Dean Hall

Hey Kaige and Group. Am in the same spot. 10 years were great. Ready for another 10. Blessings to all.

Dave, Well, I spent the month of September in China begining this process with almost the same things going on. First, we wanted to adopt one of the nieces, virtually abandoned, and left for the ageing grandparents to raise. The remaining parent (absentee parent - I have actually seen the 9 year old niece more than her own mother) signed the child over to us on paper with the red inked thumbprint and all. Then we traveled to Chongqing where the actual papers of the child were. We traveled from office to office being guided by well intentioned but clueless officials as to what we were to do. Finally arrived at the correct adoptive office. After an hour or so of chit chat and explaining, we were told we could not adopt the child at that place at that time. The lady in charge told us to go back to the states and do the adoption process there, and when that was complete, that the Chinese officials would rubber stamp anything that the US adoption agency agreed to. I was totally confused by this time. On the way out, I met some adoptive parents on the way out who gave me the address of the agency in Texas who helped get the China baby. I am now in the process of calling them to see what they know about all of this. I know that this has been not much help, only to prepare you to expect the most unexpected things. I wish now that we had just started with a Chinese lawyer. However the family in China was not at all for doing that. Now I wish I had insisted. My biggest regret is the time I am missing with my nieces. By the time we figure this out, they will probably be half way thru high school.

I have not read every single word on this post, and it is only my speculation, as many others have speculated. But I smell third party interference. For a visa officer to make a statement of "you lie" indicates to me that he may have had a third party piece of paper that had enough info to get his attention. Did any one other than yourself or your wife handle the documentation?

Where are you getting this from? The US always checks passports both incomming and outgoing. You may not have realized it because you never see a uniformed official doing it, but it is done, none the less. The airline agency will ask for the travelers passport, and the airline swipes the passport, and that data is transmitted to immigration. It is also the airline that removes the I-94 document stapled in your spouses passport when they travel back to their home country.

Marty and Wei Ping, So sorry to hear this. I hope your congressman has some pull. Dean and Lannie

I agree with ShaQuaNew - It's nice to have, but my personal experience was that more weight was placed on incomming test of the new student. Transcripts have little to no value in this state (VA), as class placement is determinied soley by ESL testing on entry to high school. Dean

My son came here at the age of 14. He had very little English, but despite starting 9th grade with no English, he will graduate in 4 years with his class. He has loved school from day one, and tell's his mom he's never going back to China except to visit. However, a word of warning. As Pushbrk mentioned, it is most likely that the school will require immunizations. In our case, this was done by the Health Dept. All of our other medical work does not count. They want there own medical before being allowed in school. Here's where you need to be careful. Health Service determined that he did not have all the innoculations that he should. They gave the correct shots. However, some of the shots were multiple, and spanned a six week period. Had we not got right on it as soon as I brought him here in June, he would not have been allowed in school until the series was finished. My point is, it's tempting to do all the fun stuff as soon as they get here, but you need to get with the medical and ESL people as soon as they get here and are rested. Finally, every state is different. Pushbrk has already worked a deal with their high school. In our state, it does'nt work that way. The ESL program within the State tests the students, regardless of their China placement or accredidation, and it is the ESL program which determines where they start school. I had made arrangements with them for testing before his arrival. Every place is a little different, so I suggest you start talking to your school now. Dean

I had the exact same situation with my (step) son. His first tb test was required for school entrance. This showed a false positive which then required a chest xray. The doctor then prescribed the treatment with monthly liver biopsys for 9 months. I did not feel that this was justified. A second, and much older doctor did the immigration interview, determined that the skin test would not be reliable, and went directly to the xray. Second opinion - no further action necessary. Bear in mind that these are all personal decisions and responsibilitys. Dean

Yes indeed - some very convoluted thinking we have in our Gov. After reading this thread, I distinctly remembered voting in Colorado and seeing CP-USA (Communist Party - USA) on the ticket, with Gus Hall as a presidential candidate. I remember this because of the similarity of our last name. (no relation to me) So I Google it, and sure enough, we have a legal communist party accepted by the US of A with voting members, blah blah blah. But your wife is trying to leave the CCP so that she can come to America where if she were to become a citizen, she would have the legal right to join the communist or nazi party. Boy is that messed up logic.

Congratulations. 2 year or 10 year card ?

I feel your relief. Bask in the LIGHT. It is soft, warm, and refreshing. Don't you feel so much LIGHTer now? Congratulations, Dean

My wifes I-130 had already been approved, however I did not have one for my step son (K4). I sent his I-130 in with the AOS paperwork, and never heard anything from them. After making some calls, I was told that the I-130 would be approved automatically and concurrently with the AOS approval. This turned out to be the case. If you are getting close on her visa (time wise), you can extend the K3 visa with the I-593. In my mind, this is better than the advanced parol because it is generally faster, and gives you another 2 years with multiple entry. I may be wrong, but I don't believe the AP is multiple entry. Dean

OK Hakkamike, I can feed you for 1 day, but I guarantee it won't be in your company cafeteria. Whoa !!! That place gave me the ......... Thursday enchiladas.! Ouch.

Thanks Hakkamike, For those of you who don't know, hakkamike donated a transformer that I took to China a few years ago. My employment sent me to his place of employment, and I was actually able to see Mike being gainfully employed on one of the fine aircraft that I support. Surprisingly, despite his many words of wit on this site, he seems to be a well respected and affable character. Character may better describe him. I owed him dinner for the gift of the transformer, but don't tell him, I would have taken him out any way. I was actually curious about what kind of girl would marry a guy like that. Alas, it is still a mystery. Hey - it's all in fun Catch you next time I'm in Texas old buddy. Dean

To MRMC, Yes, the stamp in the passport was red, and good for one year. However, looking at the passports, we have been in the process so long, the Chinese passports are about to expire. Glad we've got the cards so we're not dependent on the stamps

This is from another post, but I believe it would work in an overcome. I created a pictorial timeline that logged major events with our pictures. The V.O. did look at this during the interview. It compressed 4 years and 18 trips into a viewable logical sequence. Dean

I actually believe that it was helpful to our process. I created a pictorial timeline that logged major events with our pictures. The V.O. did look at this during the interview. It compressed 4 years and 18 trips into a viewable logical sequence. Dean

And thats how I say we passed our AOS interview, and got the Green Cards. First, thanks CFL, and everyones input and advice. Second, a special round of applause (put your hands together CFL brothers and sisters !!) for DavidZixuan and his organization of all things AOS. David, I used your AOS instructions, and added my own color codings, but pretty much followed your directions. I say this because the interviewing officer made special notation of how well organized and easy it was to follow through the petition and quickly locate any portion at any time. (With 2 applicants, the stack was over 2 inches thick, and included the EAD, AOS, and an I-130 for my stepson) We followed Davids practice sheet for the oral exam. Something funny happened here. The I.O. (Interviewing Officer) asked my wife, "What is your husbands mothers name ?" She instantly answeres "Mom" The I.O. "What ?" Wife - "Oh, sorry, Mommy" I.O. starts laughing. I tell wife to give my mothers houko name. She says "*****", and everything was ok from there on. We were asked a few simple questions, namely: I.O. How did we communicate A. Chinglish - I.O asks to explain, says she never heard that one! I.O. What is our address A. Blah - blah - blah I.O. What is our phone number. A. ***-***-**65 I see the I.O.'s eyebrows shoot up, and immediately tell my wife to tell her my cell phone number which is 1 number different, and is what was entered on the paperwork. Every thing is ok then. I.O. What is husbands mothers maiden name? A. See above story I.O. How did we meet. A. Met in person while working in China blah blah blah I.O. Describe your wedding in China A. Described the whole marriage process in China, I.O. was genuinely interested in hearing about this. Showed some pics here Some general chit - chat where I blathered on and mentioned how difficult it was to be in a no mans land while waiting on AOS processing. (i.e. I-94 expired, but no green card - if you returned to China on a family emergency - your screwed) Anyway, she jumps up, grabs the passports, says "I'll be right back", and takes off. 5 min later, she's back, and the passports are stamped. I say, "Wow - thanks - I did'nt think you guys did that anymore" She says they can do it at their perogitive if they are comfortable with the situation, and basically feel like it. Anyway, she was young, professional, and stern. Did I say stern? Well, only for the first couple of minutes till she started laughing at my wife. Well, we got the stamp in the passports, and the greencards 10 days later. Now, for those of you with kids: Pay attention: If the physical for the child was done, and they were 16 or younger, they were probably not given the aids test. If they hit 17 before the AOS exam, the aids test would be required, but would not be on the medical exam the surgeon provided for the AOS. We skimmed by on that one as my step son had one more month before his 17th birthday. That was the only heart stopper we ran into. Luckily, he was still 16, or we would have been making another trip to the un-civil surgeon. I guess the thing to do would be if on your visit to the Civil Surgeon, it looks like the child could turn 17 in the 8 to 10 month process, go ahead and ask the CS to do it so that your covered. Each application weighs approximately 1000 lbs on each shoulder as you wait for the process to finally end. Then the light blinds you, the weight falls off, and, thank God, Free at last, Free at last. Final note: We did take an interpreter - not absolutely necessary, but safe. Thanks again everyone at CFL. One happy camper, Dean PS, and in a little bit, I'll write one of those happy stories that started in 1999 and just keeps getting better.

Congratulations. I see you passed. How 'bout some details? We go to Alexandria next Monday, and I'm taking an interpreter just in case. Dean

Again from Visa Journey.com, delete if necesarry More bad news, and I'll not post any more of these. People, just brace yourself for some more hard times. Sincerely hope I'm wrong ...... Today was an awful day, just 3 days before my fiances interview in Israel, He gets a call from the embassy in Tel Aviv and they say that they are sorry they have to cancel his interview. He asked why, they then gave a story about some new law as they put it that requires all fiance visas to go for an additional check of some sorts. Something didn't feel right, so I called them myself. The lady picked up, saw in her computer that there was an interview date on May 16th, and the said, oh yes i see a note here that they called hin today. After putting me on hold for some time and talking to someone in charge I assume, she returns and says to me very quickly we are still processing his appplication and we are not ready to interview him. I ask in confusion what is the reason for this since we have already gotten the interview, she would povide me with no more assistance, she said it has nothing to do with me or my fiance and it has to do with their administrative side and then said the same thing to me as my fiance......we advise him to call in a month if he hears nothing from us. crying.gif I dont buy the new law excuse, something is not right!!! wacko.gif It's not fare! we were 3 days away, and they just drop us like that helpsmilie.gif I've been crying non-stop since then, and I have no clue as to whats really going on!!!

From the same visa site, please delete if this is not to be done. From Visa Journey.com Got a very unpleasant phone call this morning from a chap at the US Embassy in London. He told me that my interview on Monday, 15th May has been cancelled because the USCIS has issued orders to recall all K1 petitions that were approved (NOA2) on or after March 6th. This is because of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act. The Department of Homeland Security want to run "further security checks" on all K1 cases approved after March 6th. So, what this seems to mean is that each affected case is being sent back to the service centre which approved it. The original case worker will again review the case and issue an approval. Everything will be forwarded back to the London embassy who will re-issue an appointment, or continue their processing of the case. In my case, the medical I took last week will still be held as valid, along with the visa application fee I've already paid, and the notarized affidavit of support forms I got from my fiancee and her dad in April are valid for a year. Apparently, 200 cases in London have been recalled, and this is a world-wide recall. If you haven't already received and appointment date from your consulate, the chances are you will not be told anything as your case is returned and re-approved. London are sending my case back to Nebraska today. Even though my fiancee is female, we met each other at an astronomy conference (no marriage broker, or friends and family involved), and neither of us have been married before, our case must still be reviewed because the DHS cannot discriminate against male US citizens. This is entirely a DHS screw up. Although this sucks BIG TIME for all affected, it is particularly bad for us. Our wedding is already organised for June 11th, and our baby daughter is due on July 22nd. I had managed to get London to expedite processing of our case because of the pregnancy, but it has all been a wasted effort. I've a one-way ticket booked for Monday, May 22nd, so I'm going to book another return ticket for August and still try to go. I'll be damned if the USCIS or DHS make me miss my daughter's birth. The word is that nobody knows how long these new security checks will take. It could be two weeks, it could be two months, the guy at the embassy said this is completely unprecendented and he couldn't give me even ball park figures. I only hope the USCIS and DHS give priority to these few cases that have been recalled because I'm sure a lot of people, not only me and my fiancee, have been left in the lurch. Once again, the US government has given the shaft to legitimate individuals who play by the rules and jump through the hoops to become legal immigrants. I'm absolutely heartbroken and disgusted

From another site, so if a moderator needs to delete it, do so. Copied from Visa Journey.com I posted this in another thread but I also wanted to post it here. I just read the whole law, god I have a headache!, and although I am not a lawyer this is what I think I have found. The law has a few things that affect most of us. 1. If the USC has filed more than one petition prior to the one being adjudicated then his/her info is put into a database. 2. There is a 2 year waiting period for a 3rd petition after the filing of a second one. 3. If you met in any way OTHER than an international marriage broker then a special backround check isn't done. If you did meet via a broker then the USC must submit his backround before personal info of the alien party may be given to the USC. The broker must also do a check of the Sex offenders registry and provide that info to the alien. This is from the law: (iii) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to the Secretary of State any criminal background information the Secretary of Homeland Security possesses with respect to a petitioner under subsection (d) or ® of section 214 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1184). The Secretary of State, in turn, shall share any such criminal background information that is in government records or databases with the K nonimmigrant visa applicant who is the beneficiary of the petition. The visa applicant shall be informed that such criminal background information is based on available records and may not be complete. The Secretary of State also shall provide for the disclosure of such criminal background information to the visa applicant at the consular interview in the primary language of the visa applicant. Nothing in this clause shall be construed to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct any new or additional criminal background check that is not otherwise conducted in the course of adjudicating such petitions. Note the last sentence. No special checks are done by the DHS. I could not find anything that says the petitioner must submit his/her own police check with the petition. If you were introduced through a International marriage Broker then a whole bunch of stuff applies there. Your fiance will also be asked how you met. If he/she says anything about a marriage broker then they must provide evidence that they were informed of the USC's criminal history regarding sex offences, violent crimes and more than 3 drug/alcohol convictions. This is also what I found in regard to International Marriage Brokers: REQUIREMENTS OF INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKERS WITH RESPECT TO MANDATORY COLLECTION OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION.— (A) IN GENERAL.— (i) SEARCH OF SEX OFFENDER PUBLIC REGISTRIES.— Each international marriage broker shall search the National Sex Offender Public Registry or State sex offender public registry, as required under paragraph (3)(A)(i). (ii) COLLECTION OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION.— Each international marriage broker shall also collect the background information listed in subparagraph ( B ) about the United States client to whom the personal contact information of a foreign national client would be provided. ( B ) BACKGROUND INFORMATION.—The international marriage broker shall collect a certification signed (in written, electronic, or other form) by the United States client accompanied by documentation or an attestation of the following background information about the United States client: (i) Any temporary or permanent civil protection order or restraining order issued against the United States client. (ii) Any Federal, State, or local arrest or conviction of the United States client for homicide, murder, manslaughter, assault, battery, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, abusive sexual contact, sexual exploitation, incest, child abuse or neglect, torture, trafficking, peonage, holding hostage, involuntary servitude, slave trade, kidnapping, abduction, unlawful criminal restraint, false imprisonment, or stalking. (iii) Any Federal, State, or local arrest or conviction of the United States client for— (I) solely, principally, or incidentally engaging in prostitution; (II) a direct or indirect attempt to procure prostitutes or persons for the purpose of prostitution; or (III) receiving, in whole or in part, of the proceeds of prostitution. (iv) Any Federal, State, or local arrest or conviction of the United States client for offenses related to controlled substances or alcohol. (v) Marital history of the United States client, including whether the client is currently married, whether the client has previously been married and how many times, how previous marriages of the client were terminated and the date of termination, and whether the client has previously sponsored an alien to whom the client was engaged or married. (vi) The ages of any of the United States client’s children who are under the age of 18. (vii) All States and countries in which the United States client has resided since the client was 18 years of age. Now, all this applies if you went through a marriage broker. I don't see where it applies if you met any other way. In the definition of International marriage Broker I don't see how it applies to Yahoo personals or any of the other online dating services unless it is specifically geared to international dating. Here is the law on that: INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKER.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘international marriage broker’’ means a corporation, partnership, business, individual, or other legal entity, whether or not organized under any law of the United States, that charges fees for providing dating, matrimonial, matchmaking services, or social referrals between United States citizens or nationals or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States as permanent residents and foreign national clients by providing personal contact information or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals. ( B ) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not include— (i) a traditional matchmaking organization of a cultural or religious nature that operates on a nonprofit basis and otherwise operates in compliance with the laws of the countries in which it operates, including the laws of the United States; or (ii) an entity that provides dating services if its principal business is not to provide international dating services between United States citizens or United States residents and foreign nationals and it charges comparable rates and offers comparable services to all individuals it serves regardless of the individual’s gender or country of citizenship. Notice the last paragraph. It lets the web dating services off the hook. This is just my own interpretation of the law. I AM NOT A LAWYER!! But I think I managed to get my brain wrapped around it. Anyone that would like to modify or differ with my summery please feel free. From what I can tell if you didn't meet through a broker then nothing should change. They should not send your petition back for more checks or cancel interviews unless you stated you met through a broker. It seems that some of the embassies are overreacting. My guess is there are a lot of conference calls going on right now to get it straightened out. Just give it a little time and they will work it out.

Our interviews (Alexandria DC) were set for the same day, 20 minutes apart for mother and son.

You are what you eat.