Figmo

You see, this is the wording that I have not been able to find (other than anecdotal). The part in the immigration code that says "AND". Everything I've read about the K1 says "Marry within 90 days". Then, at some later paragraph very far away from these words, they mention filing for the AOS. Even the instructions for the I-485 seem to back me up. They say As far as I can see, there is no requirement for filing the AOS within that 90 day period. 90 days or 900 days from now, she would legally fall within the definition above. If this is true, than she would not be "illegal". She entered legally. Fulfilled her visa requirement to marry within 90 days (we have already done this). And she is waiting to file the AOS. Nothing illegal. She already has a SS#. Doesn't want to drive a car (but I'm sure she could get a DL if she wanted to). Pretty sure she could open a bank account (though here again, no real desire or need to) Can somebody point me to some legal description on the web that clearly states the time limit for filing the AOS (if there is one)? I've done everything without an attorney up to this point. I think perhaps now it might be worth paying for some acurate advice.

DO I HAVE TO file the AOS right away? From everything I've read - there is no wording that states a timeout for the K1 visa. Only that you must marry within 90 days (which we have done). For personal reasons, I'd like to wait. Possibly a long time. 1, 2 or even 3 years. Drawbacks to waiting that I have been able to guess would be that my wife can't leave the USA (since she wont be able to get back in), and possibly work issues (she is a housewife so we are not concerned about this). Are there other problems I am not aware of to waiting a year or 2 before filing the AOS?

Wow - good tip about the G-28. I took a look at the form. It seems geared toward attorneys. So I assume I check other. What do I list for the explanation?

Would K-1 also be listed on the 1st page in answer to the question "CURRENT USCIS STATUS:" ? Or something else? Or leave blank?

Jianhong and her daughter are here in the USA (finally) and we are married (yippie). Now I am filling out the I-485. Oh man.....just when I thought the paperwork jungle was behind me I realize that I wasn't even HALF WAY through. Paperwork reduction act my ass! Oh well.....few quick questions..... 1. Nonimmigrant Visa Number. I'm assuming this is the number from the little blue paper that they tucked in their passports when they entered the USA. It has form I-94 printed on it. Is this correct? 2. What status did you last enter? I'm assuming I should write K1 for Jianhong (my wife) and K2 on her daughter's I-485. Is this correct? 3. Were you inspected by a US Immigration Officer? What is this question asking? Inspected in what way? Medically? Bags searched when she arrived? Or do they just want to know if she entered the country legally and passed through immigration at LAX when her plane arrived? I'm a little disappointed in the system. I kind of assumed after she passed her interview in Guangzhou that we'd get some kind of a paper saying "here is what you need to do next". When we didn't I figured, "Oh well, they will give this to her when she enters the country." They did not. Thank gawd for forums such as this. Otherwise I would have NO CLUE what to do next.

Not that I have been able to determine. She said he only asked those few questions I listed and she was able to answer all of them. He did ask for my ex wives SS#s - which she could not answer. Apparently that was the end (or the beginning of the end) of the interview. She is from Nanning. That I cannot answer. She said "I gave him the papers I had". She did not say at what point in the interview she gave it to him or if he reviewed it. She did tell me that he told her that the emails from my mother to Jianhong he did not need and gave back to her. This disturbed me. Certainly, letters of support from my mother to my fiance would be pertinent to show we have a valid relationship. But regardless, the fact that he did this impies to me that me must have looked at what she gave him. This is good advice. I'm a workin man. Not one of those rich Americans But I do not want to risk another rejection. So now a trip over to go to the interview with her is looking like a good investment. Thank you all for your help and emotional support. -Bill

Thanks to all for the support of my rant. I'm done being pissed off. Now I want to kick ass and take names. So....here is the background, details of the interview and some questions to help me determine my next step. BACKGROUND: First time applying for a K1 Visa. I've been married twice before. Both American citizens. (hence the reason I am now looking in China ) Filed initial application 9/06. All packets arrived in what I consider to be the average amount of time based on what I've been reading on the web. Interview was set for 5/29/07. Which is the big reason for my over confidence that the interview would also go smoothly. Everything up until that point went through without a hitch. Included divorce decrees, emails, phone logs, photos, description of how we met and when I asked her to marry me, copies of boarding passes/hotel receipts from my trip to see her, all the standard stuff you do to file for the K1 Visa. This was all reviewed and approved by the USCIS prior to being sent to GZ Consolate. HER INTERVIEW: She did not bring any of the stuff I sent in originally. But did bring additional documentation with her showing documentation since my initial filing. i.e. recent phone records, recent boarding passes/hotel receipts from my 2nd trip to see her in 2/07, etc etc. She said it lasted about 15 minutes. Man asked her only a few basic questions. Is your fiance an American? Where does he live? How many times has he been married? When was his most recent divorce? How many children does he have? How old is his oldest child? How many years older than you is he? Who introduced the 2 of you? Do you have any hobbys in common? How much money does he send you each month? She answered all of these questions truthfully and acurately. He took the extra documentation that she brought with her. At this point he ended the interview and told her we did not have enough documentation. He handed her a form that says this: "The consulate is unable to issue you an immigrant visa because according to the Immigration and Nationality Act listed below you are currently ineligible" Below that was checked the box next to "221(g)" .... I assume the Immigration act referred to in the previous statement Below this was checked the box that reads "for information and steps you can take to overcome this decision, refer to" Below that was checked the box that reads "the attached sheets" There were two attached sheets, with a bunch of items checked off that we needed. He did not explain anything on these forms to her. (which pisses me off). As I stated in my previous emotional post - 90% of the items he checked on these attached sheets were items that he should have already had. I filed these items with my original application (phone records, emails, plane tickets, hotel receipts, etc etc). There were a couple requests on the attached sheets that I did not originally file and she did not have with her. Ex wives social security number. And that stupid request of a picture of me in front of a US post office. MY QUESTIONS: 1. So what does this really mean? It says she was denied. But then says take these steps to overcome it. So who do I re-file with? And how? Via mail? Phone call? Email? Do I have to send the missing info in first - or do I just reschedule an interview and she brings the new info with her at that time? 2. How can I contact the consulat on this? Their web site only has a number to call for visa status information and they want you to deposit 54 RMB into some bank account to pay for 12 minutes of help. I'll give you 3 guesses as to what THIS did to my mood after reading it. 3. The ex wives SS number is a big problem for me. My most recent ex wife no problem. I talk to her often. We are on decent terms. But my first wife and I split over 16 years ago. I have not spoken with her since. I have no contact information for her. I do not technically even know if she is alive or dead. And while I do save tax records - I'm not so anal as to save them for 16 years. So I have nothing in my files with her social on it. I do have the old divorce decree (I got that from the county courthouse). But it doesn't have our socials on it. 4. Do you think I should hire an attorney at this phase? I thought I understood the process up until this point. Now I'm left wondering what to even do next. If the answer is "you need an attorney", then do you have contact information for one that you know (or have heard) is a decent one. Because I don't know any immigration attorneys and I'm hesitant to just "hire anybody". Any and all help appreciated. I want to try to resolve this quickly - but don't want to step on any more land mines as I navigate this maze. TIA -Bill

Sorry to hear about you misfortunes, Bill. I have two questions for ya if you don't mind. What type of petition was this (K1 or K3)? I'm interested in seeing if there's any correlation between petitioners with divorces and their type of petition. And, was your ex a US citizen, or someone you previously helped petition to the US? Good luck man. At least the newspaper isn't difficult to do, though probably a little embarrassing to ask someone to take a pic of you holding one. ;-) Why they don't give hints prior to the interview of potential pitfalls that they foresee, is absolutely ridiculous. I wonder how they sleep at night. It is a K1 visa and my ex wife is an American citizen. I'm going to move this to a new topic because the emotional phase is wearing off and now I have alot of legal questions. Thanks to all for your support.

Jim, that assumes that my application received a thorough and fair review. That some responsible, hard working Consolate employee poured through the documentation submitted and found "red flags". And since he is bound by his oath to protect our borders from the "yellow hoarde", he determined that this application required more detailed documentation. I doubt very seriously that this was the case. As evidenced by his multiple requests for information that was contained in the envelope in front of him. At best, I think my packet received a quick glance. At worse - the dude never even opened it. Because if he had, he would have realized that 90% of what he is asking for was already in his hands. No, I don't think much analysis went into my application. I think I am just the victim of somebody's "bad day". Who knows? Maybe his Chinese girlfriend just dumped him. Hmmmm.........I'm not cynical.....honest I'm not

I can understand this. I'm all legally divorced so I have nothing to hide. I don't know why they want her social - I submitted my divorce papers with the original K1 application so why would they even care anything about my ex. We are divorced. I've shown that. End of story. But I accept that there could be a reason that I am just unaware of. I suspect to check records to see if there were any domestic violence charges filed by her. No problem. I'm just very upset that they didn't ask for this info (or ANY of the items listed) up front. They cost me alot of time and money by waiting until the 11th hour to request this info.

THOSE BASTARDS!!! Jianhong's interview did not go well. And I was feeling so confident last week. I felt that we had crossed all our T's and dotted all our I's and had enough paperwork to where any normal human with half a brain would look at all this and know we have a valid relationship. What I failed to factor in is that, anytime you are dealing with a government employee, you should *KNOW* you are never dealing with a normal human with half a brain. She got a blue paper and a list of additional info she needs to supply. So that others may benefit from my tale of sorrow, here is the list of what they want (though I cannot even begin to guess as to *WHY* they want some of this). 1. Documentation on the development of our relationship from initial stages until the current date. Phone records, emails, etc. I gave them all this stuff already. I have no clue why they checked this box. Initially I gave them a sampling - some from initial contact, some from the middle, and a few most recent. So I guess now they get the whole thing. A year's worth of daily emails and twice weekly phone records. 2. Detailed statement describing the evolution of our relationship. Again, they already have this. But I guess it wasn't detailed enough. 3. A statement listing every trip I've made to China, who arranged it, what I did while I was there, proof of the trips. They already have the proof of all the trips (hotel receipts, boarding passes, copy of my Chinese Visa). So I guess I have to write a letter explaining what I did on these trips. How lame. 4. Evidence as to the residency of Me, my ex-wife, Jianhong and her ex-husband. The guy wrote in the margin that they want my ex-wife's social security number. Have no clue why they want this but why didn't they ask this in the original form I filed last year? What a crock of sh*t to make me wait a year and spend money on a trip to GZ only to then say "oh yeah, we need your ex's social. Come back again another day." 5. OH THIS IS MY FAVORITE: I'll quote from the page on this one...."Notarized photos of the petitioner standing next to the front entrance of a U.S. post office (make sure post office's address is visible), holding a current local newspaper. Submit newspaper." WTF IS THIS ALL ABOUT? I can only assume to prove that I am in the USA at the moment. I was not aware that this was important. SO ALL YOU PEOPLE JUST STARTING OUT TAKE NOTE - I would submit this photo from the beginning to save you some heartache later on. Be sure to notarize it. And remember to send the newspaper you are holding. 6. Notarized copy of my passport and Chinese visas. They already have copies of these but not notarized. So you newbies take heed. Notarize the copies of your passport and visas. Oh and be sure to copy ALL PAGES OF YOUR PASSPORT. Even the blank pages (they asked for that also) 7. Submit plane tickets from the trips to China. The guy hand wrote "proof of purchase" in the margin. Again - they already have this. I submitted all this with the original application. Including a copy of my credit card statement to show proof of purchase. I have no clue what else I can send to satisfy this request. In summary I find this entire letter to be BULLSHIT! 95% of what they are asking for is stuff they already have. And the couple items they they ask for that I did not submit are things they should have asked for last year when I first filed the application. I feel powerless and at the mercy of some idiotic bureaucrat a world away. It's just a job to that guy. And I'm sure he gets bored and enjoys toying with other people's lives to gain some sick feeling of power in his otherwise impotent, unimportant and pathetic little life. Oh well....nothing to do now but jump through the hoops and continue to play their little games and wait (as if I haven't been waiting long enough already). I keep telling myself that my Jianhong is worth it. Thanks for letting me vent... -Bill

My parents live in Panama City. When I told my mother that I had proposed marriage to a Chinese woman, mom told me there was "quite a large community of Chinese" in her city. One Chinese couple owns a small store near my parents home. Since my engagement, my mother has befriended this couple and is constantly quizzing them for words and phrases in Chinese. My parents will be visiting China for my wedding and want to bone up on language and customs. Most likely next year, Jianhong and I will be visiting the folks in Panama. I can get more concrete information at that time as I'm sure Jianhong (knowing very little english and zero spanish) will chat it up with any almond skinned folks she may pass while we are there.