keelec

christmas wish for santa http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=485

SAnta called me... http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=493

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=488

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=481

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=466

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=448

Ever wonder how the INS could loose and misplace documents? I was reading some of the old Candle Posts...... I know that it is a bad thing to do.... Anyway, this showed up: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1170 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...31/MN107961.DTL A couple of people at the INS had a great idea of how to get rid of their backlog of cases..... SHREDDING THEM!!!!!!!!!! Apparently they shredded the unprocessed paperwork for some 90,000 cases including PASSPORTS , BIRTH CERTIFICATES and MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES!!! They effectively got rid of their backlog, and even managed to keep it down for several months by continued shredding!!! :angry: Fortunately, this is all "old news", breaking in Jan 2003, dealing with activities from Feb 2002 to April 2002 at the California Service Center...... ----- Clifford -----

Bryan, Your date should be coming soon.... Hold on..... I believe the Texas Service Center (TSC) has been taking about 5 months or so to process the 129F, and the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) has been taking about 6 months to do it. That could mean as late as sometime in January..... This is definately NOT something that I agree with.... But, it is what has been happening lately. NVC (National Visa Center), New Hampshire, is the next step. It seems to vary a bit with country for the Visa, with China averaging somewhere around 2 months. Thus, it is not uncommon for it to take 7-8 months, or more for the application just to leave the USA..... Then a few more months of processing in China. Good Luck, and I hope for a speedy end to the wait, Clifford

Ok, Here is another batch of "Keepers". I hate to say it, but it may not be good for a "newbie" to be hunting for interesting stuff on the web site... I am sure I will miss something very important!!!!! ------ Clifford ------- Message from Santa Claus, Reason for delay http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=448 North Pole press relase, Further details http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=466 Top 10: Why Santa will get a visa dec 24, Before most Chinese http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=477 christmas wish for santa http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=485 Elves Freed http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=481 Santa Called Me http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=493 Problems for Santa, I promise - the last one http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=496 A meeting with Belsnickel, Can a bad man be good once more http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=488 --------------------------- Owen & etc. Today's Culture Lesson, Taxis in China http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=13&t=2243 Todays Culture Lesson, Traffic in China - Part One http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=13&t=561 Traffic in China - Part II, Today's Culture Lesson http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=13&t=693 Planes, Trains and Automobiles (And More), Travel in China Part 1 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=909 Travel in China (continued), Mini Busses http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=13&t=1026 Todays Culture Lesson, Cross-Country Busses http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=13&t=1792 Developing a Broader Perspective, A Personal Cultural Lesson http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=13&t=1618 Rules, rules and more rules, Keeping your nose clean http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=509 Observations and thoughts from China http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=13&t=3481 Inputting Chinese Characters http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=13&t=975 INS workers shredding documents http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1170 Last Bachelor week-end..., Top10: The flip side of K-1's :-) http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1632 Top Ten Ways to Know You Are Addicted to Candle, Help is On the Way Chinadave http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1222 95 Questions http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3103 Table manners?, Just wondering. http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=13&t=3450 Sweet and Fresh Toilet Water, OT- Something's Lost in Translation http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=13&t=3017 OT - Can't keep this to myself http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3440 Cleaning the House, From Trash Heap to Just Dirty http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=13&t=3657 I Love You, Culture And Relationships http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=407 Just before she comes home, 10 things to get ready http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1635 Any funny stories?, Since you have met your beloved? http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=2&t=473 Top10: House cleaning tips..., and how to make it painless...on you !! http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=2007 How many of us thought our house was clean, Where is the maid? http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1999 Bachelor pad not clean http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=2211 VIRUS WARNING - TIC, (Tongue-in-cheek) http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=2507 Oh, my ex-boss is a “BLOND”….. She brought this one to me about a year ago very concerned about a possible infection that might be going around work…..

P.J. I have looked at some of the older articles on the system, although I haven't had a chance to read everything. It might be interesting to peruse everything on CD or DVD. One of the things that I think would good to save are the stories of the users. Love Stories, Hate Stories, Sad Stories, and Happy Stories. In these, I have included the PJ Story.... LOTS OF STUFF THERE..... I think it is good to let people know about some of the pitfalls that can happen with the long engagements that we are enduring, as well as differing goals between the Men and Women that are going through this process. I do think we should be able to put together a consensus FAQ for some things like 129F forms, differences between Fiancee & Spouse visas, Important Contacts, & etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------ Clifford ------ Welcome http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....?act=ST&f=1&t=1 Candle Power http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....act=ST&f=1&t=30 Colin Powell, Secretary of state Powell's Phone Number: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....act=ST&f=1&t=75 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....act=ST&f=1&t=42 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=107 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=301 Demise of INS http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1615 Airline Security Stuff http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1597 Mick's Better Half (Xiao Hua) Hmmm, how can she have 1/100 the number of posts as Mick? Does he ever share the computer with him? http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1507 -------------------------------- PJ's Story http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1447 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1448 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1449 Need Translation http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1464 Ring's Computer http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1465 Feb 21 Closure http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1455 Feb 21 Cleaning Closet http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1459 Feb 22 Reflections http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1468 Feb 22 Name Change http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1467 Feb 23 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1483 Feb 24 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1498 Feb 25 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1529 Reflections Revisited http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1530 TryToBeFair's response to PJ's Story http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1486 More Comments: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1469 8 Months Later http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3605 ------------------- China Dave's Story http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3471 Owenkrout What we learned at GZ http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1296 Mick, GZ Trip http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=1303 Oregon Topic: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3561 General Info from GZ http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3935 Prenups http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3000 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....=ST&f=13&t=3606 SARS http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=2053 http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=2276 Differences of Opinions on the Candle http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3106 The Forgotten Bunch Letter http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....ct=ST&f=1&t=441 http://www.geocities.com/depthwish/EricYuhui.html Wife's Friend Wants to meet an American Man http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3992 Things to do when she gets here http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....t=ST&f=1&t=3905

Texan, Welcome back, I have seen your posts off an on in the archives..... I hope it is now "VERY HAPPY TEXAN"..... I'll try to keep you in mind if anything should come up. ----- Clifford -----

I have at least 100 Rubles that I could chip in!!!!!

P.J. I would recommend doing a 2-fold hunt: 1) Create A FAQ forum that is very terse with only FAQs, and not discussion chains. 2 or 3 people should have moderator / edit capabilities to build and maintain these. For example, I think the 001 info could be abbreviated to a single instruction sheet rather than 3. 2) Create an Archive forum of the most "useful" information and hottest topics from the Visa Discussion. 3) Create an Archive for the most profound stories. Of course, the "General Visa Discussion" forum has been growing out of proportion to all of the others. But, some of the more profound "Stories" are burried deep within the General Visa Discussion. ------ CK -------

Yes, That is exactly my point. It just doesn't make any sense for the US to win the race for being the most complicated system that takes the longest time to complete….. Ok, perhaps it would be ok to be the longest by a few weeks, but it is just incredible that it could take us over 5 TIMES as long to process the visa. Actually, I would be happy if the US could make a commitment to finish, say 95% of the visas in 6 months (not excluding any posts for this commitment). ----- Clifford ------

Paul, I am sorry to hear about your loss. I am sure that that is was very hard for you. TB (nicknamed "Consumption") is a horrible way to die, especially where there might have been better multi-drug treatments in another country. Of course, once the disease fully manifests itself, it is hard to treat anywhere. Thus, there is now a tremendous effort to prevent the disease and detect it early. Any treatment normally requires a multi-drug regimen given for over 6 months. I know that there is supposed to be a special class of visas for acquiring medical treatment. I am not quite sure how those are regulated, but I would hope they could be prioritized so that treatment could be given when it is necessary. However, I would wonder whether the USA would allow someone to come to the USA if the TB had hit her lungs. It certainly wouldn't be safe for someone with Pulmonary TB to hop on a commercial airplane with 300 other people. I know one of the big things for fiancée/spouse visas now is that they must have chest x-rays to demonstrate that the person does not have pulmonary TB. That sad thing would be if she ad acquired the TB while she was waiting for the Visa. ----- Clifford -----

Ladd, Congratulations on finally getting the interview. I wish your fiancee the best of luck with her interview next month and your happy reunion. Wow, it is scary when I see the occasional 19 month timeline. Especially when they are right next to another 7 month timeline with seemingly hardly any difference between the cases. In a sense, I can understand an occasional case that takes 6 months at the FBI. They have a huge task to check millions of names, especially with the inaccuracies of translations. That still doesn't explain the other 1+ years that it took to get the information to the FBI and deal with the results. Anyway, at least it is all drawing to an end. Best Wishes, ----- Clifford ------

What would be nice would be to find some actual statistics that show long term relationships versus broken families for international relationships. If you look at US marriages, only about 50% of them ever make it to the 5 year point, and most of those had been dating for months, or years before the marriage. Based on the statistics within the USA, you might expect a few international relationships to fail too. The first woman I met in Russia,.... The more I think about it, the more thankful I am that things didn't work out between us. I am not sure how she would have broken the news to me that she was 3 months pregnant when we met, even though we had been corresponding for 6 months!!!! Especially when she told me that she was very shy and had never been with a man??????? Occasionally I do wonder about my finacee Irina. However, I do know that she has always treated me like someone special. She took the time to introduce me to her entire family, brother, sister, cousins, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. In fact, she insisted that she wanted me to meet them before she would come to the USA. I have just never felt any insincerity with her. Anyway, I will let you all know how things go in a few months after this visa stuff is straightened out. I am still hoping to ascend to Paradiso........ I will let you know if I am dragged kicking and screaming to Hades / Inferno !!!!!! ----- Clifford -----

It hurts when I see someone that breezed by in half the time mine did. How could someone possibly have something to complain about if they started 6 months after me, and now they have pulled out ahead of me in the visa processing? I am sure that some of those people with 18 - 20 month timelines are just laughing when some of us are going crazy with 12, 13, or 14 month waits for a visa. We have is so good now!!!!! However, what we all have to ask is what a REASONABLE amount of time to wait for a visa is. How long should it take to perform a namecheck? I proposed the question in a poll a while ago. I was a little surprised when the majority of the people responding chose 6 months (I would have chosen less). But, I think Louis summed up the reason quite eloquently: Thus, if we are being subjected to 1+ year timeframes to get a visa, then we need to be heard and tell our government that it is not appropriate. It doesn't make any difference if some people have waited longer, and some have waited less. We are all being treated inappropriately by "the system". ----- Clifford -----

Perhaps I did not do enough research before I met my fiancée and started this process. I certainly had no idea that an entire year would go by and my application would still be stuck in "additional administrative processing" with no estimate of when it would be finished. I am still only beginning to imagine the headaches that will come once she finally gets here, we get married, then she has to apply for permanent status, a green card, and finally citizenship. I didn't realize that my finding a job in Missouri would cause a 4 month delay in my application over what would have happened had I found a job in the North East or South West. And, of course, had I decided to move to Canada, she would have been able to join me 6 or 8 months ago. Had I decided to try to smuggle her into the country, she would have been here a year ago, and we would have been able to apply for amnesty and she would have been able to stay with half the hassle. Ever notice that every congressman in the country already has pre-made forms for inquiries about immigration processing, and the consulates apparently have form letters to reply to their inquiries? I haven't ever been a big one for joining the bandwagon and chaining myself to trees or laying down in front of bulldozers. Yet, there comes a point where regulations just are inappropriate and it is time to let others know that they need to reevaluate the laws. Ever wonder why the US has been accused as being run by big businesses? Those organizations that have the power to impose their will on the entire country, or perhaps the entire world? Is that because they just sit around quietly? ----- Clifford ------

Don't flatter yourselves. Yes, perhaps America is a dream for many. But, at least for Russians and Ukranians, of the women who decide to marry outside of their country, many women find their loves in other parts of the world. Unfortunately I don't have any numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if more Russians immigrate to Europe than come here to the USA. I have one friend that is now happily married in England. I have another friend that first headed off to Sweden. After that fell through, she has now found someone in Poland. The introductions agency that I used has now hired an Italian interpreter to help with introductions to that country. The only difference that I find with women who immigrate to Europe versus those that come to the USA is that they don't have to wait a entire year just to enter the country. ------ Clifford ------

Hmmm, I assume that had nothing to do with a "CORVETTE" -------------------------------- I had to look that one up. "To subject to expert appraisal or correction: EVALUATE" "To subject to thorough examination or evaluation: vet a manuscript. " I guess it would fit.... Another big word to use that really doesn't tell a person anything. Anyway, I think that as much of the problem is the system that has been put in place by our government here in the USA. I have already sent a note back to Congressman Clay thanking him for the effort and suggesting that he consider legislation that would smooth out the process. ------ Clifford ------

So, it is bad for a foreign woman to want to marry someone outside of her country? What about an American (man or woman) who decides to marry a foreigner and decides to bring her home to the USA? I guess he should be treated as a third class citizen too!!! I guess we wouldn't want for these foreign women to compete for our jobs here in the USA. Of course, it is perfectly fine for us to send all of our shoes, clothing, and handtool manufacturing to their country.... just as long as they don't send any "workers" here. ----- Clifford ------

Congratulations Jim & Qiaoji, Best of luck with your interview. I expect to hear about your trip home SOON and first Christmas together!!! Best Wishes, Clifford

I got an interesting letter in the mail today as a reply to my local congressman's inquiry (the letter I wrote to the congressman is under "Our Stories"). Dear MS. Clay Thank you for your email inquiry of November 20 regarding the immigrant visa case of Irina […], fiancée of your constituent Mr. Clifford Keele. As you may know, we are now required to perform additional administrative processing on applicants' cases before we schedule an interview. The additional administrative processing on Ms. […]'s case is mandatory and we cannot schedule her visa interview until it has been completed. Unfortunately, as of today it has not been completed. Due to the complexity of the procedure and the volume of cases, it is not possible to predict when this particular case will be completed. We apologize for the delay in finalizing this visa case. You may be assured, however, that every effort is being made to process all visa applications as expeditiously as possible, consistent with all relevant security concerns. Please contact us again if we can be of further assistance to you in any other consular matter. Sincerely, Customer Service Unit Consular Section yz Oh, by the way, I don't think MS was the appropriate title to use for HIM, even though he does go by Lacy Clay. http://www.house.gov/clay/images/representative.jpg Unfortunately, they have not said anything new, other than that I should wait patiently. I still have no idea what the "Additional Administrative Processing" could possibly be. Do you think they write individual letters, or have a form letter for replies to congressmen? I guess I will give them a break for another couple of weeks, then try again. ----- Clifford -----

Yes, being told to fight in a war that you may or may not support is very difficult. Most of the reservists do have families and stable jobs back home, and it is difficult to be dragged away from them on a week's notice. However, your friend has been receiving a paycheck from the US Government for 24 years as a reservist. What is it? 1 weekend a month + 2 weeks a year…. Over $20K. Not too bad. But, like it or not, the training at home is so that she will be ready should the country need help in times of war. And, her heading to Iraq now will likely help other men and women come home for Christmas. Now, I do believe that invading other countries because we don't like their government is a stretch for calling it National Defense. But, at this point, we are in too deep to pull out either. Yes, I did choose to start dating a foreign woman. And, if I had to choose again, I would do the same thing. But, at this point, it would be stretching things a lot to say that I should spend my Thanksgiving and Christmas separate from a loved one is a sacrifice I should take for National Defense and Freedom. ---- Clifford -----