wulongtea

Hi David, Thanks for putting this together. I'm just getting ready to put this together for us, and this is a real help!

hi David, Glad to read that you made it back, and it is wonderful how your world comes alive again!

It's been a while since i posted here, because we have been very busy since we arrived back in the US. I can't believe i have not had a chance to even check the CFL website and see what's been happening. This past week-end we did it, we got married! And so now we are beginning to think about the details for the rest of our paper work both here in the US and in china. I think i have a good idea for what is needed here for AP and AOS, etc. But we were wondering about how to register our marriage in China? I know that a marriage in the US is recognized in China, but we would like to get my name on her "Register book" HuKou is it called? So we were wondering what do we need? Is just a copy of our US marriage certificate needed? Or do we need to get that certified by the Chinese consulate here in the US first? Do we need to get it officially translated so that when we go back to China they can read it and record the fact in her Register book? I'll try to find time to fill in all the details of these past few weeks. I can't believe that the time has gone by so quickly! What is even more amazing is i don't seem to remember the long and agonizing wait anymore! more to come as i can find the time! wu long tea

For us, our papers were hung up at the VSC for about 2 months. This was longer than most that i saw processed through VSC. I was worried that maybe our papers were lost or just sitting on some guys desk for a while, so i contacted both senators and the congress person for my area. They all made calls to somewhere, and just said that everything was ok, it was just waiting for someone to process or approve them. In the end, they were right. I never sat back and relaxed the whole time. If i felt there was a chance that something was just sitting somewhere, i either contacted my senator and congress person, or in the case of Guangzhou, i emailed them once a week. I don't think it hurts to keep on top of things, and in the end, i wonder if that might have helped get our visa processed quicker than i expected. i will write more about exactly what we did, but these days i've been pretty busy.

I would also agree with the comment to include as much as you can with the initial P1. I think this makes things a lot easier througout the whole process. I had included a detailed 2 page letter of intent to marry with my P1. it included details of how we met, how we decided to get married, and when we hoped to get married. (even though we missed this date because of the long wait it was not a problem) the P1 papers are also included with the Visa packet that we brought back with us to Chicago. I noticed the papers, along with the photos we had originally included. Now these papers are on their way someone, so maybe they play a role in getting the Adjustment of status as well.

The avatar photo is just a photo i found on the internet. I am actually very afraid of heights and falling. the only way i could get into such a plane is if you knocked me out!

We arrived in the US through Chicago. The process was fairly easy and quick. Here is what we did: - After our plan arrived from Hong Kong we walked to the immigration booths. - Since we were together, we queues up under the Vistor section, rather than separate and have me go to the US citizens and her to the visitor. - In the line, someone checked our passport and I-94, and i just said i was with her for a K1 visa, and the person said no problem. (what was interesting was the people checking the passports in the line all spoke Russian between themselves.) We then waited in line until it was our turn to go to the immigration officer. We got a nice lady who smiled and seemed to be in a good mood I said we were together and handed her our passports (with mine on top) and said that my fiancee was here on a K1 visa. She took the passports and asked for the consulate packet. She looked at the visa and passports, opened the packet, and made a comment that the consulate changed something. but she found what she was looking for. she asked how we had met, i think she was just curious. so i simply said on the internet. she said, it seems that a lot of people are meeting that way. she asked how long ago we had met, i think again just curious, and so i said it was about a year ago. she asked my fiancee to put her left index finger into the finger print machine, and then her right, and then took her picture with the little webcam. that was about it, maybe 5-10 minutes total. she then stamped everything, staple the i-94 into my fiancee's passport, and just said we had 90 days to get married, and wished us good luck with everything. we then got our bags, we had many, and then went to clear customs. when i handed our paper and passports to the customs guard, i made sure that mine was on top, so he could see, US citizen. he just asked if we were together, commented that we had only about $300 to declare and said no problem. the longest time was waiting for our bags to arrive. we had a connecting flight that gave us only 2 hrs, and we were at the gate about a 1/2 and hour early, so everything worked out well! one tip i would have it just to try to get to the immigration lines as quickly as possible. they seem to fill up fast after the flight arrived. i think it was also good that i stood together with my fiancee, i think that helped the whole process go by smoothly. i was afraid she would have to go to a separate room and have other things checked, but that never happened.

Just a quick note, since i am very busy and sleepy ... we finally arrived in the US last night. I will write more details of the immigration process in Chicago and also of the initial comments from my fiancee. She loves everything, so that helps me feel at ease a bit! I quickly saw that others have also passed their interviews! That is great news for everyone! take care wulong tea!

Visa in Hand! we are heading to the US on sat!

Moments after i posted this message, the phone rang! It was the EMS person with our visa. Then Candle went down for a while. It is so strange, we called the Guangzhou EMS office and they said it was still in Guangzhou, we called the Shenzhen EMS office and they had no idea where it was and could not even find it in their systems. The web tracking showed that it had left Guangzhou at 9pm last night. And moments after no one could figure out where it was, someone calls us and says they are waiting downstairs with our visa. We checked everything and everything looks ok, so we're coming home on Sat!

My fiancee and I are here waiting for the China Post to deliver her passport, visa and documents, and I can tell you it is one of the most frustrating things to be dealing with at this stage of the game. So I am suggesting that if it is at all possible, choose the option to pick up the visa if at all possible. We had our interview on friday and passed it, and so far we still have not received our visa. We can track it online now, and we can see that the consulate has delivered it to the EMS post system. But when calling the EMS people, when they use their own systems they cannot find any information about it. So we tell them, well your website shows that the documents were delivered to your sorting facility. We ask them about their Guarantee to deliver by 10am the next day, and they said ... "oh that is only if you ask for it"! So when we ask when can we expect it, they say ... "oh it can usually take 1 or 2 days!" So if you need to have it delivered, then make sure you ask for the 10am next day service! But if at all possible, try to pick it up yourself.

on the day of the interview, the only extra fee you need to pay is the china post fee (assuming you get the visa, which of course for CFL we hope that is always the case) the visa pick up fee is a minimum of 20yuan for 1 visa to pick up at the post office. to have 1 visa delivered in Guangzhou cost 35yuan, or to delivered inside Guangdong is 50yuan. other than that, there is no extra fee on the day of the interview.

Congratulations! It is such a feeling of relief! Now the fun can really begin!

Congratulations! Another Sept Success!

Great news David! At first i read the title of your post ... SO was so upset and I thought something went wrong! Glad to know that everything has gone well! And I have to ask .. where you really in the hotel room watching TV?! Whatever ... have a great trip back home, and i hope we can get together sometime this fall!