mercator

Ok - I thought I would give a more detailed report of what we did or didn't do, in the hopes others can have as quick a turnaround as we did. Some things that I think were factors: My wife does not work [iMHO this is a HUGE factor] We waited until September to get her SSN, almost 1.5 years after she arrived. [Again, big factor. We were in no rush, where a 'faker' might be looking to get everything the second they could] Though our 90 day window opened on 12/20, we didn't mail it until 1/15 or so. We had two well-written letters from family. We submitted 20-25 photos from our first date to a few weeks before the application submit. We were in every shot, as were family members and friends, in many of them. All photos were well described on the back. She is my insurance beneficiary Bank statements and credit cards, all that was as described in the excellent guide posted above. We sent to Laguna Niguel, which seems to be moving quicker than some of the other SC's these days. Here is our cover letter: 1/18/2009 - My Address - USCIS California Service Center P.O. Box 10751 Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-1075 January 18, 2009 RE: I-751 JOINT PETITION TO REMOVE CONDITIONS OF STATUS ON LAO PO A# ___________ Dear USCIS examiner: Enclosed please find a JOINT I-751 petition for removal of conditions of permanent resident status regarding my wife, ________. Please also find a check for $545, the fee for this petition application and biometric fee. My wife entered the United States on a K-3 visa. Her conditional residence expires on 03/23/2009. We are happily living together and request that this petition be accepted for removal of conditions on the residence of my wife, ________. Enclosed also please find the following documents to verify the status of our marriage and ongoing relationship: • Payment in the amount of $545.00 by check; • I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence; • Copy of ________ Permanent Resident Card, expiring 03/23/2009; • Copy of ________ passport photo page; • Copies of ________ Social Security Card and ________ family Health Insurance card; • Copies of three recent joint City of ________ utility bill statements; • Copies of two recent joint ________Utilities utility bill online statements; • Copies of three recent ________Bank Statements showing joint ownership; • Copies of Debit cards from joint ________ Bank account • Copy of recent joint _______________ homeowner¡¯s insurance policy renewal • Copy of recent joint ________ automotive insurance policy renewal • Copy of ________ 401K report showing ________as the sole beneficiary for ________; • Copy of 2007 Joint 1040 Tax return Tax Report E-File notice and Data File, as submitted to the IRS; • Copy of 2006 Joint 1040 Tax return copy as submitted by E-File to the IRS; • Copy of IRS notice assigning an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to ________; • Original Affidavit written by ________, a U.S. citizen, attesting to our relationship and marriage; • Original Affidavit written by ________, a U.S. citizen, attesting to our relationship and marriage; • Contact information for ________ and ________; and • A collection of photographs from 2005 to 2009 taken of ________, and family You may feel free to inquire at any of the sources of enclosed documentation for validity of their statements, and you are always welcome to visit our home should you ever desire to do so. Please advise us if you have any further questions or problems related to this petition. Sincerely, [My affadavit authors didn't include their addresses on their affadavits, so that is why there is a separate contact information page. I really hope this helps someone else get their 10 year card as quickly as we did. We were prepared for an 8-10 month wait. We found out her good friend in Seattle got a 60 day letter today, so she is looking at 4 months total time, which is still really quick. Maybe they are starting to move these applications. I really think that you should take your time and fill the application out once you are on the 90 day clock. IMHO mailing it the next day after the 90 days might make them think you are anxious, and anxious people draw attention. I could be WAY off on that, but there are my 2 fen. Good luck to everyone! Kenn & Jessica

I think you will find that 2-3 months' apart is pretty typical. If she has her Chinese passport and the 'green card' plus her I-551 extension letter, she should have no trouble coming back into the US from China. The 2-3 month visit thing is very much a cultural thing. It has NO reflection on the state of your marriage, unless she tells you otherwise. If your wife is like mine and does not work, then in her mind it is a well-spent airline ticket to be over there so long. My wife was over there for two months in March/April 2008, and her 'to do' list was so long she was still rushing. Lots of get togethers with family and friends, shopping for any number of knickknacks, clothes, and LOTS of Chinese remedies kept my wife quite busy. We're going back together in April, but she also plans on going back around the end of 09/ early 10, for the purpose of getting her driver's license renewed! I suspect she will be there about 45-60 days, shopping and seeing all her family. We were eligible to fill in the 120 year paperwork in Dec 2008, but finally collected everything in January 09. She got her green card this week (the actual card, not the 60 day notice), so it had NO effect on her application!

Actually, it seems like California is moving paperwork like lightning right now. CSC FTW! Update. Update: We were notified in late February that after gathering dust in Vermont since August that they've sent the petition to California to gather dust.

We were fully prepared to travel to China and back next month on her I-551, and had no worries. We got a surprise 10 year GC in the mail today, but laopo is planning to carry her I-551 as a backup anyway.

Check out the signature Blessed be. Happy days up here in the boonies! We mailed the paperwork on January 20th. Biometrics was Feb 26th. We got the mail today (March 24th) and there was a green card expiring in 2019 in it!! Postmark was the 20th of March. No interview required. Amazing. Maybe it was the photo album we compiled for them?

We did ours out of California. Mailed the application on Jan 20th, Biometrics on Feb 26th in Spokane, and 10 year card in hand today, 3/24, postmarked March 21st. Total time was 60 days!!!

So if it is 8-10 months to get the 10 year green card, what is my wife's status in the in-between time? We have a trip to Beijing in April, is she going to get hassled because she is "in application?" Do I not take her with me for fear she will be denied entry or hassled for hours?? What about getting a new job?

Living in a small town where there used to be two Chinese ladies and now my wife is back to being the only one (our neighbor was Taiwanese, but they moved after 8 months - husband lost his job), people are either uninterested, think she is like my pet, or assume I couldn't get a 'real' wife. I simply don't care. They meet her, they like her. Then they know why. Her English is still coming, as she is incredibly shy, but she has an aura about her that people can't help but like her. I find with family, I have to defend the internet dating thing more than who I ended up with. These are relatives I have had to show how to turn on their computers before, so its a mindset thing. I'm in I.T., and computers have been in my mindset for 25 years. To people we trust or who we know can empathize (like you all) I simply say "yuanfen." We literally searched the world and found each other.

Well, my life insurance is a pretty big chunk. Obviously we don't talk about those kinds of what ifs much (bad luck), but the gist I get from her is that if I was gone, she would move back to China. Once I get my Master's degrees, she is sort of hoping I get an American wage job in China. We'll see, but its fair to say we will be somewhere else, and that she'll want to get a job and get rolling then. I want her to get a credit history, but it is tough since we waited until October to get the SSN. Now she might be able to apply for one, though she has no income. I like the idea of a guaranteed line, especially if that is something she can apply for on her own. I'll gladly cosign, but I agree it is good for her to get a line in her own name. I don't have to worry about her abusing it. I can honestly say I have never stretched a paycheck like she can! As for life and medical, she's been on my life insurance since we got married, and she's had my medical since then as well. I'll be sure to include that stuff in the submission. *helpsmile**************** On PHOTOS **************helpsmile* Can I print them out on my laserprinter (black and white) or do I need to take them to walmart and make special prints for the government? Lao po wants to get some Christmas shots for the family in China anyway, but sending 2-3 on a sheet of paper would make the package less bulky than a pack of photos would.

On the Driver's License thing... She didn't want to drive the car because it was "too new." Now that it has a couple years on it, she is a bit more comfortable with the idea of driving it. She drove in China, so the mechanics of it are there, and the manual and written test can actually be all done in simplified Chinese to make her more comfortable. I'd imagine before citizenship she'd get her license. She isn't sure yet she wants to get citizenship though. She is still debating that one. She really wants to buy a house in GZ or one of the northern suburb/exurb cities like Qingyuan or Yingde. Sounds like we'll just bury them in paperwork, using that concept of 3 months. I'll spread around the utility bills. We have a mortgage, but it's Wells Fargo, and they are really hard to deal with, especially now. I'm surprised too, since I am a high credit score traditional mortgage paying very little extra each month (I'm in grad school, so the money is otherwise spent), but they won't add her unless I refinance, which means an appraisal (~$500), fees (1-2%, so ~$2,000), and etc. I guess if they ask in an interview, I can prepare a written, notarized statement of those sorts of things. I may call the county tomorrow about adding her name to the car title, since I own it outright. I hadn't thought of having her on the credit card, since we never use it and don't have a balance. I keep it for car rentals and stuff like that, which I almost never need, since 99% of my travel the past two years has been corporate. As a student I have no time to travel.

Lao po is not the patient type. Let's just say our 90 day window opened on 12/23, and I get "subtle" reminders every day since. That's why I am up at 630am on a Sunday morning. So I can send it in this week. I need to show daily progress, otherwise I start *losing privileges*.

Ok here goes: Long time member, but long time no see - hey all! Our 90 day window for the 751 removal of conditions just opened. I am worried I am light on documentation... What I have: Utility bill - power Utility bill - city svcs bank records (I bank online, but it can be printed) Home/auto insurance SSN (and ITIN before that) Green Card 1.75 years left on Chinese passport Tax returns What I don't have and why: Mortgage - they wouldn't add her without another refi and they wouldn't put her on the first one because she was still in China and no SSN (my rate is 5.5, so a refi would cost more than it is worth, even at 5.25 now) Driver's License - she hasn't wanted to learn. Car - Own it. Registered in my name since she has no DL. Motorcycle - Own it. Registered in my name since she has no DL. Cable - Don't have it Phone - company pays for it Internet - company pays for it Employment records - she applied for a job once, and hasn't since. Children - want them, but reversal was a dud. Saving for more expensive surgery Are we going to have a rough go at a removal of conditions? The worst that can happen is bad, but isn't their middle ground of a renewal of her 2 year green card? Is there a site with some examples of affidavit formats that we could give to people as guidelines? I hope to use my brother and his wife since they live down in Spokane (80 miles). My mom would also gladly do it, but she lives in CA, so I worry they will think it is contrived. Her friend and our former next door neighbor (the only other adult Chinese woman in our town) just moved away to Tennessee and their address information is transient until they get settled in, so they seem like a shaky reference. Needless to say, I am stressing over this ALOT. Is it a big deal? Do we have enough to overcome this obstacle? Do they want month after month of evidence, or is a single month's record enough? Is the key to just flood them with paperwork, or have a representative sample of the evidence you do have? Is there an interview, as there was for the original green card? I am kind of hoping it is like the SSN. That was a breeze. Thanks to all for your help, in advance! Kenn aka mercator

Thanks for all the information. Looks like we'll narrow our ideas down to a couple of countries, or just go to China again.

What is the policy of travel within the EU for lao po who has her 2 year green card (we have to wait until Dec 08 to submit the I-751), but is of course still traveling under her Chinese passport? Will she need visas for every country we wish to visit? If so it will limit where we decide to go. I'd be very interested to hear what others who have traveled outside the US and China with their Chinese spouse have encountered! Thanks! Mercator

I think language is much less an issue than culture. After 1 year and 3 days together, we still butt heads and feel slights because of cultural ignorance. Nothing major, but they still creep up. As to language, my wife has progressed steadily. She admits she does not spend as much time on studies as she should, but there is no pressure. If she works or not, that is her decision alone. We are fine either way. She has almost finished all three Rosetta Stone programs, and studies slang and common idioms on the Internet with some adjustments when she checks with me, because they aren't always quite right. I find I have to discipline myself, or I just slip into Chinglish, or what she calls laopolaogonghua which must sound pretty funny or strange to people on the street when they hear us talking. Now I make a concerted effort to talk slowly with as perfect an accent as I can muster to bolster her skills. My wife and I share movies. You can get just about anything with Chinese subtitles, or Chinese movies with English subtitles. Ebay has tons of Hong Kong (and China, if you like fuzzy webcam movies) dealers who will sell you legit copies of movies. They are still pretty cheap at about $10 plus shipping a pop. Buy in bulk and save on the shipping, or accept having them shipped at a lower class and waiting a while for them to save some money. Then, sell them on Ebay and break even or even make a little money because people will pay more to get the same movie from a stateside seller. Just dont try and sell the fuzzy webcam ones. We also take walks and ride our motorcycle together. A couple times a month we go shopping, which takes about 5 hours My wife is also quite into the computer. From gardening, star gossip, herbal medicine, to whatever else, she can be on her computer 4 hours a day or more. She will also watch CCTV4 and ATV from wcetv.com quite a bit. We have cable, so we also watch a few chinese serials (40 episode kung fu shows, really) on AZN together. She spends about $20 a month with onesuite calling her friends and family as well ($20 gets you like 900 minutes to China). She does not work yet, because she is so shy about her language skills. She has applied to a couple of places, but they did not call her back. Her references are a little too far away... She was homesick a couple times in the first couple of months, but that is when you really have to step up and be there for her. Gudu de and fawei de are the enemies if you let them. My wife gets lonely or bored only very rarely, especially now that she has become a regular in an overseas chinese woman discussion board off of yahoo.com.cn , and has such easy phone access to family and friends.

File your 485 ASAP and save yourself the $$$ of the other two alternatives.

In actual practice, my wife understood 75% of what the AOS interviewer told her. The remaining 25% I translated into Chinglish and some Chinese for her in the presence of the interviewer and it was no problem. The real question is whether or not your wife's lack of English will impact the 'believability' of your AOS case. May not supposed to be that way, but I'd be really surprised if it didn't play a role. They scrutinized the snot out of our case. We'll just say I will have 20 times the documentation for my wife's 10 year card.

Basically Uncle Sam was overly efficient this year (they will fix that for next year rest assured), and so they allocated all their work visas for 2007 at the half way point. It basically means the work visa people need to wait until 2008... This is not family-related visas which if there is a finite number, it isn't going to be reached anytime soon. The backlog there is still MASSIVE and quite inefficient (IMHO)

Bank on $10k more to finish it!

My wife says if she takes the time to give me a glass of water, because she worries and wants me to be healthy, and I refuse it, then she has yongxinliangku. I hope that helps

So you have mama or baba buy the property in China. if we wanted property in China, we'd probably just have mom or her older sibling buy the property for us. Her family is old school, so there is close to zero risk of family dispute causing a problem with that. Not like our litigious country. We're nowhere near that point though, with 30 years (and counting, if you believe in the SSA (I don't)) until retirement. In 30 years I won't be able to afford to live in China, unless its someplace like wulumuqi/urumqi...

We had her green card before EAD ever happened, so the EAD application was considered withdrawn. IMHO the $180 EAD was a waste. My wife has been on my insurance since I got back from China after our marriage. No SSN was needed. She has an ITIN for taxes, filed with our 2005 taxes, since we were married in 9/05. Wife is on my bank accounts - before the greencard was received. They went off her passport.

We did both appointments at the same time. We did our scheduled 3/21 @ 1030 AOS appointment and then our 1100 biometrics appointment, late, as approved by our Case Officer. So we get there at 1030, and the Spokane office is pretty small. Maybe 300 sqft total in the waiting area, which looked like an L-shaped hallway. We put our paperwork in the blue box and wait about 5 minutes. Our CO comes out and takes the paper from the box and calls my wife's name. We go in and sit down in his office, which is about 2/3 the size of the waiting area. He pulls our file, which is probably 2 inches thick and has all our documents for the 129F, 130, 765, and 485 in it. This is good, because while I had *almost* all the docs the form said was required, I did not have any more copies of my employer letter. We were sworn in. The first question out of the box (other than small talk) was asking my wife her address. She got the order a little mixed up, but considering we didn't study that, she did fine. Then he asked us some standard questions about her police record, drug use, terrorism, etc. Of course we said no to all of those things because they didn't apply. He looked at all of our ID documents, and took her I-94. Like I said, he had most of the other paperwork, so he went through it and verified everything was correct. Then he looked at all the photos we brought in, and asked about the marriage ceremony (hehe - what ceremony? I told him about the red finger paper shuffle), and the dinners we had in China and the US. He looked at the photos of us at home the most, and asked some questions about my car and motorcycle model collections, which my wife took pictures of for her family to see. He asked a few more questions and said he didnt see a reason why she couldnt get a green card. He gave her the welcome to the usa paperwork and said that it'd take a few days for her biometrics to clear the criminal check, and then a week to get the green card. He then outlined what will be needed in Dec 2008, when we can go for the 10 year. He was adamant that you *must* wait until 90 days before the 2 year runs out, as they would return the application (and not the money). He also said that the green card was about $300 to replace now and $400 to replace soon, so it should be kept in a safe place, though he also said you were *supposed* to carry it with you at all times. We were in the interview for about 20 minutes. The biometrics was right after, and he filled in part of that form for us. We went out to the waiting room, which went from maybe 30 people waiting to just us in the span of 20 minutes. While we waited for the biometrics guy, we saw a guy come in to pick up a fiancee visa application, and it reminded me of the guy I saw on that informal Friday in GZ... At least this guy wasn't already over there, expecting to take his GF back with him! The biometric appointment was pretty quick though every square inch of her hands were printed! We celebrated by going out to Nordstroms so she could get some fancy cosmetics, then lunch and hitting the asian supermarkets in Spokane. A great day!

We had our interview on 3/21 and we are K-3. The Case Officer asked us if my wife had one and I looked perplexed and said no. I then asked him if that was even possible. He said it isn't supposed to be, but the SSA is a different agency. So if you are K-3, I would hold off.

I think it makes sense for me to just go with the flow. We waited six months with the idea that it looks *worse* to just rush in and EAD/AOS, though I guess that is what everyone does. Also, we wanted (ok maybe I wanted) to be sure things were going to work out before we took that next big step. That i-864ez scared the **** out of me. Now, I have no worries, but I did early on because there was so much for us both to get used to. Ya know? In hindsight, I would have waited maybe 3-4 more months, but then I agree that I would be risking the expiry of her K-3. It's a crapshoot, but I chose to pay and maybe pay a little more, than to have her k-3 screwed up. Now I am going to go look at the 751 paperwork.