Brennan

What, like paper photos? I haven't had any of those since 2003...well I'll see what I can do. I'll have to be more diligent about going places with her and getting some bystander to take pictures. You know, that's something that would help. What are the basic assumptions behind this whole deal? All I know from hanging around shanghaiexpat.com is that the consular officers are mostly concerned that the Chinese person will come back to China and not disappear into America somewhere.

Yeah, but without property or a good hukou her chances of getting a tourist visa are essentially zero. Or so I've heard.

Well, I hope nobody thinks I'm a monster or anything, but I don't think her daughter will come with us. My GF already only goes home once or so per year to see her, and evidently leaving children with relatives to be raised while the parents work in the east is quite common out in the western provinces. I have an American friend whose wife has been turned down twice even though they have been married for 5 years in China and have two children together. So, this is the scenario I'm in fear of. We live in Zhejiang but her hometown is in Hubei, so would we use the Shanghai consulate or another one? Thanks for the link! Reading it now but so many unfamiliar terms there. I-130, K-2, I don't think Chinese was this difficult to learn. Man, I'm really wading in to the deep end now. If she just owned some property and lived in a good city, I'm sure she could get the 10 year tourist visa no problem.

I am 44 years old, and my girlfriend is 32. She is one of the most wonderful people I've ever met. She's not a crazy green card hunter, she wasn't looking for a laowai at all. She divorced from an uncaring cheating husband 5 years ago and has an 8 year old daughter who lives in her hometown with her mother. Her mother lives with her older brother, so no problems there. Her father is deceased. Her hometown is a small city outside of Chongqing in Hubei province. This gives her a less-than-desirable hukou, unfortunately. She does not own any property and works as a manager in a massage spa (legitimate massage, not a rub-and-tug joint) for 6000 yuan per month. We both live in Zhejiang on the east coast of China. I am at ease in China and wish to remain here, at least for the time being. I'm sure we'll live in the States for a few years, especially once the kid(s) is/are school age. I am new to the horrible maze of US visas. I'm a fricken expert on Chinese visas, but US visas are something I know nothing about. All I know is that you need a mountain of documentation to convince the consular officials to grant a visa. My question is: What should I be doing right now to ease this process that I will have to endure eventually? My apologies if this has been answered before, I didn't see it anywhere. One of my friends told me getting a tourist visa so she can visit my family with me for Christmas is out of the question, as she'll want some kind of spousal visa, which is evidently a different track? I'm reading all the FAQs on this site but it will take a while.