Our Story

[Willy The Londoner]

I know one couple who were asked where each and every photograph was taken and the occasion it was taken for, whether a special occasion, a birthday party etc etc.  They both gave interviews separate  and luckily both gave the same answers.

Willy

[Neil]

I wasn't asked about a single picture (and I included lots).  In fact, through our entire interview, we never referenced my submitted evidence once.  From the questions they asked, it was obvious that they had read through the evidence though. 

[Robertt S]

This is copied straight from the Field Adjudicators Manual ( Visa Interview Officer )


The Burden of Proof .  
   
 The burden of proof in establishing eligibility for an immigration benefit always falls solely on the petitioner or applicant.  USCIS need not prove ineligibility.  
   
 Each application and petition form includes specific evidence requirements necessary for approval.  When an applicant or petitioner can establish that certain primary evidence is unavailable, secondary evidence, also in specific forms, may be provided.   
 Experienced officers become familiar with a wide range of documents submitted as evidence.  Sound judgment is required to determine which forms of primary and secondary evidence should be accepted in individual cases.  In addition to reliance on past experience, there are sources of information for verifying information discussed in Chapter 14 of this field manual. See Matter of Brantigan, 11 I&N Dec.  453 (BIA 1966).   
   
 Strict rules of evidence used in criminal proceedings do not apply in administrative proceedings.  Usually, any oral or documentary evidence may be used in visa petition proceedings.  Copies of public documents, certified by the person having custody of the originals, are generally admissible.  See also Chapter 11 of this manual for a discussion of evidence.   

[Smaug]

Now, my QunFang has been back in Guangzhou for a month or so. We miss each other greatly, and I'm sure many of you are familiar with that feeling.

I cannot afford to fly there again so soon, even though I have vacation left. So we will wait until Chinese New Year, then I will fly to see her again.

We finally got enough evidence together to submit to USCIS, and the fiance visa paperwork is filed now. (as of a couple weeks ago) We're told that they have been taking 8 months to approve these, so it is now time to hurry up and wait. So maybe around May, her visa will be approved, then, they will file for her son's, etc.

Maybe we can spend next Mid-Autumn Festival together...

[Willy The Londoner]

I would wait until after Chinese New Year to travel here. With 3-400 hundred millions of Chinese traveling around for the New year air line fares into China are at their highest.

Willy

[Neil]

Hmm, I was thinking about going back for Spring Festival.  No matter how many people there are, it seems there's always room for one more. 

[Willy The Londoner]

Hmm, I was thinking about going back for Spring Festival.  No matter how many people there are, it seems there's always room for one more.

Your right there Neil. But it was the cost thing I was referring to. Smaug was saying he could not afford to come here until it was the most expensive time to travel.  So I suggested after when it was cheaper.

Willy

[Neil]

Ah, right you are Willy.  It is indeed the most expensive time to travel.  Then there's the red envelopes. 

[Smaug]

I checked on the airfare during Chinese New Year, and it was indeed really high if one intends to fly there just before, and leave just after. Coming well before and well after is one option, but even that is not very reasonable. The reason I want to go during Chinese New Year is so my lady doesn't have to burn as many vacation days. I have more than she does, and she needs to burn so many just running around getting things translated and notarized, you know?

So I kept looking and found a fair to get there in about the middle of their holiday, and leave well after the end of it. That was reasonable, since I bought the tickets months and months in advance.

Now, a month after I bought the ticket, the fiancee visa has been approved, and we're waiting for the case to be transferred to the National Visa Center. (NVC) My lady now has to gather a bunch more documents together, get a physical exam, get a letter that says she has no criminal record, and a bunch of other things. Some of the things, we had just submitted for the visa petition. Now they are asking for the same things again. (for example, proof of our previous divorces) How annoying.

We're told it will probably take 6-8 weeks for the government to transfer the case to the NVC. That will give us time to get documents in order, but maybe she will be able to come here BEFORE Chinese New Year? In which case I'll either lose the $1300 for the ticket, or pay a handsome cancellation/reschedule fee. Oh well, that's actually a GOOD reason to lose money, right?

So, if all goes well, they'll transfer it to NVC by early December, then she'll apply for the visas and have the interview at the consulate and come here by early 2014.

[Smaug]

QunFang and LiFu had their medical exam today. They told her that the results would take a week, and they will be in a sealed envelope, which she will not see. Strange to go to the consulate for the interview without knowing whether one "passed" or not...

The fiance visa interview is Dec. 26th.

She has put her 2nd condo up for sale.

If the visas are granted (K-1 for her, K-2 for her son) then she will "apply to resign" at work, which requires a month's notice.

The ticket I booked before was through All Nippon Airlines, via Tokyo. They canceled the flight, but didn't notify me, and didn't refund the charges. So I disputed those with my credit card company.

I found a nice cheap round trip flight getting to Guangzhou a few days before Chinese New Year and leaving 4 days afterwards. $930 or something. I need to apply for another visa now.

She will try to get us tickets to Hubei to visit her family; I will meet them for the first time. It is a strange (to me) family dynamic she has. Her dad died 3 years ago, and it is a special custom for people of her hometown to visit after 3 years of the death. She has no love for her mom, nor vice versa, only a family bond. She has a good relationship with her sister, but not her brother. None of them speak English. She tells me that from Guangzhou to her hometown in Hubei is an 18 hour train ride, possibly standing the whole way. Wow, it's hard for me to imagine that. I asked her to get plane tickets, and I will split them with her.

So, the next steps for us are: a) visa interview for her, and b) apply for visa for me.

If all goes VERY well, she will sell her condo, resign, and come here instead of my going there again, and I will forfeit the ticket and visa. We'll save the vacation time for a trip or two around the US to visit family later in 2014.

Wish us luck on Dec. 26th, and for someone to buy her condo quickly. It has now been 16 months since we met.

[Willy The Londoner]

You are a braver man than I if you are considering traveling by public transport during Chinese New Year.

Willy

[Pineau]

Right on  Willy,

You have to experience the Guangzhou train station the week before New Years to understand what we are talking about. It is difficult for anyone else to understand just what we mean by mass migration on public transportation.  And it is erie.....feeling right before and after the New  year. The streets are deserted and the train station is quiet. You can skate down the same sidewalk that the day before you could not navigate with a baseball bat. 

There is a documentary film on this called  Last Train Home. It is available on Netflix. It is not entertainment but is the story of a family that is bound to get home and the hardships endured getting there.

This is at the Guangzhou station.  http://youtu.be/0N6vDotVNDo

[Irishman]

We did the trek last new year time from Guangzhou to Gong'an by train and bus. It was an experience I'll never forget , and never want to do again. Smaug I wish you the very best of luck. I'd advise you not to eat too much the day before going - you dont want to have to use the train toilets on the normal trains very often, take it from me, even getting to one of them on the train will be an ordeal. I had travellers tummy which didnt help, a real experience  overall haha!!

[Willy The Londoner]

Yes. You have to be here to believe it. The main stations are already gearing up for the Chinese New Year. They are erecting the temporary shelters that offer some protection to the queues outside and people may be outside the station for hours and hours before they even get inside the building. There are no concessions for the aged or infirmed.

Eventually people for a specific train are herded together in a huge waiting room, which at first seem quite comfortable but after an hour or two of standing and waiting you realise just how full that huge room has become.  Then suddenly the end doors are open as the train arrives at the station, the crowds surge forward, and you just do not believe what luggage some people are carrying.  If you wanted to hold back you could not as you will be swept forward bouncing along like a cigarette packet tossed into a river.  People are falling over one another and you do not want to fall. No one will help you up. Still in the mass you reach the flight of steps going down to the platform. Do not worry about finding the steps as you will be carried down almost floating. But then you reach the platform and hundreds of people are running for their carriage number. You have to be quick the attendant for each carriage is telling people to hurry and at the same time checking that everyone has a valid ticket.  You reach your carried and hope that you have been given a ticket for a soft seat. a soft seat is one of six bunks in one inner compartment.  Get a hard ticket seat and I guarantee that you will be too late and will have to stand the whole way.  At least with a soft seat you know which your inner compartment number is but I guarantee that there will be five people in there before you and the only place available will on about 8 foot height at the top. And it is there that the smoke from the cigarette flows freely too.

For the journey of 6 or 10 or 18 hours you are continually waken by people trying to sell you everything imaginable and also things that make you think wtf is that.  The carriage conductor makes regular patrols through the huge carriages to ensure no one has got into the soft seat  with a hard seat ticket.  The soft seat beds are definately not the place to sleep.

Of course the situation on the high speed trains are a little different and more comfortable but now 7 or more weeks before the New Year every high speed train ticket has been snapped up. 

As Irishman said do not even consider using the toilets, after a few hours the attendants give up trying to keep them operational and using one in itself is another missable experience. 

Willy

[Smaug]

Well Fellas, I've not been on a train in China during Chinese New Year.

I've been on the metro in Guangzhou during rush hour, and that was pretty crowded and unpleasant for this westerner.

But please, think back to when you were courting your lady. What if it was your only chance to meet her family, before she came back to your country with you? Wouldn't you do it, even if it was unpleasant, to show your love for her and to meet your family? This is her traditional time to go visit them. I suggested to go some other time. But she said no, then she would have to use more vacation, and her family would not have time for us, because they'd be working.

My Ivy likes to talk to her sister once a month or so on the phone. Visit once a year or so. She's not close to her brother. She never felt love from her parents or brother, and her dad died two years ago.

They are not educated, don't speak English, and don't seem to want to leave China. If I don't go and meet them now, I may never know her family.  So, even if it is a terrible travel experience, I will do it to meet her family.

Anyway, in one week, she will have her visa interview.

I'm reading the tips from our lawyer, and also Robert's past posts on the matter. (thanks)

Ivy has her condo up for sale, and one guy wants to buy it. Visa interview is coming soon. Then, she will sell her piano, "apply" to resign from her job, (I don't understand that...) and generally wrap things up in China. There is a small chance that she will be able to move here sooner than early March, but I will leave those arrangements up to her.

Her dad died 3 years ago, so this trip to her hometown in Hubei is also partly for that. It is a hometown tradition to visit the grave after 3 years.

Thanks for your support, and even your constructive skepticism.

By the way Robert: Cindy emailed me and asked for a character reference for you. I told her you're only slightly shady. (kidding!) She seems like a great woman to me. I hope you have an equally great man for her.