Afterthoughts...from the interview...

[ameriken]

Now that the adrenaline levels are approaching near-normal, Jie and I have had time to think about the interview, the process, etc. So, we are here now to respond to your posts. First of all, thank you all for your encouragement and support. At times, I think you were more confident in us than we were !

 

susieq, you guys are great, and our feelings are you will be just as successful as we were. In your PM and posts we get the feeling you are a lot like us and you will be ok !

 

1) DISPEL the MYTH:

 

merc, we really would like to dispel the 'myth' of the 'black pearl'. Since i have heard of this, I have told Jie three things: 1) You have no idea if the rumors are true, or who this woman is, so do not judge or prejudge. I have seen posts where a black VO went out of her way to help someone get a visa who was inappropriately denied. 3) She could be your VO....so be ready for her.

 

So, I have talked with Jie not to have any bad feelings about her, she is just another person doing a job. Jie's impression is this woman is extremely experienced, very professional, loves her job, and will give you a visa if you have done your job correctly and are well prepared. Of course, we are coming from a K1 viewpoint, having had an approval, and I am sure those like wolf will disagree with me. I hope we at CFL can dispel the myth of the 'black pearl'.

 

So remind your SO: this woman could be YOUR VO. Be prepared.

 

2) Be prepared from the very start:

 

Which brings us to our next point. We have thought about the interview and why it went well. Jie felt like the VO never saw the file prior to the interview. The VO reviewed every page of the file right in front of Jie. Jie remembers one distinct thing: the VO stopped and seemed to read every word of our 'relationship letters' submitted at the very beginning with the I-129F. We wrote 3 to 4 paragraph letters that were very clear about our feelings, how we met, the evolution of our relationship, our plans and intentions to marry. Jie's letter mentioned that she introduced me to her parents, best friend, and family.

 

As the VO read the letter, she read that we met on chineselovelinks.com and ask Jie "How did you meet"? Jie answered chineselovelinks.com

The VO read further, and asked about her parents, did I meet them. Jie answered "Yes, would you like to see the pictures?" and the VO said Yes, and looked at the pictures of me and her parents (and there were others of me and Jie together).

 

3) K1 vs others?

 

Strictly from a visa point of view, we feel the K1 is the easiest, simplest and fastest way to go. As Jie says, 'less trouble', its cleaner and simpler. You are asking the consulate to simply give a temporary visa. I think the consulate will be harder on K3's or CR1's because you are asking them to do more than a visa. You are asking for a LOT MORE. I think that they are going to scrutinize your case more carefully and I think you have a lot more to prove. So, for newbies asking about K1 vs K3 vs CR1, I will always say K1.

And always be prepared to address issues from the start that could cause trouble, such as ex husbands living in the US, children, oddities in either background, etc.

 

4) Does the VO know your case prior to the interview?

 

As we said, Jie felt like the VO NEVER saw her file prior to the interview. She watched the VO thumb through the entire file looking at everything, and especially stopping at our relationship letter submitted at the I-129F. Jie never got the feeling that the VO knew anything prior to the interview. So, her feeling is that when you meet her, she is seeing your case for the very first time. Again, make sure you do it right from the very beginning.

 

Well, thats all for now. Now, its time to prepare for our plane trip home on Sunday. In fact, we really are prepared. Everything is nearly packed. I bought the tickets a month ago. Our wedding date is set for May 11th, 88 days inside the 90. I know that is cutting it close but Jie says it is a Chinese lucky day to marry. Besides, we are, and always have been confident in our love for each other that we never felt that marriage was necessary to seal our relationship (or get a visa)...we have both always felt and believed the other will always be there.

 

Our choice in a K1 was simply that we are adults, we dont have to rush marriage, we have time to get to know each other, and our most important goal was to be together permanently as quickly as possible, and the K1 proved to be just that.......the fastest and simplest and cleanest method.

 

Thank you to all of you on CFL for your help and support, and we both hope we can continue to be a support to everyone else as we all continue our journeys..........

[chef4u]

WOW!!! Ken and Jie...we knew you all would be very successful!!! If I may give you the following:

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO KEN & JIE!!!!!!

 

B)

 

I am so excited for you to I just had to give ya another congrats...other congrats is in ur post: blue slip, blue slip......

Edited February 8, 2006 by chef4u (see edit history)

[mercator]

Great post. And yeah that myth needs to go.

[SmilingAsia]

Now that the adrenaline levels are approaching near-normal, Jie and I have had time to think about the interview, the process, etc. So, we are here now to respond to your posts. First of all, thank you all for your encouragement and support. At times, I think you were more confident in us than we were !

 

susieq, you guys are great, and our feelings are you will be just as successful as we were. In your PM and posts we get the feeling you are a lot like us and you will be ok !

 

1) DISPEL the MYTH:

 

merc, we really would like to dispel the 'myth' of the 'black pearl'. Since i have heard of this, I have told Jie three things: 1) You have no idea if the rumors are true, or who this woman is, so do not judge or prejudge. I have seen posts where a black VO went out of her way to help someone get a visa who was inappropriately denied. 3) She could be your VO....so be ready for her. 

 

So, I have talked with Jie not to have any bad feelings about her, she is just another person doing a job. Jie's impression is this woman is extremely experienced, very professional, loves her job, and will give you a visa if you have done your job correctly and are well prepared. Of course, we are coming from a K1 viewpoint, having had an approval, and I am sure those like wolf will disagree with me. I hope we at CFL can dispel the myth of the 'black pearl'.

 

So remind your SO: this woman could be YOUR VO. Be prepared.

 

2) Be prepared from the very start:

 

Which brings us to our next point. We have thought about the interview and why it went well. Jie felt like the VO never saw the file prior to the interview. The VO reviewed every page of the file right in front of Jie. Jie remembers one distinct thing: the VO stopped and seemed to read every word of our 'relationship letters' submitted at the very beginning with the I-129F. We wrote 3 to 4 paragraph letters that were very clear about our feelings, how we met, the evolution of our relationship, our plans and intentions to marry. Jie's letter mentioned that she introduced me to her parents, best friend, and family.

 

As the VO read the letter, she read that we met on chineselovelinks.com and ask Jie "How did you meet"? Jie answered chineselovelinks.com

The VO read further, and asked about her parents, did I meet them. Jie answered "Yes, would you like to see the pictures?" and the VO said Yes, and looked at the pictures of me and her parents (and there were others of me and Jie together).

 

3) K1 vs others?

 

Strictly from a visa point of view, we feel the K1 is the easiest, simplest and fastest way to go. As Jie says, 'less trouble', its cleaner and simpler. You are asking the consulate to simply give a temporary visa. I think the consulate will be harder on K3's or CR1's because you are asking them to do more than a visa. You are asking for a LOT MORE. I think that they are going to scrutinize your case more carefully and I think you have a lot more to prove. So, for newbies asking about K1 vs K3 vs CR1, I will always say K1.

And always be prepared to address issues from the start that could cause trouble, such as ex husbands living in the US, children, oddities in either background, etc.

 

4) Does the VO know your case prior to the interview?

 

As we said, Jie felt like the VO NEVER saw her file prior to the interview. She watched the VO thumb through the entire file looking at everything, and especially stopping at our relationship letter submitted at the I-129F. Jie never got the feeling that the VO knew anything prior to the interview. So, her feeling is that when you meet her, she is seeing your case for the very first time. Again, make sure you do it right from the very beginning.

 

Well, thats all for now. Now, its time to prepare for our plane trip home on Sunday. In fact, we really are prepared. Everything is nearly packed. I bought the tickets a month ago. Our wedding date is set for May 11th, 88 days inside the 90. I know that is cutting it close but Jie says it is a Chinese lucky day to marry. Besides, we are, and always have been confident in our love for each other that we never felt that marriage was necessary to seal our relationship (or get a visa)...we have both always felt and believed the other will always be there.

 

Our choice in a K1 was simply that we are adults, we dont have to rush marriage, we have time to get to know each other, and our most important goal was to be together permanently as quickly as possible, and the K1 proved to be just that.......the fastest and simplest and cleanest method.

 

Thank you to all of you on CFL for your help and support, and we both hope we can continue to be a support to everyone else as we all continue our journeys..........

188938[/snapback]

americken,

Yes, dispel the myth!

The myth came from our cultural differences: Chinese applicants may have different communication ways with Black Pearl and American guys got the myth from their SO.

Looking through almond eyes, Black Pearl has very high IQ when she is in a circumstances where there are lots of fraud cases.

 

You got the visa coz you deverve it.

Jie is very smart by asking "Do you want to see the pictures?" - present the right evidence at the right time!

It's easier for the VO to see a genuine relationship is genuine by looking at your eyes on the pictures.

 

Wolf's case maybe quite different from yours.

People's backgrounds vary.

The applicants' communication ways vary.

I believe he has conflicts with the documents (you can tell this by the VO kept some of his docs) and the answers at the interview confused the VO (you can tell this by the VO wanting a video tape showing the whole family welcome the Chinese in-law) , but there is solution to straight it out.

Eunice

[susieq]

Excellent Ken!

 

This is one of the best posts i have ever read in here! Thank you so much for your encouragement!

[jakerhod]

I agree with SmilingAsia -------first, benefieciaries gets blue slips because of inconsistent and questionable documents; second, the way they answer the q's of a VO.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

1) DISPEL the MYTH:

 

merc, we really would like to dispel the 'myth' of the 'black pearl'. Since i have heard of this, I have told Jie three things: 1) You have no idea if the rumors are true, or who this woman is, so do not judge or prejudge. I have seen posts where a black VO went out of her way to help someone get a visa who was inappropriately denied. 3) She could be your VO....so be ready for her.

188938[/snapback]

Thanks Ken for taking the time to post your thoughts. I hope others will seize the moment by also finding more postive things to say about this woman. GUZ also posted a response several weeks ago alluding to the large number of unfair and slanderous comments made about black women that work at the consulate. I think the best posture for all of us is to take a positive and respectful approach to all of those at the consulate regardless the color of their skin.....

 

[winger696969]

Congratulations Ken and Jie

 

This is a great post and a good read for anyone going thru the visa process. I think it shows that being well prepared and doing the extra little things shows that it greatly approves the chances of an approval.I think Jie is a lucky woman as i think you are a very lucky man. It sounds like she went in prepared and showed her love for you in her actions and answers cementing an approval. Good luck in your future training.

 

Jim & Ying

[chef4u]

1) DISPEL the MYTH:

 

merc, we really would like to dispel the 'myth' of the 'black pearl'. Since i have heard of this, I have told Jie three things: 1) You have no idea if the rumors are true, or who this woman is, so do not judge or prejudge. I have seen posts where a black VO went out of her way to help someone get a visa who was inappropriately denied. 3) She could be your VO....so be ready for her.

188938[/snapback]

Thanks Ken for taking the time to post your thoughts. I hope others will seize the moment by also finding more postive things to say about this woman. GUZ also posted a response several weeks ago alluding to the large number of unfair and slanderous comments made about black women that work at the consulate. I think the best posture for all of us is to take a positive and respectful approach to all of those at the consulate regardless the color of their skin.....

 

188995[/snapback]

Ken & jie. I remember reading many of your excellent post on what you two were doing to prepare for the interview. You would post for all of us to see and to learn how you and Jie were going to approach the interview. You had your list, you rehearsed over and over all possible scenarios with Jie. You posted and ask, "...can anyone think of what we are missing". You guys left no stoned uncovered!!! You intiated and excuted a perfectly simple adage of life we all have heard over and over and over. Preparation...preparation.....preparation, is the foundation to a strong positive result. Therefore, in my humble opinion, as ShaQuaNew stated above and I reiterate....it is not the color, the race, the personality or any misunderstanding of communication that we fail in what we do.....it is the lack of OUR failure to be prepared. The first lesson I was taught,many years ago, at Marine Officer Training school, in Quantico, Virginia was....No Excuse, Sir!! Again, job well done, Ken & Jie!!!

[Katrina]

Thanks for the post and truly Congratulations!!!! I wish you the best of luck in your future!

[david_dawei]

thanks for the write-up.. so it seems the VO probed the 'relationship letter' given with the petition.. I also did this letter, but think that many advise against it.

 

Seems this follows the idea that if your going to give them something to probe, know all the answers ahead of time !!

 

Great job !!

[Brian121247]

Congratulations, Ken & Jie.

 

When thinking about a wedding date, the issue of health insurance can be a consideration. In most cases, our wives (and children) cannot get insurance until we marry them. Any significant health issues that arise between their arrival and the wedding could be a financial disaster. Might be a good idea to get them protected ASAP.

 

Brian

[warpedbored]

Congratulations Ken and Jie. One thing you may want to consider is getting a social security number. If Jie is going to take your last name it is best to get it on the the original application for the SSN. If you wait 88 days it will be too late to get the SSN and you will have to wait until she gets an EAD. Also she won't be able to open a bank account or you put her on your bank account without a SSN. In most states she won't even be able to get a state ID card without SSN.

 

The "black pearl" has pretty much reached the status of urban legend. There was a black woman VO a couple of years or so ago that did have many complaints about her. Reports were she was rude and was issuing blue slips without sufficeint reason. As I recall there were even some formal complaints made about her. This was most likely the original "black pearl" and her reputation was well earned. Then we didn't hear anything about her for some time. My guess is she was cycled out. VOs transfer in and out on a regular basis. USCONGUZ says there is more than one black woman VO at the consulate. Unfortuantely now every black woman VO is labeled "black pearl" Of course this is nonsense but the legend just won't seem to go away. As someone else mentioned in this thread there is one black woman VO who has been reported to be very nice and went out of her way to help someone once when an obvious error had been made.

Edited February 8, 2006 by warpedbored (see edit history)

[HanLi]

Ken & Jie,

 

Small correction to Carl's comment about getting added to your bank account. I recently did this by providing my wife's Chinese Driver's License and Passport, notarized by the Counsulate in Shanghai. I sent the signature cards to her, and when I submitted to the Bank, they accepted because the identification was verified as required by law. Now that she is here, you can do same at the Bank in person I am pretty sure.

 

Further, I added my wife and her daughter to my health insurance only need to show a certified copy of our marriage certificate and my step-daughters birth certificate.

 

I am really happy for you guys...

[Guest pushbrk]

Ken & Jie,

 

Small correction to Carl's comment about getting added to your bank account.  I recently did this by providing my wife's Chinese Driver's License and Passport, notarized by the Counsulate in Shanghai.  I sent the signature cards to her, and when I submitted to the Bank, they accepted because the identification was verified as required by law. Now that she is here, you can do same at the Bank in person I am pretty sure.

 

Further, I added my wife and her daughter to my health insurance only need to show a certified copy of our marriage certificate and my step-daughters birth certificate.

 

I am really happy for you guys...

189202[/snapback]

I don't know about the bank account issues but the company health insurance requirements vary. I suggest each petitioner contact their own HR department for requirements to add dependants. My company will do it with a certified copy of the marriage certificate but they also need a copy of the visa showing the date of entry to explain why they are being added in the middle of a benefit year.