Hi all, This is my first post on CFL. I'd like to thank all members, especially RobertH and Kyle, for their help, generosity and input. I just got back from the Guangzhou Consulate after having tried to file my wife's I-130. If this post helps even one person, then I consider it a successful one. Let me explain what I mean when I said "tried to file." It had been my assumption that one could file ONLY the completed I-130 form, and that would be enough to get the ball rolling. Of course I have read many threads highly recommending/strongly encouraging providing as many documents as possible when first filing, but I had thought that these were optional. Either I am extremely naive, or I did not thoroughly do my homework (or perhaps some of both!). These materials being optional is not the case. I had a nice, neat, organized folder containing lots of supporting documents and photos, but WITHOUT my wife's: notarized/translated birth certificate notarized/translated police record and both of our notarized/translated wedding certificates The Consular Official told me that without these documents, the petition cannot be officially processed. She gave the choice of either leaving my folder there as "incomplete/pending" or coming back once my wife's documents were ready to turn in everything all at once. I chose to come back some other Tuesday or Thursday afternoon once everything was ready. In the meantime, my wife must find some time to get back to Hubei Province, where she will probably have to wait 15 working days for her birth certificate to be prepared. I surely hope that the other docs can be completed in that time frame. This was probably poor planning on my part, and this is not meant to be a sob story by any means. However, as I said above, I post this in the hopes that it might help at least one person out there. Good luck to us all! Aaron
You are reading a Department of State Website about filing a petition with the USCIS. Here is the USCIS site that you should be referring to: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...000082ca60aRCRD http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD From the USCIS Police reports will need to be current at the time of the interview, so it is best to hold off on those until shortly before the interview (unless asked for at NVC) Hi Randy, Thanks for those links, and for the advice on the police check. Much appreciated. We'll save the police report for our trip to see Xuemei's parents during the summer. Regards, Aaron