waingro

You guys are too fast Read my edit. When I said "they", I meant US consulate. When you use "they" I think you are talking about Chinese? First off, the purpose of the letter is to say you're not a criminal, not to prove residence! Therefore, you don't need specific dates.

shaquanew, Why does it matter that she is Russian? The police system is the same; no record sharing between provinces. Get the letter to say "No criminal record in China as of June 29, 2009". One sentence. Notarized. Done. We are not trying to prove her residence with this letter... Twoinchina, The instructions don't say "living". It says "resided" as in "residence". Obviously, China was and is your residence of 5 years. They don't know about your trips back to Russia, and they don't care. The consulate is not the CIA tracking everything you do All you need is a notarized letter from Russia & China saying you have no criminal record. Simple. There is no standard format whatsoever, so the consulate has no expectations. That's my opinion for what it's worth

P3 is always sent by EMS with address written in Chinese. They don't need pinyin; that would just confuse them. Make sure your wife is waiting at home 24/7 for the delivery guy

I have slightly different answers/experience and I was with my wife the whole time, and I speak Chinese: 1. Shamian Island clinic opens at 7:30am. Get there before 8:30 if you want to pickup results same day for extra 100RMB. 2. Don't touch the forms at all. The clinic will do it all. 3. No one cares about the 2nd/3rd rounds of vaccinations for CR1. 4. You should be able to pickup your visa 7/17. Be prepared to change your flight though. Check the EMS website constantly to see if it's ready for pickup(updates are instant). It's pointless to go to the Post Office everyday checking in-person.

The print on the DS-230 is really small, making handwriting it nearly impossible. We filled it out on computer and printed it. And before you ask, A4 size paper is okay even if it's bigger than the original US size!

Sounds like a laowai ripoff! It was free for us.

Yes, the P4 will tell you your interview date. Otherwise, you can try calling the DOS phone number 202-663-1225. Interview date is set by order of P3 received. The faster you send it, the better.

Twoinchina, For China, one letter covers the whole country. You have nothing to worry about. Your letter from Beijing police is enough. The letter does not need "from" and "to" dates. It only needs to have the date the letter was written, and say you have a clean record. That is what our letter said, and my wife has lived in 4 different Chinese cities for over a year. Now we are in Sanya which is "Little Moscow"

Bring 20rmb to the interview for the post office pickup fee. Exact change required.

The interview was entirely in English, and my wife speaks excellent English. If your wife can handle it, definitely do the interview in English.

We are CR1. Will they check the little yellow vaccination booklet at POE?

Well, I'm still working in China We'll move back in time for the Thanksgiving feast!

Hey guys, we just came back from the consulate. Wife finished at 10:45, and she got PINK. Interview questions: How did you meet? Does your husband speak chinese? Did husband meet your parents? What does husband do? What does husband's parents do? Where will you live in US? Thursday interviews can pick up visa on Tuesday, not Saturday as other people have said. We need to change flights now... Tip #1: the consulate doesn't provide change for ANYTHING. have exact money for EMS and Visa Fee. Tip #2: DS-230 Part 2 IS required for CR1/IR1. Luckily, they provided the blank form. BTW, did I get ripped off? I paid $355 application fee already. Today at the interview they made my wife pay another $400 visa fee. They said the two fees are separate. We were blindsided by this, and had to run to the ATM(and then get exact change). This happened to some others also, so not only us. You might want to pin this up in the forum, because it seems there's quite a few people who get this wrong due to the consulate's horrible communication. Thanks for everyone's help and support!!! Couldn't have done it without CFL! PS. There wasn't a single other American at the 4th floor coffee shop. So much for being there for support....

Thanks guys. Mahjong is a great idea! haha. I think people would start to complain about the noise though. I'll bring a book and my laptop just in case. I'll skip the cofee...last thing you want to do is get wired while waiting for the moment of truth...

Thanks for the details, and Congratulations!!!

Congrats and Best Wishes!

FYI, there is no such thing as joint bank accounts in China. Sounds ridiculous, but it's true...

You're right. It's line 22, not 37, and they're the same for me. Yes, Line 21 is "other income" which includes foreign income as a negative number from Form 2555. When all else fails, follow the instructions exactly. Anyway, line 24c on the I-864 is what's used to compare with poverty line. Thanks for the quick responses guys.

Hi guys, I have a question on my I-864. The instructions state that for determining income for the "federal income tax return information" section, the "adjusted gross income" line 37 on the 1040 will be used. The quirk is that my foreign income is tax exempt and deducted out on line 21, leaving me with -330 adjusted gross income! (I sold some stocks at a loss) The past three years are the same. Should I really put -330 on the I-864? I mean this looks horrible... Or should I put a number that includes my foreign income? Second question: I'm bringing a copy of my 2008 return, but it's unsigned. Should I sign it? By the way, I do have a Joint-Sponsor.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did they ask to see financial support info?

Good luck!!! We are also DCFs, so we eagerly await the results and details of the interview!

Yuck, yuck, yuck...I fooled you on this one good buddy...Yacheng is the sleepiest little burg imaginable and yet it's only 40 km west of Sanya...I just love this video... See if you can spot the cop sitting down eating doughnuts until he realizes he's on candid camera and starts making his rounds... B) okay, well there is a tourist site next to it called Yazhou Gucheng. A youtube link? youtube is blocked in china, and accessing it through a proxy takes forever! just out of curiousity, is your wife a US citizen now, and you're back living in China?

It's obviously the language issue, emails are a secondary issue...Take the CR1 route and get her English lessons ASAP! Good luck

Is there wireless internet at the coffee shop where everyone waits? I'm not sure if I can handle sitting there for 3 hours without entertainment...

I'm in the hotel industry, so I know all about the crazy development planned for this island... Never been to Yacheng. I'm guessing it's just another overpriced tourist trap.