orygreg2

Thanks everybody. The fingerprinting went without a hitch. What a surprise -- there were no surprises. If you and your sweetheart can go together, you might want to bring a deck of cards with you -- a long time to wait. "People watching" gets boring after awhile.

Recently, my wife and I went to the SSA office to change her name on the SS card (I know, I know... it was dumb to apply for the card BEFORE getting married since she wanted to use my name.) We had in our possession the NOA letters for our AOS, EAD, and AP applications. But the SSA lady didn't care about these -- when she saw my wife's expired I-94 card, she said it means my wife is here illegally and she can't & won't do anything about it. I tried explaining that no K-1 visa holder in the history of mankind has ever come to U.S, gotten married, filed AOS, fingerprinted, interviewed and received the green card -- all within 90 days. Am I missing something? Doesn't the fact that she has evidence of applying for the AOS make her legal? How else could she be legal? We're scheduled to do fingerprinting tomorrow in Newark, NJ. I wonder what surprises we'll be hit with...

Thank you both. Instructions not exactly crystal clear (to me) when it comes to determining the category... a(6) does say it's for K-1s. But we'll go with c (9). Thank you again for your responses. Greg

Hi. Sorry if this is answered elsewhere, but I couldn't find it. For question 16 of EAD form, it asks for Eligibility Category. I've read the instructions, but can't tell for sure if I should use ( a )(6) or ( c )(9). I've seen both in my browsing. Does anyone know for sure? My wife is K-1. We were married Oct 8th. We live in NJ. We will be filing the AOS and the EAD at the same time (to Chicago). Bonus Question #1: How long is the Advance Parole (I-131) good for? I assume it's one year from the date of issue, but I've never seen this documented anywhere -- not even in the instructions. Bonus Question #2: If we don't apply for AP now (along with the AOS and EAD), then where do we send the application later -- to Chicago? or local office? Thanks to all. Greg

My fiancee (now my wife ) also interviewed with her. It was nothing big deal. Some good posts here... I totally agree with what cosmiclobster just posted! And CaliforniaDreamin says "be confident and honest-regardless of who is sitting on the other side of the glass". If you have pictures of the both of you together, bring them, all of them, and especially any showing you with your fiancee's parents. When my wife showed her our pictures, the lady asked for some with me and her parents. We didn't have any but, she showed her pictures I had sent of my two sons, and that made the lady smile.

Hi mari. The GZ web site says this: "What's the period of validity for medical reports and notarial certificates? Notarial birth certificates, marriage certificates and divorce certificates have unlimited validity. Medical reports, notarial single certificates and police certificates are good for one year from the date of issuance." I soooo hope it's not 6 months for you guys! Even if it is, I think it's okay your fiance can get the document now, especially since he is in his hometown. Greg

Yeah, this has always been a tough task for me too... never know what the best thing to get her parents. I had some nice pictures of Qingqing. Her smile so wonderful. So I decided to give them a nice frame with her beautiful picture inside. It seems many older Chinese like gifts with gold -- maybe can find a frame like that. Of course, I knew this wasn't enough. I thought they sure would like it because it's a picture of their daughter, but it seemed too little to just give that. So, I bought some crystal (Waterford I think) -- I guess the kind of thing that's nice but that most folks wouldn't normally buy for themselves. And also, something that wouldn't be too easy to buy in China. I hope the more ideas and examples you get from others, then just the right thing will pop into your mind. Wish you and Cory the best! Greg

Lenjia, maybe this is too obvious to say, but does she have any proof to show GZ where she was living? I would think GZ would need to see some bills/pay records/anything with her new address to document her living apart. Plus, all the other typical kinds of proof -- all phone records, emails, letters, pictures. Letters from his/her friends that could vouch for the relationship.... anything with substance that would convince GZ that a true love relationship exists. Getting married 2 months after talking on Internet probably does increase their burden of proof. Unfortunately, GZ does need to check these things because of the scammers.

Hi Alex, Yes, I hope you and others waiting so long can get P4 from GZ soon! The web site you've heard about is "001.com". Your MM should like it especially, since it is in Chinese, and is very busy. A lot of activity there, and so many JJ/MM can help her. My MM was able to meet several others there -- met one to do medical exam together, and another to go to interview together. Here is the direct link the USA part: 001 - USA (http://www.001.com.cn/forum/usa/index.html) Wish you and everyone the best. Greg

Thank you mari and steve and others. So happy to report the interview went okay, she got the white paper and will pick up her passport with visa tomorrow afternoon!! Yes mari, we mostly used GZ email to talk to them. We did call one lady, but it seemed to give us nothing. After hearing our story, I was hoping she would say "oh, you poor thing, let me fix that for you right now...." but she only said we must email and request another interview date. Qingqing went there with a friend she met at 001.com. I think this is great if your sweetheart can go there with another--you can take turns looking at the monitor waiting for your number to appear so you don't miss it. 001.com is a very active site and seems easy to meet up with people there and make arrangements. Here's a little of what happened: She got there about 7:40. About 8:00 they let people in the building. 1st, she was called up by name to give the medical exam package (that she was not allowed to open), then called up by name again to do the fingerprinting. Both times she said the people were very friendly. Then she waited for her # to show on the monitor (like taking # at a deli). One GLITCH came when doing the medical exam package -- they discovered that they lost the "230" form -- the main part of P3. Fortunately, they let her fill in a new one, and she was able to remember the answers (i think this one asks for work and living history many years ago). PLEASE REMEMBER TO HAVE YOUR CHINESE SWEETHEART COPY THE P3 PAPERS BEFORE SENDING TO GZ! I so regret that I didn't tell my MM to do this but fortunately, she was able to fill-in okay. Just like many others here, the interview lasted less than 5 minutes. The VO asked things like "where did you meet?", "how many times has he visited you?" "did he meet your parents?" The lady asked for pictures of me with her parents, but we didn't have any (we did some but they didn't get developed). So she showed her some other pictures of us together with some of her friend, and also some of my 2 sons, which made the lady smile. That was it. If anyone has questions about other things that happen there, I'll try to find out. But basically, I think prepare as much as you can -- bring anything and everything you can think of -- just in case they ask for it. In our case, I think it sure helped that she had pictures of my kids there. It seems likely that they won't even ask for all/most of the stuff you bring!! For example, they didn't even ask to look at the I-134 (financial stuff/bank letter/employment letter/tax forms)! But she said other K-1 people she met DID have to present that info. You never know. Jim, I hope you guys can get your P4 quickly quickly! Greg

Hi Jim, My MM and I are soooo lucky, even with the mailing problem (GZ said they sent interview letter, but she never got it). She has the interview tomorrow (8/2). My timeline is below. Hoping the time can somehow pass quickly for you. Greg

Thank you Frank. Yes, based on the few P4 forms I have, there are some that say DON'T SIGN til an officer is there. I'm just feeling foolish that I was taken by surprise that all this needs to be finished before the medical exam, not just the interview. I've looked and looked... if anyone's found a site showing samples of all the P4s, please let us know. Greg

Probably a stupid question (because the answer is obvious?).... Does my fiancee need to have ALL the P4 forms filled in when she goes to the medical exam? Based on what I read on GZ web site, looks like the answer is YES, but I wondered if others here had gone there without having everything else ready. (My mm needs to go to Qingdao quickly and was hoping to do the exam tomorrow.) From GZ: http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/guangzho...edicalexam.html "Each person who is examined must bring four photographs of himself to give to the examining physician. In order to speed up the document checking process when you come to the Consulate for your interview, the panel physician facilities will be checking your materials for completeness and putting the documents in the proper order for interview. At the time of your medical exam, please bring all the documents listed on Form OF-171, Appointment Letter for Immigrant Visa Applicants (K3/K4 applicants please refer to "Letter to K3/K4 Applicants"; V applicants please refer to "Letter to V Applicants"), with you to the designated clinic or hospital. The staff there will help to put these materials in order, and then return them to you in a sealed envelope which is to be opened only by the Consulate staff at the time of interview. Your signature will be required to indicate your participation in the process."

sjcm, for what it's worth.... have you tried emailing GZ? I've called DoS all of 2 times. The 2nd time I asked "when did our P3 case get entered in the computer". They said they don't know and no way to know. (Maybe I asked the wrong question or talked to the wrong person -- they definitely should know.) But in an email to GZ sent earlier, and answered before the DoS call, they gave me the date. A ton of GZ email responses are canned and not worth much, but if you can ask a specific question that's answerable, they seem to do ok. But, that's just my experience, maybe others have opposite experience. Anyway, can't hurt to try. If you send GZ an email with anything like "when do you think XXXXXXX will happen?", it's almost always a canned response... "please wait a few months". Greg

Phil & Ningning, so wonderful news!! Congratulations!! Feels good to make progress. Greg