bubbafred10

Talking about translators and translating emails, it reminds me of what my laopo overheard a conversation between an SO and the VO during my laopo's interview last October. The SO did not know much English and her US husband knew hardly any Chinese. Apparently there was little phone calls communication. When the VO pressed on how they communicated, here were some of SO's replies: 1. By emails (The SO thought emails is the a new and magical communication medium. For me, it's truly magic.). 2. Use electronic translators (English to Chinese for SO and Chinese to English by her husband). But when the VO kept on pressing for more proof of communication and relationship, here are some of the SO's replies: 1. Language of love is more powerful than written or verbal. 2. Ability to speak and communicate in same language doesn't mean proof of good relatiionship. There is plenty of failed and faked relationships even between people of the same language. She pointed out to her own first marriage and that of the American husband's first marriage, that they all failed and ended in divorces despite the common language. And that's because the relationships were not based on the language of love, respect, and harmony. The VO must have been quite emotioned and struck by the depth of the answers. The SO got the red slip (i.e. passed). The interview was done in Chinese.

Wow!, this "black chicken" reminds me of "white on the outside, black inside" which is contrary to the more common expression "Black outside, white inside" for Uncle Toms. Or, for the Asians, it's called "banana" for yellow outside, white inside. My laopo said this chicken is for females only. It's a remedy for irregular periods.

The bombing mishap was either flawed technology or it was intentional. Whatever it was, the bomb went through and into the basement of the embassy building where it dismantled and the parts were sent to China for further scrutiny and of course the Chinese got the technology. They probably copied and improved on the guided missile technology by now.

In China, one gets police record from the police station. Also in China, there is no such thing as holiday, except for 2 or 3 days. Besides, police station on holiday? In China, one needs to have street smarts. One can get anything anytime. All it takes is a bottle of wine or a carton of cigarettes.

It's best to go to the Court and get sole custody of the child. It can be done by proof that your SO has been taking care (live and expenses) of the child, and that the deadbeat dad never put in a penny or visit. Your SO can get her relatives to vouch for her, either by testifying in Court or with written statements. The deadbeat dad has to appear in Court. I guess the deadbeat dad would be too ashamed to appear in Court and hear people denounce him for being so deadbeat. If, on the other hand, the deadbeat dad try to do claim responsibility etc, etc, then your SO should demand back payment of the cost of raising the child. I am almost certain the deadbeat dad will avoid such confrontation. This is the other angle and your SO can file two things: 1. Gain full custody of the child, and 2. Get compensation from the deadbeat. This is a two prong attack on that worthless deadbeat. By the way, have you seen and read all the paperwork (i.e birth certificates, etc). There is something very big wrong in the whole story. Make sure your SO is on the up and up, and that she was never married before, and that the child really belongs to her. It is a bit strange to have the father's name on the birth certificate and not the mother's. And that's from a hospital? Sounds more like a voodoo hospital. That is very extremely strange. You figure Chinese system to be so strangely twisted and stupid, to omit the mother's name from the birth certificate. Are you kidding me? Who gave birth anyway, the deadbeat dad or the mother. Almost as good as immaculate conception and birth, except the father gave birth! Har, har, har, har! Yeah, right!? There is something wrong, big time. You may want to check this out in greater depth.

In Shanghai and Beijing, one applies for passport at the post office and pick it up at the police station. In other cities, one applies at the police station and pick up or send by EMS delivery. Usually takes 10 days.

Perhaps if she has residence in HongKong, she should try to get US visa through the US Consulate in HK where it's easier to get approval. Someone from HK told me that one can get US visitor's visa only once every three years.

"TON of pictures" over the three years is worth the mother of all tsunamis of proofs. Yeah, all 3 years, to show first year lonely life and the last two years of photos with your SO. Add a few mails that were sent to you and your SO, to show the same same address. Any of those letters, say from your relatives and friends, mention anything about the relationship? If too personal, then just make copies of a few select phrases and tell VO that the rest are too personal. If not, get a few notes or letters from close reliable trustworthy friends. I think your Beijing friends are quite a bit more trustworthy and honorable than the ones from the south (that's what several people told me). Uh, unless you get supremely unlucky and get a super dingdong visa officer for your case. I have read in CFL of someone whose two under 14 boys got rejected because the boys weren't requested to show the documents they brought while the parents were forbidden to attend the interview with the kids. It was resolved after 1 or 2 weeks of persistence at GUZ. I thought GUZ should have reimbursed him for the additional expense of staying in GUZ to correct the dingdong gummint mistakes. (Gummint=government bureaucrat.) Them gummint think they are the guardian of the Hall of Supreme Ineptness of the Forbidden GUZ. Anyway, congratulations! Live long, be healthy, and prosper!

The # they gave you is for the consulates 'visa call center', and they have a computer database that GUZ feeds every monday. The only info the call center can tell you is 1) P3 sent 2) P3 recieved 3) P4 sent 4) Interview day is: xx/xx/xxxx They are not the horses mouth, but a proxy for the horses mouth. Perhaps even a horses a$$. Other than that, it is really useless. Quite honestly, CFL will probably give you some better answers. 184135[/snapback] That's about the sum of the whole GUZ thing, i.e. whatever one gets from the "horses a$$".

"friend who had a friend.. uh ... A few packs of cigarettes as a token gift goes a long way." David - You are either a super fast learner and knows how to apply it quickly, or you just have plenty of Chinese blood in you.

It would be nice for both parents to be at the interview, but as frank1538's posted link, Bob encountered an idiot visa officer (vo) and it makes no difference whether both parents or even an uncle (aunt or grandparent) is present at the interview. The most important is for the accompanying adult to know the rules and regulations. And we learn quite a bit from experiences of others here in CFL. The knowledge will help (hopefully), if not alleniate, an idiot retarded vo. In either case, such is life as we encounter, by chance, of them idiots possessing some type of official government authority, who become quite an encumberance and nuisance to what's supposed to be routine task. Typical bureaucrats to make things more difficult and costly.

Your lawyer seems to be quite ignorant. Read the posts on K3/K4 visas for you and your daughter under 21 years old. I wouldn't waste money on an ignant lawyer.

I sent a small package via USPS Global Priority on December 14 (3PM) and the tracking showed it left San Francisco on Dec 17. The recipient received the package on Dec 24. On the package, I wrote the name and the address in both Chinese and English. The destination was not to a coastal city either, so it must have taken one more plane ride in China. I never had any mailings that took more than 14 days. The average had been 10 to 11 days. I think that's so cool. No problem with USPS, global priority or regular airmail. Writing the address in both Chinese and English seems to eliminate a few potential glitches along the way. Not handwriting, but printed and cut and paste it on the package in the "To" portion.

That's the most secure job anyone can have. So the latest leave and earning statements should be more than adequate.

I went through San Francisco Immigration with my laopo. We went through US citizen line and my wife was then directed to go to the immigration booth where she handed over the GUZ package. Make sure it includes the cover sheet. My wife did not think the cover sheet was of any importance and she had accidentally removed it. Luckily she found it among other paperworks in the baggage. I was waiting for her at the end of the booth, 20 ft away, available to give my wife any assistance with a form that she had to fill out (address and phone number of her new residence in US). I told the Customs/Immigration officer that I am the husband and waiting for wife to get processed, so they let me wait and stand at the end of the booth. Everything took less than 30 minutes.

The NOA1-NOA2 time of I130 for my stepson was quite lengthy as well. NOA1 on March 25, 2005 and NOA2 on October 13, 2005. That's 6 months and 19 days, or about 200 days.

Same story with I-130 of my stepson. It took CSC (California) six months to complete and approval. I think that's the norm now, to slow down the process and the number of immigrants. I think the economy is sluggish and there is political pressure to curb the number of new immigrants. I suggest it's best to just wait. I sent emails, letters and even phone calls, and the best I could get was "assigned to a reviewing officer". I asked how many reviews I should expect, and I got meaningless replies. They, CSC, did not even reply in the last two months. That's gummint at work.

Thanks for the narrative which makes me aware of what to watch out for when I go to my stepson's interview. Such a great blow-by-blow account made me sweat. So the Black Pearl is a supervisor and she is quite rational after all. Of course the case was so clear cut in the first place, and I cannot figure out why that VO is so aloof and the guard was such a donkey, and both VO and guard were so irresponsible.

My SO never discuss monetary things with her associates or friends. She is independent and make do with her salary. Never used the credit card I gave her. She is mostly interested in the family that we will have in the US. Thank God and Buddha that my laopo is financially responsible.

The I-130 I filed for my stepson, it took 6 1/2 months from NOA1 to NOA2. That's how slow the California Service Center has been running.

A Shanghai citizen doesn't need a hukou. The Shanghai citizenship paper is the hukou. Such was the case with my laopo. My stepson is not a Shanghai citizen, so he needed to get those documents from the provincial district where he was born. That was easy process by giving a few gifts for faster processing. The gifts are as simple as a carton of good cigarettes or a bottle of liquor or a box of tea, about $20 - $30 range each. For stepson's passport, it was extra fee for fast processing (3 days) and one must ask (i.e. demand) for it at the desk.

Congratulations! That must be quite a big sigh of relief! My I-129F took 6 months to complete. That was when all I-129F went through St Louis processing center, and the K3/K4 was dead on arrival at GUZ because the CR1 got there first. At least this gummint can make improvement in its service.

My laopo lives in Shanghai and she got the police record from the local police office in the district where she lives. Her birth certificate is from her birth province. Both documents got translated and notarized at the Notary Office of Shanghai in Feng Yang Road. She got four copies of everything, of all documents like marriage, university diploma, divorce papers, etc. Cost a fraction of what it would cost in US. The translated documents do come in white 8.5" x 14" size glue-bound sheets and with official red stamps including signatures of the translator. The turn around time is one week, if they are not busy. Rush service is available for small additional cost.

I only had Chinese visa when I went to HK. For mainland Chinese citizens, they need visa to go to HK. HongKong doesn't want influx of mainlanders coming to HK because after they reside in HK for 3 years, they get HK's social welfare benefits which is much much better than in the mainland. HK is too small to be able to absorb too many mainlanders. This is really too bad because those maids and house servants in HK come from Philippines and Indonesia and they get paid the equivalent of U$200 to U$300 a month, which is very excellent income for those mainland Chinese.

I have to try out the Chinese American Thanksgiving Turkey. Thanks for posting it.