Protecting The Kitchen Sink

[SinoTexas]

When I sent the "kitchen sink" to my fiancee back in April, I asked her that after the interview that she seal up the package again and keep it in a safe place. I asked her not to share any of the information in the "kitchen sink" with any of her friends or to use as examples with others. She said she would seal it up and put it in a safe place. A friend of a friend, whom she does not know at all, asked if she could see her package that I sent her so that she could use it as a guideline to fill out her information and to see what her fiance needed to fill out and send. She asked me if it was okay to lend her our package and I said no. I tried to explain that there is a lot of personal and confidential information in that package about both of us. I further explained that the information in that package (passport numbers, tax information, my social security number, birth dates, past and current residences, etc) would be a gold mine for someone interested in identity theft. I emphatically said, than any information in that "kitchen sink package" was not to be shown or shared with anyone, period. We have the visa and now waiting on her to put things in final order in China, so there is no need for the package to be shown to anyone anymore. She finally agreed and I said again, make sure it is in a safe place , do not dispose of, because if it is lost or stolen, we could be in a world of hurt for a long time.

I just wanted to share the incident. Perhaps I am over paranoid about identity theft (it happened to me once and what a mess), so I thought I would pass on the information. I have already heard of one scam where a fiancee received her visa and someone later appeared at her house wanting to review the papers because there was a mistake. She innocently turned the papers over to the "official" and the papers where never seen again, this coming from USCIS. So there are scams out there looking for the information contained in your "kitchen sink."

As aye,

Jim

You can move this to where you think is appropriate.

[michaelt]

I think this is a good spot and I totally agree with you. Stuff in the package could be very damaging in the wrong hands. Xiahong and I hand shredded most of it before we left China and only brought back the most important paperwork with us.

 

Another thing I taught her after arriving is to give no personal info over the phone. I also advised her on who could legally ask for her SSN, birthdate and such.

 

It pains me to see the US in this kind of state where you must constantly be on guard. That's life in the 21st century.

Thank you so much for sharing this. Definitely an "eye-opening" thought. I never would have even considered any of this. Thank you again!

[mchina34]

I'm totally with you bro.

 

 

She's has to print off a couple things I didn't (emails, and a pic or two) at the local 'printer place', and I told her to make damn sure that they delete the copy of the file(s) they put on their drive to open up and print ofr her. I know that's what they do, and whiel they probably don't have any bad intentions, I'm not oging to take a chance...i'd rather come off as an arsehole at the printer place.

 

 

I also informed her recently to make sure all of her infor and mine is deleted on her computer...cookies, temp files, etc etc. Her computer will be used by her mother when she gets here, and if she needs to call a computer guy to fix it, then I don't want him to have access to I130s and other personal info.

 

 

There's a fine line between paranoid and using the Internet responsibly.

[C4Racer]

Jim,

 

I agree with you 100%.

 

It is one thing to share information about the process. Quite another to have someone look through your personal documents. You can help someone understand the process, what to collect and what to file without them looking at your personal information.

 

Each couples documents should be closely guarded. You never know how well someone else will guard your information as it won't have an adverse effect on them. We help many of my wife's friends with their documents. Not once did we disclose our information.

 

With identity theft on the rise both domestic and international, you just can't be too careful.

[toy_rn65]

While I agree with all that was said regarding the "kitchen sink", but what about the many times "it" was left in the hotel room in GUZ unattended during the trip for the interview?

 

I am sure none of us want to lug that "thing" around when we are out for meals, medical exams, shopping, etc.

[warpedbored]

Good advice Jim. I have heard a few stories of people taken in by some of the vultures that swarm around the consulate offering to look over the papers for them. It is a good idea to keep your information private earlier in the process. There have been reports of blackmail and if they don't pay up third party corespondence being done. Everyone should consider every step of the process as need to know in China.

[SinoTexas]

I just wanted to pass on the information as awareness. Sometimes in our haste to put good packages together, we forget about ensuring the safety of that information. We concentrate on putting everything into the kitchen sink, making sure it is correct and complete. but over look the idea of keeping that information safe. Our spouses and finace(e)s may not be aware of the dangers and problems that could arise if that information got into the wrong hands. I just think that as we send visa information, or leave it with our spouses and fiance(e)s, we need to make them, and ourselves, aware for the need of protecting these files. As people have said on this thread, there is a lot of people who would love to get this information, and in the wrong hands, our life would be pretty miserable. Not a great way to start a relationship together with all the other stresses.

 

Perhaps under FAQ's, process, perhaps David could put a reminder that folks going through the process should be very careful with the visa information they are gathering and they should also remind their spouses/fiance(e)s, in China, to be vigilant as well. It's just something that we sometimes over look.

 

As aye,

 

Jim

[david_dawei]

good points for all.. I'm going to move this to L&R.