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Did you look at the BACK of the i-94. For my wife, they placed a small stamp there "employment authorized". That is it. But, she had to ask the officer for it! Good Luck... Hey, only 1.5 hours late was not too bad, our "continental" flight from Beijing to Newark was 3.5 hours late, and they still said, proudly, welcome to newark, ON TIME.

Tony: It was at EWR (Newark). We decided to try the new Continental to Beijing Direct plane, and found the entire experience absolutely terrible! The service is worse, the food is too small, and worse, the airplane gives less room, none of the staff can speak Chinese, and to top it all off, immigration at Newark is a nightmare...I even saw them asking people with greencards and one person with a USA Passport to step into their secondary processing room... But, they say under the law that everyone with an AP document must go into secondary processing...and they interviewed her like in GZ...except for not as long (only 2 minutes, instead of 3-4 in GZ). Yikes!!!

A follow up: when you arrive with an AP document back to the US, you are taken inside for an automatic secondary screening. I had to wait, outside (and was not allowed in with my wife) for more than 1.5 hours, as they processed the queue. Her questioning was only 2 minutes long...but the wait was terrible! They were even taking some people with greencards and one with a usa passport into secondary... UGH! The important thing to get from this is that an AP document is NOT a guarantee of being allowed to re-enter the USA

From the get-go, my wife and I realized that we would rather live in China than the US, or elsewhere, but that work and other short-term obligations required us to live in the US. If you can not agree to the top statement, and are not prepared to live togehter in the US except for in the short-term, then why are you getting married? There are many people who will put up facades to gain something that they consider important in the future...and in each case, if one is willing to look deeply, they will discover the truth. We too know many who do this, and many who also abuse the other way too. We currently have members here who have been lied to and hurt by Chinese and others who have physically beaten up their Chinese spouces and been restrained by the court...the fact is that for each of us, what we need to do is focus on why we want to be together in the first place, so as to avoid all of these problems in the long run! Why do you want to marry? Why do you love each other? Are you willing to live together, in China, forever? If you are not sure, have you offered this before filing any applications? Good luck to all!

I'm not sure I understand option #1. If we were to file for the k-3 visa, and she were to leave in a few weeks, can she return while the k-3 is pending? I thought in that case its just like the k-1, she can't come into the US until its officially approved. And how long is the current best guess of time to get the i-130? And to jump ahead to your second email, the part about talking to her dad...unfortunately she would definately have to be there to translate everything. We can only say hi/bye to each other currently and no way I could pull off a miracle to learn mandarin that quickly. And I am a pretty traditional guy, have suggested I have this serious talk with her dad on both of my last 2 trips to China but she said no way, it won't accomplish anything, best to just spend some time together with them and let her do the serious work. Her mom is actually neutral, of course doesn't want to lose her daughter and worries how well we could know each other and get along with all the culture difference, but in the end she says its her life her decision and she will support her. Her mom knows she is in the US now visiting me. All the relatives know, its only her dad that doesn't, and the secret works only because everyone is afraid to let him know. I really wish I could just convince her now to stay and continue the lie for the next few months until all our paperwork is approved and she can then go back without all the legal issues...we have enough to worry about with immigration, family and not to forget but our own relationship with each other which is somewhat lost in all the other trouble. And here I thought the last 2 years we could easily get thru this if patient...I flipped pages on the calendar for months waiting for that day we got the k1 visa...now it all seems so small! Thanks everyone for the advice! 147574[/snapback] Well, if the rest of the family knows (on the Dad's side), I think that it is time to have a family-pow-wow. I know that learning Chinese is not easy, or fast, but it IS the fastest way to resolve this. I was thinking that if she could go back to somewhere neutral, that it could help things along. Could she quickly apply for a work permit (based on a Job) somewhere closer to home, which her parents could consider a compromise, and which processes cases far faster, such as Macau or Hong Kong (both of which are still Chinese)? If this is not the case, then it is a tough case and you need to make decisions. I think that telling him the truth will only help in the near future, otherwise this ambiguity will keep going on and on. Does he feel or know if you have properly dinhun (IE: given her family enough money to cover the cost of a house for her...in most places in China 25,000-30,000$US will be much more than enough)? This could help. Again, I think that the best way to clear everything up is for you to go. maybe you could go quickly and use that as a means of having her continue to wait on the paper work. It would be a bold move... If not, then maybe going together. I know that my wife and I resent so strongly the 9.5 months that we had to wait apart...and we have both decided that if we must again, businesses/schools be thrown out the window, we will never go that route again...it is just not worth it. There are always opportunities to be had. And with the Chinese RMB every day appreciating against the $US, you may make more money quickly sending it to China than leaving it in the US, even at a higher income base.... Good luck!!!

Huh??? My own Wife would kick your butt if she met you! We have already agreed that the second she can start to walk after having children, I will spend at least 50% of the time with them. It is about advancing and enjoying life as much as we can, together! We are a team, and everything is equal. In fact, I think not, I prefer delegating as many important responsibilities to her, since I know that she is at least as good as I am, if not better, at getting things done!!! But, if she naturally wants me to ever do any work, large or small, I am so happy to do it, since it means allowing us to share everything... In short...I think that you are asking too much of her too! Why not you take off to home-raise the kids (except for breast-feeding, which she alone must do)????? I am cool with it...

Now, for the cultural/emotional solution. You must ask her how much she loves you. Ask her if she is willing for you to loose your job and for you to live in China with her. Then, if she answers yes, she wants you, then you go and fly to China, without her to talk to her dad. If she says yes, and you think that you want her to come with you to China, or your Chinese is not good enough to talk to her dad in person, then she must come with you. However, this will require huge trust in both parts. He must be directly talked to, in person, and it MUST BE BY YOU. If your wife is with you, it may help convince him. However, since it seems to be his dad, I would work on talking to the mother first. And any siblings that the dad has. Under the culture, if your wife's dad's parents are convinced (or if they are deceased, then your wife's dad's siblings), then he MUST also be convinced. Although with the siblings thing, you will need a very large majority of them convinced. If it comes to either of these cases, then she will HAVE TO GO WITH YOU. I think that if you try this, you will win. But, you will likely need to stay in china for at least 6 months to a year to accomplish this. I would try to apply ASAP in your case for either a Z-visa (find a good job) or a D-visa (residence). Then, if you want to come back to the US in the future (minimum 1-2 years) you can always file i-130 DCF. Good Luck. Tell us how it goes...

Wow. A tough situation. I will offer two sets of advice, this first one is strictly legal in terms of the Immigration issues: 1. You can file i-130 right now, and file as a k-3 status. That will allow her a multiple entry visa for the next 2 years, if you also file a form withdrawing the current i-485. This is possible. 2. You could show proof that her father is ill (it sounds like this may be the case) as a reason to issue an emergency AP document, but the proof would have to be extremely convincing, and without it, she may forever be deined a LPR status. 3. You can withdraw your case, and move with her back to China 4. If she has a PhD or a MS degree, you could try to change her status, as quickly as possible, to H1B. This multiple entry visa would allow her to come and go easily for at least the forseeable future. This could also work if she has an excellent skill, but since all of those slots are used up for the year, you would have to wait too long.

interesting... I guess I didn't see this angle. If she is a USC, what justification do you have to 'retire' to china and be allowed to stay? What visa will permit this? 138449[/snapback] I'm sure others can answer this better than I now. I know you can get permanent residency in China but it involves a very large investment. But I believe you can shuffle in and out occasionally and meet requirements. My SO has some "connections" which may help us. I also think this will be liberalized in the next few years and make it even easier. 138455[/snapback] Obtaining Permenant Residency is quite easy if your spouse stays a Chinese Citizen. I hence argue that keeping her citizenship should be the easiest method. Travel on a Chinese passport keeps getting easier...and many european nations allow you to double. Why not look more into this angle (rg: let her have Chinese/Ireland and you can have USA/Ireland). Does anyone have thoughts on this? Does anyone know how the Chinese situation will change in the future for this, or is it still all speculation? I did post a long time ago that obtaining a HK ID was a long, but straight-forward process...has anyone looked into this one more?

some discussion in here too... Living in China, what to deal with http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11637 I'm of the same thought as you.. and knowing my SO, she would not give up the citizenship anyway. But cannot say I understand all the issues and implications.. and what changes will occur in the future. 147234[/snapback] We have experienced racism and prejudice here. However, my wife definitely finds that some things here are better than in China, but others are worse. At the present time, we are living here, for the future, because of academics and present employment situations. If those change, which they inevitably will, then we will need to think more. Presently, our thoughts place China slightly ahead of the US, but still both behind 3rd locations. However, no one knows what the future will hold. If the economic situation in China keeps on improving in terms of for all people, or if China follows more of an European approach with better public transportation and better environmental standards (which in some ways it is and in other ways it is not), then it will increase as a potential future place to live and work in. But, what we see right now is that we are both people, and that the future is too uncertain to predict. Hence, we want to maximize our flexibility to face the future. Does this make sense? This is why both of us think that keeping as many bridges unburnt as possible is the best way to go. It is another reason why neither of us have changed our name...but for our future children, this still needs to be worked out, shall we hyphenate, use 4 names, use chinese, english, etc? We already have ideas worked out...but I wonder what others will do? Thanks for listening and i hope that this makes sense...

But do note: One can Forever Hold a US Green Card and A Chinese Passport (I know a professor who has done this now for 34 years). One can not simultaneously hold a Chinese Passport and a US Passport, unless one is under 18 years old. Hence, in our case, we have decided to not give up the Chinese Citizenship...for once you do, you can not easily, if ever, get it back. What do others think/feel about this? I guess, being younger, we are looking at the future as part of our determination! Naturally, we never know what the future holds...and this may change some day...

And Mexico... However, it seems that most European Countries will issue a travel visa to a person holding a valid Green Card. Does anyone have experience to the contrary? Thanks!

Or just move to GuLangYu and learn to ride a boat back to the city for food and supplies!!!

I have written in detail the answer to number 1. I can not remember where I posted it, but it is on Candle somewhere!

Yep. It seems that they do: Making it as hard as possible for people who come on family visas, or from poorer countries (of which we are doubly guilty). Grrr....

Actually, something HAS CHANGED. It seems that about 2-3% of all applications which go there "get lost". This we found out after it happened to us. The post office was glad to show us how it worked... It is sick. And the 800-no-information line certainly does not help either. What we did was after waiting the 30 days, went to the Boston Office with the copies of everything and low and behold, things got fixed. Remember, under law they MUST send something to you within 4 weeks (28 days). Good Luck!!!

What??? MANY people in the province where my darling comes from eat all types of dairy products, including milk, yogurt, and others. Are you sure that this is not a north/south China thing???

It seems that registering may be moot... The embassy in Beijing knew exactly how many times I had been to China and what days I entered and exited (except for when I one time went by land from China to Vietnam, they were off by a few days). This all came out when the in-laws got their B2 visas! Interesting... I still vote for not wasting the time to go through this process... However, to comply with local laws, registering with the PSB may be advisable, especially if you will be around for a while...

https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/offi...lectedOffice=10 this link takes you to the boston UCIS--looks like a little over a year!! 145952[/snapback] Thanks for the info (although it stinks, at least we know now)...

Well, does anyone know how long Boston currently takes? When I look online, I can not see the length of time for the MSC to process i-485's. Does anyone know where this is?

Additionally, it seems that unless you have been back to visit, the chance of them getting a visa to visit you is really low... Good Luck!

Does anyone know what the stars on a USA b2 visa, issued in China, mean? We noticed that my darling's parents are slightly different (besides their names) in that one has one star, and the other has two. The one with two is currently employed and the one with one is currently retired. We think that this may be it, but again, we still do not even know what it means. Thanks for all of your help!!!

Or file form i-131 first...

Ahhh! Not good IMHO... We really have found that the USCIS NO HELP LINE has caused more problems than not. Just go to infopass.uscis.gov (no www) and sign up online for the appointment in Boston! GL...

GO TO BOSTON! We have had so many problems with the MSC. We just go to the Boston office and they know us there like their old friends. We sit and chat and catch up, and suddenly, everything is smoothed out a few days later... Good Luck...