kevinbeijing

My in-laws are going to be visiting us for 2 months (oh, joy), and I just realized that they should probably have some sort of health insurance just in case anything happens. I've heard horror stories of visitors needing medical help, and their bills being tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars. Do any of you have experience in this area - or can you make any recommendations? Thanks!! Kevin

Congrats. LP and I are about to start this process, too. We've done the DS-160s for both her parents, and they've actually book the appointment for early August in Beijing. My wife and daughter are over in China now visiting - and I'm heading over in two weeks for my summer holiday. How important of a role do you think the I-134 played in their being granted a VISA? That's my major question... Thanks...

Thanks for the reply. I know that I have seen posts on this topic over the years - but not really since the new online DS-160. It would be nice if there were a "one-stop shop" to get answers/discuss this topic. Thanks again! Kevin

Gang, I've spent a couple hours digging around for posts on this topic, but I wasn't having any luck so I thought I'd ask. Wifey and I want to have her parents over to visit us sometime this year. LP has the 10-year green card - thinking about citizenship. We've already filled out the DS-160 online for both of the parents, and my wife set up an appointment for them in Beijing for early August. She's given me the task of collecting all of the vital documents that we can use to ensure that they're approved. I've found some letters online written to the VO and to the in-laws that I plan on using. But, do I need to do another Affidavit of Support for them? Besides copies of our passports, SS cards, etc - what documents do I (or WE) need to provide? Any feedback or links to relevant discussions would be MUCH appreciated! Kevin

We're about to start the process, too. These comments have been a great help, but I wonder how/if things will change drastically now because of the on-line I-160... Anyone with experiences care to share? Thanks! Kevin

Congrats!

Gang, I've been coming to this site throughout our entire process since late '05 and today the USCIS site updated our status to "Card Production Ordered" !! We're really excited - no interview. Thanks to those whose advice we depended on - your stories, experiences, and even challenges helped make our trip that much more manageable. For those who are just starting the whole journey (or if you're somewhere on the path) - stay strong and live one day at a time...

We were business casual... We wanted to feel comfortable and wear something that we felt confident in... Also, didn't want to appear that we were 'trying' too hard... Hope that helps. (oh, and we were approved... so, I guess it worked)

I thought I read somewhere that if the Petitioner was working for an American company in another country... that the time spent out of the U.S. would actually count as time spent IN the country... Maybe I just made that up... Here's what I've got going for me: *We have a REAL relationship *I work for an American company *We have a lot of $ in our US banks/mutual funds *I'm enrolled in a Doctorate program a state university *We will have been out of the country for less than a year *We're leasing a place in the States, although we don't live there at the moment I'm hoping that with these things on my side, we won't encounter any problems as we begin the Removal of Conditions phase of this long, expensive, frustrating process...

Gang, Need some advice or information: Wifey and I have been back in China living/working since January. She's got her 2-year GC and we're nearing our 90-day time frame to submit the I-751. I'm teaching for an American educational company over here, so I'm wondering if there's any way that we could do her Fingerprints over here in Beijing?? I know that there's a DHS office in the Kerry Center (an office building in the Beijing CBD)... I have a friend who's SO had her fingerprints there when they did their K1 a couple of years ago. July 15th marks the 90th day before her 2-year anniversary of being a PR... but since we want to go to the Olympics, I want to hold off on sending her I-751 because I fear they'll schedule fingerprints for something like August 20th in South Dakota... We do already have tickets back to the States for Sept 1st... BUT my I'm in line for a nice promotion at work, and I'd LOVE to be able to stay here and take care of the fingerprints (and other related I-751 stuff)... is this just a pipe dream OR does anyone think that I have a chance? Any ideas/suggestions/insight/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for the clear reply... If this isn't Red Tape, I don't know what is?!?! Has anybody done this before?

So, even though the cert is official and stamped by our county's court house... it STILL needs to be stamped by a notary public... and then by the county again... THEN by the sect. of state??? WoW...

HI, Ok, here it goes... Wifey and I are in the process of changing from 2-year to 10-year Green Card. We're spending the next several months in China though for various reasons (Spring Festival being #1). I am working on my dissertation now, so do not really want to work/travel/etc... just stay home and work on my paper. I currently am here on a year-long 'L' VISA (I got in D.C.)... but can only stay for 90 days at a time. We're trying to figure out a way so that I can just stay as long as I'd like... and I THINK we found a way... but this is where my questions come from. Someone from some Chinese gov't office told the wife that by bringing in her 'regestration card', my passport, and an AUTHENTICATED copy of our US Marriage Cert, that I could stay in China as long as her regestration card was valid (one-year)... Well, sounds good, right? Just how the heck do we get an AUTHENTICATED copy?? We DID bring the original marriage cert with us to China... and the person she talked to said to take it to the US Embassy... so we did. The lady I talked to there seemed confused and gave me the address of a Beijing-city Notary Public... Wife called them... they said they couldn't help us... said that we needed to get this done at the Chinese Embassy inside the U.S.!!!! Well, it's kind of late for that now!!! We looked on their website, and sure enough, they list AUTHENTIFICATOION as one of the things they do... they even allow doing it through the mail!! But, their instructions as far as what's required are VERY confusing!! My question is: Has anyone on this site done this before? Or can someone help me understand exactly what needs to be sent to the Embassy in D.C.?? Here's the link: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/gzrz/t84255.htm Thanks for the help... Kevin

I don't really know what this means, but it doesn't sound good... any thoughts? http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin...letin_3263.html more... http://wadias.in/site/arzan/blog/uscis-rej...5-applications/ Should I (we) be worried? Kevin

I've been reading horror stories about this happening to other members, and my question is what is the realistic amount of time we'll have to wait. I called the USCIS #, and she just gave the the "6 months" line... Have members found that it's much earlier than that? (or much later)? Thanks!

We were in a similar situation a few months ago, and we DID pay the extra fee... and it was NOT worth it. I assumed that it would go through much quicker, and it did not. On the EAD we filed with AOS/AP on quesiton 11, I put "No"... We had no problems, and only one biometrics apt for everything...

Hey, We drove 250 miles to the Twin Cities for a 10 minute interview today. The officer took my Lao Po's I-94 and didn't stamp the passport with a temp. green card. I asked 'why?' She said, "Because your case hasn't been approved yet." "I'm approving this part of your case, but the name check hasn't been finished." I've heard of people getting stuck in the name-check-limbo... But, are there any numbers as to what percent of the cases aren't approved by the time of the interview, AND, what percent of the people who need to finish the name check process get stuck in the black hole? If anybody has any ideas or info about this, it would really calm my mind... Thanks!!

I'll give that a try... asking for a passport... :-)

Just got the EAD today!! Very excited... but the country of birth says "Usa" Is this a BIG problem, or something that can be overlooked? Our AOS interview is in a week... Should I just mention that to them? Any info would be greatly welcomed!!

Congrats! Quick question, too... I spent all of last year... and the year before AND the year before in China... So, my tax forms are not very complicated. I DID file the past two years, but made WAY less than the limit... Any suggestions? When filing for AOS, I used my parents as Co-Sponsors because of their taxes... should I bring copies of THOSE?

Last week my wife and I went to the Chinese consolate in LA. We gave them her passport, a copy of our marriage cert, a US-sized passport photo and a form we got there... we came back the Next Day and paid $30 (express). I guess what they did was add an extra page at the beginning of her Passport saying she ALSO went by her married name (my last name). In Chinese it's called "Jia Zhu" or ¼Ó×¢¡£ I guess this will allow her to enter China with air tickets with her married name on them... I don't know if this was the info you were looking for... but... there it is. Good luck!

For those who have had the interview, did they ask for her Birth Cert? And if you didn't have it, what happened?

Gang, Quick question for our upcoming interview. While in China, we only got one official birth certificate for my wife. But, I guess we need at least a few of them for this entire process. Her Birth Cert was included in the packet of docs that we handed over to the Immigration Officer at LAX. We DID make photocopies of it... will they do? Or, do we need my father-in-law to try and get another one and send it to us? Wondering about others' experineces, advice, input... Thanks

Gang, We've gone through the K1 Visa process, and are a month away from the GreenCard interview. We've run into a small road block that we were never warned about. It seems that we need to bring my wife's birth cert to our AOS interview... Problem is, we only had one made (that was included in our packet that was sealed in GZ and handed to a boarder official at LAX. So, my advice (maybe everybody already knows) is to get at least THREE official birth certificates from China. 1 to be included in the GZ packet, one for the first GreenCard interview and one for down the road... Hope this helps save some people a headache!!

Congrats! My question is about your Lao Po's Birth Cert... When we came to US on K1 Visa, we handed over the official copy at the Immigration at LAX. We have a copy that we made, will that work for the AOS interview? You said that they don't really look closely at the stack of paper. Is it worth it for my wife's dad to try to get another official copy sent to America? Thanks