frank1538

Very good news. Get the P3 docs to GZ as soon as possible, but make sure all the information is consistent with all the other filings. Our beloved government has a tendency to ask the same questions again and again and again. Good luck.

Man, what have you done? You've now opened the Pandora's box, and nothing will ever be sacred again. Jingwen is very open about things that we Americans would not normally talk about. Apparently, so is Trigg's wife, Fang Ling. So, if you're too embarrassed to ask Trigg about his financial condition, his eating habits, his fishning techniques, his driving skills, his underwear size, his other sizes, or anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, just ask Jingwen. She knows it all. Same for me - just ask Fang Ling.

I remember it this way. m r duks m r not m r 2. see m fly whale, i b m r duks PS ever notice that posts get really stupid the closer you get to a magic number (like 1,000).

Someone once described comtemporary Chinese pop music as "Carpentersesque". My eight year old son likes it, so that's as far as I'll go on commenting on it. Jingwen's kids seem to prefer rap and hip-hop.

That would be Buck Owens Frank. I met him once. He was dating a woman who was a world class fiddler that lived in Weiser Idaho where they have the Old Time Fiddlers Contest every year. They were in a bar in downtown Weiser called the Copper Lounge and were having a spat. He was drunk and basically made an ass out of himself. I'm not a big CW fan, but that line has stayed with me for maybe 20-30 years. Thanks for putting an artist with it.

"I've Got the Hungries For Your Love, And I'm Waiting in the Welfare Line."

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens. Unfortunately, I couldn't play the record immediately since I forgot to also buy the 45 RPM insert for the record player. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Which reminds me. I was driving my brother's kids one day, listening to the Beatles "White Album" on CD. My brother's daughter said that her dad also had this CD, but his was a lot bigger and was black.

I always lose weight while in China. Like John, I think it's the walking that does it. Certainly, it's not the lack of food.

I had requested transcripts, but they did not arrive within the time period shown on the request (10 days, I think). Ended up having to use my copies of the 1040 which I personally certified as true and correct copies of the originals. The transcripts arrived after Jingwen and the kids received their visas.

One small step for NVC. One giant leap for DaveR. You're getting close. Time to start the DHL tracking. Good luck.

Trigg, you've got to draw the line somewhere. When you see her mopping the front lawn, TAKE A STAND.

NPR is doing a series about China. Here's the link for those interested: http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/featur...aug/china_road/

Here's an interesting twist on language. Jingwen has a friend now living in Chicago who came over on a K-1. Apparently, she and her fiance went to get married, but when the "I do" question was posed to her, she said she didn't understand English very well. The magistrate refused to marry them. Never heard of this before.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt waiting more than a year for the whole K-1 process - now looking at 2-3 years for the AOS. Lighten up and cut the man a little slack.

I'm a little confused, squeak, maybe because you're K-3 rather than K-1. For K-1, you can get a SSN with just the visa if you file early enough. Further, a K-1 can get a SSN without work authorization, but it will say "not valid for employment" or something to that effect. For some reason, I thought the I-688 was a temporary resident card. Are you thinking about the I-688A? The is a temporary ead that USCIS will issue if the application for employment authorization has been pending for at least 90 days. I did not want to get a "not valid for employment" SS card, thinking it would be a pain in the butt to get it changed when Jingwen finally got her ead. We ended up getting temporary eads (Atlanta is soooooooooooo slow) and used them to apply for the regular SS cards. Unfortunately, we now have to wait for SSA to verify this with USCIS. Their little form letter said it would take about 45 days to get verification, but something tells me that it will likely take longer. I have no idea if the process is different for K-3.

The light at the end of the tunnel just got a little brighter. Good luck.

This is exactly what we did. However, the family could not get all the required vaccinations, so we had to get additional shots after they arrived in the US. Some of the vaccinations, like hepatitis, require a series of shots spread out over several months.

This is indeed good news. We also found out the interview date before the P4 was received. It took close to a week to get the actual papers, but I wouldn't wait longer than seven days. If you haven't received the packet by then, I would call or e-mail the consulate.

Finally!!!!!!!! Great news. Come on home and enjoy the sweet life. Best of luck to you and the family.

Who is this man, and why is he invading CFL? It's good to hear from you. Sounds like you've been busy again. I predict no visa problems for #2.

Dave Hollis tracks a lot of the information that you might need. What I like about his data is that it shows processing times for a number of consulates around the world. Take a look at: http://www.davehollis.com/k1/list.php4 and see if it helps. Ran across another website that also provides similar information: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/

It's probably a bit early to start calling, but I don't think it would hurt to give NVC a buzz to verify receipt. Sometimes, its takes a week or two to get from the service center to NVC. You will likely get the stock response that the matter is pending but one day they will tell you that the case has cleared and forwarded to GZ. At this point, be sure to get 1) the GUZ number, and 2) the date the files were sent to GZ. I called once a week, and I think it took a little over a month after NVC actually received the files to get through the name check process.

I am anything but a techie, but take a look at http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article03-018 . Apparently, the auto-run feature varies from system to system. Maybe, you can try the reverse to activate the autoplay.

We were watching a little of the Kerry speech last night, and KK, the 20 year old, asked who he was and what he was saying. I told her that this man wants to be president. Not knowing the Chinese word for president, I said that he wants to be America's boss. In order to try to condense what Kerry was saying, I said that this man thinks that America is a good country, but he also thinks that Bush is not a good boss. Her response shocked me. I don't know if using 'boss" tainted her thinking, but she asked if this man was afraid that Bush would kill him for saying this. I said of course not, not in America where the people decide who should be boss. The concept of free elections was totally alien to her. Maybe this is understandable given the fact that KK is a newly arrived young foreign person who is concerned more with adjusting to life and friends than to grasping political concepts, but it certainly surprised me.

You touched on something I've had trouble explaining to Jingwen. Like you, my formal education is extensive and like your wife, Jingwen has no college education. She keeps saying that she is dumb because she did not go to school. I keep telling her that there is a big difference between knowledge and intelligence, and just because someone did not go to school does not mean that he or she is not intelligent. I may have the book sense, but Jingwen has the common sense. Sometimes, I wonder how I survived without her.