Martin B

Update: snowstorm wasn't nearly as bad as predicted. My wife departed our home airport an hour late, but all went well since she had long layovers. Now one day of rest, and then the big interview Tuesday morning!

Here in the midwest we are getting slammed with a bunch of snow. My wife is scheduled to fly out Saturday at 6am for her daughter's CR2 interview on Tuesday in Guangzhou. She is super stressed out so I'm trying to figure out what would happen in the worst case scenario. Could my wife's mother (the kid's grandmother) go in place of my wife w/o any issues? I understand you can also send a notarized letter authorizing someone to represent a minor at their interview (like my wife's sister) - does this need to be hand-signed and original copy, or would a high-quality scan work? In the absolute worst case scenario, would the embassy have some sympathy and re-schedule in a reasonable time frame - we would of course contact them ahead of time. Thanks, and sorry for the somewhat paranoid questions.

Thanks Randy - we're both a little nervous about the whole thing (and a predicted impending snowstorm for when my wife leaves isn't helping...). Do they typically go through these documents at embassy interviews, or just request stuff as needed? I assume they'll collect the pictures, CGI shipping info, passport etc... I remember when we had our AOS interview we brought a mountain of stuff with us, but they only wanted a copy of our daughter's birth certificate. The interview for a 10 year old is generally a piece of cake. You're ready for it (just don't tell your daughter to expect one - piece of cake that is ). Thanks Randy. We're mostly paranoid about leaving something behind, forgetting something, or a snowstorm causing a 2-day delay meaning my wife can't make it to the interview.... I'll post back once it's all said and done in case someone goes through this in the future.

Thanks Randy - we're both a little nervous about the whole thing (and a predicted impending snowstorm for when my wife leaves isn't helping...). Do they typically go through these documents at embassy interviews, or just request stuff as needed? I assume they'll collect the pictures, CGI shipping info, passport etc... I remember when we had our AOS interview we brought a mountain of stuff with us, but they only wanted a copy of our daughter's birth certificate.

My stepdaughter has her interview in Guangzhou in approx two weeks. My wife will fly out two days beforehand and take her to the interview. We're starting to put together the documents to bring along. Here is what we have - I realize not all of these are necessary, but we'd rather be over-prepared then underprepared. She is 10 so the police report, marriage certificates, etc. are not an issue. I'm really starting to get paranoid we left out something super basic. The Basics Interview appointment letter (email) CEAC registration confirmation Copy of submitted D260 CGI shipping instructions Two 2x2 photos of stepdaughter Stepdaughter's medical exam results Stepdaughter's Passport (+ color copy of Bio Page) Stepdaughter's ID Card (+ color copy) Money I864 (original + copy) All relevant 2018 tax documents White Books (original + copy of each) Stepdaughter's notatorial & medical birth certificates Wife's divorce agreement - this spells out that my wife has sole custody of her daughter) Biological father permission letter Other Our marriage certificate (original + copy) Wife's passport, green card, and birth certificate (original + copy) Copy of my passport page and birth certificate And lots of family photos!! Thanks everyone

Thanks Greg. You are the man when it comes to family advice. I've already spoken to the school twice and they didn't even bat an eye when I mentioned her so-so English. There is a large community of immigrants (most Vietnamese and South American in our area). Apparently they have several full time ESL teachers and mentioned that most immigrants at the elementary/junior high level speak about 80-90% as good as a native within two years. We'll supplement this as well evenings/weekends.

My wife and I have lived in the US with our 1-year old, and next month it's likely my wife's 10-year old daughter will be joining us once her CR1/IR1 visa is issued. We're trying to plan things out to make her transition to the US as smooth as possible. Obviously we expect there to be some difficulty and are trying to prepare ourselves. I know her very well and she is a great girl and beyond thrilled to be coming to join us, but her academic performance in school in China has been so-so and her English isn't great. Are there any resource, or stories of how people overcame this? I remember one of my old college study buddies immigrated from Korea at 14-years old speaking no English and got a BS in Engineering, so obviously it can be done. Any stories you can remember on this forum that are relevant to our situation? Thanks.

A couple people reported their CR2 visas for minor children being available for pick-up 3-5 days after the interview on VisaJourney. Of course these are the cases that had no RFEs or lengthy AP post-interview... I have a quick related question: On the CGI site, it asks for a shipping address line + city + state + postal code. Should the phone number of the recipient also be included? I'm going to contact CGI later today to confirm but thought I'd check here first. U.S. stateside addresses don't need phone numbers - China provincial addresses do. If the intent is to have your wife fly home with the daughter, you might split the vacation time between 2 scheduled trips, hoping to hit the jackpot (visa issued and received) on the first trip. Be sure to reserve time for the second trip in case it's needed. They pretty much warn you, though, to not schedule the flight to the US until the visa is in hand. If you are referring to this topic on VJ (https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/724305-guangzhou-passport-delivery-following-interview-ir1/ ), notice that their interviews are scheduled for December. They aren't discussing their back-up plans in case of a longer wait. Thanks Randy. That's what we'll do - leave 3 days after the interview just in case we get lucky. Otherwise, my wife will take a second (very quick) trip a few weeks later.

A couple people reported their CR2 visas for minor children being available for pick-up 3-5 days after the interview on VisaJourney. Of course these are the cases that had no RFEs or lengthy AP post-interview... I have a quick related question: On the CGI site, it asks for a shipping address line + city + state + postal code. Should the phone number of the recipient also be included? I'm going to contact CGI later today to confirm but thought I'd check here first.

Yikes - we were seeing visas being available 3-5 days post-interview, didn't know it was taking this long. Looks like my wife will be taking two short trips to China in December. Thank God for bargain-basement Hainan Airlines flights out of Chicago...

After a long wait, we received notice from NVC that our stepdaughter's interview was scheduled for December 5. Here our story: 1. July 2018: Sent I-130 2. May 2019: I-130 approved May 2019 3. Sept 2019: NVC received I-130 ( 3.5 months in transit) 4. Nov 2019: Interview Scheduled for Dec 5, 2019 I think we've got everything ready to go, but I just wanted to get my ducks in order: 1. After we got the interview email, we were told to pre-register with CGIFederal. I did this, provided the mailing address, and got a confirmation form. Is it as simple as taking this confirmation form (along with the medical exam and other docs) to the interview and later paying the courier upon delivery of the passport? 2. Roughly speaking, how long does it take from interview day until visa in hand? I know there's variation but a rough range would be appreciated... Because my stepdaughter is 10, my wife will fly to China to attend the interview with her. My wife has 2 weeks vacation remaining for the year, we're not sure if we should risk her going over for two weeks, or taking two short trips (one for the interview, one to pick up stepdaughter when the visa is delivered). Any advice would be much appreciated.

Pork is about 50% higher than it used to be. Everything else seems to be holding steady, with some collateral damage due to the higher demand for other meats. The steaks we buy are now Canadian Angus, at about the same price we used to pay for USDA Choice ribeyes. Rent is $75 in our building if you only need a single room, on up to about $125 for 3 rooms. Check out Gweilo60's recent videos for his comments about prices in Nanning (since his return). How is the rental market in China? When I was there I saw apartments that would cost over $200k to buy being rented out for $300/month which to me is absolutely insane (we have rental properties here in the US). (1) I don't know why anyone would, from a strict mathematical point of view, buy when they can rent at such a discount (I know, cultural reasons....) (2) I also don't understand why anyone would rent out their place at such a low rent - that rent probably doesn't even cover wear&tear and maintenance! And because of the preference to "buy new", I wouldn't be shocked if the unit depreciates by more than $275/month just because it's occupied. And this doesn't even touch the mortgage payment, condo fees, property taxes + insurance (if any) !!!!

I was recently in China (a T3 city in Guangdong) and the COL really jumped out at me. New 2br condos going for $150k in a city where the average wage is like $5000 a year... Quality food is very expensive. Pork prices are in the stratosphere. Any decent restaurant or grocery store is on par with US prices. Yes you can save by eating street food or going to the wet market exclusively but there's a reason why those prices so low. Good health care is expensive. Education is costly. My BIL has a good job, and his wife also makes decent part time income. He is supporting two kids, paying a mortgage, and is supporting his mother and both of his wife's parents. They are struggling despite being in probably the top 5% socioeconomically in their city.

Having a kid together is about as good as it gets evidence wise... our AOS interview was pretty much over once we showed the officer our daughter's birth certificate.

Unfortunately for some people to see the light, they need to get bitten pretty hard. Like the dbag bully in school that finally gets his act together after someone punches him in the face in front of everyone. I remember reading about a similar couple like OP although I believe the wife was from South America - the man tried everything to get her to shape up and finally couldn't take it anymore and she got served divorce papers. For whatever reason that's the exact moment when the "I'm a f****g moron" lightbulb went off for her, they were able to fix their relationship, and have been happy since.