Need some information, please

[Bill and Linda]

ok, I've sold everything and my flight leaves on March 5th. One more question and I think everything is ready...... i will need to transfer the proceeds of the sale to an account in Chengdu. I will open the account when I get there, as it will be a joint account with my wife, Tianqiong. What is the recommended procedure for transfering/depositing a large amount of USD? I thought I would ask my lawyer to go to my bank (he will need to be a co-signer on the US account) and wire the money to my new China Construction Bank account after I phone him and give him the account number. Or should I take a cashiers check for the entire amount with me when I fly to Chengdu, taped to my body somewhere?

 

thanks again for the help.

 

Bill

[Sebastian]

ok, I've sold everything and my flight leaves on March 5th. One more question and I think everything is ready...... i will need to transfer the proceeds of the sale to an account in Chengdu. I will open the account when I get there, as it will be a joint account with my wife, Tianqiong. What is the recommended procedure for transfering/depositing a large amount of USD? I thought I would ask my lawyer to go to my bank (he will need to be a co-signer on the US account) and wire the money to my new China Construction Bank account after I phone him and give him the account number. Or should I take a cashiers check for the entire amount with me when I fly to Chengdu, taped to my body somewhere?

 

thanks again for the help.

 

Bill

 

Heya Bill.

 

You could also step into the Bank of America Branch, and set up DELAYED WIRE TRANSFER instructions. You could then email the bank officer with the CCB TT/Wire Transfer info. But if you get your attorney to do this, of course his name has to be on the BOA bank account, UNLESS you grant him a 'Power of Attorney' to handle the transaction for you.

 

Good Luck !

[Bill and Linda]

Heya Bill.

 

You could also step into the Bank of America Branch, and set up DELAYED WIRE TRANSFER instructions. You could then email the bank officer with the CCB TT/Wire Transfer info. But if you get your attorney to do this, of course his name has to be on the BOA bank account, UNLESS you grant him a 'Power of Attorney' to handle the transaction for you.

 

Good Luck !

 

 

Darnell,

 

Thanks for the quick reply. This forum really rocks.

 

I went to my local BoA branch a few days ago and I'm surprised they did not suggest a delayed wire transfer. Then again, they may not even do many wire transfers, as this is a small town area. I did get info from the 800 number for BoA regarding telephone authorization for a wire transfer, but the local branch printed out the forms and there is a requirement for noting the routing # and account # for the receiving Bank, and of course I don't have that yet. I will check with my branch regarding the delayed wire instructions.

 

Thanks again,

 

Bill

[Sebastian]

Talk to a BANK OFFICER at that Branch. Show up in Person. If a small town, it may or may not be available (Delayed Wire Transfer Instructions). Usually, once you SIGN that form, it can't be altered unless there's other legal things in place.

Edited February 18, 2008 by Darnell (see edit history)

[Bill and Linda]

Talk to a BANK OFFICER at that Branch. Show up in Person. If a small town, it may or may not be available (Delayed Wire Transfer Instructions). Usually, once you SIGN that form, it can't be altered unless there's other legal things in place.

 

 

 

Ok, it just took a little persistance..... I called the wire transfer number for BoA (provided by an agent at the customer service 800 number) and their comment was "the local branches don't know anything" Went back armed with proper information and got everything taken care of. Due to the amount, it looks like I will need to wire part of the funds to our joint account and the other part to lao po's account.

 

Would appreciate some tips on what real estate companies and developers/builders to seek out and which ones to avoid in Chengdu. At this time we are planning on buying a used apartment in the 300-450K rmb range, hopefully located within the third ring road. Any suggestions or advice will be appreciated.

 

Bill

[Sebastian]

Talk to a BANK OFFICER at that Branch. Show up in Person. If a small town, it may or may not be available (Delayed Wire Transfer Instructions). Usually, once you SIGN that form, it can't be altered unless there's other legal things in place.

 

 

 

Ok, it just took a little persistance..... I called the wire transfer number for BoA (provided by an agent at the customer service 800 number) and their comment was "the local branches don't know anything" Went back armed with proper information and got everything taken care of. Due to the amount, it looks like I will need to wire part of the funds to our joint account and the other part to lao po's account.

 

Would appreciate some tips on what real estate companies and developers/builders to seek out and which ones to avoid in Chengdu. At this time we are planning on buying a used apartment in the 300-450K rmb range, hopefully located within the third ring road. Any suggestions or advice will be appreciated.

 

Bill

 

Hey Bill - Good to hear it worked out for you !!!

RE: Chengdu -

My wife has family there, I met them all last month.

 

There's two divisions of housing you wanna think about -

1. 'Normal' for Chinese

2. 'Normal' for Expats (Foreigners living in Chengdu)

 

Two days ago I was doing a search for rental properties, I'm renting a flat in Chengdu for the month of June. I found many places for rental, I'd be happy to share the information. BUT - I'm not sure it'd be useful if you want to BUY.

 

I remember when I lived in Guangzhou, that usually when you buy a used flat, you'll still need to refurbish it - ie Floors, Kitchen, Electrical Appliances, Electrical Rework, sometimes bathroom. (refurbish might not be the right word here - rennovation? ) But that was for Guangzhou - I've no data for Chengdu. I also remember that most of the 'better' deals (on pricing), were found only at the Agent's Office, where the listings were hand-posted and pasted to the outside window on the street level - ie - not really searchable on the internet. But hey - that was 6 years ago, too.

 

I'd be happy to put you and your lass in touch with my new family folk in Chengdu, one of my new uncles knows the property market really well. As to the location on 3rd ring road, I be clueless.

 

I do note for the rentals, this site had SOME info:

http://www.maxxelli.net/PropertySearch-ChengDu.html

but is solely for rentals. However, there are maps and contact info, but I wouldn't use it for a do-all, be-all info source.

[Guest Rob & Jin]

I like the authentic squat toilets

[Sebastian]

I like the authentic squat toilets

 

Ya, they fall into the Same Category as Snow.

 

Snow, Pretty ! at least for the first 5 minutes, and only to look at.

SNOW, BAD ! Wuhan, COLD ! !

 

But I digress. Ug, I can't use a squat toilet, my knees and lower spine are a mess. Sure, I can get DOWN there, but getting up again is quite messy. Ug.

[Bill and Linda]

Thanks for the info, Darnell. When I visited with Tianqiong in December, we had dinner with some of her friends and family at their apartment. Really nice 9yo two bedroom, great kitchen and bath and glassed-in balcony. They said places like that would go for 380,000rmb. But I'm new in town, so don't know a lot about the market. I do know that her son and mom share an apartment that is really dreary, makes the outside environment look positively sunny by comparison. I think she said their place would be torn down in a few years and replaced.

 

I know I'll never really get accustomed to the squat toilet. I seek out the stall with the sign "for old person only" when they are available. At least the majority of Chinese squat toilets don't require you to dip water from a tub nearby to flush.

 

I would appreciate a contact for the relative who may be familiar with the market. And I did notice the papers taped to windows, but I doubt I'll ever be able to read much, will depend on lao po. Fortunately she is mature and not interested in blowing a million yuan, like her younger sister.

 

Thanks again for the help,

 

Bill

[Bill and Linda]

Well, I've relocated to Chengdu. Most importantly, it is great knowing that lao po and I are together, waiting for non-immigrant visa will be better together. I managed to cram all my worldly goods in 2 checked bags, both 10lbs over limit, plus 3 carry-on bags. We are living with my wife's younger brother for the time being. Went to look at some apts yesterday, I'm thinking 380,000rmb is optimistic unless we reduce our needs. Most of the units we saw I would call a fixer-upper. One was really nice with a great view, comparatively speaking, about 85sm, 8yo for 530,000rmb asking price. Really don't have a clue about the negotiation process, can you make a low-ball offer and not get yelled at? Any additional advice on this would be appreciated. Since this is much more than we were planning on spending, we will borrow a little more from the bank so we can buy appliances, furniture, etc.

 

Managed to remedy the $ situation pretty easily, only got frustrated due to lack of any English-speaking bank officers once. Although China Construction Bank has a relationship with my BoA, CCB can't do international wires, so I was told. They advised me to go to the Bank of China, so now lao po and I have four accounts at two banks. Will try wiring money tonight and see how it goes.

 

Bill

[chilton747]

and set up the account in Chengdu where the SSA can send my check every month. Will visit the Consulate in Chengdu and let everyone know how things go Thanks again.

 

Bill

 

I had called the HSBC Chengdu branch when I was in Chengdu 9 days ago, and they said the best bet would be, for a joint account of PRCC and USC, to get a HSBC Premier Account. You need 100K RMB , or about 14K USD , to open one of those. I'm opening one on the 2nd visit towards the end of this month.

 

OTOH, hey ! there are many ATM machines in Chengdu that will use your current USA Bank-issued ATM card. If you really are thinking to move lock/stock n barrel without maintaining a US Residence address, I'd go the HSBC Premiere Route, otherwise if you need to maintain that US Residence Address - have yer mail address set up with a relative ? You can always view yer statements online anyway, and a relative should be able to alert you to any 'interesting' postal mail.

 

 

Thanks for the heads up on the HSBC. I have a Bank of America account and they have a partnership with China Construction Bank. BoA said I could use my ATM card at any CCB branch and there would not be any ATM fee assessed..... sweet! No relatives to check mail, but a good friend will volunteer (be commandeered?) to screen my mail. I've tried sending a photo CD to my wife and it never arrived, are there alternatives to sending mail to a PRCC's address?

 

Thanks again for all the great help.

 

Bill

 

 

 

use USPS/EMS you can track your mail. remember to write her name and address in both english and chinese and put her phone # too.

 

 

I had written her address in english and mandarin, but did not know to include phone #. Also, please excuse my ignorance, what is EMS?

 

An interested party looked at my house today, asked about a lease purchase. If I can show income from such an agreement, plus add in my SSA benefit check each month, how difficult would it be for me to obtain a mortgage in, say, Chengdu? My wife has very limited income, and what she does have is from self-employment.... raising dogs, dog grooming, etc. Would a Chinese bank require that I show a history of local employment?

 

Thanks!

 

Bill

More than likely a Chinese bank would want proof of employment from the Chinese citizen. That has been my experience.

[warpedbored]

if I was you I would live there 6 months and file DCF, may be quicker and she would get conditional green card without all the hassles of adjustment when she first gets here. JMHO

 

 

This was another option we have considered. At this time, we don't intend to live in the US, but will visit family, friends and be a tourist. This will depend on whether my wife wishes to stay after we have been in the US for a while, I am remaining flexible. We do plan on purchasing an apartment in Chendu, probably a few months after we are re-united. We could always rent out the Chengdu apartment while we are in the US, if we decide to stay here.

 

Thanks for the lightning-fast reply.

 

Bill

As others have said.. you should probably go CR1.. but then I would do it DCF style... much higher rate of success....

 

BTW: Some have reported being able to just show a residence book (and not a Z visa); and others have said they didn't need 6 months to file... Call the local consulate and ask what they will accept...

I don't believe this is quite correct David. The information I found on the GZ website says a tourist visa isn't good enough no matter how long you live there. You must have a residence visa and have lived there at least 6 months.

Consular Offices Abroad Resume Accepting I-130 Immigrant Visa Petitions

 

Effective immediately, consular posts abroad will accept petitions for immediate relative immigrant classification from American citizens who are resident in their consular districts, including members of the armed forces, as well as true emergency cases, such as life and death or health and safety, and others determined to be in the national interest.

 

As of January 22, 2007, consular offices abroad were instructed to cease accepting certain immigrant visa petitions because consular officers lacked the means to perform the required criminal background checks on American citizen petitioners, as required by the Adam Walsh Act.

 

 

Subsequently, the Department of State and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) worked to develop a mechanism whereby USCIS will perform these required "Adam Walsh Act" checks for any petitions accepted abroad by consular officers.

 

 

To demonstrate residency in a consular district, American Citizen petitioners must be able to show that they have permission to reside in the consular district and that they have been doing so continuously for at least six months before filing the petition. Individuals who are in the country on a temporary status, such as student or tourist, would not be considered to meet the residency standard.

 

 

Examples of family emergency include minor children who would be unexpectedly left without a caretaker. Examples of national interest include facilitating the travel of United States military and other USG direct hire employees assigned overseas who are pending transfer on orders and need to petition for immigrant classification of their spouse and minor children at posts overseas.

 

 

All lawful permanent residents, and American Citizens resident in the United States or with a permanent address in the United States, must file I-130 petitions at the USCIS Service Center having jurisdiction over their place of residence (as indicated on the USCIS website: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-130.pdf).

 

 

2007/216

 

 

Released on March 21, 2007

 

Another thing that hasn't been made quite clear is regardless of where you file a DCF petition it will be processed and the interview held in Guangzhou.

 

The OP mentioned teaching English. Sometimes the school you are teaching at can swing a residence visa for you. If so he could file DCF.