Finally, NOA2 received! Yay!

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Congratulations!!!

[LuciansGirl 0]

Congratulations and good luck!

[jego ryu 0]

Received NOA1 on 10/24/07, received NOA2 on 05/01/08!

Approved petition forwarded to NVC on 5/9/08, and hopefully on it's way to the consulate in China as I type!

Wish us luck!

congrats ..... wow ...we got approved the same day....goodluck...godbless

[Zee Bee 61]

Congratulations!!!

[djaedi 0]

Nice man!! Congrats!! WOO HOO!!

[AllRightsReserved 0]

Congratulations!: Edited May 15, 2008 by AllRightsReserved

[Mina76 0]

Congratulations on getting your NOA2!

[donmerlin 0]

Received NOA1 on 10/24/07, received NOA2 on 05/01/08!

Approved petition forwarded to NVC on 5/9/08, and hopefully on it's way to the consulate in China as I type!

Wish us luck!

Well done - I hope your friends and family are far enough away from the terrible destruction thats visited your country

I wish I could say with confidence this was true, but it's not certain. My fiancee's father was traveling through Sichuan during the time of the earthquake, and her family has not heard from her dad for 4 days now. We could really use everyone's prayers.

[youtube 0]

Received NOA1 on 10/24/07, received NOA2 on 05/01/08!

Approved petition forwarded to NVC on 5/9/08, and hopefully on it's way to the consulate in China as I type!

Wish us luck!

Congrats!

expect your P-3 in two months from leaving NVC and

6 weeks to 2 months for interview!

good luck

[donmerlin 0]

Congrats!

expect your P-3 in two months from leaving NVC and

6 weeks to 2 months for interview!

good luck

Thanks! I did find out today that the NVC sent the package out on May 8, so that would indicate P3 on July 8. I noticed in your signature you had a lot of details about the processing. Who did you call to get the status of the petition once is left the NVC? Did you call the US consulate directly?

Thanks,

Bill

[donmerlin 0]

Received NOA1 on 10/24/07, received NOA2 on 05/01/08!

Approved petition forwarded to NVC on 5/9/08, and hopefully on it's way to the consulate in China as I type!

Wish us luck!

Many thanks to all that have sent us good wishes and congratulations. It feels great, as this process is very slow, and sometimes feels lonely, so all the voices out there are being heard and appreciated.

It turns out that the NVC sent my package off to China on May 8, which is actually the day before they drafted my letter (if only the whole process worked that fast).

Edited May 21, 2008 by donmerlin

[KimandRuss 0]

Received NOA1 on 10/24/07, received NOA2 on 05/01/08!

Approved petition forwarded to NVC on 5/9/08, and hopefully on it's way to the consulate in China as I type!

Wish us luck!

Well done - I hope your friends and family are far enough away from the terrible destruction thats visited your country

I wish I could say with confidence this was true, but it's not certain. My fiancee's father was traveling through Sichuan during the time of the earthquake, and her family has not heard from her dad for 4 days now. We could really use everyone's prayers.

So sorry to hear this. I wish your extended family the very best.

[donmerlin 0]

I wish I could say with confidence this was true, but it's not certain. My fiancee's father was traveling through Sichuan during the time of the earthquake, and her family has not heard from her dad for 4 days now. We could really use everyone's prayers.

So sorry to hear this. I wish your extended family the very best.

Well, here's the story (for those who may be interested)...

The China earthquake was 7.9, with the epicenter in Sichuan province. With over 32,000 dead, they are expecting the total to exceed 50,000 since many are still unaccounted for. 100's of thousands are insured, and millions are homeless. It's incredibly bad.

I just left China the day before the earthquake hit, and I talked to my girlfriend the next day. I knew her parents were in Kaifeng, and she lived in southern China, so I didn't think there was any worry to her family. However, I found out that her father, for the first time in many years, decided to go traveling. His wife was unable to travel, so he went alone with a tour group, and they happened to stop in Sichuan province the day of the earthquake. Talk about bad timing!

For several days, no one in my fiancee's family had heard from him, and all were beginning to worry that they lost him to the quake. They were having dreams that they interpreted to mean he was gone. After a few days, my fiancee and her brother flew to Chengdu to look for their dad. Mind you, Chengdu was not actually hit nearly as bad as the rest of the province (i.e., the topic of this thread really should be "MAJOR earthquake in Sichuan province").

For many days, it felt hopeless. Death and destruction were all around them, and they still did not hear any word from their dad, even after many telephone services were brought back up. Finally, on Saturday (a week after the quake hit, and after 3000+ after shocks), they were able to track down the tour bus guide's phone number, and talked to him. He told my fiancee that all 30 travelers on the bus were safe, including her father. This was a great relief, of course, but now they need to get him home.

A couple of things that some of us may not be aware of. One is that the government was giving first priority to foreigners in trying to get people home. If you are a foreigner, or a family of a foreigner traveling in the area, this is probably a good thing. But if you are Chinese, and have Chinese family stuck in the area, this feels like a stab in the back by your own government. Also, while my fiancee waited in her Chengdu hotel, she continued to watch the news and began to notice that they were only showing the good stories, and replaying them day after day. Her and her brother would exclaim, "this is the same story from two days ago!" They wanted to see the latest, untainted stories. They knew things were still bad because they were in the area, and had friends on the police that told them what was going on. This angered them, because all they could do was wait and watch the news, but the news was not providing them any useful updates.

There was also a shortage of fuel in the area, so they could not fuel the bus to move the travelers. I forget the city where her father was stranded, but it was 130 miles from Chengdu, and the roads to Chengdu were impassable. They had to bus them to a different airport (one that was 500 miles away from Chengdu), and then put them on a plane to Chengdu. After finally get the fuel, and making the bus ride to the airport, they had to sleep at the airport due to not having flights available. Again, earthquake relief and foreigners were taking precedence. Then, at last, her father got on a plane and was reunited with his family in Chengdu. My fiancee said he was very dirty (no shower for over a week) and very hungry. Then, just as he thought he was finally going to get to sleep in a bed, they heard from the hotel management that everyone in the hotel had to be evacuated that night due to the increase in after shocks. So once more, he had to sleep outside, along with his son and daughter.

The next day the were unable to get train tickets (sold out), so they stayed in Chengdu another night, this time they did sleep in the hotel. They finally were able to get train tickets the next day, and her father and brother took a train home to Keifeng last night. My fiancee took a flight home the same night, and is now back with her son. Due to the stress and lack of sleep, she ended up getting sick, but she still feels extremely lucky to have her dad back, in good health, and their homes in tact. A lot of people were not so lucky.

[prettynpink 0]

Congratulations and God bless to your Interview

[YouKaye 0]

Received NOA1 on 10/24/07, received NOA2 on 05/01/08!

Approved petition forwarded to NVC on 5/9/08, and hopefully on it's way to the consulate in China as I type!

Wish us luck!