Maui & China

Alright Sam!! How's Nicola doing? Well that's 1 down and 6 more to go isn't it?

Congratulations Marty and Wei Ping!! The long wait is over. Much happiness together.

I'm with Gene and don't really miss western food at all; although, I do have a craving for a Spam musubi now and then.

Aloha and welcome back stranger!!

Congratulations, sounds like January is shaping up to be a good month for all you interviewees.

Congratulations!! Let's hope the rest of the January interviews are as successful!!

Congratulations and thanks for the info on the interview.

Aloha Mark and Bea and Elizabeth! Is Elizabeth growing bigger before your eyes!! Wow, a passport already. Is she going with Bea to the states or will you be watching her by yourself? Just called DOS again today and still awaiting second name check approval. According to my Senator's office, the FBI is still checking Ling's name but they don't know why it's taking so long. They did tell her to tell me "Not to worry, they have plenty of people who have waited longer than us." This was supposed to make me feel better? Approaching 6 months for second name check, and 14 months overall. Trying to figure out what other options I have left to try. Write letters to the FBI or President Bush? Really feeling helpless and discouraged at the moment. Wondering if I should just say "to hell with the whole absurd process" move to China, marry Ling and live there the rest of my life? OK, OK that's just the pessimist inside of me speaking. Just have to keep on hoping that we'll see some progress one of these days. Jon

Well done Fei and welcome to the US!! Congratulations to both of you!!

Congratulations Neal and Yaya. What a wonderful Christmas gift!!

That's wonderful news Alex!! Congratulations. The long wait is finally over.

Congratulations!!

Congratulations. Now you can have the best Christmas ever!!

That's very good news!! Congratulations!!

What if I just turn around, bend over, and show them my good side.

Yeeeeehaaaaa!! This is great news MoonCarol!!! Congratulations and best wishes on your life together in the US.

John, Thanks for putting up the list. Just wish we had a P4 and interview date to input. We're still waiting for the second name check to clear. According to my Senator's office, the problem may lie with the FBI. Of course, they told the Senator's aide it will take 3-4 weeks to figure out why the name check has not been completed yet. Ahh yes, wait somemore.

Congratulations Tony and Quan!! Now you'll be able to start the New Year off right...TOGETHER!!

Congratulations Bryan!! You've waited a long time for this day. Traesure all the following ones. And welcome to the US Qunying & Ruixue !!

Cosmic, I usually end up flying China Airlines from Honolulu to Hong Kong. I know it's not considered the safest airline in the world, but it gets me to Hong Kong at a decent hour to cross over into Shenzhen. LeLe is also correct about the flight times. But the price shock you felt is pretty standard for flights in and out of Hawaii. Because Hawaii is a prime tourist destination, the airlines really hammer you on the prices. That's why it's cheaper to fly from SF to NY, than SF to Hawaii even though it's almost the same distance. The thing that always bothered me is even though I live closer to China than most of you, I'm further behind in time. 18 hours behind! So I'm always waking up around 3 or 4am to call Ling. Been doing it for over 1-1/2 years now and I think I forgot what a good nights sleep is anymore.

Been thru 4 Narita times, as my flights from Honolulu always stops in Narita for aircraft change. Very easy to find your way around. Never had any problems as most of the signs are in English. Had to change airlines 1 time and that meant going from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1, but they had helpful signs and guides as well as the buses that Mari spoke of. They even have places for internet access for a small fee. The rest rooms had western toilets as well as your standard asian squatter.

When I went to GZ for the US Citizen hour on 28 Oct, they said the second name check is standard in all cases now. The VO said GZ does their own screening, but the second name check is requested by GZ after receiving the P3, and is done in the US through various government agencies. Usually it takes no more than 2 months to do both, sometimes longer. Then there are cases like mine and another CFL'er Mari's where our fiance(e)'s name check is stuck in some "cloud cukooland" limbo of over 4 months. So far my congressman has had our info for a month and not a peep out of him. I faxed the FBI asking about our case, and phoned a week later and spok to a very rude secretary/receptionist? who told me they get hundreds of faxes a week, e-mail them instead, but don't expect an answer for at least 6 weeks!! Contacted the office of my Senator, Daniel Inouye who I think is # 4 or 5 for senators in length of service and a very understanding woman took my info and said she would contact the FBI for me and let me know what's happening next week. Of course, like Carl said things can and do change all the time.

Congratulations Vaughn!! Hey Cosmiclobster, can I join you dudes too. I'll bring my board, but it might take a while for me to paddle to S. Cal from Maui!!

Check out the Links section of CFL, I think the title is: 95 Interview Questions by Donasho

Damn straight you have a cause to be bitter. Think of the time stolen from you and your S.O. by the staff of the GZ consulate. You can Never. Get. It. Back. I agree with MoonCarol on this. The time stolen from us is the worst. Even though our P3 was registered in early July, we still haven't even cleared the second name check yet!! I know there are some others here on CFL who are in the same situation. Until the second name check clears, we aren't even in on the waitlist for the P4!! All we can do is hope the darn thing clears one day and then wait in line with the rest of the unfortunates. Until then, we are in limbo.