wawster

There are two good sized Asian markets in the Overland park area near Kansas City. One is called 888, and the other is called Pan-Asia. 888 has been around for a number of years, and is a very large supermarket - good prices and good selections. I'd say it is three times the size of a Wal-Mart grocery section. Rose loves to go there. It also has a restaurant to eat lunch or take out, and a section of the store for cookware and other essentials. Pan-Asia is new- less than a year old, and it also very large. It is almost as large as 888. The selections are quite good, but less than 888, and the prices a bit more expensive. either way, there's a good selection here in the southern KC area. 888 International Market: 10118 W 119th St, Pan Asia: 11940 Metcalf Ave

Rose, Kerry and I came through Chicago O'Hare together. There wasn't any issue. The officer there was a bit inexperienced, but very pleasant, and walked us through the entire process. I think it's expected that you will be going through together. When we approached Customs and Immigration, I told the officer that was directing folks which way to go, that my wife and son were emigrating to the US, and she directed us to the correct line. Don't be afraid to ask! After we went through the first officer, packets in hand, we waited to collect our luggage, and then they directed us to a waiting room off to the side. Rose and Kerry gave them the packets, and handed them their passports. We were there about 20 minutes. Once, they called me up to the front desk to verify my address, as that is where the green cards would be sent to. Then, they handed Rose and Kerry back their passports, and off we went to catch our next flight. It was pretty painless. We had scheduled 4 hours in between flights just in case things took a bit longer than expected, but we were though the process in about 2 hours. This was at noon, on a weekday, so the airport was fairly busy. So no worries. Just take a breath, stay together, and all should be ok

What a cutie, Kyle! Good to see you!

ZhWei, There will be no problem. My wife and son were in the same situation when they came through the POE. After scheduling them to see a doctor here for the second round (about 4 months after the first round), the doctor told us that the times they listed on the sheet were the minimum amount of time that you had to wait for a follow-up shot, so it was no big deal. She recommended that you have them done within 6 months of the first round, though.

We have T-mobile at home, and they have a plan that allows my wife to call unlimited to China for $15 a month. Rose calls her mom about 3 times a week, so it's pretty efficient to use this plan. you might want to check your cell phone plan to see what the options are for international calling. It might be less expensive than you realize. This is a good option for older folks who are not comfortable using a computer. We tried Wechat and QQ to videocall with her mom, but she just wasn't comfortable with it. So now we call her on her cell, and use QQ video chat for when there is more family around on that end to handle the tech part of things that her mom has trouble with.

Randy, I hope that you are feeling better, man!

Perry, I don't know how they handle the I-130 - I could only guess, and I'd rather not give out advice on something I am not sure of. Mine was also very thick with evidence (ultimately). I had an initial RFE, so I took the opportunity to send in a huge stack of evidence along with what they asked me for - looking back, it was probably overkill, but I also had a lot of relationship evidence that had not been initially added into the package. When Rose went to the Interview, she told me that the VO had a fairly good-sized folder, but in no way did he have the big 'ol stack that I had sent in with the RFE. The biggest stack was a printout of all of our QQ messages, and it was a few reams of paper. It could be that it was just not printed out, or it could be that it just wasn't sent to him - I really don't know.

And Perry - Never a problem, buddy. I'm just trying to give back a little to thank all the great folks here who helped me and kept me (semi) sane along the way!

I have to disagree here a bit. In conversations with the NVC (in the August/September time frame of last year), they told me (on the phone) that the processing times were the same, whether documents were filed electronically, or mailed in. I was told this more than once. It's 60 days, give or take. I was also told that if you are a paper filer, they now scan the docs and send them to Guangzhou instead of snail-mailing them. In the past, there was a big difference in the time an interview could be scheduled, because a paper trail had to sit in a warehouse in Guangzhou for quite a long time (customs). Now, the NVC schedules the interviews, and they send the docs electronically either way. So the wait time is the same either way again. I was a paper filer. The NVC received my docs on August 26. They had a case complete by 10/21. And the interview was scheduled by them, within 3 days - set for December 9th. I have no beef with the electronic filing. The only reason I did the paper method was because I was using RapidVisa at the time, and that's how they did it. But I think the days of the electronic filing being a faster route might be in the past.

My wife took her Hukou and ID with her to the notary, and they made up the document there. It wasn't a problem for them to do. Good luck!

Hi there mattetress, My wife did not have a birth certificate per se. She had a notarial statement attesting to her birth - this was translated and notarized in a in a white book. Even if you have the birth certificate (as my step-son did), get the white book. Both my wife's name and my son's name had changed when she got divorced in 1997. As a result, we got a document for both of them attesting that Name A and Name B were the same person. These documents were then translated and notarized in a white book. I do not know specifically if they were needed or not, but I figured that the process had taken a long time, and it was best not to take chances.

Yikes! Not for those with a fear of heights, for sure! I see Wile-E. Coyote falling down in the distance with that little dust puffball at the end....

Ok...that beats the heck out of "I walked to school 5 miles in hip deep snow, uphill, both ways" Holy moley!

Ah....the mark of true civilization!

What a great write-up! It should be very helpful to folks going through the DCF process!

I made up an Evolution of Relationship letter, and with it, I included many pictures of us together and with the family. In my wife's particular case, the VO was very interested in all the pictures, and asked my wife a number of questions about where they were taken. My closing statements in the letter were something to the effect that I thanked them for taking the time to read it, and that I would be nervously awaiting the outcome at the Starbucks down the street. The VO smiled at this, and asked my wife if I was waiting for her. When she answered yes, he smiled again, and told her that she had passed, and that she can now tell her husband. Based solely on my wife's experience, the EOR letter was a very good thing to have. They may not look at it at all, but you never know what may help.....

Hi Clearcoated, If you went through the process from the US (went through the NVC), then there's no worries. Look upwards a few posts on this thread and you'll see mine to roseseattle. I had the same thing happen. The NVC now schedules the interviews, and the CGI-Stanley site doesn't apply as far as scheduling goes. My case ID was not recognized by them either. You're scheduled, and good to go. You still need to make sure that you set up your delivery location with them, though.

Mick, That is one danged good story! With a great moral, too! 1. Stay away from beer and quaaludes. (I can't say I followed this rule in my own ...adventurous years) 2. Always take the preemptive sniff. Bummer about having to shave the beard off, but I reckon it was worth it not to have to have that lingering aroma reminding you of the lovely experience 24/7..

I found it quite interesting that last December, when Rose had her interview, I could not access my Gmail, etc while we were in Guangzhou, but..... On 2 separate occasions, we had stayed in the Crowne Plaza in Guangzhou, near the airport for my last night in China, so that my flight the next morning would be easy to get to. Once was last May, and once was in the middle of last December, after her interview. On both occasions, I had free, unrestricted access to my Gmail, other Google services and other restricted sites using the free wireless network in the hotel. I remember being quite surprised at this. I wonder if they employ their own VPN? In Hong Kong, last January, of course, there were no problems.

Hi guys, Randy and Dan give good advice. I would also recommend going to the interview. That being said, here is my personal experience. My wife's interview was December 9th of last year. She scheduled her medical exam herself by calling them - not by using UStravel docs. She went in late November, and stayed in Guangzhou to wait for the results. She had them in 2 days. So it is possible that if your wife/fiance calls the medical center, she may be able to schedule the exam earlier. I would recommend that she get there quite early - about 6:45. My wife did this and was waiting in the lobby upstairs. By 7:30, the line was out the door, and folks were not able to get on the elevator. They had to line up downstairs, and that line was a madhouse.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll pass it on. Her sister lives about an hour away from where the kids are now, so maybe that's an avenue for her to proceed . I'll let my buddy know. As always...thanks, fellas Warren

Hey guys, This one is a bit convoluted, but it's for a friend who needs some help. I think the answer is to have him contact Marc Ellis or someone similar, and I might need that contact info for him. My buddy is married to a Chinese woman, and they are both here in the states. She claimed asylum, and then they were married. She has her green card now, and they are doing well. She has 2 daughters in China, who are living with friends of hers. They have been there for 3 years. She sends support to them constantly, and talks to them every day on video. Now that she has her green card, they are working to get her daughters here in the US. The daughters are ages 6 and 12. Within the last month, my buddy and her traveled to China to get the daughters their passports, so that they can work through the process. They have already submitted I-130's, and those are at the NVC stage. The problem here is that the friends now want $20 k for my buddy's wife to bring the girls to the US. They never let the mother see both of the girls at one time - in effect, they are holding the girls hostage for a cash payout. The mother has never signed anything giving these people the rights to her kids, but the kids have lived there for 3 years. Although they are well taken care of, they really want to be with their mom. No knowing the laws in China, my buddy is pretty confused, and doesn't know where to turn, so he asked me if I knew of anyone that could help. any ideas? My first thought was to get him in contact with someone familiar with the laws in China, and also familiar with immigration law in the US. To me, that would probably be Marc Ellis or someone similar.

Rose is from Hunan, so loves spicy food. I think I've eaten more spicy dinners with chili peppers in them in the last 2 months than I've eaten in my entire life before. We have a local Mexican restaurant here that Kerry works at now, and we've eaten there a few times. Rose and Kerry loved the tacos, but only when they put the super hot verde sauce on them. When we made them at home, they were loaded with crushed red pepper. Neither Rose, nor Kerry worried about the messy eating, although they did laugh a lot about it, as the taco shells tended to break apart on them.

Hi Catherine, i have sent you information about the company where I work - I hope that it helps you and your son in his search! Warren

Very cool! . The first time I visited Rose, she took me to the Shenzhen Electronic market, where this video was shot. It was several skyscrapers, with floor upon floor that looked just like this. There were escalators to bring you to each floor, but you never knew which floor you were on – they all looked exactly the same inside. And you could find ANYTHING an electronics guy could want. Connectors, chips, sub-assemblies…anything at all. I was like a kid in a candy store! It's an Electrical Engineer's dream!