my love story

[john1964]

Thanks Arnold about the info on Hangzhou, I have looked on Google earth and it looks a lovely place as does suzhou, We will travel between many cities and enjoy every minute together.
I have employed an immigration lawyer this time and the paper work will be sent to the embassy upon my return from China as this is my third trip i thought after reading many of the posts here it is better to wait until this trip is over, I will have many more pictures taken with the family and friends and keep every receipt and ticket to admit to the lawyer, I think the more the better, Well i am counting down the days now and have never been happier, I call her once a week and Friday we had our longest call ever, 25 minutes, Her English is getting better as is my Chinese, We used a bit of both and had good understanding, The laughter flowed freely and after we said our goodbyes the text messages started, Should i copy my phone bills too for the proof of the communication and also the proof of the text messages?, Any help on what i should submit to the embassy will be greatly appreciated ,  Cheers guys and girls,,MinYing and John.

[David E]

John

There is only one rule about documents submitted as part of your application for a spouse visa 309...........and that is...You can never have enough !!!!!

Send them everything you have that is even remotely is associated with your relationship. And if you can get 4 or 5 Stat Decs from friends and family to support that they know of your relationship...thats good too !!

David

[shaun]

John, back to the ring if you do not mind.  My first trip to China I bought Peggy a ring and she wore it the whole time I was there.  When I got back to the US I noticed it was not on.  We the *@#( hit the fan and then I wound up wearing it.  Lets just say that I do not question her loyalty anymore.  Count it up as one of those difficult lessons that we learn and don't forget it because it can be a memory to help calm you down quickly in the future.

[john1964]

Maybe  i am being to much like a westerner but is special occasions mean nothing to a Chinese woman???,
It is exactly one year today that MinYing sent me her first letter and it means a lot to me,,,Her response today was










YEH,,,nothing, Am i being to sensitive??.
Should it be taken in to consideration from the solar or lunar calender?,
No message to my phone or through the translator at Chnlove,,,,
I am disappointed.

[Rhonald]

Did you send her a message asking her what happened one year ago? Maybe you need to clue her in by hinting at, " Did you meet someone the 1st time today one year ago?". I remember that I placed more importance on my first letter then my wife did. It could be that since I was only writing to one person, the date stuck in my head better, while maybe for her, she had been receiving letters from a few gentlemen before concentrating on me.

Remember, everyone places more importance on an idea or an action when they are the instigator. Just tell her that for you the date matters and see if she gravitates to a more suitable response. My wife knows now and we always joke around that important date by asking as a confused question - " who did you meet one year ago?" 

Our date is a little sensitive because it is also so near to the date that her foster mother died. So treat her little missed missive as another little battle scar that will adorn your heart. We all earn our purple hearts with these long distance love affairs.

[RobertBfrom aust]

John , I think that unless MinYing has a lot of downtime she is probably to busy getting all her ducks in a row and worrying about interviews etc, my Sujuan and I did not even realise until a week later from when our liason began and that was only because we were filling out some forms at the bank , had you sent her a small bunch of flowers a couple of days early with why and when on them it may have been better , do not forget simple things can come back to bite on the face issue , regards Sujuan and Robert .

[john1964]

Thanks Ronald and Robert , MinYing had forgot to remember today but she covered it up very well, She was so sorry and i accept it without getting to over the top,,,How many times have i done that??? I called her and then things were great,,She is now in an apartment by herself and studying English and again the phone calls are getting longer,
32 minutes last night and she is learning in leaps and bounds,,I am so proud of my laopo, The text messages are flowing every day and she is now texting me in English too, Very simple texts but it gives me great pleasure to read them, She also talked to my younger daughter Sarah last night and Sarah was so happy and excited to talk with her it nearly brought a tear to my eye, My two younger children are learning a little Chinese to make the  transition  a little easier on  MinYing .
Less than 4 weeks now and we will be reunited,,How many of you here have been counting down the days until you have met your loved one at the airport??
To many,,You must know how i am feeling right now,
It is 12.15am Here in Australia and all i think of is my wonderful wife in China,,I am having trouble sleeping but am happy at the same time, I have been on a diet for two weeks and lost nearly two kilos and am happy with myself, She tells me that she will love  me no matter how i look but i in myself know that what her friends think of me is  important, I am 6"3 and weigh 103kgs,,Afar cry from when i was 132kgs with my ex,,
I was very unhappy with my previous relationship and just was a couch potato, 
Since i met MinYing on Chnlove i have became a different man, She has given me a new lease on life and i am a very grateful man to have met her,
I have read many of the posts here over my time and taken much advice, I thank you all for what i have learned and also hope that some of you can relate to my stupidity and my limited knowledge of understanding of the Chinese women, , Tonight i bowed down to my wife for my misunderstanding , I feel a better man and a happier man to wait and remember the two minute rule, Not the 24hr rule , And it is such a relief to sort things out so soon  even with the  language  difference, To hear her laughter after the misunderstanding was great, Tonight i feel i have  come so far,
I thank you all for your pearls of wisdom and your advice since i have been here and i hope i can contribute to many of you and the new comers to follow, Tonight i give my regards from myself only as i have learnt so much . Regards from John.

[john1964]

Hey guys and girls, Only 13 more sleeps now until i am back in China with my Qin ai de, I sound like a child waiting for Christmas, haha, She too is beside herself with excitement and is gathering all the information needed for me to bring back here to lodge the visa, It is a long hard road to follow but we are both committed.
It seems the days are getting longer and i can not wait to cross each day off on the calender as they pass, I can just imagine her smiles when we meet each-other at Beijing airport on the 21st of May and i am waiting for that first hug and kiss, She is warming up to the way a western man shows his affection and tells me that she is not so shy any more but i will still try to control myself when i put my arms around her.
It is now 9.24pm and i am waiting for her to finish work and give me the nightly message to say she is safe, I sent her a message on QQ tonight and she was happy that her phone is now working properly to send me back a message, As i was very happy too,,,
I have set up SKYPE on her new laptop and it works great, In still have my weekly lessons for my Chinese and MinYing is so proud of me as it helps us both with our weekly conversations, They last for over 30 minutes each time now and just to hear her laughter is great, I still need help with the pronunciation of some words but she says i am doing well.
Just last Thursday night i was trying to plan our vacation together and could not pronounce Suzhou or Hangzhou properly, it took about 5 minutes until she realized what i was trying to say, Again the laughter flowed easily, She is learning English well.
I have promised to go shopping with her in Beijing and Suzhou for clothes for her as the summer fashion is in full swing now, Never before have i enjoyed shopping for clothes with a lady but i do with my MinYing, She is a gorgeous and,,,Sexy,,(hope i can say that), woman, and has a great fashion sense, She is also very cautious with money too which i like,,(not like my ex), I do not mind spending (our) money on her, She has never asked for anything from me but just my love which i give freely, How can i not love her???.
She is the most adorable, caring, loveable woman i have ever met,,I will spoil her when ever i can and all i ask is for her love in return, She often writes(Will you love me forever?) What can i say to that??? , I guess i am a lucky man to find my love so early in the search instead of contacting so many and finding (gold diggers) or uncompilable partners.
I checked my phone bill when it came through on Friday and i sent 238 text messages and called her 10 times over the last month,,obsessive??? I don't think so, I am lucky to have a company phone and have free international calls and texts too.

For anyone interested i  will continue to give updates from China and the cities we visit and include photos too, Tomorrow i hope to wake and find out it is the 20th of May  but i know i am only dreaming,,
Here i am tonight with a smile on my face and the love of a beautiful woman in my heart,,,,,,So much Chinese food to enjoy,,Three weeks of it,,,Who is jealous? haha,, Good night guys and girls,,,,MinYing and John.

[maxx]

John your post is a little confusing.You say you have 13 more sleeps.That would make it May 21.Not June 21.If you meant May let me know I can fix it for you.Eitherway have a good time.And the best of luck  to you and your lady.

[Jason B]

is gathering all the information needed for me to bring back here to lodge the visa, It is a long hard road to follow but we are both committed.

John good luck when you submit your paperwork and just a word of advice, make sure you dot your t's and cross your i's and give them everything you can think of to help your case no matter how trivial it may sound.  Also I hope it is a typo but you do submit the paperwork in Beijing not in Oz and they will ask you to pay the fee on the day of submission via their banking arrangements.  Not sure of Beijing but the office in Guangzhou had a BOC downstairs and they gave us their business bank details to deposit the money into and then we had to take the receipt back to the office as proof of payment.  Also the police check (must be translated for submission) is to be conducted prior to submission and they will ring her when they want her to conduct the medical.  If you have any other queries about the paperwork post them here and someone will be able to give you all the info you require.

[john1964]

Hey Maxx i just fixed the typo,,Yes it is in May,,,,roll on,,Jason, I will be submitting my paperwork here in oz , To my immigration lawyer and they will forward the hundreds of pages to the Beijing office, MinYing is learning so quickly with her English now and i am so proud of her, I just received four text messages from her and she is so excited that we will be together soon,,As will I too,Well it will be 12 sleeps now until she runs to me at Beijing airport and i am a happy (old) man,hehe, Thanks guys and girls for the help over the last six months or so and i hope i too have been a help to some one out there too, I guess i do not have to tell you all how excited i am right now as most of you have been there before me.
Im hungry, Not just for my darling MinYing but for a double beef whopper(Burger king for the Americans ), My diet has been taking its toll on my body and i need some western enjoyment, Good luck guys and hope to be some help to you all in the future,,,Regards from John..

[David E]

John

Time will pass quickly now, it wont be long !!!

Just a small correction.......your application will go to the Shanghai Consulate....this is the Consulate that handles all applications for 309 visas from Perth. It is very likely that your Lady will get a phone interview and wont need to front up in person to Shanghai. That is what happened with Ming and it was very easy for her.

Our case Officer tells us that thier processing time at the moment is about 5 months, so we are almost there !!! Should hear something within the next couple of weeks.

Pity us Sandgropers could not deal with the Guangzhou Office same as Jason did...he got processed in 20 days........mmmmm.

Cheers...David

[john1964]

Thanks David, I thought i heard my lawyer say Beijing, It is possible i was hearing things, I was also told 6--9 months to process maybe longer but will just have to wait and see.
MinYing has taken the day from work today to gather the information that i have to bring back with me for the application, Hopefully without a hitch, Then as you know i have to get it translated and rubber stamped and what ever else.
David, As for time passing quickly now, It seems the hands on the clock go backward some times, I know that when i arrive in China the hands will gain momentum and in the blink of an eye i will be back here, It has been a long hard four months, I have strained the relation ship some times with my miss-understandings and just being pig headed but my Qin ai de has always explained away my doubts and i have seen the sense in her actions (the wedding ring).
So David, You say the visa will be sent to Shanghai, That is very far from MinYings home of Handan, Hopefully she will just have the phone interview and not have to travel so far, I think MinYing will find this a little easier as your wife Ming found out, The closet place for my wife to have the medical exams is in Beijing, About 3-4 hours by train i think so she will get to spend a long time with her sons and take them to an amusement park for the best part of a day.
So your almost there David, Good for the both of you, I hope the rest is smooth sailing now and i hope the time passes quickly until Ming arrives here, Regards from MinYing and John.

[Neil]

At least you don't have to deal with Hong Kong's Canadian consulate - current processing times: 18 months vs Beijing's 4 months.  That's bloody unacceptable.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/fc-spouses.asp

Only Islamabad Pakistan is a longer wait. 

[David E]

I share your frustration Neil. Ming sent a very nice and polite email to our case Officer (bitch !!) last week telling her that our wedding anniversary and my Birthday (same date) was approaching and could she give any idea if our visa would be processed in time so that we could have this special day together in Perth.

Bearing in mind, we cannot go overseas together because Shanghai has Ming's passport....and has had it since early February !!

The reply we got was pure acid and bullshit !!!...basically said "we dont have urgency here, everybody takes their place in the queue and you just gotta wait till we are ready. She also said it was "Immigration Policy" to make us wait 6 months minimum. I cant find any reference to such a Policy in Official Government data and as we know, Jason got his visa in 20 days out of Guangzhou...so this "Policy" crap is just that..."crap !!

I know this is rubbish because we ahve many instances and evidence that people have got visas via Shanghai in periods from 2 to 5 months !!

So today I am hot-footing it into my Lawyer and will begin to make some large noises...I dont like being lied to, especially from a Public Servant who gets paid from my taxes.

I doubt I will get anywhere, but I am going to have a go