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Got a pink slip! Some thoughts on the process.


alexwh

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Got a pink slip! Some thoughts on the process.

 

This is my first post, but I¡¯ve been a lurker for a few months. This site was very helpful, so I wanted to give back to the community here by recounting our experiences and what I found to be the most helpful in getting our pink slip.

 

First a summary of our relationship:

 

I met my wife in Guangzhou, China while I was studying Chinese at a University (2007-2008). We dated for the year I was in China for the studies. After my studies, I returned to the States. I visited her again several times after that. On one of the occasions, we decided to get married in China. (February 2009) We started the visa application soon after that. (CR-1)

 

I won¡¯t summarize our timeline or any of the logistical stuff, as you can find those things easily by searching this website and google. Rather, I¡¯m going to summarize what I think were the most critical things in our getting a visa.

 

1. Evidence of relationship. For us, this was the most important thing. My wife¡¯s visa interview lasted only a few minutes, but the bulk of the time was spent on ascertaining the authenticity of the relationship. Primarily, they want to see photos of you two together in a casual setting, preferably with other people. Merely wedding photos may not be enough. Ideally, these photos will span the entire time of your relationship. If you have taken trips together, include those as well. It is important for the visa officer to know that you¡¯ve invested time in this relationship, and that means taking trips together. For us, we had an album with trips taken to Macao, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and various places in China. When my wife showed pictures of our trips to the officer, he stopped asking questions and immediately gave her pink.

2. Frequent visits. I visited my wife 3 times from when we were married. That does not include the year I spent in China with her during my studies. I highly recommend a few visits. Even if it is just one week each time. Visit some nice places with her. Take a lot of pictures. This will be worth the investment.

3. Communication. You must show the officer that you can communicate to each other. If your wife speaks English, that will not be a problem. If your wife¡¯s English is poor, as was mine, then I would recommend documenting how you communicate. In my case, I described in our EOR my year of studying Chinese and working for a Chinese company where I had to use Chinese on a daily basis. I also made a video showing us talking in Chinese for five minutes.

4. Affidavit of support. I only had one full year of tax returns since I didn¡¯t work during the year I spent studying Chinese. Although my income and savings qualified as above the poverty line, I didn¡¯t want to take chances and included a cosponsor. I actually highly recommend getting a cosponsor if you can, even if you qualify as above the poverty line. If you don¡¯t have three years of tax returns, you MUST include a letter explaining why. My wife was asked for this when they reviewed the affidavit of support documents.

5. Interview: Consisted of only a few questions.

a. How did you meet? (In China, while husband was studying Chinese)

b. How long have you known each other? (Almost three years)

c. How do you communicate? (In Chinese, husband speaks Chinese well.)

d. Do you have photos together? (Yes, with pictures shown)

e. Why don¡¯t you have wedding pictures? (We will have a wedding banquet in the US)

 

Best of luck. Let me know if you guys have any questions and I will try to answer them.

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts and congratulations on receiving a pink slip (the only time you would ever want to receive a slip of that color :lol: )

 

Did you have you include any 3rd party affidavits with your package when you started this process; if so, from whom?

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts and congratulations on receiving a pink slip (the only time you would ever want to receive a slip of that color :lol: )

 

Did you have you include any 3rd party affidavits with your package when you started this process; if so, from whom?

 

Yes I did, with the I-130 application. I included two notarized affidavits from relatives (brother and mother) stating that they had knowledge of the relationship. The consular official did not ask for these documents at the interview. However, I did have copies of the affidavits ready at the interview would they have asked for it.

 

One thing I made sure to do was to make copies of all materials and correspondence I sent and received during the process. There are a lot of documents, make sure to stay organized throughout the process.

Edited by alexwh (see edit history)
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  • 4 weeks later...

Got a pink slip! Some thoughts on the process.

 

This is my first post, but I¡¯ve been a lurker for a few months. This site was very helpful, so I wanted to give back to the community here by recounting our experiences and what I found to be the most helpful in getting our pink slip.

 

First a summary of our relationship:

 

I met my wife in Guangzhou, China while I was studying Chinese at a University (2007-2008). We dated for the year I was in China for the studies. After my studies, I returned to the States. I visited her again several times after that. On one of the occasions, we decided to get married in China. (February 2009) We started the visa application soon after that. (CR-1)

 

I won¡¯t summarize our timeline or any of the logistical stuff, as you can find those things easily by searching this website and google. Rather, I¡¯m going to summarize what I think were the most critical things in our getting a visa.

 

1. Evidence of relationship. For us, this was the most important thing. My wife¡¯s visa interview lasted only a few minutes, but the bulk of the time was spent on ascertaining the authenticity of the relationship. Primarily, they want to see photos of you two together in a casual setting, preferably with other people. Merely wedding photos may not be enough. Ideally, these photos will span the entire time of your relationship. If you have taken trips together, include those as well. It is important for the visa officer to know that you¡¯ve invested time in this relationship, and that means taking trips together. For us, we had an album with trips taken to Macao, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and various places in China. When my wife showed pictures of our trips to the officer, he stopped asking questions and immediately gave her pink.

2. Frequent visits. I visited my wife 3 times from when we were married. That does not include the year I spent in China with her during my studies. I highly recommend a few visits. Even if it is just one week each time. Visit some nice places with her. Take a lot of pictures. This will be worth the investment.

3. Communication. You must show the officer that you can communicate to each other. If your wife speaks English, that will not be a problem. If your wife¡¯s English is poor, as was mine, then I would recommend documenting how you communicate. In my case, I described in our EOR my year of studying Chinese and working for a Chinese company where I had to use Chinese on a daily basis. I also made a video showing us talking in Chinese for five minutes.

4. Affidavit of support. I only had one full year of tax returns since I didn¡¯t work during the year I spent studying Chinese. Although my income and savings qualified as above the poverty line, I didn¡¯t want to take chances and included a cosponsor. I actually highly recommend getting a cosponsor if you can, even if you qualify as above the poverty line. If you don¡¯t have three years of tax returns, you MUST include a letter explaining why. My wife was asked for this when they reviewed the affidavit of support documents.

5. Interview: Consisted of only a few questions.

a. How did you meet? (In China, while husband was studying Chinese)

b. How long have you known each other? (Almost three years)

c. How do you communicate? (In Chinese, husband speaks Chinese well.)

d. Do you have photos together? (Yes, with pictures shown)

e. Why don¡¯t you have wedding pictures? (We will have a wedding banquet in the US)

 

Best of luck. Let me know if you guys have any questions and I will try to answer them.

 

 

Congratulations! Interesting comment on taking trips together: I'll be taking my 4th trip to China this Christmas, and on 3 of them we'll have gone on trips together (Dalian, Hainan, Hong Kong), and I was thinking that might not be good -- that the VO would think "trips are great, but what about just hanging out together day to day, isn't that more what a real marriage will be like?"

 

I'll remember to get more pictures of us with other folks if I can this trip (though that's hard to do on trips, as we don't see people we know there!) ;)

 

Congratulations again, and thanks for sharing your experience.

Link to comment

Got a pink slip! Some thoughts on the process.

 

This is my first post, but I¡¯ve been a lurker for a few months. This site was very helpful, so I wanted to give back to the community here by recounting our experiences and what I found to be the most helpful in getting our pink slip.

 

First a summary of our relationship:

 

I met my wife in Guangzhou, China while I was studying Chinese at a University (2007-2008). We dated for the year I was in China for the studies. After my studies, I returned to the States. I visited her again several times after that. On one of the occasions, we decided to get married in China. (February 2009) We started the visa application soon after that. (CR-1)

 

I won¡¯t summarize our timeline or any of the logistical stuff, as you can find those things easily by searching this website and google. Rather, I¡¯m going to summarize what I think were the most critical things in our getting a visa.

 

1. Evidence of relationship. For us, this was the most important thing. My wife¡¯s visa interview lasted only a few minutes, but the bulk of the time was spent on ascertaining the authenticity of the relationship. Primarily, they want to see photos of you two together in a casual setting, preferably with other people. Merely wedding photos may not be enough. Ideally, these photos will span the entire time of your relationship. If you have taken trips together, include those as well. It is important for the visa officer to know that you¡¯ve invested time in this relationship, and that means taking trips together. For us, we had an album with trips taken to Macao, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and various places in China. When my wife showed pictures of our trips to the officer, he stopped asking questions and immediately gave her pink.

2. Frequent visits. I visited my wife 3 times from when we were married. That does not include the year I spent in China with her during my studies. I highly recommend a few visits. Even if it is just one week each time. Visit some nice places with her. Take a lot of pictures. This will be worth the investment.

3. Communication. You must show the officer that you can communicate to each other. If your wife speaks English, that will not be a problem. If your wife¡¯s English is poor, as was mine, then I would recommend documenting how you communicate. In my case, I described in our EOR my year of studying Chinese and working for a Chinese company where I had to use Chinese on a daily basis. I also made a video showing us talking in Chinese for five minutes.

4. Affidavit of support. I only had one full year of tax returns since I didn¡¯t work during the year I spent studying Chinese. Although my income and savings qualified as above the poverty line, I didn¡¯t want to take chances and included a cosponsor. I actually highly recommend getting a cosponsor if you can, even if you qualify as above the poverty line. If you don¡¯t have three years of tax returns, you MUST include a letter explaining why. My wife was asked for this when they reviewed the affidavit of support documents.

5. Interview: Consisted of only a few questions.

a. How did you meet? (In China, while husband was studying Chinese)

b. How long have you known each other? (Almost three years)

c. How do you communicate? (In Chinese, husband speaks Chinese well.)

d. Do you have photos together? (Yes, with pictures shown)

e. Why don¡¯t you have wedding pictures? (We will have a wedding banquet in the US)

 

Best of luck. Let me know if you guys have any questions and I will try to answer them.

 

 

Congratulations! Interesting comment on taking trips together: I'll be taking my 4th trip to China this Christmas, and on 3 of them we'll have gone on trips together (Dalian, Hainan, Hong Kong), and I was thinking that might not be good -- that the VO would think "trips are great, but what about just hanging out together day to day, isn't that more what a real marriage will be like?"

 

I'll remember to get more pictures of us with other folks if I can this trip (though that's hard to do on trips, as we don't see people we know there!) ;)

 

Congratulations again, and thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Some people don't have the option of hanging out day to day for various reasons. If that is the case, I think taking trips together might be a good compromise. If the VO sees you investing time and money into the relationship, he or she may be less inclined to think the marriage is a sham. Of course, day to day pictures would also be helpful. If you can get pictures of the two of you with other friends and family members, that would be ven better.

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