Invictus

Last question: Can she do this on a single visit to Beijing or Shanghai or do any of these involve a series of shots to be administered over a period of months?

Can she do this at any time, say, right now? Also, where can she do this? http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3739.html On this page there are four approved medical centers listed for those whose interview will be in GUZ. Is this where she needs to go? If so, we could get it all done in one shot ("one shot," get it? hehe) when we meet in Beijing, if it is a one-day thing! I'm still a little unclear on this, please advise. Thanks, Dan.

I've found the same list and have the same questions, so no point beginning a new thread. I actually found this chart: http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9587/shotsv.png Also, is there any Chinese translation of these necessary shots? Giving my fiancée this list in English won't be very helpful.

Due to losing a day flying there, all indirect flights were out. I'm going to leave on Friday and arrive in Beijing Sunday evening. Then I'm leaving next Sunday, evening, and arriving in New York Sunday evening, with plenty of time to get home and rest before work next Monday.She's coming to Beijing from Wuhan with the express train. I paid a little extra to time the departure and return dates just right, but it was worth it. I get bored stiff sitting in those things, and I can never sleep that way.

Ever since I've started reading and asking for advice here I've come to feel a lot more confident than I have in the past few months. At least now I don't feel like this is some sort of gamble, but something for which you can prepare. I'm flying there from 04.26 to 05.05 and we'll spend the week together in Beijing, doing silly touristy stuff but mostly just staring at each other all silly.

I know it's an old thread but I have sent flowers twice with these people and they have proven reliable both times. The first time, I emailed them directly to make sure it had been delivered, and they replied in a timely manner confirming such in a personal and friendly tone. I plan on using them again for this Valentine's day. http://www.chinaflowerscn.com/english/default.asp

My boss has agreed to give me the week off from 04.29 to 05.03, which, including weekends, is a total of nine days--theoretically. I'd lose two days traveling and arrive Sunday morning Beijing time, that's if I could catch an early flight out of JFK Friday night after work. Then, six days later on the following Sunday, I'd have to fly back. I want to see her but this feels haphazard, given the flight time and ticket prices. A little over $1000 was the cheapest I found, and that was a connecting flight with 14 hours wait time between flights. The only thing I'm concerned about is that our time apart will not raise any red flags during her interview, even though nearly everyone has said that is not necessarily a deciding factor. I have officially found a new thing to become neurotic about. I knew it wouldn't take me long.

I've gotten time off work for the last week of April and I plan on traveling somewhere to meet her. We have two options: 1. I go to China and we see the family, take more pictures, maybe even have a formal engagement party. 2. We travel to a different country together. Last summer we traveled through Thailand and Laos. I was thinking meeting somewhere in Central or South America but that idea soon deflated. Visa issues aside, where my tickets are $300, hers will be > $2000. The best compromise where visa and cost both balance seems to be southeast Asia again. Perhaps Vietnam this time, we haven't been there yet. Her tickets are cheap, and prices for me hover around $1000. Does anyone have any other suggestions, locations I may have overlooked? Or would it maybe be better to go to China and have an official engagement party? I know we should just live our lives and not do everything for the sake of "evidence" but I can't help wanting to get the most mileage out of this visit. Any ideas?

I need those too, my arm gets tired walking to the train in the morning. It has to be one of those that has its own mic on the chord, though. Or heck, might as well go for a headset. I'm starting to feel like some kind of K1 superhero. Now if I could just flick my arm out and the phone extends from beneath my sleeve attached to a metallic contraption, complete with movie-like "swoosh" sound effect. Better yet, if I could just snap my fingers and she appeared before me... Ah, well. Back to reality. These QQ logs won't sort and print themselves!

This has taken an inspiring turn. Meanwhile, I got the FreeCallPlan 1000-minute plan last night and used it for the first time today on the way to work. Usually I have to watch where I'm going, use one hand to eat a bagel, and the other to dial a local number, pin, and China number. If the call doesn't go through, I must repeat the whole balancing act. Today, I just pressed a few buttons and was connected! Very nice.

Thank you all again very much for putting things in perspective. I couldn't imagine marrying her and then leaving, that would have made this process even more trying than it is now. Not to mention what I'd tell her parents. "I have no prospects yet but I'll take care of that soon as I get to New York." There were other factora, such as us being so ignorant of this process that we didn't even know a spouse visa existed, not that it would've made a difference. We will certainly prepare well for this particular question, should it arise. Thank you, guys and thanks to David for bringing it to my attention.

Does David's question or my answer to it raise any red flags for anyone else? It's not the first time I've seen this question discussed and I do not wish to leave anything to chance.

tsap seui, that's nearly three hours per day! hehe Thank you for the encouragement, every bit helps.

David, We'll do our best, thank you.

David, We felt getting married without me having a steady job and a place to live was not the right way to do it. Since I do not wish to live in China, we had to make the sacrifice of separating temporarily so I can begin a career. We weren't going to simply get hitched in China 'cause we could, then come to the States with nothing. I could quit my job and return to China tomorrow, but that would get us nowhere, so we continue to endure for the sake of our future. This is our decision. I think it is difficult to make such generalizations based on her nationality and age, but I hope my answer above puts things in perspective. Thank you everyone, credzba in particular, for helping me put my head on straight. Sometimes it's easy to sink into worry and nail-biting.

Dan, that is what I call a power user. Unfortunately the Skype app has been problematic for me on my Android phone, plus I'd have to depend on the wi-fi connection for call quality. Being that I usually call on the go during my morning commute, it is not a reliable solution. I did use it extensively before when I'd call China during my evenings, their morning. tsap seui, that card sounds excellent, this in particular: No more "enter your pin number"! Think I'll go with this one, thanks.

I am looking for recommendations for a phonecard that provides printable logs of calls, both date and duration. So far I have found Rebtel and Peanuts-LD, does anyone have experience with either?

Thank you, JiangsuExpat. You bring up another question. We met while I was living in China and were together for the first year and a half. We chatted often on QQ but, of course, most of the time this wasn't necessary, since we were practically living together. Therefore there is no extensive communication record of our first fifteen months together. Furthermore, those scant QQ logs are lost; we have both moved since then, hard drives have died, etc. Those computers are gone. There are, of course, pictures. However, we did not meet with the thought of providing "evidence" of our relationship in the future, therefore these pictures do not necessarily show us standing behind some famous landmark. They are just normal pictures taken by us while we hold the camera at arm's length. For the time we have spent apart, there are communication logs to show and plenty of them. But what about our first year and a half? Average people simply don't think about these things when they first meet. Will this reflect negatively on us?

Hi, guys. We finally got all our papers together. Logs, pictures, translations, certificates, recommendations, you name it. We're now organizing everything and getting ready to send it out. Now I have a new thing over which to be neurotic, though. No surprise there. I've heard the embassy doesn't like when you haven't seen each other for more than six months. March 6th will be the six month mark since we last see each other, and I'm wondering if I should plan a visit for this spring. Oh, and I also understand that if you state you have a visit planned when you first submit your packet, then evidence collected during said visit could be admissible during the time of the interview. Otherwise, you get no benefit out of it. Is this true? I'm just trying to get some kind of reliable information about this, because it's really making me nervous. On the one hand, I'm saving 50% of every paycheck while living a hermit's life so that I can be prepared to bring her here when she does pass the interview. Also I am at a new job, asking for a week off will not be easy. I just don't get how people do this unless they're rich or self-employed. On the other hand, of course we don't want to leave anything to chance, and even though a visit would set me back (money lost at work, digging into savings that were meant to be used toward future expenses such as her plane tickets and green card stuff, etc), I'll push whoever I must in order to get it done. Right now I have no way of gauging just how crucial this visit will be, hence I don't know how to plan for it, if I should. Can anyone shed some light?

Yay, mom and daughter team figured out how to get it translated. I wouldn't have known where it not for you guys. Many thanks.

I'm going by what my girlfriend and her mother tell me. Her mom just got a second birth certificate. I will have my girlfriend take it to her Gong Zheng Chu where she lives in Wuhan and get it officially translated. Thank you for the help.

Her mom is going to Zhengzhou where their hukou is registered to get another birth certificate, this one also stating her parents' names. However, as far as the official translation from the same place which some have mentioned, that seems to be somewhat unrealistic. The people in those places absolutely do not speak English, nor do they seem to have any translator on staff. She will mail it to me and I will either translate it myself or let someone else do it. It's just a single sentence.

Sorry, guys. Please explain one more time. When you say "it," you mean they will demand this white booklet format? Sorry, a bit confused. Here is what she has so far: http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/1822/scan1u.png This basically states, "There is no record of marriage registration between 01-17-2011 and 06-11-2012 in our jurisdiction." Here is the birth certificate: http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/4461/scan2ay.png This states, "Person so and so was born in this county, this township, this village, on this date." Today I asked her if she could go back and get something with a bit more detail on it, for example, her parents' names. She said every one in that area gets the same exact thing, this is as official as it gets. Now, she might be mistaken. But if she IS mistaken, she also does not know what ELSE she could do. Based on this information, does anyone have any suggestions? It sounds like at least one of these two papers (either the birth certificate or the proof of no previous marriage registration) will not be accepted by the U.S. officers.

Regarding the white booklet, my girlfriend, who recently went to the office where her hukou is registered, said this is only issued to people born after 2000. She, or the brilliant officials who told her so, may be wrong. Who knows what's for sure in China. How would someone document their efforts in obtaining a given piece of paperwork? Simply write a letter explaining their attempts, then sign and date?

but the birth certificate needs to be in the white book format (including an official translation) that you get from the notarial office. Chinese Notarial Documents - see DOS China Reciprocity Schedule NOTE: If the link is broken, try http://travel.state..../fees_3272.html or go to http://travel.state.gov/ and search for "Reciprocity by Country" (they seem to change this periodically) Most of the documents needed can be obtained from one of China's Notarial Offices (Gong Zheng Chu). All Chinese documentation to be used abroad is processed through the notary offices and issued in the form of notarial certificates. Notarial offices are located in all major Chinese cities and in rural county seats The documents required are the GongZhengShu 公证书 Thanks for pointing that out. She has no birth certificate, actually. So she went to the place where were 户口 is registered and got a paper which states simply, "So and so was born in this village on this date." On top the paper is titled 证明 and on the bottom there is an official stamp (red circle with the name of the location and a date stamped in black on top of it). As far as translations go, I too heard the place that gives her this should also do the translation but that must've been some kind of wishful thinking. No one there speaks English, much less has a translator on staff. This isn't Shanghai or Beijing. This is the closest thing she has to a birth certificate. Does it sound acceptable?