skrunks

just had interview on 9/2/03. We had affidavit of support done AND also had the tax forms. They did not ask to see them. Seemed common, at least that day! The only thing they wanted was the forms in P4 and my Passport.

congrats..a touching story.

"My concern is that if take an aggressive approach and become confrontational it may not serve me well. Other people, perhaps, just not me. As much as I'd love to be the martyr and relentlessly confront these issues head on I also don't want to jeopardize in any way the chance for my wife and I to be together soon. I piss off a few of these people a little too much or a little too often and I may find my file is simply "lost" or delayed even more." Agree 100%. At one point, I received EXACTLY the same response from Kathryn Cabral. HOWEVER, the subsequent letter I wrote to Ms Harty did not tell anyone they sucked canal water or that the system was broken, but rather that I believed in our system, those who led the system and 'could you please help?'...etc etc. I sprinkled in a few kindnesses and they flowered. In fact, Ms Harty asked her executive assistant to look into it for me, rather than being delegated down the food chain. As a result, i had an answer in two days, the name check was done and forwarded to GZ the third day. Honey vs vinegar, y'know? Be patiently persistent!

to me it meant "we have your stuff, we'll get to it as soon as we can, buzz off" ha! I got similar reply in early august, a few days later (10?) han lin received P4.

I suppose I have a different perspective on this issue, even as my future chinese wife prepares to come here and join me shortly while others cross the border illegally to spend years here, maybe their entire life, without availing themselves of the proper procedure(s). I do not think anyone would disagree that people come here for a better life -- and that applies equally to most of our own ancestors as well. Yet, we condemn illegals, and anything that will help them because it is "unfair relative to me and my situation". That is probably true, as policies are not always equitable, consistent or fair. However, we are quick to forget that, except for a few, US history in north america began by immigrants taking land and rights from the native inhabitants. Was that wrong? Yes. I have thought long on this issue, as I am native american giving me a different way to look at this. So, I have trouble reconciling our indignation at illegals with the facts of how america came to be. My conclusion? Be tolerant, and slow to condemn others or actions that benefit them, for we have not traveled in their shoes. Are some immigrant decisions unfair? Perhaps, but many things in life go that way. Concentrate rather on the good things....it will help us all.

congratulations..we barely missed you. Interview was today..oh yesterday. You're not wasting any time on the marriage! Direct to las vegas and the chapel! Lin is more sedate in her processes, wants to do the grand tour with all her relatives, box up, ship out and come out west in 45 days or so. no amount of kibitzing on my part has shortened that timeline. Oh well, she's leaving her country.....not the other way around. BUT! Congrats to you and g'luck at the casino tables in vegas. B)

thankyou everybody. so nice of all you to do be so supportive. if there is anything I learned it is to be positive, patient and persistent. Not my words, someone else here said the same and I adopted the attitude...17 months is a LONG time to wait particularly when you are stuck in limbo for a year. thanks to all for the help, kind thoughts and best wishes!!!!!

Hmm. Good question. The address you put down will be the address they send both the P3 and the P4. So, it should be somewhere she can get mail. If I were in your shoes I'd put down her brother's address.... Is that right answer? Dunno! Its just what I would do. Someone else will have to answer the rest of your questions! G'luck!

VISA APPROVED!! WHOWWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. : :) We are very happy....she is going back home to start packing. Quick recap: she went in at 1 for a 1:30 appointment, about 100 people waiting. Got in at 3, the VO was a woman. Interview done at window #12. She first said hello how are you in Chinese, and Lin answered in english, the rest of the interview was in english. She asked how we met, how long it had been since we first met, where I lived and what my job was. The only thing she wanted to see was my passport. Of course, Lin wanted to show her everything as she had brought everything to the interview but the kitchen sink. I had prepared the affidavait of support and last years taxes but they didn't want to see that either. Lin said the VO was very serious, no small talk, no smiles. Sacman...we did turn in two copies of the 156K...two in chinese, two in english. We were lucky in that Lin had prepared everything correctly. There were several ladies who were sent back to redo some paperwork and were in/out of the consulate several times. So, they do not just arbitrarily reject you for not having done all the paperwork. Also, there were 4 ladies ahead of Lin who did not speak much english and they got their visas as well. They were all coming to the US. PIcking the visa up at 4 pm tomorrow. The wait is over and life is good.

quick question. Whats VO mean?

just my opinion here. But I think that lawyers help where they dot the I's and cross the Ts on the packets so you don't lose 30 or 60 days resubmitting a packet to the service center....or where your fiancee needs a lot of help prepping the paperwork (P3, P4) and you aren't able to do so. B4 I took this on, and did it myself, I read maybe 20 or 25 lawyer websites, and called and talked to about a dozen or so. The consensus Han Lin and I reached was that we could do everything a lawyer could do, but it would take more time on our part. Not sure how the consulate views the use of lawyers? however, as one told me, "we don't let any of our clients lose a K1 Visa case" I suppose that about says it all, eh? Then, when i was worried because it was taking so long, I almost hired a lawyer until the one I talked to said "you've already done the work, you would be paying us just to feel better and we're not in the business of taking your money for nothing". hmmmmmmm!

OH...TODAY is the day for us. 1 Sep US, 2 Sep in GZ. In fact, Lin is at the victory hotel right now after getting back from the morning visit to the consulate. She always amazes me. Get this, she went in at 7:15 this morning (she deosn't like to get up early) for an 8:30 appt even though I thought 6 am would be a better time. There were many people there waiting already, maybe 40 or so. WELL she is all dolled up, and -- no disrespect to any other ladies here -- she is strikingly beautiful, you know the kind of woman who comes into a room and every guy looks? Yeah, thats her. So, she goes up to the guards...all male of course...to ask them what to do and puts on this big smile. Well guess who they took in right away? yeah, I guess she knows how to twist guys around her finger. She was in and out in 30 minutes. They took her paperwork and chatted with her in deutsche (she went to school in Zurich) and then english...and said come back at `1:30 for the interview, he'd see her later (wink wink). Geeze. I had told her to dress conservative, she told me, no...sexy is better. Of course, sexy in china is normal USA dress. Anyway..we'll find out in a few hours. IN the meantime, I am on pins and needles and my stomache is churning...and she says don't worry about it. Wish I had her confidence. I'll post the results later in this thread. btw thanks to everyone here for helping to get us this far...without this forum we'd have been out there treading water still. Should have visa in hand either today OR tomorrow. She doesn't want to wait until tomorrow and has already asked one of the guys to see if they can somehow manage to do that for her. Wish I could bottle that influence and sell it, I'd be rich.

Had the same experience in customs last time I was there...bought her some perfume at the whaddya call it...duty free shop...and the line was LONG for nothing to declare. So I declared the perfume, showed it to them, then han lin's picture, and smiled. whisk...right through.

GREAT! Be prepared to receive your interview date in short order...when I got the word that Han Lin's name check was done...and my time lines are very similar to yours...we thought "oh we'll have until october". Then bang, P4 and an interview on 2 september. Yikes. Luckily we had everything together but I could not go to the interview because of very pressing business affairs. g'luck!

I grew up in oregon in the northern willamette valley on a cherry farm near bald peak, and did not know the story behind the Bing cherry! Personally, royal annes and lamberts are my favorite, but there is no getting around the popularity of bings....sadly for me texas is a long distance from the closest cherry orchard.

WOW! A provisional case? Now THAT is moving a mountain. What you can tell your sweetheart is that the Inspector General carries a HUGE stick and lots of influence in the government business. I used to be one of em, and you never crossed up an IG investigation. Maybe your sweetheart could find someone else (another K1) there to talk to who is in a similar situation? That way she might understand that everyone waits, and that it is not your fault, nor is it just her. I was engaged in March of 2002, and we've been waiting per my time lines below...so hang in there and good luck, you'll do much bettter than we did.

OH and the same thing happened to me, we got the P4 just three weeks before her interview date. Yikes! But we had planned ahead knowing it was probably coming soon, and all the paperwork I needed to send was ready, and she had done everything but the medical. So...off went the UPS while she went to Guangzhou for the medical. She came back home, grabbed some more money and my package and headed back to gz yesterday for her appointment tomorrow at 8:30 am! cross your fingers!

Couple of suggestions. First, use UPS rather than FEDEX as UPS coverage in china is not as limited as FEDEX. Someone told me that a while back and I have stuck with it and never had delays. Second, the post office, fedex or UPS has a document that tells what items must be declared on international shipments. Almost all documents related to visas are not required to be listed, ie tax forms, visas, birth certificates, letters, documents. So, you just check that box on value of contents and most people put in a $1 default value. If you really want to see what items must be declared, have the post office or a shipper show you what is required. Now does that mean it will or will not be inspected by customs? Not sure. I do know that every package i have sent to china, except the last one (with pictures, my birth cert, etc) was opened and inspected. Even at that, it took less than a week to get from "here to there". Just the price to pay for dealing with china in these days and times. Plan accordingly. g'luck

oh and in regards to the "space shot" of earth, there is a web site where you can download a photo of your area, in fairly good detail. I did that once to show han lin where I lived, but darned if i can remember the URL. I"ll have to find the website again and post it here...it covers just about anywhere in the US>I think!!

Just a couple things that worked well for me. Belgium chocolates went over quite well with my lady as did a perfume sampler box. Cost me a $100 but she loved the perfume. Also, as everyone has said, giving money is never wrong, just dont try to outdo anyone. Han Lin calls it "lucky money" and it is always given in one of those little red envelopes you can get anywhere. I think 500 rmb is a bit much, usually its less unless your circumstances dictate otherwise. Also, red is a lucky color in china, so you might consider that as well. I did buy her a watch for her birthday, we spent HOURS going from shop to shop before she finally decided on one. It was one of those games you play, you know? "yes dear, you look great in that dress". Then she puts it back for whatever reason. Well it was the same with watches. But eventually, she chose and she loves the one she got. Man do they love to dicker over price. I'd pay the extra 10 rmb just to get off my feet! One other thing you might want to "avoid" -- is a mistake I made. I told han lin to invite her family out to dinner and I would take care of the bill. WELL...every relative and friend they could think of showed up for the dinner. Why? I'm not really sure! Musta been because we were recently engaged. Luckily dinner engagements are cheap and it only cost me about $80 USD. OH! if you give a gift to someone senior to you, like her father, make sure you use both hands to present the gift, not just one.

some good suggestions from others here. When i submitted my paperwork IF I had looked ahead and had her start doing her police clearance it would have helped because she lived in other countries in europe and it took several months to get the police records from each placed she lived. That held us up two months or so. Once you get the thumbs up from the service center and the case is forwarded to the consulate, well, you can expect P3 and look through what is (will be) in that packet and educate her on what to expect..same with P4. You can also learn the ropes of the process, but the time lines really vary person to person. Someone here said its best to be patiently persistent, a good phrase to remember on those days when you wonder why ######@~ the govt takes so long to do a background check (name check) when you can get it done over the internet in a few days. G'luck.

hey i have a question, is there driving schools or something for all this? And..what does it take, just the passport for a learner's permit? Han Lin wants to drive when she gets here, but she is horrible on the motorcycles in china, having crashed 3 in the last year, totalling them all. She just doesn't pay attention. Teaching her to drive would be a graying experience for me....

Good grief, I am about to renounce my republican party affiliation if they continue to spout such ignoramus sponsorship of anti immigration bills. Perhaps I should write the texas rep who co sponsored the bill and give him an earfull, I cannot BELIEVE that this is anything but a knee jerk reaction with anything but chest pounding behind it. At least, I hope so. Politicians!

FBI actually works on things!? well, good news is good news. Hope the next step goes quick, things seem to be "moving along"....

Well, the hour is drawing nigh, and Han Llin has her interview next tue (2 sep). I am probably not helping her, asking did you get this and this and this done and then she says I worry too much, it will be easy, only a few questions and get the visa. But, knowing the gov, and having heard many less than successful stories, I'm still nervous. Couple of questions, anyone know what they use the biographic information for in the p4? it would seem to me that knowing her/my brothers sisters, parents is more relevant at the start than now? not sure why they have that in the packet now. Also, for scheduling purposes, are they sticking to the "visa next day" rule or are they being issued the same day? She did the medical and that went fine, and will pay the 830rmb when she goes back for the interview. Hope it goes well, cross your fingers. And...anything else that counts.