keelec

Visa Processing is by definition a long and involved process. I will endeavor to explain some of the processing that goes on with your applications: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - As you know, your application is first submitted to the BCIS in Quadruplicate. - Congress must next vote on which trees to chop down for processing the application. - After the trees are chopped down, the timbers are marked for your application and shipped off to China. - next a Chinese Peasant is paid 25 cents / hr to whittle the trees into chips suitable for making paper using his trusty Chinese knockoff of a Swiss Army Knife. Of course, being a Chinese Knockoff knife, the peasant must head back to the Chinese Open Market to replace the broken knife after every hour of work. Fortunately it is a government reimbursable job, but he must spend 3 hrs doing paperwork to justify the new knife. Next he must take the paperwork to a local translator and get it translated into English in quintuplicate and deliver it to the US Embassy, after this he can resume whittling on the log for another hour or so before the knife breaks again. - The Chips are next processed at a Chinese Paper Mill and cut to size 8.5 x 11. Separate bundles of paper wrappers are also made. - The paper is next shipped back to the USA where the paper is put in the wrappers, then marked with “Made in the USA of US Materials” before forwarding to the government. - At this point, a secretary at the BCIS office is paid to cut the paper into quarters and photocopy all 4 copies of your application onto quarter size paper (4.25 x 5.5). (in compliance to the Paperwork Reduction Act). - Since the BCIS reviewer can’t read the ¼ size paper, he boxes up all of the applications and sends them back to China to be blown up onto 11 x 17 paper and shipped back to the USA for review. - The comments must be typed out, but unfortunately the BCIS office was unable to afford a computer so they use and 1856 vintage printing press, individually setting each letter before stamping the comments onto specially produced 23 ½ x 29 3/8 paper. - Of course, Kinkos periodically runs out of the 23 ½ x 29 3/8 paper so more loggers must be sent up into the forests to cut down more trees for processing this paper for their vintage printing press. - In a desperate attempt to continue to comply with the paperwork reduction act, these comment sheets are sent back to China to be reduced onto the ¼ sized paper (4.25x5.5), and returned back to the USA. - If the comments are favorable, and don’t get lost in shipping, your application is forwarded to the NVC. - Since your application is now classified as “Top Secret”, nobody really knows who should look at it, but rather that it should be reviewed. It is again reduced, this time to 1/16 size paper (2.125 x 2.75), and reproduced to 350 copies so that it can be sent out to every agency in Washington DC in hopes that the “correct agencies” actually get it. Of course, each agency gets all 4 copies of your application as reproduced on to the 1/16 size paper for compliance with the paperwork reduction act. - Nobody can read the 1/16 size paper so some of the 350 agencies just throw out the applications. Others put it through the “official shredder”. Others put it through the “official incinerator”. Fortunately, other agencies choose to blow the applications back up onto legal sized paper before deciding it is unrelated to their official business of monitoring 3rd world Rain Forrest deforestation, and chuck them into the nearest dumpster. - If the proper mystery agencies actually get the application and review it, then they add their comments and re-reduce the quadruplicate application onto 1/64 size paper (1.0625 x 2.375) to comply with the paperwork reduction act. Of course, the printer used to print the documents on this size of paper is a 50,000 printer. - These miniscule slips of paper are next collected and blown back up to 8.5 x 11 paper to verify that all have been received. Anything that would have been made on native legal paper gets the margins cut off. If the wigi board indicates that parts might be missing, the application is recopied into all 350 copies and shipped back to all 350 agencies for review. - Nobody really knows when the NVC review process should end because nobody really knows who is reviewing the applications. But, at some point, they are gathered up and re-reduced to the 1/64 size paper and put in a sailboat to China (weather permitting). - By this time every application has gone through a dozen enlargements and reductions and everything looks like a big ink blob, even if re-enlarged. - In a desperate hope to recover the lost information, a Form DS-230 is sent out to all applicants. Once it is returned, GZ and promptly copied onto 1/16 size paper to comply with the paperwork reduction act. - Unfortunately, the workroom table was also made in China and only has 3 legs. It periodically tips over and all the applications end up in one big jumble on the floor. - The only person in China (with 40/20 vision) who can descramble the applications has met a girlfriend in South Africa. He banks up all of his cigarette breaks, and takes three out of every five days off to go down and visit her. About half the time he leaves his briefcase down in South Africa with her and is forced to spend the following work week counting the fibers in his office carpet. - It usually takes an additional 7 weeks to sort out most of the jumbled up pages for the applications. It doesn’t really seem to make a difference if some pages are left out of some of the applications and added to others. - Sometimes the applications are dropped on the floor again and the descrambling process must be repeated. - If your application is irreparably destroyed via multiple copy generations, or if someone thinks that critical parts may have gotten lost when the applications were dropped then the GZ consulate must send it back to the original BCIS office. That is, assuming the name can be read on the application. Also, after receiving multiple e-mails with no applications, it is assumed that they were just lost, and a paper tape punch reel is sent to BCIS with the names of the applications than need to be replaced. Since BCIS only accepts magnetic reel to reel tapes, these are attempted to be mounted with limited success. - If somewhere in the process the original allotted paper is believed to run out, everything must be sent to congress in quintuplicate for reviewing the merits of cutting down Canadian trees for duplicating updated forms. - Interview scheduling can be particularly complex because they can only be scheduled on new moon nights, or nights when one-eyed jacks are randomly drawn from a deck of cards. The interviews must all be scheduled for full moon nights, and must be rescheduled if clouds obscure the moon and the sky. And, of course, the most important part of the interview are the psychic’s interpretation of the tarot cards. ----- Clifford -----

Taz, I heard that the Green Tortoise is supposed to be the best way to get from the SF Area up to Portland. It is supposed to be cheap (one site says $49 for SF to Portland by the Tortoise). I believe it also stops in Eureka. It should provide an excellent introduction to the USA for Kai Unfortunately, I seem to be getting lost on the "official" website: http://www.greentortoise.com Maybe they have dropped their North-South trips. Have Fun, Clifford

I have a bad scanned copy of the GIV-24 It should be a 2 - page document (or double sided document). While I have never seen the original, I would assume that it was folded so that questions 1-5 are on the front. Question 6 is on the inside, and Question 7 is on the back. The document is written from the point of view of the Benificiary (Chinese person). Questions 1-5 : General info about Beneficiary. Question 6 (second page, or inside): Info about Beneficiary's family. Question 7 (back): Info about Peititioner's family (US Citizen who is the fiancee/spouse of the benificiary-Chinese Citizen). It is late. Hopefully I didn't get everything backwards. Have lots of fun,

Question 16: Your Fiancee's Address Abroad. Question 17: Your Fiancee's Address in their native alphabet. If she is in the USA, then None or N/A would be appropriate (or perhaps "Currently Residing in the USA"). However, if she is in China, or elsewhere, you MUST put something in. Otherwise, you can be sure that nothing will go where you expect it to go. The Consulate will require an address to correctly send out Packets 3 and 4. It may also be necessary to use this in conjunction with the Name Checks and other visa processing. (If I am looking at the wrong version of the form, please restate the question). ----- Clifford -----

Don't forget. Russia is a larger country than China (in square miles), and apparently is processing all of the K visas at one Embassy. It has been a while since I've looked, but I believe that China, Ukraine, and Russia were the top 3 countries for family sponsored visas. It may have been: 1 - China 2 - Russia 3 - Ukraine. However, the numbers are not that different. Certainly China is less than Russia and Ukraine combined. You can look it up on the BCIS page if you are interested. ----- Clifford ------

I was a bit curious about this too (with respect to Russia) so I thought I would look it up. There are several countries that do not actually process visas. Russia processes all visas in Moscow despite having several embassies. Here is an interesting link to Russian and former USSR Processing information: http://moscow.usembassy.gov/consular/wwwzivem.zip Moscow - All of Russia PLUS Turkmenistan Warsaw Poland - Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania Almaty Kazakhstan - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyz Republic Tbilisi Georgia - Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan Helsinki Finland - Finland and Estonia Bucharest Romania - Romania and Moldova

Look for information on a "Taxpayer Identification Number" (TIN). I believe you need to file a form W-7. It should be easier for your wife to get a TIN than a SSN, and she should be able to get while still in China. Sorry I don't have much more info on it, but the question comes up periodically. ----- Clifford -----

Oops, I was doing the service centers by memory. Apparently I got Texas and California backwards. I've fixed it above, but my post has been quoted a couple of times. SRC - Texas WAC - California LIN - Nebraska MSC - Missouri (K3) EAC - Vermont

Ok, for a few definitions. NOA1 - this is the receipt you get from your "Service Center", - Nebraska Service Center (Number begins with LIN for Lincoln) - California Service Center (WAC) - Vermont Service Center (EAC) - Texas Service Center (SRC) - Missouri Service Center (MSC) NOA2 - This the letter after your application is accepted at the service center. It can be anywhere between 1 month (Vermont) and 6 months (other service centers). After NOA2, your application is sent to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire (NVC). Your GUZ number is assigned there. It can take a few weeks to perhaps 2 months there. Sometimes longer if there are "issues" with the Name Check. The application is then sent to GZ for processing. Shortly after arriving in GZ, Packet 3 is sent out. That gives general instructions for preparing for the interview, as well as additional forms to fill out (DS-230 & OF-169) After you return the DS-230 and the OF-169, the Packet 4 is sent out with the interview schedule. ------------ Ok, as far as numbers. Receipt number: LIN-yy-nnn-xxxxx yy is the year (starting with the 4th quarter (october 1) nnn is the number of WORK days since October 1 (except for MSC which I think it may be chronological days ???) the rest is your sequential number for the day (I think). GUZ number: GUZ yyyy nnn xxx yyyy is the 4 digit calendar year (starting Jan 1) nnn .... if less than 500, then it was probably assigned in GZ, and signifies the number of calendar days since Jan 1 when it was assigned. nnn .... if greater than 500, then it was probably assigned at the NVC. Subtract 500, then it is the number of calendar days since Jan 1 when it was assigned. ----- Clifford ----- (Sorry, someone said that I may have gotten California and Texas backwards... They are both humungous states in the South, easy to confuse. I've corrected it above).

Look for something that shows your fiance's year-to-date income. For example, generally the most recent pay stubs will show the YTD income, YTD taxes, and etc. You should be fine if you have enough other supporting evidence. Assets, bank statements, letter from employer, and etc. I believe that if one has no substantial income, and no tax to pay, then one doesn't always have to file income tax forms. There were several years when I was a student when I didn't file. Look for the differences between the I-134 (used for K1 visa), and the I-864 (used for AOS). I believe that you are supposed to supply 3 years worth of Income Tax forms with the I-864 (only 1 year for the I-134). Later, when you file the I-864, perhaps an official IRS transcript showing nothing filed along with a VERY BRIEF explanation of why would be sufficient. Don't dwell on details. Of course, when you file the AOS, you will have the 2004 income to report, additional 2005 income to show, and YOU WILL BE IN THE USA. In the very remote chance that something would go horribly wrong... Your fiance will be able to file his 2004 taxes in mid-January, and you will have a real tax return to take back in. But, it is only a small chance that would be necessary. One additional possibility.... If your fiance's I-134 is not accepted. He can get a "co-sponsor" that could file one on his behalf. Anyway, if his income is good and he can demonstrate stable employment, then you should be fine. ---- Clifford ----

Taz, I still haven't figured out whether this is good, or bad. I know that you have waited a long time for this to come, but you have also had some difficulties along the way. I hope all goes well once the three of you are finally reunited. ----- Clifford -----

One of the latest types of scammers that I have been meeting are Nigerians who are posing as Americans. The ones I have been meeting place ads on international personals sites saying that they are from the USA, or perhaps they just contact random people using Yahoo. They list a US location in their profile. Then they write and say that they have become stranded in Africa, or otherwise need some help. And, of course, love you, and maybe even are ready to marry you ONCE THEY SAFELY RETURN TO THE USA. Of course, I doubt that any of them have ever been to the USA. I called one woman who was supposed to be from Alabama. Except that she certainly didn't have a Southern US Accent. Another woman, I enjoyed talking to a bit... was supposed to be from Indiana, and an owner of a chemical company working down in Nigeria... just needing some help cashing checks or perosnal cash flow issues. Then she never quite made it back to the USA when she was planning to come.... Well, I told her that we could talk about financial things AFTER we met in the USA..... But, eventually she started begging like a kid in a candy store.... Once she realized that I wasn't going to send any money, she asked me to never write to her again. Well, I still think that the vast majority of the Russian (and Chinese) women are sincere. But, I have also learned a lot through very costly past relationships.

Truthfully, like Kim, I have on occasion recommended that people talk to a lawyer in especially complicated cases, or in the event of a difficult separation. However, I have also become a bit jaded with the legal system in the USA. And, I am very disturbed with the current elections with thousands of lawyers coming out of the woodwork as saviors to the system… It is amazing how we have managed to have "free" elections in this country for over two centuries. As I understand it, most initial consultation fees should be FREE as long as you are not requiring the lawyer to get too specific. Remember, lawyers typically can not FIX something…. They can only aid with the process. Stay away from people who promise that they will have it all fixed in exchange for the keys to a new Porsche. Anyway, I do truly wish you the best of luck with your case, and hope you can soon put these problems behind you. ----- Clifford -----

Kim, A green one... That is a bad sign. Yes, it will work, but it may require twice as much "Green". ----- CK -----

Start looking around your house. See if you can find a big white porcelain thing with a little silver lever on the side. Fill it with as much cash as you can find. Pull the lever. It should help. --------------------------------------- Good luck with your issues. ----- Clifford ------

I was talking to my mother today, and and she said that my grandmother's mailbox was recently successfully bashed in. Apparently she had a well-made brick post with steel rebar reinforcements, probably also sitting on a concrete foundation. A neighbor kid decided to INTENTIONALLY try to knock it down with a little Honda... And was actually quite successful in doing so. He got a good run at it & slammed the Honda into the post and managed to take it down. He must have been smart enough to put on his seatbelt. But, in the process, he totaled his car. He broke his pelvis (probably the seatbelt saving his life). He also apparently broke his shoulder (also the seatbelt saving his life). Ok, so my grandmother may have had too well built of a mailbox post... Unfortunately, many people in Rural America are driven to reinforce their mailbox posts due to vandalism... You must evaluate the sensibilities of anybody that would intentially total one's own car and make a trip to the hospital... all for a prank???

On RARE occasions, GZ will give a person's fiancee or spouse pink and blue slips asking for a VHS video tape. The video is only requested if the Chinese beneficiary has poor English skills, and there is a question about the couple's ability to communicate. The Official request is for a 5 minute video showing the US Citizen speaking and writing in Chinese, showing his face and hands If the US Citizen is not comfortable speaking in Chinese, then a video of the couple talking together is generally acceptable. It seems to be a relatively rare request. However, if you think there could be issues, you might want to make the video. I would recommend leaving the tape in the Hotel. If you get a RFE, then you will be prepared. Having the video wouldn't necessarily prevent getting a RFE... But they likely would ask for something else that could harder to acquire. ----- Clifford ------

I have read your questions over carefully. Your first question is: How long are these documents good for? Your second question is: If your interview isn't until next year in February, will they still be good or will we have to get renewed documents? The answer given is that all documents are always VALID except the police certificate and the unmarried certificate. Those two have a one year validity. So with exception to those two documents, your other forms will be valid. It looks like they did answer your question in its entirety. Did I also miss something in your question(s)? Dave I think the medical exam may also "expire" after a year. Also note, the DS-230 expired earlier this summer. I am not sure if they have the new official forms out or not. But, if you download forms off of the internet, you could potentially run into problems. Hmmm... Also your I-134.... If the interview is before April, expect to use the 2003 form 1040. However, if the interview is after April, you may need the 2004 form 1040. ----- Clifford -----

It is not that Chinese Characters will necessarily "Hose" the application. However, I believe that most international character sets are represented using two characters called bytes, possibly including what would normally be non-printing characters. There could be issues from incorporating a wider range of characters than the program is designed to display. Many of the “non-printing” characters have specific functions that might not be desirable such as “end of file”, “return”, ”linefeed”, “escape”, and “bell”. However, the more likely possibility is that the Chinese characters just appear as a string of pure gibberish. I have had e-mail apps that did not like Cyrillic. I have gotten so that I could recognize my friends’ signatures (always the same seemingly random character string). Yet, the name was never recognizable. ----- Clifford ------

Patrick & Li had a similar situation. Send them a PM or E-Mail and they might be able to shed some light on your situation. Also, ask them to stop by and say hello!!! http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....CODE=03&MID=576 I believe that Li had sole custody of the child, but the ex-husband wanted to play games with them. In the end, I believe that they gave her Ex a "gift", and he finally consented to letting the child go. I think the biggest issue is that the child is unable to get an international passport without the ex-husband's consent. And, despite what it says on the OF-169, the child IS REQUIRED TO HAVE A PASSPORT. Of course, your case is different from any that I have seen discussed because the EX has primary custody of the child. If you apply for both the K3 and K4 at the same time, there is something about children following their parents with the visa. But, I believe that there is a finite amount of time that this is valid for, perhaps a year. As long as your stepchild is young, there should not be an issue with her getting a visa in the future (somebody can verify this), going through a similar process to what your wife is going through now. The notable exception is that I don’t believe that “namechecks” are done on children younger than 16. Another option that you should consider. Once your wife gets settled in. Invite your stepdaughter to visit for a summer vacation, applying under a visitor's visa. Assuming the father would consent to such a visit, you could start building up some kind of history with the INS which may be helpful in the future. (ummm, explore the INS idiosyncrasies before you get too vested in any single idea). ----- Clifford -----

CONGRATULATIONS Wow, Turtle... you SPED through the whole process in a blinding 13 months. I know that many people have greatly appreciated your perseverance in helping track the P3 and P4 packets and delays. Best Wishes for a happy future. ----- Clifford ------

Tapes are generally only requested as proof as the ability to communicate. Thus, if the beneficiary speaks poor English, they may ask the Sponsor to send a tape of him or her speaking and writing Chinese. However, in that case, a tape of the two individuals communicating together is generally accepted, and the USC can generally get out of taking a Crash-Course in Chinese. If the benificiary has VERY STRONG English skills, it is very unlikely that they will ask for a tape. One thing to keep in mind. The interview may be your fiancee's most stressful day of her life. If she had mediocre English skills, they could easily go flying out the window. Also consider that the the two of you have likely gotten accoustomed to each of your speaking styles... There are a trememdous variety of English dialects in the world. Can you understand everything that British, Australian, or Indian speakers are saying? What about your favorite auctioneer? Will your fiancee do well if he or she encounters a heavily accented interviewer? ----- CK -----

Very few camcorders take VHS tapes now. You might be able to get one on E-Bay if you would like to lug around a 50 lb camcorder. However, there is supposed to be a relatively easy conversion between tape formats. I assume there is a very slight loss of quality, but hardly significant going between PAL and NTSC. As I understand it, there are multiple camera stores in GZ that can do the conversion for you, or aid with the conversion. I would recommend choosing a camera that does the format that you want and then worry about the conversion later. If you are anticipating the camera to be primarily used in the USA, then purchase it in the USA. If you are anticipating it to be primarily used (tapes viewed) in China, then purchase it in China. Are you planning on being in China for your wife's interview? If so, then you might not want to do a tape now anyway. As I suggested, it might be best to be prepared for making a tape if necessary, but not to bring it to the interview. If you get a pink or blue slip, then be prepared to finish making the tape by the next day. Or… another thought… Go on vacation to China now. Then bring your tapes back home and do all of the editing using your existing VHS recorder in the USA. Then mail (or bring) the tape to your wife. As far as PAL vs NTSC… The "official" pink and blue slip forms do not specify anything other than VHS. I don't remember if anybody has reported asking the question during one of the info sessions. Truthfully, I would be surprised if the Embassy doesn't support both formats. Even my college in the USA was able to support both formats. P.S…. One of the HOTTEST Camcorders that I've seen… Is a Sony that takes Mini-DVD disks!!!!!!! Good Luck, Clifford

Ling & Brian, This immigration process is frustrating for everyone. By the looks of your timeline, you are progressing about the same speed as everybody else. GZ has been churning out quite a few P4 packets recently. Maybe they will have a burst of speed and catch up. Otherwise, expect your P4 very late this year, or very early next year. I applied for the visa for my ex-Russian Fiancee so some of my experiences may be slightly different than yours. One of the frustrating things about the whole process is that everything is essentially CLASSIFIED. We had a 9 month delay between the application being forwarded to Moscow, and the combined P3/P4, as we eventually fell below the 5% (perhaps 1% or 2%) of the applications as far as time delays. All I could find out was that my application was in "Additional Administrative Processing". I never knew if the delay was a second namecheck. Although, I did finally get the case to budge after I determined that A namecheck was completed..... Oh, they won't directly even tell you the results of the namecheck. Have some patience... And good luck for a speedy end to the wait.

Uh Oh... Never believe anything they tell you!!!!!!! Truthfully, some workers may not understand the whole process. Have you tried going to the USCIS web page and typing in your receipt number to see what shows up? https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/index.jsp Where did you apply? Did you file in the USA (through one of the service centers in the USA, Vermont, Texas, Nebraska, or California)? Or did you apply at the GZ consulate (DCF)? The place you applied makes a HUGE difference. If everything was filed through GZ, then give them a call, or perhaps send an e-mail to GZ. Someone here should be able to supply the current links, addresses, and phone numbers. Good Luck