humblestudent

Hi, I hope this is the appropriate forum for this question. My wife's mom is planning a 5 month visit from Shanghai. (We live in 15 minutes from San Francisco) Since we got married, her mom has been here every 1.5-2 years, and stays for 2 months. Each time she visits, I get stressed for the obvious reasons, but another source of stress is her mom's insurance, or lack thereof. She's 59, and overall, has health is good, but her blood pressure is on the high side. What i always worry about is if she falls, hurts her back, or an unforeseen accident. Over 70% of bankruptcies are due to medical reasons, I looked into traveller's insurance and it costs about $725. Therefore I wanted to seek advice from the wise members, what do you guys do when your inlaws visit for an extended period of time? Thanks, Don

Thanks for the speedy reply. I guess I got nervous after reading this post.. http://www.theworldoffilipinas.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19626, as one USC says, "Do not list U.S. Citizen children, they don't have to remove conditions. As Ampalaya says the form itself is not clear on this although it is mentioned in the instructions to only list children that are removing their conditions at the same time as the applicant".

Hi folks, Eva and I are getting ready to send in our I-751. For Part 5, Information About your Children - List all your children. If our son was born in the US, and is a US citizen, do we need to put his name on here? Or would USCIS interpret that he's looking to remove conditions as well? Thanks in advance.

Hi all, My wife wants to change her last name to take on mine. We've been married about a year, and have another year before we remove the conditions on her green card. Reading some other threads, it mentions that there's a fee if i wanted to change her name. Does anyone know how much this fee is? http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...l=changing+name Or should I wait until it's time to remove the conditions on her green card and do it then. I'm assuming during this period, there's no fee? Thanks in advance.

There's a lot of chinese websites like these, where you can view movies and listen to music. http://www.pplive.com/ http://haoting.com Wondering if any of your tech experts would know if these would infringe on any copyright laws here in the US?

Great news Clement. Congrats Emily. Today Emily received her brand spanking new 10-year green card. From the day I sent the I-751 petition till today with the green card in hand - 64 Days total. Next March I'll be petitioning for my son's I-751. Hopefully it'll go as uneventful and as fast as this one. Here's the cover letter I used for Emily's I-751 petition. Perhaps it'll help anyone preparing to file I-751.... -------------------------- United States Department of Homeland Security USCIS California Service Center P.O. Box 10751 Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-1075 May 31th, 2009 Re: I-751 joint petition to remove conditions of status on: Petitioner's name: A #123-456-789 Dear Sir or Madam: Enclosed please find the JOINT Form I-751, Petition for removal of conditions of permanent resident status for my wife firstname, lastname We are enclosing the following: Application fee ¨C Check of $545.00 (includes Biometric fee) Form I-751 - Copy of Permanent Resident Card, California ID & SS card - Exhibit A - Copy of our joint US tax return for the year 2007 and 2008 - Exhibit B - Copy of 2 recent statements from our joint Checking acct - Exhibit C - Copy of a recent statement from our joint Savings acct - Exhibit D - Copy of our Apartment Rental Contract showing joint tenancy - Exhibit E - Copy of 2 recent apartment monthly rental statements - Exhibit F - Copy of Term Life Insurance showing beneficiary information - Exhibit G - Copy of a recent AT&T resident phone statement showing joint acct - Exhibit H - Copy of a recent DISH monthly statement showing joint acct - Exhibit I - Copy of 2 recent Verizon Wireless statements showing joint acct - Exhibit J - Copy of our HMO cards and POC letter showing a joint policy - Exhibit K - Copy of our family dental insurance showing a joint policy - Exhibit L - Copy of our Costco Club cards & AMEX on a joint account - Exhibit M - Copy of our family membership card at SF Academy of Science - Exhibit N - 2 letters of affirmation from our friends - Exhibit O We are happily married and living together and request that this petition be accepted for removal of conditions on the residence of my wife firstname, lastname. Our son firstname, lastname is not included in this petition because his conditional residence is expiring on XX/XX/2010. We will submit another petition for him within the 90 days of that expiration date. Copies of documents submitted are exact photocopies of unaltered documents and I agree to submit original documents to an Immigration or Consular officer at a later date, if required. You are always welcome to visit our home anytime should you desire to do so. Yours truly, My name & my wife's name ----------------------------- Good luck to all going thru' the I-751 process!

Eva had her AOS interview yesterday in San Francisco at 10:15am. It was conducted by a younger immigration officer. Upon entry into his office, we were both sworn in and then the basic questions were asked. (He went down the list of questions on the 3rd page of the i-485 -- have you ever been arrested, part of the chinese communist party, etc). In addition to the standard questions, we were also asked.. 1. what i did for a living 2. what time i usually get home from work 3. where we went for our honeymoon 4. where we got our wedding rings 5. where and when did we get married 6. who were the witnesseses to the ceremony 7. what we liked to do together 8. does she work? 9. when was the first time her parents met me (and if they liked me) 10. how many times had i been to Shanghai to visit He then asked to see our pictures. He asked where the pictures were taken and to identify everyone in the pictures Next, he asked to see our marriage certificate. Turns out the marriage certificate we had was a souvenir, not the certified copy that we needed to get at the Office of the recorder. Doh! The immigration officer said this happens a lot, and that he would've approved us if we had that copy. He then said we can just send it the copy once we get it and then we will be approved. So, on we went to the Recorder's office to get the certified copy of our marriage license. I'll be sending that in today, so hopefully approval will be swift. All in all, it was a pretty straight forward interview. None of the questions were from left field. My advice is to practice listening to the questions beforehand. I honed Eva in to listen for key words, so nothing would come as a surprise. She did very well, and I've never been more proud of her. Thanks, Don

Hi all, Eva's AOS interview is set for July 23. She's understandly a little nervous about not being able to understand some of the immigration officer's questions. Am I able to translate for her or is that a big no no? Thanks, Don

Hi Tine and Ella, In the list of things to bring to the interview, you mention 12.Notarial Certificate of relationship (ֱϵÇ×Êô¹Øϵ¹«Ö¤Êé) Pardon my ignorance, but wondering how I should go about this? Should I a. write it in a similar fashion to the evolution of relationship b. write it in a timeline fashion similar to the signature here on CFL? Your help is appreciated. Thanks, Don

I got an RFE for my wife's i485 which states, "In order to process your application further, the petitioner/sponsor on Form I864A, Affidavit of Support must submit all Federal income tax documentation submitted to the IRS for the most recent tax year." I know I sent my 2008 W2s along with the package, since I made a copy of the entire package before sending it off. Am I supposed to send more than just the W2? perhaps I need to send my entire tax printouts? Any advice is appreciated.

Hi, I sent in the EAD, and AP forms along with the AOS packet last month. I got two i-797c for the AOS and EAD, but none for the AP. Has this happened to anyone?

Hi guys, I took Eva to the DMV this morning for her written test. One of the clerks said that she couldnt help us because Eva's i-94 stamp had expired (March 5), and that they could only help us 60 days prior to the expiration date. Is it pretty easy to get the i-94 renewed? It's the first time I've heard about this, so I thought I'd seek advice from the members here. Thanks, Don

Hi Bill, Our AOS timeline are only a few days apart. My check was cashed about 1 week after our package was received. Thanks, Don

I'm in the process of applying for a visitor's visa for my mother in law to visit us in SF later this summer. She owns her own condo and has some savings in the bank, but she was recently divorced. I'm wondering would that have any negative impact on her "ties to China"?

Hi all, Just wondering what/how many vaccination shots will be needed? hep A, B, tb, mmr? For some reason, I was under the assumption that the doctor would be able to tell you, based on your age, etc. I've added my wife to my Blue Shield, but talking to 2 doctors, the shots are not covered by insurance. I guess I'll have to take her to the county clinic. Thanks, Don

hi guys, Eva and I got married yesterday in City Hall, and I am preparing the AOS documents so we can send them in soon. On question #21 on the I-864, it asks for "Your Household Size" for part A, "Persons you are sponsoring in this affadavit", i entered 1. and then underneath that "Persons NOT sponsored in this affadavit", item C. reads "if you are currently married, entered 1 for your spouse. Just wanted to confirm if I put 1 on here, making the total under for item h. 3? If so, that seems strange, because there's only me and Eva in the household, so i'm thinking I only put 2. Thanks again, Don

hi Roger, I'm about 30 minutes from Sacramento. Could you give me the number to the Civil Surgeon you went to? Eva and I are preparing her documents for AOS. Thanks, Don

thanks for your speedy reply. Just to be sure, we have 76 days from her December 5 entry into San Francisco to apply for SSN? What a relief. My fiancee got me ancy that we had to apply for it ASAP.

hi, My fiancee got her visa approved on July 1. Between studying English and work, she didnt fly back to San Francisco with me this past Saturday. She recalled reading a post on the 001 forum that mentioned we had to apply for her SSN 2 weeks before her visa expired (which would be January 1, 2009, since it was issued on July 1). I was a little confused about this because at the POE in SF, I asked the customs officer if we needed to apply for her SSN right away. He replied we could apply after we got married. In an effort to calm my fiancee's nerves, I'd seeking the advice from the wise folks on this forum. Do we need to apply for a SSN before her the January 1 expiration date on her visa? I just thought the January 1 expiration date meant she had until that date to enter the country, and from that entry date, we had 90 days to get married. Therefore we could wait until after we got married to get the visa? Thanks in advance, Don

Actually, i am chinese-american. Growing up in the San Francisco/Bay Area, I'm not aware of all the traditional mainland customs. But this money is not the bride price, it's gratitude for her parents raising her all these years.

I've talked it over with my parents and asked my fiance as well. Since it's the first marriage for both of us and I'm taking her far away from her family, supposedly I'm to give a little bit more. The amount I'm giving to Eva's parents is 50,000rmb. Between that, the banquet in Shanghai, the fees for AOS, it looks like I wont be able afford a new car for a few years, perhaps for my 35th birthday. haha.

hi Dave, Yes, I've brought up the topic with my fiance yesterday, as I am getting everything ready for our banquet in Shanghai in early December. Originally, I planned on giving 20,000rmb, and asked if that was enough. She's a really down to earth girl, and she said, before it was good enough, but since I will be taking her away from her parents, that it would be best to give a little more. She didnt give me an exact amount, and told me that she'd talk it over with her folks. One of my Shanghai friends recently married, and her husband's family gave 100,000RMB, but of course his family is loaded, with property all across Guilin. I'm 31 years old and I cant afford to compete with these other rich families. Hopefully, something like 30-40K rmb will suffice. Anything more, I might not be able to keep up wth my mortgage and bills.

I found the answer in a previous thread. http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...de=show&st=

hi, I've talked to a few people regarding how much is a good amount to give the girl's parents as gratitude for raising her all these years, and everyone gives a different answer. Oringally, i thought 20,000RMB would be a good amount, but since I'll be taking their daughter from Shanghai, is 40-50,000RMB too little? It's a touchy subject and I thought I'd seek advice from the wise folks on this board. If I give too little, I dont want to feel like I'm disrespecting them, and if I give too much, I'll be hurting to pay the bills. Thanks in advance for your help, Don

Congrats David. That is great news!!