skrunks

sounds like good cards. I use pincity.com which has local numbers for access and rates VERY close to what is stated here. It also has a very nice monthly recap of your account. YOu just have to charge the card whenever it runs low. An additional feature is that you get bonuse points that can be redeemed, reducing your cost a little bit more. Plus, it can be used in reverse, whereas a lot of other cards cannot (no access number in china).

echo same comments. I have visited many many sites on K1 visas over the past 18 months. This is by far the best forum I have found to help members with difficulties bringing their loved ones from china to the USA. Even if you can't get the exact answer you need, there is 110% support from many who are in the same boat, rowing just as hard.

I did not send my affidavit of support in with the original packet, I used the TSC. Everything I read said not to do it until you go in to the final interview. in fact, I just sent it over in a UPS packet a few days ago for the final interview. Does anyone know if any of the service centers even care about it? I didn't see it on the check sheet for documents to include at that point. My info is from last year, so it may have changed. g'luck!

warmest thoughts and sincerest congratulations from one of those who is still waiting - albeit with a interview date in hand. you must be thrilled after the long wait, mine has been since early last year!

hey something I picked up years ago for warm milk is to use ice with it. Sounds awful, but once i got hooked, I couldn't stop, now I use ice in my milk all the time. And your are right, chinese milk tastes different, sweeter or something. I just cope with it by using ice....but hardly anyone asks for ice so they look at me like i am a crazy american which is about 90% true.

well i have the same situation with my other half. She strongly believes in TCM (traditional chinese medicine) and getting her to do anything half western when it comes to medicine is a challenge. cultural thing...thousands of years of history y'know. So, unless its a life threatening situation, i just go along with her thoughts. You'll just have to seek your own balance! g'luck

hey i have heard the same thing about the format. Now if i can get han lin to tell me what it says in the p4 (she just got it last week). But...getting info from her is hard, I ask "did you get the photo" and she'll say yes. Then the next day I'll say...so how does the photo look and she'll say "what photo?" sometimes i think she just agrees to be agreeable!

just seein how the interview went, partly for my own ends sake! We have our interview on the 2nd and wanted to get the "down and dirty" from the most recent interview. Will be looking in this thread, hoping it went well for you. g'luck and I hear ya on that space thing! Gosh, do i put the beemer outta the garage or let the jag sit? Hmmmmmm just kiddin....hope all went well. frank

good info, 'specially since interview date is coming up. I thiink all..or most all of us have been there and can picture it in our minds!

warmest congratulations...it is nice to reach the end of the road eh? han lin's interview is 2 sep, we hope it goes equally as well good luck on your life together fk

oh, anyone know if an intransit visa is required going through tokyo? (from china to here for chinese)

thankyou all for the insight. Will be looking forward to hearing about the interview on the 29th...she will be staying at the Victory hotel, going there on the day prior. Hope interviews go well frank

From what I understand on the form, anyone who signs is liable for reimbursement to the government should medicare, SSI, welfare, etc costs be incurred. If you couldn't pay then they would expect co-sponsor pay. So, i think that is where the "risk" comes in. Whatever risk there is..and whehter he should or should not is between him and you! g'luck

P4 was received last wednesday, 13 August. The interview is scheduled for 2 September (yikes!). VERY HAPPY here and in china. Her parents are now realizing "ah oh, this is getting close". So, several questions that we could use help with/on.... 1. She had her name changed when she was 14 (first name only). The certificate so stating was done April of 2002concurrent with the police certification. Still good? Or do we need another? 2. Police certificate done April, 2002...assuming we need a new one for the interview? 3. Do they still need to take in the original file (I-129F) for the interview? I intend to send that in the next 2 days via fedex...how long should I tell her it will be b4 she gets? 4. We are updating the "intent to marry" form..since they are over a year old. Along with that I am sending the affidavit of support...are these (affidavit of support) still required? Good idea or not? 5. Whats the latest on what to do/not to do at the interview? She is fluent in english, so communication is not an issue, and I sent her a list of questions from 001, anything else she needs to know? 6. She intended to wait until the last minute to do the med, I advised her to do it now in case of delays. When she does, do they mail the results to her? give them to consulateher? what? 7. The paperwork sent in p4...does she fill it out and hand carry for the interview or send it in beforehand? 8. finally...are visas being issued same day...later...whats the scoop. 9. have read the consulate website...still have to ask the question. What should she take to the interview and how does that day come down.... 10. Any other advice? Comments? 11. finally..anyone have a blank copy of the forms they sent out? Han lin wanted to send them here so we could look them over and discuss jointly BUT...getting copies scanned and sending them over internet isn't going too well. All help is welcome, physically impossible for me to make it over there for this part because of a startup operation stateside...bad timing. so i need the best advice available! thanks to tall in advance. We are currently assuiming that uncle sam will NOT issue visas concurrent with the interview process and intend for an early fall trip to the good ole US of A.

Look out! you'll get a spreadsheet with assets, liabilities, par value of equities, long term debt, and all kinds of <figures>! ha! Personally, i was always glad to have a CFO do all that

no big layovers...regular flights...lower fares.

also, han lin says that they do have a discount of up to 40 or 50% if you purchase early a program that has been in place only since last month. the prices i gave earlier are for last minute purchases, so you can do better by buying early with china southern or northern, or shanghai air. Passing this on second hand..so..caveat emptor.

guangzhou to xiamen around 600rem xiamen to shanghai around 1300rem guangzhou to beijing around 1900rem that is without any discount. add airport fee of 50 rem each leg of a trip.

TOS = terms of service...rules to abide by....sorry for the confusion

...and any courses for us that want to brush up on our mandarin? The years since college have seriously degraded my fluency...

my timelines are below. took longer than a lot of folks here and I'm not done yet. Several websites out there where you can see the timelines, just use a search engine and you'll hit a bunch of them, some old, some new. 001 is one of the better it seems if you read chinese? be patiently persistent! it takes some time.

hey i checked on travelocity today and one way FROM GZ to usa (houston) is about $300 less than a round trip ticket...depending on day of travel. The best price I could get round trip for august was right at $1000 and one way was about $750 or a little less. Just food for thought. Also i once used a web site as a source that would beat any price on the net, you just had to have one or two day flexibility in depart/arr. It costs $5 to sign up, and I saved about $150 on my last trip. Legit! It usually takes them about half a day to one day to get back to you. I put in the specifics on the web site, and they put it out for bid on their network...someone calls you back, usually 2 or 3 travel agents. Here is the site: www.bestasiafare.com

I have read, with great interest, the comments herein. Along with everyone else, I shall add my two cents... First, if my comments ever anger anyone such is not my intent. Second, my knowledge is no more or less than anyone else here. Almost everyone here has participated in this forum far longer than I and is a better judge of what is needed...my comments have not been seasoned with months of time on candle. But I'm like most people who like to think we are right more than half the time -- yet realize that it is not so -- casinos prove we are correct far less than half the time! So, I may be way off base, nonetheless I am hopeful that some of my comments may be constructive. Also, I am slightly dyslexic so sometimes i mix up the order of letters. First, as to group processes. I have been privileged to lead several discussion groups -- not on the net, but recurring face to face round tables. I have found -- no pretense here on my part to say this is the right or wrong thing, just something i have noticed -- that without countering opinions and thoughts, the efficacy of the group diminishes significantly. Without people of countering opinions and thoughts, group discussions descend into what is called "the halo effect" where the tendency is to think "if you do not talk, think, act and do things like me" you are wrong. One person says "XX", everyone agrees, and the group moves on, leaving the issue ill examined. Groups need nay sayers, need people who think different, people who disagree, sometimes even in ways people in the group do not like. Why? Because the outcome for the group is usually better, as we are forced out of our groove, forced to think different, and it stirs our creative juices as it were. Look at how much thought we have given to the postings of OF -- how much would we have done if that same posting had been "short time lines here, thanks, bye". We need people who stir the collective thought. There are studies that support this hypothesis, in lay terms often referred to as synergism -- there are many group models based on the concept. One of those is that every group goes through developmental stages called forming, storming, norming and performing. For "storming" not to get out of control, and for the group to get on to "performing", norms must be established within which we express our diversity. The choice at that point is to conform...or receive sanctions from the group of one sort or another. This norming comes from within the group -- if it is imposed by edict, it is not a group norm, and will continue to be violated. It is the moderators role to get the group back on track, but not necessarily establish norms (not pointing fingers, we have wonderful moderators). Folks have expressed this same idea, in different words, to R2D2. Not that R2D2 is wrong, were I in his shoes, I would probably feel exactly the same way he does. Noble purposes. The art of diplomacy is not getting others..who think and act like we think they should...to do things, it is rather the opposite. Differing opinions, even smugly stated, should be welcomed. Who are we to say that because someone thinks, acts and says things differently they are wrong? Suppose OF is right in his timelines? We should find out how he did it. To wrap up, my opinion is that the group should establish norms as to the limits of the diversity of comments, and then get on to your real purpose, which is to help everyone with their visa issues. If the norms aren't clear, and no ones comments are violative of TOS but the group isn't doing well, then efforts should focus on changing the TOS. Hoewver, once you start limiting what people can say and how they say it, the diversity of the group will always be diminished....my opinion. The most effective tool that the group can wield, is just to ignore crass comments. If you just HAVE to reply and it doesn't help the group? Do so privately. thankyou for letting me put in my two cents

we too considered the china marriage option and K3 processing. This was almost two years ago. Decided to go the K1 route, even shortly after 9/11 it seemed the logical thing to do. Well.......by the time i got everything together and submitted the 129, it was late spring of 2002 and we are STILL waiting. Had I to do it over again, K3 would be my choice. And there is the factor of being able for her parents to attend the wedding. Of course, switching at this point makes no sense.

last time i checked, which was about 2 weeks ago, a one way ticket FROM china was about $300 less than a round trip...as long as her departure days were flexible. If you just want to beat feet home (i'm guessing yes), then you probably won't be able to find a discount. There is a site..I'll have to check. For $5 the guarantee they will beat any rate to china. I used it once, it worked. You have to have a few days flexibility though.