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Beachey

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  1. Beachey
    http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/niv_contact.html
  2. Beachey
    You are not able to select the CITC Bank here? http://www.ustraveldocs.com/cn/cn-iv-documentdelivery.asp I was able to get to this without logging in.
  3. Beachey
    My father-in-law was just approved for a visa. I wrote a letter of invitation and an affidavit of support but they asked for neither. They asked him why he wanted to come and he said for my wife's MBA graduation and when our baby is due in December (Did I mention my wife is due in December ) They asked him if he had any evidence and showed a copy of her green card and her student ID and the VO said "Congratulations, you are approved." My wife and I filled out the visa application for him, I listed my wife as inviting him and me as the person who assisted in filling out the application. For a friend it might be a bit more difficult but I was surprised how easy it was as my father-in-law is a widower with limited assets.
  4. Beachey
    How long is the layover? Big international airports do not typically close though there may be limited services in the wee hours of the morning. In the Seoul airport there is an area with lounges where you can even sleep though I am not that familiar with Tokyo as I only went though once.
  5. Beachey
    I just filled this out for my father-in-law (as an aside - he was just approved this morning in China.) by far the easiest way to pay the visa fee is at a ICBC branch in China. The system recognized the payment within five minutes. Though I would agree that you would think a site that was for US visa's would accept a US Credit Card. I actually found the visitor's visa section fairly easy to navigate, just got her father on the phone late at night US time and filed it out. No way my father-in-law could do it himself.
  6. Beachey
    My wife and I flew through Tokyo once, no issue but we did not leave the airport. You likely will not be able to leave the airport.
  7. Beachey
    The other part of this is you mentioned she has a 14 year old son who is still in China? I would echo what Randy said but if you would get married here in the US and attempt to Adjust Status, I don't know how long that would take but I would guess at least a year and likely longer where she would not be able to leave the country and highly unlikely the son could get a visa. While the son would be eligible for a derivative visa (CR-2) you need to understand when you could start that process. I don't really know but I would not be surprised if you had to wait for your wife's green card to be approved. Friends of my wife and I are just about to go get her son in China and that has taken about a year and half from when they first sent in the I-130. So it might take as much as 2 1/2 to 3 years to get the son over here if you adjusted status in the US. It would probably make sense to get married here in the US, send in the I-130 to start the process but have you then wife return to China when her B-2 requires it. The only advantage I see to the K-1 is if the son might age out (I think it is 18) but Dan or someone else would know for sure.
  8. Beachey
    All right cool, the problem is I am not on the apartment but her hokou says she is married (we were married in China) which is why they want my permission. One advantage to a K1 and getting married in the USA.. You are right, bureaucracy.
  9. Beachey
    So this is what I got back from the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles. So my next question, is certification by the Secretary of State in California a California thing, do you need to do this in other states? I am in Arizona. Anyone ever do this before?
  10. Beachey
    Here is my situation, before we left China my wife bought an apartment that was only in her name. It was a new building so she never got the certificate before we left. I am guessing this similar to a deed here in the US. These certificates are now available since the construction is completely done. However, since her hokou now says she is married they are telling her that I need to be physically present with her to pick up this certificate. My wife plans on going to China in about a month but I am not going. The plan right now is for me to go next year. In talking with these people, they mention I could go to the embassy, I think they meant the US Embassy in China. It sounds almost like I could give some type of power of attorney to my wife? Has anyone run into a similar situation? Is there anything I could have signed that would allow my wife to pick up the certificate? Getting the certificate means more to my wife, I don't see the big issue in waiting a year but even though she has been here 2 1/2 years she still needs to keep those Chinese connections. Any help is appreciated.
  11. Beachey
    Easy one, think of Bruce Lee, they were born in the USA so was a citizen by birth, however they ended up moving back to the home country shortly after birth, even though a citizen at birth their future children cannot claim citizenship based on this. Another one US citizen living abroad they have children, claim citizenship file child birth abroad, travel to the states a couple times but not permanently, so the child lives outside the states most of life, grows up marries and has child, again since has not lived in the states cannot claim citizenship for child. The Us citizen parent has to be physically present in the US for five years which is a tougher standard that being a Permanent Resident for five years of which you only have to be physically present more than half the time (>2.5 years) as long as any single absence is < 6 months. I could see how this could happen. Hopefully he can DCF for the child.
  12. Beachey
    When I was in China, a friend's wife was in a similar situation (though she was Chinese) with a valid visitor's visa which they cancelled when they applied for a IR-1. They likely will attempt to do the same with you unless you can make a compelling argument why you need to keep it. If you can't afford to hang around in Guangzhou, your best option is to ask if you can return to Beijing and send in your passport. Another option would be to return to Beijing by train as I don't remember being asked for my passport when I traveled by train. As long as you had a photo copy, you likely would be OK.
  13. Beachey
    Having watched this for a few years, it does appear wait times are longer for starting AP in Spring and Summer versus those who start in Fall and Winter. The model is this is completely volume driven. However, there are other factors in play which may make a much bigger difference. If it makes you feel better
  14. Beachey
    We us a Roku for Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime. We don't have cable.
  15. Beachey
    My wife watches a lot of Taiwan and Korean programs on Hulu Plus.
  16. Beachey
    It has been a few years now but a couple we met at the interview in Guanzhou, the wife had a director level job at a State run company, our interviews were in June and she was not approved until the next January which is 7 months. Hard to say what the maximum 'normal' processing time is but while the wait is painful I would not worry too much yet.
  17. Beachey
    This was in early 2011 and this changes all the time but I paid the I-130 fee in the Shenyang consulate and mailed the Petition with the I-130 receipt to Beijing. If Shanghai is much more convenient then I might ask both the Shanghai consulate and USCIS Guangzhou if they will allow it. Presenting it in person is much more common and sometime in China going outside they typical paths creates issues.
  18. Beachey
    Maybe they're referring to Medicaid? I was thinking along the same lines. If I understand the rules correctly, since both spouses (or in this cases ex-spouses) are working, you can accumulate the 40 SS credits (2 people x 4/year x 5 years) in 5 years expiring the I-864 which would make her eligible for need-based aid including health care. Now since they got divorced, I am not clear how many of his credits count. Based upon the timeline above, she has likely earned at least 20 so the I-864 may or may not be in effect.
  19. Beachey
    I just asked my wife and her parents names are not on her hokou but were added on her Notarial birth certificate. She said she had more documentation that they used so maybe the OP's problem is real. Still, I would think the consulate would accept a white book as long as it had a birthdate on it even if it did not give who the parents were.
  20. Beachey
    You have gotten some good advice here. My wife has her own separate hokou from her family that she obtained after she graduated from college. She had no problem getting a Notarial Birth Certificate from Gong Zheng Chu. My impression is the certificate just stated what was on the Hokou. You may be over complicating this, take the Hoku to the Notarial Service and ask for a Notarial Birth Certificate. As for her exact birth date, this too is very common. Just use the birth date you can document and move on. When she wants to celebrate her birthday is up to her and the US government doesn't care. As it is, my wife expects me to remember both her Western calendar birthday and her Chinese Calendar birth day which moves around like Spring festival does.
  21. Beachey
    I can give you my experience with this: I went to the US consulate in Shenyang and got my Affidavit of Single Status. I then went and had it translated into Chinese by a Expat Service contracted from my company. We then went to the International Marriage Bureau in Shenyang where they told me that they needed an official translation and not the one I had which best I could tell was they put their stamp on the translation. The real reason is they charged me something like 200 RMB to do the translation and whose pocket the money ends up in?. It might have been more, it has been a few years now. At the end of the day it cost me something like 1500 RMB to get married at the International Marriage Bureau in Shenyang because we had to get married there because I was a foreigner. Six months later, a friend got married at a local office in Dalian (where we all lived) for something like 6 RMB. The lesson is your experience is going to depend on who you ask and how honest the local government official is. So I would get the English version, have you fiance ask wherever you are going to get married what the requirements are and fulfill those requirements. Honestly, spending ~$200 to get married did not really bother me but you might be in a different financial situation.
  22. Beachey
    So I took a long lunch today and we got my wife's biometrics done in Portland. Her appointment in Phoenix was actually yesterday. The women reiterated that you can actually complete an ASC appointment at any office. She told us we should have shown up yesterday when her appointment was scheduled but still was able to accommodate us. She said due to the large number of people in Portland on temporary assignment due to the number of international companies (including my own) they deal with people in our situation a lot. I did make an Infopass appointment but as we were walking in, I saw the room marked ASC. When we went to check in, I asked if we should just go to to the ASC and the women said yes. I am not sure they would have let us in with just the biometrics appointment letter so the Infopass letter did serve some purpose. My impression is the Portland office is much more accommodating than Phoenix though given the immigrant population in Arizona that may be somewhat understandable. The woman in the Portland ASC office was extremely nice for a government worker. I did have to chuckle when the other worker said they were extremely busy. There were only about three people in the entire office. Contrast that with your typical DMV where three people walk in the door every minute.
  23. Beachey
    OK, Thanks I will make an Infopass appointment and see if we can get the biometrics done. I didn't realize that in some cities the biometrics is done at a separate office from the USCIS office. The guard would not even let me wife into the office in Phoenix. The guard in Phoenix said she could could could after her scheduled appointment to the make-up day but like I said, that makes me nervous. I just hope we can get this done as I am very busy at work and taking even a few hours off to get this accomplished is hard.
  24. Beachey
    I know there are a few members here who live in Portland. My wife just tried to early bio in Phoenix and she was turned away. She was told that the make-up day is Wednesday. Here scheduled appointment is 8/27. I am up here in Portland on a training assignment. She is off from school for the next two weeks so she will be here in Portland including on 8/27. I called the UCSIS number earlier this week and the representative told me you can do biometrics at any USCIS Field office. I am thinking of having her try and get it done here in Portland next week. What is the experience with early bio in Portland and their general flexibility? The Phoenix USCIS office does not seem very flexible. The other option is to go the Wednesday after Labor Day but going after the original scheduled day makes me nervous. At the very least I am thinking of sending a letter to the rescheduling office listed on the letter and telling them the plan. I hate for them to say we abandoned the petition as it indicates on the letter. Thoughts, Advice?
  25. Beachey
    Thanks Randy! One other question: Since we DCF'd we never dealt with the Stateside Service Centers. The Reference number on the letter is not recognized on the USCIS Case Status website. It starts with one of the three letters mentioned so I am pretty sure I have the right number. I somewhat recall there being a lag before the Web Site will accept the number, how long does that typically take?
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