ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresNotarized Documents
Although we haven't even received the physical NOA1 receipt in the mail yet, I'm moving way ahead now.

I was looking through the required documents that have to be notarized, such as police clearance, birth certificate, and unmarried certificate. I did a search in the forum and found that Chinese beneficiaries have to go through plenty to obtain such documents.

I'm currently residing and working in Shanghai, China. I'm already aware that I've to obtain police clearance certificates from my birth country (Malaysia) and from Shanghai's notary public office.

So my question is where should I be obtaining copies of both the notarized birth certificate and statement of unmarried/being single? In Shanghai or in my birth country? Also, my birth certificate has both English and my birth country's official language (Malay) printed on it, do I still need to have it translated?

Many thanks!
roseisroseFemaleMalaysia2012-01-03 03:39:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedurescan i get a copy of an application i already submitted to uscis?

Thanks for replying?I am going off the biometrics appointment info on USCIS website. They say to bring a copy of your application, along with all the supporting documentation, along with your appointment notice. Were you able to do fingerprints with only the appointment notice?


apyetmezFemaleTurkey2014-02-17 13:09:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedurescan i get a copy of an application i already submitted to uscis?

Hello, I know y'all will slap your foreheads at this question (I sure have), but I'm desperate...my problem is that, in huge haste to get an I-131 submitted ASAP before time runs out and we're leaving the country, I somehow seem to have only printed one copy of the application (the one that I sent in to USCIS.) Like everyone, I'm sure, I usually take the time to make sure I have a minimum of 2 copies of EVERYTHING...however, this time, I don't.

 

Now it seems I will need to take a copy of the application with me to the fingerprinting/biometrics appointment. I did the online-fillable PDF version of the I-131 application, the one that changes the barcode on the application as you fill it in, so simply filling out another application with a pen (or even online) would not give me the same exact application. BTW, this is an application for a re-entry permit, not for advance parole or refugee document, and my ACS location is Yakima, Washington state.

 

So my question is, is there any way to get a copy of an already-submitted application from USCIS? (Please, keep the laughing and eye-rolling to a dull roar, I know this is a hopeless, stupid question, but like I said I'm desperate.) If anyone has any idea if this is even remotely possible, please let me know. Or, if you have gone to a biometrics appt. sans copy of application, please let me know; or, if you've been in the same spot and simply printed another application typed the same way, please let me know...

 

Thanks for any information/encouraging advice.


apyetmezFemaleTurkey2014-02-17 12:38:00
ChinaAnyone waiting in DCF limbo?
OK, we are moving through the immigration process, my wife and I have been married two years next week!

In Guangzhou, during the interview, they approved her visa, but didn't issue it - they want to see proof that I have a job, and then they will issue.

Now the Adam Walsh Sex Crimes act is in play, and I have emailed the consulate in GZ to see if we are affected. My guess is that we are not, since we applied for and were approved the I-130 before July 27, 2006. (Approved July 11 - just made it). But I want confirmation from the consulate.

Is anyone else in a similar situation? Has anyone been approved for the I-130 sometime in the last year? Any news here?
The PortfoliosNot TellingChina2007-02-01 21:35:00
China(off topic maybe) we just wanna cry!
Today I bought ANOTHER phone card from CITIC to call the Consulate, only to be told they don't have any information for me. I resisted the urge to trash the woman on the phone because I know they monitor those phone calls and anything terrible you say will come back to haunt you. Be careful.

My buddy totally cursed them out once and then months later when his girlfriend was being interviewed for a tourist visa, the guy was like, Oh your boyfriend's the one who made all those threatening calls... Guess whether she got the visa...
The PortfoliosNot TellingChina2007-03-22 03:55:00
ChinaI - 134 my income
The income requirement is based on the poverty level. You have to earn 125% of the poverty, which in 2006 came to something around $19,000/year. A Google search will probably turn this up. Also, it should be listed on the I-864 Affadavit of Support.

However, your biggest problem is residence. If you are living in China, as I am, I suggest you get a second beneficiary, someone back in the States who is willing to sign the papers with you. Because they will say you are not qualified to be a sponsor if you don't live in America, and proving your intent to go back once you get her visa is also difficult. Better to have someone else co-sponsor with you.

Remember, their primary concern is money. They only want people who are going to pay taxes; they certainly don't want anyone who's going to collect welfare. Follow the money. Prove that you'll pay.
The PortfoliosNot TellingChina2007-03-22 03:17:00
ChinaDCF China: Wife and Step-daughter approved for CR1!
We finally got the visa approval! Here's a recap of our experience.

I lived in Shanghai from 2010 to early 2012 and then returned to the US early 2012. We were married in Anhui, China in Jan 2011. I filed DCF thru Beijing towards the end of 2011 for my wife and step-daughter for IR1/CR1 visas and we just got approved yesterday at Guangzhou!

The entire process was smooth, other than 1 big glitch that had nothing to do with either USCIS, Guangzhou Consulate, or anything US gov't related: We sent the i-130 application to Beijing at the very end of September, but apparently the courier tried to deliver to the embassy on National Day, so no one was there, and we were out of the country on our honeymoon, so when they called us no one was able to answer. The courier then promptly sat on the package and did.... absolutely nothing. Didn't even send it back to us as undeliverable. Only way I found out was when I mailed Beijing in November to check on status and they had not received it. Followed up with the courier, and they still had the package. So..... the application finally it finally made it's way to Beijing on Nov 23 just before Thanksgiving. The one hitch for all this is that my wife is pregnant, and due to timing of the birth (expecting 4/27/12), we'll likely have our child born in China, rather than the US as we'd originally planned.

I found Beijing USCIS is responsive in returning emails, but absolutely unresponsive in actually moving the application along. For example, after we uncovered the courier snafu and Beijing finally got the application, I let them know about the situation with my wife and her pregnancy, and asked very politely a few times, if there was anything they could do to accelerate processing of the i-130, so we could immigrate before the birth. *Twice* I got back the very same response, complete with same typo:) "This office may takes 2-3 months to adjudicate an I-130 petition." Overall, they took their sweet time and It was about 2 months. Not super slow, but not as fast as I'd read some experienced in early 2011.

Guangzhou on the other hand was very responsive about the process in general. Once I learned that Beijing had sent the package to GZ, I sent in an email request via their webform inquiring as to status and if we could send in our DS230 app (we'd already prepared everything) or if we needed to wait for packet 3 to arrive. I never heard back from that email, but by end of that week, packet 3 arrived. We turned it around in 3 days and submitted on Feb 21. We included a note, indicating that my wife was pregnant, and asked for an interview date either before March 15, or after May 25 (to avoid flying at end of pregnancy or shortly after birth), and said, if there were a choice of slots, we would prefer to interview before the birth (but we really didn't expect this would be an option). GUZ thoughtfully called my wife upon receiving our packet (rather than dealing with time delay of sending EMS) and said they had a slot on 3/12, and did we want it? We took it:) Total time from receipt in Beijing to approval in Guangzhou was 3.5 months! not bad.

SUMMARY OF TIMELINE:
* i-130 packet mailed to Beijing USCIS: Sept 29, 2011
* inquired as to status of i-130, only to learn it had never been received: Nov 20, 2011
* Beijing officially receives our application: Nov 23, 2011
* i-130 approval: Jan 31, 2012
* GUZ receives packet: Feb 10, 2012
* Packet 3 received: Feb 18, 2012
* DS230 submitted: Feb 21, 2012
* Packet 4 received: Feb 28, 2012 (via email)
* Interview: March 12-13, 2012.


NOTES ABOUT OUR I-130 SUBMISSION: I'd not read about frontloading before I submitted, so I would say our package was "medium-loaded" compared to what I've read others did. In addition to the core i-130 and G325 papers, we included the following as evidence of our bona fide relationship:
* joint bank account with HSBC in Shanghai (btw, this is the only bank I've come across in China that will do a joint bank account).
* A lease for our apartment in Shanghai, showing both our names. Submitted the Chinese original and English translation (not notarized, we simply had a friend do the translation)
* affidavit from my friend in the US, stating that he'd known about our relationship since 2008 (first time I came to china for work), had met my wife in 2009 when she came to the US, and then met her again a few times in 2010 when he came to China to visit me and also when she came again to the US in 2010. And finally he was a groomsman at our wedding celebration in the US in 2011. (not the actual marriage, btw that was in China earlier)
* affidavit from my wife's sister who introduced us, and who had seen our relationship develop the entire time. Previously my wife and step-daughter lived with her until they moved in with me when I came back to China in 2010.
* copies of notarial translation of marriage and divorce for my wife, along with copies of Chinese originals. Divorce statement said my wife had custody of her daughter (translation used the word "fostered" which I later learned is the key word to have)
* copy of notarial translation of birth cert for my step-daughter, along with copy of Chinese original.

We did the medical check in Shanghai.

GUANGZHOU - DOC INTAKE:

For Guangzhou, we prepared lots of paper work and evidence, but in the end they wanted almost none of it. I did not go to Guangzhou, as I was back in the US, and had just recently come to visit my wife prior. (When we did the DS230 submission and doc prep).

Here's what they wanted at doc intake:
• Original Marriage + Divorce notarial statements. They wanted 2 originals since we had 2 petitions, but my wife had only brought 1 original plus a copy that day. They said bring the other original the next day, but interestingly it was never asked for
• Original Police Cert
• Original Birth Notarial Certs for my wife and step-daughter
• "I864 package". My wife prepared a bundle of info related to i864 and financial info, and simply gave all this to the officer. This had 2 original signed i-864s, photocopies of 3 years of tax filings with W2s and 1099s, as well as recent paystubs and util statements from my new job back in the US to show domicile. Also, my wife had included in here photocopies of an Evolution of Relationship statement I'd prepared along with internet printouts showing my wife as beneficiary at various financial institutions. This latter stuff was really more about evidence of relationship than i-864 support, and my wife mentioned it was in the package - this officer just took it all. he didn't want original of the EOR.
• They did want a copy of Chinese original divorce statement.
• Medical docs.

Stuff they explicitly did not want:
* a letter my wife had written stating she did not know how to contact the father. Ths was not notarized, as we couldn't find anyone in China willing to do it. (We wrote this since we didn't have as statement from him saying her daughter could immigrate, and we weren't sure if the divorce statement with custody was enough. in the end, the "foster" statement in the divorce was sufficient.
* Extra copies of affidavits from my friend and my wife's sister.
* Copy of Chinese and English translation of lease for Shanghai apartment.

They did ask her a few questions during doc intake:
• Have you been to US before?
• How long?
• Been to other countries?
• When did you get married?
• Are you CCP?
• What does your husband do?

Since my wife is 7.5 months pregnant and also had my step-daughter, they gave her one of the green dots so she could get in early the next day. I was really grateful to hear this. Reinforced my perception that GUZ is responsive and thoughtful.

GUANGZHOU - INTERVIEW:
My wife was the second person interviewed by the officer at his particular window. Officer was some blonde American dude. Interview was 3 mins tops. My wife opened with a cheery "Good morning" in English and then she answered the following questions from the officer. Conversation was all in English.
o Q: Your does husband do? A: He works at XYZ company.
o Q: Cool! What does he do there? A: he does ABC.
o Q: Where is your is husband now. A: US
o Q: How do you know each other
o Q: Have you been to America before?
o Q: What did you do there?
o Q: (pointing to our daughter) Is that your daughter? A: yes.
o Q: Are you CCP? A: No
Visa officer: Ni tongguo le.

My wife: "huh?" then she realized he was speaking Chinese instead of English. Translation "You passed".
My wife: "Great, thanks! Have a nice day!"

The officer didn't look at any of the materials my wife had brought. didn't even ask for photographs.


Anyway, really appreciated having this forum. Helped me understand the process and prepared well, so I wanted to take a moment and share our experience.
GuangtouMaleChina2012-03-13 14:18:00