keelec

I thought I saw this discussion earlier. When your wife is in China, you are in the USA, you can file as married (thus you use a lower tax rate), but you generally do not deduct her as a dependent (I think). You may need to report her income, but I believe that it is all supposed to be deducted somewhere. (of course, I filed K1 and never got that far). However, since I have no actual experience with this, read the forms and talk to the IRS. Perhaps other K3 applicants will chime in. ----- Clifford -----

Hmmm, Interesting article. It is not "Super Bug" vs "Ordinary Bug" somewhat like Clark Kent vs Jimmy Olsen. The problem is multi-drug resistance in bacteria. In many senses the multi-drug resistance actually weakens the bacteria. “Ordinary” bacteria can often grow better and reproduce better, and perhaps even have more severe consequences than the multi-drug resistant bacteria. Heck, I probably have been exposed to both MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) as well as VRE (vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus). Perhaps both on the same day. Both types of bacteria can be very difficult to kill off due to multi drug resistance. And if the bacteria could share genes (hypothetically possible), they could create a bacteria that would be almost impossible to kill with our current drugs. Yet, I lived to tell about it. Why? Well, the bacteria really aren’t very harmful to “normal” people. Staph or Strep can cause nasty wound infections or prosthetic device infections. However, they can live on unbroken skin without any ill effects, and probably aren’t that bad for most ordinary cuts either. Staph can cause a nasty case of 24 hr food poisoning, but most of that is not the bacteria itself, but rather the toxins that can build up in the food that one consumes (thus VERY short-lived). These multi-drug resistant bacteria probably can not survive in “nature” because the multi-drug resistance traits generally come at a competitive cost (thus, the “super bugs” are weak like Jimmy Olsen). The big problem with these multi-drug resistant bacteria is that they live in hospitals where LOTS of people have weakened immune systems, and doctors, nurses, visitors, or patients can carry the disease from one person with a weakened immune system to another patient with a weakened immune system. And, the bugs can be very difficult to kill off. Ok, so the risk of SOAP????? Well, antibacterial soap is generally stronger than the antibiotics that people ingest. However, there are bacteria that will develop a resistance to it. And the more “antibiotics” that are around, the more bugs that become resistant to that particular antibiotic. And, I certainly want the soaps in the hospitals to be effective in killing off the bugs. And, if I should ever have surgery (which can introduce whatever is on the surface of one’s skin into a body cavity or onto a prosthetic device), I want the antibiotic washes to be effective at protecting me. Please don’t breed antibiotic resistance when simple soap and water is sufficient to protect yourself. So, what would be the best way to take antibacterial / antiviral baths? Whenever you take a bath, fill the tub with isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) an then mix in ½ gallon of Bleach…. It will kill off EVERYTHING Of course, you might have a strange scent so you might want to add some deodorant too, but better to be safe than sorry :P ----- Clifford -----

I haven't heard of anybody having problems related to not working. I believe the questions are more related to whether certain occupations would in sensitive areas like Nuclear Weapons Technician It has been a while since I looked at the DS-230. Does it ask about employment? Or is the only employment stuff on the G-325A? If it is only on the G-325A, that would not show a significant gap in employment and it would not be an issue. I assume that you have adequate finances to cover the Affidavit of Support. ---- CK ----

Patrick, Kim recently did biometrics at an office that wasn't the "closest" one and it went very well for her & Jake. I don't know about filing the AOS..... I think it has to go to the designated office, but I am not sure. Plan on getting it finished sometime in the next decade..... Hmmm, June 2001.... So, they haven't even started the Post 9/11 cases yet???? ---- CK -----

Hello & Welcome. Hopefully you will get some good ideas here without too much confusion. From what you are posting, it sounds like you had filed an I-129F to sponsor your fiancee on a K1 visa. She came to the USA on a 90 day visa and you got married. I believe that you also need to file the I-485 AOS within the 90 days too. Now, this being June, and you getting married in October it sounds like it could potentially be a problem. However, I believe that one can "overstay" most visas (tourist, student, and etc) up to 6 months without significant penalty for future applications. However, K1 may be a different beast, and if you are approaching 9 months after she arrived in the USA, you probably should consult an attorney ASAP. Or, now that the delay has already occurred, at least fill out all of the paperwork this week and hand deliver it to a USCIS/BCIS office by the end of this week and brace yourself to deal with whatever comes up. If she came here on a temporary worker visa or some other visa, then you should file for AOS as soon as possible too (I am not sure what the procedure for that would be), but you might as well get it started sooner than later. ----- Clifford -----

Hello Kelly, From reading both the interview, and your post, it sounds like your English is excellent. I am glad that your interview went smoothly. Of course, one can not just turn on or off one's English skills, just like I can not jus turn on or off my Russian or Chinese skills. Some women are still struggling with the language and must approach the VO with whatever language skills they have at the time. Most women will learn a tremendous amount of English once they arrive in the USA. ----- Clifford ------

Well, Irina and I always introduced ourselves as boyfriend/girlfriend.... However, I have heard that there are some situations where it is more convenient to register in a hotel as being married rather than unmarried because of social stigma. I would think the USA would be conscientious about other cultures and their practices. ---- CK ----

Well, this will be (hopefully) the first marriage for both Irina and myself.... so they probably would still have tried to catch me up on that one. And, I am also hoping that it will be our last marriage. Yes, looking back at it, it clearly says "if none so state"... I don't know why I didn't pick up on that one, except from back in High School, I was always taught on "forms" that one puts N/A for any question that doesn't apply. If they had asked me the NUMBER of previous wives, then the answer would clearly have been "none" or "zero". However, the question was for the NAMES of previous wives. Thus, "Not Applicable" is the appropriate response. Like I said, if the INS thinks that distinction is important then they would put in a Yes/No question instead of their wording. They Probably send out a ten thousand RFE's on that one for every person that is trying to sneak a semantic thing past them. And, these frivolous RFE's not only are an aggravation for the people, but it costs our government money as well as adding an additional load on an already overburdened system. Hmmm, why is it easier to prove that one is divorced than to prove that one was never married? ----- Clifford ------

That is one scary thought... That the "good stuff" is what we see here

Interesting.... I think I would help out the poor kid though. However, I wanted to ask. Is Chinese like Japanese which never has two consonant sounds together? And, if they adopt "English" words, they usually add a few extra vowels?

You should try Italian Oranges.... BLOOD RED.... The redder, the better. There are different varieties of watermellons, and perhaps different growing environment. Most of the ones that my parents would grow in their garden were round, between the size of a cantelope and a basketball.

Ummm, Was that from fishing with dynamite and electricity :o

Well, I would hope that someone would sit back and realize that the "Standard" for this type of form is to write "N/A". I didn't find "official" instructions for the G325A, but here are the instructions for: I-129F I-130 If I had noticed that, I would have very much considered sendingtheir instructions back with the N/A hilighted rather than the RFE form Of course, I filed the I-129F which does mention the use of N/A OR NONE

Ummmm, What was it that Jun said the "S" in Husband stood for???? SHOPPING!!!! Well, have fun emptying out the checking account

Resp, Congratulations.... it has been a long time waiting.... And you even got the CR1. I hope everything else turns out as well, Clifford

Yep, I got one :D Well, that was nearly a year ago when I got that RFE.... Just had to write NONE on the RFE form and send it back. Stupidest thing that I can imagine Yes, in a sense, N/A is ambiguous. (someone could mean "None of your Damned Business"). But, if they really wanted to know, then they would have worded the question: But, I guess there is some cruel sense of pleasure that they get out of making ambiguous forms

Thanks for your warm words of encouragement....I think it is just the athlete in me...always used to finishing first really hard to catch other people's dust. Yep, know that feeling..... My sincere congratulations to everyone who gets through the visa process.... But, it is still hard to wait a year and a half when others get their visas in 6 or 7 months. So many people have been granted visas who had started AFTER MY APPLICATION HAD ALREADY BEEN SENT TO MOSCOW. Anyway, Sam and Nicola, best wishes for a happy life. Every visa (including yours) is well deserved. ----- Clifford -----

I was just thinking a bit about Chatting. I wonder if part of the problem is that the better Chat clients (Yahoo, MSN, AOL, IRC, etc) have a client that is loaded locally on the computers that are connecting. The Candle chat client was written to run Java on a WWW page and is very choppy. Perhaps it could be updated a bit, but it may remain suboptimal as long as there isn't a stand-alone client. And, I am very leary about websites that require one to download, install, and run proprietary software....... For example, I frequently do online polls (Dell, HP, etc).... Except, one of them was asking me to download and run special software just to take their poll. I absoluely refuse to do any online poll that requires me to install something on my computer. Hmmm, Does anybody use IRC anymore? (I never liked it myself). Perhaps one could setup a "Candle" forum on an IRC host somewhere. Maybe this is dating myself a bit. I assume there is now something that is considered to be better than IRC ------ Clifford ------

Jun, Well, there were a combination of factors that hurt us. 6.5 months at NSC.... 1.5 months at NVC 10.5 months at Moscow (9 months or so for secondary name check) Yes, it would be nice to have the 6.5 months at the beginning be just a couple of weeks.... (and thus, perhaps we could have finished everything within a year)..... But, I will never consider the delays acceptable. Now I am just waiting for the moment when Irina will be here and the wait will be over (and hopefully worth it), ----- Clifford -----

I believe it is best to only make inquiries when you really need to. Let them have a rest. I couldn't imagine writing every week to Moscow, only to get a message back every week telling me that my application was in "additional administrative processing"... There must be better use of my time as well as those people answering the e-mail. I made enough inquiries elsewhere.... Look at all the 202 numbers on my phone bill ----- Clifford -----

Interesting story.... It sounds a little fishy to me too, but I think the INS needs to concentrate on "Homeland Security" rather than morality judgements. If they are married, then they should be able to be together. Maybe the INS needs more options.... As I understand it, they can offer a couple: - K3 - 3 month visa. - CR1 - 2 year visa - IR1 - 10 year visa. This couple obviously needs a little more time together to figure things out. If they have a 2 year visa, it needs to be extended for an extra year. The woman also needs to be given an option.... Either stick with the man, or head back to England. She should not have an option available to marry another American without a certain "waiting period" in which she would not be allowed back into the country. The same should be true about working. No work visa without marriage (no matter what her job is). Ummm, and they have to demostrate that they are actually living together in the same house. ----- Clifford -----

Kurisu, The copy of the wife's passport is a new one one me. Where did you hear that? I think it only asks for a copy of the US Citizen's passport (having been issued for several years). However, my finacee sent a copy of her passport so I also included it with the Fiancee application. I don't think it is required as the original will be asked for in the interview. ----- Clifford ------

Ok, several things there. Look for discount telephone services. www.bigzoo.com and www.onesuite.com both offer telephone services to China for about 2.4 cents a minute. Other services are available too. However, perhaps webcams make that obsolete anyway. Keep copies of E-Mails. Perhaps also copies of online chats transcripts. You should be able to build up quite a bit of information over the wait period. As far as does going to China help. No, you won't be allowed to go the the interview. However, you can make your presence know in other ways. Some men have sent their fienacees/wives to the interviews with passports, drivers licenses, etc to show that he is in fact there. The likelihood of getting a pink & blue slip seems to increase significantly if you have only made a single trip to visit your fiancee or wife. It might be equally good to visit at the halfway point as a the end of the process. However, your fiancee or wife might need a little extra support for the interview, especially if something bad goes wrong. I.E. If you can, go for the interview. If you can't, don't stress about it. It will probably be ok, and if it goes bad, you can jump on the plane and be with her when she heads back to the consulate to present the new requested evidence. Afterall, she should be in the USA shortly after the interview, so perhaps it is not necessary to make a trip to visit just before she comes. ----- Clifford ------

Ok, I've filed for the Fiancee visa so some things are a bit different. However, download the form I-129F with instructions: http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-129f.htm Number 11 in the instructions gives a summary of the differences between K1 and K3 filing. In the second paragraph under the section 11 of the instructions, it says you have to provide evidence that you have filed the I-130. I presume that a copy of your I-797 would do this. Make sure you send in copies of the G325A, pictures, evidence of marriage, and etc. I guess you don't need the letter of intent to marry, or the evidence that you have met (marriage certificate takes care of that). Here are some additional notes about the K3: http://uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/ne.../life081401.htm Pack everything up and sent it to: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services P.O. Box 7218 Chicago, IL 60680-7218

Recently with the call center closed, they were taking walk-in applications for non-immigrant visas. I don't know if anybody attempted to present an I-129F during that period, but I would have been extremely surprised if it had worked. I believe that the call center has reopened, and thus there are no more "walk-ins". There is something called "Direct Consular Filing" which is supposed to be relatively quick. GZ is very restrictive about who they will allow to do this, and they require the US Citizen to be living and working in China with a valid Chinese Work Visa. I believe that it is only valid for sponsoring spouses for a CR-1 or IR-1 visa. ----- Clifford -----