Interview

[celiothrkn]

My wife is concerned about her CR1 interview. Would the interviewing officer in Guangzhou let her use Chinese? Does it have to be in English? Her English is not very good. My wife and I actually communicate in Chinese.

[chilton747]

Mandarin Chinese.

[Kyle]

Her choice. If the consulate officer asks her if she can speak English it's best (my opinion) not to over exaggerate her ability (many Chinese say "Yes I can!" when in actuality it's more like "I can communicate a little but my level isn't too advanced" - one suggests a comfortable fluency and the other doesn't) and to just do the interview in Chinese. I think it'd be worth while if you guys had emails in Chinese so that she could show the VO your ability, or if you studied at a university - those records could be useful as well.

Edited December 20, 2009 by Kyle (see edit history)

[xiaofeizhu]

What happened to Japanese?!?! Just kidding. As you know, my hubby and I mostly communicate in Japanese and Chinese, so he conducted his interview in Mandarin only.

 

In order to prove that we in fact could communicate, we made sure we had a lot of documentation on our language abilities. I had copies of our Japanese certifications, and an afidavit from a Japanese friend stating we could communicate at an effective level in Japanese. I had the same for my Chinese language ability. Finally, we did have cards/letters that we wrote to each other in Japanese and Chinese.

 

They actually never questioned our language ability, probably because we were DCF, but I would have it all available just in case they ask to see if you really can speak Chinese or not. It will be fine as long as you can prove that you can speak Chinese.

 

Good luck!!

 

PS---did you get that Japanese police cert yet?

[cjr818]

My wife is concerned about her CR1 interview. Would the interviewing officer in Guangzhou let her use Chinese? Does it have to be in English? Her English is not very good. My wife and I actually communicate in Chinese.

 

 

She should speak some English, conversational at the least or show that you can communicate to her in Chinese at the interview. There has been visas denied because applicants cannot show that they speak one common language, and with most cases you'll end up getting a non bona fide relationship.

 

If you have anything to show your fluency in Chinese, make it available at the interview. The interview can be given in English or Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), but be sure to make support ready that you two speak atleast one common language.

[dnoblett]

Either English or Mandarin Chinese. Sometimes can have a Cantonese interpreter there too.

 

Note: If you provided evidence of a common language in your petition filing they won't have any issue with interviewing in Chinese.

 

In our case I had my wife interview in English, and instructed her to ask the IO to repeat any questions she did not understand in Chinese.

[weiaijiayou]

As others have said, having the interview in Chinese won't be a problem, but the consular officer will want to see evidence of how you communicate.

 

In our case I included lots of emails and letters in Chinese in our original petition to USCIS, and before my wife's interview I went into ACH with an "Evolution of Relationship" letter I hand-wrote in Chinese. Along with some other questions I had, I showed this letter to the VO, and she looked at it and made comments on the computer. I asked if she wanted me to read it out loud for her but she declined, saying nothing more than it was very well written. It was a pleasant exchange, and when my wife interviewed (in Chinese) she got pink.

 

Another member here was recently in a similar situation -- her husband spoke very little English, with them communicating only in Chinese. I believe she brought copies of diplomas from her Chinese schooling, and they were given blue. She can correct me if I'm wrong, but the lesson seems to be to provide original diplomas and certificates from any schools for their inspection, and (from my experience) to provide documentation of your Chinese ability in the form of emails/letters in the original petition and something tangible from you, in Chinese, for your wife to hand to the consular officer with your passport (the EOR letter).

[baobeizhu]

As others have said, having the interview in Chinese won't be a problem, but the consular officer will want to see evidence of how you communicate.

 

In our case I included lots of emails and letters in Chinese in our original petition to USCIS, and before my wife's interview I went into ACH with an "Evolution of Relationship" letter I hand-wrote in Chinese. Along with some other questions I had, I showed this letter to the VO, and she looked at it and made comments on the computer. I asked if she wanted me to read it out loud for her but she declined, saying nothing more than it was very well written. It was a pleasant exchange, and when my wife interviewed (in Chinese) she got pink.

 

Another member here was recently in a similar situation -- her husband spoke very little English, with them communicating only in Chinese. I believe she brought copies of diplomas from her Chinese schooling, and they were given blue. She can correct me if I'm wrong, but the lesson seems to be to provide original diplomas and certificates from any schools for their inspection, and (from my experience) to provide documentation of your Chinese ability in the form of emails/letters in the original petition and something tangible from you, in Chinese, for your wife to hand to the consular officer with your passport (the EOR letter).

 

Yep, I needed to provide all post-high school official transcripts as well as written correspondence...

 

I think w/ official records and written correspondence you'll probably be ok.

Edited December 22, 2009 by baobeizhu (see edit history)