Im confused.......

[rondrum42]

I read all the post's here, talking about the "kitchen sink", and I wonder, why are none of these things asked for by the Consulate?

Nothing about all the extra tax and bank information, or ex-wife's

SS number, etc....etc.....

Then I read in the links and resouces about the top 10 things that

the VO's ask to see. I read interview results, and I dont see any of these things being requested. This is why I am a little confused.

I feel like we are not as prepared as some of you by following an attorneys advice, and going by what the Consulate asks for.

Please can anyone explain all the extra steps, that dont really seem nessasary. Am I wrong here?

[warpedbored]

You never know what the consulate is going to ask for. Many people feel it is a good idea to cover all the bases and take as much evidence as they can to interview.

[Shenzhen K-1]

I am sure that those that have been there will have smarter replies but.......... I have read hundreds of posts here and it seems the better prepare you are the more confident you will be when you answer any questions asked of you. Also if they have a request of you why not have it instead of getting the wrong color slip??? Good Luck!

[jim_julian]

Ron, your analysis has validity.

 

You can see what has been asked for lately, look at your case, and create a high probability of success package that may not be as extensive as some recommend.

 

I emphasized the following:

 

- Make sure the forms required to be filled out are absolutely correct and supporting documents are included where required

- Have multiple originals of the required Notary items

- Make a good package establishing relationship, pictures with family and both of you are important, China entry and exit passport stamps are sufficient to document that you made the trip, some means of communication from outside China is also important (phones, e-mail, chat, video chat, etc)

- Have a strong financial package including a well documented sponsor if needed

 

For most people that should be sufficient. Look at your case with a VO-eyes view and if you see specific potential areas of inquiry beef up your backup in those areas.

[IllinoisDave]

Ron, your analysis has validity.

 

You can see what has been asked for lately, look at your case, and create a high probability of success package that may not be as extensive as some recommend.

 

I emphasized the following:

 

- Make sure the forms required to be filled out are absolutely correct and supporting documents are included where required

- Have multiple originals of the required Notary items

- Make a good package establishing relationship, pictures with family and both of you are important, China entry and exit passport stamps are sufficient to document that you made the trip, some means of communication from outside China is also important (phones, e-mail, chat, video chat, etc)

- Have a strong financial package including a well documented sponsor if needed

 

For most people that should be sufficient. Look at your case with a VO-eyes view and if you see specific potential areas of inquiry beef up your backup in those areas.

 

I'll echo what Jim says. And just add that the "kitchen sink" and other lists you've seen are really kind of a compilation of the things that have been asked for in the past. It's kind of an all-inclusive list of things that "can" be asked for because they "have" been asked for. Are they all asked for all the time? No. Even frequently? No, probably not.

 

As Jim points out, people can take an honest look at their case and tailor their "sink" to their own situation and probably have a high likelihood that it will be enough.

 

For a lot of us though, it's a security blanket kind of thing so we try to have anything that could possibly be asked for ready just in case. Speaking for myself, I'd have rather taken 2 pounds of extra documents that were never asked for than not have the one that was and have the heartbreak of seeing my SO walk down that hallway with a sad face and a blue slip in hand.

 

Yes, the majority of blue slips are easily overcome. But the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you've covered as many bases as you possibly can going in is worth it's weight in paper.

 

Just my two cents.

[tywy_99]

...Or, you can go to the interview with little or nothing at all and see how it goes and if a blue slip is issued, you can take action. If a blue slip isn't issued, then you've made the grade! It all depends on how you want to approach it. Some are more cautious than others. I saw people go in with nearly a duffel bag full of stuff! It's all up to you!

Now, I must ask you. Do you feel lucky?...Well,,,do ya!?! (i just love those Dirty Harry movies!)

[Guest Rob & Jin]

ty, I like your approach but personally we have filled our kitchen sink with as much as we could think of just in case its asked for at the interview. Hoping for the best preparing for the worst, now do you feel lucky or prepared

[tsap seui]

Ron, let's take a look at taking "evidence" to the interview from the perspective of someone who wound up with a blue slip.

 

I prepared my lil' rabbit with every single item in the kitchen sink...and...I studied the actual blue slip in the FAQ's and had every single item of blue slip overcome evidence, except having the IRS directly send GUZ my tax returns. Even had a one hour DVD of us speaking english.

 

My girlfriend and I went over 75 frequently asked questions, twice a day, for 3 months before her interview.

 

I prepared all the blue slip info and trained my girlfriend to, if she saw a blue slip pulled up, quickly ask the VO, "What do I need to prepare?"

I figured if we got a blue slip that maybe she could turn in any evidence they could ask for right there on the spot, quickly and directly to the VO.

 

I never anticipated that we would get a blue slip that asked for NOTHING...it never ever crossed my mind that that would happen. We were both very prepared and okay with any sort of blue slipped that asked for overcome evidence. WE HAD THE EVIDENCE WITH US. We knew it would only be an extra month, maybe two and we were home free.

 

Thanksgiving Day will be 4 months after we went to GUZ for the interview and I am now (after the 3 month mark) living in a pure hell. This whole thing has slowly turned into a nightmare for the little rabbit. I have literally run out of words of encouragement and hope. For almost 4 months I have repeated and tried to say the same things with different spins on them. The lil' rabbit is into the beginnings of clinical depression.

 

Don't get me wrong, our love for each other is well intact, but the waiting with no action taken and no reason given is driving my girlfriend crazy. I can only take up for the American government's actions to her for so long. I well understand the crap the government can put people through, hell, I've been watching them send kids out to get slaughtered, for nothing, since the 60's, but my innocent lil' rabbit doesn't understand them.

 

E-mails to GUZ are answered with "stock replies" that show that they probably don't even look at e-mails. Calling the DOS...LOL...I would get better answers if I stuck my head in a damn toilet and blew bubbles. My trip to ACH? Very nice and apologetic VO who "strongly thought she would get a letter in a month, month and a half", and he told me our case looked very good....hmmmm...at least he tricked me into walking away from his window with a smile on my face and hope in my heart.

 

 

 

Ron, I tell you all this because, from the way this damn thing has turned into a nightmare, and out of all the speculation and innuendo that has branded our lives, I have one thing that I DO NOT lose sleep over....I HAD that beautiful lil' lady that I love PREPARED with everything I could possibly research, and think of.

 

I would hate the thoughts and guilt I would feel just because I didn't "think" she was going to need "that" piece of evidence, and caused my lady to wind up with a blue slip.

 

Take everything you can buddy. Hope they don't ask for anything from your lady and that she is one of the lucky ones that just breezes through with a nice VO who smiles and only asks 3 to 5 questions before handing out a pink slip. Believe you me, it's bad enough to go home without your lady, ya sure don't want to go home thinking, "if only I had given her that other piece of the kitchen sink."

 

Do your prep work and your lady will be fine Ron. My best wishes to you both.

 

tsap seui

[Guest Rob & Jin]

Agreed

[Guest hi5pro]

Ron, let's take a look at taking "evidence" to the interview from the perspective of someone who wound up with a blue slip.

 

I prepared my lil' rabbit with every single item in the kitchen sink...and...I studied the actual blue slip in the FAQ's and had every single item of blue slip overcome evidence, except having the IRS directly send GUZ my tax returns. Even had a one hour DVD of us speaking english.

 

My girlfriend and I went over 75 frequently asked questions, twice a day, for 3 months before her interview.

 

I prepared all the blue slip info and trained my girlfriend to, if she saw a blue slip pulled up, quickly ask the VO, "What do I need to prepare?"

I figured if we got a blue slip that maybe she could turn in any evidence they could ask for right there on the spot, quickly and directly to the VO.

 

I never anticipated that we would get a blue slip that asked for NOTHING...it never ever crossed my mind that that would happen. We were both very prepared and okay with any sort of blue slipped that asked for overcome evidence. WE HAD THE EVIDENCE WITH US. We knew it would only be an extra month, maybe two and we were home free.

 

Thanksgiving Day will be 4 months after we went to GUZ for the interview and I am now (after the 3 month mark) living in a pure hell. This whole thing has slowly turned into a nightmare for the little rabbit. I have literally run out of words of encouragement and hope. For almost 4 months I have repeated and tried to say the same things with different spins on them. The lil' rabbit is into the beginnings of clinical depression.

 

Don't get me wrong, our love for each other is well intact, but the waiting with no action taken and no reason given is driving my girlfriend crazy. I can only take up for the American government's actions to her for so long. I well understand the crap the government can put people through, hell, I've been watching them send kids out to get slaughtered, for nothing, since the 60's, but my innocent lil' rabbit doesn't understand them.

 

E-mails to GUZ are answered with "stock replies" that show that they probably don't even look at e-mails. Calling the DOS...LOL...I would get better answers if I stuck my head in a damn toilet and blew bubbles. My trip to ACH? Very nice and apologetic VO who "strongly thought she would get a letter in a month, month and a half", and he told me our case looked very good....hmmmm...at least he tricked me into walking away from his window with a smile on my face and hope in my heart.

 

 

 

Ron, I tell you all this because, from the way this damn thing has turned into a nightmare, and out of all the speculation and innuendo that has branded our lives, I have one thing that I DO NOT lose sleep over....I HAD that beautiful lil' lady that I love PREPARED with everything I could possibly research, and think of.

 

I would hate the thoughts and guilt I would feel just because I didn't "think" she was going to need "that" piece of evidence, and caused my lady to wind up with a blue slip.

 

Take everything you can buddy. Hope they don't ask for anything from your lady and that she is one of the lucky ones that just breezes through with a nice VO who smiles and only asks 3 to 5 questions before handing out a pink slip. Believe you me, it's bad enough to go home without your lady, ya sure don't want to go home thinking, "if only I had given her that other piece of the kitchen sink."

 

Do your prep work and your lady will be fine Ron. My best wishes to you both.

 

tsap seui

I can not say any better. tsap seui put down the words of wisdom from the bottom of his heart.

 

Best wishes,

 

Gino & Lulu

[tywy_99]

tsap seui,

 

I've seen cases like yours before. There's been a few reported here on Candle. Some of them took up to seven months before it was cleared for a visa during which time no one was told anything about it. So, there is hope yet. It's the waiting and the time you and your sweetheart have to endure. Try to make her aware of this and tell her that it is only the wait she has to endure, that in the end, she will get her visa.

 

-good luck my friend.

Ron, let's take a look at taking "evidence" to the interview from the perspective of someone who wound up with a blue slip.

 

I prepared my lil' rabbit with every single item in the kitchen sink...and...I studied the actual blue slip in the FAQ's and had every single item of blue slip overcome evidence, except having the IRS directly send GUZ my tax returns. Even had a one hour DVD of us speaking english.

 

My girlfriend and I went over 75 frequently asked questions, twice a day, for 3 months before her interview.

 

I prepared all the blue slip info and trained my girlfriend to, if she saw a blue slip pulled up, quickly ask the VO, "What do I need to prepare?"

I figured if we got a blue slip that maybe she could turn in any evidence they could ask for right there on the spot, quickly and directly to the VO.

 

I never anticipated that we would get a blue slip that asked for NOTHING...it never ever crossed my mind that that would happen. We were both very prepared and okay with any sort of blue slipped that asked for overcome evidence. WE HAD THE EVIDENCE WITH US. We knew it would only be an extra month, maybe two and we were home free.

 

Thanksgiving Day will be 4 months after we went to GUZ for the interview and I am now (after the 3 month mark) living in a pure hell. This whole thing has slowly turned into a nightmare for the little rabbit. I have literally run out of words of encouragement and hope. For almost 4 months I have repeated and tried to say the same things with different spins on them. The lil' rabbit is into the beginnings of clinical depression.

 

Don't get me wrong, our love for each other is well intact, but the waiting with no action taken and no reason given is driving my girlfriend crazy. I can only take up for the American government's actions to her for so long. I well understand the crap the government can put people through, hell, I've been watching them send kids out to get slaughtered, for nothing, since the 60's, but my innocent lil' rabbit doesn't understand them.

 

E-mails to GUZ are answered with "stock replies" that show that they probably don't even look at e-mails. Calling the DOS...LOL...I would get better answers if I stuck my head in a damn toilet and blew bubbles. My trip to ACH? Very nice and apologetic VO who "strongly thought she would get a letter in a month, month and a half", and he told me our case looked very good....hmmmm...at least he tricked me into walking away from his window with a smile on my face and hope in my heart.

 

 

 

Ron, I tell you all this because, from the way this damn thing has turned into a nightmare, and out of all the speculation and innuendo that has branded our lives, I have one thing that I DO NOT lose sleep over....I HAD that beautiful lil' lady that I love PREPARED with everything I could possibly research, and think of.

 

I would hate the thoughts and guilt I would feel just because I didn't "think" she was going to need "that" piece of evidence, and caused my lady to wind up with a blue slip.

 

Take everything you can buddy. Hope they don't ask for anything from your lady and that she is one of the lucky ones that just breezes through with a nice VO who smiles and only asks 3 to 5 questions before handing out a pink slip. Believe you me, it's bad enough to go home without your lady, ya sure don't want to go home thinking, "if only I had given her that other piece of the kitchen sink."

 

Do your prep work and your lady will be fine Ron. My best wishes to you both.

 

tsap seui

[I love Sunshine]

You can think about the interview like a court trial, with a few exceptions:

 

- you are not allowed to appear, only your SO. Therefore you don't even have "trained" counsel (except for the folks here on CFL!)

- the burden of proof is on her/him (in other words, guilty until proven innocent)

- the VO will have previewed your case, so knows what direction to take the case, whereas you are on the defensive

- a decision is often granted on the spot, with few checks and balances for impartiality

 

When you go to court, with very few exceptions, you are not told to bring a certain document -- only told to bring evidence you need to defend your case. That is the same here. You don't know much about the judge in your case, but he knows information about you before the questioning even begins.

 

It is much better to bring your full arsenal with you. And with your SO under the spotlight, he/she will feel better too knowing she has many more documents than he/she may need.

[Don]

Some times you are collecting info, because you SO heard some one else had it on 001. We want them to know that we support them 100%, not just the 99% most likely items. That last 1% is a lot of extra work, but we do get our rewards.

[jim_julian]

You can think about the interview like a court trial, with a few exceptions:

 

- you are not allowed to appear, only your SO. Therefore you don't even have "trained" counsel (except for the folks here on CFL!)

- the burden of proof is on her/him (in other words, guilty until proven innocent)

- the VO will have previewed your case, so knows what direction to take the case, whereas you are on the defensive

- a decision is often granted on the spot, with few checks and balances for impartiality

 

When you go to court, with very few exceptions, you are not told to bring a certain document -- only told to bring evidence you need to defend your case. That is the same here. You don't know much about the judge in your case, but he knows information about you before the questioning even begins.

 

It is much better to bring your full arsenal with you. And with your SO under the spotlight, he/she will feel better too knowing she has many more documents than he/she may need.

 

Good points all .... but you are allowed to make a pre-trial appearance before an "official of the court". That's ACH.

 

Now I know that there are those who disagree with me but I think it's really valuable to go to ACH, ask any specific questions, and just get a general look at your case while you, the well dressed, clean cut, smiling American ... are at the window. Actually seeing and speaking to you is a lot more powerful than your WLF trying to hand your passport over with hers on interview day. A lot of us believe that many cases are predetermined and the interview is just a final check or a rather unkind way for them to tell you that they need more time. At ACH there is probably still some wiggle room to rescue things if your case is going to go south temporarily. It also allows you to address complexities that your WFL may not be best equipped to handle if for nothing else but language skill.

 

We had a very complex K-2 Follow To Join case. I went to ACH and thrashed all the details out with the VO I spoke with. The interview was a slam dunk where the interviewing VO spent most of his time making sure my wife and daughter understood what they needed to do. It could very well have gone the other way had there not been several paragraphs in our records inserted by the VO at ACH. Lao Po may not have been able to explain the complexities. The interviewing VO may not have seen a case precisely like ours before.

 

In my opinion a reasonable kitchen sink tailored to your case, combined with practice interviews for your WLF, and your appearance at ACH, looking confident and reliable is the right mix for most people.

[Guest Rob & Jin]

You can think about the interview like a court trial, with a few exceptions:

 

- you are not allowed to appear, only your SO. Therefore you don't even have "trained" counsel (except for the folks here on CFL!)

- the burden of proof is on her/him (in other words, guilty until proven innocent)

- the VO will have previewed your case, so knows what direction to take the case, whereas you are on the defensive

- a decision is often granted on the spot, with few checks and balances for impartiality

 

When you go to court, with very few exceptions, you are not told to bring a certain document -- only told to bring evidence you need to defend your case. That is the same here. You don't know much about the judge in your case, but he knows information about you before the questioning even begins.

 

It is much better to bring your full arsenal with you. And with your SO under the spotlight, he/she will feel better too knowing she has many more documents than he/she may need.

 

Good points all .... but you are allowed to make a pre-trial appearance before an "official of the court". That's ACH.

 

Now I know that there are those who disagree with me but I think it's really valuable to go to ACH, ask any specific questions, and just get a general look at your case while you, the well dressed, clean cut, smiling American ... are at the window. Actually seeing and speaking to you is a lot more powerful than your WLF trying to hand your passport over with hers on interview day. A lot of us believe that many cases are predetermined and the interview is just a final check or a rather unkind way for them to tell you that they need more time. At ACH there is probably still some wiggle room to rescue things if your case is going to go south temporarily. It also allows you to address complexities that your WFL may not be best equipped to handle if for nothing else but language skill.

 

We had a very complex K-2 Follow To Join case. I went to ACH and thrashed all the details out with the VO I spoke with. The interview was a slam dunk where the interviewing VO spent most of his time making sure my wife and daughter understood what they needed to do. It could very well have gone the other way had there not been several paragraphs in our records inserted by the VO at ACH. Lao Po may not have been able to explain the complexities. The interviewing VO may not have seen a case precisely like ours before.

 

In my opinion a reasonable kitchen sink tailored to your case, combined with practice interviews for your WLF, and your appearance at ACH, looking confident and reliable is the right mix for most people.

 

ACH is only an option if you can afford to be there, many cant