Lee VD

Did we ever hear back from her as to how it went on the 11th? I don't think so... am curious...

The FAM explains the mandatory need for the SAO check for Communist Party members in certain countries.

Did she return to the U.S. since her last check? I think they have to do a new check if she has been back since the last. I think that's what got us for our delay after we got the pink slip. They may have noticed that she had returned to the U.S. since her SAO came back, and needed to do a catch up check. Lee

AV industry?? :) Sorry, couldn't resist...

I was in your shoes. Xiaozhu holds the record at something like 50-something days, and ours I think was the last CCP blue before that and we came in around 3 months. Looking at all the CCP blues over the past 3 years (and there are only a small handful) they almost all came in between 3-4 months. There were some earlier than that that ran 6 months but I think it is safe to say it should happen in 3-4 months at this point (note holiday periods can add to that time, e.g. July 4th). Calling NVC every week will help but it will still be frustrating, but once the call back letter comes out, it should all happen fast. Also, very important, don't book any plans until after visa is in hand. What was more frustrating for us was that it took 20 days for us to get the visa after the pink slip and we didn't know if we would get another blue or not! Lee

Wow.... one question: are you fluent in Chinese? How were you able to talk to everyone and navigate this? Of course, if you live in a city where you can do the medical ahead of time, always a good idea, even if it costs more I think... or travel to such a city. I am glad we were able to just get this out of the way ahead of time.

I don't blame you. The wait is unreasonable. We went through it ourselves. The worst part is even though we knew this was needed and would be coming there was no way to get it kicked off when we filed the I-129F so that it would be completed by the interview. You are still within the window of reasonable wait. The delay is running around 3 months, sometimes more , sometimes less. You are better off calling the NVC and asking them status. You will get the same canned response BUT you will be able to confirm with them that no additional docs were requested. Then call back every week now... it will work out soon!! Lee

I would just give it 2 months to work through and if you haven't heard back just call the NVC weekly and see whats up. Thats what I did and then boom, found out the callback letter was sent out.

Make sure you take account the various paper-pushing actions in their process that lead to LIFO (paper stack) effects

It seems like we are seeing more of these resume requests. There is a certain type of SAO (Security Advisory Opinion) required as a security check for those that work in certain high tech fields. They haven't been checking this very well in the past so are probably starting to check this more, hence more blues for resumes, and delays if an SAO is required... This is more common for H visa cases.

I am Chinses and so is he. We actually went to elementary school together so we have a long relationships history. However, I am worried about the sponseringship aspect becuase I am a full time student earning a doctare degree and I do not work. I do have some savings though... My co-sponser is a really good friend and he makes barely enough above the poverty guidline. Would this be a problem? Not to add to your worries, but you may want to really make sure your sponsorship numbers are enough. Also, they may be suspicious about a friend providing sponsorship and essentially swearing under perjury that they will support your husband if he leaves you...? However if they do have issues I think you have a chance to go back and try to get more solid sponsorship. The student financial issue is a regular problem...

Just like we thought, after all that he certainly had a VIP status on that application, with the Pink already waiting. What the hell more do they need??? Yup, Tsap went through two wars of hell... congrats and enjoy your new life! I hope the lil rabbit likes the U.S. after all this!!!

Somewhere along the way, finally, you musta got a VIP stamp on your file! There is NO way they could non-bonafide you now. I would like to see the VOs face when he/she looks at your file and sees what hell you have been through...

Sorry to have missed you Lee. Turns out the non-stop United flight 897 took off on time at 12:30pm and we made it almost out of Canadian airspace when the pilot turned us around back to Dulles because the right engine lost it's de-icer. Landed back in Dulles around 4pm and waited until 8:30 before we took back off for Beijing. Spent the night in Beijing, on United's tab, in the Crowne Plaza in Beijing and got into Shenyang at 10am. Thanks again to everyone for your well wishes on the interview. Steve, my bro inlaw has a very thick book on R.Crumb, I thought of you as I read through some of it. He was pretty dang young when he wrote those stories, much younger than I ever thought. What a genius. tsap seui Ugh... did the thunderstorms impair your return and departure? They held me on the plane for 3 hours between 5p and 8p trying to get out! You are lucky they gave you a hotel room! They usually aren't that generous! Was the hotel far from the airport?

Agreed. But in our case we went the K1 route because 1. it gave us an extra year to make sure we were committed while processing could occur in parallel, 2. we had to wait out 2 years anyway due to her J1 HRR, so we paid more money and processing for the extra piece of mind we were sure, even though we engaged after 1 year. At the time the spread in cost between CR1 and K1 was not quite as much as it is now (and hit us in mid-processing ). And 3) the K1 gave us a better second chance with a CR1 if she got denied the first time. With a lot of random white slips flying around that time (more than now) and when rejected apps were being sat on by USCIS until expiry, it was a safer bet. Our next trip out of country is to the Cayman Islands in November and from everything I have found is a green card is fine, no UK visa needed.

Awesome! Yes, if you have been to the states it is a good idea to outline those dates in the Evolution of Relationship letter. As we had quite a few trips back and forth we made sure to document them carefully. The resume is not often required but often in CCP cases it is, so best to have it prepared, and make sure it goes back through your entire career with no gaps. Also, what got us is the single certificate needs to reference date back to when you were of marriageable age (20?). That one got us too. Most importantly, don't schedule your departure close to receiving the visa. We scheduled it 30 days out and thought that was safe, but it was close! It took 20 days to get the visa after the pink slip!

We tested out the green card on a weekend trip to Vancouver, BC. Interesting thing, when coming back through the Blaine crossing, they have you drive through a bunch of cameras and an RFID antenna. It says to just hold up your RFID equipped ID and it will scan it. I just had her green card in my hand with my passport (non RFID version) and the display by the reader went from 0 to 1, so I guess it read it all the way from inside the car (about 4 ft away). So I guess they were already looking her up and we were still 2 cars from the gate. Eerie... On the way in to Canada we asked if they would stamp her passport but they refused saying they don't stamp. (Hmmm, they did the last time I came through a couple years ago).

I'm just gonna miss you, tsap. I'll be at Dulles coming through later Thurs afternoon and wanted to bring you into the Lufthansa club for some libations but the timing is off. Good luck on the flight and your trip, it will certainly be a wonderful reunion!!

The call back letter you will get should list the key expiration dates if they are close, but calculate them now. ... and note xiaozhu's point about the expiration of the visa is now tied to the medical expiration. That almost bit us but luckily she was ready to go quickly. Let us know when she gets the call back letter. It appears these SAO checks are going faster now so want to see if you get that luck as well! xiaozhu has the current record I think

Being invited into CCP while in college is an honor and its essentially like being part of a prestigious professional organization here in the states. So, it helps you get better jobs, promotions, leadership positions. You are required to pay dues, attend and help coordinate regular meetings and be assigned to any other odd jobs they have you do (no, not like mafia jobs ). It's not a good idea to quit as it will raise many questions about your patriotism and whether you are lining yourself up to be a protester or something. It may even jeapordize your job and put you on a watch list. There have been some known in-US Chinese spy rings that have been uncovered so there is a list the U.S. has of known spies so if you are a CCP member its just a second check they want to do to make sure they are not on the spy list. There is a growing problem with the PRC recruiting in-country Chinese for spying activities and the U.S. doesn't want them help planting anyone here through the immigration channel, hence the extra security check. Don't think of it as so much of a witch hunt due to ideaology but more of security profiling. I am sure foreigners could join but many questions would be asked and you would be watched closely I imagine. You also have to be invited and voted in at the local assembly but "votes" in the CCP are a sham, essentially a higher level person makes the nomination and everyone is expected to go along with it. Lee

Just to add this note to the sticky thread for others. In our case, CCP was brought up again at the AOS interview in the U.S., so be sure to bring a copy of the CCP statement and be prepared to answer any questions they may have. Have a little speech prepared about why/when you joined and how you weren't really involved in any way. That was what they expected to hear, that's what we told them (the truth), and they were happy with that.

They setup the new document intake process so that they had more time to review the case before the interview and probably have a predetermined decision with blue slips filled out for what they are going to need and notes prepared on what issues to dig into.

This came up again during our AOS interview so be sure to bring the statement with you to the AOS interview and be prepared to answer any questions again there. It was one of the 4 questions we were asked at the interview so it is something they flag for follow up.

I did not file a waiver. A waiver would be Form 601 with $585 fee to USCIS. I think what they did is called "SAO check". If you can not go through SAO, it may end with a waiver. But as others said, most people can overcome CCP issue at Guangzhou. The good thing, for me and others with similar situation, is that now we know the process could be done less than 2 months without exteral push/nterference. Its great to hear they are speeding this up! In this digital age, the check should be able to be done at the computer instantaneously, or after doc intake, OR better yet, when the original app is filed as part of the USCIS name check (DUH!). But the US Gov goes out of its way to do everything as inefficiently and costly as possible. Lee

Deep breath.... Happened to us too... 20 days but we finally got it. I don't know why, some other AP check at the end. When I emaild them and asked they were pretty forthright in saying it may be just a couple weeks more but that it was still approved. I did research back on CFL and found that our 20 day delay was 2nd longest in the last couple years here but there were many 1-3 week delays. There have been a couple situations when the visa came back with a blue. The one case mentioned here that is exceptionally bad. I couldn't find the situation referred to where a white slip was enclosed so I wouldn't worry about that.