hankster

Hank, http://translate.goo...m4j2EtVswRTkivg http://www.china-embassy.org/chn/ywzn/lsyw/gzrz/zytz/t790955.htm From the link above, looks to be Feb 6, Google translate has "big Memphis Chinese Association," I suspect "BIG" actually means "Greater" I would suspect it will be held at: Greater Memphis United Chinese Association (GMUCA) 1979 Campus Postal Station Memphis, TN 38152 Phone: 901-485-7518 http://www.artsmemph...org/detail/2873 GMUCA website seems to be having a problem at the moment: http://home.gmuca.org/ Thanks Dan, For Clayton's information: The website isn't working and when I emailed them, Daemon Returned it. The Campus Postal Station address, according to google maps, must be a PO Box. However, I did get in touch with someone at the phone number listed, who then gave me another number to call. Calling this number, I talked with a John Chen of GMUCA and I did get some partial info about the upcoming Embassy visit. All he knows is that it will be on the University of Memphis Campus this Sunday. He will get back to me with further information (Location and times) when he hears again from the embassy. I also called the Embassy Visa/Passport number in DC, and all they could confirm was that indeed the passport people would be somewhere in TN on Feb 6. Clayton.................I'll post more info if I get it. Hank

I read the link but can't find the location in Memphis where this will be held. Anyone know? We need to get Lily's passport renewed soon, and Memphis is a little closer than DC. Also it appears this will happen on a Sunday, which will be convenient.

Has anyone been to the Chinese Embassy in DC for Passport Renewal recently? (in the last 6 months or so) My wife is under the impression that some of the procedures may have changed. There is little information on their (Chinese embassy) website, and I was hoping for a recent first hand account. We need to go before the middle of March. Thanks, Hank

Forget the N-600 just take copies of the required paperwork to the Post Office and submit a passport application, it's much faster and cheaper. I completed the adoption of my son in July 2010. I familiarized myself with the CCA, but I still wanted to have an official document in-hand so I applied for the N-600. The N-600 processing times are a year+ and I was hoping to avoid paying the fees associated with his 10 year GC, so I took the US Passport route. I supplied the DOS with all the required documents, but they came back with an RFE. The DOS stated that his California Delayed Registration of Birth and the adoption order was not sufficient to prove that my son was in my legal custody since entering the US. They requested copies of my tax returns, my son's school record, and my son's medical record. Got all that together and sent it in. Unfortunately 10yr GC time came around. I initially did not pay his I-751 fee, but rather sent the USCIS a copy of the adoption order, a copy of his California Delayed Registation of birth,copies of my tax returns showing him as a dependent, and a polite letter stating that via the CCA, that my son should be considered a US citizen now. The USCIS sent me a letter back basically stating that my son will only be considered US citizen after the USCIS deems him so, until then, he is conditional resident that needs to have the conditions removed, otherwise he will be deemed illegal. I paid the fee. So his passport appilcation is still being processed and he is scheduled to have his I-751 biometrics in the near future. -Squonk Thanks for the info Squonk, How old was your son when his adoption was final? Hank

Thanks for the comments and advice. I've also done a lot of research since the original post and believe, after reading the CCA of 2000 and the filing instructions for the N-600, that my stepson has a good chance to attain US citizenship after the adoption is final. This is from CCA, and I think we qualify on each bullet (I think the 3rd bullet applies to children adopted before they arrive in US) Which children qualify for automatic citizenship under the CCA? Under the CCA, a child will automatically acquire U.S. citizenship on the date that all of the following requirements are satisfied: • At least one adoptive parent is a U.S. citizen, • The child is under 18 years of age, • An adopted child meets the requirements applicable to adopted children under immigration law, • The child is admitted to the United States as a permanent resident, or acquires this status through adjustment of status • The child is residing permanently in the United States with the child’s citizen parent(s).

Thanks, C4, I had read that link, which makes me think the lawyer was misinformed, but then on another uscis site (Guide to Citizenship) it stated this:(Note the bold underlined "ALL") U.S. CITIZENSHIP FOR CHILDREN Questions and answers about the U.S. Citizenship laws for children, place of birth and how that affects their U.S. Citizenship, information you need to know about the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, and much more. 1.If I am a U.S. citizen, is my child a U.S. citizen? A child who is born in the United States, or born abroad to a U.S. citizen(s) who lived in (or came to) the United States for the required period of time prior to the child's birth, is generally considered a U.S. citizen at birth. A child who is: ◦Born to a U.S. citizen who did not live in (or come to) the United States for therequired period of time prior to the child's birth, or ◦Born to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent or two alien parents who naturalize after the child's birth, or ◦Adopted (stepchildren cannot derive or acquire citizenship through their stepparents) and is permanently residing in the United States can become a U.S. citizen by action of law on the date on which all of the following requirements have been met: ■The child was lawfully admitted for permanent residence*; and ■Either parent was a United States citizen by birth or naturalization**; and ■The child was still under 18 years of age; and ■The child was not married; and ■The child was the parent's legitimate child or was legitimated by the parent before the child's 16th birthday (children born out of wedlock who were not legitimated before their 16th birthday do not derive United States citizenship through their father); and ■If adopted, the child met the requirements of section 101(b )(1)(E) or (F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and has had a full and final adoption; and ■The child was residing in the United States in the legal custody of the U.S. citizen parent (this includes joint custody); and ■The child was residing in the United States in the physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent. I think this is where this lawyer was getting her info. My wife doesn't want citizenship at this time, because she's a property owner in shenzhen. I PM'd Lee Fisher earlier. We'd like to get citizenship for the boy as quickly as possible since he's starting college next year. I'm afraid I may have dropped the ball on this by not adopting him sooner.

My stepson is 17. We went to the free initial consult with an adoption attorney last week (she also claims to be an immigration attorney). She told me that since I had not adopted my stepson before he was 16 that subsequently he wouldn't be eligible for automatic citizenship. I have checked on the uscis naturalization guide and the closest thing I can find is where it says" "The child was the parent's legitimate child or was legitimated by the parent before the child's 16th Birthday." Anyone had a similar or opposite experience? Thanks Hank

Lily and I are here with James at UT Medical Center this morning. He was admitted Friday with Infectious Mononucleosis. He came down with a sore throat a couple of weeks ago, and I had Lily take him to his pediatrician. There, they swabbed his throat, diagnosed Strep and gave him a shot of penicillin. Said he'd be feeling better in 24 hours..................... 48 hours later, he's much worse. It's Saturday, so I call the pede, and am connected to an oncall Nurse, who gives me the answer I'm anticipating. "Take him to the Emergency Room". We did, and there they gave him a blood test and diagnosed Mono. They gave him a shot of steroids to shrink the swelling in his throat, along with a scrip for pain meds, and tell us to follow up in a week with the Pede. 5 days later he is even sicker when we take him to his appointment. As soon as the doc takes a look at him, he says he needs to be admitted to UT Medical Center. Well here we are, and he's feeling well enough, that I expect them to discharge him this morning. As we all do these days, I've read up on this illness on the internet in the last few days, and found out it can be a serious illness, with weakness and general fatigue lasting as long as a year. It's a virus, with no medicinal cure. The body's immune system finally takes care of it. . Back when I was in HS, I heard of it referred to as "Kissing Sickness", and knew a few people that had it, but didn't remember them being so sick. Anyway, hopefully the worst part is over, and he'll feel well enough to start his senior year, a week from tomorrow.

When I got home from work one day back in March, Lily was waiting in the driveway for me with a big smile, and hopping up and down. She said, "My dear, My dear............I make some land." I replied, "What is make some land?" She said, "come, I will show you" She had taken a pruning saw and cut down 3 small trees that were shading this little area in our wooded back yard (of course one of them was a Dogwood), but who can complain when she is so happy, and gets the following results: Looks like we'll be "making land" (more land) again next Spring.

Less than 5 months from mailing I-129F to Interview! Congratulations!!

Congrats on the Pink

Lily washes and reuses paper towels

Dish Great Wall Package.........started at 7am EST. Lily has me recording it so the "China lady Club" can watch it at their Wednesday meeting at our house.

Hey should have let us know when you went to Toronto, should have let us know, Toronto is a day trip for us. It was two years ago next month when we decided, spur of the moment, to head to London Ontario via Michigan to visit Lily's best friend from china who had immigrated to Canada. Took a short day trip from there to Toronto. I believe you or Yu were out of town that weekend. We'll be coming to NY soon and will get together then. Meanwhile, anytime you guys want to head South.......................

Knoxville doesn't really have one except at our house every 3rd Wednesday during the "China ladies Club". We've been to Chinatown in SF, Toronto, and Atlanta although we didn't spend much time in SF. I personally liked Toronto. Lily liked all 3, but said "Atlanta not really chinatown but wery good chinese restaurant." If I remember correctly it was the ¸£ÁÙÃÅ Oriental Pearl New Peachtree Rd Chamblee, GA It reminded me almost exactly of some of the big restaurants in Shenzhen.

Smokiesky: Haven't seen your posts before, and didn't realize you were here and just a few miles down the road. My wife has been here almost 3 years and has transitioned to the East TN area very well. PM me if your wife has any questions about anything Chinese in the area and I'll put Lily in touch with her. Hank

Follow up: 10 Year Green Cards arrived in mail today! All information is correct.

Thanks, Dan. Your Yu shouldn't be too far behind. I guess I thought we still had another interview to go through.....glad we don't. Our 2 families have come a long way since we met at GUZ. Merry Christmas!

Congratulations! Your request for the removal of the conditional basis of your permanent resident status has been approved. You are deemed to be a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States as of the date of your original admission or adjustment of status. You should receive a new Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551 (green card), within 60 days. "Excellent Christmas Present from the Department of Homeland Security for wife and stepson"

The replacement iTalkBB device came via UPS on Thursday........connected it to router, power supply and phone...and..........."one ringy dingy"...........works perfectly. Customer service sent a pre-paid UPS box to send the old one back.

Thanks.......and yes, I forgot to say that the internet connection was ok and I had changed the cable from the router to the iTalkbb device to make sure that wasn't the problem. Don't know what happened.........it's been working great for 2.5 years.......I reckon it just quit! Let's see how fast they send me a new one. I will say, their customer service was all over it. No complaints there.

Our italkBB went out yesterday. After resetting the Comcast modem and the iTalkBB Cisco interface device(power off-on) , it still would not work, so Lily called iTalk's helpline. After running us through the usual troubleshooting checklist, they determined (as had I) that the hardware device had failed and should be replaced. Anyone else experienced this problem?

We've got it. Lily loves the fact that friends and family in China can call her with no charge to them.

By all means make sure Hui knows about your precious marriage including how long you were married, how long you have been divorced and why. They might also ask where your ex lives as well. Charles?

Even though we submitted Lily and James on the same I-751 application for removal, we received 2 different biometric appointment dates, James on Aug 29 and Lily on Sept 4. The ASC is 200 miles away, so yesterday we loaded up and headed to Nashville hoping they'd allow both to go through it on the same day, saving us another 400 mile round trip this Friday. Without explanation we walked in and presented both appointment letters. Luckily, they didn't ask questions and allowed both to do it.