frank1538

At several of the Chinese markets in Atlanta, there is a separate pharmacy booth/counter. If you get to know the manager here really well, it's amazing what you can find. Maybe this practice might work in other cities. Jingwen still prefers habenero peppers.

China town in NYC is too much like GZ? I am surprised to know that. One of my best friends from GZ is living in NYC and she works somewhere near the China Town, but she never felt the same. As a native GZ gal, I don't agree with these comments: "the buildings and shops were too old" ummm I won't use the word "old" to describe the buildings here in GZ. I would prefer "historical" which can specificly give ppl a real picture of what GZ is like. I'm proud that I'm living in a city with a history of over 2000 years rather than being drowned among skycrapers. Actually there are way too many new buildings and huge fancy shopping malls in GZ. I've never been to the Chinatown in NYC, however I do believe it has its unique culture and history that Chinese ppl should take pride of. "the streets were too dirty: True, in the past, some streets in GZ were too dirty. But now things have been changed. I dare not say that all streets here in GZ are dirtless, but all major streets are clean, that's for sure. I hope that ppl here who have not yet been to GZ won't be given any wrong perception of the city. This was not meant as a dis on Guangzhou, but I think Jingwen was expecting to find Chinatown like Midtown but populated with Chinese, and she was a bit taken aback by what she saw. Having seen NYC through the eyes of American TV, I think she expected all of NYC to have skyscrapers and wide boulevards, taxis, and the like. Needless to say, this was not what she found in Chinatown.

Jingwen had an opportunity to travel with me to NYC for a few days. The first thing we had to do when I could get away from work was to go to Chinatown and take a look. We'll do some more sightseeing this weekend. She surprised the hell out of me. I asked her if she liked Chinatown. Her response was that it was too much like Guangzhou, one of her least favorite cities. She said there were too many people (by US standards), the buildings and shops were too old, and the streets were too dirty. She said the only good things about it were 1) the food and 2) the fact that most everyone spoke a language that she could understand. She said she preferred Atlanta's Chinese community where the pace is a bit slower and the people are not as abrupt. I was actually shocked to hear all of this from a city girl, but it does tell me that she is adjusting to life in the US. I think part of her problem was that we are staying in the theater district at a nice hotel with lots of Christmas glitter, upscale stores, bustle, and neon, and she may have expected Chinatown to be more like this part of NYC.

All right!!!!! Hang in there, it's almost over. Good luck.

Rock and roll. Great news. Good luck.

Wonderful news Tony. Now it's time to really enjoy life to the fullest. Best wishes to you two.

Congratulations. Best of luck at the interview.

Happy to hear the good news, but not as happy as you must be. Good luck.

Congratulations and best of luck. Make a good New Years resolution.

Good luck at the interview. It's almost over.

I love hearing about successful interviews. Congratulations.

A major congrat to you guys. Best of luck.

Well. well, well. Even the mighty US government must yield to mortals. This is absolutely wonderful news. It is damned unfortunate that you had to go through so much b/s, but everyone here at CF, including myself, is delighted that this phase of the process has ended. Congratulations and best wishes to you both. Planning any spot the mixed couple contests in the near future?

Think of it this way. They may hold the cards, but you know the game. Besides, if the folks at GZ were open minded, their brains would fall out. Good luck.

Taz, I think a K-3 spouse can file for EAD without having to file for AOS. Take a look at the filing instructions which would put Kai in the (a)(9) category: "K-3 Nonimmigrant Spouse of U.S. Citizen or K-4 Dependent--(a)(9). File your EAD application along with evidence of your admission such as copies of your Form I-94, passport, and K visa." This is different than the K-1 requirements.

Ah, a happy ending. Your future looks bright. Hoping you and the family have a wonderful holiday season.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't need to file an I-130 off the K-1. Just file the I-485 after marriage to adjust her status to legal permanent resident (conditional for two years). But, you might go ahead and file for EAD (I-765) and her SSN. Can't help you on AP unless you want to file in Atlanta and wait and wait and wait.

Thought I'd start a thread for those who care to share their Thanksgiving experiences. This was Jingwen's first Thanksgiving, and I made the traditional meal. Everything went smoothly until I finished carving the turkey. Jingwen helped fill the platter with the meat and then proceeded to put the carcass on her plate. I said, eat what I've cut. No way, she said, the best meat is closet to the bone (I guess that's why she prefers chicken wings). I had to laugh watching her eat off the carcass which filled her plate. BTW, she actually ate most of the traditional things with the exception of the cranberry sauce - too sweet.

Good news, Gene. Just one less thing to worry about.

Congratulations and WOW, tough questions. I'm not sure Jingwen could have answered all of them correctly. It looks like Jade beat them at their own game. Don't dally - your future awaits.

I actually have seen some timelines shrinking on the USCIS side, but remember that GZ is part of the Department of State and not Homeland Security. I guess we could say "what USCIS giveth, DOS taketh away."

Wonderful news, Mick. Establishing a bona fide marriage should be a piece of cake after 18 months and a little one is tow. Good luck. The only downside that I see is that Memphis will probably issue a temporary green card and make you file for a permanent green card a few months later.

Sounds good as long as you're not part of the crying game. Good luck for a speedy process.

At the bottom of http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_v...us_linklist.xml is a link titled "Visiting the United States" which give a general description on personal and household goods that can be brought into the US duty free.

Being Italian, I beg to differ , but what do you expect from bacteria ridden soured milk? Jingwen will barely tolerates cheese, but the kids enjoy it - pasta "fra diavolo" with paremsan is one of their favorites.