mari

We just had the visit of tropical storm Jeannie to Puerto Rico, winds reaching 60-70MPH, no electricity for 3 days now, but thanks God no major disasters, makes me realize that I should be better prepared the next time it happens, and that one of the best decisions I've ever made was to buy that old gas bar-b-cue.

There's a nice italian restaurant called Gino's Cafe, the food is great, and I would highly recommend you to try the Pekin duck, there's a nice restaurant close to the Forbidden City which is just great, I think they allow the people to smoke but the ceilings are high enough to prevent the smoke to bother you. I'm very allergic to cigarette smoke also and did not bothered me at all. Beijing has much to offer and I know you"ll enjoy it very much.

Trigg, I just had a great laugh just to imagine what will happen if a child says: "I hate the man with all my guts".... lol can you imagine???

Ask also if the security clearance had started and when.

Now wait a few days and call DOS (202) 663-1225, dial 1 and then 0, and make sure that P3 was registered for both your fiancee and son.

We had a taxi driver in Nanjing getting angry at us for choosing another taxi instead of his. Once we were already inside the taxi, we could still see him cursing at us, and my darling called the taxi company to complain. He said he felt very embarrassed for me to see all this, this happened on my first trip to China. Later in Shanghai, I went shopping while he was working, he warned me to choose taxis with a specific color, as they were safer and reliable. What really caught my eye, was the fact that some of those drivers don't know their way around.

Hi John, concerning #2: make sure she fills out the 3 forms for the child also, my fiance got them with P3 and did not filled them for his daughter as she will not be immigrating to USA, and even after stating so in 2 of the questions on DS230, he still got his forms back from the consulate asking for the forms for the daughter!!!! Good luck.

Great news Jeff, and welcome to America Sarah!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the candle Jason, I think you should give priority now to the documents needed to submit your I-129F, the tax returns are not needed until later (to accompany the I-134 affidavit of support at the interview). I sent a copy of my fiance's passport, notarized birth and divorce certificates at the time of filing the I-129F. It's not a bad idea for your fiancee to get the rest if she is getting all these at her hukou now, but be prepared to tell her later to get some of them if they had already expired. Just make sure that you read carefully the instructions for filing the I-129F and if you got any questions you better ask them here, I'm sure you"ll get the right answers. Issues like placing a "N/A" instead of "None" in the forms can easily delay your case, just to give you an example, so concentrate for now in the evidence and info needed to file your application. Good luck and congratulations on finding the right girl.

I'm getting pretty confused here. I thought the consulate will keep only a copy of the original birth certificate, and I don't understand why if the consulate states clearly at their website that the police certificate is good for one year, will they change the rules subjectively from case to case. Frank, how old was Jingwen's police certificate when she was told to get a new one? Did they said this to her at the interview? Another question: you mention that the divorce decree was enough to prove that she had remained single, when did she obtained the divorce decree? My point is that if the consulate wants to make sure that the beneficiary has not got married since his/her last divorce, they should ask for a certificate of single status as much updated as possible. My fiance just obtained this single certificate from his hukou, and he mentioned that his divorce decree is good to evidence his marriage, divorce, and even the birth of his only child. Do you think this will do it? I want to make sure that we have all the required documents at the time of the interview and all the documents needed in USA.

Count us in that meeting, we've discussed it and we"ll definitely go to Beijing, it's a great opportunity to share with the family in China and show my daughter a different world, and of course it will be great to meet some of you in person.

Hi Phil, she only needs to send now Part 1 of form DS230; part 2 will be needed later for the interview. My recommendation is for you to make sure that she fills out all 3 forms that need to be sent this time (DS230 Part 1, OF-169, and the Supplemental Sheet) and that all information is correct. Good luck.

I have not seen any timeline in the Candle where the P3 had been registered in June, and I wonder what percentage of the whole population of chinese K visas the candle members make. Why am I asking this? I still hope to have a December wedding, and had been thinking that if GZ speeds up the process and schedules all June P3's interviews in November.... maybe and just maybe we can get ours sometime in December. Wishful thinking????

Great news Bryan, about time!!!!!!!

Congrats Phil, just make sure your fiancee sends back those forms as soon as possible.

BTW a friend of mine who works for American Airlines once told me that Air China is not so safe, and recommended China Eastern Airlines, the first trip I made to China was with them, and I had a great experience (from L.A. to Shanghai). Maybe not the cheapest one, but great service indeed.

Congratulations PJ, turtle and Jim, great news guys!!!!!!!!! You really made my day.....

Get ready turtle, your time is coming up!!!!

JPD, I don't know what should I've done without my dear Candle friends, every time I had a question, a concern, or just wanted to share with someone who could understand the troubles I was going thru with this visa process, I turned out to the right people. Always got so much empathy and good advices!!!! I still remember when the P3 was sent 2 months ago and was lost 2 times in the mail, some of the guys told me that it happened to them also, and told me exactly what to do, and it worked... At the time GZ was very responsive, they sent the P3 three times and even called my fiance as I requested. I've made some good friends here, I correspond with one of them regularly and we had shared some valuable information and forms, I had even called him to get advice in the worst moments, his fiancee had helped my boyfriend with the P3 questions. I could have done all this by myself, but it would not have been the same. And when the time comes for one of our couples to go for the interview, we all stick together and rejoice with them when the good news get out. Our stats speak by itself, in most cases the couples here get the visa approved even when a blue slip is received, not because we are special in any way but because we all take the time to share with each other past experiences and good information. Stick around and you"ll see for yourself.

Does anybody knows when the last batch of P4's was sent out?

Congratulations Darrell and Meilin!!!!! I'm glad everything went smooth, you certainly deserved it, now sit back and enjoy the rest of your stay.

Hi Rodney, we have a similar situation, my boyfriend lives in Beijing now, he has asked this and the notary said it can't be done in Beijing, as if he were to marry in China, he should register his marriage at his hukou, so his hukou is the office that can attest to his "single" status now. By the way, if your fiancee has to go to Yunnan, I suggest her to get a notarized copy of her birth certificate, marriage certificate (if married before) and divorce certificate (if applicable), the P4 asks for all this evidence to be ready at the interview.

Hi all, I've received copies of the P4 forms from a friend, in the appointment letter it states which documents must be available at the time of the interview. I noticed that previously married beneficiaries must get a "notarized marriage certificate" and a "notarized certificate of divorce", also a "notarized certificate of unmarriage". I figure there should be no problem getting the first two at this time as it's something that it's past history, but what about the certificate of unmarriage?? Should he get it after receiving the P4 as it's closer to the interview? My point is that if what they want is to make sure that he is a bona fide single man, then maybe they want it as closer to the interview as possible, and that's probably why they ask for it along with the P4, right? I'm asking because my fiance is now on a business trip at his hukou place, and we had thought about getting the "unmarriage doc" now that he's there. The way things are going, maybe we won't get an interview for the next 6 months, and it would probably be not valid any more. Also, at the DS156K they ask for birth certificates for all children, it will be very difficult for him to obtain this, and his daughter will not come now or in the future to USA, is it imperative that we get this??? Please shed some light to me, I got until Saturday to tell him what exactly to get now.

C'mon Bryan, you just can't do this to us, it's not fair for us to wait so long to know. Plizzzzzzzzzz....

Great news Jeff, B) the nightmare is over. Have a safe trip back home and tell Sarah that we're all very happy and wish you the best in your new life together.