Zingaro

Great news! CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!!!!

Huge CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Go ahead, knock yourself out cleaning. I know I will!!

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !!!!!!! Best of luck to you both!!

Huge congratulations to you both!!!!!!!! Best wishes for a bright future together!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Best wishes to you both!!

Your journalist job description should have no effect on the name check(s). The name checks primarily focus on your SO - searching various US government and other available databases to see if your SO fits any of the reject categories. I wouldn't sweat it.

HEY!!! ENORMOUS CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!!!!!!!! Your SO sounds like mine - she would (will) be upset when the interview is a 30 second formality after all we've been through. But who cares? That pink/lavender/purple/fuscia (whatever) slip in hand is the immediate reward - and a lifetime of happiness will follow for you both, I am sure!

One other thing to bring to the hospital is the P4 interview letter. This is a must. The hospital won't do the exams or fill in any forms without it.

My SO just had her medical exam in GZ. The hospital told her they don't want the DS-230. They want: DS-156, DS-156K, DS-157, GIV-24, GNI-2, receipt for visa fee payment, birth certificate, marriage eligibility certificate and police certificate. As for your SO's mother's birth date, the date you put on the DS-230 (and now can't remember) would seem to preclude you from putting a date on the DS-156. You can try putting "deceased" and the date of death (as on the GIV-24). Yep, you should have kept a copy of the DS-230 - and ALL filings and correspondence - but no use worrying about that now. I do suggest that you call GZ and ask if they will have the copy of the DS-230 at the interview. Your SO must sign it at the consulate. I can't comment about your SO's previous US visa experiences. If she had one student visa approved and one denied, maybe it's best to just consider it a wash.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Thanks for the thorough writeup. I hope ours -- and everyone else's at CFL -- go as smoothly!

Thanks all for the warm congrats! We're madly preparing for the medical exam, interviiew and all that now. I know my SO will do just fine. Best of luck to all September interviewees -- and hang in there for those waiting for P3/P4. It DOES finally happen.

After the good news that our second name check was completed on 8/15, I sent a casual email to GZ to ask for a ballpark idea of when the interview might be. I expected a formula reply. What I got actually shocked me: GZ replied with an interview date - September 22 - and said the P4 would be sent out shortly via EMS. I am truly amazed. And the home stretch just got a lot shorter (and a LOT more hectic, considering I'm still in China until this weekend!)

Thank you everyone for the well wishes and congrats. We're happy to finally be on the home stretch. If there's a lesson to be learned after a 10 month wait it's to keep communicating, and to try every avenue. It's almost impossible to know what might shake things loose. For example, I wrote to one of my state's senators and received an unsatisfactory reply from her office. However, the simple fact that the senator's office called DOS a couple of times DID coincide with DOS telephoning the senator's office to request my SO's date of birth. (??!!) I suppose many conclusions can be drawn from that coincidence, and completion of the name check about six weeks later. But the lesson is the same - hang in there, keep your cool, and keep communicating.

Timeline ... At long last you can add us to the interview prediction table. We even have a "2nd name check" completed date - August 15th, in writing, from DOS. Thanks once again for your tireless efforts!

Greetings from China. We finally received some good news today from DOS - the (second) name check, begun in mid-October 2004, was completed on August 15, 2005! At last, we're in the interview mix, and our CFL timeline estimates can be updated from the ???? category to the interview date category. I telephoned DOS from China on Thursday (China time), had a mercifully brief on-hold time. The DOS woman who answered the phone took the case number and name and - before I could say anything else - said "you mean this case has been pending since October 2004?!" She said she'd have the "DOS security officer" check it out, asked for my name and email, and said she'd send email info as soon as they knew what was up. Today I received the email. Name check completed August 15, info sent to Guangzhou, interview should be scheduled shortly. No explanation why it took 10 months, but I didn't expect one. At last, forward and onward!

Can't thank you enough for the thoughts and for the kind words, David - and all others here. We're still in the second name check black hole, but hanging in there.

Roll call ... Submitted I-129f / K-1 through CSC. Timeline within "average" until P-3. Still waiting for second name check/P4 time to date: 9 months. Total time to date: 15+ months. Going back to China next week for a month!

Excellent news!!!! You're on the home stretch now!!

Eeyore, don't push the panic button yet. While some P3 - P4 timelines are shorter than four months (most of this bit is the second name check and shipping of documents back and forth) four months is not excessive. Have you telephoned DOS? GZ?

I have my fingers crossed for you (for good luck!). Don't forget - we have a holiday this weekend, which could add a few days to your wait time for a response.

Next time you go to China you can bring back certain packaged foods and spices with you. Customs allows anything packaged except meats. So you can bring back those killer Sichuan peppercorns. They sell 'em in just about any market in China. Of course, you'll need your SO to translate the package for you so you don't accidentally buy something really strange. You're right - it's ALL good!

Hey, easy on the Californicans, okay? I can not only pronounce Ory-gun, but I can point to it on a map. It's that little suburb north of San Francisco.

My SO is originally from Hunan province, which has a cuisine that is even spicier than Sichuan's. Fortunately, I like spicy food. My friends and acquaintances in China are always amazed that a "gui lao" likes the spicy Hunan and Sichuan cuisines. As for the drawings - my opinion is that it couldn't hurt. But maybe you should take a photograph or two of your daughters holding their works of art as "proof" that they are the actual artists. Any bit of leverage can help!

Being an animal-lover myself (dogs, horses, cats, you name it) I know what your SO is feeling. Here is a statement about importing dogs to the US, found at the CDC web site -- http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/animal.htm : "Dogs (Note: this section updated July 12, 2004) Pet dogs are subject to inspection at ports of entry for evidence of infectious diseases that can be transmitted to humans. If a dog appears to be ill, further examination by a licensed veterinarian might be required. In addition, dogs must be vaccinated against rabies at least 30 days prior to entry into the United States. Unvaccinated puppies younger than 4 months of age must be confined by the importer until at least 3 months of age, vaccinated against rabies, and confined for 30 additional days following vaccination. All dogs not accompanied by proof of rabies vaccination may be admitted providing the importer completes a confinement agreement (form CDC 75.37) ( PDF file PDF version formatted for print [76 KB/2 pages]). Such a dog must be kept in confinement during transit to, and be vaccinated within 4 days of arrival at, the U.S. destination and must remain in confinement for at least 30 days after the date of vaccination. These requirements apply equally to service animals such as Seeing Eye dogs. Unvaccinated dogs originating from or located for the previous 6 months or more in areas that are free of rabies are exempt from this requirement at the time of importation. Following entry into the United States, all dogs are subject to state and local vaccination requirements. All pet dogs arriving in the state of HawaiiDisclaimer and the territory of Guam,Disclaimer even from the U.S. mainland, are subject to locally imposed quarantine requirements. Additional information can be found in the Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control, which can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5309a1.htm." If your SO gets her dog vaccinated in China, I think it would be a good idea to get a notarized translation of the vaccination. The rabies vaccination is the important one, and I am reasonably certain that China is not considered one of the few countries to be "free of rabies." (I think only the UK and Ireland qualify for that.) I don't know what state you're in, but you will have to research your state's requirements for importation of dogs. Hope this helps. You have to jump through some hoops, but if the dog is healthy, you shouldn't have any problems.

I've pretty much given up trying to discover the real reasons for delays at any point in the K-1/K-3 process. I'm sure the duplicate name situation does happen, but I think that's being a bit overworked as an excuse for delays. The fact that DOS had to request my SO's DOB from the senator's home office really makes me wonder who's been doing what with our paperwork for the last eight months. I mean, think about it. It's so absurd I actually laughed (AFTER I got off the phone with the senator's assistant!) Unfortunately, it's these bureaucratic small errors, oversights and confusions that end up causing the delays - and are the hardest to actually discover and fix from way outside the loop. You just have to keep asking the questions until something shakes loose. I hope this is a sign of some "shaking loose" for us!