KevinNelson

My wife will be going back to China for a short time soon. She wants to take seven Zippo lighters there to give as gifts. They are new, sealed, and in their original packaging. Any problems? Chinese love Zippos!

Something really weird happened. My wife passed her green card interview in Guangzhou, China on March 31, 2015. She was qualified to get the CR-1 on that date. Her immigrant visa is dated 3/31/2015. We entered the United States, San Francisco, on June 23, 2015. We were told when we entered the US that we had to file the I-751 90 days before the second anniversary of her entrance into the US. They attached a form to her passport that clearly says she entered the US on the June 23, that said the same thing. Her green card also says that. In other words, we would have to file the I-751 after March 25, 2017. HOWEVER, on December 6, 2016. the Department of Homeland Security sent us a letter, saying, "Our records indicate that you entered the United States as a conditional permanent resident (CPR) on (3/31/2015). As provided by Section 216 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, you must file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, within the 90 days prior to the second anniversary of the date your were granted CPR status...." Okay. So which date should we do? If we apply too early, that is a problem. If we file too late, that is a problem. To file between March 25 and March 31 is the safest, but because of other circumstances, not easy to do. Anybody else experience this same problem? If the one computer system of the Office of Homeland Security that says 3/31/2017 is the cutoff date, is the same one that would cancel her green card, we probably would have to find an immigration lawyer, right?

How long does it usually take for processing the I-131?

My wife is on a temporary green card. We had first arrived in the States in July of 2015, but after two months we had to go back to China for another 11 months to get things worked out. Now more problems are cropping up that may require my wife to go back to China at the beginning of 2017, probably for another 5-7 months. What options are available to keep from losing the green card?

Hi, I need to know what options may be available for getting my 22-year-old stepson here on any type of visa. My wife is here with me on a greencard. She heard that it is impossible for my stepson to get a visitor's visa. I have no idea if that is true. We have already applied for him to get a greencard, but we want him to be able to visit us. The greencard application was made a year ago. Thank you, Kevin Nelson

My wife was told the same thing. But then the question came up: Which is better, American Social Security or that of the PRC? When push comes to shove, my wife would qualify for Social Security after ten years of income, whereas she would have to work another seven years for a questionable PRC retirement situation. That would also require her to try to hide the fact that she is married to a "foreigner" for another seven years within a work environment that doesn't take that lightly... To me, it is a no-brainer. For her, it is a struggle because of all the years she had put faith into the PRC system.

I'm sure others have asked this, but I don't seem to be able to find the threads. What is the best way for my wife to call her parents in Xi'an? They are elderly and do not have access to a computer. Thus, my wife will need to call their cell phones directly, preferably from her own cell phone. Last year, I tried Skype to cell service in China, and it didn't work at that time. I have no idea if it works better now. I know there are some plans that allow you to call their service first, then that routes you through an alternate line for connecting to a phone in China. I simply seem to be unable, in my still jet-lagged state, to be able to figure out the key search words for Google to find them. Thank you for your suggestions.

Just to follow up on what happened... we were through the immigration line at SFO in less than five minutes. We were cautioned, however, that her 11 months out of the States would be on record. We were also told about a three-year passport-like document we could apply for, that would allow her to be out of the country for three years. Does anybody know what that is?

Okay, Tomorrow I return to the States with my wife. We got the green card while we were in the States. We came back to China for 10 months because of her parent's health issues and the fact I got a great job for 10 months. The time we have been out of the States has been about 340 days. But we did file joint taxes while in China. What kinds of questions may we expect when we return to SFO? What kinds of potential questions may we face? What is the worst that could happen? She was mostly overseas because she was with me, and my job was in China.

He can apply for a B-2 visitor's visa. These days, they have a fairly good rate of success, although he must prove strong ties to China to ensure his return. He is a university senior graduating this year. He has no job lined up. He does have a house, but because of the &*^(*% building contractor, there still is no valid deed owned by any of the 100+ families who have lived in the building these past four years. He is trying, for his second time, to pass the exam to enter into graduate school. He failed the first exam. So what kinds of things could be said that would "prove strong ties to China"? I doubt the fact that he thinks his mother and I moving back to the States in 48 days is a crazy idea, nor would the interviewer probably believe him about how he doesn't want to move to the States (which is true).

Hi, My wife and I filed an I-130 last summer for our 21-year-old stepson. He is now under the F2B process. Question is this: Can he visit us in the States while we are awaiting the current seven-year wait time? What kinds of visas would he be eligible for? Any catches to beware of? TIA, Kevin

Which state are you in? It seems strange that we are required by law to apply for something that is then not legal to apply for.

But that would then create a potential disqualification for our ability to apply for a permanent green card.

My wife and I will be going to California from Xi'an to stay, perhaps many years. But recently my wife developed a serious shoulder problem. We already have the CR-1 green card. My question is this: What are the insurance options for my wife? Initially, based on the last-year's tax return, we will be very low income. The way I see things, my wife may eventually need surgery to resolve the shoulder problem, followed by physical therapy. That can get very expensive if not insured. Thank you, Kevin & Amanda

So I now have a question: We have filed an I-130 for my stepson. Is it possible, during these seven years, for him to get a visitors visa? My wife is under the impression that by filing that I-130, we killed visitor visa options and student visa options. Thank you for your feedback.

I read the following from Shusterman's Immigration Update: New Rule Will Allow Thousands to File I-485s in OctoberThanks to President Obama, a new rule will take effect onOctober 1, 2015 which will allow thousands of immigrants with backed-up priority dates in the employment-based andfamily-based categories to apply for adjustment of status (as well as for EADs and Advance Paroles) even though their priority dates are not yet current. And not only the principal immigrant but their spouses and children will be able to apply for these benefits. This is, without a doubt, the most positive executive action to benefit the legal immigration system that I have seen in the 40 years that I have been practicing immigration law! So the question now is this: Would this apply to my step-son? I've already filed an I-130 for him (last month). http://blogs.ilw.com/entry.php?8806-New-Rule-Will-Allow

My wife told me that all her friends and she believe that the flour here in the States is different from that in China. That makes making the skins for dumplings/potstickers and various types of cakes she was used to making in Xi'an more difficult. So, what differences exist? What flours here in the States are closest to those she may be used to?

The problem with this approach is that if she doesn't have any independent credit rating, what happens should you leave this world first? That was a problem my aunt ran into when my uncle died. She had no independent credit rating, so that made it very difficult at first to do anything, even though she owned a house and vehicles. For my wife, the first thing we did after she got her social security card was to add her as an equal co-owner to a Visa card. We'll see how things develop from here.

Hi folks, Now that I have my wife in the States, we want to start the process for her son, my step-son, who was 20 when we got married, but over 21 by the time she got her CR-1 visa. I now have the following questions: 1. Is there any information we need to send with the I-130 application, other than the hefty check of $420? 2. About when will they request any other information, if not sent with the application? 3. Any ideas about what the current wait times are for a person to get through the que? (In other words, about how much time may it take for my step-son to get to the States? We heard it is about seven years.) 4. I will be out of the States for the next nine months, almost immediately following the I-130 submission. Would there possibly be anything too complicated for me to do over the phone with my father for getting documents to USCIS? Anything that might require a signature?

We got the green card yesterday, 8/8, about six weeks after entering the States. We discovered that somehow the Social Security Administration had entered in a wrong house address for the Social Security card, so on 8/7, we applied for a replacement card for the one that was supposedly mailed around 7/5.

We just arrived two weeks ago. Like another poster stated in their tread, we were a bit too dazed from 12 hours of flying and 1.5 hours of off-boarding a plane and getting through the Visa line to really take in what the immigration officer told my wife and me. I had paid the $165 immigrate fee, before leaving China. So, we have the following questions. The USCIS website wants a receipt number. Fine. Except it always rejects receipt numbers from Guangzhou, GUZ. I tried using the phone number on the USCIS website. How on earth do you enter letters on a phone? After several attempts, I gave up. So how on earth are we to be able to check up on the green card status? We have this packet of health information, which was barely looked at, then handed some of it back to us, including the health-check DVD. Will that DVD ever be needed? When is the soonest we might expect direct mail from USCIS? At what time do we simply get in a car and start knocking on USCIS doors?

I found this... don't know much about it yet, but maybe it is useful for some people. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bubblingiso.dmvchinese&hl=en DescriptionThe California DMV (Chinese) Written Test application is specially designed to meet the needs of future Chinese (Traditional) California drivers. This application has different features like:- More than 100 Questions targeted for Class C drivers - Specially designed test for Native Chinese Speakers - Questions are written in Chinese (Traditional) - Both text and sign practice questions Use this app to help Chinese speakers to pass the California DMV Written Test.

One problem with a legal immigrant working amongst illegals is the potential for a raid - they are unlikely to bother to distinguish the two when they decide who to haul in. That is where keeping proper ID with her is of utmost importance. I recently checked online. I discovered that in the western United States, Alhambra and Monteray Park are the two cities with those agencies. (Ironically, I grew up in that area, back when it was mostly Hispanic. Now that area has about 700,000 Chinese.) I knew a number of Chinese that got jobs all over the western seaboard, from San Diego up through Seattle from them. Typically speaking, the further away the job is from a location with many Chinese, the higher the pay.

The problem with the abandonment issue is more complicated than I listed above. Fact is, the only reason why we went for the green card option was that 1) my dad is still living and can do the co-sponsor, 2) my son is getting married June 27 and we needed the visa rather fast (we had no time to get refused a visitor visa numerous times), and 3) the United States has the false assumption that it is so great that everybody can get a job there, legally or illegally, thereby not issuing non-immigrant spousal visas, which most countries do seem to have. In other words, I am not a very happy person with my country, and its continued blindness to the economic poverty it is forcing its own citizens into. If I live in the States right now, I'm going to be working WalMart cashier. That is not enough to support my wife and her son. I have nine years overall in ESL teaching experience, but until I finish my MA in TESOL, I'll have no related job opportunities in the U.S. Physically, I'll be on disability in the States if I did any more cashier work. But from my experience with disability before, it would take four years before they finally decide I'm ineligible, again. But American politicians have their heads buried in the sand, unwilling to see the reality of American economics. Do I want to stay in China? Does my wife? No. We don't like not being able to trust any of the food we eat, nor watching more and more of our friends and relatives suffer respiratory disease. We are living in the area of China where the world's deadliest earthquake occurred about 500 years ago. From what I have seen of building standards here, I'd rather suffer a major shift in Los Angeles of the San Andreas fault than to be here if a Nepal-level quake occurs.

I'm wondering about this healthcare issue. A major part of the whole process of bringing a foreign spouse into the country is that there is no dependency upon government services. Then comes Obamacare, killing many insurance plans, especially the less expensive ones. Does getting an Obamacare plan constitute independence or dependence upon government?