Tom & Jen

This is hopefully really our last step. Our poor daughter missed getting her Citizenship by 2 months. She was 18 years and 2 months when Jen was sworn in. Lia is going to school up in Seattle and we want her home for the summer break but that is likely when the interview letter will be sent to her. From past experience, the online USCIS Status Update is not up-to-date. We think we can't completely rely on the mail getting forwarded to the house here as she lives in the dorm and all the student's mail just get lumped at the front desk and get sorted by the staff. Any suggestions on what she can do so she does not miss any correspondences from USCIS?

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience and advice. We decided to go with the short-checkin option. Both my son and I talked with multiple agents from the airline. They said that we can short-checkin. Some said they don't recommend it because it would take him longer in Philadelphia to have to checkin there. My son even went to the counter in Reno and spoke to the agents and the supervisor who said he can short-checkin. We will post what happenned along with our daughter's three submits for a visa She missed getting her US Citizenship by 2 months because she turned 18 before Jen got her Citizenship so she had to get the visa to go to Europe.

We need some quick advice, PLEASE. We are going on a much awaited vacation to Europe this Friday. My son (with a US Passport), who moved to Reno to go to school there, will be flying from Reno to Philadelphia and we all will take the same flight to Zurich. Problem is I have his Passport. The airline said he will need his Passport to check-in in Reno. Our options are either FedEx the passport to him or he can short-check in Reno to just Philadelphia then check-in from Philadelphia to Zurich. My concern with FedEx is, although from past experience they have been really good, there is a chance of a delay on the delivery and we don't have any room for error as the flight on Friday is very early morning. Short-check will depend on the Ticket Agent knowing or allowing it to be done. He will actually not check any bags in and carry on. Any advice or sharing of experience would really be appreciated!

Congratulations!!!!

Same here. We used the same copy from the start. No problem.

We wanted to share the great news, Jen passed her Citizenship Interview today!! We are so happy and relieved. It feels so wonderful to finally have the government out of this part of our life. Jen just have the Naturalization Oath Ceremony left. But that is just a formality and it¡¯s going to be a happy and proud event we are really looking forward to. We waited about 30 minutes after the interview for the Oath letter which is for Dec 12, here in Las Vegas. Our appointment was for 1:30 PM. We arrived at 1:00 PM and Jen was called in at 1:15 PM. The Interview Officer was stern at first but Jen said they had a friendly interview as it progressed. The IO was a man in his fifties. He did not ask to see any of the documents except for her Driver¡¯s License and Green Card. She took the following documents: I-797 Notice of Action Letter Interview Letter Green Card Chinese Passport Marriage Certificate Jen¡¯s Divorce Decree Tom¡¯s Divorce Decree Tom¡¯s Naturalization Certificate (with the picture on it, of course I had to keep saying to myself I¡¯m getting wiser not older I showed our 4 year old son the picture and asked ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±. The blank look on his face said it all¡­) IRS Tax Transcript for past 3 years (We got the Transcripts from filing IRS Form 4506-T. I know there have been questions on if these are the right ones but since the IO never asked to see them, we can¡¯t say.) Our 4 year old son¡¯s Birth Certificate Proof of Marital Union & Residence - Bank Statements from the past couple of years - Auto Insurance docs for the past couple of years - Home Insurance docs for the past couple of years - Joint Property Ownership Documents 2 2x2 passport photos She also brought the items below even though the interview letter didn¡¯t say we needed them: Tom¡¯s Passport Jen¡¯s Social Security Card Finger Print Letter with completion stamp Copy of N-400 Application The IO went over pretty much every question on the N-400 from Part 10 except the Selective Service Registration section. Also the he asked Jen to state her address, phone number, and Social Security Number. He asked about both our divorces and to confirm our other children¡¯s names. He also asked about the Traffic Citation which she had answered Yes to on the N-400 section D. question 16 (Have you ever been arrested, cited, or detained by any law enforcement officer for any reason?) She had listed the citation and the outcome ($280 fine) in the explanation table section. She did not bring the ticket or disposition to the interview because the separate sheet in interview letter stated we did not need to bring anything if the fine paid is less than $500. Here¡¯s where the little glitch happened. Jen had the choice to take the new or the old civics/history test. We decided she should take the new test so that¡¯s what she studied for. When I quizzed her this weekend, she got 100 out of the 100 questions right. She has really been studying the civics/history questions and the questions on the N-400. I had recorded the questions and answers for her and put them on the little MP3 player. I also gave her a mock interview, doing the best I can to act like what I think the IO would act like (ha ha, I hope our government can do better than me). We did talk about if the IO does not ask which test she wants to take, she needs to request the new test. Well during the interview, the IO kept asking questions from the N-400 then went right into asking the civics/history questions without mentioning he¡¯s switching to another section. Jen realized on the second question that the question is not on the new test and asked the IO that she would like to take the new test and that was the test she studied for. He said that he already started the questions and she only has to get 5 more correct and she could do it. So she went ahead, and actually got the next 5 questions right anyways. So¡­ as a caution, when you are going for the interview, you should state near the beginning of the interview which test you want to take. Here¡¯s the questions Jen was asked, sorry she only remembered 5 of the questions because at that time she was really nervous for having to take the old test: What are the colors of our flag? Who is the head of the Executive Branch of our government? How many Justices are on the Supreme Court? When was the Declaration of Independence adopted? Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? She didn¡¯t remember what she was asked to read. She was asked to write: He has some hores (horses) on his farm. ¨C She said in the rush, she spelled hores wrong. So she was asked to write another sentence: She drives a blue car to go to work. One last thing on the N-400 application, Jen did request to have her first name changed to Jen and her Chinese family name as her middle name. We were told this will be completed at the Oath Ceremony. At the end of the interview, the IO said her score was very high. I never heard or thought of this interview as being on a point system but now looking back, I guess it makes sense that it is. He congratulated Jen and wished our family a happy life together. Again, we can¡¯t thank our CFL family enough for the advices and sharing information through the years. I could not have stayed sane through this process, especially in the beginning during the visa application, if I didn¡¯t have everyone here to share information and pain with. I especially want to thank the old timers and the Moderators/Admins for your tireless work in helping others like us¡­ with nothing to expect in return other than knowing that you have lent a helping hand. Tom & Jen

Jen got the interview appointment letter for Nov 17. The notice date was Sept 24. Sorry we didn't post sooner but we will definately post the interview result. We were hoping for an earlier date before our daughter turned 18 but missed it by about 2 months. So now she will need to wait another 2+ years to file on her own (her AOS date was about 9 months after Jen's). Jen has been studying daily for the new test. Wish her luck!

Bing and Carl, That's Fantastic! Congratulations to you both!!!

I think Dave and Roger got it right and you suspected it too. I didn¡¯t even think about that possibility before. In addition to giving them detailed information on what they are asking for in the Blue Slip, I think you should also get as many people as you can to write testimonial letters for you. These should be your parents, colleagues, supervisors, long time friends. The letters should state how long they have known you, your character, work ethics, how long and what you have been telling about your wife and your relationship. Notarized letters are probably better. What they may have is suspicion. If you back your case with facts, evidence, and credible testimonies, I can¡¯t see they how they would have any other choice but to approve your wife¡¯s visa. Bring her home!

We have the t-Mobile Family plan and think they have the best deal. We recently added their Hotspot @ Home plan for $9.99 per month. It gives you unlimited anytime incoming/outgoing calls while you are at home. You will need to upgrade your cell phone to a Hotspot @ Home capable phones. There¡¯s two for free right now on t-Mobile.com. Just click on Phones then click the Hotspot @Home checkbox on the left under Shop by feature. You will need to extend your contract for 2 years. If you are not eligible to upgrade right now, they will make you pay for the phone depending on how much you have left on the contract. I stumbled on a little trick by accident. If you talk to their Customer Loyalty department, they can get you the best deals even if your contract is not up. BUT it¡¯s not always easy to be transferred to the Customer Loyalty dept. I fought with the regular sales and their supervisor to get transferred there but still certain ones will not not do it. So you may need to try a few times and be persistent. The way the Hotspot @Home works is the cell phone connects via voice over IP to your wireless router. When you are away from your wireless router, it works like the regular cell phone and you would incur the normal cell phone plan charges. They also have a Linksys wireless router that is free after $50 rebate. It suppose to give priority to voice traffic over data traffic. This option would work well to allow you to get rid of your land line. We haven¡¯t yet but soon will. BTW, the $9.99 for the Hotspot @Home is for all phones in the Family Plan. The voice of IP works well. The only time it doesn¡¯t work so well is when our kids are hammering the Internet on the computers but it¡¯s still usable. For Internet service we have DSL with the local phone company but will probably look to change so something else soon. For calling to China, we use onesuite.com. If you have a local access number in your area, it¡¯s 2.2 cents per minute to China. The $ you refill is good for (I think) 3 months but you don¡¯t really lose it after 3 months. If you refill with $10 then have $3 left after three months, and you refill again with $10, you would have $13. We have been using them for the past 6 years. You can go online to program fast dial numbers and numbers you are calling from so you don¡¯t have to enter the PIN. So to call a number in China, you could just dial the 7 digit local number then press 11#. You can also go online and print logs of your call history. For TV, we only have the super basic Cox service for $12 a month (16 channels). Jen knew an older couple who had Chinese TV broadcast service over the Internet. It was a little adaptor box that sits on their TV and connects through their wireless router. The picture quality looked comparable to standard cable TV broadcast. I was actually impressed with it. The service was free and the adaptor box cost about $300 I think. It¡¯s been about 1 1/2 years; since we saw them because they went back to China. I don¡¯t remember the name of the adaptor box. Jen didn¡¯t want to get the service at the time so I didn¡¯t pay so much attention to it.

We know it's a long shot but we are hoping for the best. We live in Vegas but don't gamble because the casinos have slightly better odds of winning over the long run. BUT we are willing to throw money and time at this long shot... I guess it another proof that we are willing to do illogical things to get through this process!

Ben, I watched you videos too. You and your wife are so happy together. You two are a great couple. I am so angry and sad that our government can have this much control over our destiny. I am angry right now writing this. You two can overcome this, my brother. Would you post more information on the reason they gave for the denial? There are so much experience here and I know we all would love to help where we can to see you overcome this and bring your wife home!

Mike, We mainly did what we did to make the appointment to maximize our chance at the long shot of Jen taking her oath before our daughter turns 18 on Oct 13 so she can get the automatic Citizenship. But I don't know how long USCIS may want to reschedule into the future. There is no preferred reschedule DATE on the fingerprint NOA. The wording on the NOA is "Please reschedule my appointment for the next available: o Wednesday afternoon o Saturday afternoon". Hopefully someone here that may had to reschedule the appointment to be after a particular date may be able to help or you can try calling USCIS.

The letter came from USCIS today which I promptly opened. Knowing it would likely be the finger print notice, I was both happy and worried¡­. Jen and our son are in China right now and we had talked about the possible finger print date problem before we decided if she should take the trip at this time. We decided, considering past USCIS performance , the chance is low that the finger print date will be before she gets back, June 25. Well, the appointment letter is ¡­ June 25 B) I made an ¡°executive¡± decision to call Air Canada to try to change the return date to June 24. It was too early in their morning to call Laopo and ask if she wants to come back one day early. I figure I¡¯ll just have to deal with the caning when she gets back. After a little long wait while the helpful Air Canada agent checking the rate, she said they would change the return date to June 24 for $50 per ticket. I asked to get the fee waived, as a customer service and goodwill from Air Canada, pointing out that the flight from Vegas to Vancouver was delayed because of mechanical problem and Jen and our son spent the night in Vancouver because they missed the flight to Shanghai. The agent said she would if she could but I can write the company to try to get a refund on the fee. So I paid the $100 so we didn¡¯t have to risk USCIS deciding to take their time scheduling another appointment. Another motivation is if Laopo gets takes her oath before Oct 13, our daughter gets her Citizenship (she turns 18 on Oct 13). On or after Oct 13, she gets to wait another 2 years and 9 months to have to apply on her own. The extra 9 months is thanks to USCIS messing up on not submitting her name check at the same time as Jen¡¯s and her AOS date was 9 months later. Of course back then the frequent calls on status got ¡°¡­security check is still pending¡­¡±. It's a long shot for Oct 13 but we want to maximize the chance. One other note, the Air Canada agent said we got the last available seat at the same fare rate. And she wasn¡¯t lying. Before I called, I checked the one-way fare from Shanghai to Vegas on their web site and after I got the email confirmation of the change, I checked again and the cheapy fare was not available anymore and the next lowest fare was $1000 more each ticket. So hopefully Laopo will consider that before the caning !

My Laopo is back in China right now visiting family and mainly she brought supplements. We have been sending them to her parents and her dad tells her that they have been helping him lower his blood pressure. Here's the main stuff she brought. All from Costco! Multi Vitamins Calcium Fish Oil Garlic Tablets Ginkgo Biloba Metamucil VIACTIV Milk Chocolate Calcium (mainly for the kids) Lit Critters Gummy Vites Multi-Vitamins