fdeitz

OK, thanks for the info. Yes, we got one of the civil surgeons on the list to do the vaccines and sent in the sealed vaccination supplement with the orginal AOS application in January. So it is definitely for the I-693 itself (rather than the supplement). Although, my wife read me this over the phone - as I am out of town on a business trip. It puzzles me why they would ask for documentation on something that had to have happened (the physical exam in China) - but then again I guess a lot of things with USCIS don't make much sense.

My wife got here on a K-1 Visa, and had the required medical exam in China on September 24. We filed our AOS application on January 6. Now we got an RFE saying that she needs to get a medical exam and send in an I-693. I called the 800 number listed and they were not very helpful. They said we need to send a letter back with the RFE if we want to dispute the need for an I-693 - saying my wife is here on a K-1 Visa (shouldn't they know that?) and that she had a medical exam in September 2005 and we filed the AOS in January 2006 (again, you would think they would know all of this!). Now the way I read the rules in the I-693 FAQ - http://uscis.gov/graphics/i-693faq.htm - for K-1 Visa's if you had a medical exam within 1 year of filing AOS, you do not need to get a medical exam in the US - nor do you need to send in the I-693. We did get her vaccines here in the US and sent in the Vaccine Supplement form with the AOS. So I am wondering what to do. I don't want to hold up our AOS application, which within the past few weeks got transferred to the California office for "faster processing". Any suggestions would be appreciated. I guess we will try sending in a letter, but I hate to get yet another RFE a few weeks later saying we still need a medical exam and an I-693! Thanks, Fred

As far as at the new consulate - our interview was on 9/28 (we passed). My fiancee - like what other people wrote - her written English is fairly good, but her speaking and listening skills less so - and she was very worried she would not understand the VO. I gave her the same advice as above. Anyway, she told me, initially an interpreter was present, but once they decided her English was good enough, the interpreter left the room and the interview continued in English. It did not last long -they only asked her 4 or 5 pretty simple questions. She also told me they did not look at hardly any of the huge amount of evidence we assembled. I guess though it depends on the VO - but in this case it was an African American woman (I've seen references regarding her in other threads assuming it is the same VO they are talking about). Anyway, at least in some cases - there is an interpreter initally present at the interview. In my case, I speak no Chinese - so the videotape route would not have worked for me! Fred

My SO said we needed the house deed for the interview. She read it on the 001 forum. I brought it, but they did not even look at it, along with most of the other stuff we took to the interview on 9/26 (using the "kitchen sink" approach). My SO claimed that I needed to prove ownership of my house to prove that I had a place for her to live or something. I think there is a lot of false info on the 001 forum, but I decided not to argue and brought it along for the interview. The only thing I put my foot down on was she wanted me to bring my employee badge for my company to China, along with my Dept. of Defense badge that gets me access to military bases as she knew I regularly travel to military bases for work, and once asked me if I had a badge that gets me in into them, which I do. I told her it would be illegal and a security violation for me to take those things out of the USA. Fred

The same thing happened to us the day before it happened to Lee, at the same hospital. Fortunately, we have another set of the notarized documents back home, locked up in my desk at work. So I wasn't too worried about it since I knew we had the second set. Just the same, they ought to either use bigger size envelopes to put the stuff in, or whatever they need to do so they avoid this stupid procedure of tearing up all the documents. Lee - I guess you made it back home safely. We are going back on Saturday so our time here is winding down. Fred

I'm new here - I've been lurking but never posted. Anyway, I'm happy to report Ani passed her K1 interview on September 28! We are now in her hometown of Rongshui visiting her family, and we will be flying back to the USA on October 8. Wedding is planned for November 23 so that some of my family members can make it. Here's our timeline: - K1 Timeline -- 01-11-2005.... I-129F to VSC 01-18-2006.... NOA1 02-08-2005.... NOA2 02-28-2005.... Cleared NVC 03-31-2005.... Received P3 04-04-2005.... Returned P3 08-01-2005.....P4 (date mailed) 09-25-2005.....Arrive in GZ together 09-28-2005.....Interview PASSED 09-30-2005.....Travel from GZ to Nanning where Ani lives 10-01-2005.....Travel to Liuzhou where her youngest brother lives 10-02-2005.....Travel to Rongshui where the rest of her family lives 10-06-2005.....Travel back to Nanning 10-08-2005.....Return to US Together 11-23-2005.....Wedding Fred