amanda

so the end finally came!!! and when were y'all married? were y'all married for two years by the time the green card finally came in 7/05??? if so, was it a 2 yr temp. or ten yr card? 180918[/snapback] Kim, Go to where you filed for your AOS and DEMAND to speak with the supervisor. Also bring a copy of the papers you filed to show him/her. A friend of mine filed for AOS for his wife and didn't hear anything for a year. Finally he went and demanded to speak to the supervisor. The workers there kept telling him the man was too busy to talk to him, but he insisted on talking to him even if he only has one minute and even if he has to wait for him all day. Finally, they went to get the supervisor, who promised to check into his case. A week later he received a call from the supervisor asking him to come in with his wife for the greencard. What happened to his file? It was laying under a pile of papers on one of the workers' desk who did not bother to look at it. I recommend you take one day and go there with your husband AND kid if you have one. Let the baby cry! Be persistent and patient but not mad. You will get it! We know another couple whose wife has been waiting for over two years for the greencard. The husband is just too darn lazy to take some time to talk to anybody or do anything. The guy is a doctor and makes tons of money, at least get an attorney if he doesn't want to do it himself. They have a two yrs old kid and the wife has been wanting to go back to China, but can't. I hope you will talk to them in person.

My wife recently sent a CD player to her friend. It only worths 20 bucks here, and we declared it as a gift. The darn custom wanted 200 yuan before they release it! How the heck did they come up with that amount for something that doesn't even worth that much? Some darn greedy guys just wanted some money from her friend the way I see it.

He just sent two big bags of tea, less than two pounds, by ship. I'll ask my wife exactly how much did he pay. She just told me it cost him 4x as much as the last time he sent something to her.

You actually included all those documents??? Were they really necessary? My wife has to apply for her new card in October. Thanks for all your responses!

My wife wants her family to send something over to her. Her dad tried to send it and found out the price has quadrupled. Does anyone know if that is true? We would like to start a small business here, just buy and sell Chinese goods. What is the best way to have them send here? Thanks for your responses!

My wife is a couple of months away from renewing her 2-year to permanent Green Card. Have any Black Hole people done that? What do you have to do besides filing another form, and how much did it cost? I heard that you might get the new one in a month or may have to wait for over a year. My wife knows a girl who is still waiting for her permanent card a year after renewing it. That's why we took the trip back to China last month and before our daughter turned two.

We have not been able to use Onesuite (local dialing numbers or their 1-800 number) to call China in the last few days. The numbers we tried don't exist or not operational. Does anyone have any problem with Onesuite lately using Cingular Wireless? Would you please let me know the local dialing number(s) you are using so we can try it. We use Cingular so it doesn't matter which local number you have. Thanks ahead!

It was even more hot and humid than I expected in Nanning, but my trip there was great. Spent a lot of time with my wife's family and eating out almost every night while we were there. Everyone from her side adored and fought over to spend time with our little daughter. She seemed to have grown so much in just two weeks there! Flight out and back was no problem. My wife only needed her greencard as I was told by a few members here. We were able to get accomodation for our daughter on the flights. They also have the little craddle for little baby to sleep in, but that would cost $20 extra. So bring your own baby carriage if you can manage it. By the way, toilet-trained your own little one if you plan to bring him or her there during the hot weather months. Ours got rash on her lower back from being carried around too much by her relatives. Most if not all the little children we met in China was toilet-trained before they were one. Bring extra hydrocortison or rash medicine!

Thank you so much you guys for your responses! I am off to enjoy the heat and humidity of Nanning.

Thank you very much for all of your responses so far. We already purchased the tickets and the agent knew about our infant daughter. They charged her 10% of adult ticket! As for car seat, it would be too troublesome to carry that thing around while dragging our luguages at the same time. My wife insists on taking two big luguages each and a carry-on. I hope she'll grow a few arms so she can drag all those luguages! I don't see how we can manage all that along with our daughter.

It has been three years since I last flew on airline. What is the weight limit allowable nowaday on international flight, specifically China Southern? Also, do I need to get any special strap for my infant daughter as we'll be holding her for the long flight there and back? Much thanks for your response!

Does anyone know if and what bank accept ATM or bank issued debit card in Nanning? What is the maximum one can withdraw per day? I'll be in Nanning with my wife and daughter this week. Thanks ahead for your responses!

It seems like we'll be there on the same day, same time, and probably on the same flight as you. My wife, daughter and myself will get there at 6:20am on China Southern (328G) from Los Angeles, but we'll have a flight to Nanning at 8:05am. Hopefully that is not the flight that got cancelled. Did you find out why was it cancelled? We'll probably do some shopping if that is the case.

Based on Carl's wife experience and through a friend whom my wife knows and who just returned on the same condition you inquired about, I went ahead and purchased air ticket for my wife under her maiden name. I anticipate no problem with re-entry. Another way is to amend for name change on your wife's passport to reflect what it shows on her greencard. This can be done through the Chinese Consulates for $10 fee.

Carl, Is your wife's ticket under her maiden or married name?

Sounded like I need to purchase the air ticket using her Chinese passport name, but wouldn't that be a problem re-entering U.S because the last names on the air ticket and her greencard are not the same? Perhaps we should have her Chinese passport's name change to what's on her greencard. That will solve the problem don't you think? Does anyone know long would that take to have her name change?

Has anyone's wife traveled back to China with just her greencard and encountered no problem with exiting and re-entering? I already raised this question before and got quick repsonses from some of you, but a friend of mine insists that I must get a re-entry permit to allow my wife to travel back and forth from U.S to China. My wife has a conditional greencard and a Chinese passort. The last name on her greencard is same as mine, but her Chinese passport has her maiden name. - Will this pose any problem for her leaving and coming back to U.S? -What document should we bring to support her name changed? My friend insists that because of the difference in last name on the documents, she should get a re-entry permit to prevent any problem exiting and enter both U.S and China. For those of you who are experts on this topic, thanks ahead for your help with my question!

Thank you all of you for your assistance! Time for me to get all the paper work done and get ready to travel!

Ed and Ying, We are planning to leave on July 15 from FAT and depart from Nanning on Agust 3. As of now, flychina website gave me a qoute of around $1240 for roundtrip. I am still in the process of getting the U.S passport for my daughter. Flychina advertises that they can get the Chinese visa for us by mail for around $100. It would cost me almost the same for driving there and hotel cost. I wonder if anyone here had tried their service and would you recommend it.

Ed and Ying, Domestic and international. I am planning to take my wife and daugher (will be 1 year old) back to China for a short visit. At first I thought about letting my wife and daughter go back by themselves due to my work schedule. Now I employer is letting me take two weeks off in July, so I will be accompanying them. Base on what I have read so far, I need to call the airlines for my child's airfare and accomodation, and I should find out which one will provide them before ordering the tickets. Buying tickets through the airline cost a lot more than from the website such as Flychina.com, but there it doesn't mention anything about ticket for children under two. I'll get a notorized consent letter just in case my wife wants to stay longer with our daughter. Thank you Tony for that info!

Just need some info from veteran travelers here. Do I need to buy an airline ticket for my child if she is under two? My friend mentioned to me that she doesn't need one until she is two years old. All she needs is just her passport and visa. Is that correct? Thanks for your responses ahead!

Open a Bank of America checking account in her name. In a few weeks, they'll send your wife an invitation letter to apply for a pre-approve credit card under her name. I used my salary as hers. They gave her several thousand dollars of credit line!

Jim, you and lele are the ones I heard mentioned about that. I wonder if anyone here know where I can find out about non-U.S citizen traveling out of country with a U.S citizen child?

Again, Tony, thank you very much for your response! I'll get everything ready for my wife to visit her family. It has been two years since she left. I miss China myself too.

Thank you, Tony! I just read from some immigration sites that greencard holders do not need to apply for re-entry permit unless they plan to stay away from more than 1 year but less then 2. Am I correct to assume that all my wife needs is her greencard to travel out and back to U.S? No Chinese visa is needed because she is Chinese citizen?