IllinoisDave

Thanks Doug, you've given me a good heads-up on something to warn Christine about. It's not about training. It's about avoiding potential problems that don't need to be. She still isn't driving yet so whenever she's gone shopping it's either been with me or one of her friends. I'm gonna definitely have a chat with her about being careful when she does go alone because she has a bit of an ADD problem when it comes to these things and I can see her walking right out to the car with stuff just like your ex did. That's if she can find the damn car to begin with.

CHNLove is like any other business, especially in a country of 1.3 billion. One size does not fit all. As Dan points out, they deal with dozens of dating "agencies" around China and other countries. To expect business practices and standards to be the same in all of them is asking for a bit much. For as many different "agencies" out there, there are surely at least the same number of different ways, both legit and otherwise, to operate among them. For every CL success story like ours and others here there are probably as many or more stories of men and women both getting ripped off by agencies affiliated with them. Just Google them and you'll see what I mean. As far as women paying? My wife has a friend who recently signed up with them and is paying 6800 RMB for the "VIP" service. As near as I could tell what that means is she has basically a personal assistant at CL who handles all her contacts and does the translations etc. She gets more involved as things get more serious. She (my wife) knows others who use the service in both Shenzhen and Shanghai and she says almost all the women end up paying something at some point. The ones who use it for "free" are most likely getting very basic, nearly useless, services and probably only on a temporary basis. But like I said, the payment policies probably vary from agency to agency as much as the level of trustworthiness.

Congratulations!

You're being very generous there Mick. My Bears looked good on Sunday but it's just one game against a decent, but unproven, Falcons team. We'll find out how good we are this week against the Saints. Your Packers on the other hand? As much as I hate to say it they are scary good. Coming off a Super Bowl win and NOW they're even healthy. Sky's the limit for them I"m afraid. I agree with you about the Lions. They could do some damage to some teams.

And how many did they win?

Hey, you spelled "Bears" wrong.

Sorry to hear that Sparky. The basic facts don't point to any obvious red flags but without knowing what your evidence was it's hard to pinpoint a reason. And it could've boiled down to which VO your fiancee happened to draw that day unfortunately. All is not lost but I won't BS you, the road doesn't get any easier. As Carl and Dan mentioned, you might want to consider forgetting the K-1 and going the CR-1 route. It can get you where you want to be but it won't be as fast and it won't be as cheap. At a minimum you'll need to factor in the cost of another trip to China, the costs of a wedding etc. and the lawyer fees. Not trying to be cold, but that's part of the reality. As Carl said, contact Marc Ellis or someone you trust ASAP so they can start dealing with your case before it gets much further. Whatever decision you make, there are people here to help you with the particulars and give you support. You won't be going it alone.

I agree.

Hmm. The youngest is 56. By my count three are in their 50s, five in their early 60s, thirteen in their mid to late 60s and four 70 or older. One woman. No disrespect meant to the older generations, here or there. But if these are the "best and brightest" China has to offer, either it doesn't say much for the young and middle aged generations and women of all generations. Or it says a whole lot about China's ability to maintain a solid good ole boys politburo.

Welcome to Candle Sparky. Sorry to hear of the denial. The first thing you need to do is take a deep breath...now let it out. Next, as Carl suggested, we need some more info so we can help. I understand your wish to get info via private email. But if at all possible, having your story be a bit more public will enable more people to help you. It's up to you though. Believe me, there's a wealth of knowledgeable people here to help you try and overcome this, including many who've been through the same thing and are now happily united with their loved ones. So all is not lost. If you decide to open it up to the membership there's a few things we need to know to get you going. Could you tell us exactly what the denial slip says? What was asked at the interview? Did you do the paperwork yourself or have an agency/lawyer do it? And, if possible, some info on your and your fiancee's backgrounds would be helpful. Only divulge what you're comfortable with. I know things look gloomy now. But you've made the best first step you could make coming here looking for help. If it can be done, these are the people to do it. Best of luck to both of you.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

I've spoken English my whole life and sometimes I don't understand what you're saying Griz. Happy Anniversary to you and Xiaoyuan.

Unless I'm missing something, the OP stated in his first post that he had provided the docs asked for and the GUZ acknowledged receiving them. He then simply asked for opinions on a time frame he could expect based on similar past cases. Somehow that morphed into suggestions of illegality, fraud, being angry, not having done the proper research and a question of his ethnicity. No wonder he's frustrated.

Curious. What is it you would have them investigate exactly?

just go to http://www.italkbb.com/bb/enu/enu_index.asp and on the menu bar you will see plans. Pick "China Plans" Within that there are 2 plans, global, or economy, and you can pick whichever makes sense for your usage. I always but the Global plan, and pay a year at a time because it gives me free cell usage, though I seldom use it these days. +1 on this My wife uses her cell phone quite a bit and burns up the home lines between here and China. And Mum being able to call us when she needs to is priceless.