turtle

In case anyone has this problem in the future, it really was that easy. We were in and out of there in about 10 minutes. All we needed were her green card, passport, and drivers license. They actually took her green card away when we got the I-551 stamp. Apparently Nebraska is about a year behind schedule now-- the officer guessed why we were there before we even said a word.

Thanks, that's great news. Dealing with the local office is SO much easier than dealing with the NSC!

I'm surprised I didn't see this issue crop up in my quick search here. So we filed the Removal of Conditions in March 2007. The latest NSC processing time is June 2006. So technically we shouldn't get a result on our case until Dec 2008 at the earliest. Problem is my wife's green card expired last May. So what can we do between May and December? We were planning to head back to China this summer for a while. Is that possible?

We shipped our wedding photos over from HK, and that was definitely less than 1 cm. We had a logistics company set us up with everything for both shipments, and their fee ended up being something like $125.

We shipped my wife's furniture here about a year ago. The cost was something like 100/cm, and we used about 7-8 cubic meters. Factoring in customs broker, Uhaul, etc, it probably cost around $1000, maybe a bit more, if my memory serves me...

It depends on the person, but I know my wife can't wait for us to move to a bigger city. I mean, our town's not that small (roughly 200,000 in the metro area), but to her it's a whole different lifestyle. She's in school, has a part time job, and in some ways has "gotten used to" things, but then again she knows that we'll be moving on in a couple years once she graduates. What I'm interested in is how she'll like living in a City. The US city environment is so different from China. She likes Seattle, although hanging out there isn't the same as living there. Hated San Francisco... I guess her job will dictate the move more than anything, but we'll have to do some careful research.

"Wu gui wang ba dan" is my favorite chinese curse! In literature, it's often translated to "son of a drunken turtle". I can't wait till I get an opportunity to use it

A marriage is supposed to be a union of two people. It's not about one person forcing the other person to do things he or she doesn't want to do. If you both can't agree on the pre-nup, then don't sign it. It's that simple. If he won't even sit down and discuss his reasons for wanting it, and allow the two of you to come to a compromise, then I'd call his bluff and postpone the marriage. The only way this can work out is for both of you to compromise. That's the way most things in marriage work. You'll need to be sensitive to his reasons for wanting a prenup, and he'll need to be sensitive to your feelings about it. The best compromise would seem to be hiring a lawyer neither of you has any association with to draft up a mutually acceptable document. I hate lawyers, but in this case you probably need one. Too bad.

Get ready to go through the same routine each year. A few years ago it was SARS. Last year it was the flu vaccine running out. This year it's bird flu. Next year it will be something else. Today's media loves to cause panic and get people to watch. Can it happen? Of course. A lot of things can happen.

I believe everything is up to the civil surgeon's discretion. Unfortunately, different civil surgeons will have different opinions. The one I went to had no idea what was needed, and basically needed me to tell him what to do and what to sign where. There's no defininitive requirement, just suggestions and guidance per the CDC website. The civil surgeons are (theoretically) qualified to make a command decision as to what's really needed for each case. I'd suggest printing the vaccination chart, along with the other info on the CDC website in case you get someone who doesn't know what to do. I'd also suggest getting the vaccinations done at your regular primary care physician if your insurance will cover them... Also beware that many (most?) civil surgeons will want to do a full exam, even though it is not required. They do this so they can charge you for a full exam. Call around until you find one that will simply review your vaccinations and sign off on the form, charging less than $50.

Hotel reservations are likely to get cancelled at the last minute, like ours were last October...

Sounds like a new ploy to make a few more bucks off us. If the number of overcomes increases, we'll know why...

My wife made chocolate-filled mooncakes yesterday. So good! The meat-filled ones? Just ok. Red bean paste? Not really my thing...

There are a lot of variables in shipping goods from China. Each person is likely to have a very different experience. We shipped quite a bit of furniture and other things in January, about 7.5 cubic meters worth. The trip from Qingdao to Seattle took about a month. I posted details a while back, I think the cost was something like $100/cm. My wife handled the costs so I don't have the exact number. We also shipped our wedding photos from Hong Kong to Seattle. That took about half the time at a considerably lower rate (I think it was something like $25-30 for 1 cm, which is the minimum unit size). My customs broker charged $125 to clear the goods. For the big shipment, we ended up not needing the broker to clear customs-- within the first year of immigration, you can ship "personal goods" here free from duty. But the broker helped out in a variety of ways, from generating all the forms needed, to hooking us up with a shipping company. Getting the goods out of China was a major hassle, though. My wife had to go to the customs house, and needed all sorts of documentation, including some that we ultimately had to fake, because we couldn't figure out what they were asking for. This caused her a lot of stress, as I remember clearly! Anyway, I'd say the big shipment probably cost us about $1000, once you include all the fees, the U-haul to take it home, etc. I have no doubt, however, that we came out ahead when you look at the furniture she brought and the price she paid for it all in China. The condition it comes in really depends on you, since you are the one packing it. My wife hired some people to do it, and it got here pretty much in good shape (a minor scratch here or there).

How much did you pay for this denied EAD? Isn't it like one hundred and something dollars? What a rip off. I'd at least ask for my money back. Although we all know the odds of that happening are pretty much zero...

It must depend on the office you're going to. I heard some stories about people needing passport photos for AOS, also heard something about them needing to keep a picture of the two of you together. We got both ready just in case, but didn't need anything.

My favorite except: "USCIS is hampered by a funding structure that prevents it from providing the most efficient method of service due to a need for revenue"

It's all up to the CS's discretion. I believe the point of having designated civil surgeons is to leave the decision up to them. If one civil surgeon says you're ok, CIS can't argue with it, since they designated the CS. You just have to find one that'll sign off on what you've got. Most of them are looking to make money, so they'll want to do a physical, give a tb test, etc etc. I had to call around 20 of them before finding one that would sign off.

The Pimsleur CDs are great. I got the full set about a year ago-- parts I II and III. I paid around $500 for the whole thing, copied them to my ipod, and then sold on Ebay for like $490. It definitely helps, although I'm not sure I'd say it'll make you conversant. Plus you've got to stick with it. I used to have a nice 30 min drive every day where I'd do it. Now that my drive is gone, I've let it slip, big time. There was a thread a while back with more info on this...

I think they usually have something like this. I remember my wife was asked a bunch of questions by a chinese staffer in the morning, who took various notes and flagged various items on a list. My wife saw her flag something when asked about her refused f1 student visa. Later, during the interview, my wife saw the same notebook with the flagged items, and the vo seemed to be going down the list with her questions. I also heard this is where they ask some of the basic stuff like "are you a communist", etc.

It's a scam, and I wouldn't spend another cent on it. Given that my in laws already have a negative opinion of the USA, I can't even imagine how they would react to getting rejected not once but twice for a tourist visa. Just imagine if I went to China to live with my wife, and the chinese govt kept taking $100 from my parents only to tell them in a 120 second interview "sorry, you can't come here". Contacting the higher-ups is the best route, in my opinion. Otherwise it's just a money pit. Why give out a visa when someone will keep coming back and paying $100 for an "interview"?

We just got back from a trip to Canada. We had no problems on either side of the border, the officials on both sides were fully aware of what the I-551 stamp was.

Yeah, but once you get that stamp, there's no need for AP. Conditional or not. The original reply made it seem like conditional status green card holders couldn't leave the country without AP. I've now had 2 CIS officials tell me that's not true. Anyway I guess I'll find out next week.

Sheesh, thanks for scaring me. We just had our AOS interview (k1), and the official said we could travel anywhere we want now, no AP. I just called BCIS to confirm this, no need for AP once you pass the AOS interview. We had a trip to Canada planned for next week, so this really got me worried....

It's no wonder that they'd prioritize a cash cow like the student visa. For $100 a try, three tries per year, and with something like a 90%+ refusal rate, I'd love to know how much the US government is making from chinese student visas...