Visas

The U.S. does not want Chinese people to enter their territories. There are several reasons, most of which I don't know. If it's because they don't want to be over-populated, they should have some mercy on China and let their people in.

Anyways - my uncle, aunt, and cousin (the same mentioned in the School post) have wanted to visit America for longer period of time to improve my cousin's English. What better way than total immersion? 8-) One of the bigger problems, excluding costs, was the visa application. Even though my uncle is my mom's brother, it's pretty impossible for relatives to get even tourist visas, unless they're your spouse.  And if you're rejected by the US Embassy, bye bye. You are not gonna get another chance at visiting the Land of Opportunity.

The scary part: you know the ambassador interviewing you and investigating your application? Your chances are completely in his hands (Please, don't accuse me of blasphemy! I know God is holding the ambassador in His hands). If he's grumpy, you're shot. If he had some nice coffee in the morning, congratulations, you're in.  Just like that. It's such a delicate balance. They're watching you too. Anything hinting you're not telling the whole truth, bloating about salaries, status, social networking, etc. and the like, completely negates your attempts.

The session itself is 4 hours and very grueling. I won't go into detail about how my mother and I quintuply checked all my relatives information in their visa applications online (which had numerous bugs driving me up the wall!) before the actual session. I knew my cousin's family was nervous. My immediate family was nervous (I don't think my Mom, sisters, or I slept), which was wrong, because we had prayed and given up the situation into God's hands.

You don't have to guess. My relatives were accepted!! Everything went smoothly. The interview itself was only 30 minutes long, in which my uncle answered several strange questions (like how many cars his company sold in one week :-/). I know it increased my aunt and cousin's faith. And my uncle is definitely beginning to think there might be a God up there.  And He is :) . Praise God for working a miracle!

The tickets are bought and they're coming in ten days!! I'm so so so so excited. :D

Soli Deo Gloria,
~CJ