Danny999

Wow thanks Warped, that's a pretty good list. One of my ex's used to order everything from Kiehls.

Oh you know it Pommey. I'll be taking a suitcase full.

Thanks All, I appreciate the input. To Fineart, yes I'll be taking many more pictures and gathering much evidence. Last time I took over 400. haha But like a birdbrain I didn't have the date set right. This time I will. I do have an attorney, but no promises of expidited visas. It's a husband and wife team who went through the same process. I'm not sure what country she is from but they keep me straight. Thanks for sharing your experience. To A Reynolds, I like the sport shirts idea. I'll have to get them a couple of Dolphin jerseys. Candy wouldn't hurt either. The lotion sounds like a good idea also. I'll have to get with my GF about her father. He's pretty sick and frail right now. I've got to get her daughter something also. I forgot to mention that, duh. I really appreciate the thought that you and your wife put in to this. Oh and thanks for the tip about clocks. Hey Robert, I agree with you and Areynolds. I think I'm better off just staying awake for the whole flight. Last time I don't think I slept hardly a wink for about 3 days prior to leaving. This time I'm going to get my Doc to give me some ambien. To George, Thanks for the advice. Ginseng tea does sound good. My baby gets a Diamond Ring when I get there. The cold/cough/flu suggestion will definitely be followed. Once again, thanks everybody. I can't beleive how every one goes out of their way to help people here. This is a great website. I'm really getting excited. 38 days and my baby and I will be walking hand in hand. Danny

Getting ready for my second trip. I've seen a lot of good info and advice. I got a few questions. 1. Does "No Jet lag" really work? 13 hours difference, boy was I ever upside down last time. And then when I got home it was all I could do to stay awake after lunch. It will be 8:30 pm when I get there (China time). 2. I was trying to think of some gifts to bring there. I don't think anyone drinks, so alcohols not a good suggestion. A. Someone mentioned "Grits" somewhere. I was thinking about that for her parents. My GF didn't know what they were. I told her ground corn. She understood. B. She has a couple of nephews around 9 or 10. What could I get these little rug rats. C. Her sister, who gave me green tea to bring home last time. Grits too maybe? And I guess I can think of something for my baby. I pretty much spoil her when I'm there anyway. 3. It's going to be cold. Any suggestions there besides the obvious that I need warm clothes. Last time I brought so many clothes I didn't need. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Danny

I just told her that when we marry I will buy life insurance so she will not suffer hardships. When we first met she freaked out over my skin a bit. I've had a lot of skin cancer removed. No melanoma thank God. At first she thought I was going to die from it. It took a while to convince her I don't have the type that will kill you. Living in south Florida, I've spent a lot of time fishing and diving so the sun has beat me up. Sorry, I digress. But the point is when I told her about buying life insurance she was very happy and said what a good man I was.

Well, that's the question there. This is advertised as a new feature. Hopefully, that means they can tie in to the Chinese banks more easily now. Otherwise, it's pretty much as was all along. I've used Paypal a couple of times. She had to create a pp account. Paypal sends the money to her pp account and her bank charges $35 to transfer the money. If you use this method, make sure you click on the personal tab or you'll get stuck with a fee like I did. They would not reimburse me for my mistake either. So now I use Xoom. They charge me $4.95 and it goes straight into her bank account. She pays nothing.

Randy, Thanks as always. That was exactly the answer I was looking for. But from what I can see from some of the other post, I am going to gear up. I will raise abdominal hell if they pull the DNA bullshit on me. I am an American Citizen. I hope Chinese prisons are friendly hahah. Thanks Danny

Thanks for the Q tip . I will defininetly gear up. Most appreciated. Danny

Now we have a little drama going on. My fiance has a daughter and from what I've read we need a letter of consent or even better she needs to get guardianship. They were never married but the daughter is registered with the father. She almost 17. He says he all for her coming to America but I sure want to see it in writing. My GF says sometimes he's nice and sometimes he's an a-hole. So I'm a little uncomfortable right now. My baby doesn't want to come here without her daughter and I certainly don't blame her. In fact I would question what kind of mother she is if she would leave her behind. So anyway, I'm just venting Thanks Danny

Don't fret Pommey. I have every intention fo making her the Queen of my castle. We both want a happy relationship. I am 100% sure of my feelings. But I just think it is wise that she come here and make sure she can adjust to the culture. If she returns to China, it will be because SHE wants to go back, NOT because I want her to leave. Lord knows I've been in enough relationships to know about tribulations and hopefully I will use the lessons I've learned to not make some of the same mistakes. Let everybody rest assured I'm not bringing her here for a trial run. I have every intention of marrying her. Wedding plans will be made before she gets here. Will we have our problems? Of coarse we will. We are human. Heck, we fight on the webcam now. hahahaha! I've been around too long to expect a fairy tale marriage. Thanks for your input Danny

Hopefully the western concept of recycled products is beyond actual people. If your not totally sure, don't go there. You will know deep in your gut... or not. If not... don't go there. Don't play games with her. FYI, I don't play games with people's lives. I feel confident everything will work out fine, but I still feel it is much smarter for her to come here. But like I said in my main post it is because of her daughters age why we are going the K-1 route. But thanks for your concern. Danny

Yes Randy is right and I can add to this for you to consider a CR1. CR1s are much faster now and she comes to the USA with a 2 year green card that costs you less than the 1018 bucks if you did the K3. Much better deal IMO. Considering costs, K-1 is the most expensive option then K-3, and finally CR-1 is the least expensive. Have your researched the Superior CR-1 spousal visa, the one without adjustment of status? If considering K-3 think carefully about it. CR-1 and K-3 tend to take about the same time, K-3 use to save you about a month not any more, however the K-3 has the added pain of adjustment of status, and it NOT a work authorized visa, so also has the added period of limbo waiting for EAD to be able to do things like take a job, get SSN, etc... For the most part CR-1 tends to take a bit longer than K-3 to get if you prepare for NVC when they request I-864 fee, and Visa fee, as well as documents requested by NVC. In many cases the CR-1 petition reaches the consulate just before K-3 interview, which causes K-3 to get dropped and the interview becomes a CR-1 visa interview. K-1: I-129F: $455 Consulate: $131 AOS: $1010 I-693 Vaccinations record: ($35 - $???) ($1596) Not including I-693 and medical done for visa K-3: I-130: $355 I-129F: NONE Consulate: $131 AOS: $1010 I-693 Vaccinations record: ($35 - $???) ($1496) Not including I-693 and medical done for visa CR-1 I-130: $355 NVC I-864: $70 NVC Visa fee: $400 ($355+$45) Vaccinations and medical done for visa. ($825) Vaccinations in China don't require additional fee to transfer to an I-693 I see many posts from K-3 holders stating, "Wow this sucks, I am stuck at home because I don't have EAD, DL, etc, or I am having hard time getting added to bank accounts because of NO SSN." K-3 has a 90 day or longer period of limbo while waiting for EAD or Green-card. K-3 was developed at a time when CR-1 was taking much longer that today, NVC has greatly streamlined the CR-1 process to the point where K-3 becomes irrelevant. Guangzhou has a new pilot program with NVC that allows them to process and send documents to GUZ electronically for CR-1 visas, this greatly speeds up the process to the point where the CR-1 case reaches the consulate before K-3 interview. Lastly, a green-card is for permanent residency in the USA, it is not a permanent visa for living in a foreign country with visits to the USA, USCIS can determine that the card is not being used to live in the USA and can consider the LPR status at any time if not living in the USA. Thanks Dan, That's a lot of useful info. Looks like you've been at this for awhile. I never really took cost into consideration. At first I was just looking for the fastest way to get her here. But now I just want to try to get everything right the first time around. She also needs all the time she can get to study English. She's going to English class every night now. Her vocabulary is pretty good but she needs work on her pronunciation. I am confused (duh) about how long it will take to get her EAD once we marry and we file her AOS. I suppose she can't get that until we are married. I'm sure it can be found somewhere here on this site. Without this site I would be totaly lost. I have an attorney but I still like to know everything myself rather than just being told what to do. I am going to ask him about a CR-1. Thanks again Danny

Thanks Randy, great info. I'm learning a lot. I would still feel more comfortable having her come here just to make sure she really like it here.

Hi Folks, What a great site this is. Just full of helpful information. I'm just getting started. I'll be going on my second trip to China this coming January. My GF lives in SZ, but her hometown is near Nanchang. We met online last January. I went to meet her in March. Now we webcam every day. I'm going to buy her a scanner/printer when I'm there to help facilitate the information exchange. We are going the K-1 route. We had been planning to marry there but the K-3 process could take so long and if we run into any problems her daughter might turn 18 in the process. And with a K-1 we have until she's 21. Plus, just in case she is absolutely miserable here, she would have the option of going home. But we really love each other very much and I don't see that happening. I'll be gathering more evidence of our relationship while I'm there. Going to her hometown. Taking plenty of pictures, like with her parents and daughter, and everywhere we travel. Keeping all my receipts. Documenting and dating everything. Is there anything I'm not thinking of? Any advice would be most appreciated. Danny