Maxal

I had heard from a good freind of mine that when his wife arrived here, her package had everything he ever sent to our government. They even had the enelope that he sent his application in the information. What have others seen when there spouses arrived in America? Also i am sure if you sent it to GUZ, some one would look at it and file it your folder. Our government does have rules that folks who work for it must follow. There is a lot of bashing of folks over at GUZ. I am sure some of it is deserved and some is not. But folks who work there do have to follow the rules or they are tossed from the service. Most folks live and work by the rules. If the rules start all documentation received must be reviewed and entered, it shall be. Maybe the stuff added after it leaves America does not carry as much weight, but I bet you it is read, reviewed, and entered into your pacakage.

I just did this recently. I filled out an I-130 and G325A for both my wife and her (now our) daughter. Make sure you include a second check for the filing fees for the daugther. This caused me a couple of weeks hold up as I thought I only had to send money for my wife. Just a heads up.

I know we are a very small sample size and from what I read, I think CFL members may get more pinks than the average couple who are just doing the paperwork. I worked in the Roma embassy years ago. I was in the service acting as a postman. I contacted a couple of old friend but most of them were state department or intel types. They told me that the VOs never set up rejection days, but that a couple of people choose to be the bad cops. Others did hand out rejections, but two of them handled the obvious cases 80% of the time. Of course this is second hand information from a long time ago, but most of the intel people have good memories. Over the last year + I have learned what all those women and families were doing waiting outside the Visa office every morning as I showed up for work.

David, I have always wondered if the Embassy staff maked such arrangements as "Denial Day" or even a "Denial Person". I have been around long enough to know the "Black Pearl" myth, but I have always wondered if she just was the one who raised her hand and said, "Np probelm, I will handle the denials." I read that over 100,000 Chinese Spouse / Fiance visas were applied for this year. It would seen that if I was the overworked staff manager in GUZ, I would arrange denial days. It would be much easier to handle the looks and emotions of the spouses one day a week instead of everyday. I guess the only way to find ot would be to track all the information on the white slips and do some math. As they always say numbers never lie.

Thanks for the information all. I am not poor, but I am a working stiff as they say. Tried the "C" level jobs and hated it. That seems to be about politics and not doing what is right for the company and employees. Actually the reason she started looking for a western man was because all the Chinese men she meet or was introduced to just wanted to get married and then sit in the tea houses and play Mah Jong all day. (Which seems to be a very common practic for a lot of men in Chengdu anyways!) Of course since she was divorced, late 30's and had a daughter already, so she was almost untouchable by Chinese standards. No matter how good she looked, how succesful she was or any thing else. I think us American men are getting the best of the Chinese woman to move here. At least I found one of them! Thanks for the information. I will talk to her about the form just in case. Her first goal is to buy a home with in the first week of arriving in America. Trying to get her to wait a few months to see when she might wish to live is just not working.

This is to ask for suggestions on my next step. I have received my NOA-1 (I think) the I-797C. I front loaded the crap out of the package, but some things I forgot and I have already gathered to send to them to add to the package. As to my question, should I send a whole bunch of information concerning her financial status as and addition to my package? I make a decent living but I am a typical American middle class guy. I watch what I spend money on and large dollar purchases are made once every couple of years. She does not have to worry about what she spends. She is not flashy with big cars, large home, etc. But she could if she wished too. So should I get a package of white books together showing the homes she owns (investments), how much her company is worth and other things like that? I am going back and forth on this. Has anyone else had this issue? I have not found anything concerning this yet.

Has anyone ever flown Asiana Airlines? What do you know about this carrier? Any information would be helpful!!!

Hi all, I am getting ready to make reservations for my second trip over. This one will be for the wedding. I have been doing so basic searching on the net for airfares and found some really good deals. The best deal is on an airline I do not know or even flown. So I thought I would start this thread so folks could place recommendations for the rest of us or tell us to run screaming like a little girl away from that airline! I will try and figure out how to put in a voting portion to this thread so we can list all airlines and folks can rate the good and the bad. If I can not I will ask help of the mods to see if they can set it up. So besides the basic US based carriers that I know who should I add to the list?

Alright sort of off topic, but this is a story for how silly airport security can be. The setting Chicago O'Hare Airport about 4 weeks after 9-11. Our airports were still being protected by (I hate to say this) the National Guard with LIVE ammo. I never felt more unsafe in my life. Anyway there was this old guy (like 80 years old), trying to get on a plane from Chicago to New York City Our brave security folks found a object in his pocket that was pointed, almost like a ninja throwing star, but smaller. They kept asking him what the object was and he kept telling the guards and the National Guard folks to just turn it over and read it. That would explain what it was. Well to make a long story short the man finally let them keep the object and headed off to New York. What was the object? Well the man had been invited to speak to the cadets at West Point. The object he had to surrender was his Medal of Honor he had won in the closing days of World War II. The reason he kept telling them to read the back because it had his name, the date along with the fact this was presented to him by President Truman hand inscribed on the back of it. Luckily the folks who picked him up took this seriously and were able to get his medal retrieved from the trash at the security check point before the thing went to the landfill. OK I know off topic, but just goes to show you what security at the airports are like!!!!

My lady told me she had to work very late tonight because of the storm. Lots of wind and rain. I have not seen any pictures yet, but by the time the storm hit Hong Kong it was just a tropical storm. If I remember my weather terms correctly that means sustained winds less than 50 mph. So a bad storm but hopefully not too damaging. The only thing I will say is I have not been able to reach Zhenni via phone but have received an email. I am sure there will be the normal affects of no power, no phone, etc. for a few days but right now all I have seen is lots, and lots of rain. I have not seen any deaths reported yet. If I hear more I shall post.

I have to say this is thread is a very funny read. It almost reads like the old cold war statements provided by the USSR and NATO in the bad old days. Let's be clear. I did not see a single person say that the individual girls "cheated". China's Gymnastic committee or what ever it is called agreed to certain rules like ALL the other countries competing. This is the same for rowing, boxing, swimming, etc. etc. etc. If the allegations are proven true, then the girls pay the price which is not fair to them. I am sure that some folks will be punished in the background but unfortunately it is girls that will be the public face. I do not see how this is the some US plot to just win more medals. That may be the result but other countries are also going to get medals that did not have before. The IOC is screwed no matter what. If they rule in favor of the girls or against them they are going to get blasted. If they handle this poorly then the Olympics might not be very important in the future and there are way too many folks with high paying jobs running the OIC. They are going to be very careful to ensure their vacations, I mean trips to select sights for the next Olympics are secure. This is the age of the internet. Anyone and everyone is and can be a reporter. Many younger folks do not get jobs because of stuff they have posted on MySpace or Facebook or some other blog. Many people do not realize that those pictures of yourselves running around Cancun with out clothing on your spring break can bite you in the butt. If the medals are removed from He, she will have to learn the most important lesson, that of self satisfaction. She will know that she won the event, but that she was placed in a no win situation. If that happens I hope she stays around for the next Olympics and comes back and wins every gold medal possible. Of course knowing the OIC they will ban her and not her government for this issue and this maybe the last we see of a very talented young lady.

XO is of course correct for the Amry. Normally a Major's slot. OK I was Infantry all my Army life so I am basies that way. When I was in it may more or less this way. CO - LtC XO - Major S3 (Operations Office) - Major S1, S2 and S4 (Admin, Intel and Logistic) - Normally filled by Captians, even if the S4 was normally a Major slot. Not enough mid level officers were staying in when I was there. Last time we had a Reduction in Force or RIF. So officers with about 10 years of service were bailing as there were not many promotions and slot (jobs) were being cut right and left.

OH yeah forgot to add I did register on line with the embassy so they know I shall be in China during my stay. Not sure if it helps or not, but why not. If I had a few more days I ould drive down to Montgomery and get it done in person. But since I am taking 2.5 weeks to go visit my honey, my company has me booked for the next three weeks. In fact I away from home for 13 out of the next 22 days. On the 23rd day I start the long flight to Hong Kong. What fun, what fun.

Thanks for the answers all. It is just so funny reading that one day a person accepts this and the next this one is better. Sound a lot like the workings of GIZ! Actually after taking a good serious look at the problem and a couple of glasses of wine for clarity!!! I made a command decision. 1) We are not getting married this time anyway. This is an issue of her not understanding how I can be divorced with out my wife's signature on the divorce papers. She just needs to be reassured that I truly am divorced. I asked the judge the same question at the final hearing. All she did was give me a look and said since she stamped it approve I was divorced! Needless to say I did not ask any more questions. 2) So instead of trying to explain Power of Attorney to her, I shall keep working on the paperwork here in the states. I mean after finally getting a call from my state rep and connected to someone that could tell me what to do, the total thing will cost me about $100 bucks and a few stamps and envelopes. 3) I highly doubt it will be in my hands before I depart for China, so when I do get it, I shall send it to her and she can get it translated along with the other stuff we shall start collecting. 4) When in China I shall visit the Consulate and get one there also. That way if some Civil servant guy outside of Chongqing (her hometown is a couple hours drive from there) tells me that paper 1 in ¡°NO GOODA¡± and we need paper two, we just pull it out and we are set. Damn I hate having to think like a lawyer all the time, but I get the feeling that is going to have to be my mind set for the next year plus. Good luck with the VA and if they become stupid just stand up, put on your command voice and start screaming at them to get out of the chopper NOW, NOW, NOW!!!! GO, GO, GO!!! The wine must be working I feel much better now.

If your girl friend finds that guy on the floor, please post his contact information. Maybe better yet send his contact information to one of the moderators and they can post it in the proper section of the board. It might come in handy to others down the line. Really sorry but I think tsup has it dead on. Be very proactive, ring a lot of door bells, get your congressman involved and fight. Fight politely. At least smile when you are If she is your true love it is a battle you have to win or die trying.