hlin

So, I was looking through lao po's passport to make a copy of it, and I couldn't find the I-94 form! The last time I know it was there, was before she left for China back in December. At any rate, after coming back, we didn't check to see if it was missing. I would hate to think that we simply "lost" it while traveling (taking passout in/out of bag, etc). Or maybe when we returned, the immigration agent took it and didn't tell us. I'm not sure. Does anyone know if this form is still required? She already has her conditional green card, and I'm not sure if it's still required for anything (like her AOS for 10 year green card application, etc). I still have a photocopy of it, so hopefully if it's required, the photocopy is enough.

From what I understand of her perspective, it's just that she's Chinese, she never planned on not being Chinese. She fell in love with an American, not with America. The US is just one place to live. She'd follow me to Iraq or Afghanistan or Iceland if that's where I had to go. The main negative is just that every time we'd go back to China, it would double our visa application costs, and it would feel strange to her to pay for permission to go back to her own country, where all her friends, family, history, and life are (except for her beloved Lao Gong). I was actually wondering about things more along practical lines like health care and gov't. services etc. Would someone still have the same rights/access if they become an ex-Chinese citizen? One of the most important aspect of maintaining the Chinese citizenship would be for the purpose of setting up a business in China. If you're already near retirement age, then it may not matter, but for a younger couple who may want to start a business in China, then it's critical they think about maintaining Chinese citizenship for the SO. It's imminently harder to start a business as a USC in China, then it is for a Chinese citizen. That may change in the future, but as of now, it still will cost you a huge chuck of money to start up any kind of business which can actually generate income (not just a REP office) in China. Not so for the Chinese citizen. I still have not decide whether my SO should seek USC or not. The business possibilities in Shanghai are endless. In the next three years, we'll see how Chinese law is changing. BTW, I do NOT believe a foreigner can purchase residential property in China anymore--at least not in Shanghai. They instituted that policy in 2006. If your spouse is a Chinese citizen, then she can and your name could probably be added, but as a single USC trying to purchase residential property in Shanghai, it's not possible via legitimate methods. I'm sure there is a black market where you can go through to secure residential property, but it's not legit. My wife tells me that you can purchase a residential property in Shanghai if you have resided there for at least 1 year (probably need to provide some sort of proof). I don't know the details, but that's what I'm told. Maybe someone with more official details can comment.

That's good to know. We'll probably end up calling back most of the time anyway, their local call fees there can add up I think.

I just signed up for iTalkBB recently, and got the phone device yesterday. Initial test seems okay, though my wife thinks the quality isn't as good (we used OneSuite before). Maybe it was a bad connection, or she was expecting better quality. At any rate, the cost is ($4.99+2.0cent/min) vs ($35+2.2cent/min - what I'm paying now). I will eventually disconnect my local home line after a couple weeks of use to make sure everything works well. I guess my only concern is the China DID 17971 number that is used for incoming calls from China. Has anyone ever had an experience where they were charged for making calls to this number (aside from standard charges they would normally make to a local number). Her family lives in Shanghai, so that's where the calls are coming from. Just wanted to be 100% sure, and not have her family ending up with a huge bill. Aside from that, the cost and features of this service sounds very promising. I hope the voice quality won't be too much of a bother for my wife. Good luck to anyone else who is switching to italkbb.

Hang in there. I believe you can check the NOA2 status of your application online. https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/index.jsp If they have already sent you the NOA2, and you haven't received it, it may be lost in the mail. As long as they are going through the next process, then you are good. There should be a number you can call and talk to someone about the case, but I don't know it, maybe someone can help you with that.

Congratulations!

Thanks everyone.

It's for 2 years. She said we could apply for the 10 year green card 90 days before the 2 year expire.

We had an interview in the SF office yesterday. Getting into the door was like going through airport security. Note, do not bring mobile phones with cameras, they will want you to get rid of it by putting it back in your car, or having someone place it on hold. We had to place it across the street at a photo store ($3). Also, they appear to want to check all electronics to make sure they're working. At any rate, we were called in for interview about 20-25 mins after our scheduled appointment (we were there about 15 mins early), so the wait was not too bad. The lady didn't appear to be in a good mood (I guess she was tired), but she was nice, and appeared to go through the interview in a timely fashion. She swore us in, and asked my lao po a series of questions - mostly repeating information that we have filled out on our application form like where she was born, her parents name, etc. Other quetsions of interest were: where my parents live, have we traveled anywhere (besides our honeymoon), asked for my recent paystubs, proof of items which show our names together (I have residential property under our names, along with proof of her names under medical/credit cards/etc). Then she asked to see some pictures (looked through our honeymoon pictures), and took 2 for record-keeping. She sort of mentioned that we did not have problems on our applications, but had to go through the interview process. At the end, she said that we were approved, and she said ours was actually an easy application (she reviewed the case beforehand, and appears she may have made up her mind beforehand). I asked her what she meant about other applications being difficult, and she said some people do it for money/greencard, etc. I guess some people don't submit good information, or the information looks too fake for them to approve. At anyrate, we were told 3 weeks to get green card. Can't wait! I was very nervous, and had prepared my originals and copies during the morning, the night before, and the night before that. So I was stressing about it. Turned out good for us. Good luck to everyone else who's waiting for AOS Interview.

Great, I will fill out those two forms. My friend lives at my former address, so I will still get any old mail that's not updated (just in case).

If my wife and I are moving to a new home, is there any particular department I need to notify of our new address? I believe I need to fill out I-865 form, but is there any forms my wife needs to fill out? We're in the AOS stage, with interview coming up next month. Thanks.

Sorry, didn't mean for you to jump the gun. I did receive a copy, but it's not one of those "sealed in the envelope" copies. They seem to only want sealed copied, which I've already submitted. Hopefully, they didn't lose it. One thing that worries me. For our wedding, we went to city hall, and did not have any pictures taken of our wedding. It was a simple wedding, and no fuss, and that's how we wanted it. I hope that won't go against us. We do however, have many many other pictures. I'll report back later what happens at the interview.

I had always thought that the BC is wanted to prove your US citizenship status.. Since yours is not of the US, I would think that your US passport will do, since that is often used as an alternate (even through the Visa process most of us present our passport as proof instead of a BC)... Think back to the original I-129F petition you submitted.. did you supply a BC or copies of your passport [as proof of US Citizenship] ? You can call NBC to verify... the number should be on the letter... and let us know the outcome ! 212144[/snapback] For the entire petition process, I never submitted a BC, I only submitted copies of my passport. I'll give them a call a little later. So many things required in that checklist, will take some time to gather them, especially it seems to ask for all copies of original documents, etc. It feels like I have to bring the entire stack of documents I've submitted to them. I hope they didn't lose the medical supplement papers

I have a Question on interview as well. On the checklist, it mentions that the petitioner needs to have their Birth Certificate as well. Unfortunately, I don't have one. Does anyone know where I can get a certified copy, or if I can just bring all my IDs? I was not born in the US, so it will be difficult for me to return to my country to get it. Any ideas?

I'm here in Hawaii. Reply or send me a message if you need anything while you're here. 208542[/snapback] Please send Papayas. My wife loves them. Ate them just about every day.