Patrick & Li

Hey Bryan, Is her address in Chinese characters? When i submitted the I-129f, i put my wifes address in Pin Yin and she never got her P3 either. I E-mailed GZ with the address in Chinese Characters and she got the P3 in 4 days. What was a bit odd though, I got the P-3 by mail about a week later. Patrick

After many days and nights of worrying. I finally receive an E-mail from GZ. It seems that the name Li Hong is a common name in China for men and women. The day my wife went to pick up her Visa, they had done an additional name check because they had 3 "Li Hongs" picking up Visas on this day. One of those 3 came back derogatory and so therefore she was put on hold. They sent out additional namecheck on March 4, and they told me they expect the clearance very soon and they would advise my wife when she could pick up her Visa. They also as a footnote let me know that her son had also been approved! Patrick

LOL, ahem! Think i just said that in a different way. Patrick

Dark skin is a social thing. If your skin is dark, it means you are probably a common laborer working out in the sun. So hence, the ladies use umbrellas when out in the sun so it looks like they are from the upperclass of people. Patrick

Great news Frank. Looks like you are going to be seeing her sooner rather than later. Its been 6 months since i last saw my wife, and gonna be at least 3 more. Patrick

Great news Dean!! Patrick

LMAO

It took mine 5 weeks before GZ acknowledged that it was in their system. Patrick

Congratulations Dave! One door closes and another one opens. That is the way of life. Patrick

Congratulations Mike!

Well Frank, It is unlikely that Li and I will be together by then. Even through all of this mess we are dealing with at the moment, she still wasnt going to come here till June or July because she needs to finish her Bachelors degree 1st. But we both appreciate the offer, and in fact, if it stands, maybe we can get together in July or August. Maybe i Li and I can make the same offer. I live on a nice lake in South Carolina. I have a pontoon that will seat about 12 people. We could spend the day on the lake and swap stories. Anyway, Thanks for the offer, and as soon as we are together we will try to join in on some of the get-togethers. Patrick

Yes, After spending all day reading the possibilities. I have come to the conclusion that either my wife will leave her son behind or we will go to court and sue the Father for back Child support. He cannot pay, I am sure of this. Then maybe we can exact leverage on him to sign the needed paperwork. Unfortuantely, this will take a long time, unless of course the Father gets anxious and agrees before we ever make it to court. That is what i am praying for. Patrick

The checks are done only for the Chinese citizen. Patrick

What is a GZC? Patrick

Oh gosh, I have suggested this to my wife in more ways than 1, but either she doesnt understand what i am saying, or she doesnt understand how to go about this. I am not sure. Lots of great suggestions guys, If anyone has anymore suggestions, please feel free to post. I am digesting all my options now. I have faith that we will somehow beat this bump in the road, but it is oh so tiring. Patrick

Don't give up the fight you have gone to far, Cliff has some valid points Money talks, They say you catch more fly's with honey then vinegar you have many options at this point take a breathier an clear your head the end goal is to unit all 3 of you, If she wants to leave her child with the parents while you 2 fight her husband together then don't deny her that remember then it is a stable home fighting for what is right. Here are a few options. 1.Bribe Father 2.Have family his and hers put pressure on father 3.Have son ask father. 4.Use brute force(But gently) 5.Have her stay there for the time until the courts grant her sole custody then reapply for visa an wait another year. 6.Have her come here for the time until the courts grant her sole custody. Remember the father should want his child to have a better life that should work in your favor somewhere in all this. Good luck, Get some rest, Fight hard, and most importantly remember we are here to help I have decided to let Li decide what she will do. I stand by whatever she decides to do. I have offered my money and i have offered my time. There is not much else i can do short of going over there and whipping his ass. I have told my wife to offer the Father a Bribe. I have also told her to go to court and sue for past child support in hopes that she can use this as leverage. Her son has already begged his father on numerous occasions to relent, but has been unsuccessful. The Fathers family supports the Father, in fact they are stronger about this than he is. If i knew what kind of brute force i could use, i would most definitly use it. I dont want to get arrested in China though Basically, i am at the mercy of Chinese laws. If the son were a daughter instead.....This would never have been a problem! Patrick

The certificate is needed to get the passport. The passport is needed to get the Visa. Deflated and about ready to chuck in the towel! Patrick

Yes, i talked to Jim, but jims inside connection was his Father-inlaw, he was a General in the Chinese army. But Jim said he wont help. So thats pretty well a dead end!

Yes, I got a reply back from L. Donahue, but she says the passport is a requirement. Yes, i agree with getting a Birth certificate here, but it isnt the same in China. My wife refuses to offer him money even though i have stated to her i would be willing to pay. My wife on several occasions has said she will leave her son with her parents and then we can file for her son when he is 18. The natural father has no rights then. Son is now 10 years old, That is 8 very long years. I have a problem with that scenario. But i have never asked my wife to choose between me and her son. From a moral standpoint, i could never do this. In fact, i am having a problem allowing her to leave him behind. That is why i am willing to do "WHATEVER" it takes to get his passport. Patrick

This has totally become a nightmare! My wife and stepson went for their medical exam on 2-27-2004, My stepson was denied the chance because he didnt have a Chinese passport. My wife went onto the interview on 3-1-2004. Her Visa was approved, and she was told to come back the next day to pick it up. During this time i wrote the embassy a letter and asked them to explain why my stepson was denied the chance for the Visa. According to the instruction packet on form "169", it states that any child under the age of 16 years old doesnt need a Passport because they are able to travel with the parent. The embassy sent me back an E-mail stating that they could not process his K4 without the Passport. No if, ands or buts. Soooooooooo....The next day my wife goes to pick up her Visa. They told her she now couldnt receive the Visa because they needed additional time to process the Visa. They gave her a "Yellow slip", No explanation other than needing the additional time. Of course,my wife was now a basket case. She left the embassy in tears, in fact i believe she cried for 3 days. She left me a message on my answering machine that was heartwrenching to say the least. Sooooo.....I wrote the embassy again. Trying to find out why she didnt receive the Visa. I havent yet received a reply back, but on Wednesday, I called DOS....Hoping they could give me some revelation as to what is happening. They told me that my wifes Visa in fact HAS been approved, but because of sons status, they needed to wait until he gets his passport before they issue the Visa to my wife. You know, That was so very simple. They could have saved my wife 3 days of extreme stress by telling her this at the embassy, but NOOOOO, they let her believe she didnt get the Visa, and so therefore, she was blaming herself. Anyways, here is where we are at the moment. We need a passport for her son. I am assuming that for him to get the passport, he will need a Birth Certificate. Our problem with that is......Sons natural father holds the birth certificate. He will not release the certificate to my wife so she can get his passport. He is trying to exact revenge on her for the divorce that happened 7 years ago. He doesnt support the child, but the divorce certificate is "Joint custody". So therefore we need the certificate to get the passport. We are stuck between a rock and a hardplace because of this. I feel it is not right for us to leave her son behind in China, so therefore i also feel maybe we are doing the wrong thing if she comes here without him. My moral and christian views tell me that it is wrong to ask his Mother to come to america and leave him behind. But he cannot come without the passport and he cannot get the passport without the certificate, and he cannot get the certificate without the Natural Fathers permission. So therefore he cannot get the Visa. Does anyone have a answer for this? Does anyone know of a way to get the passport on the "Sly"? Does anyone here have connections that can get son the passport without his Fathers permission? If not, i feel extremely screwed! Patrick

Get your wife/fiancees signature on multiple copies of the 325a, and the other forms. Dont fudge on anything, make sure all information is exactly correct. Birthdates, Names of parents etc... Patrick

Carl, I know where youre at. It is so frustrating to wait so much. I called maybe every week for 4 weeks straight. I got 2 good operators and 2 bad ones. My personal feeling is that yes, they are in fact an information center, and if they dont like it, I want to talk to their supervisor. Patrick

Yup Don, I agree. I just find it so odd that they would enforce this when it plainly states in the instructions for the P3 that a child under the age of 16 doesnt need a passport. Patrick

Her interview was easy. My wife speaks fairly good english. They asked her for pictures, letters, affidavit of support and how many times we had met. Pretty standard stuff as far as everything you read about. She went to window 11. She said he was a very nice man. In and out in 3 hours. Interview took about 10 minutes. She goes back for the Visa today at 4pm. Patrick

Children under the age of 16 dont need a passport to travel with a parent anywhere in the world that i know of. Patrick