whome?

I'm skeptical. I've been hearing the same sort of thing for more than a decade now. In every Chinese city I have ever been to I see many new empty apartments with more new ones bringing built. I dont know if this viewpoint is correct but I see enough here to give it some thought and some credibility.

Great news! Good luck

Yes, executing nine Uighurs is certainly a great step towards justice. Happy every day. WTF?

As far as I know the k-1 dose not opt in. All K visas are sent electronic now. The woman at the NVC said it was sent out both ways Electronic and DHL. maybe they get things started with the Electronic and by the time the interview is schedualed the DHL package is there. They have done it this way for as long as I've been around. Historically, they've waited for the physical package to show up before they do any processing. It appears they are sending P3 package out about 1 month after the case is sent from NVC to GUZ. This is shorter than in the past but I dont understand the reason if they are still sending the case by DHL.

GUZ has set up a temporary email address while their link is down: Effective immediately, a provisional email address for email inquiries has been set up. Please email us at Guangzhouiv@state.gov. See here for more information: http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/em...accessible.html

Exactly, since you elected to do the electronic process for the CR-1, if the CR-1 file makes it to the consulate before K-3 interview, the consulate tends to drop the K-3 in favor of the CR-1 and schedules the CR-1 interview in place of the K-3. I remember a while back another CFL member had that happen and did not know this, they ended up with a blue for vaccinations, they had done medical thinking K-3 interview and did not do vaccinations. K-3 Visa is valid for 6 months after issuance for entry to the USA and then is valid for up to 2 years for future entries. Also your consern about CR-1 may wait a few months for a green-card after entry is not a issue, CR-1 gets a GREEN-CARD I-551 stamp in their passport upon entry to the USA this makes theri pasport act as a green-card, the stamp allows travel and work for up to a year while waiting for the actual card to arrive in the mail. Essentially a CR-1 could enter the USA get the stamp and then travel the next day without an issue, the have green-card stamp. Thanks! The K-3 is already at GUZ (they mailed the P3 packet on 10.27.2009 but to the wrong mailing address -- they ignored the lawyer's attachment listing a separate mailing address from our residence address). I have not submitted any of the documents for the CR-1 to NVC yet. However what you say makes my decision an easy one. I did not realize that once she enters the US that the I-551 stamp can be used as GC while waiting for the actual GC to arrive in the mail. This means we could get her CR-1 visa, go to the US for a 1-2 week visit, and then return to China while letting her actual GC come to my home address in the US (where someone picks up my mail). Thanks for the great information. I thought you had to apply for AP or some other forms, etc. to leave the US without your actual GC.

I am trying to determine the best action to take regarding my situation. I am hoping for some advice based on other's experience. As you can see from my signature my visa approval process has been far from smooth. My assignment here in China has been extended until June 2010 (and could be extended again). Here is the situation: We will go back to USA in June/July 2010 Our two year anniversary is Oct 2010 We are in CR-1 electronic processing (documents not sent in yet) We are awaiting for K3 to arrive at GUZ I wanted to get a K3 visa and use it to let my wife and I travel back/forth to USA while we are still in China. I thought this was a good idea because: K3 visa is good for 2 years Keep the CR-1 IV open and interview closer to June 2010 Enter USA with CR-1 IV after Oct 2010 and get 10-yr GC However I have been told that some consulates (including China) have begun issuing K3 visas for less than two years (3, 4 and 6 months only). This being the case I then thought we could just interview for CR-1 IV as soon as possible and use it to visit the USA and then come back to China (since it is only valid for 6 months). However the GC will not be mailed/issued until 4-6 weeks after arriving in the USA so how would she be able to come back to China and then re-enter the USA without the GC? The other option is to delay the CR-1 IV interview until less than 6 months before our schedule return to the USA (for example Jan 2010 or later). I am reluctant to do this because, based on my past experience, I am worried about unexpected delays. On the other hand, even if I delay the interview till Jan 2010, if my China assignment is extended again after getting the CR-1 IV how would we deal with this because then we are back into the same situation where the CR-1 IV will expire before we relocate back to the USA. I see a lot of people have DCF China recently. What are your plans after receiving the CR-1 IV -- you will immediately return to the USA?

No exceptions, the rule is quite firm, removal of conditions is based on residency time, not marriage time. You need to be a LPR for a period of 21 months on a conditional green-card. I have seen people on VJ enter the USA a few days before 2 years of marriage, and end up getting the 2 year conditional card. Thanks Dan and Randy .... not that I understand the logic but this is what I thought the answer would be.

You were able to get an email to GUZ using the email form? The site still seems to be down.

Re doing home deed is optional, your list is long and looks good to me. Note: you will be filing the I-751 AFTER Feb 2010 but before the CR-Green card expires, not "by" Feb. It is filed within 90 days before the card expires. Our second wedding anniversary will be in Oct. 2010. However we will most likely move back to the US in Jul. 2010. Therefore she will have a conditional 2-yr GC issued to her. I can only find in the I-751 instructions that one should apply for removal of conditions within the 90 days before the card expires. Does anyone know if we could file for removal of conditions after our 2-yr wedding anniversary but before the 90 days prior to the conditiondal GC expiration?

DL issuance is state specific....

I hated it ... but the best team this season won the World Series ...

But that is what the letter they received said ... so what should they do?

I don't see any connection between racism and being politically correct. Are you saying it's OK to be a racist but people are afraid to be because it isn't politically correct? When I was growing up I was taught that abilty puts you on top. Now being a politically correct ass kissing coward puts you there. This syndrome is starting to crack now. Bottom line I do not care what race or nationality a person is. A person must earn the respect of their fellow man. My Father did. He was called a WOP, A Dago, a Greaseball. He refused to let society grind him in the mud. He earned the respect of his adopted fellow Americans by building a good life and supported his family. He did not look to the government for help. This would have been a disgrace for him to do so. I am racist against superficial phonies, on going ignorance and slothfulness. How does any of this apply to the JOP in La.?

I don't see any connection between racism and being politically correct. Are you saying it's OK to be a racist but people are afraid to be because it isn't politically correct? I have to agree.....I cannot see how anyone can justify anything this person has said. He should keep his mouth closed in order to not remove all doubt as to his stupidity.

My only intent was to say I have seen this particular village and the BBC pictures and descriptions are a very accurate representation of the village. I cannot speak for all villages in China (although some of the others in Shandong I have visited are very similar).

China is very diverse and customs can vary considerably from area to area. As to your first question, yes, this is common in a lot of areas in China for the wife's family to keep the red envelopes. Not all areas are like this but some are, including my Wife's hometown. The rationale being that this is the way for her parents to recoup all of their red envelope payments paid out to the weddings of family and friends. As to the other question, I have never heard of such a thing. I would be suspicious and a little concerned about this. I just asked my wife about this and she said she has never heard of such a thing. My wife thinks she might be referring to giving a small gift in red envelope to those who help with the wedding reception. FYI, there are many threads here that discuss many details of weddings and banquets in China that would probably be helpful to you. For number 2 I was assuming he meant the small red bag that contains a small memory of the wedding (small gift and paper with date and names of the couple). However even if this is not the case why should he be suspicious and concerned? I see so many complain about the governemnt treating us a guilty first and having to prove we are innocent in order to get a visa but yet we are very easy to always assume our chinese partner is guilty of something if they tells us a tradition that we dont like, know of, or (heaven forbid) costs some money.

Yes.

Here are very good and true pictures of one rural Chinese village in Shandong province. I have actually been here to look at an installation for a work related project. The only reason I post this link is because the pictures are "true" to life and most of what is written is what I saw or was told when asked questions to people I trusted to give me straight answers. I leave it up to you to decide how bad or not bad the life really is. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pict...hina/html/1.stm

cant be...they are all about being harmonious and peaceful...

For flights in China. I have used elong.net. elong.com is the chinese version. Booking hotels the chinese version was cheaper for the same dates and the same hotel. Never compared the plane tickets We also use elong.com and qunar.com. On any given day the chinese version of ctrip.com, elong.com or qunar.com can be cheaper. Usually elong and qunar show cheaper fares but sometimes the seats are limited and they are "gone" when you go to buy them. Ctrip.com is much easier for USC to use unless you can read chinese or willing to translate the pages back and forth like I do sometimes. But elong.com is not the chinese version of ctrip.com. The two are different.

This is sadly the same experience i had with USCIS...they knew after 2 weeks that my application had been misplaced or lost but they gave me the run-around (and you must wait 90 days) until finally they "found" that my application was never actually sent to NVC after NOA-2. They had to nerve to ask me after if there was "anything else they could HELP me with".....

Try ctrip.com. For domestic china flights they are much cheaper than flychina.com. I also checked from Shanghai to NY on 02.05.2010 with flychina and ctrip and found ctrip about 1000 rmb cheaper. However with ctrip most international flights still cannot be booked online. For example only Shanghai to NY is online. For Guangzhou or Beijing, etc. you need to call them. However they have very good english speaking agents and great customer service. And yes buying the ticket in China or with Chinese company is usually cheaper.

Not much of a story ... she still could not get me to try those candy "ball" things on the stick ...

As a long-time Red Sox fan, I enjoyed Game 1. However I have to say I think the Yanks will pull it out ...