sawadee

Giving money to the parents-in-law is the custom of southern part of China, in Shanghai parents-in-law and the relatives of the bride all give money to the groom.

Good Luck, Carl! sawadee

I am wondering if anyone can tell me when filing for CR1 and K3, which address should all the documents sent. CR-1, all documents sent to the BCIS service center same as K1. K-3, all documents sent to: USINS National Benefits Center, P.O. Box 7218, Chicago, IL 60680-7218 am I correct about the mailing address? But what MSC for? Are there any documents sent there? Thanks in advance for your help!

CR1 is spouse visa. Beneficiary of this visa can entering US and granted a green card upon arrival. When you get married with an alien spouse, you apply for CR1 visa for her. As for the P1, sorry for the confusion, my point is that you will not use any form of I-134 or I-864 when you first apply for CR1 or K3. Usually P1 refers to NOA1(notice of action 1, petition receipt) After you mailing out your petition, you will get a receipt of your documents.

I-864 is for the family member immigration applicant. K-visa is a non-immigrant visa. If you get married in China, you file for CR-1, which usually takes 2 years, you will use I-864 in the interview for CR-1, so no need to include I-864 in the P1 for CR1. Becasue CR-1 takes too long time, you do not want to being separate for that long, you apply K-3 after receiving P-1 of CR-1, you need following things to apply for K-3: passport & birth certificate copy, marriage notarization, I-129F, G-325A for both of you, copy of I-130, immigration pictures for both of you. In the interview of K-3, (usually 8 months after your application) your wife will show the I-134 to the VO, not I-864. You will only need I-864 in the Adjustment of Status of your wife after she comes to the States.

For K visa, no need for I-864 for the time being, using I-134 instead. immigration forms

Why Wife #5 Q: Why, wife, there are so many girls holding hands walking on the street in China, are they all les? A: 98% of them are straight, girls holding hands means they share the happiness of friendship, while boys(esp. those construction workers from countryside) holding hands to show their brotherhood.

I can answer some of your questions: >Second, do you thinnk we will be able to get back to the US by Sept? I think it takes about 1 month for you to get married and obtain the certificate, you can start applying your CR1 beginning of May or end of April, maybe you are not able to get the CR1 visa until November 2004. >Third, What exactly is required in gettign a CR1 at the time of applying, you are requested to prepare following: -I-130 -G-325A(for both of you) -birth and marriage notarizaion -immigration photoes(for both of you) -your passport copy(including your Chinese visa page) -your wife's passport copy -copy of your residence certificate in China -US$130 It takes about 7 days to get P2, and couple of month for P3, upon receiving your P3, you are required to prepare the additional documents.(tax statement in previous 3 years, and financial guarantee and so on) For more details of how to apply CR1 in China, please ask your fiancee to check out the following link how to apply CR1 in China

I found following info about CCTV-4 from google search engine: Quote With an objective approach, CCTV-4 introduces various aspects of China to the rest of the world-politics, economy, society, culture, science, education, and history, acting as a window on China for overseas audiences and a bridge between China and the rest of the world. Its goal is to deepen mutual understanding and promote friendship. Unquote I can hardly remember I watched any programs from CCTV-4. I can only say that part of them could be informative(such as some documentary on crruent issues in China, they are shown in CCTV-1 at first, and then in CCTV-4 afterwards), but not all. If your Ping is interesting in watching some Chinese(including HK and Taiwan)TV dramas, there are dozens of website that selling videos for TV dramas from Asia, with reasonable price, some of them could be delivered to overseas. Personally, I would suggest subscribing Phoenix Star TV, its headquarter is located in HK, focusing on issues in mainland, HK, and Taiwan. Check it out: phoenix star TV Not sure it is available or not in your area.

I think CCTV has totally 12 channels: CCTV1£­basic channel. CCTV5- sports channel. If Bing like watching soccer, then it would be a good choice. I was told it is not easy to watch soccer game in the States, not popular there, but very very popular here in China; CCTV6- movie channel. IMHO, I dislike this channel. The movie shown here is out-dated, and most of the foreign movies are dubbed movies, without subtitles. I'd rather watch DVDs. CCTV8- news channel, not bad (not good either), I usded to watch extensively last April when SARS was spreding in China; It did provide some backgrounds about the lifes and current issues in China. CCTV9- English programme channel, some news, cultural backgrounds, and other stuffs. Other channel, I can remember exactly the details, not much interesting stuff. I prefer Shanghai local programmes, the one that I like best is documentary channel, there are some good documentaries there. (from Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Channel, and so on)

The VO might bring up the question in the interview that since you can get marry and apply for CR1 in China, while still want to apply for K1 visa cause very few people would practise K1 while both of them are in China, they go directly for CR1. If you feel marriage is too early to take place, then just wait and let the relationship to grow firm.

not like K1 and k3, CR1 is an immigrant visa, CR1 is issued to the spouse of an American citizen who has married for less than 2 years. (Those who has married for over 2 years should apply for IR1) The children apply to CR2 and IR2 respectively. If the petitioner of CR1 live in the States, the whole process of CR1 need 2 years or so, for the purpose of a sooner family reunion, K3 is created. However, if the petitioner of CR1 live outside the States, CR1 should be applied in the country where he/she are currently living. In China, it takes about 6 months to get the approval of CR1(that's why no need for K3). When the case approved, the beneficiary (spouse of the petitioner) gets a temorary green card(if they have been married for less than 2 years) or a permanent green card(if they have been married for over 2 years) of the States. You are very lucky you can apply CR1 in China, no need to go through the endless waiting torture of K1 or K3. Those who do not have residence certificate in China can only apply CR1 in States or K1/K3. Sawadee :

Ross, If you are currently working in Beijing and have a 'residence certificate' of Beijing, then my suggestion would be you get married in beijing, apply for CR1 in Beijing(not in States), it only takes 6 months to finish the whole process. There is no K3 for CR1 if the application takes place in China instead of States. (applying for CR1 in States takes 2 years time to finish) Good luck. Sawadee

IMHO, I do no recommend Peace Hotel, the service there does not match its fame. One day when I was browing ctrip for tips of hotels in Shanghai, I found a nice link. Here is a link(only in Chinese, sorry, you can ask your MM to check it out) familyinn in Shanghai This family inn is located in all the good geographical areas in Shanghai, providing nice rooms w/basic furnitures, washing machine, TV, last but not least, there is a kitchen to every room so you can enjoy the real home-made Chinese food by your MM. The rate is about 50% cheaper than the standared 3 star hotel, about USD15.00 per day. (You get discounts if you stay longer.) You can find such family inn in Shanghai and Hangzhou for the time being. B)