mari

Dan, I'm glad you overcame the obstacles and hope you both have a good life together. In our particular case, after going through the nightmare of an endless name check process, we tried to have all possible evidence on hand for the interview, never thought that language was going to be an issue for the VO (my native language is spanish) but thanks to Candle the last time I visited China we decided to make a movie of us together at the apartment. Turned out I forgot to remind him to convert it into VHS format, but my now husband remembered to do it at the last minute and at the interview he offered it to the VO when he raised the language issue. The lesson learned is that you should always assume that you're not prepared enough for the "GZ experience"

Hi all, Qisheng arrived to NY on June 6th, what a happy time!!! We spent 3 days there, first time for both to be able to visit the Big Apple and we had the opportunity to visit many points of interest. The Immigration officer was kind to him and only asked him if he plays the violin, as he had it with him. As said before, he got his work authorization at POE and everything went smooth. My heart beated faster and faster as the time approached, and finally he came out and since then all the agony of the past months disappeared. Now he's adjusting to life in PR, he says it's a mix of latin and american traditions, but he's happy, and that's the most important thing for me. Our wedding will take place in 3 days. Thank you all for the support and your good wishes.

Congratulations Melvin!!!! Another CFL success.

Carl, did you sent your letter to Maura Harty via e-mail? If so, you will hear from her in the next days. I"ll be waiting for your post with the good news.

It sounds fair to me.

One more question: I went over the declaration form and it states that you should declare all items brought to the USA and then this: "The U.S. Customs officer will determine duty. Duty will be assessed at the current rate on the first $1,000 above the exemption." Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, if he declares that he is bringing $1,500, then duty will be imposed to $1000? How much will he have to pay for this then? It does not make any sense to me as these are all used articles.

Thanks so much Frank, you're great!!

What info should he write on the I-94? What items should he include in the customs declaration form?

Hi all, 4 more days and I will meet my babe in NY, it's a great feeling indeed. I'm a bit confused now with Form I-94, I thought it was the card given to us in the airplane where we answer some questions concerning the items that we have bought abroad and their value. In the other hand I've read many times here that the visa holder should make sure to get the I-94 back from the immigation officer at the POE, and now I entered a site where it explains that it's a white card where the officer will write down the maximum stay allowed. I appreciate any help I can get.

It was chuckandshuping, try contacting him. Your case is a heartbreaker, and I sincerely hope it can be resolvd soon.

First of all e-mail GZ at once and ask them to call your SO, they will send the P4 to the address she provides them, and it is sent via EMS It takes some time to fill out all the required forms plus the medical exam at the hospital. I recommend you to notarize the I-134 at once and send it Global Priority as soon as possible, as it takes around 5 days to get there. If you are not going to GZ I will recommend you to send her a copy of each page of your passport so they can see the times you have visited China. Photos are a must also. Good luck!!!

LouRose, your spanish is impecable!!! PR stands for Puerto Rico, and the official language is Spanish certainly, but we are a territory of USA, puertorricans are US citizens since birth, and most people can speak English, or at least understand it. I was not born here (I'm cuban) but were naturalized as a US citizen when I was 19. Our textbooks in school are written in English and the English class is mandatory since elementary school. We here have most of american franchises and stores, and Cable TV. I almost never watch the local TV stations except for the news. I still don't understand why the language was an issue for the VO, but one thing is for sure: it all belongs to the past and I'm ready to strat our life together now..

Congratulations to you both, seems like you got the same VO that my fiance got.

Thanks to all of you for the good wishes. Don, thanks for the support and good info you provided me when I was deep down.. Once the interview is passed, just give them one day to stamp it in the passport and next day will be ready for pick up. We got it on Wednesday because Monday was a holiday.

Carl, The one person who could really speed up your interview day is Maura Harty, you don't have to tell her that you're contacting the senator and congressman, she will make it happen, believe me, as you have a good reason for it. Just make sure that you scan and send the evidence to her. I wish you the best of lucks.

My dear friends, Qisheng's interview took place on May 27, it was a Friday and the interview happened at 11:25AM. Qisheng was in line at 6:15AM and he got turn #7, on Fridays they take the hospital envelope and do the interviews in the morning, so I was glad that he did not left all the evidence with his father outside. The VO was a handsome guy in his thirty's with eyeglasses and braces on his mouth. Even though he seemed like a nice guy and spoke slowly, all the time he said that he didn't believe in our relationship. I just wonder why he got this impression or if it's only a way to intimidate people. Qisheng told me that he did not replied to this statement as he was there to answer questions and provide evidence of our relationship. The VO asked him a zillion of them, and asked for our photo album twice during the conversation, and went over our more than 200 photos. He also wanted to see our e-mails and chats and said that our letters to each other did not showed him that we're in love!!! Qisheng said that he's not a good writer (he,he) and that he also kept the more private ones for himself. Another big issue that came up and which surprised me very much was when he asked about the language that we use to communicate with each other. Qisheng said "English" and the VO said that he knows that the official language in PR is Spanish. Qisheng said that the other official language is English. Then he asked where I learned it and when and where did I attended college. Qisheng handed the videocassette which we recorded the last time I visited him in Beijing and the VO took it but later returned it back without watching it. Qisheng also gave him a copy of my passport with the 5 visas to China (it was not notarized), the VO took a good look to it. There was not a single error that he could find in our material. He insisted all the time that he did not believe in us and also about the language issue. There were many other questions asked, including "what special characteristics does your fiancee has that made you fell in love with her"? He answered: she's a very kind hearted woman and we are connected in a special way to each other, sometimes we even think the same things together. Finally the VO said "you should get the visa", the interview took around 20 minutes in total. Some minutes ago I spoke to him and he got the visa in hand, we"ll meet in USA next Monday. My advice to all: never underestimate the efforts needed to prepare for the interview, make your SO organize well all the evidence and have it handy, and practice all the possible questions and answers, it will definitely give your SO a lot of confidence and will make him/her look good. I also told Qisheng that the visa interview is like a job interview or a sales transaction: you should convince the other party to hire you or to buy your product, which in this case is your relationship, and I said that he should not worry as we both know that our relationship is for real. Before leaving the consulate Qisheng got fingerprinted by a woman whom he thinks was the "black pearl", and she seems as a nice woman. That day around 1/3 of the people got denials. I want to thank all of you who have supported me during these tough times, Candle has been a real blessing in my life and I'm so glad that it's up and as good as ever. BTW, Qisheng visited it the day before his interview and printed out the list of questions, and went over some of the threads, it was a real surprise to me. I wish the best of lucks to all of you in the waiting.

What is the I-797? When should we get the employment authorizaqtion? Can we get the SSN concurrently? What is required at the Soc. Sec. office?

Are you talking about the fingerprinting and biometrics done at the POE? Once we send the paperwork to Chicago, what happens next?

OMG, I'm the most absent minded of all!! Me the most critical of customers who never read their bank statements, so they're never aware of changes in the bank's policies.... Anyway, there's not much I can do now to justify myself, but to tell you the truth, I usually go to "General Visa Discussion"and "Our Stories" and almost never to the other forums.

I'm a bit confused with all this paperwork, if we file the EAD application along with the I-485, should they be sent then to the same address?

Good luck, Michael & Kathy, we"ll be waiting for the good news.

Any good site for procedures for EAD, AOS, etc. after marriage? A friend who brought his fiancee from Mexico told me that there's so much paperwork to fill out that I should hire a lawyer. He said that even the smallest error in filling out the required forms will cause me a lot of trouble. What do you all recommend me to do? I just don't want to assume an unnecessary expense as we will have so many at the time.

Yes, she does need all those clothes!!! BTW, have you been able to get seats in the same plane? Did you remembered to buy the a new set of sheets? Guys, thanks a lot for your good wishes, we still don't have a visa but hopefully soon I can give you some good news. Thanks so much for having us in your thoughts.

Our case took a long time also, too long....... The DOS visa specialists were not very kind or helpful, some even said that a name check could take up to 2 years!!! There was only one girl called Sharon and a guy who were nice and helped a little. How did I get to moved my case? I followed Maui&China's advice and this was the key to success. I was lucky enough to get a contact name for a lawyer at my congressman's office in Washington from his office over here, and the woman got to call her contact at DOS, the problem was resolved in a matter of days. What happened in our case? I never got an explanation and I don't care anymore. I just don't wish that any couple have to go through this same hell.

My dear friend, our dark days are over, may you and your lovely family have the best of lucks and that happiness always knocks at your door. Thank you so much for all the support you have given me through the worst nightmare I have ever faced in my whole life. Aloha.