mari

Hi, just wanted to let you know that at this point I'm so dissapointed with this whole visa process, never imagined that after doing things in the most meticulous way, we would still fall in this hole. Next thursday will be 5 months after our name check started, my all hopes were on having my most loved one home around January or at the most on February, to be able to celebrate our 3 years together. My Congressman's aide contacted GZ and the FBI, the first one assuring that the interview will be granted once the name check is completed, the last one not having an idea on when the process will end, talk about efficiency. I've faxed and e-mailed the FBI without any success, it seems they don't care anymore about our inquiries. The feeling of abandonment is strong, my fiance is losing hope and my heart is in total despair. Only thing that keeps me going is that I will see him in 23 more days!!! And even though the end of the nightmare seems so far away, I will bring with me this time all the evidence needed for the interview, I've prepared a photo album of us together, but my concern is that they will not allow it inside of the Consulate, what is the best way to do this??? I've heard in other threads that all the evidence must be placed inside of transparent folders. Thanks for your advise.

I need to explain to my SO what the " householf registry" thing is. can somebody write the term in pinyin so that I can show him what this is all about?

I just couldn't stop laughing after I read this thread, especially after Jon's idea. I guess this is what happens when you do the things in the most correct way and expect the system to respond in such way and all you get is the same response always: "name check still pending". Makes you want to show them your best smile........

Thanks John, the way it's going you"ll have me in that list for the upcoming months also. I called DOS again today, first time I speak to a male visa specialist , said no news about name check being completed Only thing that keeps me going right now is my next trip to Beijing on 12-29. BTW, my S.O. is starting to get quite pesimistic about this matter.

We've agreed that he"ll be wearing a nice shirt and tie, and jeans is a "No- No". You have to let them know that this is an important event in your life.

Jim, same process indeed to get to an American territory, that's precisely our case.

This is the one thing I hate about China. I'm not good at bargaining, so we've decided that whenever I want to buy something he will do the negotiating. Qisheng loves to go shopping with me, and he's a great bargainer, but I really get discouraged when I see the chinese way. I still remember the words: "you say, you say", it drives me NUTS!!! Last time I visited Beijing I decided to buy a painting at the Forbidden City, in this instance he got mad at me for accepting the seller's offer because he considered it was too expensive. He said: "when you hear that when asked I say do what you want, that means don't buy it". !!!***??? That thing ruined my day, as I felt like a complete fool for falling for it, and of course my SO didn't helped much.

Congratulations Jeff and Jade, wish you a happy life together. Thank you for posting the questions and tell Jade she was fantastic.

Maybe the expiration date mentioned before has to do with the FBI's statement at their website that 98% of the cases are resolved within 120 days, however, I've heard that there is more than one agency performing the name check. Nobody knows for sure how this is done, so there are no definite answers to our questions. I think the longest wait for any Candle member was Clifford's, if I'm right it took around 7.5 months. I keep praying for ours to take fewer time.

Dear petitioner, Thanks for your email. We have been awaiting a response from the U.S. authorities regarding Mr. XX's clearance. Please be assured that his case is on track and we will schedule him for an interview once we receive the response. I think this e-mail from GZ will shed some light into this subject. our cases definitely go through a clearance in the US.

Happy Thanksgiving day to you all, thank you for your good wishes and advices. Thank you Lord for letting me know all this good people here and let all of us be reunited with our loved ones very soon.

What a great way to spend this Thanksgiving day, enjoy every minute of it, and God bless you and your family, Bryan.

You guys are awesome, thanks for all the good info.

Amber, we're doing K1, we've discussed the possibility of relocating to China in the future, but the idea doesn't appeal to me that much. I got a good position at my bank now and will be elegible for retirement in 10 years, not to mention the fact that I don't want to leave my mom and daughter behind. If Qisheng doesn't get a suitable job in PR or open a business in his field of work, then I will be willing to relocate to the US. Maybe once we're retired we can spend part of the year in China, but it's not something that I foresee in the near future.

I think that the name checks at both stages are different, my main concern at this point is that I know of some CFL members whose P3's were sent around the same time as ours who are confronting the same problem with their name check not being completed. It's all very confusing, and the messages from the DOS people don't help at all. I wonder what agency is accountable for this: DOS? GZ? FBI? Who should take responsibility to give us an answer? This thing is killing me and our pockets also, I will go to China again next month because it's been almost a year since we don't see each other, it's so unfair.

Mine is one of them: second name check started 4 months and 13 days ago.... and no answer yet. Our lives at their expense...

Qisheng is very protective of me also, the times that I've stayed by myself in the house in China he makes sure that all doors are well locked, in the public places in China he's always with an eye on me like if I were a small child that can get lost in the crowd, he loves to go shopping with me but there are certain types of clothing that he doesn't like me to wear because it's too transparent and it drives him crazy when he knows that I'm outside late at night in my place. I though it was his particular way, but now I realize it's definitely a chinese male thing.

I've been to Narita 3 times, very easy to get around, there's buses that take you to the different terminals, but the one thing I hated last December was that I had to go through two security checkpoints. At the second one there were around 150 people waiting in line, so I had to squeeze myself in front of it in order to catch my plane to Beijing. As much as I hate to do this, I kept telling myself: "either you do this or you will not see Qisheng tonight".

Going thru a visa process is like spending some time in hell before ever dying. Today I made my traditional Friday call to the DOS, the "visa specialist" (so knowledgable) said that the name check always takes 6 months, so that I should not hear anything about it being completed until next January. What's going on with our government??? Tell your wife to contact her congressman, we're dealing with bureaucracy here, and they just don't care how much time your case is delayed. It seems as your case is not following the normal path, it's so frustrating.

Something I noticed from chinese people is that they don't use deodorant in their daily life, I wonder if it has to do with the food they eat or is it genetic?

My SO love my pasta, it's a must everytime I go to visit him, but he can't tolerate parmesan cheese and/or butter on it, says it makes him want to throw up.

I think you should e-mail GZ and call DOS and specifically ask when your SECOND NAME CHECK started and if it has been completed yet.

Amber, as in any other relationship this is a sensitive issue, men in general don't like this sort of thing to come up when they are the ones who earn the less. In my case I haven't lived in China but each time I visit Qisheng I have experienced this same "money saving mentality" that makes them save whenever possible and makes me crazy at times. And you can imagine me, who use the paper towel without any compassion, who let the water run without much care, etc., it has been a cultural shock indeed. From the beginning I have spoke to him as " our money", "our house" and so on, and I definitely make much more money than him, we realize that once he's in USA he will have to learn a new language (my main language is spanish) and get used to run around the island, so I will be the support of the family for some time. We have discussed this many times, and I think the most important thing is to make an agreement on listening to each other needs and point of views, and never never remind the other that you are the one who makes the most money.

Marty, my congressman contacted the FBI last month, at the beginning they couldn't find his name so they thought it never reached their office, then they tried it with his first name splitted into two, and they found it, however, they said they could not give us an estimate on when it will be completed I wrote to them last week via fax and am still waiting for an answer.

I can't explain you the feeling of frustration when I see that all of you who sent P3's around the same time as us will be getting their P4"s shortly. We were so careful to do everything in the right way, with as few errors as possible, and now this.... I keep thinking that our name check request must be collecting dust in somebody's desk and it just infuriates me, it's just not fair.