waingro

This sounds excellent! Make that four! Make that FIVE. We just got an RFE letter today. The morons at the California center sent the RFE letter on 3/5/12 to my old address (my parents house) even though I did a change of address and the I-751 clearly showed the new address. It got returned to sender, and the morons realized their mistake and I just got the resent letter today 4/2. Despite their screwup, they did not extend the RFE response deadline, and one month is wasted. To make matters worse, when I called USCIS hotline 2 weeks ago to check on the status of the case, they made no mention that an RFE was sent! We're dealing with total imbeciles here. Good luck to all!

My I-751 app was received 9/6/11 and still hasn't been processed yet. This is incredibly annoying since we are waiting for the card before traveling to China together and neither of us wants to travel during the summer peak due to prices, crowds, and heat. Anyway, just got off the phone with USCIS customer service rep and she said Cali is currently processing 7/16/11 apps, so they are approximately two months behind their 6 month target. Hope this helps others who are wondering what's going on.

NO, when you file the I-751, you will get a receipt letter in the mail that will extend green-card validity for 1 year, you use this letter and expired card when traveling. There have been reports of people who visit China having a problem with exiting China with the letter and card, so if you plan on travel to China, simply schedule an Info-Pass appointment, bring passport, green-card and extension letter, and request an I-551 stamp in passport, this indicates Green-card status too. Thanks a lot dnoblett! Great info

Wow, didn't know it takes that long. Does that mean we can't travel overseas during the whole process? USCIS is always ruining our vacation plans!

PS, where in Hawaii are you? Oahu? We just moved to Oahu this week from Kauai. My friend's parents read the Chinese newspaper everyday, so they're going to keep an eye out for me. They did say it's twice a year, and it's absolute chaos, but if it can save me an expensive trip to LA, then it's totally worth it!

Any news Xiaofeizhu? We are also in Hawaii and need to do a passport renewal... Any luck getting a real LA consulate person on the phone? That would be a miracle.

If you miss the opportunity to change it in the beginning, you can change it when doing I-751 removing conditional status. See here: http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.p...751-name-change You can also do a name change during citizenship process at no extra cost. That seems like a good way to go too.

Checking the box on the DS-230 really does nothing. We entered Dec. 2009, waited 6 weeks, and never received it. We went down to our local SS office and received the card in the mail in two weeks.

We didn't fill out anything. They'll do it for you.

Yes, there is a P3 with DS-230 and OF-169. Without it, you wouldn't be getting an interview date. To check packets, look here: http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/fo...and_packets.htm

Yep. Pictures with family are the most useful according to the consulate.

Check out my timeline for another recent case.

When your spouse pays the mailing fee, there's a sign showing the earliest possible day for pickup. On that day, check the EMS website to see if it is there. The website is updated 24/7.

You can't pick it up on Sunday. Your wife should have been informed of the earliest day for pickup. There's a sign where she paid the EMS fee.

As others have said, a young, single woman is next to impossible to get a US tourist visa. Rich(house+car) and married with kids, then no problem... Travel agents can charge a huge fee because they'll make up a fake job, house & car certificates, marriage certificate etc... This can get you a tourist visa, but you'll be screwed when it's time to get an immigrant visa.

Definitely use Chinese...

We also paid 1,000 for 3 documents, so that's about right. It is a lot of money.... Make sure you get at least two copies of each.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Thanks!

My wife got her visa in June, and we will enter the US at the end of November. Is there any reason to get the 2nd/3rd round of vaccinations? Do they care at point of entry? The reason I ask is because we live far away from any of the "approved clinics", so it would be a really expensive trip just for a few shots. Seems like there is no incentive for a CR1 to continue with the shots, but we would do them in the US for free at a local public clinic. Thanks in advance!

Simple answer: yes, you qualify.

I'm guessing you just used copies of your returns. That's okay for 2008, but for 2007/2006 you should've got the official tax transcripts which are free. I provided 5 pieces of evidence linking myself to a single address in the US. Domicile was never a question despite the fact that I'm still working in China.

Darn Beijing and its strict standards! Worst case scenario, you will get a Blue Slip requiring you to get a police certificate from Changchun. The odds are very low. Are you willing to take the risk? It's up to you. Good luck

Then you lose on paying for Chinese visas $130 now if you're lucky enough to live by a consulate

Congrats on the speedy process!