"Green Card" Update

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El Macho

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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #75 on: January 29, 2017, 06:57:42 AM »
Fingers crossed for you! The waiting is the hardest part.

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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #76 on: March 22, 2017, 12:13:35 AM »
Just applied for my new res permit today.  They had a different guy at the desk.  The moment he saw my Chinese name, he knew I was already a green card applicant.  Unfortunately, the only other info he had was "the application is in Beijing."  I hope he's right.  It would be sad if it is still sitting somewhere in Guangdong.

Kermit said "It's not easy being green."  I think turning green is a bit harder. ahahahahah
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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #77 on: March 22, 2017, 12:27:44 AM »
Oh, and I forgot one little thing I learned a few weeks ago.

According to the census, Nationality Type 58 - foreigner becoming Chinese has has a considerable increase between the 2000 census and the 2010 census.  I'm assuming most Chinese descedants coming in would be Han (and some one of the 55 minority groups and maybe even a few type 57's - other Chinese minorities).  If I'm correct, citizenship for foreigners not of Chinese descent is less impossible than is usually assumed.
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El Macho

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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #78 on: July 31, 2017, 04:57:45 PM »
Regarding your last post, tonight my wife and I were talking about a friend who will be moving back to the US after 20 years in China. Part of why he's leaving China is not seeing much of a future there (he's especially pissed about the points-based rating of Foreign Experts). Eight or nine years ago my friend's school had offered to recommend him for a green card, but he refused because there wasn't a clear path to citizenship…it was just a 10 year RP. My wife observed that this is no longer the case – in her hometown's media they'd recently reported on eleven "foreigners" who had become naturalized Chinese citizens.

Times are changing :)

Hope to hear a good news update from you soon, EL.

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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #79 on: July 31, 2017, 07:36:50 PM »
2 months and a day, and I'll be able to ask the local PSB to send an inquiry up the food chain.

My local PSB still says a green card is possible (if I keep waiting), but love to throw around "impossible" when the issue of citizenship is raised.  Sometimes all it takes is one or two verifiable counter-examples to break past a brick wall like that.

Can you please PM me any and all links about any foreigners who successfully got citizenship?  (I wouldn't even mind items about others who got greencards - if I eventually have to apply a second time, maybe they know something I missed.)
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El Macho

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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #80 on: August 03, 2017, 06:47:06 AM »
I've put in a request with my wife to find the article(s) again and will pass them along :)

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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #81 on: August 03, 2017, 10:56:10 PM »
Thanks.  I'm trying to gather up everything I can about anyone who was successfully naturalized.
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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #82 on: August 06, 2017, 04:33:07 PM »
The bad news is that El Macho found out that those were green cards, not citizenships.

The good news is that I may get lucky enough to be able to trace some of them.  I'm amazed at how many articles I've seen about "what it takes to get a green card" which don't cite a single case.  I've even seen some where the author admits not having direct knowledge of a single case.  If I need to re-apply, I'll want to ask advice from some who made it.  When I succeed (hopefully on the first try), I'd at least like someone to compare notes with when I write my own blog piece about it.

I am finding some hints of non-Chinese ancestry citizenships being acquired, but these are much rarer than greencards and I haven't found any specifics, yet.  From what I can tell, the total number may be in the 900 range.  That's not a lot, but if it's accurate, I can't believe there's not one news story or blog post which gives details about who, when, and how.
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Nolefan

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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #83 on: August 06, 2017, 06:13:01 PM »
The bad news is that El Macho found out that those were green cards, not citizenships.

The good news is that I may get lucky enough to be able to trace some of them.  I'm amazed at how many articles I've seen about "what it takes to get a green card" which don't cite a single case.  I've even seen some where the author admits not having direct knowledge of a single case.  If I need to re-apply, I'll want to ask advice from some who made it.  When I succeed (hopefully on the first try), I'd at least like someone to compare notes with when I write my own blog piece about it.

I am finding some hints of non-Chinese ancestry citizenships being acquired, but these are much rarer than greencards and I haven't found any specifics, yet.  From what I can tell, the total number may be in the 900 range.  That's not a lot, but if it's accurate, I can't believe there's not one news story or blog post which gives details about who, when, and how.

I know a few people that do have one but they're not the type to post or blog about it. In each case, it's been a different procedure and length of time. The only clear point is that it's been easier to do in Shanghai than elsewhere. It's the city that's issued the most so far.
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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #84 on: August 07, 2017, 06:51:36 PM »
Please let me know if any of them (especially any who got a green card for 5 years of marriage) would agree to answer a few questions.  I'll be happy to keep their identities confidential if they like.
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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #85 on: August 24, 2017, 05:06:13 PM »
"I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate."

"So what does that make us?"

"Absolutely nothing, unless we're in China."

Since I'm in China, it turns out that one of my wife's former high school classmates had a college classmate who knows someone who has a friend who has a cousin who met someone who has some familiarity about what's happening with greencard applications.

My application took about 6 months to make it to the national level, which has a backlog of applications to be rechecked and to get all the correct approvals in the correct order.  The reason the time I was told this would take expanded each time I asked at the local level is that the number of applications has been going up.  Supposedly, my application is currently about 6 months until it gets processed.  At that point, they may want to recheck a few things to make sure I'm still qualified, such as verifying I survived 2 more years of marriage.

There is some good news in this.  Supposedly, the bulk of the application denials happen at the local and provincial level.  If this is correct, then my application has a reasonably good chance of passing.
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cruisemonkey

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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #86 on: August 25, 2017, 11:55:56 AM »
If this is correct, then my application has a reasonably good chance of passing.

And, at the length of time it takes to process an application, there's a reasonably good chance the applicant will pass... on.  ahahahahah
The Koreans once gave me five minutes notice - I didn't know what to do with the extra time.

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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #87 on: August 25, 2017, 03:09:40 PM »
If this is correct, then my application has a reasonably good chance of passing.

And, at the length of time it takes to process an application, there's a reasonably good chance the applicant will pass... on.  ahahahahah


Verification that I'm still married and still breathing will probably be the final step. ahahahahah
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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #88 on: May 10, 2018, 08:32:00 PM »
During my annual police dance where (village, town, and city) for residence permit renewal, I tried to make a further inquiry at the bureau of naughty foreigner control.  There were some new faces behind the counter, so I hoped they might have tripped over some new information.

I was told that the last (only?) green card via marriage in Dongguan was issued about 10 years ago. They seemed to believe that getting such a green card today would be impossible.  amamamamam

China now has recently fully integrated all the visa, greencard, and immigration functions into a centralized Immigration Bureau.  I personally don't see how that, in conjunction with reports of increasing numbers of green cards being issued nationwide can correlate to "impossible."

What's very frustrating is how many news articles on the subject give vague descriptions and also readily mix up the concepts of green card, honorary citizenship, and actual citizenship.  Getting useful facts isn't easy when those writing and editing the stories don't seem to know very much about the topics the stories are about.

It's been 2 years, 1 month, and 9 days since I applied.  I'm still hopefully awaiting news of success. btbtbtbtbt
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Re: "Green Card" Update
« Reply #89 on: June 01, 2018, 02:13:08 AM »
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