Calvin

Date entered country - 4/11/03 Type of visa - K1 Marriage date - 4/16/03 Date received SSN - 6/17/03 Date filed AOS/EAD - AOS 6/03, EAD filed and received same date 6/03 Filed in person Where filed - Fresno, CA EAD granted on same day filed 6/03 Fingerprinted 12/03 Greencard interview scheduled for 1/30/04 CA ID applied since 6/03 but still haven't received it yet! They said they have to check it with BICS even though we showed them all the available documents (passport, SS card, EAD, marriage certificate and so on). Stupid system!

And make sure it's in black and white copy only. DO NOT print it in color!

Let's make love, not war! If you think OF is just a trouble maker, a kid, etc. who tries to stir up trouble or disrupt the harmony between the members in this forum, ignore him. He will go away when noone wants to play his game. Do not let him put you on a defensive on what you believe is true/untrue. You are playing his game if you do. Have a quality time with your loved one instead, why with OF? I think OF is enjoying himself at this very moment watching what is going here. OF will always be an OF, breaking wind wherever he goes. Why put yourself in his stink if you believe that is so?

We also didn't have to pay any fees. The vaccination shots were paid by our insurance, and the lady at the designated doctor office did not charge us the $10 fee for filling out the paper. All that took was a sincere compliment about her!

Our local INS office open at 7:30 but people start lining up at 5:00. I went there at 6:30am, got in at 8:00, received the work permit at around 10:00. We then went to do her SNN afterward. Got everything done before noon. By the way, for those of you who would like to have your wife's last name change, all you have to do is to let the INS officer know when he/she is checking your papers. They just have to cross out her last name and write the new name down. The INS officer asked if would we like to have my wife's last name change and that's how she did it. The work permit was issued under her new name.

I hope this is not too late. You can either send them in or take them to the local BCIS office. I lined up with my wife at the local office. Got the work permit on the same day.

We just did all the forms last week and the ssn on the same day. Instead of sending the paperwork in, we lined up at the local INS office with all the forms ready for about three hours. Got the work permit on the same day, green card interview will be several months away. SSN will be mailed to my wife in 4-6 weeks because she just changed her last name and Social Security worker couldn't pull up her new name from the INS office yet. I used to work at the university and helped foreign students with their SSN. Back then (4 years ago) they just needed their passport and I-94.

The fake copies can be found for around 7-8 rmb, but legit ones cost twice as much. Always test them out before buying them.

Good day to all! For those who had your fiancee's AOS done, would you please tell me if a physical exam, blood test and TB skin test are required? I think it's only logical that these are not needed since our fiancee already had one done before the interview and was less than a year ago. I read the instructions on the I-485 form and learned from some of your posts in Immigration Challenges that the medical exam is not required for K-1 fiancee, and that only the vaccinations (Varicella, TD, and MMR) are required. I called my local INS doctors and all but one of them told me my fiancee needs to have all the shots mentioned above if not already done so, plus the TB test, blood test, and the physical exam, and that they will accept CASH only. Some said she must also get the hepatitis B shot. Only one doctor told me that the shots don't have to be given by the INS approved doctors. You can get those from any doctor, but the physical exam and blood test and form I693 must be done by in INS doctor. She said most INS doctors will tell you to get all the shots and physical exam from them because they want to make money from you. I found out that you only need the shots (MMR, TD, and Varicella) if you don't have any document to show the INS doctor that you have taken them. So I took my wife to get all the shots (she got the shots long ago but no document ) from my doctors which was paid by my insurance. Now I just have to find out if the TB and blood test are necessary before letting the INS doctor filling out the form. Thanks ahead for your response to my inquiry.

Congratulations to you at last! Hope this will be the beginning of many, many happy days ahead for both of you! B)

Just to let everyone here know that my fiancee has been here a few days now. All is well except that she is still feeling the effect of jetlag and can't ride in the car too long due to motion sickness. So far she likes everything about America and the people here. The only complain she had is our American and semi-Chinese/Asian stores don't carry all the spices and ingredients she needs to cook me a good meal. Have to take her to San Fran Chinatown sometime this week. We'll do the marriage certificate today and fly to Las Vega tomorrow with some friends. Hope everyone is doing well and those who are still waiting for your interview or visa will hear good news soon!

Dave, I cancelled my trip to China to pick up my wife for the same reason too. My principal allowed me to go, but the nonstop questioning by my colleagues whether I am going or not or if I am aware of the danger of SARS led me to think that they might be afraid that I would contract the disease and spread to the whole school. My friends' and family's worry don't help either. Fortunately, my fiancee is willing to fly here on her own this Friday despite her fear of flying. This nasty bug is going to cause a lot of problems in days to come.

Mick, Thank you very much for your info. You are a treasure chest: lots of info and answers for many of us here!

Hello all, My fiancee booked China Southern Airline for this Friday. I have not traveled on this airline internationally, thus have no idea how good/bad their service is. If anyone has flown this airline from China to U.S, would you please help me answer the following questions: 1) How many lugages are allowed on board? 2) What is the total weight of lugages? My fiancee just spoke with two of her Chinese friends who recently arrived here in U.S, and they both told her that she could only bring two lugages, one carry-on (about 17 pounds max) and a big one. One of them had to throw away some of her belongings before they let her board the plane. They also said that the service was horrible from the moment they checked in and off the plane. This causes some concern for my fiancee even though she'll be flying on a 777. From what I have heard, China Southern has the most modern airplanes of all the China airlines. I greatly appreciate your info regarding this matter.

Never mind, everyone. I found the answer under immigration challenges. Should have checked there first before I wrote this.