shyaushu

Congratulations! My wife and I went camping on Virginia's eastern shore a few weeks after she arrived here, and it was her first time, too. A noisy owl perched in a nearby pine tree hooted all night and scared my wife half to death! It all worked out quite well, though -- my wife insisted on squeezing into my sleeping bag for "protection". Could be worse.

Do you have to pay them a radiologist's consulting fee if they see something and offer a diagnosis?

Does anyone know if there is anything like that for West Virginia? My wife would love to have a driver's handbook in Chinese. Then all we'd have left is for her to learn to drive!

It's hard to see things from your SO's perspective when we're all so far away. But several comments here are worth keeping in mind, I believe. In the first place, this may be a mole hill becoming a mountain. It is unlikely such mean-spirited behavior by a bunch of self-centered and jealous people can actually have a serious impact on your visa. Secondly, and related to the first, "don't give them any more information than they ask for" is always very good advice. It is likely the US Consulate isn't even aware of the things you SO's former colleagues are saying. Thirdly, even though my wife was not a teacher, and was simply living and working in Shenzhen when we met, there was no shortage of people who were jealous of her perceived "success" in meeting a sincere partner and who did all kinds of things to derail our relationship. The jealousy and unkindness they feel is their problem: reacting innappropriately to it makes it your problem. It's probably best to just take it in stride and move on.

Hey, hey! Congratulations on your well-earned success.

Was there ever any doubt about the outcome? Our heartiest congratulations to you both! Now she has the best of both worlds: you, and a home in Almost Heaven.

Our timeline was: package sent to GUZ on 8/18/05 and the interview was on 12/7/05 -- about four months. So we were on the lower end of the agony spectrum. Logic would suggest you are most likely to fall in the middle; about five months. Look for something to be shaking around June.

It's such a huge relief when it's finally over! Congratulations.

It looks like it only took you both about 6 months! Incredible. You have every right to be proud of yourself.

Congratulations! I suppose after having visited nine times the "reality" of your relationship was not in question.

The legal ramifications of this matter are, of course, of utmost importance and require swift action before everything's gone, but the human tragedy here is almost overwhelming. Imagine! Having your husband die a month or two 12,000 miles away before you even realized it? Imagine poor Lily dreaming of the life she and her husband were going to have when they finally got their visa, and she was deaming about a man who was already deceased. Where is she going to get the moral and emotional support she needs?

It seems CFL members are on a great streak of passed interviews. This is great information but the Window 30 scenario raises a couple questions about detail. I wonder if you lose your Window 30 option if you leave the 5th floor. I take it only the beneficiary goes to Window 30 and that there is no opportunity to communicate with the petitioner between receiving the blue slip and showing the overcome documentation. It sounds like the first thing the beneficiary should do about a blue slip is to stay put in front of the current window, read it carefully and inform that VO, if they have the overcome information in their possession. If the VO is willing, they show it to them. If not, go to window 30. Is that how you understand it? It might be good to formulate a question about this for GUZ Speaks. 197606[/snapback] That is correct, "IF" the V.O. will allow you to stay at the window, then by all means pleed your case, "IF NOT" go to window #30 197834[/snapback] My wife doesn’t speak much English and I don’t speak much Chinese. She is studying English and I Chinese. We talk on the phone every day and communicate just fine. We each have talking translators. On occasion we use an interpreter service to discuss in-depth things. There are services available today that will translate on the fly. It seems to me that guz has an outdated mindset on verbal communications. Maybe 10 years ago it was a problem?but not with the electronics and resources of today. I would hope that the people in guz understand this and would not put such a high importance on verbal communication. 198077[/snapback] Of course everyone has a somewhat different experience in Guangzhou, and here is ours. My wife (still) speaks preciuous little English (our little joke is for her to say "see you tomorrow" when I leave for work) and my Chinese ability was of the competent to order food, ask directions and talk about simple things that happened variety in December, 2005. The Visa Officer spoke Chinese to my wife and our communication was never brought up. We had been married for 11 months at that point. My conclusion: this underscores the "don't offer anything they don't ask for" part. Just like in court. If they are appropriate, a "yes" or a "no" should probably be the response to a question like "Do the two of you have any problems communicating?" I feel "No" would be an excellent answer.

Since your son is obviously an American citizen, the only rationale I can imagine is that the Chinese government is trying to prevent the illegal "export" of Chinese children. At least the documentation you were required to produce leans in that direction. It is also possible they took one look at him and said "this one's a keeper!"

If they have mistakenly sent someone else's personal information to you in this instance, what personal information of ours have the "shared" with some other third party? Birth date; Social Security number; parent's names; etc., etc. I don't think it's hard to see where this could go . . . VERY FRIGHTENING.

The exact experience for my wife. 100 RMB and you get express service. Not bad for a buck and a quarter!

Not to say that these others are not as good, or whatever, but I always used http://www.visarite.com and they are very reliable, very quick and considerably cheaper than any of these.

Practically everyone here knows far more about the intracacies of US visas than I do so I have little to add, technically. But if someone's intent is to marry a foreign national and live here together, what, exactly, are the reasons for not doing it the "right" way? Admittedly, it does take a little bit of time, but it isn't like it takes five or ten years. With careful filing and a few visits (which are such fun and permit the two people to actually "play house" for a while), it should only take a year or so. Filing for a tourist visa; coming here; getting married; struggling with obtaining permanent status -- that could easily take five or six months, or more. Balance that with a lifetime together . . .

I think Frank is right -- the "fun" really begins when the two of you are together in a permanent relationship. The exotic and different nature of the thing wears off sooner or later, but a vestige of the odd and wonderful connection a Sino-American marriage is always remains. Things actually settle down to just two people who love each other making a life together. The same parameters that control success in any relationship come into play: real love; patience; understanding; empathy; listening . . . I'm not sure anyone is completely prepared for it all, and I believe it takes extra measures of these kinds of qualities to make the relationship work when the partners are so different culturally. But it's a great opportunity to learn and grow. I have found my wife and I have a special bond that sets us apart from other couples, generally. Just being together here has meant we went through a lot together and the fact that we made this mutual cultural leap work for us both is always special. Our own Great Leap Forward & Cultural Revolution, all wrapped up into one. Only this time it worked!

Congratulations to you both. We all hope everyone's interview goes that well.

The air fares are just a matter of cyber-searching, I suppose. Finding a life partner requires a great deal more soul searching, that's for sure. There is no reason finding a fine spouse and life partner through Internet dating sites is any more risky or unlikely than meeting people in more traditional ways, but the statistics for marriages here (in the US) are not very encouraging. If more than fifty percent of US marriages end in divorce in a short number of years, then the same should be true for Sino-American marriages arranged by Bill Gates or Cisco. My wife insists "many" of the women she sees advertising themselves on the Internet, from Shenzhen, at least, are prostitutes, or at least, women who earn money to support themselves and their children by "giving massages" or simply having sex with men. She says six out of ten. I, myself, do not know. And people do what they have to to survive. But I believe it is pretty obvious that American men will generally know less about Chinese women they meet on the Internet than women they might meet through mutual friends here, or at work, etc. There are the language and culture problems; the limited time spent together; the lack of context, etc. It is really difficult to get a clear sense of who the person we have grown to love is by short visits across the world. The same is true, of course, for Chinese women, and they know almost nothing about their spouses until they are here and actually sharing their lives. So both sides are taking substantial chances. I am very glad my wife and I simply decided to get married and then go for the CR-1 visa, and we are really happy together, but it could have been different. I believe I would recomend a finacee visa and have six months together here to sort things out if someone asked me. Even though our thing worked out extremely well. Life is a gamble, and love is the biggest gamble in life. Whatever the way two people meet, they are very lucky, indeed if, after a few years, they can say it was all a very good thing. A true love is not an easy thing to find, no matter how you cut it.

Congratulations to the both of you.

Who can say if a translator will "always" be present, but my wife speaks only Mandarin, and her (successful) interview was conducted entirely in it. No questions were raised regarding our communication even though I am far from fluent in Chinese. But we get by quite nicely.

I don't have the technical expertise to give an athoritative opinion on the visa issue, but best wishes. We take people for who they are, not who we wish they were, and we all must go on from there. It is hard to not feel admiration for both of you.

I, too, have delayed writing something. I for one cannot advise you to stop feeling sorry for yourself. Sometimes it helps to "just let it out." But it is true soon you have to come back to reality and accept that this incredibly long and dehumanizing process must be accepted. What the Japanese called "enduring the unendurable" when they accepted unconditional surrender at the end of World War II. It will be over someday.

After a bunch of $40 wire transfers through my bank, I, too, tried Western Union. Once we got the protocol straight, it all worked like a charm. For $15 a shot. It's also quite fast.