frank1538

I feel your pain

Frank, I too am amazed at your timesline. VSC by chance? Welcome to the group, and thanks for the info on the meeting in GZ. Warpedbored, Jingwen actually tapes our IM chats on occasion. I don't know if it'll do any good, but I don't think it can hurt. I'm planning on being in Guangzhoul during her interview, so we'll also make another video tape, just in case. Maybe I'll have her recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I don't know whether the camcorder's mini cassette is acceptable to GZ, but we can always get it copied to a full size VHS I guess.

Thanks for the travel update. All I can say about the flight is...... http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/3153flyunitedsm.jpg

One day I mentioned to Jingwen that I would help her keep the house clean. Big mistake. "I don't help you where you work", she said, "so you don't help me where I work." We finally settled on indoor v. outdoor cleaning. Inside the home will clearly be her domain, but I wonder how long it will take for her to be "corrupted" by Western notions of sharing the workload at home.

Ah yes, the infamous gauntlet. You'll find it just about anywhere where there are tourists. Of course, being a Westerner singles you out for special treatment. No eye contact is a good tactic. But, sometimes that doesn't work, and you are forced to get tough. The only good aspect to all of this is that it allows me to use words and phrases that would problably get me killed in the US - fortunately, the words aren't understood, but the tone of the voice is clearly recognized.

This is frightening. I have said before that KK, Jingwen's daughter, is 20 and must be adjusted before 12/04. GZ posted some info on the Life Act, but it seems that their view is that the Child Status Protection Act only applies to immigrant visas. Since the K-2 is considered a non immigrant visa, the Life Act probably won't help. If Atlanta is just processing 2001 AOS applications, I'm not sure there are enough strings out there to help. I hope my congress person is good enough to expedite her AOS.

Congratulations. I take it you kissed the bride this time and not the dog The K-1 is officially over. Have a great life together.

it is very serious coversation, you shouldn't make fun of it, sailor moon fans are worldwide, we have much moon power(could be mooning power) An obliviously poor attempt at levity by me. My apologies. My knowledge of anime is limited to what my son watches on the cartoon channel, so I guess I'll have to check the website to learn more. Thanks for the pics. Does Sailor Moon know Yu-Gi-Oh?

I must have missed something. A sailor mooning what?

Wish I could say we'd be there, but we're still waiting. Man, that's real soon. Best of luck to you two.

When I talked to a delightful lady at DOS, she said much the same thing. Her computer screen actually said "eligible for interview." I asked her what this really meant. She said it meant that ALL name checks have been completed, and my fiancee is ready for her interview - just waiting on scheduling at GZ. She said, but for the holidays, GZ has recently been sending the P4 about 4-6 weeks after receipt of the P3 forms. I'm not ready to go to the bank, but I beginning to think that February will be our month for the interview.

I'm at the other end of the spectrum. It is when my clothes can stand up by themselves that I know it's time to wash them. I've actually seen socks trying to escape. Ever wonder why you lose a sock now and then? Escape, my friend. Ever see a sock by the side of the road? Poor soul didn't make it.

Clifford, you are referring to what is called Direct Consular Filing or DCF. There are a limited number of consulates and embassies that will accept DCF for a marriage between two nonresidents of the consular district. Under DCF, you bypass the K-3 completely and file the I-130 directly with the embassy/consulate. The turnaround can be as short as two weeks. Finding the right embassy or consulate is the diffiecult task. You have to find a country that will allow a marriage between nonresidents without the need for a lengthy residency period. Then, that country must be an easy country for your fiancee to visit. Then, the embassy or consulate in that country must allow DCF for nonresidents of the consular district. Matching these three things for a Chinese resident is nearly impossible. Maybe a Russian fiancee would fare better. I remember when the TSC all but came to a halt in processing the K-1 petitions. A number of couples, mostly US/European, opted to go DCF in places like Gibraltar, bypassing the K-1/K-3 process, and filing the I-130 directly with the embassy/consulate. Most were successful. I do not believe Canada offers DCF, but there are some websites out there that can give you this information. One site I visited said that Malaysia offered DCF, and the marriage laws of that country had a very short residency period for nonresidents (maybe a week). And, Jingwen could have gotten a group tourist visa to visit the country. When I contacted the embassy to confirm all of this, they said NFW.

Wire transfers of $10,000 or more to non commercial US bank accounts may also be a reportable transaction. A buddy of mine brought back +$10,000 last year and filed the declaration form - so far no adverse consequences, not even an eyebrow raised at customs. Paying taxes on her gain from the sale of the house may well turn on whether you are married at the end of the year in which she sold the house and if you decide to file a joint return with her. I'd consult a good tax advisor on this one, but generally, unless you decide to file a joint return, income that she earned before becoming a resident of the US is not taxable in the US.

As my daughter is apt to say: Patience is a virture, Possess it if you can. Seldom found in women. Never found in man.

No, I can understand what you mean.. my fiancee isn't very close to her family, but she still sees them a few times a week. The adults are convinced I'm not working at all to bring her here and that she's living a dream, and the younger ones are telling her there's no way I would like "such an ugly girl" (which, btw, couldn't be further from the truth ).. At least once I month I try to explain the process to her, but it doesn't really get through (she's not really familiar with how beaurocracy works in the US). All she knows is that I'm working very hard and miss and love her very much. As far as the seperation anxiety.. I think we all go through that. I would expect it would be doubly-difficult for those with children involved. December 13 makes one year since the last time I've seen my fiancee. I look back, and I can honestly tell you that I have no clue what I've done or accomplished this past year... its all a blur.. all I can really remember is working on our paperwork and juggling information with the government. Once she gets here, I certainly plan on slowing _way_ down to enjoy my life together with her.. Rob and Bobby, like you, I think that I am also beginning to feel some of the frustration that our wives and fiancees have been feeling for a while. I forget sometimes that the frustration we on the US side feel is fueled by an inane bureaucratic system. We may not like it and we may not understand why the system remains so f***ed up, but we know the system is the reason for the delays. But, the frustration on the China side is hard to attribute to anything concrete. Telling them, if effect, that the mighty United States government can't seem to get its act together just doesn't seem to ring true in their ears. Their frustration seems to be fueled more by uncertainty, doubt, and lack of familiarity with the system made worse by friends and family who know even less about it. I too have tried so hard to explain the system, but I really don't have good answers for Jingwen. Did you try this? Yes. Did you try that? Yes. I hear the consulate lets Americans in to talk about the visa. Well, yes, but not our specific case. Why is it so easy to make war but so hard to get a visa? - didn't have a real good answer for that one. Jingwen has shown more patience than I thought possible. But, each day when we chat on Yahoo, I have to tell he that I don't have any good news to share. I don't like to see her cry, but waiting more than a year for a visa is something that I don't think she really expected, and the disappointment on her face really makes me feel powerless. I know that we will all survive this ordeal. Rob, your wife and son will be with you soon, and the separation funk will fade into the past. Bobby, you and your fiancee will celebrate each day when you are finally together. And Jingwen, my love for you grows every day. I will see you soon.

That would be my assumption

Nothing here. I'm hearing through the grapevine that all the January interview slots have been filled. DOS keeps tellimg me 6-8 weeks for the interview.

Was there ever any doubt? Glad to hear that things are going well. When's the due date?

Jingwen's divorce document also states that she has not registered any marriage since her divorce. I presume that this would qualify to show that she is single. Am I mistaken? She also has a document that says that she has custody of (fosters) the children.

Carl, this now really has me thinking. last trip over was United and Asiana, and back was Asiana and Delta, I think, it might have been the other way around. Have to find old tickets, but I just might have some frequent miles laying around that I do not have credited. I think time for me to look for these. I might just have a free flight sitting here that I not even know about. Just a little reminder about Delta's frequent flyer program. Frist, they won't credit miles for a flight more than 6 months old. Second, they won't credit miles if the name on the ticket is different from your FF account name. This happened to me because the name on my passport (used for ticketing) is different from the name for my FF account.

As much as I hate to admit this, the IRS actually has a pretty good publication on individual income taxes, including spouse exemptions and dependents. It's Publication 17 and you can find it at: http://www.irs.gov

You might try thr US Family Visa Advocacy Group at http://pub99.ezboard.com/bk1advocacygroup This group was originally formed to address the problems at the TSC, but it has expanded to cover all the service centers.

Just got this from a buddy. Thought I'd pass it on. Why men would rather have two dogs than two wives: The later you are, the more excited they are to see you. Dogs will forgive you for playing with other dogs. If a dog is gorgeous, other dogs don't hate it. Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name. A dog's disposition stays the same all month long. Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor. A dog's parents never visit. Dogs do not hate their bodies. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across. Dogs like to do their snooping outside rather than in your wallet or desk. Dogs seldom outlive you. Dogs can't talk. Dogs enjoy petting in public. You never have to wait for a dog; they're ready to go 24-hours a day. Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk. Dogs like to go hunting. Another man will seldom steal your dog. If you bring another dog home, your dog will happily play with both of you. A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, "If I died would you get another dog?" If you pretend to be blind, your dog can stay in your hotel room for free. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and give them away. A dog will let you put a studded collar on it without calling you a pervert. A dog won't hold out on you to get a new car. If a dog smells another dog on you, they don't get mad, they just think it's interesting. On a car trip, your dog never insists on running the heater. Dogs don't let magazine articles guide their lives. When your dog gets old, you can have it put to sleep. Dogs like to ride in the back of a pickup truck. Dogs are not allowed in Bloomingdale's or Neiman-Marcus. If a dog leaves, it won't take half your stuff.

My God, you're right