mtbdude

congratulations bryan. the best of everything to the 3 of you!

you are right, it's your marital status on december 31.

bryan, i know you're going to tell us exactly how it went! congratulations in advance!

Yup a regular fortune kitty.. thanks for the encouragement robert, and mark & bea. the thought of leaving him behind was a bit of a dark cloud over our happy day. we'd both admit feeling the same thing, such happiness about the great day that was coming for us, but such sadness about leaving our little friend, her devoted companion, behind. i don't want to get too melodramatic about this, but i gotta say we are both so much happier now that we decided to bring him. i guess only an animal lover could understand...

hey carl, check that thread p.j. put in his post. i didn't know this myself, but his wife can just get a tin, and doesn't have to wait for an ssn. i'm gonna check that out, too, because i don't want to wait a long time for our refund. another option would be an extension to file. the first, to 8/15, is automatic, meaning you don't need a reason. and the second is to 10/15, and you do have to give a reason, but i've never heard of one being turned down. steve

yeah, ours said 60 - 90 days, and then it changed on the website to 120 - 150, but we still had a 7 month wait in queue at california service center. and then 4 months at gz. 11 months of zero happening. not counting nvc. i don't know what is reasonable to expect, but this seems ridiculous. our case has had no issues or snags whatsoever -- everything was normal. now that it's almost over for us, i'm just glad, but i still feel sorry for those who are trying to get through it. it's not right. doesn't make me feel any better to see that someone got it worse. best of luck to you. steve

here's a good website that i found that explains a lot about it: K Visa FAQ and here's where you can download forms: Immigration Forms and Fees steve

Sounds like one fat cat!!! Are you sure? Is it just that Yan Zi will have trouble carrying him? Will you be flying with her? laofu was so scrawny and scruffy and sickly looking when she first rescued him; he apparently got abandoned by his family during the sars scare. lots of pets were being dumped at that time, from what yan zi tells me. she thought he was very old, so i suggested we just give him a good last few months of his life and put him to sleep when she comes here. now that he's been bathed, de-wormed, vaccinated, neutered, given unlimited cat food, and generally just spoiled rotten, i'm guessing he's probably about 2 years old. his luck turned so dramatically when yan zi took him in, that we just cannot bear to leave him behind to an uncertain cat-future. he weighs 5 kg, and that's the weight limit for cat and carrier, from what we are being told by the airlines we have talked to. some don't allow them in the cabin at all. yan zi was trying to get him started on a diet yesterday, and she was suffering more than laofu, who just was begging and begging her. yan zi was so relieved when we found out the cargo hold would be acceptible for him. laofu immediately got his bowl of kibbles and stopped crying. mournful crying is an artform for that boy. i will be flying with her. i have been dreaming of bringing her here for almost 2 years now. can't believe it's finally going to happen.

thanks tony, that's the one i have. the one i keep saying is from usda

no kidding, it was great, and really helpful. and it sounds like the usda pamplet that i have is accurate, the animal has to appear to be healthy, and that's it. yan zi found out that she has to take him for some certifications of his vaccinations and whatnot for the chinese side of this. after reading this, i'm also going to have her get a detailed explanation from the airline about what happens and what we will be doing on departure day, so we can be read for that. nowadays there are regulations about transporting live animals, and so they have to be kept in a pressurized, temperature controlled space in the cargo hold. obviously an animal won't survive for 15 seconds in -30C temps at 30,000 feet. i talked to a united reservation clerk yesterday, and she said they won't transport animals if the temperatures on the ground are extreme, like summer and winter. apparently the animal is exposed to the elements during the time they are being loaded and unloaded, and there have been problems with that. like i mentioned before, that's why i don't think we can take asiana, which is the airline i would prefer to take. (love that bi bim bap they serve).

you are right, we need to consider not just the regulations.

congratulations! although i got notified of the interview last week, the p4 actually arrived to yan zi yesterday. anticlimactic for sure, but good to see. when is his interview? steve

june, thanks so much for the info. i will contact mark and bea. we were considering asiana from chengdu, and they told yan zi that it would be 4,700 rmb to bring our laofu. now it seems the problem is we cannot bring him into the cabin because he weighs too much. and it could be too cold for him at inchon while he is being transferred from one plane to the other. so we need to choose an airline on a southern route. so we are considering air china.

which visa, tony, a cat-1 or cat-3? from what i'm reading in a usda pamphlet, on presentation in customs the cat just has to appear to have no diseases that would be communicable to humans. just can't believe that's all there is to it. yan zi is checking with the 001 girls, too.

we decided to bring laofu, yan zi's cat, with us to america, since we're finding it difficult to place him in a good home. yan zi couldn't be more delighted, and whatever makes her happy works for me. i'm checking into airlines and health requirements and stuff like that, but i would just like to hear some first-hand experiences from anyone who has ever brought a pet from china. thanks. steve

i don't know about that deal, fellas. in their sample each-way fare they show los angeles as $279, which is $558 r/t. search for it, and it's $698 for the r/t. and one-way, which is what i really need, is almost $1,200. also it connects in tokyo. on FlyChina i found a one way china southern, non-stop, for $550. so i went ahead and booked it. (going over november 13.) i usually use LowestFare.com, but saw flychina recommended here so i gave it a try. it came up with the best deal. now, how to get yan zi's cat, mr. laofu, here???

oh thanks for saying that. yeah, we both know everyone here is going through the stress of waiting and not knowing, so if someone goes off, even if it's on me, i can totally sympathize. i just try to keep in mind this is a brotherhood (includes sisters), and just be as supportive as everyone was with me. seems he needed some kind words right at that moment. i appreciate what you said, a lot. steve

hey dude, hope you see this. i was just making a joke, sort of, but it was totally indecipherable as such, and so i'm sorry i created that misunderstanding. wish you all the luck with your visa process. i also sent you a pm, but just wanted to get this out publicly, cuz it was my fault for setting you off like that. hope there's no hard feelings. steve

that is so funny.

that hasn't made a difference for me. i used other lots of times, and sometimes got responses, sometimes didn't.

so happy to hear your great news! where in ca are you??

thanks don. yeah, get her here. that's the ticket. i really do think the interview is going to be a piece of cake, though. we have atty prep'd docs, pages of phone bills, emails, chats, & gift receipts, i've been there 5 times to see her, she speaks good english. also, i happen to work for a federal agency that highly values integrity and would terminate me instantly if i tried to pull any type of scam. the v.o. would likely know that. it's expressly forbidden to use your position to try to influence a gov't process, not that my position is very influential by any stretch, but yan zi will have my id in her pocket and will pull it out to verify who i work for if they ask. i really think she's a good bet to be flying with me in to lax on november 21. after waiting this long, it is hard to believe it's really happening, though. thanks for that thumbnail sketch on what awaits us. i'll check the links and resources that you mentioned. one step at a time. gotta make that my mantra. steve

One of those is ours! ours too! congrats again tony. my face is about to cramp up from smiling so much!

maybe they meant october and november, steve. i hope so!

wow neal, that sounds very encouraging. not the canned response. i hope your good news comes sooner that shortly!