jwdoetsch

Do you think the I-751 application receipt letter is also sent to the address specified on the I-751?

This same thing happened to us as well, KevinNelson. We entered the US in the middle of June 2015, her GC indicates the correct entry date and expiry date, the stamp in her passport indicates the correct entry date as well. However, the USCIS notice reminding of the upcoming expiry of the conditional residency states that she entered the US in April 2015. In fact, the date indicated on the notice reflects the Issue Date of her CR-1 Visa. There are no available InfoPass appointments available for the next two weeks in our area, which is a bummer. We're assuming the notice was issued in error. Unfortunately, this was the only relevant topic I found on this particular issue. KevinNelson, what did you end up doing? What did you discover?

Hi All, While searching the forum for other information, I discovered that I completely neglected to file an I-865 when we moved! I was sure to file the AR-11 for my wife, but apparently I need to do one for myself as well, since I'm her sponsor. We moved back in October. Days after we moved, we filed her AR-11. She has her 2-year GC and we are nearing the two-year mark and are preparing to do the AOS and I-751. How badly have I screwed up in unknowingly not filing an I-865? Something to worry about? Should I just be sure to take care of that on Monday? Any insight is appreciated. Also, for #4 in the I-865 form, Effective Date of Change of Address, I should use the date we actually moved to the new address, despite that being more than 90 days ago, right? I forgot how anxiety-inducing immigration stuff can be, I managed to forget about it since we came to the US. Now I remember this familiar feeling of panic. Thank you for any insight!

Hi All, We moved about 3 months ago and we filed the AR-11 shortly after. My wife recently received the USCIS notice stating her CPR status is ending soon and to file the I-751 and so on. However, this notice was addressed improperly. We live in an apartment complex and we definitely did include that on the AR-11, but the apartment number was completely absent from the address on the form. Also, and maybe this is normal, the name it was addressed to was just her first initial and last name. Luckily this is common in our apartment complex due to stupidly long street names, and the notice was received by the Leasing Office who wrote our apartment number on it (luckily nobody else has the name M. Li) and it was eventually delivered to us. Anyway, I'd like to avoid having a stroke while we wait to receive her next green card after going through the I-751 stuff. Is there another place we can update the mailing address to make sure that the green card will actually be delivered to us? Also, like KevinNelson posted about back in December, the notice we received actually stated the incorrect anniversary date. The issue date on her CR1 visa is 4-27-2015, and we entered the us on 6-21-2015. The Resident Since date on her GC is 6-21-2015 and the Card Expires date is 6-21-2017. The address error combined with the inaccurate information on this USCIS notice nearly gave me a heart attack. I guess I'm looking for advice on how to update our mailing address so we're more likely to receive her GC when the time comes. Is there a separate system we can use to update the mailing address with USCIS? In addition, we're also looking for insight into resolving the incorrect information in the notice. (I'm assuming we can safely ignore the discrepancy as her passport entry stamp states the correct date of entry and her GC card also states the correct residency date and expiry date.) As always, thank you for any insight and advice!

Yeah Skype Phone Number doesn't support China, only Hong Kong. That isn't going to work for us. But we have sorted out that we're gonna get a China Mobile SIM card and a cheap cheap GSM phone that should roam just fine in the US. If the phone doesn't work then I'll just put the China Mobile SIM card into my American GSM phone.

Hey all, We're moving to the US in about 18 days and we're trying to solve a problem: we need a Chinese phone number so that we can receive confirmation text messages for online banking and stuff back in China. I'm sure it's not as easy as just getting an international package with China Mobile or Unicom; aren't we going to have to select a phone that's going to support the roaming channels/frequencies of providers back in the States? Have any of you solved this problem before? If there was some Chinese alternative to Google Phone where we could set up a dummy Chinese phone number and receive text messages online then that would be stellar, but to my knowledge there isn't. Thanks!

You aren't planning to Direct Consular File (DCF), are you? Also, are you looking to petition for a K-1 (fiancee) or IR-1/CR-1 (spouse)?

Hey all, We received the CR1 visa and entry packet today and are preparing to head to the US next month. My wife read on Baidu that when emirgating from China it is necessary to visit her hukou PSB so the PSB can "cancel her Hukou" (which I assume means just changing the residence entry in her hukou). I have a strong suspicion that this is BS. Google is pretty sparse on this topic and I really don't know what to search for here on CFL. Are there any steps or hoops that need jumping through before a Chinese is permitted to exit China for the purposes of immigrating elsewhere? Any documents that are required? Thanks! -JW

Congratulations!

CEAC IV tracking reports "Issued!" Whoop whoop! CEAC tracking status updates: Apr 23, 2015 - GZ IV interview Apr 24-26 "Administrative Processing" Apr 27 "Issued"

AP is normal for a week or two after an interview, yeah? I'd expect that it's necessary since there is probably literal administrative processing that needs to happen when a visa is issued (applying the visa to the passport, double-checking documents and support forms, preparing immigration/POE packets, bundling passports and packets together for shipping to CGI, CGI ships and distributes them to the assigned CITIC bank, and so on...) For you guys that had successful interviews without requests for extra documentation, was your case in AP immediately after the interview?

If she didn't pass then they would have just given back her passport, right? And if we needed to submit additional documents then the VO would have said so and given her a list, yeah? The VO was unnecessarily vague, but hopefulyl we're just being unnecessarily worried and paranoid.

Don't you get a 1-year extension within which you are still permitted to work when you apply for removal of conditions, and this allows for the processing of the application?

Ha ha yeah and then in 21 months we get to start the Removal of Conditions process...

Here are some mentionable items from our experience: - The health-check place in GZ is north of and immediately across the street from the consulate. Take exit B2 and walk right. Take the entrance to the second large building (the Poly building) and find the elevator in the middle of the bottom floor, adjacent to Mr Bean coffee. The place is on the 5th floor and if you arrive early then you will be waiting in the elevator waiting area. It isn't air conditioned (or at least wasn't at the end of April) and there are no seats. - There are probably going to be a few people that appear to be employees and are sharing information openly with people while waiting in this line/area right by the elevators before the doors to the clinic open and they are freely answering questions. They aren't workers though, they're agents. And, as we found, the information they broadcast isn't accurate most of the time. - Get there early! We arrived at 0715 and were 17th in line. We left at 1000. Save yourself an hour by arriving to wait half an hour earlier; 0645 is probably a good time. The doors to the clinic opened at about 0745. There are plenty of seats to sit and wait inside the clinic. - The fees can be paid in ONLY with UnionPay network cards (Chinese bank cards) or Discover Card (which has a partnership with UnionPay) or cash, my Visa wouldn't work but we used my Discover. - You will only be permitted to accelerate your results and receive them same-day only if your interview is the day after the health check. We did the medical on Monday and were made to wait to pick them up the day before our appointment on Thursday, Wednesday. They wait until the absolute last minute to give you your results, I suspect. - You'll will need to line up and receive a number from a Nurse Ratchet type. Then you wait. When the number is called then you go up to one of the seven registration desks and they register you and check your forms and stuff. Then you are directed to pay (the base fee ~1100 RMB plus the cost for any vaccinations which is around 300 for the whole round). Then you go to vaccination registration which is just across from the cashier to sort out what vaccinations you're gonna get. Then your documents are put into a little stack and then picked up by a nurse who gives the patient a key on a scrunchy and then directed to go to the changing/locker room and change into the provided sweatshirt and sweatpants. Then you wait right outside the locker room and nurses station area and wait for your name to be called by a nurse. You are shuffled from one exam room to another. After the exams, you're directed to go to the vaccination desk again and check in with them, then wait again for a bit until your name is called over a speaker outside the doors of the vaccination rooms. Then vaccinations are given in rapid succession. Then you go out and wait for 30 minutes to check for negative reactions to the vaccines. Then finally your name is called to return back to the vaccination station to pick up your yellow vaccination book. This is your personal vaccination record, this copy isn't given to USCIS/DHS. - By the way, you'll be told to come at 1500 to pick up the medical report results. Show up early, like at 1415 and you'll be in and out way faster. We showed up at 1430 and they were already dishing out the results. We were in and out if the building with our results in under 30 minutes.

A few mentionable things from our consular experience (maybe these are somewhere, but we never came across them in our preparations): X-rays come on a CD now and you aren't permitted to take them past security and they won't let you check them in.I was permitted to get past the fence and wait with my wife in the line that is formed immediately outside of security, but I wasn't allowed to go in through security. It'd be even more crazy crowded, chaotic, and nightmarish if family members were permitted inside the GZ consulate to accompany the applicant inside.Her appointment time was 0745 and she exited the consulate at 0900, in and out in 75 minutesA line for appointments forms outside the fence/gate along it's perimeter, but this line isn't for any specific interview time so don't bother lining up. They'll begin letting people scheduled for 0745 in and the line just devolves into a crowded mess anyway. Your spouse should crowd around the security guards right at the fence entrance or she'll be last in line. Also, people for 0815 are going to get through the fence and wait in line outside security, so your spouse needs to be diligent and push and shove past those people.There are two entrances to the security building, a north side (near subway exit B2) and a south side. Immigrant interviewees need to line up and enter at the south security entrance. It is the same entrance that American Citize Services customers line up and is labeled as such, so look around for ACS American Citizen Services signs and arrows.There were a ton of people that didn't bring their interview appointment confirmation and weren't given a number at document intake, they were just instructed to "go find it" and basically blown off. My wife doesn't even know how they managed to get past security without it. So make double-darn sure your spouse has got that appointment confirmation.The medical report must be opened in front of the intake worker when instructedDocument intake numbers are not called in any order.You cannot use a credit card to pay unless it's in your name, they do check this (luckily I had gotten my spouse her own card attached to my Discover card and she used that to pay)You might not get a slip. And you should explicitly ask if approved, conditionally approved, or denied. As you can read below, VOs can be a little cryptic.The document intake worker only spoke in Chinese, the VO spoke English about 80% of the time.Clammy hands can make the biometrics process take an abnormally long time After security, she went to the third floor (USCIS) and stood in a line for one window, this one window was checking appointment confirmation sheets against applicant passports and also giving out ticket number slips. Applicants were directed to wait in the A-zone for their number to be called, and when called they went up to the window and for document intake. Documents were asked for one at a time. The intake worker was first asked for her passport and appointment confirmation, then to tear open the medical report packet and hand over the contents of the envelope, then she was asked if the two photos submitted with the DS-260 are the newest photos, then she was asked for the birth certificate whitebook, marriage whitebook, criminal history whitebook, and finally financial support documents. My wife asked the intake worker if she needed to submit her resume and the DS-260 confirmation page and the two photos brought as instructed, and then was told no she didn't need to submit them. Afterwards, she was directed by the intake worker to pay the fee on the second floor returnsto the same window to give the intake worker the payment receipt. Then, she was instructed to wait in the B-zone for the interview and was given a domestic violence pamplet to read. Applicants must stare at the screen or listen carefully for the *ding* to watch for their number. At the interview window, fingerprints (biometrics?) were done by the VO. Then the VO reviewed paperwork, financial documents, and the computer while simultaneously taking biometrics and asking interview questions. Here are the interview questions that she was asked and the answers that she gave: Q: So your husband's name is <my name>? A: Yes, my husband's name is <my name>. Q: When is the last time you saw your husband? A: Actually, my husband has been living and working in China for two and a half years and we live together. Then we got married half a year ago. Q: Have you ever been to America? A: No. Q: What is your highest degree? A: A Bachelor's degree of arts. Q: Did you read the home violence pamphlet? A: I've looked at it, but I didn't have time to read it carefully because I was watching the screen for my number VO: Read it. (he was pretty serious about this) Q: What does your husband do? A: He works as an English teacher in a university. Q: Does he make enough to support you guys or do you need someone? A: He has been working in China for two and a half years and he hasn't been working in America for two and a half years, so his dad is our co-sponsor. Q: What does your co-sponsor do? A: He's a <occupation> and he also <secondary occupation responsibility>. Q: So, you are planning to move to America? A: Yes, we plan to move to America this summer if approved. After the round of questions this exchange took place: VO: Alright, looks like you're good to go. Now I won't give you the slip. Wife: Huh? VO: Hui tiao ("slip"), jie sheng zi yuan ("save resources") Wife: Oh VO: Tong guo le ("passed" / "approved") Wife: Thank you VO: Please go online and check the CITIC bank address Wife: About two weeks, I heard? VO: Cha bu duo ("more or less") Wife: Thank you so much. So, I am ready to go? VO: Yes Wife: Thank you so much VO: You're welcome And that was it! Based on this experience, we are assuming she was approved.No additional instructions were given (except to go online to double-check the passport pick-up location), no requests for additional documents were given, and no paper or slip was given. Who knows the real reason why not. Maybe the printer was busted or the VO has watched a documentary on deforestation the night before or something.

Doug, after the interview when double-checking stuff, is it normal for the step immediately after selecting the document delivery address where you enter your case number to report "case not found?" Did you ever notice this?

It's normal to get an "Case Number Not Found" error message when entering your case number on the step immediately following selecting the document delivery address, after having had a successful* interview? I'm guessing that yes, it's normal, since the site doesn't expect you to set up another interview (having already had one) and so the case number is 'not found.' I didn't have any issues before my spouse's interview, so I'm guessing that it's just a way for them to prevent scheduling unnecessary appointments, yeah?

I just checked the CEAC "Check My Visa Application Status" at https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/and it reports as "Administrative Processing." This is probably the normal status when an approval is still young (less than a few days); I'm guessing this isn't the administrative processing black hole that people often worry about, yeah? I'm guessing the AP here refers to finalizing paperwork, printing the visa, bundling passports for shipment, and other clerical and logistical goings on at the consulate... is that a fair guess? Man... the process is set up in such a way that you really need to reserve celebration until you have the passport with visa and immigration/POE packet in hand...

Yeah, no kidding. My wife had found people with a similar experience of having been approved but not having received any slip on some other forums. Maybe it's just that one VO that does that? I'm glad that's the only strange thing that's occured for our case, though, it's a pretty trivial (non)problem.

Oh man, that's embarrassing... I was posting from a phone and I thought I abandoned the post but apparently I hit submit. Everything's all good, the VO just said he wasn't going to give my wife a paper to "save resources," maybe because of how much crap we submitted, heh... But she definitely passed and we don't need to submit any additional docs or anything. She was told to go online and double check the CITIC location and to expect the visa and passport to be ready in about two weeks! Whoop whoop! By the way, the guy interviewing her was "in his thirties, casual but diligent, polite, and non-threatening." He asked a round of pretty standard questions that I'll post later when I'm at a PC. Whoop whoop! Thanks for all your help guys! I'll post a detailed experience report later.

The wife had her interview today and passed, we think. I say that because the VO said "passed" but explicitly

When does document intake actually take place? Immediately before the interview? edit: Yes, it takes place the same day. The answer can be found here http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/47226-is-there-a-document-intake-day-before-the-interview/?hl=intake

Congratulations on the issuance! And thanks a bunch for the advice :-)

What's the turnaround time on medical results? How fast did you get them, llamagatekeeper? We've got an appointment next Thursday and are (were) planning to go Monday morning. Ugh. This sounds just a bit discouraging. If we went on Tuesday would it be possible to get the documents by Wednesday afternoon? By the way are spouses permitted to accompany the patient during the examination?