Steve and Qingqing

We took a bus to the Great wall from B eijing. It doesnt require any additional walking , except what you will do once your on the wall.

That also happened to us when we flew back from Atlanta to Dallas. Our luggage was half on our flight and the rest on the flight after ours..Guess they overbook the luggage.

My wife and I took that flight back in October and it was fine. They have those single Tv screens on each seat with so much programming to watch. I watched 6 movies back to back on the flight back home to dallas... We flew back to Atlanta, then Dallas. The food was fine too...just remember to take a baby aspirin and get up and move around some.. ( the aspirin will help prevent any blood clots that might form from sitting so long, my doctors advice when we went to Shanghai...

My fiancee was a member and she was asked this question during her interview and she was honest and told them she was but is no longer a member. At her interview in Dallas we again answered honestly on the paperwork and it was no big deal. The officer had her sign another paper. ( statement) saying that she was no longer a member of the party. We wondered if they would make us pay the additional fee for the addtional paperwork but the officer said no...she also joined while in college...dont sweat it, be honest and you will do fine.

My wife has a masters degree from China in Chemistry. It took her about one year to find a job in her field. She found it through the help of such sites as Monster.com.. Her first part time job was teaching chinese. Now she makes decent money working for a Laboratory here in Dallas processing soil samples. She wants more and has started looking for even a better job. She makes very close to what I make and Ive been at my job for 18 years!. Not bad for your first job in your field of study!

Have you looked online for jobs? Try Monster.com or craigslist...I think you will find more jobs online than in the paper these days.

My wife had no problem getting her SSN once she arrived from China on a K-1 visa. check our timeline... looks like about 2 weeks as well.

Supporters of all those over here illegally plan on marching in several cities again before their cause is pushed back by the upcoming presidential elections..the most recent proposal by congress is this. The plan would grant illegal immigrants three-year work visas for $3,500 but also require them to return home to apply for U.S. residency and pay a $10,000 fine. It has been roundly criticized by immigrant groups. Of course if youve been here for free...why would they agree to this..thats their view Im sure. Sounds fair to me.

I never said I promised my wife a better life as well. We met , fell in love and discussed what would be involved in pursuing a serious relationship. Sorry but money has alot to do with a marriage and if you cannot afford more than the poverty level of life, then why on earth would you drag someone else into your situation just because your in love?? How selfish that is..Im not rich by any means but I knew what I was getting into and if I could barelyc afford poverty level, I sure as hell wouldnt have asked another to join my life and suffer with just barely being able to afford the forms, let alone all that go's with a new relationship. The whole thread is bascially about the price increases anyway and I agree that its wrong that we should have to pay more and such large increases when this government allows so many to live here and benefit from us for free. It pisses me off when I see people protesting the government in favor of illegals and their rights. They dont have any rights and surely wont be able to afford becoming legal nor will most even try when its so easy for them to get faked documents... All I know is if they are given amnesty, we here better see a refund of all the fees we had to pay out!

You missed the whole point. Go back and reread the posts before mine. This has nothing to do with someone in China being poor. my point was for those complaining OVER HERE about barely being able to afford the price increases..They are the ones who shouldnt be bringing someone over here, whether they are poor or not, if they themsleves cannot afford to support themselves let alone another person...they should wait intil their income can support 2 or more before promising someone they love, a better life with them. Odds are the person they bring over wont find work for awhile, most likely a year or more and they had better be prepared for all the financial obligations that comes with taking on a big responsibility and marrying someone from another country.

If you are borderline poor, then why on earth would you promise to support and give another person a better life by bringing them over here from another country if you can barely support yourself?? Thats so selfish when this person gives up everything to come here for you. Do you realize that by signing financial support papers, you are obligated to financially support her/him for the next 10 years even if you get divorced?... Im not saying I agree with the price hikes.. I dont. But if you cannot afford another 600 dollars, then how can you afford to take care of another person? The system isnt denying you bringing someone over thats poor, its you who had better be able to afford to bring them over and support them. No one wants to live a poor life and most of our SOs want and expect a better life with us.

The new fees are steep but they have nothing to do with being wealthy and privilaged to take advantage of them. If one cannot afford the price increases, one has no business getting married in the first place.

Finding a job in your field can and will take time. My wife has a masters in Chemistry and it took her a year to finally land a job in her field! She went on several interviews and sent her resume to many companies. The hardest part for her was the interview and I think if you have confidence at the interview thats 80% of the battle. We suggest signing up online at MONSTER.com to begin with.. get your resume out there and resubmit it every week to monster..That way your resume stays at the top of the list otherwise it gets buried if you dont keep resubmitting it... or update it once a week. also check out..www.indeed.com.. its a very good place to search for jobs. also careerbuilder.com ... also check out .craiglist for your city.... craiglist is like your local want ads.... good source as well...Dont give up and dont expect to find something right away...the economy has alot to do with it as well..you might want to take a part time job now and keep searching for a job in your field. Also go on any job interviews just for the practice of interviewing... Also, goto your community college and their career center. They can help you ( for Free) with a resume, job search and mock interview. This helped my wife gain alot of confidence that helped her land the job she has now..She only had one job in China before coming to America. With help from the college, she had a 2 hour interview and was hired the same day!!.. Now shes VERY HAPPY.. Good luck and remember it sometimes takes time but dont give up..Oh, and the husbands should be patient and understanding when the wifes get upset and fustrated at not finding a job or the job they really want.( wife told me to add this)

Were still waiting for the replacement card. My wifes first card came april 18th and had two date errors on it.. It showed expiring NEXT year and her being a resident in april of 2005! Her interview was Jan 2006 for AOS... I called yesterday and the officer told me that they have been having ALOT of error cards coming back and it could take a YEAR to get another card. She informed me that the i-551 stamp from our local office is the same as having the card and can be renewed in one year should we still not have the new card. So we have the stamp and I guess that will do till the card comes in the mail..If its been over 30 days, you can call them again and ask to speak to an officer who can get you a reciept tracking number. So at least you can track their lack of progress.

Congradulations! Thats so wonderful that you passed!!.

The good news is my wife recieved her green card the other day in the mail.. The bad news is that we mailed it back today for errors!.. They put her starting permanent resident date as april 2005 and the expiration date as next year! ...She wasnt even in the states in april of 2005. So now we wait another 6-8 weeks My was was so sad when I caught their mistake..shes really ready to get out of this apartment and start a job. They did tell us we could make and appoinment with INFOPASS... and get her passport stamped if she needed to leave the states...well, at least she was approved!

At our interview, we had all three years taxes but she only took the last two years tax papers from us.

No, you do not need to be there for her interview.. I wasnt and my SO at the time, passed easily with only about 5 questions asked.. She said it was so simple!

Congradulations the both of you!!! Im also very surprised at how long and detailed your interview went.. I wonder if having an translator with you, promps them to ask alot more questions. Interesting but glad you passed!!

Thanks frank. We decided on going the joint return as well...

Ok, I spoke with the IRS, and I can file two ways.. Head of household ( as per Publication 519) or Joint return electing my non resident alien wife be treated as an resident alien for tax purposes..I figured both ways out, and putting in her salary, it works out the same..My wife said we only need one joint tax return for our next interview and that we should E-file head of household... I think we should do a joint return and have 2 years taxes this way... any opinions?

So does the IRS have access to any of our other government forms? Shes stated shes worked in China on those....

Thanks Lee, I will read that publication you mention.

She has no W-2s. I have never used a long form to do my taxes. Never took deductions either... telefiled mostly in the past. I guess I need to look into this further.

why would I have to declare her income from her job in China? Do I even have to file jointly for 2005?..