and here is your offical wahoo by the only offical CFL wahooer.. WAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!! 165560[/snapback] Trigg, thank you for your dispensation. Now I have another question....Ying has decided that instead of my flying to China to bring her back she instead will fly here on the first day of my vacation. She want's to spend the time after she gets the visa until the 12th with a friend in Shanghai then fly from there. The best deals I can find have her flying from Shanghai to cities in Japan then on to the US. My question is this....Do Chinese Citizens need a transient visa for Japan or can they travel on their US emmigration visa?

Thank you all. Anybody else having their interview on the same day?

I called DOS just to get an update. I called yesterday and got the same answer of no interview scheduled. Today the minute the Visa Specialist answered she had good news I knew exactly what it was. She told me that Ying's interview has been scheduled for December 5th at 7:15 AM. Finally the news is good. The only bad thing is that my vacation starts December 12, so I will miss the interview, but the end is finally in sight. WWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! (I apologize for intruding on Trigg's function, but could not resist)