Raoul's China Saloon (V5.0) Beta

The Bar Room => The Legalities Board: Visas, Permits, Taxes, and More! (ON-TOPIC) => Topic started by: Escaped Lunatic on March 15, 2019, 04:34:25 PM

Title: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on March 15, 2019, 04:34:25 PM
The adventure begins! ababababab

I love my green card, but what I really want is a red passport. btbtbtbtbt

Many people told me getting a green card was impossible.  If I'd believed them, I'd be sitting around complaining that getting one is impossible.  Instead, I applied for a green card and now have one.   People keep telling me getting Chinese citizenship is impossible.  I could believe them, give up, and complain about how getting citizenship is impossible.  Instead, I'm going to apply and find out for myself how easy or hard it is. yyyyyyyyyy

As my green card anniversary approaches, I've kicked the hunt for citizenship info into high gear.

My lovely wife saw an article about a girl who's family moved overseas when she was a baby.  While overseas, she ended up acquiring local citizenship.  Sometime after turning 18, she decided she wanted to move back to China and get her Chinese citizenship.  I was under the impression there would be a quick and easy path for someone in this situation.  When she went to get the application form, they told her she'd have to get a green card first, but that she wasn't yet qualified to apply for one.  If this is correct, she may have to wait until 5 years after she gets married to a guy in China.  Evidently my impression of this being easier for those of Chinese ancestry or even those who gave up citizenship as infants may be mistaken.  I do feel bad for her.  On the other hand, it's interesting to see that the citizenship application rules don't put me at as much of a disadvantage as I thought they might.

Yesterday we went to visit some of my old friends at the foreigner containment bureau.  There wasn't any line (the rain seemed to have convinced quite a few people to wait a day), so we went straight in.  All 3 officers seemed very surprised I was back, since I didn't need a res permit anymore and didn't need to bug them about the status of my green card application. ahahahahah

When asked for the citizenship application form and instruction sheet, one indicated that no one had ever asked for this form before, so he didn't know if they had any.  Another pointed him to what I guess is the "rarely needed forms" table in the back of the room (where green card application forms are kept) and this got us the newest application form.  The next issue was the instruction sheet, since the form didn't include a full list of supporting documents.  This turned into a document hunt (I couldn't see the screen, so don't know if he was searching local files or if he had to go digging around on the internet).  It took a few minutes, but instructions were located and printed out.

In the meantime, I was chatting with the officer who had the best English.  He wanted to know why I wanted citizenship.  I explained that my wife and daughter are here in China, as are most of my friends.  My plan is to stay here forever and become a happy and productive citizen.  A green card is really great, but if policies change at some point, cards can be rescinded.  Citizenship is forever.

Now comes the fun part.  Even my wife had some issues figuring out exactly what some of the questions exactly wanted. so we'll have to research them all very carefully so I can prepare proper and complete answers to each.  The good news is the documentation requirements appear to be much simpler than those needed to apply for a green card.  My wife thinks this is because they've already checked out much of the critical information while processing my green card application.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on May 01, 2019, 10:15:05 PM
Less than a month until my green card anniversary.   I've been working to improve my Mandarin from extremely inadequate and am approaching very inadequate.  I've also been looking more closely at the citizenship application forms.

There's sort of an essay question.  It roughly translates to:

A written application report (detailed life and work experiences in China after having left the foreign country, the reasons for applying for Chinese citizenship, a statement under applicant’s free will for the application and renunciation of the original citizenship)

I could have made this a simple CV of work experiences and given some ordinary sounding reason about wanting to be a citizen.

Instead, yesterday afternoon I started writing without much of a plan.  I ended up primarily focusing on how I went from  an 8 month teaching assignment to resident to permanent resident and now want to be a citizen.  Normally, I'm too busy being silly to get into any serious emotional depth when writing.  I'm very pleased with it.  It ended up being a heartfelt love letter to China itself.  ajajajajaj

Now I have to go back and add more about work.  I'm just trying to figure out how to put that in without reducing the whole emotional side of what I've written so far.

I guess becoming a citizen is a little like marrying a country, and I've got my marriage proposal mostly written.  I also looked up the forms I'll need to "divorce" the USA.

Sorry - no spoilers of the text available for now.  It would be my luck that someone would "borrow" my text and then it would look like my application was copied.  If (WHEN!) my application is accepted, I'll share some or all of it.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on May 17, 2019, 06:28:40 PM
I have cleared my schedule for the weekend (other than possibly going out for pizza).  This weekend, all the paperwork is getting filled out.  Here's the short version:

Dear China,

I love you.  Please let me be a citizen.
akakakakak
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Granny Mae on May 18, 2019, 12:21:41 PM
EL mate, I find the Chinese folks to be very intelligent people. I have no doubt that they will know that you are a good person who will be an asset to their Country. Good luck with the paperwork this weekend! bjbjbjbjbj bfbfbfbfbf
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on May 23, 2019, 07:31:46 PM
Last weekend got us through filling out a test copy.  This weekend, we try to get all the live copies filled out.  I also need to go get a new ID photo with the proper receipt which somehow makes it a legal photo.

Unless something truly bizarre happens to delay me, I'm turning in the application on the 31st.  I've got zero data on how long it will take for them to decide if I'm accepted or not.

Assuming I get through this, I'm going to see if I can get the US Consulate to share a little more info on how to give up my US citizenship.  There's a set of forms and I'm supposed to fill out the proper ones for my situation.  I've read them and am not sure exactly which ones I have to fill out and which ones I can skip.  I want to get that straightened out and have the correct ones ready.

Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: redoctoberblack on May 24, 2019, 08:04:54 PM
Would be interested in knowing how that worked for you. I've been married now for nearly 5 years.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on May 27, 2019, 09:00:48 PM
Would be interested in knowing how that worked for you. I've been married now for nearly 5 years.

Have you been outside of China for 90 days or less each of the last 5 years?  If so, you're getting very close to being qualified to apply.

Some of the specifics are set locally.  Run down to the same office that handles your res permit applications.  Ask for several copies of the permanent residence permit application form AND a copy the instruction sheet.  The instructions will contain all the local variations of required documents.



And I finally succeeded in something new.  I forged my signature.  Not "forged" as in forgery, but "forged" beaten with a hammer until it assumed a recognizable and functional shape. yyyyyyyyyy

The only thing harder than reading Chinese is writing it.  I now know why DaShan picked his name.  It had nothing to do with the meaning and everything to do with the ease of writing.  If I'd realized I was going to ever have to actually sign my Chinese name on any important documents, I'd probably have picked a name which was easier to write. ahahahahah  Oh well, I like my Chinese name and plan to keep it.

In any event, I had 8 copies of the Chinese citizenship application form and managed to successfully sign 7 of them in Chinese and then in English.  This seems like overkill, other than one detail.  They want 3 of them.  Not an original and 2 copies, but 3 signed and handwritten originals.  Now my lovely wife gets to copy everything else into the proper boxes 100% correctly and has 7 chances to make 3 with no errors. 

After that, it's a trip to the printers for the essay (came to 2 full pages in Chinese) and copies of a few required documents.  My home printer isn't bad, but I want these to be as perfect as possible.

Friday is Application Day.  It looks like we'll have it all together in time.  Then I get to spend an unknown amount of time waiting for an answer.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on May 28, 2019, 02:57:12 PM
Our cat decided to supervise the process of getting the documents filled out.  A few errors happened, but due to the extreme helpfulness of having a feline supervisor, 3 perfect ones were created. agagagagag

Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Granny Mae on May 29, 2019, 12:45:15 PM
Good luck EL! bjbjbjbjbj bfbfbfbfbf agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on May 30, 2019, 04:22:03 PM
Everything's printed out except one document my wife will pick up on Friday morning.  My photo has been taken and will be collected today or on Friday morning.  The instructions didn't specify a size, so the photos will be printed in 2 sizes.

Drop off is scheduled for Friday afternoon.  For grabbing the application, we dropped into the correct office unannounced.  For this, I think I'll need to take a number at the front desk on the first floor.  I wonder if they even have a category for Citizenship Application in the list of choices.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: El Macho on June 02, 2019, 07:41:53 PM
加油!and good on ya. We will keep our fingers crossed here.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 02, 2019, 10:36:24 PM
I'm trying to think of Friday as a learning experience.  aqaqaqaqaq

The bad news is that my application never got to the other side of the desk.

The good news is that although it appears that no foreigners have yet to apply in Dongguan, there have been some returning Chinese who have reapplied for Chinese citizenship with mixed results.  Based on rejections at the city and provincial level, modifications were needed to my application to improve its chances of making it all the way to the top.  I was also told that no one yet has gotten one of these turned in on the first try.

The work portion of the essay is being redone more like a CV.  The closing statement that I'm doing this of my own free will has been duplicated at the beginning.  A single paragraph about why I want to be a Chinese citizen has also been added at the beginning.  Now those who don't wish to read the whole thing can quickly and easily find the most critical required parts.

There were some very minor errors on the application form itself and I was told that perfection should improve my odds.  More blank forms were provided.  I've managed to sign them all and my lovely wife is busy filling them out while trying not to make any mistakes.

Schedules have been juggled and the second attempt will be made on Monday afternoon.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on June 03, 2019, 09:48:09 AM
 agagagagag Good Luck  agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Granny Mae on June 03, 2019, 12:54:55 PM
All the best EL! I wouldn't have your patience. bjbjbjbjbj bfbfbfbfbf agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 04, 2019, 03:55:18 AM
That was an interesting way to spend a Monday afternoon.

We got there a little before 3.  There was a huge line.  Regular res permit applications can take awhile to process, but some people also had family members, which add to the pile of documents to be checked.  One guy had his wife and 3 children, so kept one of the officers tied up for over an hour.

A little before 4 pm, I got pulled out of the queue (there were only one or two people ahead of me) and I was assigned to wait for the officer who was familiar with my case (aka, the guy who was so skillful at finding flaws on Friday).

My lovely wife and I had spent all weekend doing corrections and the effort paid off.  He looked, asked questions, looked some more, and was actually quite surprised to find nothing to keep the application from getting numbered and accepted for consideration.  I'm guessing these usually take 3 or more tries to get across the desk, and mine made it in 2. ababababab

A second officer confirmed that no full foreigner had ever applied before in Dongguan.  Only an unspecified small number of former Chinese citizens wanting their nationality restored had ever done so.

The best estimate (guess?) of the time I now need to wait for an answer is about 1 year.

Applying costs 50 RMB.  If accepted, I need to pay another 200.

For comparison, if I'm accepted, I'll have to pay the USA over 2000 US dollars to let me go.

Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 06, 2019, 08:16:05 PM
I knew this application seemed almost too easy.

The requirements got quietly updated a few weeks ago.  It's nothing huge, but will be time consuming, so I wish this had been announced sooner.

It seems I need a shiny new Non-Criminality Certificate from my village (easy) and from the USA (not so easy).  Just like with the US one I got for my green card application, it needs to be notarized by the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC.  It's been 3 years since I did this the first time, so I need to recheck all the procedures and figure out how much this will cost me to get it all done as fast as possible.  Hopefully, a plane ticket won't be required.

Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on June 06, 2019, 10:50:58 PM
plus ticket? yikes!
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 07, 2019, 05:06:01 PM
Looks like I can probably avoid the plane ticket.

I need several services.

Quality fingerprints.  Last time I got a set while on a trip to the USA.  Due to a combination of extremely wet weather and not so perfect taking of the prints, those fingerprints failed.  I then ended up getting a perfect set via a very skilled fingerprint technician in Hong Kong.  Back then, there were some vague rules about who was qualified to take the fingerprints.  The new instructions even allow for self-printing, but I don't want to have to keep sending more and more fingerprint cards, so am looking for someone skillful.  At least one police station my wife called only takes prints electronically, but I need them directly inked on the cards (or to fly to the US to have them done electronically by a certified service).  She's going to check with a few more police stations.  If those fail, I guess I'm doing another Hong Kong run.

Next is an "FBI Channeler" (I believe they sit in a circle with the lights out and commune with the spirits of the FBI's computers to get criminal background checks faster ahahahahah).  Assuming I get the fingerprints right, I mail those (and money) to the channeler.  Within a few days, my background check should be issued (as opposed to MUCH longer if I mail them to the FBI myself).

Then comes the apostille notarization from the US State Department.  Apostilles are only used by countries who joined the "Notarizations sound cooler if we call them Apostilles" club.  Since China didn't join that club, the FBI document needs to be notarized instead.

Once that's done, the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC needs to affix a sticker to the back of the notarization page.

There are services which can take the document to the State Department and to the Chinese Embassy.  Some charge HUGE amounts (over $1000 in one case), so I'm shopping around.

After that, everything gets mailed back to me.  Then I'm pretty sure I need a certified translation of the Background check and notarization.

All I have to do it bring that and a certificate of non-criminality from my village and get them both added to my application and I'm back on track to waiting to see what happens.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 09, 2019, 08:38:30 PM
Fingerprints are still being checked on.  I've got 3 FBI channeler candidates and will be emailing Candidate #1 tomorrow to make sure there are no issues.

For the US State Department authentication and Chinese Embassy legalization, I've gotten a quote from a service that's reasonable (at least in comparison to their competitors.

What's amazing is the amount of misinformation on some of these websites.  Many of the channelers have out of date info.  Several appears to no longer offer that service at all.  Some of the authentication services have some bizarre claims about how documents should be processed that look like they just made them up for fun.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on June 09, 2019, 11:07:34 PM
 bibibibibi
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 13, 2019, 07:20:39 PM
Good news and some almost fatal news:

My village has a new computerized procedure for criminal background checks.  Every item must be done in order, and the photo they have to take of me in the police station is about 3/4 of the way through the process.  It took almost 2 hours (including time to find an old document about me that had been misfiled) to get a check covering from 2010 until present.  This may seem like a long time, but compared to even the simplest version of the FBI background check, it's a shining model of efficiency.  Plus, there's no need to come back to pick it up.

And then my wife and I were almost killed by an angry mob while trying to get me fingerprinted yesterday.

Let me give a little background about how this happened.  After quite a bit of digging, it seems that the Chinese police don't do paper fingerprints anymore.  One online source mentioned being referred to a notary, and that the FBI rejected those fingerprints.

When I needed fingerprints for my FBI background check for for my green card application, I first paid to have them done at a small police station in Florida.  It was some mix of an inexperienced police volunteer taking the prints and the extreme humidity (it was storming) which made that set of prints unacceptable to the FBI.  For round 2, I ended up getting some excellently taken fingerprints at the main police HQ building on Hong Kong Island. (For free! agagagagag)

Since all efforts to locate a good source of fingerprints in DG, SZ, and GZ failed, I had my lovely wife call the HK police yesterday morning with 2 questions.  1.  Do you still take fingerprints for FBI background checks?  2.  Will you be open this afternoon despite the current level of "pro-democracy" protesters trying to prevent their elected government officials from voting?  The answers were "Yes, and it's still free." agagagagag and "Don't worry about it.  We'll be open."

I noticed something strange heading towards the Admiralty subway station exit. mmmmmmmmmm  The people coming in were of mixed age.  The number of people heading towards the exit was much larger and almost all of them looked like college students.  I had a bad feeling about this.  amamamamam

When we came above ground, we were on the edge of  what is most easy described as the mess.  I couldn't see how far it extended, but let's just say there were a lot of them.  At one point, something startled them and over a thousand people started running towards where we were standing.  aqaqaqaqaq

I've seen some scary things in my life, but having 1000+ rioters running straight at me definitely makes my top 10 list. aoaoaoaoao

We retreated, but ended up in a dead-end elevator alcove.  If they'd kept coming, things would have probably ended very badly for us.  Thankfully, the crowd's panic was momentary.

We got some vague directions to the Police HQ building (we'd only been there one previous time and neither of is were sure which building it was) and skirted the edge of the mob.  After a few false starts, we got to the back gate of the correct building.  We got sent around to the front gate (all the while smiling at police and scowling at any protestors we passed), only to find that they had decided to not let anyone in for the rest of the day. ananananan

Considering the huge flow of people coming up through the Admiralty Station's exits, I didn't want to even try to return through an even bigger crowd to get back into that stations.  We walked to Wan Chai to get back on the subway and returned via express train.  Over 8 hours of time, plus train tickets all wasted by a bunch of people who think mobs should set government policy. llllllllll

The only good news regarding the whole incident is that some of the people whose actions kept me from getting fingerprinted received very special gifts from the Hong Kong government.  They got chemical karma in the form of tear gas and pepper spray. ahahahahah

The bad news is that the protestors seem to want to make this an extended thing.  I don't want to spend the time, effort, and money to run to Hong Kong for fingerprints while there's a chance of getting turned away again.  Plus, being in danger of being crushed by a mob of rioters is not an experience I care to repeat.

Angry mobs may slow me down, but they will not stop me.  I'm going to get my fingerprints done one way or another so i can get my FBI background check done and get my citizenship application moving through the system.


So, my current options to get fingerprints are:

1.  Make a special flight to the US just for this.

2.  Do it myself. (Previously not allowed.  Now is allowed, but is strongly discouraged.)

3.  Work with my wife to train her to do it.

Fingerprint ink has been ordered.  Despite the amount of clothing I expect will be ruined in the inevitable ink fight #3 will trigger, that's still cheaper than a round trip flight to the US.

If those prints get rejected, I'll try Hong Kong again in July (assuming things have calmed down there).  In an absolute worst case scenario, I'm planning a short visit to the US in September.  I can get electronically collected prints done to US standards there.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Calach Pfeffer on June 13, 2019, 11:05:52 PM
Hat's off, Comrade Sam Shushu. No one will suspect a thing.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 14, 2019, 02:42:14 PM
Happily, none of the mob had any idea I was there as part of the process to apply for Chinese citizenship.  I have the feeling that quite a few would not have been very welcoming.

I am deeply impressed by the HK police.  Putting down a riot in a crowd that was in the hundreds of thousands with under 100 people ending up in the hospital is an amazing accomplishment.  I'm not sure how many countries could disperse a completely peaceful protest of that size with so few casualties.


And, back to the main topic.  High quality fingerprinting ink (no clue if this is any different from common black stamp pad ink, but it does cost more) has been ordered and should be delivered today or tomorrow. agagagagag

Thus begins the ink apocalypse. aoaoaoaoao
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on June 15, 2019, 11:00:13 AM
 bfbfbfbfbf agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 17, 2019, 05:17:53 PM
Decided to try this with just one hand.  After all, why get ink on both hands if I can't get the first one right.  It took a couple of tries to get roll impressions to not be giant smears.

Self abuse fingerprinting on my right hand went ok, until I tried for the roll impression of my ring finger.  I could get a simple flat impression of my ring finger and a 4 finger flat impression also looked good.  Somehow, the roll impression kept having oddities.  Some were missing points on the lines.  Others had gaps where a line was missed.

I had my lovely wife try grabbing my hand and doing the same thing.  After a few smeared attempts, the other fingers looked ok, but the ring finger roll print still had oddities.

 llllllllll llllllllll llllllllll llllllllll

I'll try again after work, but my hopes are not high.  Think I'll monitor the news and see if things are calm enough to try visiting HK later this week.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: CWL on June 18, 2019, 11:49:41 AM
I keep a small stack of completed fingerprint cards in signed and sealed envelopes back in the states.  When I need FBI check, I have someone send one of the envelopes with a pre-completed and signed order form.  No problems so far and I have been doing this for about six years as I have bumped around East Asia.  Just had another background check completed in March and had another card sent recently in anticipation of a delay in my job search.  Some of these fingerprint cards were completed a number of years back.  No channellers sitting in dark rooms, etc.

Good luck.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 18, 2019, 02:52:58 PM
That's an incredibly good idea.  Now I just need someone who will run the prints on a stack of cards for me.  The problem with HK is that they know they are good at what they do.  It took some effort just to convince the tech to do a second card last time (The FBI requests 2 for a background check).

I'm still going to pay a channeler.  They cost, but they can get the report in both hard copy and PDF within a few days.  I have an authentication company lined up that can print the PDF and then take it to the State Department and the Chinese Embassy.

Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on June 19, 2019, 02:17:40 AM
What a palaver!  I wish you all the very best agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 20, 2019, 08:08:10 PM
I've examined the fingerprint cards more closely.  There are definitely someflaws.  He aimed to low on the card for the flat thumbprints (BOTH cards), so the text at the bottom of the box overlaps the thumbprints. kkkkkkkkkk

At this point, I guess I'm going to have to send what I have.  If they fail, then I get a choice of:

1. Trying another run to HK.

2.  Another DIY attempt.  This presents another problem - some channelers are behind the times.  They have rules which are either fictitious or are severely out of date.  Some only accept paper prints done by the police.  Others require that I be LIVING in the USA.  Others have other weird rules not shown on the FBI website.  Finding the right combination of made up and outdated rules severely limits my choices.

2.a.  Skip the channeler with DIY prints - except that the ONLY acceptable payment methods are money order and cashiers check - something I don't have easy access to in China.  I'd have to mail everything to someone in the US who could get the money order and repackage everything to go to the FBI.  Plus, I'm about 80% sure this would result in only a paper copy of the report, which would have to be remailed to the company handling the authentications.

3.  Wait until I can get them done electronically in the US, in about 3 months. ananananan

So, for now it looks like I need to print out a form, fill it out, and send everything to the US via EMS.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: CWL on June 24, 2019, 04:52:41 PM
I don't think you can use DIY cards with FBI checks.  I have always had the cards placed in envelopes and signed or stamped in a way that covers the seal and shows that the envelopes have not been opened.  Here is a link to the FBI credit card payment form for fingerprint background checks.  If you plan ahead, the 3 month processing time is not too much of an issue.

https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/idhsc-credit-card-payment-form.pdf

Good luck!
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on June 26, 2019, 10:27:58 PM
In this case, I didn't have the option to plan ahead.  The requirement for a new "non-criminality certificate was added at about the same time my application went in.  I'd checked all the requirements several times since getting my green card, so had no warning I'd be needing this.  Otherwise I'd have gotten fingerprinted while visiting the US earlier this year.


Regarding who can and can't take fingerprints, go here:  https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks

If possible, have your fingerprints taken by a fingerprinting technician. This service may be available at a law enforcement agency.

If submitting directly to the FBI, your local, county, or state law enforcement agencies may take your fingerprints for a fee. Also, some printing companies offer this service; check the yellow pages in your telephone book or search online.

You should have multiple sets of fingerprints taken, preferably by a fingerprinting technician.


Previously the standard was higher.  Now you can DIY or get anyone to try to do it for you.  Of course, if the prints aren't good enough for the FBI, you'll have wasted time, effort, and money for nothing.  This is why they still recommend a skilled fingerprint technician.

Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on July 05, 2019, 08:53:25 PM
Looks like the FBI liked my fingerprints.  They not only used them, but even certified that I'm not a criminal.  agagagagag

And, I just filled out a bunch of forms online, printed them, signed them, scanned them back in, and emailed them to an authentication service.  If nothing goes wrong (goes wrong, goes wrong...) my FBI certificate should be authenticated by the State Department and be the recipient of a lovely sticker from the Chinese Embassy.  Even better, I should have it delivered before the end of the month.  Then it just needs certified translations and I can turn it in and get my application back in motion.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: CWL on July 06, 2019, 06:58:41 AM
I had a fingerprint card sent to the FBI in early June.  A few days ago, I received the completed report — no channeler, etc.  I have never seen a turn around like this before.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on July 06, 2019, 08:59:10 AM
 bfbfbfbfbf bfbfbfbfbf agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on July 11, 2019, 04:04:56 PM
It's currently sitting in an inbox at the State Department.  Hopefully will be picked up within a few days and then get carried over to the Chinese embassy.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on July 15, 2019, 05:29:19 PM
My new authentication service is great!  They emailed me to confirm the exact address of the shipping label now instead of waiting until the document was ready.  I'm hoping to hear from them soon about the current status.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on July 16, 2019, 02:02:11 PM
And they wrote back.  The documents have been submitted to the Chinese Embassy in DC. agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on July 17, 2019, 12:31:15 AM
 agagagagag :surfing: :candyraver: vvvvvvvvvv
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on July 22, 2019, 09:15:45 PM
And it has arrived in DG.  Wife is out of town, so I'm contacting some former coworkers to see if I can get a good deal on translation services.

What worries me is that all the certifications are not super-firmly affixed to the certificate.  My old one had already separated all by itself.  if the cert page and the FBI document don't stay attached until they and the translations are compared by the police, I'll need a new copy done.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on July 25, 2019, 03:32:59 PM
Translated copies acquired.

Just in case things get complicated, I'm waiting until Mrs. Lunatic gets back before the papers go over to the Department of Entry, Exit, Immigration, and Other Stuff Dealing with Stray Foreigners.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on August 05, 2019, 03:22:52 PM
And it's back to being processed.  agagagagag

Hopefully it won't take long for Dongguan to figure out if there's anything else needed and then it can move to Guangzhou.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on August 06, 2019, 07:16:40 AM
 agagagagag bfbfbfbfbf
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on November 28, 2019, 09:42:51 PM
Got another call from the happy friendly people at down at Foreigner Containment.

The good news.  My application made it to Guangzhou and was not summarily rejected do to me not quite looking Chinese.  agagagagag

The bad news.  The want a few things.

1.  More copies of my photo.  Thankfully, we've got a digital copy, so can easily provide that.
2.  Some sort of paperwork from my village PSB.  Not hard, but may take a few days.  Oh, and they want photos for that too.
3.  Two copies of my love letter to China need to be written out by hand and then signed by me in person down at Foreigner Control.   aqaqaqaqaq

My ability to read Chinese is very very slowly expanding.  My ability to write it is . . . deeply lacking.  Plus, inflicting that much of my handwriting (no matter what the language) on innocent government employees is probably against the law in most countries.  My deepest hope is that they'll settle for my Chinese signature and be willing to live with my wife's handwriting.

Otherwise, this is going to take a very very long time.  amamamamam

Extra copies of photos are being arranged.  Exactly what items I need to show the village police to get the correct form from them is being checked.  My poor wife is going to be spending some quality time writing out several copies of that letter on Saturday (Sunday is already booked for a charity board meeting).  Guess I need to practice my Chinese signature a few hundred more times.

So many people told me I wouldn't even be allowed to apply.  I did and my application made it to Guangzhou.  If they can't find anything else wrong with it, the next stop is Beijing.

btbtbtbtbt agagagagag btbtbtbtbt vvvvvvvvvv btbtbtbtbt agagagagag btbtbtbtbt



(Small edits made since there was a slight mixup on which police station I needed paperwork from.)
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on November 28, 2019, 11:37:20 PM
 agagagagag agagagagag bfbfbfbfbf
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on December 03, 2019, 04:45:16 PM
The Village Police have finished the paperwork.  My wife is going over to get it and to grab the extra photos we had printed.

This afternoon, we go downtown so I can be laughed at for my poor writing skills masterfully apply my Chinese signature in front of the Foreigner Containment officers.  Only two copies are needed, and there's one spare in case I screw one up too badly.

I figured out the real reason why Da Shan chose his Chinese name.  大山 is very easy to write compared to many other Chinese characters.  I should have just named myself Yi (一). ahahahahah



Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on December 03, 2019, 07:11:19 PM
 bfbfbfbfbf agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Granny Mae on December 04, 2019, 11:56:18 AM
Congratulations EL! bjbjbjbjbj agagagagag You are a very patient man indeed.  bfbfbfbfbfbfbfbfbfbf
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on December 04, 2019, 02:51:13 PM
Foreigner Control moved the desks for res permits, green card applications, and marriage proposals to China downstairs.  My case officer wasn't at his desk.  Turns out he got stuck for the day on the desk that hands out appointment numbers.  We went and collected him, since the request from Guangzhou was at his regular desk.

The paperwork and photos have been turned in.  My Chinese signature came out a little larger than intended on the first copy, so I had to put my English signature above it.  The second copy worked out better, with my English signature on the same line after my Chinese signature.

As we were leaving, another officer was asking him if my application had any chance of getting approved.  He pointed out that I met all the requirements, had passed all the screening in DG, and that Guangzhou only wanted more paperwork and photos.  He seemed to think my chances for approval were very good. agagagagag

Now I have to wait another 6 months (possibly more).  If it's 6 months, the timing isn't bad.  I want to attend a seminar in the US in April 2020 and need a passport to travel.  Once I'm approved, I have to start the process to renounce my US citizenship before getting my Chinese ID, and that's going to leave me without a valid passport for at least a few months.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on February 26, 2020, 05:55:13 PM
February 25, 2010.  I arrived in HK on a one-way ticket from the USA.  It was very late, so I stayed overnight in a hotel.

February 26, 2010, ten years ago today.  I crossed over to mainland China.  Not for an 8 month contract like in 2006.  Not on a tourist visa like I did on 2 trips in 2009.  This time was different.

I came to China with one intention.  I was coming to China to stay forever.  China became my home that day.

btbtbtbtbt agagagagag btbtbtbtbt agagagagag btbtbtbtbt  vvvvvvvvvv btbtbtbtbt agagagagag btbtbtbtbt agagagagag btbtbtbtbt



Since then, I got married (a beautiful daughter was included as a bonus ajajajajaj), got a cat (to supervise me while I work), got a Chinese green card, and rescued a kitten (who now helps my cat supervise me).  All I need now is for my citizenship application to be approved.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on February 26, 2020, 10:46:25 PM
 cecececece Happy Anniversary  agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Granny Mae on February 27, 2020, 01:02:29 PM
All the best with your application EL. agagagagag bjbjbjbjbj
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on February 27, 2020, 03:31:25 PM
Since the restaurants are closed, my lovely wife and I had a celebration dinner on the roof.  It would have been romantic, but the mosquitoes decided to crash the party.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on December 22, 2020, 08:26:35 PM
The very large building next door shed it's fabric and  bamboo skin last week.  When the fabric as up, I couldn't see the workers as more than shadows in the mesh fabric.  But, when I was on the roof watering my garden, I was visible to them, so they had plenty of time to notice that I don't exactly look local.  With the bamboo down, the building went from "hard hat required" to "try not to step on anything dangerous.  Since then, we've gone over a few times to see what sort of apartments are in it.  This may seem off topic in a thread about getting citizenship, but there's a reason.

Most of the workers ignored us, but one approached me, showed me some text on her phone and pointed to herself.  I couldn't read it, but it looked Vietnamese.  I said "Vietnam", she nodded and smiled, then started chatting with my wife in Mandarin that was far to fast for me to process, so I wandered into the next apartment to check the layout.

My wife later filled me in on some interesting details.  It turns out that this woman was Vietnamese, as in past tense.  Her step-mother moved to China when she was young.  She moved to China to take care of her stepmother when she was 15.  When she was about to get married (I believe sometime around 2004, plus or minus a few years), she applied for Chinese citizenship under the "family reunification" rules and became a Chinese citizen.

If I recall correctly, 2004 is when some major clarifications of citizenship rules were issued, and I'm not 100% sure if she was under the prior rules or under the new rules while details were still being worked out.

So, I finally have an actual example of a foreigner who got Chinese citizenship after the ones that Chairman Mao awarded citizenship to.  There is one small oddity.  Ethnically, she's Vietnamese, but her ID card say she's Han (Type 01) instead of Foreigner who became Chinese (Type 58).  I'm guessing this was probably either a clerical error or a clerk that didn't know about Type 58s.

Even better from my point of view is that she's an ordinary person.  Not a celebrity, not an athlete, not a brain surgeon, and not a rich investor.  Instead, she's a regular person with a normal job who was qualified, followed procedure, filled out an application, and got Chinese citizenship - for something so many people still insist is impossible.

I'm waiting for the 2020 census data to be released so I can see how the number of Type 58s compares with 2010.  In the meantime, I finally have a real example of a foreigner who became Chinese instead of just a number in a table.  I find this reassuring as I continue to wait to hear back about my application.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on December 23, 2020, 01:33:07 AM
 agagagagag
Good news, indeed bfbfbfbfbf
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: El Macho on January 20, 2021, 01:55:36 PM
Bump, mostly entirely to say Hi and best wishes :)
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on January 20, 2021, 05:06:56 PM
Hey,

Thanks for dropping in and saying hi.

For anyone wondering, I'm sure the viral issues haven't helped speed up application processing, so I'm still waiting.  The main consolation is that if there was any obvious reason to reject me, they'd probably have done it quickly just to reduce the number of items sitting in the waiting pile.  If things stretch our into a similar time period as my green card approval did, I guess I'm looking at the second half of 2021 or first half of 2022.  Or, just maybe, that phone call I've been waiting for will come today.  There's no way to tell.
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on November 09, 2022, 11:23:01 PM
April 2022:  I found out about something called the NIA. - The Chinese National Immigration Administration.  (en.nia.gov.cn)

They are a good resource for any and all questions regarding foreigners in China, Green Cards, etc.  I got on their live chat around the end of the month to ask about my citizenship application.  They took my info.  A few days later, a call came from the DG office.  They confirmed the application was still in Guangzhou and said to be patient.

November 2022:  I tried NIA live chat again.  This time I think I got someone still in training, so no instructions other than to call the hotline.  The call ended up with someone who took down the info and promised to call back.  The call just came.  Again, assurances that my application was being processed, but that DG had no way to tell when GZ would send it up to Beijing, reject it, or ask for more info.  Again, patience was recommended.

President Xi had to apply 10 times to be admitted to the CPC.  That took less than 2 years.  If I am rejected I will apply as many times as I have to in order to be accepted for Chinese citizenship, I will.  If it takes over 3 years each time, I'm not sure I will live long enough if it takes 10 tries.  :-[

No matter what, I'll become a Chinese citizen or I'll die trying.   btbtbtbtbt
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: AMonk on November 10, 2022, 01:30:29 AM
Govt red tape  llllllllll

Hang on there, EL agagagagag
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: El Macho on November 14, 2022, 06:18:40 PM
Patience is the name of the game in immigration. Good luck!!
Title: Re: From Green to Red
Post by: Escaped Lunatic on November 15, 2022, 07:55:35 PM
I would be less worried if there was some way to login and check the status - especially if it showed "last updated" so I'd be able to tell if it's getting work done on it.