frank1538

Piece 'o cake. Don't forget to mark your calendar for two years minus 90 days out. PS. I'm going to move the post to Immigration Challenges section.

YYYYIIIIIPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEE??? How about showing a little emotion Michael. It's almost over. Good luck next month.

GZ's website indicates that the visa fee must be paid prior to the interview but is silent on whether it must be paid prior to the medical exam. The website also says that you should bring to the medical exam those documents listed on the OF-171. If the visa fee receipt is included in the list, definitely bring it. If it's not included in the list, I agree with David that the medical folks will likely be looking for completeness, so I would make sure I had it. As far as where to pay the fee, the GZ website that David provided gives you the list for GZ and surrounding areas. But, here's a thought. The US embassy in Beijing also processes visas (only non immigrant). You might check their website to see if they also have a listing of CITIC branches that will accept visa fees. If so, I would call them and verify that you can pay an immigrant visa fee. If not, sounds like you'll have no choice but to use one of the branches listed on GZ's website.

Pure speculation on my part - GZ hasn't focused much on the financial end. Maybe it's a change in tactics to keep one step ahead of the fraud. Anyone remember "The Hunt for Red October"? Sounds like GZ may be pulling a "Crazy Ivan".

It's not the end of the world. The overcome process is just another hurdle. Man, they really focused on the financial stuff, but unless there is a problem with your financial situation, it sounds like they just want more documents. The relationship stuff may be a bit more problematic since the reasoning is as clear as mud. Good luck.

No followup - not a good sign.

"New Immigrants" typically won't include those traveling on a K-1 visa.

I used to sent Jingwen a lot of CDs to give her a flavor of American music. I'd just send them USPS Express, listing them as gifts or CDs.

On Jingwen's I-485, I showed all 11 digits.

Bingo. It's on the upper left corner of the I-94.

Try this: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=14&t=9667

Mars, as you can see, there are two documents being discussed here. Best to figure out which one your fiancee is looking for. If it's the Certification of Legal Capacity and Intent to Marry form, David's link will give that to you if your fiancee did not get her copy in the P4. This is not a form that needs to be notarized, but is signed at the time of the interview in front of the VO. Jingwen completed this form in advance but did not sign it until asked to do so by the VO. By your stating that the medical worker wanted a notarized Unmarried Certificate, I'm wondering if he/she was referring to the second document that many folks provide, essentially a notarized certification that the applicant is not married. Jingwen relied on her divorce certificate with the statment that she had not recorded another marriage. Others have supplied a separate statement.

Jingwen's divorce certificate had a statement to the effect that she had not recorded a marriage since the divorce. This seemed to be sufficient. She was K-1. The medical folks said the same thing about my K-2 step daughter who was 20 at the time. I ignored them, thinking it was the VO not the hospital who determines the sufficiency of the documents. This was over a year ago, so things may have changed.

Frank, Did you go to GZ? Or did she ask you to go? I was there, and it was never a question. From the beginning, she and I both expected that I would be there. The interview was certainly a part of it, but Jingwen had never been out of the country, and she was also worried that she would have problems traveling to the US with her limited English skills. Besides, she needed a porter to carry her bags. B)

I agree that confidence will help. But, I must say that Jingwen was very nervous, at least going in. Two things weighed very heavily on her. One was that this was the first time she was going face to face with the mighty US government which had been holding her fate for a year. Second was her inability to speak English. I don't know if her nervousness was displayed during the interview, but she did a fine job as evidenced by the visa (now expired) in her passport.

I know of one instance when a USC talked to the VO before the interview. It was happenstance that this VO ended up interviewing the USC's fiancee. VO's are people too, and some do have a life outside the office. B)

Good news indeed. You're on the downhill slope now, and things will move a lot faster. Good luck.

Jingwen and the kids went through SFO, so LAX may be a little different. Also, it was over a year ago, so my experience may be a little stale. Make sure you have completed her I-94 and customs declaration before you get off the plane. It can be a pain to try to complete them while standing in line. First, she will go through immigration. Use the visitors line, not the immigrants line and not the citizen line. I accompanied Jingwen even though I was a USC. The immigration officer will take the sealed brown envelope and passport. He/she will take the I-94 and write in the A# and staple it to one of the pages of the passport. He/she might ask a question or two and will take her pictures and fingerprints. After you clear immigration, the process is routine. You'll claim your baggage and go through customs and give the customs officer the declaration. Usually, this is painless. You may have to re-check your baggage if you have a connecting flight. All is all, for Jingwen, it was fairly straightforward. I went through immigration with her since we were together on the flight. The officer tried to ask Jingwen a few questions, but her English wasn't good enough for him to understand, so he asked me a couple of questions - how we met, what was the purpose of her "visit", etc. I don't recall specifically how long it took to clear immigration, but a lot will depend on the crowds and where you are in the lines. I want to say the entire process was about one hour, maybe a little longer. Social Security numbers are not handed out at POE. Jingwen's cell phone was useless in the US.

Sounds like you're on you way. It also sounds like biometrics are next up.

Jason, I'm having a little trouble with this. I see Chinese characters in all the other posts, but yours looks a little like a double encrypted password.

My ability to write Chinese is limited by my software, but I'll give it a try. »¶Ó­¡£ÎÒÏ£ÍûÐí¶àÈËÃÇʹÓÃÕâ¸öÂÛ̳¡£ How'd I do?

Trying to sneak one by us? Good luck.

Good news!! The issue you talked about is on a lot of people's minds. It sounds like it's becoming more or a nit than a problem.

Just about all household goods and personal effects for a first time immigrant can be brought to the US duty free. If you do a search at the Customs website for this, you get some of the specifics. When Jingwen and the kids came, we just loaded up the suitcases and had no problems with customs. We did not bring any household items like furniture, etc.

Not to worry. He spells everything correctly. It's just that he uses words nobody else ever heard of. That's why we need the Triggionary.