pbatt

I would like to thank everyone for the advice. To further explain my situation. My first wife passed of cancer after 25 years of marriage. I met my second wife from Shanghai in 2002, we applied K-1 and got caught up in the black hole that year, is when I joined Candle.We married in Feb 2003 and ended in divorce in May 2005. I live in the countryside. she could not and never will drive a car. She felt trapped by this and we drifted apart after time.The second divorce was after knowing her for a year,as I was teaching in Singapore and was looking at moving to China to teach,we married in June and divorced in July,She was 4 months pregnant and lost the baby 2 weeks after we married,she blamed me for the loss and told me if I not divorce her in 2 weeks I would never find her again.Sad but is life. I never got a white book and we never applied for a visa to USA. Liyuan knows all this and we have talked the difficulties many times.She grew up in Rural China, so we have a lot in common since I grew up on a farm.She is fluent in English.Her heart was broken by a former Chinese BF of 4 years,he told her his parents would never accept her and was dating another woman is why she left him. I do not have any doubts myself as just looking at best possible ways to prove to Guangzhou that it is a bonafide relationship. Thanks again Paul

Age difference is 22 years, I am 55,LiYuan is 33. Kind of in the middle of age ranges.

I was in China in late February and early March for a couple of weeks. I will have a difficult overcome due to many reasons.Age difference,20+ years,short time of knowing each other,5 months and marriage on first trip.It only gets worse,this is my 4th marriage,first wife passed away 10+years ago,and two divorces from Chinese women before,one in 2005 and a very short one in 2007.We are in no particular rush to file I-130 yet, still gathering her documents,LiYuan has never married before but since she was born at home, need get Birth Certificate as well. I may have a chance to fly to China again at end of April, not sure, will know by end of the week. Is this to soon in the eyes of Guangzhou? Next time may well be September before have a chance again,or later. Or would three times over be better before we start the visa process? We opened a joint savings account in Guilin when I was there and adding her to my health insurance plan should not be a problem as well as to a credit card. I know we need lots of frontloading as well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance. Paul

I just returned from Guilin 2 weeks ago and LiYuan and I opened a joint savings account at ICBC bank. It took about 20 minutes to complete all. I just used my Passport and filled out the forms. Good Luck

Good advice Lee. Several of my old students in Singapore got Visas to come here for work experience in the Degree's they were pursuing, mostly Hotel Management. They studied here for 3 months and then returned home.They were here last summer.All my students are from Mainland China and study in Singapore. Something I have not seen offered yet is how about your parents coming to visit you and meet her that way? This would be a good way also for everyone to meet.

I just came back a week ago from Guilin, LiYuan and I registered in Yulin, her hometown. I had single certificate from Guangzhou,they would not accept it without a Chinese translation of it. The lady could not read English and said she would not take it without the local University translating it to Chinese as well. Cost 300rmb to have it done and red stamped by the professor, seems he translates all the single certificates for the marriage bureau in Yulin. I think it is up to the local marriage bureau and what they want. Good luck

I have seen the CBP officer stamp right on the back of the I-94 No AOS on it. This happened to my friend from Singapore when she visited the US. They held her at Customs for over 4 hours and also came and talked with me as well. They suspected she was trying to come here to get married, this is what the officer explained to me when he talked to me. I asked him how she can get married in USA and adjust status if she is still married, he looked at me and said she cannot. I said problem solved. It was another hour and she was allowed to enter.They did stamp no AOS on her form. As has been stated before, do the K-1 and good luck

Tsap, Thanks for the update on this, I know it will help me in the future as I start this process again as well. LiYuan and I have decided to wait a few months to start the I-130 package as I have many things to overcome and address(age at 20 plus years, previous marriages, all the usual stuff) and want to wait some time to get all my ducks in a row so to speak.LiYuan understands all this also as we have talked a long time about everything. I hope also to get in another trip if all goes well. I know soon you will hear on Lil Rabbit as well.It seems like just as you get closer to grabbing the golden ring, they pull it back just out of reach again.Wish you both the best of luck. Paul

Some good advice has been offered here already. Sometimes I have found that some Chinese people are embassaed to speak English as they are afraid they are not pronunciating it correctly. This was true of many of my Chinese students in Singapore when I taught spoken English there. Even my own spoken Chinese needs improvement. There are many websites to learn to speak Chinese as well as to help improve her English. I have found even with Google translate that after I translate from English to Simplified Chinese, I then translate the Simplified Chinese to English to make sure the meanings I wanted to convey are correct. English-Chinese and Chinese-English are two of the harder Languages to translate. You are in the earlier stages of developing your relationship, enjoy it and you will have many memories of this down the road. I am in Guilin now but will return home in a few hours, if you wish, PM me and I can send you a link to a website that helps you learn some spoken Chinese,it is free and has helped me. Good Luck with all.

Very interesting and informative article, thanks for posting the link.

Throughout the years I think all religion has been bent some. Wars have been fought over religion. Even the US was founded based on Religion and religious priciples. I read the articles you refer to and also seem to remember that the Dalai Lama had said long ago one was born to succeed him but he was being held under house arrest and replaced by someone else.If this is true then I can understand his feelings. Problems in India also with over 8 million in cash being found going to the head of the Buddhism sect there.I was in Tibet in Lhasa in 2007 on a tour,I was fortuante to get in and out without any trouble at all.I was amazed at the strength and devotion of all Buddhists there. Will be interesting to see what happens in the future.

In filling out paperwork for upcoming I-130. Talking with LiYuan she gets her postal mail at her work address and not her apartment address. Will this cause problems down the road later? How to address the issue? No pun intended Thanks in advance

Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts and suggestions. I do have much to overcome and will take time to prepare all things in advance. We are not in a rush to apply as we need to gather additional documents as well. From all that I have read, this will be a long process as well. I know I will have a lot more questions down the road also. But much thought has gone into the relationship and Yes, I am willing to move to China if all else fails.

I am gathering documents for starting the I-130 process and have a question about overcoming a previous dicorce to a Chinese woman. Has anyone done this before and any thoughts if this will be a huge problem? Or a big red flag to overcome? I know I need to front load as much info as I can and also need to be very detailed as to previous marriage and why it failed. How much detail do you provide? I am wondering if they want a monthly detail or just details in general, like when we met, filed for fiancee visa, when marriage started and when it ended and where she is now. Not sure where but do have SSN and last known address.No contact for over 2 years. Also should this detail be handwritten or typed or both? Thanks in advance. Paul

Typically June 1st is when many universities have end of semester classes and many students return home and also start of summer season for vacation travel.This is one reason June may be higher but with fuel costs soaring who knows. I have found my best prices usually are flying on Tuesdays and returning on Thursdays but not always.There was an article on Yahoo news recently about buying tickets on tuesdays through thursdays as usuall having the lowest fare specials, now if I can just find the article. I just searched flychina.com and found the lowest price, which turned out to be American airlines and then went to their homepage and found even lower fare. It seems American Airlines is not allowing some search engines to carry its fares like Orbitz, Expedia and its subsidiary, Hotwire. I read other Airlines may also do this as a way to offer lower fares. Good luck with your searching

I cannot remember but I am thinking I am allowed a total of 44 pounds for both pieces not 88. Does anyone know for sure? I am flying China eastern to Guilin and China southern back to Shanghai. Thanks in advance, Paul

If the pictures show that you met in China then I would think it would be easier as others have said before me. To marry and file I-130 and then return before your B-2 visa expires, since is in June as you stated will give you time to have baby and resolve all things. Good luck, be well prepared, and wish you all the best.

I hope they add a couple of cities from Tokyo. I really miss the flight from Tokyo to Guangzhou that Northwest had.

I agree with Dan about the arrival times, many more options. I get in at 3:05pm and have enough time to catch the late flight to Guilin.Something I could never do when flying Northwest/Delta to Shanghai via Minneapolis.Much nicer than overnight at Shanghai altho I always stayed next to Pudong airport about a mile away at Jinan hotel. I am not sure how long they will keep up the lower prices, but sure was a nice surprise to see booking at the main airline sight lower than the discount fare offerings.

Yes I agree that it is a good price.I just booked my flight three days ago there. MSP to PVG for 673RT. Was best price I had found anywhere on the net.What is nice also, you can hold the price you find for up to 24 hours before purchasing.Gave me time to search for connections in China.

How did you like American Airlines for overseas? I have never flown them before so will be new experience, has always been Northwest/Delta before. I am looking forward to 16 days in Guilin.

Thanks everyone. I will look into the bus. I am not sure about United but I got a reasonable price for American Airlines. Minneapolis to Shanghai via Chicago for 673.00. Will fly to Guilin later in the day from Pudong.

I will be traveling from Hongqiao airport to Pudong airport on Wednesday Mar 10th. I arrive at Hongqiao at 11:45 am and my flight is not until 6pm at Pudong. What are my options? Thanks in advance Regards Paul

I have been looking on wholesale-fares.com's website and they offer some attractive prices. Just curious if anyone has used them before and if they had a good or bad experience. Thanks in advance. Paul

I know I have read this somewhere before but cannot find for now. Is there an easy way to save Yahoo messenger chats to CD? I know is easy for msn and others, yet have not found any other way other than cut and paste to word document. That will take hours to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Paul