Ana

Hello all! We just came back from the Social Security Office and everything went well! My husband's name was already on the computer system after being in the country for only about half a month! And because it was there, the officer only needed to see his passport with the visa stamp, and the SSN form. She said that because his name was already on the computer, the process would be very simple. She said they would send the SS card 7-10 later to our house, and gave him a receipt showing that he had applied. I asked if he could work, and she said that he would have to wait until he got the card, because he needed a number in order to work. Other than that, he doesn't have to do anything (no EAD, etc.) because CR-1 visas area already authorized to work. The next question I have for anyone in the same shoes is: do we have to apply for the removal of conditional residency before our second anniversary, or after he has been in the country for 2 years? Thanks! Ana

owen, my husband got the same social security note when he entered the country. and he did open a bank account!

ahhh! well, the last woman i talked to over the social security line told me that the stamp in his passport that said, 'processed for I-551' was not enough to get a ssn, and that she had no idea how to process this form. the important thing is that another woman told me that i shouldnt apply immediately for an ssn even if i have the I-551 because, due to backlog, his name wont even be on the computer system and so it will take 3-4 months for them to go through the process of writing to the ins. she said i should wait at least 1 month before applying. then i have gotten contradictory answers about whether or not it is legal for him to work before ssn. some say yes, some say no. any insights?

I have actually stayed away from Candle for 4 days or so. It seems like an eternity! Now that the hubbie is here, there are new challenges, but at least we can face them together! I-551 anyone? What does this mean, where and when do we get it, can we apply for a soc sec number without it,etc? I think 5 different people over helplines gave me 5 different answers to these questions. Another tidbit was that because of the disappearance of the INS, there is a huge processing backlog, and even if I apply for a soc sec number, it aint happening for months. Good-bye work! Hello poverty! Anyone have any experiences or info to share?

The husband arrived Friday, and we are now happily tucked away in marital bliss. Thanks to all at Candle! Couldn't have done it without your support and active involvement in all our cases! Ana

i'm about to have a heart attack!

hi all! im so glad to hear so many people have been receiving good news lately. my husband received his visa yesterday (finally!) and he is planning on coming here this week! but now there are new paper work problemos. does anyone know what to do for a spouse-based immigrant visa? it is a little different from a fiance visa, it seems. and also, how do you go about adopting an american name? id appreciate any help you could give on the above! thanks!

great to hear so many people finally getting visas!

yay! happiness! this is great news!

i hope there's a nice letter inside!!!!! keep us updated!

this is a little worrisome. but after all, people lift passwords all the time, so it may not necessarily mean anything. but if she is using you, i dont see why she wouldnt lie about computer access too. my husband lives in the countryside and to foreign eyes, there is no way in hell to get on the internet. but in a very small nearby town, there are at least 3 internet bars. definitely talk to her before jumping to conclusions. i dont know what your history is, but you might want to live together for awhile before you make any big decisions about marriage.

im not sure about that. its all so long ago i can barely remember. our interview was on august 30, if that helps at all. i think he got the certificate when we were home over chinese new year, so its probably been around a year. ?? dont take this as the authoritative answer though. i dont know how they are dealing with this issue.

no, just his passport et al.

i too flew united on the way back from china during jan and experienced the same issues. they are cutting down on flight attendants, the food was not only inferior to previous flights, but significantly less. we only got one full meal on a 10 hour flight, and the meal was breakfast. for most of the people on that plane, it was dinner time. people were so hungry they were rushing up to the front to get bananas. the guy beside me was diabetic and they couldnt find his meal. oops. hope you're not diabetic if you're flying united.

PJ, I feel like someone just hit me in the face. It is unbearable when someone we thought we knew has turned out to be another person entirely. I know you will need a long time to move on, but I trust that eventually you will move on and find someone who really does appreciate the wonderful person that you are. Please stay strong, and remember that this time has not been wasted. You have made a real difference in the lives of hundreds of people, and have made hundreds of friends in the process. We would be nowhere without this board and the support, hope, and information it has given. Thank you PJ! Ana

a miracle has occured: it is 3am and I just got a phone call from my husband! he got the letter today!!!! it's a miracle! he likes to quote from a christmas carol, so the only words he could find to express his joy in english were, "god bless us every one," said with all the intonations of tiny tim. yes, it was sent EMS. timeline: feb. 4: case cleared and sent to gz feb. 18: visa processed feb. 19: notification letter sent by EMS feb. 21: EMS arrives and no, my husband did not request EMS at his interview or fill out his address on an EMS envelope. in fact, he filled out his address on a regular envelope. so that's good news to those of us who have been concerned about regular mail! if all goes well, he'll be here next week!

yes, i agree. this could be taken the wrong way. don't send this letter. if you have already sent it, send some kind of apology for the language used. we all feel angry, but this isnt the best way to express it.

one of the issues with 'checking with the consulate" to see if they have mailed your notice already, is that it is impossible to get through as of late. have people been able to? i cant understand it. my husband has been calling incessantly for 2 weeks now.

angrytexan: who specifically told you that your case was cleared? this is important.

I would just like to recall this post from Mick. Here he tells us what Richard Adams said during their meeting: "He said that the only reason that the K-1 cases are being concentrated on right now is because they have been complaining the loudest and most consistently to the point that DOS ordered him to give them priority over all other cases." Thus, it does make a difference to contact these people.

I am sending this fax to Andrew Simpkin, and a similar one to Richard Adams at the Guangzhou Consulate. I don't mind if you cut and paste. Andrew Simpkin Consular Affairs 1-202-647-0341 (this is the general CA fax number, and not a private line; it is the same fax number used to reach Maura Harty or Kathryn Cabral) Richard Adams Chief of the Immigrant Visa Section U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China 011-86-20-8121-9001 Dear Mr. Simpkin: I am concerned by reports that the Guangzhou Consulate is sending visa notification letters through regular mail. Mail sent in this way is often lost or delayed, and it cannot be tracked. To illustrate the unreliability of this system, let me take my husband’s local office as an example. My husband lives in a farming village. Mail takes two days to reach a nearby town from the closest city. From there, a kid rides a bike for 20 minutes to my husband’s house. Sometimes, to save the effort, the kid passes the mail off to a villager. Surely this is not an acceptable way to send such important information. To this picture, add the fact that it is currently impossible to speak with the Guangzhou Information Team. My husband has been calling daily for over a week. And even if he were to get through, it is unlikely that the computer would show any updates on his case status. Thus, we also have no way of tracking his case. The letter might be mailed and lost, and we would attribute the delay to an extended processing time. I do not want to make this process any more complicated than it already is, but another method for contacting visa applicants needs to be implemented. The Chinese Express Mail Service or email are both possible options. I would be happy to pay for EMS. I am sending a similar letter to Richard Adams in Guangzhou. I hope that you will support us as you have done in the past. I do appreciate your continued efforts on our behalf. Thank you, XXX

i also prefer the wait for patterns approach. but i am wondering, if in this case that is a bad idea. if we wait, they will have already sent out hundreds of letters by regular mail. and since they dont seem to be updating the computers (?), it is hard for our better half to find out if the notice has been sent or not. thus, the mail might be lost, and we might still be thinking that gz hasnt mailed it out yet. there's no way to keep track of our cases.

everyone knows that some things never happen. pigs never fly. a watched pot never boils. and mail delivered by the chinese mail system never arrives. i exaggerate. but it is a cause for concern: mail often gets lost or delayed in the system. a kid riding a bike for a half hour is how my husband gets his mail. and sometimes mail is passed on to people who live in his village to make life easier for the 'mail-kid.' do we have to waste an additional week while my husband's notification letter is gathering grease on some guy's kitchen table? i've been thinking about faxing adams and simpkin about the situation, and highlighting WHY we feel this is a potential problem. there can be no doubt that a certain percentage of notification letters will get lost, while others will be delayed. we might also suggest a few solutions: i.e. EMS (i'd be more than happy to pay myself for this service) or email. what do other people think about this? if people are concerned about this, the more people who complain, the more likely it is that they will do something about it.

no, it's new. you might recognize it because they cut-and-pasted some of the old wording about the procedure for picking up the visas. But the beginning, which states that they recently received a lot of clearances, is the new part.

i am married to my lovely visa applicant, and his name was just sent back to guangzhou, so i think they are doing all the cases (randomly) whether fiance or marriage based.