kevininpudong

I was having a hard time deciding on a place to stay during my visit to Guangzhou, but I eventually picked the Tianlun International Hotel on Linhe Zhong Road: http://www.tianlun-hotel.com/en/index.asp It's just two blocks from the consulate, one block up from Ikea. The room was nice, new, and quiet, the staff was helpful, and the price of between 450 and 500 per night was reasonable considering the quality. This included a breakfast buffet which actually sucked... but oh well, it was free. The hotel also has an outdoor swimming pool, which is something I've always missed in a lot of hotels in China... but unfortunately I have to continue missing it, because our interview was in December! Easy access to Ikea, CITIC Plaza, etc. You're also able to jot right across the street and buy train tickets to Hong Kong on the Kowloon-Canton Railway, which is how I opted to celebrate the successful interview! All in all, if you have a little extra to spend and are interested in living in a comfier hotel, this is the best one in the immediate vicinity of the consulate, and I'd recommend giving it a try.

I have seen the posts about Yang and Xie's places, but my wife and I are hotel snobs who barely ever get a chance to go on vacation. We were looking for a place nearby the consulate that is pretty new, has an indoor pool, nice restaurants, etc. We've both been to Guangzhou before, and are now just looking for a place to relax for the week. I was all set for the White Swan, but then found out our interview would in fact be nowhere near there. I am looking at the Ramada, but it seems to be on the other side of the train station from the consulate. I live in Shanghai at the moment, and if the Guangzhou Train Station is anything like the Shanghai station, I'd rather not have to maneuver my way through that before the interview. Any suggestions are appreciated!

As I understand, you have to be out of China for 2 to 3 years before you can apply for a Taiwanese visa. It's a process that would be made much easier with American citizenship. Sorry, I can't provide any other help as I'm in China at the moment and all Taiwanese "cultural institute" websites are blocked.

Yeah, I've been working in China for 4 years, so even though I've passed the poverty line, I'm still going to need a joint sponsor. Obviously, on all forms, my listed residence should be my parents' home. Other than the problem of not owning a house, I do have ties to the US which I can demonstrate (savings, regular visits, taxes filed, driver's license, registered and regular voter, currently seeking work and have correspondence with companies regarding job possibilities, etc.) and will explain in a letter to the VO. So, I'm not particularly worried (although perhaps I should be). I recently looked back over the I-864, looks like the best solution is for both my dad and I to complete I-864's.

Since I don't have a house in America, I guess my dad would technically be in the same residence, although we're not planning on living with him for long. If I want to prepare my Dad as a joint sponsor, just in case, (as I will be leaving my current job in China), should I have him fill out another I-864 or just an I-864A? At the moment, I'm leaning towards just having him do a separate I-864, as our incomes have always been separate...

I'm in a similar situation... sent out a few days ago, haven't received it yet... except we'll be travelling between November 7th and 28th, and thus unable to receive the packet after that date or do the health check... and then our interview's on December 11th. Hoping something will show up soon.

Cool, I kept copies of my tax returns, but all of this talk about tax transcripts and everything got me confused. So essentially, tax transcripts are something you request if you did not keep copies of your tax returns? Thanks!

Looks like our interview will be coming up soon, so I'm wondering: 1) what are tax transcripts? I filed my taxes, but didn't seem to get anything back from the IRS. Is there something that I am supposed to get from them? Or do I just provide a photocopy of the returns I filed? As I work in China, I don't have W-2's or anything like that... so just wanted to make sure I've got the proper evidence. 2) My salary is above the poverty line and all, but my dad's agreed to be a cosponsor just in case they ask. So in that case, he would fill out an I-864A and not another I-864, right? Taxes are not my area of specialty by a long-shot, so your input is appreciated!

I'm sorry to say that I think the guiding marks on the sidewalks in Shanghai are another thing that I dislike about China: meaningless formalities. There are certain things like this that are just there to show people and actually serve no purpose. Who really thinks a blind person could walk down the road here? I doubt they'd last more than a few minutes. I'm not blind in the least and I almost get hit by motorcycles on the sidewalks and cars at the intersections every other day.

Five weeks seems like a long time for someone filing direct. Did you get a notice that your petition has been approved? Have you gotten anything? If the answers are no, I would look into it. 232464[/snapback] And I still continue to wait... I contacted Guangzhou (stupidly) and they told me they had no records of my file (since should still be in Beijing). So today I tried calling Homeland Security. Couldn't get a person to talk to, only a machine. So I left a message and also sent a very polite email saying I was wondering if any progress had been made, and if not, about how long it would take. Hopefully someone will reply?

When I got married in Nanjing, at the ÃñÕþ¾Ö£¬they asked if we needed any other forms. Three hours later and 1000 kuai shorter, we had all the documents we needed. So, for the notarized and translated marriage certificate, I would contact the place where you got married (which I would assume would be the ÉæÍâ»éÒö´¦ of the ÃñÕþ¾Ö£¿). I didn't make the rules, but I think you can only get it done where you got married. Also, the "original marriage certificate is just the red booklet you got when you got married. Make a photocopy or two. Never hurts. As for the birth certificate, the only place I think this can be done is your wife's place of birth. Thankfully, my wife was born in Nanjing, which is also the provincial seat, so we were able to get our "alien marriage" certified while also preparing her birth certificate all in one convenient stop. I would contact the local ¹«Ö¤´¦ in your wife's hometown. I believe the Chinese for notarization is ¹«Ö¤£¬ and anybody who says China doesn't have ¹«Ö¤ has gotta be kidding. They love stamping and signing things. However, if you need them to stamp and sign things for you, you're gonna have to pay them enough for them to do that, unfortunately. Also, while your wife is getting all this done in her hometown, I'd recommend she pick up a certificate stating she has no criminal record (valid for a year, i think). Might save a trip further down the line. I'm not an expert and haven't gotten any further than an I-130 that DHS just doesn't want to reply to. But as far as I understand, this would be the best way to approach it. If anything I said here was incorrect, please tell me, anybody.

Yeah, I wouldn't dwell on it too much except that I read about some people getting their notices in 2 days or 2 weeks. It makes me wonder if I should have lived in Beijing or Guangzhou... always liked Beijing more than Shanghai anyway...

Don't mean to bore everyone with drama about my visa process , but I am doing DCF from Shanghai, and handed in my first batch of forms five weeks ago. Despite my outstanding penmanship, patience, and unyielding faith that "something is coming in the mail" every day, I have yet to receive anything. I'm not particularly worried, as such things usually take a month and could perhaps take up to two months, but to be honest, I really do wish that I had received an NOA by now. Anybody else had similar experiences recently?