ciao

I've just been reading about requirements for I-130 petitioners "maintaining sufficient ties to America", and I'm starting to wonder whether I have done this. The facts are: (A) I'm a (naturalized) US citizen. (B) I haven't lived in the US since 2006. [C) I don't own a home in the US. (D) I use a PO box and a mail forwarding service for mail. (E) I have numerous US bank accounts and credit cards (F) I have a US (California) drivers license (G) I pay US taxes every year. A *lot* of taxes. (H) I have various investments in the US (stocks, money market accounts, etc.) (I) I'm part owner of a small US company, though not really involved with it. (J) I don't have any relatives who live in the US. Does it sound like all of this is constitutes "sufficient ties". Are there any other factors that might be relevant?

I filed I-130 petitions for my wife and daughter a couple of years ago, and have been delaying the interview step, since we were not yet ready to return to the US. We're now starting to think about leaving China, and there are some new considerations. My daughter still wants to go to the US (to go to university), but my wife and I are thinking about going to live in Japan, instead. I have a vague sense that this will cause problems in the US process. Presumably the US authorities are granting my daughter a green card to allow her to live in the US with me. I'm worried that my daughter's application will be denied if I do not return to the US, too. On top of this, there is an additional complication: my wife wants to withdraw her visa application completely -- she says she has no desire to ever live permanently in the US. I have a feeling that withdrawing my wife's application but not my daughter's is going to look very strange to the authorities. It might look as though my wife and I are separating (we're not). And, if we did separate, my relationship with my daughter would cease to exist, because she is not my biological child (more correctly, she is my "step-daughter", I suppose -- but those words feel strange to me).. Any comments or advice, anyone? Thanks.

Thanks for the tips about avoiding immigration fees. But those are a drop in the bucket compared to college tuition costs, so I'm not too worried about them.

So, if I understand correctly, the following is one possible scenario: (1) I adopt her before her 16th birthday (2) She goes to college in the US, on a student visa, at age 18 (3) At age 19 (say), she decides she wants to stay in the US permanently (4) She can then apply for (and get) US citizenship by virtue of my US citizenship What if I never return to live permanently in the US? Does that make a difference? Thanks again for all the great help.

Thanks very much Randy and Dan. > Citizenship, on the other hand, would be immediate (if adopted) once she's in the states. Let me make sure I understand ... You mean that if she were adopted, and if she had a green card, then she could immediately apply for citizenship (without any waiting). Is that correct? > If you file a petition for her after she's 21 years old, she would be in a numerically limited preference category. So it sounds like the crucial age limit for *filing* is 21, not 18. (I see that Randy has personal experience of this). The age limit of 18 just refers to her age when we were married. Right? And there are no other relevant age-related gotchas ?? Very good news. Thanks very much.

Hi, My wife and daughter are both Japanese citizens, and I'm a US citizen. We live in China, currently, but we are considering moving back to the US during the years when my daughter goes to college. It looks like some things would be easier if my daughter had a green card while she is attending college. For example, it will be easier for her to get a part-time job, tuition might be lower, etc. Maybe there are other benefits, too?? As I understand it, getting a green card for her will be more difficult after she is 18. Is that true? Are there any other age limits that I need to worry about? She is currently 14. She is my wife's biological daughter, but not my biological daughter. Would it make any difference if I formally/legally adopt her? thanks ciao

She lived in the US for a couple of years, so she has a US bank account, California Drivers License, SS card, etc. We've been filing joint US tax returns for the last couple of years. The big thing we're missing, I guess, is a US residence -- we don't have a home in the US. I suppose there are ways to fake this, but that's always risky, isn't it ? Or, I suppose I could buy a cheapo condo somewhere, but that seems like a pretty extreme measure just to keep a Green Card. The simple approach is to just start all over again in 5 years. But we have expended *enormous* amounts of effort gathering all the required documents and fighting with government departments in three countries. Much more than usual, even, because my wife's background is complex. So, we're dreading the thought of having to do all that stuff over again. If I have to buy a condo to avoiding repeating this agony, then maybe I will. But, with help from the kind folks here, maybe I can conclude that those sorts of extreme measures are not necessary. Thanks again.

> A couple questions: > How old was child when you got married? Less than age 18? How old will the child be in 5 years? She was 9 when we got married ( 2 years ago). She is 11 now (almost 12). She will be 17 in 5 years. > Is child your biological child or step child? Step-child (my wife's biological child, but not my biological child). > K-3 is essentially a dead visa type, Yes, sorry. Got my acronyms tangled -- we're applying for IR-1 visas, not K3. From my own research, there appear to be a couple of options, but I don't know if they are viable or not: The USCIS site says: And then there's also a thing called an N-470 form: Either of those sound promising to you guys ?Anyone have any experience with either of them ??

This might not be the right place to ask, but ... We're halfway through the process of obtaining K3 visas for my wife and daughter -- we were planning on returning to the US to live this summer. But, now, my company has decided they want me to remain in China for another 5 years or so. So, now we're wondering if we should continue with the visa application process, or not ? Some specific questions are ... (1) If we quit, then next time we apply (maybe 5 years from now), we'll have to start all over again from scratch, right ? (2) Are there any US residence requirements for Green Card holders ? Are they required to reside in the US for a certain number of days per year, or are they required to visit the US periodically, for example ? (3) Are there any disadvantages to holding a green card ? US taxation, for example ? thanks

> I wanted to ask because my wife has all but abandoned her green card - > she has been out of the US for more than a year now. I was wondering > if there was an advantage to doing that - sounds like there isn't until > you need to apply for another visa. We (our family) were not ditching our green cards. But, of the four families present in the waiting room in Beijing that day, two of them were there for this purpose The people abandoning their green cards said they were doing it for tax reasons. They said that holding a green card implies that you have to pay US taxes, even if you live and earn income outside the US. I don't know if that's correct or not, but that was the reason they gave. ciao

Hi everyone, Our family did a DCF in Beijing last August. So far, so good. Our next step is to gather police reports from all the places my wife has lived. She was born in China, but has been a Japanese citizen for a number of years. People here told us that getting police reports for the time she lived in Japan would be difficult, so we started early, and succeeded. Thanks for the tip. Now we need a report for the time she has been in China (Shanghai, the last 2 years). At our local police station, they say they don't issue reports for foreign nationals. They say the same is true for every station in Shanghai, and maybe everywhere in China. So, two questions ... (1) Has any foreigner been able to get a report from the Chinese police ? If so, how did you do it ? (2) What happens if we can't get the police report ? I vaguely remember reading that, as an alternative, we simply have to get a statement from the police saying that they don't/won't/can't issue a report. Did I remember correctly ? thanks

Sorry to report late. All our three (my wife-Japan passport, daughter-Japan passport and I-US passport) went to Beijing consulate at Aug.10th. As somebody said before, it was very new, clean and friendly. There was a huge long line at the first floor, but not at the second where we were supposed to go. The officer (obviously a chinese guy) looked very carefully page by page and also the originals. He said it was good that we made a cover letter which had list of all the documents and numbers on. We numbered every page. He had some understand of Japanese Koseki, but he liked more the paper which my wife got from Japan consulate in Shanghai. She got her birth certificate (even though she wasn't born in Japan, later immigrated to Japanese, but she still got it), marrige, name change, and my daughter's birth certificates in Japan consulate in Shanghai. If we had known those are the things what they were looking for, we wouldn't have gone to Japan to get all the Koseki and translated one by one which cost a fortune. One thing we were missing was another copy of everything. Because I was filing for two persons, so they needed two copies. But luckly, my wife brought the entire copy for home use, and turned that in. Interesting thing was there were four groups in the USCIS room. Two of us were there resigning their greencards, and it costs more than applying. Now, we check the real mail box to see if the envolope has arrived everyday. It has been 35 days. I wonder if applying for two persons doubles the time. Is there any way to find out what is the status? BTW, it was very good to hire Roger Lin www.visaschina.com. He was very nice and helpful. ciao

We've been considering DCF in Guangzhou (we live in China). But I'm worried that some of our documents will be rejected because they are from Japan (we got married in Japan and our daughter was born there). I can translate them, of course, but they might still be strange and unfamiliar to the folks in Guangzhou. Documents like birth, marriage, and divorce certificates don't really exist in Japan -- everything is held in a single "family register" (koseki) document. I can imagine the guys in Guangzhou saying "we don't know what a koseki is -- you need to show us a real birth certificate". I was wondering if I can avoid these sorts of problems by submitting my I-130 via the lock-box in the US, instead of DCF. I expect that the authorities in the US *do* know what a koseki is. So that brings me to the real question -- who makes the decisions about whether our documents are valid and sufficient ? If I DCF, then presumably all decisions are made in Guangzhou. How about if I file via the US ? Which decisions are made where, and by whom ? thanks ciao

Maybe I found the answer to question #1: From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_certificate) Long forms, also known as certified photocopies, book copies, and photostat copies, are exact photocopies of the original birth record that was prepared by the hospital or attending physician at the time of the child's birth. The long form usually includes parents' information (address of residence, race, birth place, date of birth, etc.), additional information on the child's birthplace, and information on the doctors who assisted in the birth of the child. The long form also usually includes the signature of the doctor involved and at least one of the parents. Is this their intended sense of the term "long" do you think ??

The instructions for the I-130 process mention a "long" birth certificate. I don't know if these instructions are specific to China, or if they are meant to apply vaguely to all countries in general. My wife was born in China in 1972, and she's not sure she has a birth certificate, still less a "long" one. So, a few questions ... (1) If she manages to find her birth certificate, how can we decide if it's the required "long" one (versus a "short" one)? What does the thing look like? How long is "long" ? (2) If she can't find it, where does one go in China to get a birth certificate ? (3) If she can't get a birth certificate, what is an acceptable substitute, and where do we get that ? As far as I can tell, there's a thing called a "Notarial Birth Certificate" (Chu Sheng Gong Zheng Shu or Chu Sheng Zheng Ming Shu -- which one?) that we can get from a Notarial Office (Gong Zheng Chu). Is that correct ? (4) What documents will we need in order to get this "Notarial Birth Certificate" ? Is her household record (hukou) sufficient ? thanks very much ciao

I'm applying for an IR-1 visa for my wife and our daughter. Our daughter is from my wife's previous marriage, so I am not her biological father. I don't need to go through any formal adoption procedures, do I ? We can get an immigrant visa for my (step)daughter without me formally adopting her. Correct ??

Thank you, xiaofeizhu. Very helpful. So, it looks like you didn't have a (proposed or actual) place to live in the US at the time of the interview. Is that right ? We probably won't have one either, and that's the thing that's worrying me. But I think I'm confusing "domicile" with "residence" -- two quite different things, apparently.

> It will be interesting to see how your wife is treated at the interview > since she's Japanese, but the visa officers are trained and > experienced in interviewing Chinese. If the officers themselves were Chinese, then I agree that the interview experience might be "interesting". Given that China and Japan have some historical "differences" (to put it delicately). But the officers are not Chinese (are they) ? They are Americans, aren't they ?? > I think I would file stateside just to get the interview in Japan. Well, you can *request* on your I-130 that the interview be in Tokyo. But honoring this request is "at the discretion of" the Tokyo embassy. I asked the Tokyo embassy if they would likely honor the request, but I haven't received a straight answer yet. Does anybody know if these I-130 requests (question #22) are usually honored or not ? How does the requested embassy decide whether to accept or decline ?? Interestingly, a K3 visa can *only* be issued in the country of marriage, so going the K3 route would put the issue beyond any doubt or discretion.

Thanks Kyle. Very helpful indeed. 1. Opening a bank account Got one. Had it for decades. Wife has one, too. 2. Transferring funds to the US Got plenty, by any standards. 3. Making investments in the US Got lots of stocks, part owner of a company. 4. Seeking employment in the US Got a job (I'm an ex-pat here in China) 5. Registering children in US schools Can't do that until we decide where we'll live. 6. Applying for a social security number; and Got one 7. Voting in local, state, or federal elections I could do that, I suppose. So, I have 5.5 out of those 7. I also have 8. The last few years' US tax returns (filed jointly with my wife) 9. Property (including two cars) stored in the US 10. A US drivers license 11. An employment letter from my company stating that my assigment in China ends on a specific date. Seems like that ought to be enough, to me. But, you guys are the experts. Is my optimism justified ?? I could file for an IR-1 visa via DCF at Guangzhou. The domicile requirement is the only reason I'm considering K3.

In the original post, I suggested the option to (2) Ask a friend to be the "sponsor" What I really meant was that the friend would be the joint sponsor, or co-sponsor, not the primary sponsor, and that this would resolve the domicile problem. Anyway, I have now read in a couple of places that this won't work. For example, at ... http://www.usvisa.com/affidavit_of_support.shtml they say a joint sponsor cannot be authorized in cases where the petitioner cannot be a sponsor by virtue of domicile

> What exactly are your plans for a domicile in the US? > This is what the VO has to know......your plans and what > you have already done to establish this. The plan is ... (1) Move back to the US with wife and daughter. (2) Live someplace temporary for a few months (3) Look for and purchase a house I could go do #3 alone, but I'll get in a lot of trouble with my wife if I buy a place she doesn't like Joking aside -- obviously better to do this together. Anyway, I just read the I-864 regulations, and "domicile" is not quite the same thing as "residence". They say (and I quote): If your mailing address and/or place of residence is not in the United States, but your country of domicile is theUnited States, you must attach a written explanation and documentary evidence indicating how you meet the domicile requirement. If you are not currently living in the United States, you may meet the domicile requirement if you can submit evidence to establish blah, blah, blah I have US bank accounts, drivers license, tax returns, job, property in storage in the US (including two cars). I guess I could vote, if it would help. I guess I could sign some sort of rental agreement. I have evidence from the Chinese government and my employer that my stay in China is only temporary. It all sounds reasonable to me, but I'm not an immigration agent, and "reasonable" is highly variable.

I'm about to start the process of getting US visas for my wife and daughter. I've been reading about the requirements for an IR1 visa, and I'm getting nervous about this "domicile" thing. Seems like I need to have a fairly permanent place of residence in the US. I don't have one, since my family and I have been living overseas for the last 4 years. We have a hefty pile of cash, and plan to buy a house when we get back to the US. It should be clear from our financial records that we can support ourselves for decades to come (which is the real point of the requirement, I assume). So, what to do ??? (1) Hope that cash will serve as a substitute for a domicile (risky) (2) Ask a friend to be the "sponsor" (embarrassing; possible ??) (3) Quickly buy some house I've never seen (stupid) (4) Get a K3 visa instead (no domicile requirement ??) Any suggestions ? thanks

Thanks for the reply, wall66. Speedy and informative. > I hired Roger to help me with this process. > So far he has been very efficient. Sorry, I'm new here. Who is Roger ? > I contacted the guangzhou consulate directly ... How did you do that ? Phone, e-mail, or in person ? Seems that others have had trouble getting info from Guangzhou, so some good contact info would be very valuable. > I am planning to turn in my I-130 in person in guangzhou on > thursday, and hoping they will forward it to Tokyo. Seems like you're a pioneer Please let us know how it goes. Thanks for the info about question 22. I guess I should have read the I-130 before asking. Apologies. Why did you decide to submit via DCF in Guangzhou, rather than via the US ?

Is there some point in the process (whether DCF or via US) where you can request which consulate handles your case ? If not, I see several theories about how the consulate is decided: (1) The country where the marriage occured (probably incorrect) (2) The country of the beneficiary's citizenship (3) The country of the beneficiary's residence In my case, my wife is a Japanese citizen (I am American), and we were married in Japan, but we have been living in Shanghai for the past two years. I expect that dealing with the Tokyo consulate would be much easier than dealing with Guangzhou, but I don't know how to make that happen. I know I could move to Japan for 6 months and then DCF in Tokyo, but that's not very practical. Any other ideas ? thanks ciao