David and Ariana

Does anyone have any experience obtaining medicine here in the US for a relative in China (or anywhere).

My wifes 60 yr old mother has advanced Parkinsons, in China. The medicine she needs, pramipexole hydrochloride, has become unavailable. I tried to go through a Canadian pharmacy but they could not accept the Chinese prescription I emailed to them - they needed an American doctor's prescription. Lucky me, I dont' have any physician friends I could ask to help get a prescription.

I'm sure there must be illegal mechanisms to get prescriptions and medicine, but I wouldn't know how to find them. But given that this must be a common situation for immigrants, I would think there there must be some legal mechanism to get a prescription for a foreign relative based on their local prescription. Any suggestions?

She lives in Hunan province, near Changsha so no where near any of the cities with a western presence (and she can't travel at this point), otherwise I would try to get her to a western doctor in China.

But I would think it would be possible to go to a Chinese American clinic in the US that could verify the prescription and then write a new English/US version of it.

I don't think this is really the right place for this question, but I don't see a better place.

I have a non-USCIS question on adoption of my immigrant wife's son. If anyone has experience with international adoption, perhaps you have some advice.

My wife was divorced from her first husband in China in 2005. He is the father of the 10yr old son that came here with her 2 years or so ago. He was not involved int he childs life since.

In order to get the visa for her son, she needed to get a letter from the ex husband giving permission to take the son here. That was a very painful process, but she got it.

I would like to adopt him.

I assume that a child can't have 2 fathers. Does he have to agree to sever his fatherhood claim on him before I can adopt him? Or does the fact that the son is an immigrant and separate from his father allow him to have an adopted Dad here in the US without getting something from the birth father?

CR189 is an internal name for I751. So basically it is the same thing as trillium13 said.

Everyone who filed for i751 sees CR189 online.

I know this is an old post but I'm confused by the notices my wife and I have gotten (for her).

Her conditional status was scheduled to expire in Feb 2013 (2 years since getting the green card)

I submitted the I-751 in Nov and got the receipt in Dec, scheduling appt in Feb for her biometrics. At almost the same time I got a receipt saying that the conditional status had been extended for an additional year. It had a different WAC number.

We are in CA for sent everything to the CA service center.

Feb did the biometrics but were getting concerned that hadn't heard anything else. Last month I started trying to look up the case status. Under one WAC number it say "It has been approved" - but I think that is the approval to get biometrics. The other WAC number says that the status is unavailable. We haven't received any other notice. She has a friend that got the status removed in just a couple months. I called the service center and they explained that the extension for 1 year is routine because they are backed up. But I still don't understand why I don't see any status on the USCIS website? The receipt did refer to this CR189 reference. Do I need to look up the status in a different way to reference the CR189?

I'm not sure where to post this, as it is an unusual question. My wife is from China, came on a K-1 two years ago, obtained a green card easily a year ago. All that happened, by the way, with great, great help by someone on this forum.

She has heard rumors on QQ that the Chinese government is considering restricting the return of Chinese passport holders who are US residents to China - that they will need to have a letter of invitation from their family and will need to retain a visa. She is very concerned about this, as you might understand. The idea doesn't seem very plausable to me. Does anyone know of such rumors going around, and is there any truth to them?

I heard a news story about Jobs that said much the same thing. Oddly enough though, his employees both say he is a jerk, but at the same time give him the third highest approval rating of CEOs in America (95%) on a website www.glassdoor.com that lets people rate companies. Anyway, I resisted Apple for many years as well, but eventually the pull to the dark side was too great (I say dark side because I've never liked the business model that is based on such strong proprietary protection - lack of open source). But Apple products are just too good....

You guys look great!

Now buy a PS3 and the family will be complete...

No - not complete until we get an ipad too! I do like my toys....

Family Photo

OK Jim, added the family photo on my profile Its actually been difficult to get a good one - things have been such a wirlwind and we always seem to forget about it when we have all the family together, have a camara and someone to take a photo!

Family is doing well - Justin is overjoyed to have a Daddy (especially one with a pool, Xbox and Wii!) and a big Sister, my daughter is having fun with her new brother. School starts next week which will be tough, but he has some rudimentary english down and I am sure will learn fast. Have started on the adjustment of status.

Abu and Li Li - my first revelation in the whole process was that there WAS NO specialy process for a K-2 - its just the K-1 extended. Good luck - good you have plenty of time (though I think our particular level of urgency probably played in our favor to some extent).

Photo didn't show, so here it is.

Ariana showed up Friday as scheduled - but no Visa. They said come back tomorrow. Yesterday morning - went back to the consulate and got the Visa. SUCCESS!

Thanks entirely to the help I've received here, my wife and stepson will return to America in two weeks!! I don't know how to thank Jim and Darnel- but know you made a real difference in 4 people's lives.

I'll post a family picture in a few weeks when they are back. Other than that, I guess this story is over. I hope others who have read or will read this have gotten some assistance from it. My lesson - if you need special attention, and have good reason, don't be afraid to ask. Write your case succinctly and email the appropriate office - don't wait for the normal wheels to turn, if there is good reason to ask them to jump through hoops.

Thanks everybody!

Thanks prep.mac

Good luck to you as well. This has been a both frustrating and illuminating experience, and Darnell and Jim have been a great help. I haven't always followed their advice immediately - and have each time regretted it. I was too slow to take initial action and lost a couple weeks because of it - but with their help I think its going to work out.

At some point I want to write up the whole experience from K-1 onward and post it - maybe will will prove useful for someone starting out. I made a lot of mistakes. I still sometimes wonder if I should have hired an attorney to start - but my one experience with an attorney, as you know, turned out to be nearly disasterous. Odd to me - I've got a Ph.D. and so think of myself as not too dumb, and the US instructions for all the forms seem clear, so I thought I could handle it all. But I still made mistakes. I should have latched onto this website sooner (though in the begining I was on Candle for Love and got some advice at the time there.

So, crossing my fingers now and waiting. I'll of course keep this thread updated with what happens next week.

The conclusion I've got from this (with the help of you on this forum) is to not to limit yourself to the standard instructions and the documented process. If there is a legitimate reason for special attention, there are helpful people in the immigration organization who are willing to expedite things.

Anyway - fingers are crossed. Biggest fear now is that my wife will go monday to pick up the translated notarized document and find for some reason that it is delayed.

Your right - but 24 hours ago I was betting it wasn't going to happen, while now I'd say the odds are in our favor now.

Good News! I just received an email from Guangzhou - it appears to be a response to the message I sent on the consulate web site (not a reply to my email). They have given her an appointment for Tuesday morning, July 5th! She will pick up her translation on Monday, then get on a train from Hunan province to Guangzhou and be there. I was all ready to cancel her July 8th tickets but now she and my stepson can fly back as schedule. Thank you for all your help!!

Good news - she got the notarized letter. It was very hard - she and her mother had to kneel in front of her ex husband and beg. She knows he wouldn't have agreed if it was just her - but with her mother and grandmother and his father present, he did the right thing. After showing no desire to see the child for 5 years, it would have been just spite for him to stand in the way now.

I've sent and email as well as submitted the request for an appointment via the web form. She won't have the translation until Monday, so I'll send again then with a scan of the document (if I haven't received a reply) as well as fax (against their instructions) and she will express the document (which is what they say to do). On Monday there will only be 9 days left (including time needed to leave the country and arrive in the USA).

I've attached them, but I don't know if they will be readable in this format.

The front has handwriting that specifies the notorized permission document that they need.

The back has a star next to the paragraph that says to mail it in - that they do not accept faxes or emails. Later it says check with the office every few months to check on status. But this is all boilerplate of course.

I'll take your advice. I was going to wait until we had the document and then plead for immediate action, but your suggestion to ask now makes a lot of sense. It worked once before, after all.

She sent me the document. It was a blue form, with the first paragraph saying that "you have been found to be in-eligible for the following reasons". Nothing was checked after that but in the comments section at the bottom of the form there was the written notice that the notarized letter from the birthfather allowing travel to the USA was required. I've never seen the "blue slip" i hear mentioned in these forums, but I assume this is it. None of the check boxes on the back were checked either. My wife being so shocked by the result she didn't ask the critical question - how does this fit into the 1 year window. But your advice is good and I will contact them immediately. Meanwhile we should know tonight if the birth father is going to make it easy or difficult.

She sent me the court custody document as well. She sued for custody when he refused to care for the boy when he was supposed to, and he didn't even show up for the three court dates. She was given "full custody". But I understand their requirement. Just wish it had been detailed in the K-1 packet.

This is a matter of policy rather than law. The Foreign Affairs Manual states that the K2 visa must be issued within one year of the issuance of the K1 visa. The FAM also states that after one year an immigrant visa petition must be filed for the child. There are no provisions in the Foreign Affairs Manual to extend that window of time.

I wish I could read the instructions from the consulate in Guangzhou. Was the requirement for the letter of approval from the non-immigrating parent not mentioned in the instructions? If it was then follow those instructions for the letter.

I think you need to find out precisely what the letter from the consulate said. Letters from the consulate in HCMC often read like a denial letter, and then go on to ask for specific documents from the beneficiary and/or the petitioner. They don't use the word "denied", though.

Whether the visa was denied or simply put on hold pending the letter from the boy's father, I think you need to contact the consulate immediately. You should explain the urgency of the timing here, and ask if another interview can be scheduled before the one year window has expired, either to continue the previous visa application or submit a new visa application. Even if the previous application was denied he should still be eligible to apply again. If you can't get a response from the consulate within a few days then contact Marc Ellis and see if he can get another appointment for you. Move quickly.

http://www.marcellislaw.com/contact.html

She is going to scan and send me a number of docs later today - but she read me a portion and it used the word denial.

I guess I didn't present my question right. I'm pretty sure we will get the birth father's consent, in the end. He has had nothing to do with the child for 6 years as well as being abusive in the marriage. My question about "getting help" was more about expediting the appeal of the denial. I'm told it will take "a few months" which I guess means 6 months or so.

David

Thanks. Talked to my wife this morning and they have talked to the ex and he says "he needs time". I came to the same conclusion about bribes and have started liquidating some money. I like the idea of the child support approach - but if actually gets to the court I assume we are talking about years.

But I now understand that this was a "denial", so even if he approves tomorrow, it sounds like we are talking about several months more for an appeal. I still don't understand whether or not that "several months" for an appeal now extends the 1year deadline for the K-2, or whether the whole process ends in 2 weeks and we have to start over with a I-130.

Is there any value in trying to use outside influence to speed up the appeal? Call my senator? Get a Guangzhou lawyer with connections? Go to Guangzhou myself (would they meet with me?)

Update - a new problem. Everything seemed hopeful. I did go to the USCIS interview in SF today and asked if I needed to withdraw the I-130. She said yes, and I presented the letter I had written withdrawing the petition.

My wife went to China 3 weeks ago, got all the documents prepared and went to her interview today. She just called me in tears - they say, she must have her ex husband's permission to bring the boy to America.

I had asked her if she had custody before, and she told me how she had had to go to the court to get it, but did have it. But I never saw a translation of the document, so I don't really know what it said. Whatever it said, it apparently isn't good enough, or isn't complete custody. This is a problem that I hadn't anticipated at all - if we can't get permission or custody, her son can't come, which means she must stay - which I don't even want to think about. Of course, if she can't get the birth father to agree, we can get a lawyer involved - but who knows how long that will take - certainly longer than the 14 days that we have left.

Do you know anything about Chinese custody law that might help?

OK, so far, so good. But of course, I have more questions.

My wife left SFO on Monday and arrived successfully in Changsha Hunan Province. Meanwhile the interview packet arrived at her mother's (a big relief, as we were concerned they would send to the wrong address). We have all the documents from last time, except we are translating the custody order, which we hadn't done before. My wife just asked me if we should complete a DS-156 in my son's name and I told here NO - we are still in the K-1 process - just completing what we didn't finish. She is still the applicant (even though she has her visa) and her son is the "follow on".

Do you agree that this is the right approach?

We are going to have to pay the fee again, as the receipt was taken the last time at the first interview. I'm going to suggest she ask if it can be refunded, but again, without the receipt, I don't know if they would consider that. Anyway, I don't want $400 to stand in the way.

She is asking if she needs to do a GNI-2. I don't remember doing this last year. Is this a new requirement?? Or maybe we did and I didn't keep a copy. But I looked at it and it doesn't look familiar. Do you know?

She goes to Guangzhou next Tue the 21st for the medical exam for her son and will stay there until the next Monday, the 27th for the interview. In the meantime I guess I will keep our appointment for the I-130 in San Francisco (just so happens to be the same day) just in case. Though I think I will know by then if we got the visa, because of the time difference. I don't know if the K-2 will somehow change or discontinue the I-130 process - if not it will make the green card come faster (though with more money - but that ship has sailed).

Yes, bought tickets for my wife to fly on Monday - very expensive on such short notice! Feeling lucky, bought the ticket for our son to come home as well. She has birth certificates, residence certificates and photos from baby to now, so I don't think there will be a problem. If there is a problem, it will be the short time line and the Chinese mail system. Its difficult to find an address for them to send the packet to that receives postal mail. Having to send it to the work place of her uncle.

In answer to Darnells question, I did use the web portal to send the same message that I sent the email and yes, it doesn't allow attachments. Turns out it was the email that got action. What actually happened was I sent the email to the contact email of the US CIS office there. They replied back - "we don't deal with immigration - send it to the immigration office using the web portal". However, I think they must have forwarded it to the right office anyway, as when I got the good news back, it was a reply to that email. I also sent two faxes, so perhaps that got someones attention.

I was so expecting the emails and faxes to not accomplish anything, as I expected that the proper process had to be followed - it must be submitted by mail. But I guess they are more flexible than I thought. In fact, at least for me, in this whole process from my wifes K1 to her green card and now, I have been continually suprised by how "human" and helpful the immigration service people that I have dealt with have been, from the jolly woman who easily gave my wife the K-1 (thought what she said made it easy was my 1 page, bulleted, succinct description of our timeline and relationship), to the officer in San Francisco who jumped through loops to get my wife a temporary green card because she had a trip planned immediately after the interview, to this quick response. I know it isn't everyone's experience, but I've learned that behind all the regulations and forms, there still are good people.

Wonder of wonders. Composed an email describing the chronology and asking that the case be reopened and a new interview scheduled and included scans of our DS-230 and the Letter that came with the packet last year, both listing my step-son as a follow-on. Next morning had a response saying I had sent it to the wrong people (CIS) and to use the web portal to submit the request, which I did. Prepared a larger packet including the OF-169 and other documents, faxed it and tried to get it to a friend in China, but had repeated problems with scanning while trying to do my day job, so we hadn't gotten it off by the time I came home from work last night. An hour after I came home from work - there was an email reply to my original email, re-openning the case and granting us an interview on June 27th! Only took 24 hours!

Thanks for all your help - you have saved our family much heartache!

Thanks. Just sent them an email with the explanation and scans of the DS-230 and the original cover letter which accompanied theK-1 packet - as it names both her and her son. Will fax it too. May not do any good without all the rest, but it seemed a good way to get something going. Now that I got your advice I'll put the rest together and get it off. Thanks again!