A little worried.

[RobertH]

I have been reading about the interviews and the problems some are having or were having with the VO saying no because of poor ENglish skills.

 

Hui has done so well learning English. She speaks 80% of her answers back to me in English when we chat in MSN.

 

She still dose however have trouble understanding me when I speak so I type out alot of what I am saying as I speak it to her.

 

She is studying everyday and has 3 hours of private lessons a week starting from last week.

 

I hope they dont white slip us because she is not up to a lvl they would like to have.

 

Well we still have 8-10 weeks before the interview so I think she will have still have some time to learn.

 

I wish they could let me come to the interview then they could see we have no problems talking to eachother.

 

Robert

[Highlander]

Same with my So and I. We started in talking in april 08 with great difficulty, using books and yahoo translater. Now we use headsets ,,but still have to write much along with the headsets. My hearing problems does not help also. Just keep practice with the headsets, Good Luck. Bob

[Vinny]

Same with my So and I. We started in talking in april 08 with great difficulty, using books and yahoo translater. Now we use headsets ,,but still have to write much along with the headsets. My hearing problems does not help also. Just keep practice with the headsets, Good Luck. Bob

 

 

Well I do have a question. Will my Fiancee require to know English if we 100% communicate in Chinese? She and I are Chinese and we both speak the same language. Will the VO ask that my Fiancee know English?

 

Thanks,

Vinny

[Kyle]

Same with my So and I. We started in talking in april 08 with great difficulty, using books and yahoo translater. Now we use headsets ,,but still have to write much along with the headsets. My hearing problems does not help also. Just keep practice with the headsets, Good Luck. Bob

 

 

Well I do have a question. Will my Fiancee require to know English if we 100% communicate in Chinese? She and I are Chinese and we both speak the same language. Will the VO ask that my Fiancee know English?

 

Thanks,

Vinny

 

If she can communicate a little in English that's fine (if not, considering your background - which I'm sure GUZ is aware of through documentation - it'll still most likely be fine). I've known women who interviewed who had a relatively low level of English vocabulary. They did the interview in Chinese - they passed. I think the emphasis is more on proving that you two can communicate (not necessarily in English). If you're fluent in Chinese, then I think this is a valid way to meet this requirement.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Kyle (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

Same with my So and I. We started in talking in april 08 with great difficulty, using books and yahoo translater. Now we use headsets ,,but still have to write much along with the headsets. My hearing problems does not help also. Just keep practice with the headsets, Good Luck. Bob

 

 

Well I do have a question. Will my Fiancee require to know English if we 100% communicate in Chinese? She and I are Chinese and we both speak the same language. Will the VO ask that my Fiancee know English?

 

Thanks,

Vinny

 

If she can communicate a little in English that's fine (if not, considering your background - which I'm sure GUZ is aware of through documentation - it'll still most likely be fine). I've known women who interviewed who had a relatively low level of English vocabulary. They did the interview in Chinese - they passed. I think the emphasis is more on proving that you two can communicate (not necessarily in English). If you're fluent in Chinese, then I think this is a valid way to meet this requirement.

Correct! As long as they know that you can communicate effectively they have no problem with this. If US citizen is a fluent Chinese speaker, then the beneficiary knowing little English is not an issue.

[george lee]

Same with my So and I. We started in talking in april 08 with great difficulty, using books and yahoo translater. Now we use headsets ,,but still have to write much along with the headsets. My hearing problems does not help also. Just keep practice with the headsets, Good Luck. Bob

 

 

Well I do have a question. Will my Fiancee require to know English if we 100% communicate in Chinese? She and I are Chinese and we both speak the same language. Will the VO ask that my Fiancee know English?

 

Thanks,

Vinny

 

 

vinny,

 

my wife and i spoke chinese and her interview was in mandarin, so relax and dont worry about it. my wife requested her interview in chinese. good luck.

[Vinny]

Sounds Good! Thank you Everyone that responded. I am praying she will do good.

[Highlander]

Sounds Good! Thank you Everyone that responded. I am praying she will do good.

What kind of documentation would a person need to prove to the VO that you can speak Chinese?

[Kyle]

Well, for me, I used my a letter/other related documents from the school I'm studying Chinese from (in Hubei). I also provided emails (didn't have many because we live together) between Jingjing and I in Chinese. It wasn't that big of a deal for us though, because my wife's English vocabulary is upwards of 15000 words. I'm also in China on a student's visa. Perhaps my Chinese ability would of come into play if Jingjing couldn't of performed the interview in English. I didn't expect the VO to care much about me studying Chinese though, and sure enough, it didn't really come up during her interview

Edited December 7, 2009 by Kyle (see edit history)

[N&J]

I have been reading about the interviews and the problems some are having or were having with the VO saying no because of poor ENglish skills.

 

Hui has done so well learning English. She speaks 80% of her answers back to me in English when we chat in MSN.

 

She still dose however have trouble understanding me when I speak so I type out alot of what I am saying as I speak it to her.

 

She is studying everyday and has 3 hours of private lessons a week starting from last week.

 

I hope they dont white slip us because she is not up to a lvl they would like to have.

 

Well we still have 8-10 weeks before the interview so I think she will have still have some time to learn.

 

I wish they could let me come to the interview then they could see we have no problems talking to eachother.

 

Robert

 

Hope you and your SO the best. I know it's hard, try not to worry. Just keep your fingers crossed, it's not guaranteed WHITE if her english is poor.

 

Don't put too much stress on her to be able to speak english for the interview otherwise she may freeze.

 

She can ask for to do the interview in Mandarin. She'll be fine. You'll have a blessed holidays.

 

GOOD LUCK and Merry Christmas

[Sam and Fen]

I have been reading about the interviews and the problems some are having or were having with the VO saying no because of poor ENglish skills.

 

Hui has done so well learning English. She speaks 80% of her answers back to me in English when we chat in MSN.

 

She still dose however have trouble understanding me when I speak so I type out alot of what I am saying as I speak it to her.

 

She is studying everyday and has 3 hours of private lessons a week starting from last week.

 

I hope they dont white slip us because she is not up to a lvl they would like to have.

 

Well we still have 8-10 weeks before the interview so I think she will have still have some time to learn.

 

I wish they could let me come to the interview then they could see we have no problems talking to eachother.

 

Robert

 

I went thru all the questions that had been asked in the past here on CFL and VJ.

I also kept track of what was currently being asked.

If you go the CFL gallery of timelines (CFL Timelines) and click on the Result column it will open up a link and if the member has entered what questions were asked you can review them.

 

Every morning and night I got on QQ and asked Fen interview questions. I also had some of my employees ask them so she got a feel for accent variations.

 

I tought her to listen for keywords so matter how the question was asked she would be able to respond.

 

For example: Where does he work? or What does he do for work?

 

Keywords "he" , "work".

 

It took a lot of work and patience.

 

I also told her that if she is not sure she should ask for a Chinese translation as answering something wrong is worse then asking for a translation.

[splinterman]

I have been reading about the interviews and the problems some are having or were having with the VO saying no because of poor ENglish skills.

 

Hui has done so well learning English. She speaks 80% of her answers back to me in English when we chat in MSN.

 

She still dose however have trouble understanding me when I speak so I type out alot of what I am saying as I speak it to her.

 

She is studying everyday and has 3 hours of private lessons a week starting from last week.

 

I hope they dont white slip us because she is not up to a lvl they would like to have.

 

Well we still have 8-10 weeks before the interview so I think she will have still have some time to learn.

 

I wish they could let me come to the interview then they could see we have no problems talking to eachother.

 

Robert

 

I went thru all the questions that had been asked in the past here on CFL and VJ.

I also kept track of what was currently being asked.

If you go the CFL gallery of timelines (CFL Timelines) and click on the Result column it will open up a link and if the member has entered what questions were asked you can review them.

 

Every morning and night I got on QQ and asked Fen interview questions. I also had some of my employees ask them so she got a feel for accent variations.

 

I tought her to listen for keywords so matter how the question was asked she would be able to respond.

 

For example: Where does he work? or What does he do for work?

 

Keywords "he" , "work".

 

It took a lot of work and patience.

 

I also told her that if she is not sure she should ask for a Chinese translation as answering something wrong is worse then asking for a translation.

 

I believe that my wife's ability to speak English was for us-and certainly not for everyone- one of the reasons why we got whited on our K-1. We met on a Chinese dating service whose employees translated the letters between us, so Joey didn't have to know much English, at least not at first. She was already studying English before we met, but it was not a concentrated effort on her part as she had no real reason to study hard.

 

When I went to visit her the first time I took a used laptop that I bought just for her, and gave it to her so we could then begin to communicate in English together. Having no computer skills, first she had to go to school to learn how to use the computer before we could start talking directly with one another. Once that happened her English began improving at a good pace.

 

When she had her K-1 the following year, they rope-a-doped her by asking if she could speak English and she replied "just a little bit, but my English is not good" so they automatically held the interview in Chinese without giving her the chance to show them that she could at least hold basic conversation in English.

 

Joey lost her job a few months after we were whited and we decided together that instead of her getting a new job, I would support her and she would stay at home and study English hard. It really made the difference on our case as I'm positive the VO reviewed the case notes from the K-1 before her CR interview and must have seen that her 'non-ability' to speak English as determined by the K-1 VO was one of the reasons why she got the white. They had a translator standing by when she had her CR interview-just like the first time-but this time when they asked her if she could speak English she told them 'yes'. I had told her that she MUST speak English at her interview, even if the VO asked her the questions in Chinese, she was to answer them in English. If she didn't understand something she could ask for a clarification in Chinese, but then she was to respond in English.

 

I'm sure that, unless the petitioner is somewhat fluent in Chinese, the beneficiary must demonstrate a basic ability to speak English, but it doesn't have to be even to the degree that the entire interview be held in English. The CR visa VO also wanted to see our emails-which were all written by us and in English-to make sure that Joey was able to speak and understand basic English because of what the K-1 VO probably wrote in his case notes. The fact that Joey showed him 3 years worth of emails, in English-between the two of us AND he could readily see her gradual improvement in her English skills, was what they were looking for.

 

The CR VO also asked her some repeat K-1 questions that she somewhat stumbled on and this time she nailed them down exactly. My feeling for our CR interview is that they reviewed our K-1 interview file and concentrated on asking her those same-type questions to see how better prepared she was this time.

 

For us, English ability was probably a bigger deal than for most other beneficiaries because of the K-1 interview results, but I do not believe that ALL beneficiaries must demonstrate the same level of proficiency that my wife had to show. There were other things to overcome, as well, which she did in fine fashion. Each case goes upon it's own merits and although there are trends in what they tend to look for, everyone's case criteria is different.

[Sam and Fen]

I have been reading about the interviews and the problems some are having or were having with the VO saying no because of poor ENglish skills.

 

Hui has done so well learning English. She speaks 80% of her answers back to me in English when we chat in MSN.

 

She still dose however have trouble understanding me when I speak so I type out alot of what I am saying as I speak it to her.

 

She is studying everyday and has 3 hours of private lessons a week starting from last week.

 

I hope they dont white slip us because she is not up to a lvl they would like to have.

 

Well we still have 8-10 weeks before the interview so I think she will have still have some time to learn.

 

I wish they could let me come to the interview then they could see we have no problems talking to eachother.

 

Robert

 

I went thru all the questions that had been asked in the past here on CFL and VJ.

I also kept track of what was currently being asked.

If you go the CFL gallery of timelines (CFL Timelines) and click on the Result column it will open up a link and if the member has entered what questions were asked you can review them.

 

Every morning and night I got on QQ and asked Fen interview questions. I also had some of my employees ask them so she got a feel for accent variations.

 

I tought her to listen for keywords so matter how the question was asked she would be able to respond.

 

For example: Where does he work? or What does he do for work?

 

Keywords "he" , "work".

 

It took a lot of work and patience.

 

I also told her that if she is not sure she should ask for a Chinese translation as answering something wrong is worse then asking for a translation.

 

I believe that my wife's ability to speak English was for us-and certainly not for everyone- one of the reasons why we got whited on our K-1. We met on a Chinese dating service whose employees translated the letters between us, so Joey didn't have to know much English, at least not at first. She was already studying English before we met, but it was not a concentrated effort on her part as she had no real reason to study hard.

 

When I went to visit her the first time I took a used laptop that I bought just for her, and gave it to her so we could then begin to communicate in English together. Having no computer skills, first she had to go to school to learn how to use the computer before we could start talking directly with one another. Once that happened her English began improving at a good pace.

 

When she had her K-1 the following year, they rope-a-doped her by asking if she could speak English and she replied "just a little bit, but my English is not good" so they automatically held the interview in Chinese without giving her the chance to show them that she could at least hold basic conversation in English.

 

Joey lost her job a few months after we were whited and we decided together that instead of her getting a new job, I would support her and she would stay at home and study English hard. It really made the difference on our case as I'm positive the VO reviewed the case notes from the K-1 before her CR interview and must have seen that her 'non-ability' to speak English as determined by the K-1 VO was one of the reasons why she got the white. They had a translator standing by when she had her CR interview-just like the first time-but this time when they asked her if she could speak English she told them 'yes'. I had told her that she MUST speak English at her interview, even if the VO asked her the questions in Chinese, she was to answer them in English. If she didn't understand something she could ask for a clarification in Chinese, but then she was to respond in English.

 

I'm sure that, unless the petitioner is somewhat fluent in Chinese, the beneficiary must demonstrate a basic ability to speak English, but it doesn't have to be even to the degree that the entire interview be held in English. The CR visa VO also wanted to see our emails-which were all written by us and in English-to make sure that Joey was able to speak and understand basic English because of what the K-1 VO probably wrote in his case notes. The fact that Joey showed him 3 years worth of emails, in English-between the two of us AND he could readily see her gradual improvement in her English skills, was what they were looking for.

 

The CR VO also asked her some repeat K-1 questions that she somewhat stumbled on and this time she nailed them down exactly. My feeling for our CR interview is that they reviewed our K-1 interview file and concentrated on asking her those same-type questions to see how better prepared she was this time.

 

For us, English ability was probably a bigger deal than for most other beneficiaries because of the K-1 interview results, but I do not believe that ALL beneficiaries must demonstrate the same level of proficiency that my wife had to show. There were other things to overcome, as well, which she did in fine fashion. Each case goes upon it's own merits and although there are trends in what they tend to look for, everyone's case criteria is different.

 

I had told Fen that even if they ask questions in Chinese she should respond in english.

Her interview, she was asked questions in Chinese and only one in english.

[splinterman]

I have been reading about the interviews and the problems some are having or were having with the VO saying no because of poor ENglish skills.

 

Hui has done so well learning English. She speaks 80% of her answers back to me in English when we chat in MSN.

 

She still dose however have trouble understanding me when I speak so I type out alot of what I am saying as I speak it to her.

 

She is studying everyday and has 3 hours of private lessons a week starting from last week.

 

I hope they dont white slip us because she is not up to a lvl they would like to have.

 

Well we still have 8-10 weeks before the interview so I think she will have still have some time to learn.

 

I wish they could let me come to the interview then they could see we have no problems talking to eachother.

 

Robert

 

I went thru all the questions that had been asked in the past here on CFL and VJ.

I also kept track of what was currently being asked.

If you go the CFL gallery of timelines (CFL Timelines) and click on the Result column it will open up a link and if the member has entered what questions were asked you can review them.

 

Every morning and night I got on QQ and asked Fen interview questions. I also had some of my employees ask them so she got a feel for accent variations.

 

I tought her to listen for keywords so matter how the question was asked she would be able to respond.

 

For example: Where does he work? or What does he do for work?

 

Keywords "he" , "work".

 

It took a lot of work and patience.

 

I also told her that if she is not sure she should ask for a Chinese translation as answering something wrong is worse then asking for a translation.

 

I believe that my wife's ability to speak English was for us-and certainly not for everyone- one of the reasons why we got whited on our K-1. We met on a Chinese dating service whose employees translated the letters between us, so Joey didn't have to know much English, at least not at first. She was already studying English before we met, but it was not a concentrated effort on her part as she had no real reason to study hard.

 

When I went to visit her the first time I took a used laptop that I bought just for her, and gave it to her so we could then begin to communicate in English together. Having no computer skills, first she had to go to school to learn how to use the computer before we could start talking directly with one another. Once that happened her English began improving at a good pace.

 

When she had her K-1 the following year, they rope-a-doped her by asking if she could speak English and she replied "just a little bit, but my English is not good" so they automatically held the interview in Chinese without giving her the chance to show them that she could at least hold basic conversation in English.

 

Joey lost her job a few months after we were whited and we decided together that instead of her getting a new job, I would support her and she would stay at home and study English hard. It really made the difference on our case as I'm positive the VO reviewed the case notes from the K-1 before her CR interview and must have seen that her 'non-ability' to speak English as determined by the K-1 VO was one of the reasons why she got the white. They had a translator standing by when she had her CR interview-just like the first time-but this time when they asked her if she could speak English she told them 'yes'. I had told her that she MUST speak English at her interview, even if the VO asked her the questions in Chinese, she was to answer them in English. If she didn't understand something she could ask for a clarification in Chinese, but then she was to respond in English.

 

I'm sure that, unless the petitioner is somewhat fluent in Chinese, the beneficiary must demonstrate a basic ability to speak English, but it doesn't have to be even to the degree that the entire interview be held in English. The CR visa VO also wanted to see our emails-which were all written by us and in English-to make sure that Joey was able to speak and understand basic English because of what the K-1 VO probably wrote in his case notes. The fact that Joey showed him 3 years worth of emails, in English-between the two of us AND he could readily see her gradual improvement in her English skills, was what they were looking for.

 

The CR VO also asked her some repeat K-1 questions that she somewhat stumbled on and this time she nailed them down exactly. My feeling for our CR interview is that they reviewed our K-1 interview file and concentrated on asking her those same-type questions to see how better prepared she was this time.

 

For us, English ability was probably a bigger deal than for most other beneficiaries because of the K-1 interview results, but I do not believe that ALL beneficiaries must demonstrate the same level of proficiency that my wife had to show. There were other things to overcome, as well, which she did in fine fashion. Each case goes upon it's own merits and although there are trends in what they tend to look for, everyone's case criteria is different.

 

I had told Fen that even if they ask questions in Chinese she should respond in english.

Her interview, she was asked questions in Chinese and only one in english.

 

 

I think that's great advice even if the entire interview cannot be in English. It doesn't give the VO anywhere to go and allows finality of the response.

[baobeizhu]

What kind of documentation would a person need to prove to the VO that you can speak Chinese?

 

When we were blue slipped, I had to provide all post-high school transcripts (official) and letters/emails of correspondence. But then again, I'm not a heritage speaker, so perhaps GUZ just needed some additional information in our case. (I had made copies of my diplomas and various certificates but official transcripts were still requested at the interview)

 

Good Luck!

Edited December 8, 2009 by baobeizhu (see edit history)