mikem

This question has been brought up many times: This is a snippet from former post. If you have a PayPal account you can get a VISA debit card in anybodies name added to your account. So then you can transfer from your bank account to your account and the SO can draw out even at the counter at the bank in town as the card is in his or her name. No credit check and it is free.

We just had a very lengthy discussion on this a few days ago. Here is an excert from that discussion.. Hope it helps/ You make a copy of the pages with your data and picture on it and copies of the Chinese visa stamps exit / entry from the other post:: OK let me set you all straight,, your close but a little confused.. You do get your passport or any document you want a copy of certified here is how it works and the confusion you are having. You have your signature notorized when you SIGN something ie I write a letter and sign my name in front of a notory they confirm with signature and stamp that your are the person signing.. Certifing a document does not include any signature in fact if you sign a document you want certified as a true copy it would cancel the notorys stamp..Only the Notory signs a certified copy. They attest to the fact that they have see the original and that the are giving their OK that this is an exact copy. You are going to send a CERTIFIED COPY of you passport or what ever document you are sending.. What the Notary does is ceritify it as a true copy. They have seen the origanal which you will present to them they look at it and say yeah its the same and Certify that they/you have made a true copy of the original. How I do it is like this I go to my trusty computer go into word or what ever look at the document you want certified and find a fairly clear spot in the document the one you want certified. I then match that spot to about where I will put this stement: This is a true certified copy of the passport belonging to MIKE LAST NAME Type that on your word document on your screen and print it now you will have a blank page with just the: this is a true copy etc etc on it. Next do one of two things put the document you want certifed the original on your SCANNER passport etc and the piece of paper you have with the This is a true certified copy in your Printer feed tray orienting face up or down you want to print your copy from scanner on to this-- and hit your scanner when the scanner prints the document you will have a copy of your document with the this is a true certified copy on the page along with a copy of the document sort of like having this is a true copy in the back ground. Or take it to a copy center and feed that through the copy machine and copy the document. Make several pages with the statement on it in case you need more then one to figure which side will print up, Then take it to your Bank or Notory and have CERTIFIED as a true copy. Thats what you need to tell them. You printed this already and is in the back ground of the document copy. The notory will stamp and sign either above or below the TRUE certified copy statemet and will love that you did this and now you have a certified copy of your document. I do this in color on my scanner and printer and it is very impressive.. The Notory will love it and ask how did you do this Oh and by the way if YOU make the copy and just want it certified as a true copy they are not breaking the Law on any document you present you are just asking them to verify/certify with notory stamp that it is a true copy. So if you want to report yourself to the law I guess that would be up to you. They did not make the copy so what you do is really none of their business. They just verify/certify that it is a true copy.. I have NEVER had any Notory balk at doing this. Most know about certifing a true copy.

Well bud I fit some of the examples you mention. I am 20+ years older then my now wife..We met in person when I was in China..on business..01/2001 She then traveled with me for more then 10 days and everything was a go from there.. I met her parents on my second trip who are just a few years older then me..My Lapao is extremly attractive and in her early 30's. She was married once before but no kids to some guy from Tiawan who showed once and she never saw again..Maybe she likes the stability..I have talked to her about the age difference many many times..She wrote me a letter after we met and the words from that letter I will never for get.. "Although we are so far apart and there is a difference in our age and language, Love knows no distance" Oh boy I have never had anyone talk to me this way. I asked a couple of my business associates about this and they did some checking for me and said she is dead serious.. I was trying to figure out what I did to the poor girl to make her feel this way. I also find that alot of the Chinese ladies like older guys mine says I look like the Boss?? Oh she also calls me baby face you figure that one out. I had met many when there and still get flirted with when I go to Shanghai I ask my wife not to leave me alone in the stores because of this,, but when I saw and met her-- Take the fork out I'm done. Chinese guys are well known for their extra caricular activety and this is very common there I have seen this even in my business associates so that may be a reason also. Also her Dad would Kill her if she screws up.. She knows and has told me that.. Her Mom and Dad Brother and Sister really aprove of me its because she tells them I treat her so kind....3 of her girl friends are in love with me(go figure) she has told me this and when she speaks to the from here on the phone I must talk with them or else..Also maybe they know the older guys are a little more settled and still not trying to sow the old proverbiale oats.. I think a key element of this whole thing is to meet the family and go there as many times as possible before she comes here. I was there 4 times in under two years prior to her coming here. And even after being here I would ask her if she still wanted to get married. The answer was always in the affirmative. Saw most of the sights and always had a great time. The Chinese folks a very curious about westerners. I am very settled person and make an excellent living.. She does not have to work but wants to. When I say why. She says she wants to send Mama and Papa some money every month.. I offered to give her money to do this be she frowns and says to me this is your money not my money..I cease arguing at that point. She loves it here and has met several Chinese ladies here who are from Tiawain/Shanghai and Ningbo/Nanning. In fact the gal from Tiawain is her age and asked us over for Turkey dinner on Christmas her husband is from Scotland and she has been here for 5 years. My Lapoa treats me better then my own Mother did..I am spoiled rotten. Of course I treat her very well she goes to all the company parties with me. At this years Christmas party she was the hit of the party she wore a Red and gold Chipai from GZ..everone had to meet her. One of the guys I work with we are pretty close said she looked like a China doll. Also my Lapoa is very domesticated she cooks keeps house etc. and loves all the appliances we have here wait till yours finds out you have a dryer in the house.. the others here will tell you the same.. Mainly go there and check things out as much as you can and take it from there your heart will answer your questions.

I tend to disagree with your statement Mikem. Looking back at recent interviews posts some of the VO's HAVE asked for photos and also asked "do you have more?". (I also mentioned taking negatives- when you have 200- 300 negatives outside the consulate as a backup just in case they even question the validity of the pictures- how far do you go?). The notarized letter you mentioned seems a severe step. I just had 2 documents notarized at the Shanghai Consulate for $50.00 and they refused to notarize two other persons documents in front of me and I question whether they would take the time to do this on Consulate letterhead and then notarize a document THEY THEMSELVES have prepared (this would violate notary public laws in CA and NV- THIS I know for fact). IMO, this letter would only prove a one day visit to the Consulate not an ONGOING personal relationship. Of course your Passport If YOU are there with all the visas/extensions (and your actual boarding passes) is the PRIMARY method of establishing your physical presence in China but the secondary evidence does show a personal side to the relationship that just isn't seen solely w/ a passport, notarized letter and credit card receipts. Personally we are taking the pictures and negatives with us. Richard Well you got the second best proof of being there: The Boarding passes from your trip back.. Only one way you can get them is if you were there. I was refering in all instances to K-1 Visa. I cannot speak from authority for I-130 One time proof of meeting is all you need to comply with the law.. Which says "You must meet with your fiance' at least one time in two years unless religion does not allow it." Your Visa and Passport are also excellent proof. Ask the Notory for a letter head document to write your appearance statement and then ask them to Notorize your signature.. If the consulate you go to gives you a hard time write the statement on plain paper stating that you appeared at the consulate on this day with your SO and all pertinent info and ask notory to notorize the statement as you and SO sign. $50.00 is nothing compared to a rejection and more time lost. I agree completely when going to the interview that you can not have to much with you.. The more it seems you have the less they ask!

Well that proves that your credit/debit cards were in China I'll bite what are the others? other than physically being there for the interview. Oh and I certainly hope if just your cards are in China that you remembered to cancel them so they could not be used by someone else. I know thats wht I would have done as soon as I knew they were missing. Also keep in mind that you generally sign a credit or debit slip the signatures on the papers you have already submitted should match the credit card slip.

Well that proves that your credit/debit cards were in China I'll bite what are the others? other than physically being there for the interview. OK I'll tell you. I have posted this before in the past.. These questions are not new. When you are in PRChina go to the nearest consulate or embassy and walk into the citizens service area with your SO. You have to find out what time this is available in some consulate/embassy, Ask for the consulate or embassy NOTORY. Have them prepare on the Consulate or embassy stationary the following statement. Appeared today(date) before me Mr. John Blow of anytown USA etc etc and Ms. so and so of Town she is from of PRChina have it Certified or notorized if they make you sign. You will show your passport and she can use her Chinese I.D. card to confirm your identity. Now my friend you have a document from the US government certifying you were there and if you present originals or ceritifed copies, just explain to me how the could deny your presents in PRChina when another one of there own has confirmed in writing. This is the best proof of being there bar none-- OK OK so what is the next best someone was close above.

How about a copy of your intent to marry?? You should have sent this in the very begining when you filed.. Make another one.. You and SO should sign..I notorized mine but it is not required to be notorized.

Pictures are OK but not proof positive you have been to China that is what they are looking for. The pictures of both together only show you have met.. But is that really China in the back ground who knows?? All photos can be minipulated so thats why they do not look at to hard..check everyones interview answers to question and one of the things they hardly look at is the pictures There are only about Three items that they consider as proof of you being in China.. One of them has been mentioned Credit Card/debit Card receipts are excellent only way you could have gotten them if you were in country. But there is one proof of being there that is undisputable I'll see who asks me what it is??

I would be careful about sending my passport anywhere without me.. US Passports on the black market bring I am told from $15K to $25K think about it.. See my posting above for the answer..

OK let me set you all straight,, your close but a little confused.. You do get your passport or any document you want a copy of certified here is how it works and the confusion you are having. You have your signature notorized when you SIGN something ie I write a letter and sign my name in front of a notory they confirm with signature and stamp that your are the person signing.. Certifing a document does not include any signature in fact if you sign a document you want certified as a true copy it would cancel the notorys stamp..Only the Notory signs a certified copy. They attest to the fact that they have see the original and that the are giving their OK that this is an exact copy. You are going to send a CERTIFIED COPY of you passport or what ever document you are sending.. What the Notary does is ceritify it as a true copy. They have seen the origanal which you will present to them they look at it and say yeah its the same and Certify that they/you have made a true copy of the original. How I do it is like this I go to my trusty computer go into word or what ever look at the document you want certified and find a fairly clear spot in the document the one you want certified. I then match that spot to about where I will put this stement: This is a true certified copy of the passport belonging to MIKE LAST NAME Type that on your word document on your screen and print it now you will have a blank page with just the: this is a true copy etc etc on it. Next do one of two things put the document you want certifed the original on your SCANNER passport etc and the piece of paper you have with the This is a true certified copy in your Printer feed tray orienting face up or down you want to print your copy from scanner on to this-- and hit your scanner when the scanner prints the document you will have a copy of your document with the this is a true certified copy on the page along with a copy of the document sort of like having this is a true copy in the back ground. Or take it to a copy center and feed that through the copy machine and copy the document. Make several pages with the statement on it in case you need more then one to figure which side will print up, Then take it to your Bank or Notory and have CERTIFIED as a true copy. Thats what you need to tell them. You printed this already and is in the back ground of the document copy. The notory will stamp and sign either above or below the TRUE certified copy statemet and will love that you did this and now you have a certified copy of your document. I do this in color on my scanner and printer and it is very impressive.. The Notory will love it and ask how did you do this Oh and by the way if YOU make the copy and just want it certified as a true copy they are not breaking the Law on any document you present you are just asking them to verify/certify with notory stamp that it is a true copy. So if you want to report yourself to the law I guess that would be up to you. They did not make the copy so what you do is really none of their business. They just verify/certify that it is a true copy.. I have NEVER had any Notory balk at doing this. Most know about certifing a true copy.

It looks like the only time we will have to go to Atlanta will be for the actual AoS Interview.. As I mentioned they mailed us the EAD from MO..I am not sure if you can go to Atlanta for EAD..However from what I have heard from you good folks here it is a nightmare place to visit ,the CIS center that is!!

We did the Biometrics in Birmingham yesterday.. The appointment was for 1PM we were there right on time.. However there were more CIS personal then applicants in the place.. 3 CIS 2 applicants. Everything went smooth an they seem to be very friendly there. Filled out a form for address etc hieight weight and so on.. Which was signed and stamped she was brought to a computer where the face scan is done for picture and a seperate computer to do all 10 finger prints. Total time about 15 minute. They stamped the appointment letter as proof you were there and it was done so now the AoS appointment/interview is next.

Yeah we did a few months ago and they said they would not issue a learners permit because Visa had expired.. But once she got her EAD they could issue a learners permit. Their words so she is studing for her written test and next week during Christmas shutdown for my job she will go for the test--Oh boy!!! AND THE TEST HERE IS AVAILABLE IN CHINESE..

Jim On the SSN we got that as soon as she got here. But could not change to married name until she applied for the AoS.. Now that she has the EAD and we have the AoS application letter ie## we can go get the name change an a SS card that does NOT say Not authorized for work etc etc.

Just a little up date. We filed the Papers for the EAD along with the Ajustment of Status on October 27,2004 We finger printed ie Biometrics on November 3, 2004 got the EAD this past Saturday 12/18/2004. About 45 days. Talk about happy you should of heard the screeming thought somebody gave her $1 million We are going through Atlanta For all those waiting and hoping there is an end to this and it will come soon for all. To all Happy Holidays/ Happy New Year and Peace.. OH by the way even though we filed for the EAD sent the papers to Atlanta(we live in Alabama) the Card came from the MO service center??????

Hey we can live with that..

crap... I declared it as full value because I wanted it insured, in case it managed to vanish before reaching her. live and learn... *sigh* I believe you can still insure it and not have to write the amount down as a decluration it can be insured and not worth any thing like if you were sending documents, at least with the Post office..You can still declear as zero value. and even so use tracking to insure where the package is.. I think they call it International Express Mail or I think the cheaper one is Global Express. Hey we all live and learn..

I have sent many things to China prior to my LaoPo coming here. You have to make out a declaration form with who ever you ship with Mail UPS FedEx etc. You Declare the value and or if it is a gift. Declare 0 zero value it is a gift and it will go through the Chinese Custom inspection just fine.. If you Declare it as say$100.00 US then they will charge you/your SO upon delivery about $50.00 US to bring it into the country. I have had very good luck using the US Postal service with no problems ever.

Electronics Engineer, EE I work for one of the most famous auto manufactures in the world in the Supplier Quality end of the business.

You need to call DHL and give them the NVC actual address. Then give them the day NVC told you they sent the package to GZ and DHL can give you the tracking number. Go to the DHL site and look for the tracking button click on it and put that number they gave you in and you can then see the route of the package.

Ditto that!! Let them ask for what they want do not offer to "help"

WOW finally!! Its been a long road and many Candle exchanges since we started this.. Bryan a whole new life is just starting enjoy, con-grats.. LAX is no problem with this,, generally come in through one terminal only you pick them up and move to your departure terminal..

CON GRATS Job well done!!

WOW when I posted my response I thought I would be in trouble!!!

I agree wholeheartly never had a problem in China at any time..Very safe.. However they do not tolerate misbehaveur there like we do here..??? If you screw up there they just kill you and maybe thats what we need here.(sorry for the political incorrectness)..