Eric & Jin

Did you use an agency or do it yourself? If agency, which agency?

I've always used www.visa-chinese.com in Houston because I trust them and their fees are low. I'd rather pay a few more bucks up front and get the 90 days then have to deal with it in country. We plan to stay longer next time.

Hi Pushbrk,

I always use www.mychinavisa.com out of Houston and was able to get a 2 year multi-entry 90 day stay visa through them without any problem just this past December. It was the 3rd time that I have gotten a visa through them and have had a good experience each time.

I am not familiar with the process for F Type visas but I can tell you that the GUZ consulate sends out the P4 paperwork for other visa types such as K-1 & K-3 on pretty much a daily basis.

I have been able to get a multi-entry visa for the past 3 years without any problems at all, in fact I just received my latest one last week - I was issued a 24 Month Multi-Entry 90 Day Stay visa (you can get a 24 month instead of the usual 12 month visa if you are married to a Chinese National). I use www.mychinavisa.com out of Houston and have always received my visa in about 7 days using their regular non-expedited service.

but i think we are getting off track of what i need.

you keep asking about the denial.

i need to know what to do next, not what to do about what happened.

Knowing the actual reason for the denial is needed before any meaningful advice about what to do next can be given. No matter what step that you decide to take next (try to have USCIS reaffirm original petition, refile another K-1, get married and file a K-3/CR-1) it will be paramount to address the actual reason(s) that the denial was given.

I think that over the past 2 years I have only seen 2 cases on candleforlove where CCP members successfully received visa approval during their initial interview - for everyone else who were CCP members and have posted about their experience on CFL it seems as though it is SOP to issue a blue slip, put the case into AP and run additional name/background checks for 2-4 months before issuing an approval. I am not sure if the people in those 2 cases did anything differently than everyone else in the same situation did or if it was just luck of the draw that they were approved without the need for additional name checks. The good news is that most everyone else who went through this experience and posted about it on CFL were able to overcome the blue slip and eventually received approval in the end.

Has anyone notice that airline tickets to China has double, they are over $2,000 now. Do anyone know a cheaper airlines, or any other way to get a cheaper fight, that I don't know about? I would like to go to my fiance interview December 28.

Hi Tom,

Which city are you looking to flying into? Since you are going to Guangzhou for the interview you may want to check out the airfares into Hong Kong. You can fly into Hong Kong and then take the train to Guangzhou for about $25 - that is what I did for Jin's interview. I bought a ticket a couple of weeks ago for a flight from Atlanta to Hong Kong on Feb 5 for about $950 - I got my ticket directly from Delta's website. I am sure that the fact that you will be flying during the Christmas holidays probably has something to do with the high airfares that you are finding as well. Good Luck!

As Darnell as already said, your fiancee will go through a pretty quick screening by a Chinese worker before the actual interview takes place at which time the P4 forms, I-134 and supporting documents, and the sealed medical envelope that your fiancee receives at her medical exam are all collected and looked at briefly - they want to make sure that your fiancee actually has everything and that it is indeed filled out before the actual interview takes place.

During the interview the proof of relationship evidence may or may not be asked for by the VO - although they almost always ask to see the photos. My fiancee and I just made several photo albums out of flexible 3 ring binders so that they could easily be passed through the window slot.

Ok, I chatted with someone who just recently obtained Canadian transit visas for his Chinese inlaws and there is not much to the process. You can download the visa application form from the Canadian Embassy's website and then the Chinese citizen will need to submit the application to the Canadian Embassy or Consulate in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Chongqing. There is no fee for the visa and usually only takes a couple of days to get. So I guess that it is relatively easy to get but I would still consider it to be a pretty big hassle just to be able to change planes in Canada.

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience obtaining a Canadian Transit visa for their Chinese spouse/fiancee? I know that a non green card holding Chinese citizen must have one in order to change planes in Canada while traveling from China to the US or vice versa but have no idea how hard it is to get one. Thanks!

Does anyone have experience with getting vaccinations in China - as they are mandatory for CR1 immigrant visa petitions? Since my wife is < 25 years old, we'll need to get 4 mandatory shots. (Surprisingly she tells me she doesn't have any vaccination record because China didn't have that "back in the day.")

On CDC's PDF, I noticed that for HPV and Varicella both had waiting times (usually 1 month or more) between doses (as opposed to getting a one-time dose). Would it be possible to get the first dose in China and then get subsequent doses in the US? Would that fly with the people conducting the medical exam or with the interviewing officer at the Consulate? If not, does that mean we'd have push back our interview date until she receives all doses (which would be slightly ridiculous)? Also I would ideally be able to check if my local township or county in the US gives free vaccinations so we could save money on the subsequent doses.

Thanks.

My wife came to the US on a K-1 so I can't speak definitively about the vaccination series requirements for the CR-1 however we were able to file for Adjustment of Status after only receiving the first of the Varicella doses. The rule for AOS is that the applicant must have just started the series of doses so I think that it is probably the same rule as far as the CR-1 goes as well.

And to answer your other question - yes the CDC has dropped the HPV & Zoster vaccination requirements for immigrants starting Dec 14 which is really good news.

On average, after approval, she should receive her visa in about 2 days but this is not always the case and can not be counted on. The passport/visa can be mailed to any address within Guangdong province and also to the following 9 cities which are outside of Guangdong province: Beijing, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Changle, Nanjing, Wenzhou, Tianjin, Shenyang and Changchun. The visa mailing option was expanded to include these 9 additonal cities last month:

http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/ch...hout_china.html

Good Luck!!

Wow, thanks for this information!!! I think I will still take pushbrk's advice and have her arrive two days early, but then she can get the medical out of the way and have a full day to mentally relax. She is very confident, she works for an English language teaching company, but we have both read too many stories of people being denied because of issues with the interview communication. The other information about the additional cities is actually great!! I have a cousin who lives in Shanghai (Fiancee is in Chongqing), so if it is not available within two days she can give them the address in Shanghai? Let me know what you know and I will also read the full detail of the email. Happy Turkey Day!

Oh...oh...I see. They say an average of three days...and that the visa can be mailed to the recepients home address, so the cousin in Shanghai is out. Okay, then we will just have to sit tight in Guangzhou. haha, the only reason I am posting this is so that pushbrk won't yell at me for not reading all the details. I prefer to smile when he does it to others

I am pretty sure that you could still have it mailed to the cousin if you really needed to because after the interview your fiancee will be required to fill out an EMS label to where she wants her passport/visa & immigration envelope mailed to whether that be either the post office in GUZ or another location. The consulate does not automatically mail the package out to the applicant's home address but instead to wherever the EMS label directs them to. I know that many people in the past who do not live in GUZ and could not wait around for the visa have had it mailed to a relative/friend in Guangdong province who then forwards it on to them.

In any event yes you would be wise to follow pushbrk's advice of arriving in GUZ 2 days early just in case anything with the medical happened to go wrong and she needed to have something additonal done, etc. Plus like you said, it will give her an extra day to relax. My wife had her interview on a Tuesday and so we arrived in GUZ on the Sunday before and had the medical done on Monday. We were able to pick up the passport/visa package at the post office on the following Thursday (2 days after the interview).

OH BTW - remind your fiancee to write down the tracking number on the EMS label, so that you can track the passport/visa package.

If your fiancee plans on getting her medical exam while she is in Guangzhou then one thing that she can do to save time is to use one of the clinics which offers expedited results. My wife and I used the Guangzhou United Family Clinic which offers same day results as part of their standard service - we were out of the clininc with results in hand in about 3 hours. The cost of the medical exam here is 800rmb which includes the same day service.

On average, after approval, she should receive her visa in about 2 days but this is not always the case and can not be counted on. The passport/visa can be mailed to any address within Guangdong province and also to the following 9 cities which are outside of Guangdong province: Beijing, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Changle, Nanjing, Wenzhou, Tianjin, Shenyang and Changchun. The visa mailing option was expanded to include these 9 additonal cities last month:

http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/ch...hout_china.html

Good Luck!!

Now for K-1 - it's FattieLittleSlug - my favorite K-1 petition lass in Wuhan (same town as my wife )

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=72981

88 days from start to finish .. SAFEFILE was used in this case , by NVC, as well.

Wow, now that is by far the fastest start to finish K-1 that I have ever heard of - good for them!! I wish that mine had gone that fast but I certainly will not complain since we got approved in the end and our AOS was approved much sooner than I had hoped for.

Did you actually look at the link?

Did you even look at my post which is a cut and paste? Sorry, not a CFL homer because many people there are so snippy (don't look in the mirror). I pasted the info here rather than just a link to your fave site.

Be happy!

Wow talk about someone who is both snippy and seriously lacking in social skills - can't handle when someone points out that you posted inaccurate information uh?? The link to the entire thread was posted because it contains a lot of good information about the Yang's - not just a phone number and rates (which by the way are not set and fluctuate greatly) but since you didn't bother to read it before posting a snippy comment about it, you will never know.

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...=14102&st=0

^^^^^ 2006 info:

Did you actually look at the link? It is continually updated with current information my none other than Mr. & Mrs Yang themselves as well as those who have recently stayed there - Mrs. Yang just made several posts on the 17th of this month.

http://www.yangjiahua.com/

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...=14102&st=0

Most banks only require a SSN and some sort of picture ID to open a bank account. After my wife got her SSN but before we actually got married I added her to 2 of my accounts at 2 seperate banks plus opened her an individual account as well - no green card or EAD was required. The banks only required that she have a SSN and accepted her passport as a picture ID.

...why does the USC part of the equation routinely -not always- claims visa fraud? I find it pretty annoying and sometimes insulting.

I imagine for the same reason that many foreign spouses come on VJ during/after a divorce claiming that they were abused and seeking information on adjusting their status via VAWA which can be equally annoying/insulting. The fact of the matter is that none of us know if any of the divorce horror stories that are told on here by either the USC or the foreign spouse is true and so we should not pass judgment on any of them.

Hi all,

I hope this is relevant enough to not be considered a hijack, but:

what is the approximate timeline between filing for AOS/work authorisation and receiving the work authorisation?

Does work authorisation typically arrive before the AOS is complete?

Thanks in advance,

Adam

To answer my own question (in case anyone else stumbles across this looking for the answer), the processing times can be seen here: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplay.do .

The timescale will depend on the Service Center you're using. As an example, the Vermont Service Center is currently saying 3 months to issue work authorisation.

Regards,

Adam

Just to give you an idea of the current timelines - my wife recently applied for AOS and received her EAD about 6 weeks later.

Hi all,

In packet 3, the consulate asked me to send original passport. Is there any purpose for that? Why they need the original and the copy of particular page is not enough? I will bring the original on the day of interview but that is the required documents in checklist.

Thank a lot

I took a look at the visa information page that is posted on the Rangoon Embassy website and it does in fact state that when applying for a visa the applicant's passport must be submitted along with the visa application forms (DS-156, DS-157 and DS-158) at least 1 week prior to the interview. I think the reason why they are requiring this is because it looks as if they treat K visas just like any other non-immigrant visa whereas most other Embassy/Consulates handle K visas through their Immigrant Visa Unit and pretty much treat them as immigrant visas even though technically they are designated as non-immigrant visas.

Quick question, seems straight forward but sometimes confusing. I am being told my fiancée signature will need to be in English Language on her 325a form.

1. I am certain she does not have an English signature so will she just hand write her name where the signature line is on 325a?

2. We had her Divorce and Birth Certificates translated to English while I was in China. Translation is Family Name 1st and Given name 2nd which it also in this order in her native language. If she signs her name in English on signature line of 325a will she still put her family name 1st?

3. When I was in China her signature on Letter of Intent for 90 days was in Chinese language (family Name 1st) . Will this be sufficent?

Seem like dumb questions but I don’t want a small technicality to hold up the process.

Thank you

My wife (then fiancée) signed all of the documents throughout the K-1 process in the Family Name/First Name format and we didn't have any problems. Also whenever her signature was called for she would sign it in both English & Chinese characters but always in the Family Name/First Name format.

I would add that if the fiance is from Fujian province, they'll receive even more scrutiny as Fujian is China's Nigeria when it comes to fraud.

Based upon my personal experiences, this belief is much more of an urban myth than reality.

My wife is from Fujian province and prior to her interview I had read many similar types of warnings on this and other boards which in turn got both of us really worried. So before the interview I attended an ACH session and asked the VO specifically about whether or not people from Fujian province receive any greater scrutiny during the visa process than people who are from other provinces. He said no and was very forthcoming in expalining it further to me.

He said that being from Fujian province alone does not send up any warning flags to them. What he did say though is that there are certain 'watch' areas within Fujian province that if an applicant is from one of these areas and certain other factors exist then this would possibly throw up a warning flag for them. He mentioned two such contributing factors which would cause a warning flag and possibly bring on more questions/digging in the interview. Those two factors that he mentioned were: 1. Applicant does not speak English and 2. Petitioner has only made 1 trip to China. He would not name the 'watch' areas within Fujian Province which are of some concern to them but he did tell me that Xiamen, which is where my wife is from, is not one of those areas. He also said that there are just as many 'watch' areas within other provinces other than Fujian that could trigger a warning flag when coupled with other circumstances - so this is by no means limited to Fujian province.

After my talk with the VO coupled with the fact that my wife only had a quick 5 minute interview before getting approved leads me to believe that there is no greater risk of scrutiny if your fiancée/wife is from Fujian province than there is if she is from any other province. Bottom line is focus & prepare to make sure that you have a solid case and not worry about what province that you fiancée/wife may be from.

I don't understand the vaccination requirements for the K-1 interview at Guangzhou. The paper from the embassy says she must have about 15 different ones. She's probably had some of these as a child but there is no record. According to one doctor you can't get a titer test in Jiangsu province and they can't give multiple vaccinations on one day in fact you have to wait 15 days between any vaccinations. I remember the rather traumatic experience of having multiple shots on one day as a child so I know there is no reason you can't. My question would be if she can't get all these shots done in time how is she suppose to get this visa? Do they just give her the ones she can get at the medical exam and call it good or what?

As pushbrk has already indicated to you there are no vaccination requirements for the K-1 interview itself - your fiancée would only need to have the vaccinations administered before you file for her Adjustment Of Status. So there is no need to get the vaccinations prior to the interview or even before entering the US. With that being said, you are right the document that GUZ sends out listing the 15 different vaccinations is very confusing. The fact of the matter is that almost all of the 15 vaccinations listed on that document are age specific meaning that most people only need to get 3-4 of them. Most people fall into the age group (27-64) in which only 3 of the vaccinations are required, with those being:

1. MMR

2. Td/Tdap

3. Varicella (chicken pox)

If your fiancée is 26 years old or younger then she would also be required to have the HPV vaccination in addition to the 3 listed above.

Check out page 12 of the Vaccination Requirements for Immigrants Document below that is issued by the CDC - page 12 has a chart which breaks down each of the vaccinations and which ones are required based upon age. I actually took this document with me when I took my wife to the Civil Surgeon here in the US to have her vaccinations administered and I-693 completed as he was a bit confused as to which ones were actually required as well.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/pdf/ti_vacc.pdf

If he is currently a legal resident of the Dominican Republic then that is where his interview will take place.

Note - he made need to return to China though in order to obtain the required police certificate and/or notarized birth certificate.

Does he need the single status statement for the I129F interview?

Thanks

Yes he will need that as well. He will need to take his National ID card and Hokou (family registration) to the Police station where his Hokou resides in order to get a police certificate. Then he will need to take the Police certificate along with his national ID and Hokou to the Gong Zheng Chu, Public Notary Service where it will be translated into English and notarized. The Gong Zheng Chu will also produce the so called 'WHITE BOOK' (birth certificate) which contains a copy/extract that will attest and say when your fiance was born, that he is a boy, that his parents were XXXXX, and if parents deceased...etc. The Gong Zheng Chu will also produce the 'Unmarried' or 'Marriageability' Certificate for your fiance based upon the information contained in his Hokou.

If he is currently a legal resident of the Dominican Republic then that is where his interview will take place.

Note - he made need to return to China though in order to obtain the required police certificate and/or notarized birth certificate.