Luigi

I looked at mine last night (we're packing up to go back to the states, so it got buried). What Ryan H said is exactly what I did. I864, joint sponsor. We didn't have any problems with it, hope you're good, too. Good luck on that!

Congrats on the visa receipt! I am glad everything is over for you.

Thank you very much. This whole process is a nightmare. No, I've had nightmares, this is worse than that...

Really, though, thank you guys for the support and for the assistance. I couldn't have done it (and certainly not had peace of mind in so doing) without you.

Now, onto more packing!

I just started working this year, so no W2. Since the beginning of the year, I've been working. In addition to the "Employment Letter", should I submit ALL Pay-stubs from this year, or only the last with YTD?

I had a seasonal job in November/December, and just included the latest two pay stubs at the time. I had previous years' tax returns, though, from my previous employer, but for that seasonal job, just sent in the most recent 2 stubs. We sent those in in December. When you go to the interview, I would bring the new latest pay stub you have, though. Just in case.

For the record, I had the W2s for 2011 by the time that she interviewed, but they didn't look at them. They took all the tax returns I could find, though (2006 to 2012 and 2006 to 2011 for me).

I can't remember how mine is filled out, I can't dig it out until tomorrow, but my I864 (A?) has my parents as the co-sponsor, as well, because I quit working last February to get married and start this process, so I didn't have much of an income to really report. Anyway, they, obviously, were in the form, as well as me. But like I said, I can't remember what all was in there, like which section I was, and I can't get it until tomorrow.

she has a chance to correct the 'ship to ' address for the green card at the POE. She may be a bit tired and forlorn after a 12 hour flight, but try to remind her that she needs to ask the cbp human at the poe to review the address for green card delivery.

Good Luck with the Pond Jump ! I'm so happy you guys have the visa !

Ok, then, that's it? Then I won't bother bothering the consulate. That's basically the same answer we got from the DoS operator. So she'll go through the immigration stamping alone, and that's where she hands over the visa package (I've seen people go several to a window, hence that part of the question)? Same place you hand over the customs declaration sheet, that guy can do it, right?

Ok, then, we'll proceed to go with the flight we found for Thursday, enters through Ohare, and happens to be the cheapest one we can lock onto.

Thank you, once again, Darnell for all your help through this. Hopefully I don't need to start more threads like this ever again.

My fiancee had an entirely different experience in Guangzhou. So I guess it depends on what Embassy & the mood of the Consular Officer at the moment... My fiancee not only included all education going back to primary school and all jobs for the past 10 years, but she also submitted a "resume" with all relevant work and educational history for past 10 years with references in chronological order. The result: Delay for "Administrative Processing" for unknown reasons for unknown length of time (averages 90 days, I'm told). The "blue letter" that came to her in the mail asked for "detailed work/educational history for past 10 years." She sent the same one back to them that she gave them at intake. It was already 100% factual, up-to-date, and certified by translator. Bottom line: you can't know for sure. The system is designed to keep you in the dark. Best to have more than they asked for on hand at the interview. Then, you still might be rejected for unstated reasons for undetermined time. Hope it's not US Embassy in Guangzhou you're dealing with, as they have 50% denial rate. Best wishes!

Yikes!

By chance, did your fiancee work in any specialized or technical fields or have post-graduate degrees? Mine had a bachelor's, and taught English through high school (not special enough for them).

And as to that last part, the 50% isn't very surprising. But all China goes through Guangzhou's consulate for this...

I can tell you in my instance, my wife on the DS230, just put all the way from elementary school. She has a college degree, and even put that on the form, but they never asked about it (to see, it or anything). I've been told that they don't usually check into these things, as well, if it's just regular education (just a bachelor's or associate's, I figure), so if you're not 100% sure on the dates (we weren't), don't sweat it too much, unless there's an issue or something in the education. That was our experience, anyway.

Hot dog. My wife's visa came in the mail today. Just picked it up and returned home. Very pleased about that. Now everything about going really just waits on us. And even if we choose to do everything later, at least it's up to us, we're finally gaining more control in our lives, again.

Bad news, though, on the summary page (I don't know about inside the visa packet), they have the final address listed wrong. They have the 4th digit of my zip code wrong. I checked all the papers, before we sent them in, and the zip code was always written right. Do you think this might cause any problems during entry or anything like that?

And thank you, Darnell for all your help, specifically. And thanks to others who cheered for my support. Thank God most of this is over, finally.

e: and one more thing, apparently the summary page was torn from its staple to something inside the visa packet in the mail. When we got it, it was already torn. Hope even with these two things everything will be fine. What do you guys think?

Is EMS safe and guaranteed package will be delivered? Will they call before they give up?

EMS is probably the safest method of mailing, short of delivering the package yourself. I believe it is guaranteed here. So, if I had to recommend, I would definitely recommend EMS. I've never had an issue whether they couldn't deliver something, but I expect that they would. They call when they send a package to you, and you can have them call to tell you when the package is delivered, so I believe so.

I kind of wondered about that, too. The extra tests cost more than the entire original exam including the vaccines.

Yikes! That's expensive.

Best of luck to you both, especially regarding her health.

I don't know the answers to your questions, but a head's up, in case you didn't already know:

I was speaking with a gentleman during my wife's interview in March, his step son (18 years) was in the interview, alone. However, he received the blue RFE paper, because he did not supply enough photographs of the man and his wife (the boy's mother) together. There were plenty of photos of the boy with each parent, but the officer felt there weren't enough of the two parents together.

Just wanted to let you know, so the same didn't happen to you. Sorry I can't help more, though. Good luck.

Thanks guys, I think she's fine. She doesn't have any of the symptoms and what set this off was a very small shadow on her chest x-ray, which could be nothing. We're mostly bummed that we're likely looking at at least another 3 months of waiting and another trip to Guangzhou. Nothing to do I guess. If she does have TB it's good that we caught it now, even if it is a pain in the 屁股.

FoundNanning: I think you can get the shots anywhere, but you need the official Chinese yellow vaccination book that proves it was administered (again, I think). They gave my wife the 4 you mention above, including influenza (in May) and they are recorded in a yellow book titled "International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis".

Incidentally, back in September, I had the exact same issue, only with lung cancer, instead of tb. Turns out the truth was... the hospital was scamming me for money (I even went in for CT scans). Bad side is, I flew back home the next day, because they told me I'd be dead if I didn't get immediate surgery. Truth was... it was a complete lie. I had a bad case of gastritis, which they ignored, completely. So, hopefully the same is true for you. It is a shame that your interview is postponed, but you don't need insult added to injury here.

I wish there was ORD-WUH direct flight. That would be cool. I like ORD better than any other CONUS airport.

I've never left through ORD, living in AZ, it's much cheaper to go to SFO or LAX. Leaving the US through SFO, however, is very pleasant, I don't even have to go through security, again.

That said, I quite liked ORD while I was there. A little bigger than I needed, but still fine.

Sorry, that should be 1268 RMB with the vaccines, typo. You also need to bring your wife's passport and appointment letter. Just fyi. Not sure when our appointment will be now, they think my wife may have TB and the test will take 6-8 weeks, after which they'll schedule another appointment if the test comes back negative. We're a little bummed out.

Oh, man, that's terrible news. Good luck with everything. Hopefully like Darnell mentioned, you're just another one of those false positives.

Good luck, once again.

Ok, then, when you mentioned that the consulate was supposed to be moving, it made sense, but I thought I remembered my wife telling me the clinic moved. I'll say i was mistaken on this. Thanks for that, but I swear there was an issue she had with finding directions, because one of the places moved (although with the consulate going up, she might have had trouble with that one).

Regardless, thanks for clearing that part up.

That's what I was looking for. Updated information. Thank you. How much does the embassy charge for notarization?

The main embassy in Beijing charges $50 US.

And I agree with Dave and Joy. I think we should all take Darnell out for a drink.

Also, thanks, Darnell for saving me the trouble of going and digging about that.

Does this go by another name? I don't remember this paper in the slightest. Got a sample?

From my limited experience, I have gone through customs in SFO and "Smell-A" once each. But the CBP folks at SFO were certainly more hospitable than the a@@hole that I got in Smell-A. The CBP jerk I got was rude, condescending, and unprofessional. I now avoid Smell-A for that reason and a couple more. I have done a fair amount of international air travel, and have gone through POEs in the East and South with no issues. I have gone through SEA now two times and the CBP folks were courteous and professional. I have options and exercise them as I see fit.

YMMV

Yeah, I went through LAX once, and they didn't like how my card was stamped, so I had to go through that supplementary area, and the guy helping me there, I swear, was going to bite off the head of the man behind me. He was very rude, but oddly, not to me... ORD wasn't too bad to me, haven't returned through SFO, yet. Glad to hear another opinion on the matter.

After you exit Zhujiang New Town (B1, if memory serves), you face a wall, with an intersection just to your left, and a large building just to your right. I believe it's the second building, and probably not 100 meters away.

As for the consulate, I feel it's closer to East Railway, but Baidu says to get out at Linhe Xi. If you get out at the station, it's a more direct shot, fewer turns and all. However, you have to pass the large waterfall before you can see it, thi way (not really an issue, IMO). Just get to the corner of the park, and look across the street, and the consulate should be there.

I just booked a flight for mid-June interview in Guangzhou. I was able to get RT flights SEA -> PEK -> CAN for $1735, with 18 hours in transit (4 hour layover in PEK), on Hainan Air. I have taken the SEA -> PEK leg a couple of times, it is usually an 11 hour flight. The prices right now are no bargain, but hey.... I may as well spend it, I can't take it with me when I die, and this is for a heart cause..... I looked at going through SFO, LAX, YVR, but the prices were higher, the layovers were too long.

That's my story and I am sticking to it.

Yeah, my SFO layover is 6.5 hours, if the plane from Tucson doesn't land early (and it usually does). But for me, it's cheap, so I don't mind it.

Also, from what I've been told, SFO customs is a lot nicer than LAX, especially to immigrants.

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My wife fly's on China Southern direct to GZ. I chose Asiana spent the big bucks and flew business class only once on my first visit, with a stop in Soul. PHX to LAX you know leave at midnight get to GZ around 11am, terrible long flight.

That sounds nasty, yeah. I leave at 6:30 (my plane) from Tucson to San Francisco, to Beijing, then Zhengzhou, and get to ZZ around 10 or 11 at night. Not bad and usually the cheapest flight to Zhengzhou I can find (I don't like arriving so late, but the flight isn't bad). We flew China Southern to GZ as well. Flew Hainan Air back, and on the way back... they left our suitcase at the airport in GZ. They sent it to us the next day, but I didn't appreciate having so many important papers almost lost.

I've still never flown business, but I'm tempted. I saw the price, though, and it's about 7 or 8 times as expensive, at least the time or two I looked. But I hear it's worth it. Maybe some day, haha.

Many thanks for the info.

No problem. Hope it helps you guys.

Also, you can go upstairs with your significant other, to the long line, however, when they are actually going in to the consulate, there's a rope barrier, you can't pass that at this time. I forgot to mention that, before. My wife read online that some people were allowed into the consulate to wait on one of the days, but that's not true.

My wife and another gentleman I met went in nearly the same time on document intake day, and came out literally one after the other. He and I stayed on the bottom floor. That said, if memory serves, they got out around 4:30, which would be about 4 hours. However, she and I didn't arrive until 11:30 to 11:45, and there were plenty of people in line, already. That day, when you get through the first guys handing out cards, you seem to kind of get a number, she never clearly explained how that worked, and I'm not 100% sure she really knew...

The next day, we were a little further behind the same gentleman, but my wife got out more than 90 minutes after his. This time, however (at least until he and the other person we were with left), we waited at the cafe just outside the exit of the consulate. Be warned, it's really expensive, but once you buy a drink, they just leave you alone. The second day, my wife got out around 11:15. I waited for her both days, but had people to talk to, fortunately. If you stay, strike up a conversation with some of the people there.

That's my advice, anyway. If you don't want to wait so long, going back to the hotel for an hour or two might not be bad, and if you go back, she might not notice, haha.

I just got an email giving us Packet 4 instructions and telling us that our visas appointment is scheduled for June 13th. My fiancee is applying for her K-1 and her son is applying for his K-2. I believe that the GUZ P3 shortcut, a la Darnell, worked like a champ!!!

谢谢

Congratulations!

Perhaps it moved during that time? It looks like the consulate updated the address on their forms as it matches the new address listed by the clinic. I don't know, I'm a little confused too. Guess we'll find out on Tuesday.

Guess so. I really can't remember, but I remember talking about how there were two addresses, and we had to figure out which it was...

I know for certain the address on the FAQ for the consulate is right, and the clinic is at the Zhujiang New Town exit. So at least there's that.

Again, good luck to you on your interview!