We got PINK!!

[IllinoisDave]

Sorry I'm just getting this posted. We had to get out of Mr. Yang's right after the interview yesterday and then ran around GUZ getting the medical stuff taken care of before heading back to Shenzhen last night. Too tired to do anything but eat and crash after we got back.

 

I would first give a very detailed account of my experience at ACH on Monday if it weren't for the fact that I didn't have one. Like an idiot, I didn't bother to check a calender before I went to see if there were any obscure holidays on Oct. 8th that might pose a problem. So I decide while I'm sitting in the hotel room on Saturday after I got here to log into the consulate website to make sure they would be open on Monday. Oops. Colombus Day? Crap!! So much for ACH.

 

As for our interview experience, it was pretty straight-forward. We decided at the last minute to stay at Mr. Yang's the night before. Only met his assistant,Miss Lei (spelling?), who was very helpful. We got in line about 6:45 and there was already maybe 30 to 40 people in line. We met fellow CFLer Kungpow and his lovely wife who happened to get in line just in front of us. After the guy with the bullhorn ordered us out of the queue we went up to the 4th floor to find the famous coffee shop and for Kungpow to take care of some last minute business when the consulate opened at 9am. (I'll let him give the details if he chooses as well as his results)

 

While we were standing around on the 4th floor, I realized I was holding something in my hand that definately shouldn't have been there. Only the bag containing all the documents my SO needed for her interview! Holy Crap Batman!! So I made a mad dash back downstairs expecting Christine to be frantically looking for me. But, she was just standing there in line calmly chatting with Kungpow's wife as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. I thought maybe she hadn't realized that she didn't have the bag. So I profusely apologized and she just smiled and said "We knew you would be back Darling. You were just holding my heavy bag for me." Are our gals great or what?

 

Crisis averted I headed back up to the 4th floor to wait along with Kungpow. It was nice to have another CFLer, who also happens to be from Illinois, there to chat with. It made the time go much faster. Our conversation was interrupted only by the occasional chattering outburst of loud,very fast talking female voices trying to corral people into the offices after they finished their interviews. I'd say it was about even between blue and pink except for the very first gal who had a very angry look on her face and a white slip in her hand. I have to say it was kind of sad to see the ones with the blue slips even though some may have deserved them.

 

We hadn't waited very long before I saw Kungpow's wife coming down the hall. Again, I'll let him give you their results. After they left, I waited for what seemed an eternity until about 11:15. Then I saw my Christine coming down the hall with a smile on her face and I was pretty sure what the results were. When she got to me I said,"Did you get it Sweetie?" She smiled and said "Yes, I got the pink."

 

That was the happiest moment of my life. A mixture of equal parts joy and relief. Finally we didn't have to worry anymore about I-129fs and ds-156s and I-134s and saving receipts and photo-copying phone bills and credit card statements and all the rest. At least for this part of the process anyway.

 

Then we left and went up to our apartment in Mr. Yang's to check out before noon. We headed over to the medical center to get her international health documents taken care of and then back over to Shamian Island to get her innoculations. I've seen more of the grimy streets of Guangzhou than I ever care to see again let me tell ya.

 

After the shots it was back on the bus to Shenzhen and the peace and quiet of a hotel room with air conditioning and hot water.

 

Now for the interview details:

Christine walked up to the window and as she took out her folders and put them on the counter with both our passports on top the SO (Korean/American guy) said "Nihao." She replied in English, "Good morning sir" and he started asking questions right away:

 

VO: How did you meet your fiancee?

SO: On the internet.

 

VO: Which website?

SO: Chinalove.

 

VO: Who does your fiancee work for?

SO: She tells him.

 

VO: When did you date your fiancee?

SO: Do you mean meeting in person or on phone or email?

 

VO: When did you feel you wanted a relationship?

SO: Last September.

 

VO: How many times did you meet in person?

SO: 3 times.

 

VO: Including this time? (he obviously noticed the passport)

SO: He's downstairs.

VO: I know. (smiles)

 

VO: When did you meet in person?

SO: In February.

 

VO: How many days?

SO: about 10.

 

VO: When was the second time?

SO: May, we've met in person about 24 days including this trip.

VO: Can I see the taxes?

She wasn't sure which docs he wanted so she gave him all of them including the returns and transcripts from the last 3 years plus the W2 copies and originals. He looked them all over and handed them back..

 

VO: Can I look at your pictures?

She hands them over.

 

He notices one of the top pictures and says:

 

VO: Oh, you can buy Cubs t-shirts here?

SO: No, my fiancee brought it to me from USA.

 

VO: Oh, he;s a Cubs fan?

SO: Yes.

 

VO: What about the Sox?

SO: His sister is a Sox fan.

VO laughs. Christine said the interview was very relaxed in general and the VO was very friendly, especially when they were talking about the Cubs. It's the first time in my life being a Cubs fan might have actually done me some good.

 

They joked a little about my job, he typed for a minute and said: "Congratulations, you get the visa. Don't forget to make arrangements with China Post to have the visa mailed."

Christine said "Thank you, nice to meet you" and that was it.

 

She said the whole thing lasted less than 5 minutes. Countless hours putting together all those documents and worrying about the smallest details and which ones should be notarized and certified and sterilized and all he wanted to see was pictures and tax returns. Oh well, whaddya gonna do right?

 

We still have the whole AOS/green card part of the process to go through but I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Candle for all the help we've received so far. There's no way we would have gotten to this point this fast or this successfully were it not for this website and all the great people here. I know I'm not the first nor will I be the last to say what an invaluable resource this is for anyone going through this process. I'll do my best to give back as much as I can to those following.

 

We still have to pick up the visa at the post office hopefully on Saturday and then we'll head back next Tuesday.

 

That's our story and we're sticking to it. Sorry for the length but I wanted to be as detailed as I could in case it may in some small way help others in the pipeline.

 

Good luck to all who have interviews coming up.

Edited October 12, 2007 by IllinoisDave (see edit history)

[chilton747]

CONGRATULATIONS DAVE AND CHRISTINE!!!!

[Urkidding]

http://www.souliejolie.com/forum/style_emoticons/smilies/congrats.gif

[hankster]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Dave and Christine

Sorry the interview was so easy.

 

Here's hoping that your visa is at the China Post in a timely manner.

 

Hank

[Guest Rob & Jin]

Sorry I'm just getting this posted. We had to get out of Mr. Yang's right after the interview yesterday and then ran around GUZ getting the medical stuff taken care of before heading back to Shenzhen last night. Too tired to do anything but eat and crash after we got back.

 

I would first give a very detailed account of my experience at ACH on Monday if it weren't for the fact that I didn't have one. Like an idiot, I didn't bother to check a calender before I went to see if there were any obscure holidays on Oct. 8th that might pose a problem. So I decide while I'm sitting in the hotel room on Saturday after I got here to log into the consulate website to make sure they would be open on Monday. Oops. Colombus Day? Crap!! So much for ACH.

 

As for our interview experience, it was pretty straight-forward. We decided at the last minute to stay at Mr. Yang's the night before. Only met his assistant,Miss Lei (spelling?), who was very helpful. We got in line about 6:45 and there was already maybe 30 to 40 people in line. We met fellow CFLer Kungpow and his lovely wife who happened to get in line just in front of us. After the guy with the bullhorn ordered us out of the queue we went up to the 4th floor to find the famous coffee shop and for Kungpow to take care of some last minute business when the consulate opened at 9am. (I'll let him give the details if he chooses as well as his results)

 

While we were standing around on the 4th floor, I realized I was holding something in my hand that definately shouldn't have been there. Only the bag containing all the documents my SO needed for her interview! Holy Crap Batman!! So I made a mad dash back downstairs expecting Christine to be frantically looking for me. But, she was just standing there in line calmly chatting with Kungpow's wife as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. I thought maybe she hadn't realized that she didn't have the bag. So I profusely apologized and she just smiled and said "We knew you would be back Darling. You were just holding my heavy bag for me." Are our gals great or what?

 

Crisis averted I headed back up to the 4th floor to wait along with Kungpow. It was nice to have another CFLer, who also happens to be from Illinois, there to chat with. It made the time go much faster. Our conversation was interrupted only by the occasional chattering outburst of loud,very fast talking female voices trying to corral people into the offices after they finished their interviews. I'd say it was about even between blue and pink except for the very first gal who had a very angry look on her face and a white slip in her hand. I have to say it was kind of sad to see the ones with the blue slips even though some may have deserved them.

 

We hadn't waited very long before I saw Kungpow's wife coming down the hall. Again, I'll let him give you their results. After they left, I waited for what seemed an eternity until about 11:15. Then I saw my Christine coming down the hall with a smile on her face and I was pretty sure what the results were. When she got to me I said,"Did you get it Sweetie?" She smiled and said "Yes, I got the pink."

 

That was the happiest moment of my life. A mixture of equal parts joy and relief. Finally we didn't have to worry anymore about I-129fs and ds-156s and I-134s and saving receipts and photo-copying phone bills and credit card statements and all the rest. At least for this part of the process anyway.

 

Then we left and went up to our apartment in Mr. Yang's to check out before noon. We headed over to the medical center to get her international health documents taken care of and then back over to Shamian Island to get her innoculations. I've seen more of the grimy streets of Guangzhou than I ever care to see again let me tell ya.

 

After the shots it was back on the bus to Shenzhen and the peace and quiet of a hotel room with air conditioning and hot water.

 

Now for the interview details:

Christine walked up to the window and as she took out her folders and put them on the counter with both our passports on top the SO (Korean/American guy) said "Nihao." She replied in English, "Good morning sir" and he started asking questions right away:

 

VO: How did you meet your fiancee?

SO: On the internet.

 

VO: Which website?

SO: Chinalove.

 

VO: Who does your fiancee work for?

SO: She tells him.

 

VO: When did you date your fiancee?

SO: Do you mean meeting in person or on phone or email?

 

VO: When did you feel you wanted a relationship?

SO: Last September.

 

VO: How many times did you meet in person?

SO: 3 times.

 

VO: Including this time? (he obviously noticed the passport)

SO: He's downstairs.

VO: I know. (smiles)

 

VO: When did you meet in person?

SO: In February.

 

VO: How many days?

SO: about 10.

 

VO: When was the second time?

SO: May, we've met in person about 24 days including this trip.

VO: Can I see the taxes?

She wasn't sure which docs he wanted so she gave him all of them including the returns and transcripts from the last 3 years plus the W2 copies and originals. He looked them all over and handed them back..

 

VO: Can I look at your pictures?

She hands them over.

 

He notices one of the top pictures and says:

 

VO: Oh, you can buy Cubs t-shirts here?

SO: No, my fiancee brought it to me from USA.

 

VO: Oh, he;s a Cubs fan?

SO: Yes.

 

VO: What about the Sox?

SO: His sister is a Sox fan.

VO laughs. Christine said the interview was very relaxed in general and the VO was very friendly, especially when they were talking about the Cubs. It's the first time in my life being a Cubs fan might have actually done me some good.

 

They joked a little about my job, he typed for a minute and said: "Congratulations, you get the visa. Don't forget to make arrangements with China Post to have the visa mailed."

Christine said "Thank you, nice to meet you" and that was it.

 

She said the whole thing lasted less than 5 minutes. Countless hours putting together all those documents and worrying about the smallest details and which ones should be notarized and certified and sterilized and all he wanted to see was pictures and tax returns. Oh well, whaddya gonna do right?

 

We still have the whole AOS/green card part of the process to go through but I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Candle for all the help we've received so far. There's no way we would have gotten to this point this fast or this successfully were it not for this website and all the great people here. I know I'm not the first nor will I be the last to say what an invaluable resource this is for anyone going through this process. I'll do my best to give back as much as I can to those following.

 

We still have to pick up the visa at the post office hopefully on Saturday and then we'll head back next Tuesday.

 

That's our story and we're sticking to it. Sorry for the length but I wanted to be as detailed as I could in case it may in some small way help others in the pipeline.

 

 

 

Good luck to all who have interviews coming up.

 

 

CONRATULATIONS

[ed and ying]

Congratulations and Best Wishes !!!!

[Gordon]

Great story! Congratulations! I am very envious! Hope you have a safe trip home.

[rondrum42]

CONGRATS TO YOU BOTH!!!!!!!

Your detailed story will be a big help to all of us that will follow

in your footsteps. You must be so happy right now!

[yuan fen]

Congratulations!

 

[Shenzhen K-1]

WAY TO GO DAVE!!!

 

I hope Illinois is ready for the two of you!!

 

I hope you have a safe trip back and do a report about your trip through terminal five in Chicago??

 

[Yuanyang]

Congratulations!!!

:rotfl: :o

[Randy W]

http://bergoiata.org/gif/Feu4.gif

 

Co

ng

ra

tu

la

ti

on

s

!!

 

http://i1.tinypic.com/3ygwmdz.gif

 

[rogerinca]

Wow !!! Congratulations Dave !!!

 

You write very well and very clear. Thank you for all the details !!!

 

The outcome was all but a given, when looking at your background and specific circumstance.

 

Too funny about the Cubs shirt. I will make sure my Lao Po has a photo with a Dodgers shirt in the pile !!!

 

Again, congratulations and you both have a safe trip home !!

 

Keep us posted on life !!

[lostinblue]

All of the hours spent getting prepared were not a waste. To walk into the interview with confidence and show it to the VO makes all the difference. Good luck on your new life.

[Jing Quan]

Congratulations! Great news. It brightens my weekend. The Cubs story was so funny. I'll make sure we will have American sport teams' shirts in our picture collection.