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I would not think it would be a problem. Put it in the checked luggage.

We put the photos in A4 sized binders. We had 4-4x6 photos on each page. One book was pictures of us together. The second book was of family and us together. The third picture was of friends and us together. I did not go to ACH.

Where did you get this?

If you flew into or around China before and during summer of 2008 you most likely went though these detectors just to get into the airport. They would let about 10-12 people with their luggage into a roped off area and then pass the detection cloth quickly over you and your luggage. Next they inserted it into the detector and then let everybody go. Then they let the next group in and did it all over again. I think sometimes with the same piece of detector cloth. It did not take to much of your time but I questioned the usefullness of it.

But it will be a gift from heaven for those who work in China and have their US$ salary pegged at a rate of 8.3 RMB per dollar. Why would they be pegged to 8.3 RMB/dollar?

I doubt they will make it. They will have to go through customs then. When we wanted to send some watches from here to USA the UPS manager told us we would have to include documentation to prove they were not knock offs or they would be confiscated by customs. Maybe fake DVDs would be different. You can try.

I can see the benefit with this. An opportunity to present needed information (as long as the petitioner isn't taking an excessive amount of time due to language difficulties or poor organization) should be properly allotted. I can see your point about the time but I would like to add that they only need to do interviews for the cases they think there could be problems. If you look at most "easy pinks" they knew the decision before the interview. Why waste the time. This frees up time for better interviews and decisions.

Or, if you ever thought about another woman when you were in it.... Or, if another woman may have thought about you in it.... Or, if you want HER in it..... GET A NEW BED!!! Listen to these two advice. Red sheets and new bed. Also about the roses: One rose represents that 'you are my only love'; two, 'only we two in the world'; three, the three moving words 'I love you'; and nine, 'everlasting love' The USA traditional dozen roses means nothing. I would go with 3 or 9 roses and tell her Wo Ai Ni when you give them to her. Best of luck and glad to hear you are almost there!! You are wrong. A dozen roses has alot of meaning. The number twelve has alot of meaning to begin with. Need I explain them to you? And it's not an American tradition but a tradition going back to the Victorian Era of the United Kingdom. But just to give you a little hint, giving a lady that you love a dozen roses is saying, "I love you every month of the year!"... Sorry. I meant for a chinese person it means nothing unless they know USA customs.

Thanks to all for the replies!! We are happy to have this out of the way and it opens up options for my next assignment that did not exist before because we refused to accept any time apart unless it was out of our control. I am thankful that, due to new projects and expansion, that my assignment over here was extended twice otherwise I would have gone back to the USA last summer with my wife still over here. It has been a long 15 months from the visa side but a very short 15 months from the marriage side!! The details are slim: She was asked two questions: 1. When did you meet? 2. How many times did he come to visit you? When she told him how often we met before marriage he said "Wow he flew to China that many times??!!??". She said "No he was living here in China when we met but we were in different cities". He then said "Oh" and looked at his computer and typed something into it. He then asked to see pictures. She gave him the first of three books (ones of us only without family). He looked at first page and handed it back to her. He then told her "Ok you passed". She then tried to get him to look at the pictures with our families until she realized he said she had passed. They laughed and then she left. She had the white handsome (according to all the girls we talked to) VO. He evidently only interviews the Chinese women married to white men. Observations: 1. Our front end loading consisted of an EOR letter and 6 pictures of her/me, us/her family, and us/my daughters. There was not enough front end loading for them to know our relationship was bona fide without seeing all the documentation we prepared for the interview. The decision was made before hand (on some basis that I do not understand). 2. The question about my trips to China was possibly an attempt to trip her up since my application documents clearly showed I was living and working in China when we met. 3. Out of all the IV applicants there were only 3 other US spouse/SO in attendence on this day. 4. My wife met one woman who had gotten married on the USC first visit and then never came back to see her or for the interview. They were on the same timeline as us. She showed me her documenation and original I-130 front end loading and asked if I thought she would be ok. I thought to myself no freaking way -- but I was wrong. She interviewed with the same VO a few people before my wife and got a pink also. I am totally clueless as to what is the basis for establishing a bona fide relationship to a VO. 5. It was highly anticlimatic - in fact we decided for me to just get on the next plane from GUZ and go back so I could be at work on Tuesday instead of staying and celebrating.

Or, if you ever thought about another woman when you were in it.... Or, if another woman may have thought about you in it.... Or, if you want HER in it..... GET A NEW BED!!! Listen to these two advice. Red sheets and new bed. Also about the roses: One rose represents that 'you are my only love'; two, 'only we two in the world'; three, the three moving words 'I love you'; and nine, 'everlasting love' The USA traditional dozen roses means nothing. I would go with 3 or 9 roses and tell her Wo Ai Ni when you give them to her. Best of luck and glad to hear you are almost there!!

All good points but I am not sure we will be able to sustain point 3 regarding the love affair with autos.

The only problem was I failed to inform him that US bathrooms do NOT (generally) have drains in the middle of the floor, ONLY in the tub or shower area, so actually closing the shower curtain is pretty important haha. ------ I loved this part of your story. I think this bathroom design will be one of the things I miss most when I return to the USA. Makes is so easy to keep the bathroom clean.

glad you edited and cleared that up for us ... lol ...

http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/in..._in_china2.html In order to do this in the USA requires getting a document from the department in their state or county showing single status, and then sending it to the Chinese Embassy or Consulate for Authentication. http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/gzrz/t84255.htm Doing in the USA is complicated because most states and counties do not understand what you are asking for because getting married in the USA does not require a person to prove single status. Then the added complication of having to get the document Authenticated by the Chinese consulate or Embassy. Go with Dnoblett's advice. It is much easier to get it at the US embassy or one of the counsulates in China and the FAO in China knows this document.

not likely in the usa Talking about China, in that country when the observe a Holiday, they close for a week. Here in the USA we expect 24/7 service and "True Blue" was irritated because someone is not covering the Phones at USCIS because the US Government observes President's Day and took a long weekend. In fairness to True Blue I don't think he meant it regarding the holiday. I think his statement was meant in a general way. If you look at GIS comments even once he reached someone most of his questions were "blown off". This was my experience with USCIS also when my case was in never never land for 3 months between NOA-2 and NVC. Once I finally reached an IO to discuss my case with, after trying for over a month, they told me my case was lost and I should resubmit. As I was preparing the documents I next got the mail from NVC telling me they received my case with the case number on it. I agree you get the same runaround in China but usually, after a lot of discussion and waiting around, you can get in contact with the person needed to resolve the issue. In USCIS or other govt offices in the USA I do not think this is true.

The problem is definitely one of Return On Investment. The huge costs of constructing/operating these bullet trains across long distances means it only makes sense if you have massive population groups that need to be moved around, and not enough of them are willing/able to drive their own cars. It might make sense in a country like China, with a huge population accustomed to train travel and a great population density in the large cities, combined with a relative lack of autos (per capita I mean; I know there are a LOT of autos). In the US, where we are unused to train travel, where most of us have our own cars as an alternative to flying for medium distances, where population density is a fraction of China's, and where we already have a big air travel infrastructure built up, the value proposition is a lot more questionable. Have we in the US thought about maybe having less dependence on our autos and using mass transportation in order to reduce our carbon footprint. And yes the article was yet again another slap in the USA face and a chance to flex their newfound pride ... I've noticed a change in ChinaDaily op-ed and opinions articles since the summer 2008.

It would appear that the 6 month expiration is a mistake by the consulate. You are supposed to review the visa upon receipt and have any errors corrected - perhaps this can be corrected at an InfoPass appt also. That still leaves open the question of what to do if you are caught overseas with a K-3 that has expired on the original "enter-by" date. This might be a good question to settle before you leave. Worst case, an AP would do the trick. So why not apply for that automatically with your AOS just like K-1's do? (if you have a 6 month expiration on your K-3, that is) It is not a mistake. The consulate is issuing 3-6 month validity with K3 visas now and the NVC will close a K3 visa adminstratively if they receive both the approved I-129F and I-130 at the same time. While a K-3 visa is still available and no law has been passed to eliminate them they are "going around the law" and eliminating them as best they can. Sure you can apply for AP but that means the K3 visa is no longer a true 2-year multiple entry visa. This was one of the main benefits of a K3 visa (as the inital reason - long I-130 processing - has been significantly reduced). One should realize before applying for a K3 visa that it may not be anything more than a multi entry 6 month visa. I just checked the USCIS website on the K-3, and it is still a 2 year visa. I am just curious about you source of information. Are you sure it is correct? Here is the link to the page: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...000082ca60aRCRD Sure is a long link. Hope it works. I posted a link earlier in this topic about the closing of K3 visa when both I-129F and I-130 are approved and sent to NVC togfether. As far as the validity being 2 years or not there is not a link that states they are not giving 2 year K3 visas anymore. However at my interview one person got a K3 visa and it was for 6 months. I know of three others besides the OP who also got 6 months visas. Would it be unusual for the govt to deviate from it posted guidelines/rules? Besides the DOS issues the actual visa and decides the validity period. I am only reporting what I have seen and heard. I also was told that GUZ was not issuing the 2 year validity for K3 visas by my immigration lawyer.

Seeing as how he has been held in detention since November 2008 it is safe to say he will not get the same treatement as an equal in the US business world would have gotten.

If you have a foreign account in your name or under your contol you have to report it if at any time during the year the account balance was more than $10,000.

Oh yeah, we've all gotten that one. I think she meant that jimi needed this shot....

It would appear that the 6 month expiration is a mistake by the consulate. You are supposed to review the visa upon receipt and have any errors corrected - perhaps this can be corrected at an InfoPass appt also. That still leaves open the question of what to do if you are caught overseas with a K-3 that has expired on the original "enter-by" date. This might be a good question to settle before you leave. Worst case, an AP would do the trick. So why not apply for that automatically with your AOS just like K-1's do? (if you have a 6 month expiration on your K-3, that is) It is not a mistake. The consulate is issuing 3-6 month validity with K3 visas now and the NVC will close a K3 visa adminstratively if they receive both the approved I-129F and I-130 at the same time. While a K-3 visa is still available and no law has been passed to eliminate them they are "going around the law" and eliminating them as best they can. Sure you can apply for AP but that means the K3 visa is no longer a true 2-year multiple entry visa. This was one of the main benefits of a K3 visa (as the inital reason - long I-130 processing - has been significantly reduced). One should realize before applying for a K3 visa that it may not be anything more than a multi entry 6 month visa.

Yes he can stay in the US for up to 2 years. The problem with the shorter validity of the K3 is that if he leaves the US he has to give up the I-94 and then will need a valid visa to re-enter the US. So its useful ness for someone on a foreign assignment who wants to have it so their spouse can travel back and forth from the USA is limited. Except that they get a new I-94 every time they enter - we've even heard of it being extended by another 2 years. Right ... but once the visa itself is expired how does one reenter the USA on this visa?

That is true. In my case I told my lawyer that there was not a Chinese notary in the USA fashion and that I did not have time to go to one of the consulates. He accepted my POA with Chinese witness and chop.

Yes he can stay in the US for up to 2 years. The problem with the shorter validity of the K3 is that if he leaves the US he has to give up the I-94 and then will need a valid visa to re-enter the US. So its useful ness for someone on a foreign assignment who wants to have it so their spouse can travel back and forth from the USA is limited.

I do not know if this will work for you but for my lawyer's POA I signed it here in China and then had the hotel manager sign it and put the hotel's chop on it as proof of witnessing my signature. The lawyer back in USA accepted this instead of a USA notarization.