Jaseball

Even if it is marked as a certain brand I just don't trust buying anything in China. In the large retail outlets the RMB price is the same as the US price, so I doubt any authentic name brand items are a decent deal there.

Outback Steakhouse Expanding to India To avoid using cow meat, the new restaurants will import Yak meat from neighboring Tibet. ¡°It tastes like chicken¡±, claims Shamta. Yeah, sounds like a real smart move.

Opening a pizza restaurant in China is about as risky as opening a steakhouse in an Indian religious mecca.

I think they also ask while in person to have on record the person answering a certain way, so that if something pops up later on down the road it's easy for them to take action based off knowingly lying. (even though I highly doubt their ability to detect or know 80% or more of the people who lie, but why take the risk)

Yeah, you never know, but being so prepared is really the best you can do and to have more evidence is far better than not having something.

For a country with 3-4K years worth of history the 60 year history of the communist party winning of the civil war in China is a drop in the bucket. Got nothing against the Chinese people, but still have a problem with communists. Still, I do wish the people well and I do admire the improvements the Chinese government has taken in many areas.

Ugg....At least $550 or so more for an adjustment filing. It is amazing how much this crap costs in time and money.

Ugg. They must think everyone has unlimited financial resources, doesn't have a job, and enjoy staying in GUZ for weeks at a time. We also had a delay. It could have been 1-2 weeks as well, but we got help in a special fingerprint session, so we were delayed about 5 days total. Still it through a wrench in our plans. We couldn't book a return flight to the US. We also had obligations, so left GUZ and then flew back 5 days later to spend 1 more night in GUZ. Luckily that time we actually got her passport back with the visa.

Yeah, it arrived in 7 days or less for us.

Good to hear and congratulations!

We always had the wife's passport, AP letter, marriage certificate, EAD card and I-485 letter stating we were changing status. Now we carry 2 year green card, passport, and marriage certificate still.

They are more interested in what happened after your entry. Pictures and activities with spouse and their family. Wedding photos. Where and if you went on a honeymoon. Other trips taken. Daily activities, etc. They size you both up as you enter and are checking to see if the relationship is valid (in their eyes) It sounds like a pain, but just remember it is 100x better than GUZ. At least both of you are in there together and you fulfilled the requirement of the K1 by getting married within 90 days of entry, so they better have a really good reason to give you grief.

Hey, congrats. We got our green card about 2 weeks ago. You need to just relax. The soonest you can file is 90 days before the expiration of the 2 year conditional and that is based off the issued date of the 2 year card. Yes, if you are a K1 you will be called in for an interview again. We had to go in for an interview, just for the 2 year conditional. My advice is to forget about this crap for at least 1 year 6 months. Then you can spend 3 months learning about the right forms, hope they didn't raise prices again, and file the removal of conditions form at 90 days before expiration.

This pisses me off to no end, but as in many aspects of government and politics I feel sort of trapped. What can you do? Write letters that get screened for key words and get an automated reply? Vote out losers, only to get new losers in their place?

Use the google.com language tools.

You should be fine then.

I'd be tempted to buy a cell phone while there and get a pre-paid SIM. Only reason I didn't do this was because my girl had one.

Come on, I don't like moon cakes that much, but they are far, far better than fruit cakes.

Even though we are surrounded by China town's and the diversity of Asian food stores ranging are amazing I tend to go to: Ranch 99 stores - Usually in a strip mall with other Asian restaurants, banks, and specialty shops. Le Asia - Located in Dublin/San Ramon CA - Great place for Asian fruits and vegetables as well as cooking condiments, hot pot meats, sea food, etc., with super low prices.

Good Food - ÃÀʳ

Well, in China the kids are supposed to take on the dad's name. I guess the wife taking on the husband's name isn't as important or traditional, but to have kids take on the wife's family name without a good reason (they own a business empire, the family name dies out, etc.) is a loss of face. I think the earlier you come to a firm agreement on this issue the better. Your kids will be American citizens from day one and have to integrate into society. Your last name is far more representative of the merging of an American and his first generation immigrant wife. Not to mention the intangibles the kids would have to deal with if they have the wife's last name. Kids are cruel as it stands and having their friends come over you'll already get the questions and such from being an inter-racial couple. Add on the possible questions of, "Why is your last name Chen when your dad is white? Did your mom have another husband?" Etc., etc. and that is a head ache I wouldn't want. Heck, even now when you go out you don't share a common last name with the wife and that also causes confusion. Getting married is the only easy name change and having two different names on documents, when making reservations, etc., are a pain.

Funny you mention that. My wife is lobbying for this. I hope you're kidding.

My wife also took my last name. Makes it easier for check books, bills, accounts, etc. Also, call me old fashioned, stubborn, stupid, or sexist, but I told myself if I ever got married my wife was going to take my last name. It's the tradition here and I wasn't planning on marrying any American woman who was against taking my name. What's next? The kids take her maiden name too?

It took us 1.5 years and an overcome of a blue for former CCP membership to get the visa. We never paid an attorney, but we used CFL and early on VJ extensively for research and advice. My fiancee had a very nice brunette lady CO who said because of the past party membership they had to run additional checks, since that was their procedure. Thank goodness we didn't get this large African woman. I'm firmly convinced some folks abuse their 'power,' and get some sick pleasure in trying to delay or ruin the lives of people going through this K1 process. I felt 1.5 years was way, way too long, but it was the fastest we could have hoped for given our circumstances. I'm sorry to hear how your own experience was even longer, far more expensive, but I hope you have a wonderful relationship and as the months and years go by you just appreciate one another and have a good life together.

Don't believe this is necessary. Asked my wife and she didn't need it.