Message of encouragement for Newbies starting out

[UK Mark]

I joined this forum in May 2009 , i knew a little from the chinalove site but not much , joining here was a real help , information from guys from all stages of this difficult journey , an ever increasing pool of information on immigration , visas , china , travelling , customs , women etc etc etc ..

This forum is a wonderful place for us

Now dont get me wrong , its a difficult route, frustrating at times , expensive at times , fantastic at times , tearful at times , few members find success on the first attempt , me included ..

But if you think its to hard a route .. think again . there are many success stories .. as for mine to date ..
 
May 2009 Joined this forum
Jan 2010 Married in Shanghai
Mar 2010 Apply for Spouse Visa
May 2010 My Chinese Wife :heart: arrives in London !!

Good luck to everyone , whatever stage of the amazing journey you are on !

[Martin]

WOW...May?  That is a fast process!  Congrats.  I hope you have a wonderful life together.

[JimB]

Heck yea!  I think I will move to London and get her there then come into the states.  Save a lot of time. lol

[ttwjr32]

jim i do believe that its the same no matter were she is for our wonderful
 system of immigration. but as mark has stated there are failures at first but
 the success is always there in time if you dont give up. maybe not in 12 months but
 it will be there as many of us can verify

[UK Mark]

WOW...May?  That is a fast process!  Congrats.  I hope you have a wonderful life together.

Hahah Martin Application was on 26th March , Visa issued 7 working days later on April 9th , its only due to my business arrangements we have delayed the inbound flight for Sissi until May.

[Martin]

The UK immigration system does everything in 1 week?  Am I missing something here?

[David5o]

Martin,

It makes a change for the British Consulate to get things done in this time frame.
It sure ain't usual that's for sure!! lol!!

David...

[Brian Mc]

The UK immigration system does everything in 1 week?  Am I missing something here?

Greetings Brothers,

long time no see!!

Ok as for the visa thing, it seems times are changing for Canadians as well.  Zhen has told me of a couple of her friends from Handan that have been married to Canadians recently and have received or will receive their visa in 6 months or less.  It seems harpers vist to China and Canada being a destination of interest has perhaps shortened the wait time.

Obviously I have no official confrmation of changes but from what I hear from Zhen visas to Canada appear to be getting easier to aquire.

Zhen and I have set our marry date to May 9th 2010.  We did not marry in feb as planned as she had to go to Handan right when I got my divorce papers so we missed that date.  Speaking of which there was no waiting period to get my certificate of single.  I went to the embassy in Beijing with my passport and divorce certificate and received my certificate of single immedialtely.  The chinese girl there said i could go get married immediately although I may need translation into chinese depending on where we marry.  so that is the delay in our wedding.  So cert of single issued immediately, and visas possible in six months or less to Canada, hmmm things are improving I think.

Anyway just thought I would add that since it seemed releveant for the Canucks here.

Regards,

Zhen and Brian

[Willy The Londoner]

Nice to see you back Brian.  

That was a very quick turn around for your single certificate.  was someone doing you a favour there? I did mine at the UK embassy and I still had to wait 21 days before they could officially issue it.  I know that you have been in the country longer than the other requirement which is also 21 days.  

But it is good to hear everything is going well and your plans are being finalised.

Willy

[Brian Mc]

Nice to see you back Brian.  

That was a very quick turn around for your single certificate.  was someone doing you a favour there? I did mine at the UK embassy and I still had to wait 21 days before they could officially issue it.  I know that you have been in the country longer than the other requirement which is also 21 days.  

But it is good to hear everything is going well and your plans are being finalised.

Willy

hiya Willy,

Nope no special favours at all.  perhaps it was because my divorce cert was dated Jan 10 2010 and we went to Beijing in March so the 21 days had already been served i dunno but she was absolutely sure that it was done and we could go and get married right away if we wished.

On a side note it struck me as funny that the only people i saw in the Canadian Embassy in Beijing were in fact Chinese not Canadian aka white people.  Only other folks needing the Embassy services were white or non Chinese.  Everyone I saw from the gate security to internal security to the people processing the paperwork were Chinese.  Kinda struck me as funny as the embassy is supposed to be Canada in China yet I only saw Chinese.

Another thing that struck me strange was they would not let Zhen into the embassy because she was not Canadian yet they had no indoor waiting area for visitors to wait in.  She had to wait on the street for me and it was not a warm day at all.

However as I said no issues no problems and no special favours for me just normal business as usual.  Perhaps things are starting to improve for all us Lao Wei looking to marry and take their wives back to their home country.  You would think as this becomes more popular that they will eventually streamline the process somewhat and make it easier for legitimate marrages to get the visa done in a timely fashion.

Anyway just some thoughts from China,

Zhen and Brian

[Martin]

Another thing that struck me strange was they would not let Zhen into the embassy because she was not Canadian yet they had no indoor waiting area for visitors to wait in.  She had to wait on the street for me and it was not a warm day at all.

That is odd.  When I was in Guangzhou, I went into the Canadian Consulate there, and had no problem bringing my wife in with me.  Different city, different rules i guess.

[ttwjr32]

for those of you visiting the USA consulate in Guangzhou they wont allow the wives
inside but on other floors there is a wealth of information about visa's,plane fares and
even a coffee shop and a chinese restuarant that your wife could wait in. actually
exploring the airplaces the ticket prices were very good and deeply discounted which
was nice to see.

there was also a chinese business that charges the ladies 2100 rmb and its a class
for  HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN THE USA which i thought was not a good thing just
another way to get some money out of people.

[David5o]

Ted,

Embassy's and consulates main concerns are commerce and business. We with our problems, are normally considered as just an unwanted but necessary pain in the side for them. Consulate Diplomatic staff live in there own little worlds, totally immune to the everyday hassles everyone else have to contend with....

This is especially true of every British Embassy i've ever had the misfortune to visit. Not sure about Canadian, but it's very much the same for American, Aussie, NZ, German, French and a good few more i could mention. The better ones being from the Scandinavian countries and the Dutch....

David........

[ttwjr32]

David,

i understand that. the purpose of what i posted was for the Newbies who go to
the USA Consulate in Guangzhou OR anyone else for that matter.  they could
have an idea of what is there for their wives should they decide to go into the
consulate to have any questions answered.

thought it might help as Brian posted that his lady had to wait outside when he
went into his place.

[David5o]

Ted,

That's why i posted the above post, ...in that were just an inconvenience to these institutions, and why they make little or no provision for our needs...

Go there as a businessman and your welcomed with open arms, and leave with an armful of literature on all the services that they can provide for you ...Sir!!!!  haha!!

David......