Beaurocrats Trying To Increase The Odds Of Failure?

[jac_chappin 24]

OP - If you can, you should try to go to China so you can be with your SO. Maybe they won't interview you as well but you can be there incase they ask if you want to partake. The Consulate in Vietnam is one of the toughest and thus made the decision to be there.

I was surprised the CO asked if I would like to partake and I said "hell yes." Not exactly what I said but you get the idea.

Best wishes!

[notmuch88tosay 21]

Thanks JimVaPhuong,

I really appreciate you taking the time to give me all the info.

Thanks for the reply Jim N Augie,

Why would she need a translator at Point of Entry? Do they test her English there?

Thanks for the input newlyweds2010,

The Immigration Attorney told me that she will be tested at the interview. Maybe to try to motivate one or both of us to be able to communicate with the other.

So if I understand correctly, if during the interview, the Consular Officer asks my fiancee if she can speak English, she can say 'no, but my fiancee speaks Mandarin'. And there should be no problem with that, the rest of the interview would be conducted in Mandarin. Is that correct?

Thanks again,

notmuch88tosay

Edited August 15, 2011 by notmuch88tosay

[garfield529 47]

For GUZ, they will ask how you communicate if it seems your fiancee doesn't speak English. As long as you demonstrate this ability you will be fine in this aspect. I don't quite understand how you can be in a mature relationship if you both are not fluent in at least one language, but my opinion doesn't matter. Just provide the proof and you'll be fine.

[notmuch88tosay 21]

Thanks for the info jac_chappin,

I do appreciate it very much, and I will be there for the interview.

I hope to be able to fly her back home with me during this trip. If that isn't possible we'll both be heartbroken.

Thanks for the reply garfield529,

Her English is bad, my Mandarin is quite good, but only if I am doing all the talking. I cannot hear Mandarin fast enough to understand it, unless the person is speaking very slow.

To explain how we can be in a mature relationship to you... Me and my fiancee communicate nearly each night via video chat (using the text feature and Google translate). I sent her pictures of where I live. We see each other on video. We spend two weeks together in China. We became intimate there on the first night we met. We went everywhere together. We spent each day and night that I was in China together. We have over 350 pages of Instant Messaging chat records. It is a very mature relationship, in my opinion, but my opinion doesn't matter.

notmuch88tosay

Edited August 15, 2011 by notmuch88tosay

[Ryan H 3,834]

Do they test her English there?

This notion of an "English test" at any point in this process is false; period, full stop.

The point of needing a translator at the POE is if the CBP officer can't speak the language of the person they are processing.

[notmuch88tosay 21]

Thanks so much for the clarification Ryan,

It's very much appreciated.

Take care,

notmuch88tosay

[bigdog 377]

Hello,

I'm sure the beaurocrats know that learning a new language takes two years or more, sometimes as much as up to five years.

Is that why they require the Fiancee be tested on their ability to speak English during the interview? So they have one more excuse to fail them (and destroy their life) at the interview?

Why not let the Fiancee learn English in America where she will be surrounded by English speaking people and available classes and then test her before the Green Card or something like that?

notmuch88tosay

[bigdog 377]

My wife did her interview in English, even though I thought it was marginal at the time, she reads and writes well at the interview. It was a definite plus for her to do it in English and she is much more fluent now. i have not seem much discrimination on VJ for not speaking English. But it may cause them to question how you communicate if she does not speak some. This process if trying at the best and their is a great support team here. Be prepared and through with your paperwork, good luck..

[Tahoma 2,292]

Because I cannot see any reason to prevent law abiding citizens who are good people from being together... while treating violent, criminal or aggressive illegal immigrants as a welcome new U.S. voter base.

Where did you get this ridiculous idea?!?

[confusedasheck 21]

I've read that US COs in China have an unofficial rule that if she doesn't speak English, there will probably be no visa. This is actually illegal, but they do it anyway. That is probably why the immigration attorneys said that.

The advice I've read is that you would be better off enrolling her in English classes (for which you can prove) than you learning Mandarin.

[Harsh_77 718]

Hello,

I'm sure the beaurocrats know that learning a new language takes two years or more, sometimes as much as up to five years.

Is that why they require the Fiancee be tested on their ability to speak English during the interview? So they have one more excuse to fail them (and destroy their life) at the interview?

Why not let the Fiancee learn English in America where she will be surrounded by English speaking people and available classes and then test her before the Green Card or something like that?

notmuch88tosay

Knowing English as part of K1 is not a requirement, I am not sure what you are talking about.

Intervieew can do K1 interview in their regional language.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

It might raise a doubt in the CO's mind as to the sincerity of the relationship if neither one of you could communicate verbally with one another. How do you communicate with the love of your life??

That is a reasonable question at the discretion of the CO. For a relation to exist, one has to be able to communicate; however, it is also reasonable that your answer is that "we have our own language, that is a mix of English peppered with Chinese words"; if that is the reality. Of course it might just be that you both speak CHinese well enough.

It came out at our interview, I am a native Spanish speaker, she is native Polish; not a common thing in Warszawa apparently. We do speak in a combination of Spanish, English, German and Polish; and they were satisfied with the answer. Not that it should matter, but I speak 6 langages and she does, too, English/German are the common ones among the two, and over time, she learned enough Spanish and I have leraned enough Polish to be 'dangerous'

Don't worry, you will be fine. TO calm you down even more: I have a friend that met his bride (now wife), through a bridal service, she is Russian, and when they first met, they needed an interpreter. By tghe time of the interview her English was not that good yet and there was no problem. She then became more proficient when she moved to the US.

[notmuch88tosay 21]

Thanks bigdog,

I appreciate the info and your support.

Harsh_77,

Yes, others have pointed that out to me. I was told by two immigration attorney's that my fiancee needs to know English and pass an English test. That is what I was talking about.

Thanks for the information Gosia & Tito,

I do appreciate it.

Take care,

notmuch88tosay

[notmuch88tosay 21]

Thanks for the reply and info, confusedasheck,

There is not enough time to enroll my fiancee in English classes. But I have provided them with receipts of English learning courses that I have bought for her.

If it is at the discretion of the Consular Officer, and if there is that unspoken rule, then that means that some of them could say that the relationship is not valid because she is not yet able to speak English.

With that logic it would be impossible to love a pet such as a dog, cat, or horse because they cannot speak English. And with that logic it would be impossible to love a deaf person because they cannot speak English.

From what I have been reading, I think most of the beaurocrats are fair and not a problem. But a small percentage of them are unfair, mean spirited and crush the dreams of two people in love for no good reason.

And that would mean that much of it has to do with luck, based on which Consular Officer you get. Which is ridiculous.

The problem also is, none of them are accountable for their decisions, fair or unfair.

Take care,

notmuch88tosay

Edited August 15, 2011 by notmuch88tosay

[notmuch88tosay 21]

Where did you get this ridiculous idea?!?

Tahoma,

If you had been following politics in the U.S. for even a single day this year, you would know that the Democrats have been trying to make all 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. legal citizens through amnesty to give them voting rights so that Obama could be re-elected.

Try watching the news someday so you can be a little informed.

notmuch88tosay