moneybags

My wife arrive this month from China and we are also in Tampa. What places did you find out about? Thanks!

Thank you for the reply. I actually spoke to someone yesterday and found many places that my wife can go to. She wants to go during the day, so it may be hard because most of the classes are full, but she will get into one by March

Congratulations!!!

Thank you!

Good for you! Thanks. My wife's ems is out too, should arrive today(China Time) or tomorrow. Hopefully it has the passports with the visa. She is concerned that the additional documents may not be good enough.

Yeah, those last few days waiting for the visa are stressful.

oh, It was fast.

24th is the day when my wife turned in additional documents with the call in letter. EMS tracking turns out nothing yet.

FYI, my wife got her visa this morning. So it took five days from the interview to arrive. We're very happy and now planning her trip to Florida.

Thanks.

When she had her interview? 8/23?

Document drop off was on the 23rd and the interview was on the 24th.

Can you let us know when she gets her visa? My wife is also anxiously waiting for hers. Her case is a little complicated. She went to Guangzhou for the second time to turn in additional documents on 8/23. She got a white paper the first time with a call in letter.

Sure, I'll make a post when it arrives. At this moment it is in the mail. They sent it on the 26th I believe.

Fushia Asian Bistro

15317 Amberly

Tampa, FL 33647

It is pretty good for the most part, my wife is from Chengdu and super picky about food, but finds this place alright. There is another place outside Miami that is even better, but real sichuan food is almost impossible to find in Florida.... and I am sure your wife will complain about it after awhile lol. But we will most likely be moving to texas or cali next year... so I am hoping things will get better with regard to food.

Cool, thanks a lot. My wife is also a picky eater. I think California will be almost like China compared to here.

If she can speak English there won't be a problem, what is a problem is the lack of real Chinese restaurants in Tampa Bay... although we finally found a semi-real sichuan place awhile back.

Really, where is it? My wife is from Chongqing which used to be part of Sichuan.

congrats. I think they change colors and procedures randomly just to keep us all confused.

Thanks everyone! Yeah, they have a way of doing that.

I heard recently (in GUZ) that they no longer give Pink approval. The approval is white. Anyone else hear this?

Yes, my wife just got a white paper but on it it says her visa was approved, and the VO told her it was approved, and my wife asked her if it was approved, and again VO said it was. So it must have just changed like this week.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!

Best of luck on your new life together!

Thanks.

Nearly had a heart attack when my wife texted me "Got white paper". Called her and she told me that it says they approved her visa!

"congratulations your visa has been approved...."

Told her to wait two weeks to mail it to her hometown. They can mail almost anywhere in China now.

Her interview was at about 11:10 so she was towards the end of the group I believe.

VO was a lady who is very very friendly.

Questions were:

Describe SO.

When did you meet?

When did you marry?

Did his family attend marriage?

Ans: No but his mom did visit.

Did husband go back to US during his 2 years in China?

Ans: Yes, went back once to US for visa

Looked at pictures, but not the other 400+ pages of docs.

VO said congratulations your visa has been approved. Gave her WHITE paper.

My wife asked, is my visa approved? Confused because she was expecting pink for approval.

VO says "yes".

Entire interview 3 minutes.

THANKS VISA JOURNEY COMMUNITY! Couldn't have done it without this site. So happy that we are done with this process...and she will come to America!

I found out that an organization, Travelers Aid of Los Angeles, has a "Meet and Greet" service at LAX. A volunteer from their group will meet the passenger after customs clearance and personally guide them to their connecting flight. They will also assist the passenger in the event that the connecting flight is missed. The service is free, though they suggest a $35 donation to their cause. The volunteers will not accept gratuities. Great service! Didn't realize such philanthropy existed at LAX.

Should anyone need this service, here's the link: http://www.tasla.org/meet&greet.htm

Hey Andrew, I also live in Tampa (just moved here from Beijing a few months ago) and my wife is interviewing today so hopefully she will come in two weeks. I'm curious how the trip was for your wife. Mine can speak English but she has never been out of China. Thanks!

What documents do you hand over on the first day, just the required documents or every piece of evidence you brought?

I have good luck using USPS International Priority Mail. It typically is ~$15 vs. ~$45 for FedEx. However, USPS Priority and EMS is the same international system (both are delivered by China Post) and I have found both reliable. Did your wife receive P3/P4 via EMS? You might want her to send the address to you in Chinese so you can put it on the USPS envelope.

The only thing that requires your signature is the I-864, everything else requires her (or no) signature and you should be able to send soft copy by email. The only possible exception is any Chinese notary (white books) which need to be the originals but I would think those should already be with your wife.

Good Luck!

Thanks, you're right, only the I-864 is required so I sent it by FedEx ($90). She should get it in a week.

My wife's interview is on Aug 23th in Guangzhou but we did DCF for CR-1 so everything needs to be brought to the interview. I moved back to the U.S. to start my new job but now it looks like it's going to be a hassle to get the documents over there. What documents do I need to physically mail to China? The I-864 must be original it says. I really don't want to use EMS (it will take forever/ get lost) or FedEx (expensive) if I can avoid it. Thanks!

I assume that they are using EMS which may be better than other services but certainly not the same as FedEx or even USPS. I hope you're right that it's just sitting in the mail room waiting to be processed. I'll give them another week and them contact them again (they instructed me to wait two weeks).

See my timeline, I actually recceived a mailed copy of NOA2. The dates entered are those that were contained in the letter.

I assume that Beijing sends this by some form of diplomatic pouch or at least EMS so I doubt it would 'get lost in the mail'. My guess is the woman on the phone was looking in the computer system so if it is still 'sitting in a pile', they would have no record of it.

Thanks for the response. Guangzhou said they checked for my wife's name and couldn't find it and that I should contact Beijing. I called Beijing and they said they had sent it and to wait. I asked again the next day and they still said they hadn't got it (i.e. form response). It just seems weird that it would take a month for domestic mail. That's interesting that you got P3 one month after it was sent to Guangzhou; I would assume that they must have received it from Beijing at least a week prior.

The embassy in Beijing really can't help at this point. What did Guangzhou say, did it sound like a form letter(email)?

It is likely that it is still sitting in a pile in Guangzhou waiting to be processed. I would email maybe weekly asking for updates. We received P3 just under a month after our information was sent to Guangzhou.

I wouldn't be worried but ask on maybe a weekly or biweekly basis. You likely will see something within another month.

I submitted the I-130 application to the Beijing Embassy on May 19 and my wife received NOA2 from them saying they had forwarded it to Guangzhou on May 27. I emailed the consulate and they told me yesterday that they haven't received it. I called the embassy in Beijing but they said sometimes the mail takes that long. Does 1 month from Beijing sound unusual? Thanks!

Hey,

I filed DCF in Beijing on May 19th. How did the interview go?

I just got my letter from Guangzhou embassy telling me my wife's interview date. It will be May 19th on a Thursday. It only took 16 days from the day I sent the P3 to the embassy to get the letter. Guangzhou is going really fast this year.

Don't know what kind of IT you are doing, but if you are highly employable, one option would be to file the I-130 via DCF, then go home and get a job; by the time her interview comes around, you'll have a couple of paystubs...

I HOPE I'm highly employable as a .net developer but that remains to be seen. I've heard the job market is a lot worse than when I got my first job in 2008. Thanks for the suggestion. I think that might work if I can get a job before the affidavit of support is due with packet 4.

Yeah, I understand. I would need to be a regular employee and get a letter from my boss saying that they planned on keeping me on after I returned and into the foreseeable future. I guess if I can't find that kind of job I would have to just go back to the US and file from there after obtaining employment locally. Thanks!

You would need to demonstrate an ongoing US income (or sufficient assets) to qualify.

Thanks. I don't think I will be able to find another sponsor. If I get a new job that is at least based in the US it seems like that would work even if I was working from China until I move back to continue the job stateside. Has anyone ever done DCF without a cosponsor or assets?

Hi, my parent's are unwilling to consponsor so can I be the only sponsor if I find a job working remotely in the US? i.e. work from Beijing via Internet but receive a paycheck from a US company. I'm a software engineer and I was able to work a couple months remotely last year. Thanks for your help!