Zesty

Thanks for the replies. We are still waiting for approval, so thank you for the congratulations, I will hold off until a little later before celebrating, though! Have considered Dan's option number 3. Still in the running, but a dark horse at this point. Appreciate the information, Beachey. Police Cert was from Feb 2012, medical was from March 2012. Talk to y'all soon, I am sure! Z

Hi gang! Still waiting and hoping for the Administrative Processing to be completed shortly (has been 94 days at this writing, but who's counting). I am still living in Changsha, but had hoped that this summer we would be able to return to America. But the timing is horrible. At the end of June my resident permit expires, along with my apartment lease. I am thinking about signing a six month contract to stay in China while we wait out the AP. So that would take me to end of next winter semester - probably the end of the semester would be mid-January 2013. I am worried that I sign a contract on July 1 obligating me to stay until mid January, then we get a visa indicating that we must arrive in America before the end of December 2012. My thought is that I could wait a week or so in sending my wife's passport to Guz for them to place the visa in it, thereby ensuring that we have sufficient time to arrive in America. But my fear is that the visa will have an date assigned from the end of Administrative Processing, making my clever plan...not so clever. This may all be moot as I may receive the EMS letter at any time, and if we do before the end of June, we will be back in the US this summer. But I am scrambling to ensure my back-up plan is well thought out. Thoughts? Advice? Amusing anecdotes?

Thank you much! Especially for the translation. Even with you posting the information from Delta, I struggled to understand it. It's amazing to me--When I was 21 years old I knew everything. Nowadays, it seems that I know very little. I hope in the future I can still figure out how to tie my shoes! Z

We are hoping for an answer to our DCF from mid March any time now (wife is CCP). We have been researching whether Ling's visa (fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc) to the US will allow her to enter Hong Kong where we hope to spend a day or two before catching a flight to the US. To be clear, we would take the bullet train to Shenzhen, cross over into Hong Kong for a short stay, then fly from Hong Kong to America. If needed, we can get the permit for her to travel to Hong Kong from the police, but it is an extra hassle and life would be easier if we don't need to do it. I have checked Delta's website, searched through the archives here, and just googled it...but I cannot get a clear answer! Anyone have experience with this? Thoughts, ideas, and wisdom welcomed! Z

I would think that Beijing is closed on Monday for MLK Holiday. I did not follow the link above, but likely it mentions that you must schedule an appointment for USCIS in Beijing. You will go to your appointment and hand in your documents there (don't forget to pay)! Good luck!

I will tell you of my experience. I moved to China in September 2010. I teach Business and English and I do some minor consulting work. My then fiancee tried to get a B2 in June 2011. She is a school teacher for a High School. We took to the interview more than 25 documents including: Her teaching contract for the following year. Letter from her school leaders showing support for her to travel to America and return. My teaching contract for the following year. Wedding invitation from my best friend. Letters of welcome from my family expressing excitement about meeting her. A letter from me to her with planned itinerary, including my return ticket and letter from travel agent quoting prices to add her return ticket. The VO asked her name, then, "Do you own property in China?" "No". "Sorry, you can't come at this time." Less than 45 seconds. Prior to this experience, I would have said (in fact I did say) "We have nothing to lose but the visa fee." HOWEVER, something I did not consider was how much "face" my then fiancee/now wife lost because of the rejection. I urge you to make sure you understand what a rejection will do to her psyche. The VO _must_ assume that your girlfriend will try to stay in America. It is up to her to prove that she will return to China. How can she prove it? Hard assets...a house or money in the bank - a lot of money. Or a child or spouse still in China. Job contract is not enough - for us it wasn't anyway. There are others who have been successful. I can only tell you my situation. I wish you the best of luck whatever your decision.

Yes, Randy. You are correct. I was thinking of direction from the top of the escalator. Turn left for ACS security checkpoint and turn right for the USCIS and Visa security checkpoint. Thanks for the clarification!

When you go to Guangzhou there will be an American Citizen's Services department to your left and Visa Department to your right. You go to the right toward visas. After getting through security, there will be a big area for non-immigration visas, a big area for immigration visas, and a little area for USCIS which is located at the far left of the immigration visa area. There are two rooms labelled A and B and in between the two rooms is a sign that reads "USCIS". There are no stanchions or any other indications that this is where you should be. There are two rows of chairs, along the wall for room A and about 4 feet in front of the wall for room B. I hesitate to say it, but it seems that as so much in this process, you have to have a little faith! On a side note, the 4th floor (maybe 3rd) is empty now and presumably the consulate will be expanding. I found myself thinking that the Consulate should hire Disney to design the waiting/reception area because after experiencing Guangzhou I can not understand why people still want to come to America! They are open Friday's from 8:30 to 10:30 am. I do not know if they take everyone who is in line at 10:30 or at 10:30 everything shuts down and better luck next time, but I would not be surprised with either answer. When you go there (I suggest you arrive a little prior to 8:30 to get in line), you will want to line up in front of room A since you are a US citizen. After your paperwork is given to the clerk in room A (the clerk was the nicest, friendliest part of the entire process), you will be directed to a line in order to pay the $420. I believe it is #16, and it is around the corner and out of sight, however all the lines are numbered and I have confidence you can locate line #16 with relative ease. You pay and then bring the receipt back to room A (no waiting in line this time, just barge into the room with whomever is in there!) and give it to the clerk to add to your I130 application. Incidentally, I went the night before and stayed the night. There are many hotels near the Consulate in Guangzhou. I stayed at the Grand Palace which is much less expensive than the Westin, but just as close.

Everyone who has posted in this thread is far more knowledgeable than I am. I just happen to have made the trip to Guangzhou one week ago and can tell you of my experience. Yes, the residence permit is a blue page in your passport that reads "Residence Permit for Foreigner in PRC". If you have been here for longer than 6 months, my understanding is that you qualify for DCF. Further, my understanding is that the first step is to see if you qualify for the "benefit" of applying via the consulate instead of mailing everything back to the US, what we call DCF. In order to qualify you must prove your residence here for more than 6 months and prove the familial relationship. After proving all that, you can go to the next step, but your application is already in China and can cut some of the time off. That's my understanding, but I have been wrong at least three times today and it's not even dinner time! There are only two USCIS in China as mentioned earlier. Beijing and Guangzhou. There is a strange demarcation as to what parts of China must file in which USCIS office. Someone mentioned that you should file in Beijing and I took that to be true. I live in Changsha and I could not figure out which USCIS office to go to in order to apply. An email to Guangzhou told me Beijing and an email to Beijing told me Guangzhou. Several more emails clarified that I file in Guangzhou. But don't confuse "interview" (everyone will interview in Guangzhou) with "file your application". I suggest you send an email to Beijing with your city and tell them that you have a residence permit and ask where you file. Someone mentioned that you can go to Chengdu consulate and they will forward it for you. Awesome! Then you don't need to make the trip! I was under the impression from the Consulate that you have to apply in person or mail it to the US. When I was in Guangzhou, there was another man who had received a letter after he filed by mail asking for more information. He received it about a month after he originally sent the application. So I am hoping that I have included everything they need, but there is a part of me that is expecting that I will have to jump another hurdle before being granted access to the next step. Sorry such a long response. Hope it helps a little. I understand how overwhelming it seems and wishing there was an easy step by step guide. Kyle's posts have helped me a lot, as well as digging through the threads, but the emails to Guangzhou (I asked about translations and notary requirements in one, about photos and evolution of relationship letters in another) helped also. Good luck!

Hey MN, I just filed an I-130 last week (Dec 2)in Guangzhou. I live in Changsha, Hunan Province. The requirements were a little different than Kyle's list from filing in Beijing. In fact, I find that the requirements for most things are different between Beijing and Guangzhou, so I would suggest sending an email to Beijing. Tell them where you live and that you have a residence permit when you send an email. They will respond within a day most likely. In order to file, you will need to take a trip to Beijing, schedule an appointment, and file in person. Otherwise you mail the application to Chicago. In my application I included: I-130 G325A for each of us 2 passport photos for each of us 2 letters from family members (GUZ says must be notarized) affirming our relationship showed each of our red marriage certificates copy of each of our marriage certificates translated and certified copy of our marriage certificate copy of my residence permit page copy of my passport page Oh, and the receipt for payment of the application fee! They suggested no other documents or photos be included. Having said that, I would not be surprised if they come back later and ask for something at a later time!

My thought went a different route. I currently live and teach in China and I suggest for students that depending on their interest they check into the lists of award winners for: Newbery Medal (ostensibly for children's authors, but some great titles for all ages!) Hugo Award (science fiction or fantasy) Nebula Award (science fiction Look in Wikipedia for lists of winners.

Maybe I didn't pay close attention, but wasn't Kung Fu Panda a cartoon?

I've seen both Stomp and several variations of "Blue Man Group". Both got my feet tapping, both had superb music, and both (I think) would be easily understandable to someone who doesn't speak the language. For me it would boil down to this: If she is a musician or dancer in any way, shape, or form (or has a secret desire in her heart to be so) Stomp is the way to go. But I think either one would work just fine.

I use iTalkbb as my home phone line. Free long distance in US, free to call China, free for my gal in China to call me! I have had it for several months and it works superbly 90% of the time, adequate 5% of the time, and poorly 5% of the time. I also used FreeCallPlanet for about 6 months, but because I can also do domestic long distance with iTalkbb I made the switch. Good luck!