ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
National Visa Center (Dept of State)NVC asking for documents that are already sent

I would think the people in CA Service Center don't need those forms there; so if sent, they probably discarded them, or did not mind if they were not with the package forwarded on to the NVC.


Even so, they were obviously sent for a reason and shouldn't just be discarded like that.
hollywood251MalePhilippines2012-06-27 19:45:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)NVC asking for documents that are already sent
Well I just got off the phone with the NVC and they said I must send it again. So all of you out there going through this, you must send it again because they said it doesn't count, whatever that means.
hollywood251MalePhilippines2012-06-27 17:26:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)NVC asking for documents that are already sent

Hey Hollywood....I also made the mistake of sending my I-864 with my I-130 petition. I am now understanding that we must re-submit the I-864 to the NVC. I don't know why....but that's the way they work....

Well that sucks....where did you find this out?
hollywood251MalePhilippines2012-06-27 16:55:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)NVC asking for documents that are already sent
Hello all,

I sent in my I-864 and joint petitioner documents along with my original I-130 package. It was my understanding that doing this would save us time when the case got to NVC. I have gotten my case number and paid my IV and AOS forms, however NVC keeps asking me to send the I-184 forms when in fact they have already been sent. I have told them this 4 times through email but I seem to get canned responses from people who don't even read it. Do I need to send it again? Is there a number I can call?
hollywood251MalePhilippines2012-06-27 16:47:00
PhilippinesHow much proof did you need during interview?
I am curious as to what was the most important pieces of proof during the interview and also if you got a 221g what further proof did they ask you to submit?
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-12-23 16:52:00
PhilippinesUnable to get police clearance
Hello all,

We are in a bit of a dilemma, my wife taught in China for two years. Now the person helping my wife is telling her she needs that paper.
However, we aren't able to get one. My wife's old employer told her they would get her one and email it to her. Well they then told her that she
needed to get it in person. She can not go back because her visa was cancelled the moment she left. The Chinese embassy in Manila also told her
she needs to physically go get it, but of course they denied her tourist visa.

So what are my options? Can I just include some sort of note saying why we don't have it?
hollywood251MalePhilippines2012-07-20 09:03:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresUnable to get police clearance?

can yer wife inquire through the employment agency that hired her? Sometimes they can magically produce these, suggesting a small service charge.


Well she wasn't hired by an employment agency. The school held some kind of job recruitment directly at her school and hired her in this way. I will keep looking around for other options and if nothing else, I will just send a piece of paper with an explanation and hope they accept it.
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-10-28 23:43:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresUnable to get police clearance?

How hard did you try?

My wife had trouble getting her police cert from China too. We got a lot of grief on this at interview in Canada. The basic problem is that she was born Chinese and naturalized to Canadian later. The Chinese government doesn't give a damn what you were, they care what you are right now. If you aren't a Chinese citizen or on a work visa in China they won't help.

What's worse, if you go in person (or send a representative) to a PSB, not only will they not issue the certificate, they also refuse to issue a letter saying that you're not eligible to receive one. Maybe the bureaucrat is worried that if they write the letter they could get in trouble for incorrectly denying the request. By doing nothing there's nothing to ever prove that you were there.

If you look at the reciprocity table for China there is a note at the bottom stating that this isn't available to people on tourist (L class) visas. Even with a letter pointing out their own note and providing a copy of the last L-visa in a Canadian passport they still weren't happy and were saying, "well, other people have been able to get them". In reality I think it depends on which PSB you go to, and many (should be ex-) Chinese citizens do not give up their citizenship when receiving another.

If I was dealing with any bureaucrat other than a consular officer, who could really screw with our lives, I'd have probably have given them more grief on reading their own documentation. As it was, I kept pleading that we tried hard to get the certificate and that they weren't co-operative.

They did seem to indicate that a letter from a consulate or PSB indicating that it wasn't available would suffice. Maybe this would be your best option. We only tried calling the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver but thinking back, if we'd written to the consulate asking for a certificate they would then need to reject us by mail which would be what we really needed. Maybe your wife could try this with a Chinese consulate in the Philippines?

With all this said, we were successful in getting the CR-1/CR-2 visas. I'm sure having obtained the Canadian certificate helped and showed that we'd at least made an effort to comply. We also had a recently issued notarial birth certificate which showed we weren't averse to getting the docs from China either.

Good luck!


We tried quite a bit but they told us that we need to come to Guangzhou and get it as she was on a Z visa (working). Anyway there is no way for my wife to go back now as her work visa is now cancelled and she can't set foot inside the country and I don't know anyone who can do it in person for us (all her coworkers went home already). At this point I don't know what else to do except like you said, hope they would send a rejection letter or something.
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-10-28 21:03:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresUnable to get police clearance?
Hi all, my wife went back to the Philippines 6 months ago and she has been able to get her local police clearance. However we lived in china for 3 years before that and we are unable to go back and get it now. Is there anything we can do?
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-10-28 19:59:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCR-1 Two year anniversay will pass before approval.

its so simple , Apply now, it will take several months to get the NOA2 then NVC time and bla bla bla ,till you have your interview you will be passed you 2nd anniversary so they will print a IR-1 visa for you not CR-1 but you need to mention that to the consular so he wouldn't mess it up and even if he did , just tell them at the port of entry and they will stamp you an IR-1 visa :)


OK thank you so much :thumbs:
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-10-25 10:17:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCR-1 Two year anniversay will pass before approval.
My wife and I are planning to apply for a CR-1 visa in the next few days, however our anniversary will be in February and that will be two years that we have been married. What should I do? Can I apply for an IR-1 visa? If not, is it ok to apply for adjustment of status when she gets here even though we will be way past our second anniversary?
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-10-25 09:25:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresI864, what to do if you have no tax returns?

A short explanation letter is fine. Here is what my husband wrote:

To Whom It May Concern:
I am Mr Penguin, Penguin's husband and petitioning sponsor. I did not file an income tax return for the years 2005, 2006 or 2007 because I have not worked during my 3 year residence within the Republic of Ireland. Once I came to Ireland, I was unable to find work and so used savings; I was maintained by my wife upon her income and savings. Since I made no income for these years of any type, I was not required to file an income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service.
Sincerely, Mr Penguin.


Thank you so much, this was my exact situation. Is it ok to use this as a template?
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-12-09 15:36:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresI864, what to do if you have no tax returns?
Hi all,

I don't have tax returns even for one year because I didn't work oversees and I have only been working since I got home a few months ago. I did not file before that because I was a student. How do I fill this out on the I864 the right way to let them know why I didn't file?

I have a joint sponsor BTW and they have the proper W-2s and everything.
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-12-09 09:36:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCR-1 Proof of bonafide marriage, how much evidence is enough?

I was able to add my wife to my Car Insurance. It even got me a discount on my car insurance.


I would but I don't own a car, I live in a city with good public transportation.
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-12-23 13:57:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCR-1 Proof of bonafide marriage, how much evidence is enough?

The amount of proof seems to very GREATLY from consulate to consulate. Like real estate, it depends on 3 things: Location, location, location.

If I were asking this question, I would place the greatest value on the feedback that comes from people working with your consulate or at least those consulates in the same the country.

If there are stories around in your country of people where were denied the visa at their interview (issued 221g letters), find out what was missing in what they submitted as proof of a bona fide relationship and start generating the paperwork you can submit. Leases, bank statements, documents proofing you run a business together, any financial obligations you share, pictures (including pics with you & spouse's family) are necessary in some places.

It wasn't necessary to submit this much detail at our location. We just submitted a lease for our home in both our names. But I know in some places, this would not be enough.

The amount that defines what is enough depends on the level of what the US government perceives as fraud, whether real or imagined on their part.

Just my 2 cents...

Hope it helps.


Hi we did this already. It is in Manila and is a high fraud consulate.

I have heard of people getting accepted with almost nothing, and people having a mountain of evidence that the interviewer ignored and gave them a denial.

They said we may have it a lot better because there is only a 3 year age difference between us and we have been together almost 4 years.

That is why I am worried, I don't want her to go into an interviewer who grills her because she gets nervous and they may think she doesn't know or is lying or something.

I couldn't give them anything else though.
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-12-23 13:51:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCR-1 Proof of bonafide marriage, how much evidence is enough?
Hi all,

I am filing an I-130 for my wife of almost 2 years. We lived together almost a year but my name was never on the lease, however I do have passport stamps showing us entering and exiting China at the same times. I sent 4 years worth of emails, a few letters she sent me, 5 affadavits, quite a few photos, plane tickets showing us traveling together, a few western union receipts that I could find, I also put her on my bank account as POD because they wouldn't let me do anything else without a SSN.

I don't own any property that I can add her to, they won't let her on the lease without being here in person, she isn't on my taxes because I was a student and didn't file (I have a cosponsor), I don't really have anything else to give them.

Is what I listed above enough? I am worried a lot, I miss my wife :(.
hollywood251MalePhilippines2011-12-23 00:57:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresAffidavit of support, what income may be used?
Hi all,

I am trying to get together info to refile my I-864 after being told I had to refile. My father who is my co-sponsor, recently took a pay cut and now does not meet the requirements. I have other people who are willing to be co-sponsors. So can you use a persons SSI, Disability, or retirement to count towards the threshold as well as your assets?
hollywood251MalePhilippines2012-06-27 19:40:00