frank1538

Thanks for the insight. I'll give it a try.

You can archive your written chats so you will have a record. Also, if you have a camcorder, you can tape the conversations as well. I did both, but the VO didn't ask for this proof. There is also a utility out there that is supposed capture the webcam. You might take a look at the following link and see if it might help. http://www.andy.w2s.co.uk/yahoo/CamGrab2/camgrab2.htm

When we applied for EAD and AOS, I did not apply for advance parole, thinking that we would have plenty of time as we planned our next trip to China. Unfortunately, Jingwen's dad has been hospitalized and is not expected to survive much longer. Needless to say, she is distraught, and I feel so bad having to tell her that she cannot leave the country to be with him and the family until she receives her advance parole papers which I have applied for but don't expect for at least 30-45 days (may be too late) Anyone ever hear of expedited processing for AP?

debate? brawl? throw down? Tell her to ask people at work This seems to be one of the language differences between Chinese and English. While there are hundreds of ways to say the same thing in English, it seems the Chinese language has only one or two ways. This has confused Jingwen, but the kids are having the most difficulty. "Dad, what does 'what's cooking' mean"? "Dad, what does 'hey' mean"? "Dad, what does 'what's happening' mean"? "Dad, what does 'how's it going' mean"? "Dad, what does 'how are 'ya' mean"? "Dad, what does 'how you been' mean"? "Dad, what does 'how 'ya doing' mean"? "Dad, what does 'what's up' mean"? "Dad, what does "watcha been up to' mean"? ni hao ma, ni hao ma, ni hao ma, ni hao ma, ni hao ma, ni hao ma...... "Why so many ways to say the same thing"?

What good is the day and month of expiration if you don't know which year is involved?

I'm not sure about having to buy a round trip ticket to get a visa to China, but my gut says you don't need one. Nonetheless, when I went to China to be with Jingwen, I bought a round trip ticket for me and a one way ticket for her and the kids which put them on the same return flight as mine. This was done with United, and they were cordial enough about coordinating the seating. The one way tickets were a bit more than 1/2 the round trip ticket, but it was worth it to make sure that we could all sit together. One piece of advice. Do NOT buy a round trip ticket for her and try to use only the second leg. She'll lose the reservation if she does not use the first leg. Also, it is often cheaper to buy the tickets for the both of you while in China which also suggests to me that you might not need a round trip ticket to get a visa since others on this board have bought their tickets while there.

After 24 years, I'm going to guess that the statute of limitations has run on the government's ability to make an assessment. Incidentally, Jingwen was not working when we applied for her K-1 - no problem. Nor were the kids.

Tic toc.....tic toc

Wonderful news. The finish line is in sight. Get your medical exam and complete you P4 papers. It's downhill from here. Good luck at the interview.

This issue has come up a number of times, and I'm not sure there's a good answer. If your wife entered on a K-1 visa and you got married within 90 days but you failed to file the I-485 within the 90 days, I think she is technically "undocumented". If this is your situation I would double check with a good immigration lawyer on whether filing the I-485 now will create a problem, but, in some fashion, you should take steps to document her change in status from a nonimmigrant (K-1) to a conditional permanent resident. If you wife entered on a K-3, I think this visa is good for 2 years, but I know little about what needs to be done after entry into the US. Maybe others on this board with K-3 experience can shed some light.

With Jingwen's penchant for washing everything, seems like I'm wearing the same underwear again and again. This just ain't American. Like most guys, I had a certain supply of underwear and would wash the dirties when I started having to use the reserve supply. Never again. Now, three pairs are all I'll ever need. So, I have about a month's supply of underwear that's just sitting in the drawers. I've tried using a first-in first-out approach so that I can rotate them, but I'm now convinced that I'll the only time I'll need more underwear is when the water runs out or the washing machine breaks. Asking price - same as Bill Clinton's estimate of value when he donated to charity.

Patrick, a good friend who lives outside of Greenville just sent this to me. Thought it might give Li some idea of what is store for her. YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM SOUTH CAROLINA WHEN... You can entertain yourself for more than an hour with a fly swatter. You burn your yard rather than mow it. You think the Nutcracker is something you do off a high dive. The Salvation Army declines your mattress. You offer to give someone the shirt off your back they don't want it. You come back from the dump with more than you took. You keep a can of Raid on the kitchen table. Your grandmother has "Ammo" on her Christmas list. You think a subdivision is part of a math problem. Your kids take a siphon hose to show and tell. You have used a rag for a gas cap. Your house doesn't have curtains but your truck does. You wonder how service stations keep their restrooms so clean. You consider your license plate personalized because your father made it. You have a complete set of salad bowls, and they all say Cool Whip on the side. The biggest city you've ever been to is Wal-Mart. Your working TV sits on top of your non-working TV. You've used your ironing board as a buffet table. You think a quarter horse is that ride in front of K-Mart. Your neighbors think you're a detective because a cop always brings you home. A tornado hits your neighborhood and does $100,000 worth of improvement. You've used a toilet brush as a back scratcher. You missed 5th grade graduation because you had jury duty.

99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer... Keep on counting, you're down to 11.

Welcome home. Glad you're back with Hong Li.

I gave them a copy of Jingwen's notarial divorce certificate, but my intention in giving them this document was to provide evidence that she has sole custody of the children since the divorce certificate has this information in it. I did not give them a copy of my divorce decree. Like you I did not see anything in the instructions coverning any requirement related to prior marriages. Other than biometrics scheduling, I haven't heard anything back from CIS.

When Trigg and his lovely wife came to Atlanta to retrieve their daughter, they used fish and venison as the ransom. While I'm starting to sprout gills from all of the fish, it seems that Jingwen has also really taken a liking to venison, even though she had never eaten this meat before. Among the many pounds of meat that Trigg gave us were several beautiful roasts. Jingwen's first impression was "bu hao, mei you fei" - not good, no fat. Well, she was bound to find a use for the venison, so she made a soup/stew, by cutting the meat into cubes and adding some Chinese herbs and seasonings, simmering the entire concoction for who knows how long. She served up a batch the other night, and I must tell you that I've never tasted anything better. We've been having venison soup almost every night and now I'm starting to grow antlers along with the gills. Jingwen often uses a toothpick now to fish the venison from the broth, eating the meat like she would a piece of melon, something she just doesn't do with other meats. Great to see her branching out with the food.

Q. Why are gasoline prices higher then lower? Can't the government make up its mind? A.

Wonderful news, T. Now brace youself. She'll be like a kid in a candy store when she gets here.

As the article points out, the trou drop is the key - learned this the hard way the first time I tried it.

When prepping the I-129f, I was stongly advised to omit any correspondence with references to wife, husband, lao po or lao gong for fear of confusing the service center. But, by the time the interview rolled along, I figured the endearments were common enough that the consulate would know this, so all correspondence was copied for presentation during the interview. As it turned out, none of it was even looked at.

Let me add my congratulations to you both. You have run the gauntlet, and you are still standing. Great news and best of luck to you two.

Remember, this is China. Outside the fenced offed area is ok. As to the thread's main question, I am a firm believer that one's presence is helpful. As stated, you cannot go into the interview with the applicant, but you can make your presence known by giving the applicant your passport to take into the interview and make sure the VO sees it. Also, I went into the embassy the day before the interview to sign in, have a look and get some more pages added to my passport. Whether this helped is anyone's guess. You can archieve your Yahoo chats and make sure the applicant brings copies to the interview. You can also take a video of the webcam sessions and bring this too. Phone records are good, and there are some cheap cards out there that will give you good details. Also, build a paper trail with GZ. Make frequent inquires via e-mail asking about the status of the processing and document everything you can.

Are you sure you're still waiting on NOA1? NOA1, which in lay terms is the official acknowledgement of having received the petition is usually sent out within the first week of so. NOA2 is the actual approval notice for the petition. This approval/notice can take up to six months at CSC unless they've gotten their act together and sped up the processing times. It sounds like you are dealing with NOA2. Most of the times, the telephone response is to wait until the time shown on the on-line status check has passed (sometimes plus 30 days) before you make an inquiry. Go to https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/case...id=e0aCdxAyuYw6 and enter your receipt number and see if June 25th jives with the processing time shown.

You can also go to http://www.tigtag.com . You enter the Chinese characters, one at a time, at the bottom right of the page to get the telgraphic code. It is always good to check it against the hard copy, which can also be found at post offices in most major cities in China.

Hi Who, and welcome to CFL. Just a couple of thoughts and observations. As you can tell from my avatar, I'm no spring chicken either - been there, done that and have the alimony payments to prove it. Many of us have wondered what the motivations are for a woman from China to marry an American. For some, it is love, pure and simple. For others, it is love coupled with an opportunity for a better life. Unfortunately, for others it is colored green, as in card or money only. While I know this will not apply to many Chinese women, I have found that money, aka security, is a very important consideration for a Chinese woman, and Americans seem to represent the top of the heap in this regard. When you're in China, $100 will go a loooong way, and we American don't pinch pennies nearly as well as the Chinese. Unfortunately, because things are so cheap in China, we tend to spend money there differently. What's and extra 10 yuan when it translates to about $1.25? Sometimes this gives the impression that we are filthy rich, and the American TV, ads, movies, and the like all reinforce this. When I was in China, I could have bought two houses. I could afford to buy things that my wife could not, but she really had no concept of how much things really cost in America, and she would comment sometimes that she would like this or that when she came to America, thinking that the US price was the same as the Chinese price. Slowly, she began to understand that just about everything in America is more expensive. Whenever we went to a restaurant or shopping we would compare the Chinese and American costs, and I found out that simply substituting "dollars" for "yuan" was an easy way to attune her to the fact that things were expensive in America. Jingwen has always said that money was not important, but deep down, I know that security and stability are. When she arrived in America and saw for herself how much more expensive things are in the US as compared to China, and any pipe dreams that she had about living the fabricated TV/movie lifestlye went the way of smoke. She now realizes that I could buy two houses in China, but only one house in America. We have a comfortable life here in America, and she has adjusted to the fact that middle class living in the US is still giving her far more than she ever imagined. Fortunately, she still hangs on to her Chinese culture concerning money. Every penney is watched, and every penney is saved. When it's time to spend it, she is still very particular about the cost. Now, as to the women talking. If you want me to know how much money you make, just let my wife and your wife chat for a few minutes. For some reason, my wife and her friends share this information just like you and I would compare prices on a TV purchase. It's not a big deal, just a cultural difference. Jingwen's concept of having money and not having money is like a light switch, it's either on or off. If you have money, this means that you can spend it. But, if you tell her that you don't have the money to buy something at this time, it sends a shriver up her spine and she then thinks we're are destitute. There is no middle ground here. Does your wife know your financial situation and your monthly income/cash flow? Jingwen knows to the penney how much comes in each month and how much is spent. If she said that she wanted to make a major purchase, I would tell her how much it would cost, and she would them determine how long she would have to save to by it (credit cards are still a bit alien to her). It is not uncommon for someone to want more material possessions, and Americans seem to represent the material world better than most. But, with a little education and "on-site" observation, my wife (and maybe yours) has come to understand that life is still good even if we don't have the things that the TV and movies says all Americans have.