king

Today I saw a news piece on the Net that said that China was changing its regulations to let Chinese transfer assets out of the country starting next month. It sounded like a big loosening up of asset controls. I didn't get much detail. It was in the online South China Morning Post, so the means it will have an article in the paper edition. Will post more as I get it.

Oregon: A good point. Just passing what I know about. Not advice nor a recommendation. I didn't say anything about laundrying money nor did I say you should do anything I mentioned. MAYBE THEY CAN DONE LEGALLY, IF you pay attention to the monetary limits imposed by China.

Sending checks to China, personal or bank, is really a lenghty process. The last time I did it, it took about 3 months for the check to be returned to the U.S. by the Chinese bank to be honored by the U.S. drawee bank and then return the credit to the Chinese bank for me to pick up the cash.

Hypothetically speaking, is there any problem with paying RBM to a trusted family member or close friend in China and then receiving US$ in the U.S. from a related person (done at at realistic exchange rate)? I have heard it is done between Middle East countries and the U.S. In Hong Kong RMB can be exchange for HK$, I know for sure as it did it this weekend and later exchanged to US$ as there is convertablility or directly to US$, which I think can be done.

Lele: I think it is just a matter of getting organized; picking up the medical report when it is finished and getting to GZ in time for the interview. Whoever is planning to obtain the medical exam in some location other than GZ should call the appropriate U.S. Consulate or the GZ consulate to see if the hospital is approved by the GZ Consulate visa unit and then check with the hospital to check their exam times and when you can obtain the medical report package.

A new directive from the Consulate says the medical exam for immigrant visa applicants must be done 4 days before the interview date. I received that notice last week. As to when a medical exam may be obtained, my informants say mornings on Saturdays, but not afternoons on Saturdays and not on Sundays. That is in the Guangzhou area. I am not aware of what other places in China do.

The visa type would be a B2 visitor visa. The parents would have to go to the Consulate in the consulate area covering the Province where they live. For instance, if they live in Sichuan Province, they would go to the Consulate in Chengdu. There are 5 different consular areas in China. My take on having your wife's parents go would be to just have one go at a time, at least in the initial attempt. I would suggest the mother, timed to go for the birth or soon after. That way there is the factual point that the mother would not stay in the U.S. as her husband is in China, etc. Good luck.

The question about using a lawyer is one of individual choice. People use lawyers for the visa process because they don't have the time to do it themselves, they do not want the hassle or they want to be sure everything to done as correctly as possible, and maybe ten or so other reasons. The is an organization of immigration lawyers, American Immigration Lawyers Association, in D.C., that has 4,500 or so lawyers members from around the country. They will make lawyer referrals. Its site is aila.org Like any other major decision, do your due-diligence even if you get a referral from AILA. What is the lawyer's experience. Do they do K1, CR1, K3, K4 and IR1 visas?How long have they been in practice and doing immigration law, especially those kind of visa cases? Qustion like that will let you get a feel for the lawyer. Be prepared when you talk to a lawyer, even the first time. Good, competent lawyers will appreciate it as it shows you are serious, organized and won't be wasting time.

In my view the IV unit is trying to tighten up it process to weed out cases that do not qualify under the law (INA) and the rules. The form of the question asked of 143xin's SO suggests to me that the IV unit could ask anyone as a kind of trick question. In this case because his SO quit the party, assuming more than 5 years prior to the filing of the application that she will not have a problem getting her visa, if,of course there is always and if, she was not into big time party politics or working in a sensitive area, like the military or some such.

As o f a couple of weeks ago, you CAN take pens and pencils into the Consulate with you. This change in practice probably came when the new security guy arrived at GUZ.

From my experience getting a passport corrected depends mostly on where it was issued. For example, in Fujian province it would take about 3 months, but in Guangdong province my experience indicates only several days to a week.

The CCP membership situation is difficult, but if your fiancee quit the party more than 5 years before the petition, I believe, was filed she should be able to tell the IV unit that and follow their process and be granted the visa. Otherwise as the man says, let your conscience be your guide.

It is my understanding that the pollice ceriticate can only be obtained from the area the China citizen lived. I am told there is no country-wide system to get that sort of certificate. As to the lost birth certificate, if it is for the immigration visa unit process, obtaining the hospital birth records and having them translated and notarized should be satisfactory.

I am writing this with a bit of a red face or as the Chinese say "bu hao yisi." I have checked the 8 cases we received interview notices for the other day plus 3 more after those and find they were not CR-1 or K-1 cases. I am sorry if all this caused any crushed optimism or consternation.

This morning, 6/21, I received 8 packet 4s for my clients. It seems like the IV unit has just jumped into the lastest shipment. I hope those of you who have been waiting for some time are in that shipment too.

Donahso: Would you PM me the Consulate person's name they are talking about. Thanks.

Donahso is right. The Shanghai problem deals only with NON-IMMIGRATION VISAS ONLY, AND DOES NOT INVOLVED K VISAS. The marriage and fiance(e) visas were not being scheduled through Shanghai. Martha Hutchens told me the Shanghai problem is because the Chinese government is mad at our government, maybe about the fingerprinting requirement. I read that perhaps as making it harder for the Chinese gov't to get spys into and active in the US. As of this coming Monday, for non-immigrant visa applicant it is "back to the future," using the old system from 4-5 years ago. Line up outside, first come, first served.

215dave It could take 3-4 weeks from my experience of over 20 requests or maybe more time. If you are asking about a clearance the FBI will tell you that it has or has not competed the clearance, when they sent the completed clearance to DOS and if they have not yet received a clearance request. Good luck on a speedy process.

Opps In the second paragraph make that "people at the Consulate give me the usual..."

I have a number of cases that have had FBI name clearances completed back in mid-2003. FBI says it sent them to the DOS, but then the clearance info seems to jam up at DOS some place, since both the Guangzhou IV unit and the CIS office on refugee cases here say they have not received the clearance information. If you think you are bogged down after several months I suggest you try to find out where the clearances are at DOS. I have been trying, but find it a bit hard from Guangzhou. IV people at the Consulate the usual unuseful, noncommital garbage If you learn anything please post it or send me a PM. Thanks.

You might even get a private accounting job. Try to connect with "That's Beijing.com" Not sure of the address. If it does not work try Google. Check out its Job ads, some teaching jobs included. There are some job finding sites on the net for China. Good hunting.

chinagirl001 you are right about my spelling. One of the good things about this site is people support each other and I have had the benefit of another member graciously correcting my mistake. I would like for you to know I am in China employed privately to assist mostly Chinese obtain visas to the U.S. I have seen many fraudulent cases I would not help with. I have also helped people who have an arguable point to make with the consular officer, but were rightfully refused. Properly so. As you assert your right to publically express yourself, you also have to take with that right the possible consequences; one of which is public criticism. I too have that same right of expression you claim. Being trained in the law gives me some ability to determine if your statement was proper as advice and being a U.S. citizen I have the right to tell you you are wrong to tell others to violate U.S. law to get to my country and that I am dismayed.

chinagirl001 seems to have an answer that might get her into legal trouble. To jump a visa could be a criminal act and encouraging it could be aiding and abetting a crime. It is noteworthy that this chinagirl001 put it all in writing which could make any case easy to establish. I am mentioning this because I would hate to see this fine and very useful site get to warpped into passing advice on how to cheat the system and harm the U.S. My personal advice to you chingagirl001 is in the venacular "stuff it". You are speaking like a cousin of a snakehead, with the same plan, beat the American immigration system. I wonder if you have the same motivation? Making money?

Owen: For what it is worth, I suggest you check out how things are done in BJ with ex-pats or foreign teachers. If it looks good just go there to make exchanges. If you do the "men-in-black" stuff do not take money directly from them, only take it from the bank teller and have it checked for being fake.

This is what I know as of 8:30AM, 4/29 on the fingerprinting and "overcomes" at GZ. After overcome documents are submitted all beneficiaries between 14 and 79 will have to go to the Consulate the next day in the afternoon to have their prints taken.