cosmiclobster

No problem Wolffjw I noticed that we both got our NOA1 on Feb 20, but you jumped 2 months ahead of me on the NOA2. I assume you filed with VSC? Good luck and keep us informed!

Hi Robert. Hope you are able to "weather" this storm!! Nice to see that the ladies are having a good ol time, but that might change if they see trees and cars flying by in the wind! This does sound like an occasion for the good whiskey!! Good luck!

Ultimately, it depends on your congressperson. When I started this process, I lived in Thousand Oaks and contacted my congressman. He said wait until your case is overdue and then he would get involved. Never heard from him again. I moved to Ventura and my current congresswoman has sent me copies of all of the correspondence she received and has called me when I forgot about her. Remember, her MAIN job is to help people in their district deal with government agencies. When I get to the Thursday 4PM Q and A in GZ, I will ask them then. Until then, who really knows????

I called my congresswoman after my P2 had taken 4 months. She was very nice. She faxed me a paper that I signed and faxed back to her giving her permission to inquire about my case. I got the P2 a few days later. I called to thank her and she said she would keep track of my case, and if I didn't get the P3 in 4 weeks, please call her back and she would inquire again. I did get the P3 within 4 weeks, so I didn't call her. After 5 weeks, she called me to ask if I got the P3. I told her we got it and returned it to GZ already. She was happy for me and she told me she would send an e-mail to GZ in my behalf. I believe a congressperson has the power to have some influence. When I filed the P1, I didn't know that one of the main responsibilities of a congressperson is to assist their constituents deal with government agencies. Had I known, I would of contacted her after the P1! Her secretary was so happy for me. he asked me to bring Amy in to see her when she got here! I told her I definately would. Can't hurt!

tywy: When I was waiting for my P2, I called USCIS a few times. I got different answers every time and a few times I was more familiar with the whole process then they were. Just what happened to me . . . .

All new passports have barcodes - my last one didn't. Kim: I agree 100%

Hi Alaska I would put your home address on all of the forms. I would then make a trip to your post office and tell them to hold your mail for the next few weeks (you can still go there and pick up your mail and ask them to continue to hold it). You should get the NOA1 within a week or two. As for the NOA2, and any possible RFE, you can find this information on line. If you suspect someone tampering with your mail, you should be able to get a lock for your mailbox. That, or get some mean old dog to guard it! hehehe [EDIT] oops strike the mean old dog option, your mailman might not be too happy about that idea!

Hi Mengxin I would be fuming right now if I were you. Not only has he wasted your time, but he might of also caused you further delays down the road. Not only should you of gotten your papers back, but you should of gotten back every penny you gave him also. Lawyers and other people who represent others (like myself, I happen to be a real estate agent) are held to a higher standard of care then most other professionals. To have a complaint or a lawsuit filed against them is very detrimental to their standings and their career and they will go to great lengths to settle a claim before it gets officially recorded. I am not a lawyer and cannot act in an official capacity as one, but if this happened to me, I would ask for damages from him AT LEAST equal to the money you gave him. He was clearly derelict in the performance of his obligation to you and he knows he will lose a lawsuit if it came to that. I would think he would be happy to pay you some thousands of $$ to make this go away quietly. I would at least call legal aid for a free consult. P.S. Thanks for the links! I have seen those websites before!

Thanks for the good ideas! I never knew that you could register the fact that you will be in another country. I will do this for my next trip on line with the DOS and in person when I get to GZ. In my friendly outgoing manner, I will tell them that I am there with my fiancee for her interview. Don't know if it'll help, but as it's been said, can't hurt!

Yea, that, or pack yourself into a shipping crate for a few months!

Gene: First, CONGRATULATIONS !!! When I read your post I started to feel almost giddy inside. Why, you ask? Because our petitions cleared customs the same day and I KNEW we were getting close also!! I knew that GZ didn't sit on yours so I was all optomistic. And by coincidence, I sent GZ an e mail this morning after wasting 1/2 hour on the phone waiting for the DOS to tell me nothing. I told my Amy that your petition got to GZ on the same day as ours and we would get our P3 soon, but she haden't gotten it yet, so she didn't want to get her hopes up yet. Then, while we were chating on line, my mailbox rang and I got the same exact reply from GZ that you did. "We just mailed the P3 packet" I was so worried about the dreaded 3 to 8 months in name check hell, it was really weighing on me! I also asked them if they had any idea of the timeline for the P4, but all I got was the canned response. I'm still giddy. I may need a few belts of the good stuff to get to sleep tonight! Good luck to all on their journey!!!!!!!

Dude: I have seen Ching King Express (and many other subtitled movies, although there is a poor selection of ones from China). It was entertaining. I'll have to look for some Steven Chow movies. Haven't seen his yet . . .

hehehe looks like it's you and the corn!

Larry: The new form says "as appropriate" documents. You only need one of the options to show a minimum income level. Personally, I would bring/send as many as I could.

Hi Jarrod. Welcome to Candle For Love Do bring extra copies of blank forms! Right after we filled out her G235, she spilled tea all over it! It doesn't say it on the instruction sheet for the I129F, but when you send it in, write "Original Application" and I129F on the outside of the package. There is a place on the USCIS website that has general instructions for filling out forms. We neglected to do this, having found that page 3 days after I mailed the papers, but they got approved with no problem. When you are there, take a ton of pictures of the two of you together. Take some of you/her and her family together. I've heard many interviewers look at the pictures and pass up many other things. Save all your airline ticket stubs, hotel receipts, credit card charges in China. Depending on what time you get into PVG, there is a bullet train from the airport to the Metro. Looks like it does about 140MPH. We took a bus,but it did by coincidence, stop right in front of my hotel. Lets see, list of sightseeing: Yu Yuan temple, Nanjing Road, The Bund and the Jin Tao building in Pu Dong. There's probably more, but you're well on your way Cosmic Freakin Lobster

or speed ummmm my guess is a little of both????? Burning rubber down to the root beer stand is one thing - I live close to LA and know many people that drive 1 hour each way to work. That's a lot of money (and otherwise productive time) getting burned up sitting on the freeway at 15MPH.

The Queen says to Trigg: OFF WITH HIS HEAD for his remark to the "dry challenged" people of Portland!!!

Yes, anything that will help the US (and to a lesser degree the rest of the world) get away from it's dependence on foreign oil and develop a clean source of energy will be a tremendous accomplishment. (the following statements are all my own personal opinions!!!) Our oil dependence has the same social and economic consequences as a drug addiction. Every day the (addicted) US spends an unbelievable amount of money to drive their gas guzzelers. This money goes to the middle east (the dealers), gives them big heads and causes turf wars and skirmishes (unrest in the middle east). The US oil companies are the (local dealers) middlemen in this (drug) trade, they take their cut off the top and have gotten rich doing it (more so now then at any time in their history). I would go as far as to say that if Bush didn't have the "understanding" of (Enron) the US oil industry (WE get you elected and you DON'T mess with Texas oil) he never would of got elected . . . . .

Sounds right to me, but I'm doing a K1 Maybe someone who has "been there, done that" can help you . . . . . Say, we got through the GZ clearance delay on the same day!

John: Great Idea. Thanks for doing that! It does help to see some general trends in the timelines. I have actually put the same data into an Excel spreadsheet so I can sort by columns. As you get new times, it you send them to me, I will add it to the on line site, or if anyone has data that is not yet included, PM me. It is at www.conejoproperties.com/timeline.xls and you will need to have Excel on your PC to open it.

Geee I wonder what it's like to go 100 years back in time . . . . . (dreamy music starts here and the corners of your screen get blurred)

Mark: The Elks are old world thinkers. I've known a few and they were all very good people. But they live by old (conservative) rules that are extremely out of date. The funny thing is that their PC, TV, appliances and probably most of the dishes they serve dinner on are all made in COMMUNIST China. Pretty hypocritical, don't ya think? We'll take your cheap PC's, just not the people who made em. Yes, a lawsuit might make them change their tune. Then after they are forced to let her in and have paid you for damages, you can tell them to stick it!

Dragon Flower: VERY nice - Thank you

Mark and Bea: Nice ones! Being a lover of nature, I especially liked Carson, Horowitz and (or course) Muir. Thank you!!!

Opie and Blossom: When I asked my sweetie how to say "I love you" in Chinese, she told me it sounds like "wall eye knee" Now I tell her wo ai ni every day.