mercator
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Posts posted by mercator
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Congratulations to your wife! It was nice to meet you both at the Spokane New Year's Gala!
passportvisaexpress.com is who I used, at a recommendation from a member who was a long time member here. I used them twice and the service was excellent.
A 1 time tourist with a 5 day turnaround is $89 and the multiple visit one year (most expensive) visa is $189. So basically for a 5 day turnaround you are talking $39. Much cheaper than flying down to SF, unless you are heading there for a vacation.
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I called, but the level one guy was a script reader and passed me off to a queue that was 45 minutes and I did not have that kind of time, as it was during the latter part of my lunch break. I looked closer at the paperwork and it basically says that it needs to be an emergency. This isn't so we're going to the 3/21 interview, and we'll bring along the biometrics to see if we can sneak that in while we are there, or we will do it the following week. We have 1.5 months left to get that done, so we'll just stretch things out where we can. If we pay we pay. I guess if she gets a job, then any earnings between when she would have gotten the 10 year and getting the two year will offset any additional / follow up fees. She'll only need the AOS, not the EAD, if I understand things right, so the math mentioned above offsets the costs even more. No worries!
I know of a few people doing the 2 year anniversary wait on here, but I will let them say who they are, as they may want to keep that low key.
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Ability to afford it or not is not relevant. I would think those of us that have wealth (myself NOT included, but we get by ok) probably gained that wealth in part by being frugal, or at least being responsible with their money.
i don't see any reason to flame, even lightly, or serve as 'reality check' when it is logical for people not want to see their costs go up.
if you *want* to throw some money away, I have a POBox you can toss all you want at.
I am not directing this comment at anyone, but finding a SO overseas if done correctly is an expensive process, and getting to know someone correctly is an expensive process so doesn't this fall under that concept that if you have to ask or worry about it , YOU CAN"T AFFORD IT???
The more I read the more I find that the successful relationships are those where both parties took their time and got to know each other, had multiple trips (not just the fantasy trip) and really know who their partner is.
The relationships that seem to fail (this is a generalization) are the ones where the parties talk for a few months, have one trip and live in a fantasy world until they start to live together and find that they do not know each other and do not necessary like each other.
The costs and the trips are an investment in our future relationships. We need to treat them that way. If the fee is $250.00 and then goes to $450.00, is your SO less worth it as the cost goes up???? I hope each of our answers is our SO is worth whatever the cost is.
Yup, of course she is worth it. Also, it wasnt a question of too much, it was more like I had heard that the rate was increasing, and wondered if its true, and the date... I submit our 751 in just a month... so I call it a case of making sure.
COOL!!!!
My comments were more of a reality check for others....... I meant not disrespect but was just checking.
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So my strategy should have been to apply for the EAD and wait another 6-8 months to apply for the AOS so it would better line up with our anniversary.
Well, damn. Call that the $900 (or so, depending on what they finally decide to raise the fees to) question and its answer...
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I submitted EAD at the same time as the AOS. I'll adjust my timeline to reflect that.
765/485 was submitted at the same time because I understood that you need the EAD and AOS together, but hey sounds like I didn't get it right either.
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Ok things like cable bill, utilities bills, etc., are easy to get her on. Even car insurance, even though she is an excluded driver.
But loans - nope. We bought a car 'together' but I couldn't get her on the loan because she didn't have an SSN. I can't on the house because to change it, I would need a refinance, and she would need an SSN. In fact my @#$%^& ex is still on the home loan and the stupid bank won't change it, even with quit claim in hand.
So how important is the paper trail? Photos, oh we have tons. Correspondence? Tons of that too, plus little things we've given each other since her arrival.
I am just stressing.
What I really want is to have an interview for a 10 year green card, and have it go smoothly. In the 10 year period, she will apply for citizenship, get it, and that will be that.
is that so much to ask for?
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Ok Our anniversary is 9/28. 9/28/07 will be 2 years.
We have an appointment for the 485 on March 21, 2007 which is still fully six months before our 2 year anniversary.
Biometrics was 2/2/07, but we are opting to hold off on this until leter (we have until 4/16/07, but we'll want to go late March probably).
We DO NOT want to pay twice for AOS. So I guess I need to know if the whole 485/765 process must be reapplied for for a 10 year green card, likely with the MUCH HIGHER fees being proposed (what was $575 now may well be over $1000 if they change the fees to what is proposed), or if the process for getting the 10 year is simpler (and cheaper)
If it is the same thing, again, then are we on a pace to get our 10 year, or are we too early? Do I dare call them and ask to reschedule? Do I tell them at the interview we would prefer to hold off until the 10 year, or does that wave a red flag in their face?
My wife is wanting me to go right to the reschedule, but I want to stay as far off their radar as possible, with as few flags because I have had a hellish time getting any substantial documentation of joint accounts and such. House and car - forget it. I can get her on taxes, utilities, and thats about it, without a SSN. (SEE SUPPORTING EVIDENCE post)
Thanks in advance for any and all help and ideas!
Merc
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Nice to see spokane close to the far left and not the far right!
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I sent a 4" stack of paperwork and have an interview in March. See my AOS quandry thread on that as well.
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Dude I live this reality. My wife got here 7/1/06. I live in a town of 1600 and she is from Guangzhou. Yes, she will get homesick, but it will pass. Be there for her, spend time with her, and if you can find some local Chinese people. My wife knows pushbrk's wife though they are 200 miles away. We made the trip down for work and stopped to see them. They talk on the phone several times a month. She also calls home whenever she feels the need to. More when she first got here than she does now, but I make no restrictions on her phone use, as there are plenty of low cost phone options (I am happy with onesuite.com at 2.2c/min).
We also western union money to her cousin every couple of months, and then she orders a 'care package' of Chinese cosmetics and medicines, which amazingly never seem to concern the US customs service, and make her very happy.
Show that you care, as often as you can. I waned for a while, and it caused alot of strain. Consistently tell her how important she is and how much she means to you, and show it by big and especially small actions. My wife loves hot water. I make sure she has a glass whenever I head for the kitchen or to see her. She worries about her losing weight (shes dropped 8lbs since she got here, and she was only 110 to start with), so I took her to the doctor, no questions. That was proof that she was loved, to her. We talk alot, and we study English. She needs something done to her computer (which is her connection to the outside world, really), it is fixed on the spot and without questions.
We share in the work around the house. I cook some meals, though she cooks more because she prefers Chinese food. If I make something bad, it 'has love' and is appreciated, and I tell her how good her food is. There are some good pinned posts about what to do to get the house ready for her, and what to do when she gets here. Read and study them.
We really came close to calling it off a couple of times, as the strain of cultural differences, and settling into a 'neighbor' pattern as she called it put a cloud over us. I pulled my head out of my butt, reinforced the idea that this was my 'forever lao po' in my head, and make sure she knows it with words, but more with actions.
If she is a genuine soul, she will react with love, happiness, and you will get much more than you receive.
In terms of connecting with other Chinese, this is important, but remember she is coming here for YOU. My wife blew off the Chinese association of Spokane events for the moon festival. Instead we sat on the couch and watched a chinese movie with english subtitles we bought in Chinatown Seattle, and it was a great evening. We'll probably go to the Chinese new year events, and I am sure there is one within a few hours' drive of where you live and you should try and take her. That is when she will be MOST homesick, since it is such a time of family reunions...
Good luck man. Its not an easy road, but well worth taking.
I have this weird feeling about extracting my future wife from China to the USA.
In my time in shenzhen I was so impressed how civil and safe it was for the chinese people there.Even though these people are under stress for the most part(and have some governmental issues). Overcrowding,smog,traffic,work long hours, tons of people,beggars,bad water, you still seem to be able to walk around in the middle of the night and see people ball room dancing at the park and her little neice talking running around loose and nobody is scared for her safety and they are very comfortable being social and not as isolated or aloof like americans.
Even when she was barqueing with the taxi driver or vendor I just had the feeling that she fit so seemlessly in that culture. Like just another goldfish in a huge goldfish bowl. Like that is where God meant her to be. She is also so close to her sisters faimly and her own parents. I think her parents want her to get married as much as she does. She is 35 so she can make her own decisions and I have gone to great lengths to explain the reality of the USA and all of its many faults. Still it bothers me most of all. I live slightly in the counry outside a major city without many chinese people. I have been trying to come up with a plan to socialize her when she is here.
I feel like I'm adopting a child in a way rather than marrying a wife because she is so dependent on me for lanquage and culture(as I was on her when I was in China).
I would like to hear other peoples concerns and any chinese spouses opinions on how they dealt with the change
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Is it finished? My wife says that often new apartments are bare (as in BARE) walls and no fixtures, let alone appliances and such. You may spend another 10k just to get lighting, appliances, paint, and flooring into the thing if it is not finished. Nice to have it custom, but can come as an expensive surprise if you are unprepared.
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When my wife started eating the guts we bought from the deer farmer, especially the 'buck parts,' she lost the ability to tell me what I can and cannot eat B)
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I have Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone. I like both, but it is harder to make time for Rosetta Stone than for Pimsleur. Pimsleur is tapes so it is pretty passive.
Best of course is my wife, though her GZ Cantonese/Hakka accent differs greatly from the software's Beijing book accent.
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1.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has arrested the manager of a factory which used grease from swill, sewage and recycled industrial oil to make edible lard, a Chinese newspaper said on Monday in the latest health scare to hit the country.
ADVERTISEMENT
Health officials also detected "toxic pesticide" in lard produced by the Fanchang Grease Factory in Taizhou, in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, the Shanghai Daily said.
"They wholesaled the product to retailers across the country, and the retailers sold it to clients, including hotels and restaurants," the paper said.
Since opening in September 2005, the plant had bought more than 170 metric tons of recycled grease to produce an average of six metric tons of lard daily. A night-time raid found 37,600 kg of raw materials and 5,300 kg of lard, the paper said.
Billions of dollars worth of counterfeit and substandard goods, from fake liquor to luxury handbags, are produced every year in China.
In 2004, a major health scandal erupted when China revealed that at least 13 babies had died from malnutrition in the country's impoverished eastern province of Anhui after being fed fake baby milk powder.
Last week, several fish farms in eastern Shandong province breeding turbot, a popular type of flatfish, were fined and ordered to suspend sales after traces of cancer-causing chemicals including malachite green were detected in samples.
Authorities in several cities last month found Sudan IV, a cancer-causing industrial dye, in "red-yolk" duck eggs sold to poultry farmers who had mixed it with feed.
Red yolks are regarded as a sign of extra nutrition, thus making them more expensive.
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2.
90 percent of Chinese cities have polluted groundwater
By IANS
Saturday December 2, 04:23 PM
Beijing, Dec 2 (DPA) Groundwater in about 90 percent of Chinese cities is polluted, with those in northern and eastern areas worst affected, a senior environmental official said.
An increasing number of groundwater samples contain toxic substances, despite a 2004 national survey of urban and rural areas finding that 63 percent of underground water was suitable for drinking, a news report quoted Zhang Lijun, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration.
'It seems rosy because the survey only tests the inorganic matter in groundwater, but now more organic substances are culprits in groundwater pollution and it costs more to test organic matter,' geologist Wen Dongguang said.
Groundwater constitutes about one-third of China's freshwater resources, supplying about 70 percent of drinking water and 40 percent of water for irrigation, the report said.
'China's groundwater management is about 10 to 20 years behind the world's most advanced levels,' said Yin Yueping, another geologist.
Subsidence from construction, mining, groundwater exploitation and other causes has affected about 50 eastern and northern cities, including Shanghai, Tianjin and Taiyuan, which have all sunk by more than 2 metres in the last 100 years.
The subsidence makes pollution of groundwater more likely in these cities, Yin said.
Seawater has also polluted water supplies in many coastal areas, because of 'unbridled exploitation of groundwater'.
In the eastern Bohai Gulf, close to Tianjin, seawater invades 62 square kilometres of groundwater annually, the report quoted a recent survey.
The report is the latest in a series to document the environmental cost of China's rapid economic growth over the last 25 years.
Another report earlier this year estimated that about 340 million of China's 1.3 billion people lack access to safe drinking water supplies
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Exactly. Get the 693 / 693A as the instructions say and don't take the chance. Its $31 well spent (in our case it was $31 anyway).
Don't know whether it's acceptable in your neck of the woods. But, I'll say this. Even if it's acceptable, you'd just about eliminate any chance of getting adjusted without an interview if you don't submit it with the application.
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Are you certain it is ©(9)?
This is where it is confusing to me.
We are K-3 and it seems like (a)(9) is right, but then we are adjusting status, so are we ©(9)??
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My wife is the opposite. She will occasionally mention men that she emailed prior to meeting me, and the odd one that went to GZ, but she was not interested in. I assume it is to remind me that she has other admirers, or that she is a 'good catch.' Like I don't already know!
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I am doing the location thing now, though for where I live, my income is GREAT. However, in the f***ing great category mentioned by Jeikun, I would live anywhere. Even Texas or California (sorry Texans and Calis). Butit would have to be REALLY good, and well ahead of the cost of living for the area. The mid-long island area isnt going to be much different in cost than LA, so cost of living isnt a factor for you. And hey, you can get reasonably priced airline tickets, and if the salary is so much higher, keep your house in LA and be bicoastal. Have a house in each. That, or rent out your LA-area house and save money and grow your wealth and then retire early to California.
In fact, if you don't want the job, have your friend call me
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Any copies here in the US for sale?
I can Paypal or send a check.
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!
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So where the heck do we get this elusive 693 supplement? CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/pdf/ti-03/appdx-a_693vacc.pdf
Not easy to find.
The crappy part is that there is ONE Civil Surgeon within 2 hours of me, and if the guy is a jerk, I am looking at a lost day of work and $30 in gas for a $10 form...
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Hello everyone! On my last chat with my sweetheart we got into the discussion of how would she know that I really loved her...I told her the things that I know and how I felt but she said that I should learn the ways of chinese culture to show a woman you love her...Can anyone help me out here...I would really like to impress her. We are very happy right now but anyways I can increase our bond will only make it even stronger...
Here is the conversation:
Lily: Can you tell me what will you to let me follow you
Me: I will love you foever
Me: forever
Lily: How I can know that?
Me: You will feel it in my kisses
Lily: Not enough
Me: and see it in my eyes
Lily: You should learn some Chinese culture to know how to show your love to Chinese girl
I did a search on the internet but did not come up with much...Can anyone help me on this one?
Your friend,
Victor
Get ready for alot of game playing.
ALOT of game playing.
Call it coy and coquettish, call it whatever, but you will play. It can wear on your self-esteem a little having to coax and cajole, but realizing its just the game and how it is played, you will get into it and enjoy it.
Above all know that words mean diddly. Action speaks volumes.
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Jess had it on her computer. I fought and swore are CNS* for hours. I had to safe mode, regedit, and everything else I could think of to kill that SOB.
Adaware saw it, Spybot saw it, and Windows Defender saw it. None could completely eliminate it.
So I deleted every instance of cns* in the registry manually, then had the spyware kill it, then did the safe mode. You also have to make sure you can see all hidden files (or know how to explain that to your lao po if your/her PC is in chinese windows (which Jess' is)). 3721 and c:\windows\downloaded program files folders should be executed with impunity. You lose shockwave and maybe others, but it kills the pesky cns*.dll files when you are in safe mode.
My wife had a ton of junk on her machine. Tencent GONE, QQ GONE (no 'free' accounts were apparently available, in a web-based bait and switch as far as I am concerned.
Run the scanners often, and also be sure that you get Windows Defender.
I prefer firefox, and there are some nice pop up blockers and other features written for it to minimize the extraneous crap on your screen.
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Having heard all the "don't worry comments" I changed the tone of my emails to "telling her about our home" and kept it very light and easy. Remember our SO's have a limited vocabulary so don't overburden them with too many new words, I adjusted my vocabulary to that of a young child for these emails. Lee..... When I write the simple words, "I am da boss", she still does not understand. Any suggestion??....
Try
Wo shi huangdi!
This gets almost as good a laugh as when she tells me to get out of bed because "time is money."
Are we screwed???
in AOS & Immigration Challenges
Posted
On your 797C (I have mine in front of me) about 1 inch above the application barcode(s) (We ahve two becaue it is a 485/765 combo EAD/AOS for a K-3). Not the 2d barcode at the top, but the 128 barcode at the bottom. It should say that you can go to any FOLLOWING (ours says Wednesday) at the same time and then gives a deadline. Our original appointment wwas 2/2/07 at 11, and we have until 4/16 before we 'abandon' our application.