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philb

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Posts posted by philb

  1. NVC HELL

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    Phillip A. Becker

    XXXXXXXXX Drive

    Newport Beach, California 92663

    (949)-646-XXXX

    (714)-746-XXXX cellular

    October 25, 2005

     

    Secretary Maura Harty

    2201 C Street NW

    Room 6811

    Washington, DC 20520

    (202)-647-9576

     

    Re: GUZ – XXXXXXXXXX

    Beneficiary XXXXXXXXXX; DOB XX/XX/XX

     

    Dear Secretary Harty:

     

    Rosa Parks died today. She was 92. In 1955 she decided that she had endured all of the injustice that she could bear and she chose a seat in the front of the bus and refused to give way to a white man. The bus driver refused to move the bus and she was ultimately arrested. We are all familiar with the resultant history.

     

    If I could find a seat that represented the injustice that I am enduring within the immigration system of our country, I would sit in it now. I am not causing civil disobedience, as some insist Rosa did. I am only pleading for some assistance in bringing my Fiancé to America through the legal K-1 process. I dream of uniting with my Chinese born bride-to-be in the land that my ancestors emigrated to. Unless you are a Native American, this is the land that all of our ancestors at some point in time emigrated to. I am very proud to state that I am a citizen, tax payer, registered voter and law abiding person holding this country in the highest esteem.

     

    I completed all of the required paperwork to initiate the process to bring my Fiancé to America. I retained an attorney versed in immigration law only to insure that I had properly filled out all of the necessary forms to allow for a smooth process which I anticipated would take nine months to a year. During this period I have returned to China two more times and most recently brought my two children with me to meet her entire family and experience another culture. My problem is this: after submitting my application to the California Service Center, it was swiftly forwarded to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire. It has been explained to me that my application was randomly selected for “secondary review” and “administrative processing and sent to Washington”. I have patiently waited and called for NINE MONTHS waiting to hear when my application will be forwarded to our consulate in Guangzhou. I have received the same response now for way too long. I want the seat that represents the injustice of being somehow treated differently from most applicants and forced to wait for an unspecified length of time which, at present will most likely extend this process to greater than EIGHTEEN MONTHS.

     

    When I asked the NVC operator if requesting the assistance of my Senator or Congressperson would help, I was flippantly told that they will get the same answer that I was given – WAIT. I have waited. How long must I wait? Truthfully, I doubt if my application could actually be located at present. Can anyone tell me what pile my application is sitting in? Will you help me? Can you help me?

     

    I am humbly asking for your assistance in locating and forwarding my K-1 application. Restore my faith in our government. Secondly, I am asking you to reflect upon my case and ask why this even occurs. I sympathize with the present problems that we are facing as a nation. However, I question the use of manpower, or lack of manpower that has forced me to hear over and over – JUST WAIT. I do not see this as fair or just.

     

    Thank you,

    For your assistance and anticipated response,

     

     

    Phillip A. Becker

     

     

     

     

     

    We'll see. I received the canned receipt from her office which at least indicates that the email transmission was received. I'm at wit's end and feel that I have nothing to loose; The time has already been stolen from me.

    PB

  3. The Chinese custom of removing shoes at the door..

    in Culture & Language Discussion

    Posted

    If this will make your wife and my SO happy; why not? What a simple thing to make her happy. What a wonderful (logical) custom to assume. Forget the ex-wife ----wipe her out and enter the new era of happiness.

     

    My SO also expects a shower before retiring and again upon waking up....even in the cold of winter! The one reprieve of water outages in NanNing in the Winter!!! If that makes her happy then pass the shampoo! I think that she made the compromise of showering together---and enjoying it!

     

    smile and enjoy!

     

    Phil

  12. K-1; K-2 her son turns 18!

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    Help!

    It's bad enough lamenting with Jesse (and others) about the wait. However, it looks like by the time my Fiance does receive the P-3 paperwork her son, who is listed as a K-2, will have turned 18 reaching adulthood.

    Is this going to be one more nightmare chapter? I anticipated having to update much of the financial info...etc. My Fiance will have to get all her paperwork redone - since she jumped the gun in excitement and had it all propared in anticipation of receiving the P-3. Will I be able to bring him over at the same time?

     

    Mr. NAI XIN Himself,

    Phil

  15. Blue Slip

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    Eric & Lucy:

     

    Time to start the assault!

    I have had the priviledge of seeing the denial document and will give my take on your situation; hoping that you can dig in and overcome this situation and secondly, give future applicants a little insight into the "what can go wrong" scenario.

     

    First, there is a running discussion here on if the decision is preemptive or decided on the spot as the beneficiary is interviewed. Only Lucy can confirm what went down. Did she get nervous and revert to chinese after months of english school and practicing the responses? My take is that a couple of red flags were raised and Lucy's interview was predestined. Why? On the front page was a hand written comment; not just a prefunctory box checked. The statement was in english and Chinese..."who wrote the emails which are supposedly from the petitioner?" I know (but they do not) that you were trying to facilitate communication by equipping your computer with a translating program and sending these emails in chinese. I think this lit up the first flag. As Frank has pointed out; scams do exist and this just might indicate that you are being prompted to initiate a fraudulent immigration. Secondly, being freshly divorced and expressing the amiable situation with your ex-wife only lights up another flag. They do not take into effect that you have children with her and therefore, taking the high road is not a sign of trying to pull off a financial gain with your ex-wives complicity. The third light comes on if there is a question of getting the airline tickets. I am certain that Lucy was assisting you to get the best deal...let's face it, these gals are sharp, frugal and only trying to help you; not buy you an airline ticket to initiate the interface which will start the K-1 process (meeting in person).

     

    Secondly, you indicated problems with Lucy's ex-husband, just out-and-out trying to extort money from the "rich American" when Lucy let it be known that she was taking the children to America. I would ask Lucy if she was displaying the blue slip in view as she exited the consulate. To be accosted immediately by a tout trying also to extort money could be a situation similar to Alex's where 3rd party intervention has screwed up the entire situation.

     

    OK...enough what went wrongs (possibly), and on to how to fix it:

     

    1) I have already passed on to Lucy and children to become (severely) tight-lipped. She should return to NanNing and await help and direction from you only. Do not discuss with "friends" , teachers...etc.

    2) Respond point by point in as much detail that you can dig up:

    #8-Provide all records of telephone contact made...hopefully a service like Onesuite.com was used and you can print out all records. You might need Lucy to provide evidence that the telephone # you called belongs to her.

    #9 - Provide a detailed statement about the entire relationship's evolution. This one is easy and should allow you a forum to overwhelmingly present a bona fide relationship.

    #11 - Provide history of trips to Nanning. Again, this should be easy to document. The most important part is to show how Eric planned and paid for these trips. Charge card payments, airline tickets and details of your travels...maybe including pictures will give you an opportunity to show that you were actually courting her; not just meeting her for some scam. Be sure to include statements about Lucy's children accompanying trips.

    #13 - Provide notorized copy of Eric's passport. While this specifically calls out to be notorized; it probably wouldn't hurt to get all documents notorized.

    #14 - Provide evidence of WHO purchased petitioner's plane ticket. HAVE THEY RUNG A BELL HERE? Eric must provide a complete money trail from bank statements paying credit card to credit card charges to ticket issuance. This looks like a real hot button.

    #15 - Provide residency history of petioner's ex-spouse and beneficiary's ex-spouse. This one is a little tougher on Lucy's end. Eric should be able to come up with sufficient evidence from his ex. Lucy may have to offer a "cooperation fee" to her ex to get sufficient documentation of his residency. Here is where King may come in as an invaluable aide. If Lucy has been divorced for a sufficient period of time and her husband has resided outside of her domicile of NanNing (I think he is in GuangZhou); maybe the divorce decree will suffice. If all of the preceding documentation is extremely strong then this issue may fade away.

    While Lucy received the denial; it was clearly left open to consideration upon presentation of the above materials. Load up the dump truck; heed that you may have to call and make an appointment to return to GuangZhou and plug away at getting over this blockade. At least you clearly understand what they are requiring; what their impression is of the application and YOU WILL PREVAIL.

     

    It will come to pass...

     

    Phil

  16. Culture and children - need advice

    in Culture & Language Discussion

    Posted

    Just a thought:

     

    I took my 17 year old daughter and 19 year old son over to meet the family - including 17 year old LiJing (boy), 19 year old Zhang (nephew), 15 year old Tiantian (niece) and Eric's two children - Lulu and Jack.

     

    I think that being literally at the mercy and dependence of this family for a couple of weeks and seeing their culture will help all of us when we can all be together. I gave them the stand-by hand translator and turned them loose. Yes, they hit the computer outlets and drank some beers together...etc.

     

    The outcome: my son decided to sign up for a 5 unit class in reading writing and speaking CHINESE at ASU. My SO and future stepson continue taking english lessons in NanNing along with other family members. My son and daughter both took turns teaching at this school in Nanning on several occasions.

     

    So - communications will play a role. It is my opinion that when your step daughter (quickly) grasps english....and maybe your children go after a little chinese, things will get better. I agree with Trigg in offering your daughter a role of leadership and praise her for it. Remember to try and carve out a little time alone with each child and reinforce how important they are to you.

     

    I (attempted) blending a family in past years. It is not an easy thing to do. Keep in mind that none of these children had much of a vote in you and your SO's coming together. I think that the key word after communication is love.

     

    Best of luck,

     

    Phil

  19. Blue Slip

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    Eric:

     

    Give me a call.

    This may be shades of the IRS who "randomly" go after an in-detail audit. I agree with everyone. Keep Lucy, Lulu and Jack all tight lipped and just pour on the evidence.

    Yunyun will console her as best she can upon her return to NanNing. If you need a "voucher" letter; I am ready. I am probably one of the few people who have met both you and Lucy-Lulu-Jack and can attest to the sincerity of all involved.

     

    You will prevail over this short setback,

     

    Phil

  23. What is this and ....

    in General Visa Discussion & First Steps

    Posted

    Jesse:

     

    I am also hung up. You can look at my timeline and see that I have been under "adminstrative review" at NVC for over 7 months now. No one will help me to understand where my application is or what is occurring.

    I did get assigned a GUZ number and everytime I call; the operator locates my case and parrots the same canned response. Imagine my frustration when I see fellow CFLers that applied at the same time that I did through the same service center attending final interviews in GuangZhou and planning on returning together this month. While I still appear 9 months out.

     

    Pee on the patience. How do I explain my government's total disregard?

     

    Who will give me back the time?

     

    Phil

  24. Instead of Red Flags....

    in Culture & Language Discussion

    Posted

    Some quick positives:

     

    1) I mentioned that I might just come live with her in China. She replied, "OK, maybe live in America for 6 years then retire in China, or come now".

     

    2) I mentioned that if things got hung up that maybe we would go to another country such as Brazil or Australia. She replied, "Does not matter, I just want to be with you". Last time I checked; Brazil doesn't issue Green Cards for the U.S.A.

     

    3) She talks and treats all of our children as one family. There is no jealousy. My children lived with her for 2 weeks and were looked upon as hers and part of the family. Every family member from aunts to Mama to brother and sisters - niece and nephew have dined with me; traveled with me; attended ESL school with me (in NanNing); many of her friends have invited us into their homes for social occasions...that means plenty of food!

     

    4) I asked her what her immediate goals were upon arrival. She listed; go to school and learn better english; get a job; cook good meals and make me happy...if I am happy then she is happy.

     

    I am most likely in the majority that look within themselves and ask...am I just a meal ticket or a vehicle to a green card?

     

    All I can say for certain is, "I hope not".

     

    Doesn't sound like green card collusion to me. And yes, I have looked into her eyes...and her heart.

     

    Phil

  25. As we approach the Interview

    in Culture & Language Discussion

    Posted

    My fiance has been attending english classes faithfully in Nanning; while our application languishes at NVC. A fellow student of my SO has become a good friend as she will interview this month and plans on arriving shortly thereafter. Just so happens that her fiance lives close by in Southern California.

     

    I am hoping that we can share with this other couple and possibly anticipate some of the bumps and pitfalls as they adjust to two worlds coming together. Possibly, CFL could take a look at an informal mentoring program(not just a one time get together)....meeting with couples that have preceded them/ having a friend to share feelings with. Living in similar areas of the country, such as Kansas (Dorothy), and sharing some of the roller coaster ride with a mentor may be beneficial. As the honeymoon stretches out, maybe just knowing that others have been through the same plateaus and feelings ( isolation, depression, homesickness) may help. I plan to do this with Eric and Lucy - maintaining a friendship and strengthening our future marriage.

     

    Phil

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