Final preparation on upcoming K1 visa interview in China

[CowBoE 429]

My fiancee has interview scheduled on August 14.

She will come from Shanghai the day before and stay one night at the hotel.

Any recommendations on nearby (within 15 minute walking distance or so) hotel?

They said to not bring pretty much anything other than the visa related documents.

So I guess she will leave cell phone, hand bag, etc. at the hotel,

and just the interview related binders and a small wallet.

Also, she had her medical exam last Friday, and she is scheduled to pick up the results this Thursday.

So she should expect to get 2 sealed envelopes and 1 print out of her shot records?

And she would bring 1 sealed envelope to the interview?

Or does hospital send this to embassy directly? Or she has to mail it in ahead of the interview.

1 sealed envelope she will use for POE, and the shot record print out,

we will use it for AOS?

I also asked her to find this out more clearly from the hospital when she goes to pick up her results.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from Embassy and Consulate Discussion to China Regional Forum~

~Inquiry about Guangzhou consulate~

(organizer hat off)

Check specific embassy info page for hotels near the consulate. Review recent Guangzhou consulate reviews for more information about process.

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[Darnell 8,479]

I suggest at the hospital trip, she get 2 or 3 international shot record books made, the yellow book. ya never know when you need to present it again in the USA. Sure - it's needed for the civil surgeon in the USA, but ya never know when you will need another one.

there's a list of civil docs to bring, suggest he have (if not already) several white book birth certificates made, bring them with her, also scanning to pdf and emailing to you.

[bubblebubble 16]

I stayed in one 10-min walk from the consulate. I found it on qunar.com, the expedia equivalent site in China. I forgot the name of the place. It is really nice and they had lots of people going to the consulate stay there. She can go ahead and look for a place on the website and read the reviews, they should give her some insights into the hotels

[bubblebubble 16]

The envelops (results and x-ray) from medical, she needs to bring them with her to the interview. They will take them, though they didn't take my x-ray envelop. So I took it home.

After her visa is approved, they will send all paperwork in a sealed envelop along with her passport back to the citic bank she pre-selected. The envelop has a cut triangle opening in one corner so you can kinda flip the paper and see what is inside. Do not open the envelop. She needs them at POE, the person at custom will open it. And he/she will take the x-ray and the sealed envelop away for AOS. Hope this helps

Edited July 30, 2014 by bubblebubble

[CowBoE 429]

I suggest at the hospital trip, she get 2 or 3 international shot record books made, the yellow book. ya never know when you need to present it again in the USA. Sure - it's needed for the civil surgeon in the USA, but ya never know when you will need another one.

there's a list of civil docs to bring, suggest he have (if not already) several white book birth certificates made, bring them with her, also scanning to pdf and emailing to you.

She just picked up her medical report today.

They gave her the following:

1. Sealed large envelope to be given to embassy during interview

2. Sealed envelope of CD (to be given to embassy if they ask, otherwise bring it to US)

3. Shot record (yellow book) to bring to US

4. A summary report of medical exam (for her to keep)

She got the birth certificate from Police station (just a 1/2 sheet print out),

and we had them translated. Is this considered white book?

If not, where do you get official birth certificate?

She was really confused on this when I mentioned it.

When you say bring several copies of yellow and white books.

Do they just issue you certified copies if you ask?

Or are you talking about simply making copies ourselves?

Edited July 31, 2014 by DualityOneness

[CowBoE 429]

I stayed in one 10-min walk from the consulate. I found it on qunar.com, the expedia equivalent site in China. I forgot the name of the place. It is really nice and they had lots of people going to the consulate stay there. She can go ahead and look for a place on the website and read the reviews, they should give her some insights into the hotels

We booked it here for about 350 yuan.

The reviews were really good and its only 5 minutes from embassy.

http://english.ctrip.com/hotels/guangzhou-hotel-detail-774923/guangzhou-songhai-guest-house/?checkin=08-01-2014&checkout=08-02-2014&pp=0&requestTravelMoney=0&lat=0&lon=0

[CowBoE 429]

The envelops (results and x-ray) from medical, she needs to bring them with her to the interview. They will take them, though they didn't take my x-ray envelop. So I took it home.

After her visa is approved, they will send all paperwork in a sealed envelop along with her passport back to the citic bank she pre-selected. The envelop has a cut triangle opening in one corner so you can kinda flip the paper and see what is inside. Do not open the envelop. She needs them at POE, the person at custom will open it. And he/she will take the x-ray and the sealed envelop away for AOS. Hope this helps

There was one large envelope she received, so I assume that's the x-ray and medical exam results?)

Then, what's in the CD that they handed us?

Also, were you able to get multiple copies of the yellow book from the hospital?

Finally, where did you get your birth certificate? Was it from police station?

[CowBoE 429]

I suggest at the hospital trip, she get 2 or 3 international shot record books made, the yellow book. ya never know when you need to present it again in the USA. Sure - it's needed for the civil surgeon in the USA, but ya never know when you will need another one.

there's a list of civil docs to bring, suggest he have (if not already) several white book birth certificates made, bring them with her, also scanning to pdf and emailing to you.

Based on this, I'm not certain now if what my fiancee got from the police station

as birth certificate and no marriage history is valid anymore.

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/China_Notarial_Records

http://shenyang.usembassy-china.org.cn/civil_records_china.html

I'm having her go to Gong Zheng Chu (Notarial Service) to double check,

and get them reissued if necessary.

Still have 14 days until interview...but no matter how much I prepare,

little details likes this is always lingering out there to bite you.

Thanks for the heads up.

[CowBoE 429]

Sometimes I have to stop and think that rest of the world is like US.

I am baffled as to why my fiancee is confused on where to get proper birth certificate

and she can't get straight answer from all the people she talked to over there.

It seems, there are multiple ways you can get them.

Here is one law firm's advice on this.

http://www.genesislawfirm.com/firm-news-publications/ten-tips-for-the-chinese-american-k-1-couple

You are probably reading this article because you are either (1) a U.S. citizen who has a fiancé(e) who is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China and you want to bring him/her to the U.S., or (2) you are a U.S. citizen and you have a boyfriend or girlfriend who is a citizen or the People’s Republic of China and you are thinking about “popping the question” and eventually bringing your new fiancé(e) to America. If either one of these scenarios sound familiar, then I urge you to brace yourself for the laborious, time consuming, and potentially maddening K-1 visa process. This article is aimed at helping with a few tricky situations that frequently occur in the K-1 visa process when your fiancé(e) is from China.

1) Your Chinese fiancé(e) does not have a birth certificate. This is a common predicament for many K-1 couples. Many Chinese citizens who were born either (1) in the Chinese countryside, or (2) before about 1990, do not have birth certificates. What can you do about this given that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) requires a copy of both parties’ birth certificates along with Form I-129F (the USCIS form that is required at the outset of the K-1 process)? First, have your Chinese fiancé(e) go to his/her local health department in China. That department will likely be able to issue a birth certificate to your Chinese fiancé(e) so long as s/he presents proper identification. Second, have your Chinese fiancé(e) take his/her birth certificate to a local notary public, and get the document notarized. At this stage, the birth certificate must also be translated into English by a certified translator (have the translated version notarized as well). Keep these documents in a safe place and make three copies of them.

2) The Health Department in China will not grant your Chinese fiancé(e) a birth certificate. There may be several different reasons for this: (1) since each local government seems to operate differently, the Health Department may not be the appropriate department; (2) the Health Department official is corrupt; or (3) The Health Department official is asking your fiancé(e) for his/her parents’ marriage certificate. If (1), then ask the Health Department official where birth certificates may be obtained, then go there. If (2), you may be forced to offer a monetary bribe. If (3), then you are not alone; this is a common requirement. Your fiancé(e) will have to ask his/her parents to either present their marriage certificate, or, more likely, to go get a marriage certificate from the local department so that s/he may present it to the Health Department official.

And another site with another headache in getting the correct "white book" ...

http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/43181-rfe-birth-certificate-notarial-certificate-is-not-enough/

Edited July 31, 2014 by DualityOneness

[Pitaya 2,577]

If you haven't already check out the very informative pinned thread at the top of the regional forum page, China Marriage Visa Terms and Definitions:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/393969-chinese-marriage-visa-terms-and-definitions/

[bubblebubble 16]

There was one large envelope she received, so I assume that's the x-ray and medical exam results?)

Then, what's in the CD that they handed us?

Also, were you able to get multiple copies of the yellow book from the hospital?

Finally, where did you get your birth certificate? Was it from police station?

Did they take her X-ray result at the interview? They didn't take mine, so I brought it home with me. If the did take it from her, then she does not have to worry, just bring anything they sent her along in her carry on luggage.

They did not hand me a CD, I have no idea what it could be, sorry. I only have one copy of the yellow book. I would say just keep the yellow book with you. I don't think you need multiple copies since no one will ask you to submit the yellow to somewhere.

I never transferred my Hukou to other cities, my mom actually took care of my birth certificate when I was still in the US on F1 visa. What she did was 1. Go to the police station where my hukou was originally registered, my mom and dad were asked to be there together, with the Hukou book. They issued a certificate there. 2. My mom took the certificate to the city notary office, they translated and notarized it. 3. One week later she went to pick it up along with some certified copies, they were all in fancy booklets.

One thing is that my parents are divorced and at first my dad didn't want to go to the police station with my mom, so plan b was to get my birth paper from the hospital where I was born, and my mom got it (it was kind of hard to get since it was an 26-year-old document lol, they searched for it for a week).

But i remember i had a official birth certificate when I was born, I saw it when i was around 10 at home. My parents just lost it.

Edited July 31, 2014 by bubblebubble

[jpy1000 0]

The Leeden Hotel is very nice and only 10 min walk to the consulate , about $80 US a night

[CowBoE 429]

If you haven't already check out the very informative pinned thread at the top of the regional forum page, China Marriage Visa Terms and Definitions:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/393969-chinese-marriage-visa-terms-and-definitions/

I suggest at the hospital trip, she get 2 or 3 international shot record books made, the yellow book. ya never know when you need to present it again in the USA. Sure - it's needed for the civil surgeon in the USA, but ya never know when you will need another one.

there's a list of civil docs to bring, suggest he have (if not already) several white book birth certificates made, bring them with her, also scanning to pdf and emailing to you.

So the story is...I told my fiancee to go get her Birth, Marriage, and Police certificates and she did from a local police station.

She then took them to a small local professional translation company, and had them translated to English and notarized.

We thought we were all set on this, and then I heard from couple of folks that what US embassy in GuangZhou

wants is the "white book" from the notarial service. So we panic-ed a bit because the interview date was coming up soon,

but fortunately notarial service was able to complete them in 5 working days. We got 3 copies of each certificates.

This visa processing keeps you on your toes constantly.

I can never feel like I have prepared everything properly. LOL

[Darnell 8,479]

congrats on getting real white books !