caliorbust

she told me she can pickup her passport on fri (so 4-days later in this case).

the mrs. got her imm-visa this morning. like a walk in the park. i thank everyone who replied back to my questions, but a very special thanks goes out to Kyle who was particularly helpful. if anyone has any specific questions, i'll be glad to answer them here. note that my case was a DCF filing, so i'm probably not much help for those who are filing from overseas.

very comprehensive, thx. i wont be having the mrs. bring everything u brought, but it's a great checklist nonetheless!

kyle, so just to clarify, u were based here in china for the past few yrs, that is why u wrote down your chinese address? and then u provided evidence that u will (or have) re-established US domicile? my situation is: the past 5-yrs i've lived and worked in SH. i didnt maintain my US domicile during those 5-yrs. however, i have re-established US domicile by securing an apartment ready the moment i step foot on US soil again, in addition to securing a job in the US ready for me the moment i move there. given those facts, how would u recommend i fill out items 12, 13, and 15? thanks again.

a question about I-864, question #12, #13, and #15: for item 12, i have the address in the US where my wife and i will be living once we relocate there. but what should i fill in for item 13? i've been living in SH for the past 5 yrs, so is my SH address the one to write down? and for question 15, "country of domicile," do i put down USA or China?

i have some more questions. in this thread: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...c=37290&hl= the OP mentioned the visa fee and ems fee. i'll be bringing the receipt for the earlier visa fee (i think it was ~$350 or so), so that's no prob. 1. but the other visa fee, is the amount $445 USD? 2. what is the ems fee (and how much is it)? is this what u pay to china post in order to pickup one's passport (w/ the immigrant visa attached inside) a few days after the interview is over? or does this ems fee only apply to guangzhou residents who want to have their passports mailed to their homes? 3. are there any other fees besides these two?

understood. thx.

i have another question for the forum: the consulate typically wants last 3-yrs of tax returns. no prob, except that each yr's tax returns runs about 40-pages. so that's ~120 pages if all printed out. what did u guys do, print out all ~120 pages, or only the most relevant pages for each tax yr?

i'll give her my passport but it doesnt make sense (financial or otherwise) in my case to go to guangzhou. w/o getting into details, missing a day or two of work for me wouldnt be prudent. never mind the lodging issue (she's staying w/ a friend of hers who has no room for 1 more person if i were to tag along). sure, it's a "big day," but it's nothing to lose sleep over, esp. for DCF cases like mine. the approval rate is sky high for DCFs, and she's been to the US before on a tourist visa so she has "good credit." i fully expect it to be a walk in the park.

i have the domicile issue covered.

understood. guess i'll have her bring mine as well. thx.

the mrs. has her interview scheduled in early march (we filed DCF as i'm based in SH). just a quick question for now (i'll post others to this thread if i have more later on): i know she needs to bring a ton of docs, but does she need to bring MY passport to the interview? or perhaps a copy of my passport?

yes, ds230 and of-169 were submitted as part of the p3 we sent to them. if it wasnt, we wouldnt have gotten p4 (presumably). anyway, great links! thx. and of course since we received p4, it also means we have an interview date. i figure the worst case is i'll fill it out again and bring it to the interview. i'll shoot 'em an email as well.

in the p4 packet, there's a (blank) ds230 form. i remember i filled out ds230 and submitted it as part of the p3 packet we sent back to the consulate. what am i suppose to do w/ the ds230 form that came w/ p4? are we suppose to fill it out again?

it doesnt help all that much, at least not if we're going strictly by the quoted passage. the issue isnt our inability to present my wife's birth certificate. the issue is the notary office wont notarized the birth certificate. at least that's how i interpret it.

in prep for the face-to-face interview, one of the docs we need to have ready is a notarized copy of the intending immigrant's birth certificate. my wife and i live in SH, but she was born in another province. so she asked her parents to get this doc for her. her parents tried to get her birth certificate notarized, but the local notary refuses to do so because: in that era (early 80's), birth certificates did not show the name of the newborn child. it only showed the parents of the newborn. since my wife's name is not on the birth certificate, the notary refuses to notarized the birth certificate. what do we do?

does the rental agreement copy need to be notarized? i think u may have misunderstood me. the most likely case is my wife and i will have our own apartment (found by my friend) when we arrive in california. the worst case as i mentioned before is both my wife and i stay in my friend's condo for a few weeks while we look for an apartment ourselves. it has nothing to do with "he is under no obligation to help your wife." my bank statement has my previous address but i dont see that as being a dealbreaker. as for joint bank accounts, they are illegal to have here in china. joint bank accounts dont exist, u cant open one even if u wanted to. it seems in a nutshell (if i'm not mistaken), if i can establish: 1. i have a job waiting for me when i reach US soil 2. i have housing arranged for me when i reach US soil then i can successfully establish the domicile requirement. true?

thx for the I-864 PDF link. i skimmed it, and i'd like confirmation from u guys if i'm ok: under the "how is domicile determined?" section, it says: -he/she left the US for a limited and not indefinite period of time -he/she intended to maintain a domicile in the US -he/she has evidence of continued ties to the US i can get a termination letter from my employer early next yr, as i plan to resign from my job in preparation for my move to the US. as mentioned before, i'm having my friend find me an apartment in california. i have US bank accounts and an online stock brokerage account. under the "how can a petitioner establish a domicile?" section, it says: -find a job -locate a place to live i can secure employment prior to my wife's face-to-face interview. i'm having my friend secure housing for me (i.e. he's going to find me an apartment). so given the above, am i ok to pass the domicile requirement?

i recently received p3 (dcf a cr1). i know the only 2 docs i'm suppose to send back at this time are ds230 (parts I and II), and OF-169. i keep the i-864 with me until the day of my wife's face-to-face interview in guangzhou. however, i still have a few questions about it: 1. in ds-230 part II, on page 4, it says do not sign this form until instructed to do so by the consular officer. so we do simply mail in ds-230, part II, and leave that section of page 4, unsigned? will the VO ask my wife to sign it the day of her interview? 2. do i need to get my tax returns notarized? and if so, where can i get that done (i live/work in shanghai)? is the SH consulate general place where i can get an english document notarized? 3. after receiving packet 4, is it true i can move to a new apartment and not have it affect the immigrant visa process? i ask this because if i'm not mistaken, once p4 is received and the interview date is set, if my wife gets her immigrant visa, she'll have to pick it up at one of the china post offices in guangzhou, rather than it being mailed back to us in shanghai, right? 4. how exactly does the criteria of "domicile" work? in my case, i'll be relocating to california and i'm having a friend find me an apartment starting a few months before i make the actual move (note: this will occur after i receive packet 4, and after my wife's interview takes place). on the i130 form, i wrote my friend's condo's address as my "intended US residence." in the worst case (which is pretty much impossible) if my friend can't find me an apartment, i'll stay at his condo for a few weeks while i go apartment hunting myself. i wont know the address of my apartment until he signs the actual lease for me (i gave him a POA that covers this). am i ok here with respect to the "domicile" requirement?

thank you to everyone who spent time replying to my questions. given the helpful replies, i hope when i do receive the p3 docs, i wont have any other questions. if i do, it's great knowing CFL is the best source to get them answered, bar-none! that should be all the questions i have for now. thanks again.

kjj, sorry for that oversight (re: packet 2). this should be my last questions (i hope): 1. if i'm not mistaken, i do not mail in the EOR/photos with the packet 3 docs. instead, only forms ds320, i864, and OF-169 are submitted during the packet 3 process. right? or are there some supporting docs that i've overlooked that should be sent back as part of packet 3? i presume i need to submit my last yr's IRS tax returns (as part of the i864), but i'm more wondering about if i need to submit supporting docs that aren't "obvious." 2. does that mean the EOR/photos should be brought to guangzhou during my wife's interview (along with the packet 4 docs)?

squirty, i'm a bit confused, what's P2 in your sig file (for 9/14/09)? i thought after the i130/g325a/supporting-docs packet, the next packet is packet 3 (i.e. there's no packet 2)? also (question open to anyone): if i want to delay the visa filing process, is it true i can simply delay sending the packet 3 docs to guangzhou? or is there a deadline between the time i receive the packet 3, and when guangzhou must have my packet 3 docs in their possession?

another question i just happened to stumble upon: in this thread: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...c=37290&hl= 1. the OP says there are in fact 2, separate, immigrant visa fees u need to eventually pay. the 2 fees are $355 USD and $400 USD. is this true? 2. i've already paid the $355 fee, and i sent them a copy of the receipt for this as part of my i130/g325a/supporting-docs packet. when is the earliest i can pay the $400 fee that the above thread alludes to? 3. must we pay the $400 fee to the guangzhou consulate, on the day of my wife's interview, or can i pay it to the shanghai consulate (SH is where i live/work) months in advance? 4. for the $355 fee i've already paid, i didn't get a rectangular slip of paper printed by citic bank. i mention this because when my wife applied for a tourist visa (to the US), when she paid for the app fee (note: you can only pay for it at a CITIC bank), they give you a receipt on a piece of paper printed using CITIC bank background/letterhead, having the dimensions of about 3 inches x 9 inches (similar dimensions as a personal/corporate check). all i got from the shanghai consulate was your standard receipt printed out from a cash register. is this normal?

thanks everyone for their replies. i have a few follow-up questions just so i'm perfectly clear with all of this: 1. what's the difference between dcf and "regular/normal" cr-1 filing? more importantly, what route did i use? all i know is that i mailed in my i130, g325a, and supporting docs, from shanghai (where i live and work), directly the US embassy in beijing. does that mean i did the direct consular filing method? 2. on this page: www.candleforlove.com/FAQ/Timelines/New_Timeline/CFL_Timeline2.htm under the DCF visa section, under the "results" column, what's the difference between blue vs blue/pink? also, for user Jordan J., why is this person's result, not in bold, and why does it not have a bold underline (like all the other results)? what does the blue underline represent? 3. after my wife does her face-to-face interview in guangzhou, how many days until she receives her immigrant visa? i ask this because i just want a rough idea how many days she needs to stay in guangzhou while waiting for her passport and immigrant visa to be handed back to her. i remember earlier this yr when we went on vacation with me to the states (she applied for a tourist-visa), it took about 3-4 after her interview before she could pickup her passport from the china post office. does the immigrant visa process take longer than 3-4 days?

kjj, going by your sig file, it seems like u only waited about 1 month from the time u submitted i-130 until u got the packet 3 docs. is 1 month the typical wait time for this step? also, does anyone have an answer to my question #4? thx for the replies thus far.