chobagui

Hi folks, It's been a few years since I last posted....the disappointment and humiliation of my GF's (now wife) 2nd B2 visa denial in Beijing really took the wind out of our sails. Since that time we got married (2 yrs next month) and relocated to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where I currently work. We've been together for 6 years and still no chance for her to visit the USA and now that we're married I know that a B2 visa is out of the question. Looking for any solution I consulted an experienced American immigration lawyer in BKK who covers SE Asia. His advice was to go the CR-1 route, that she'd get the IV visa and then just use it to vist the States, then surrender the green card (since we're not actually immigrating) and that would prove non-intent to immigrate making it easier to get a B2. Such is the convoluted logic that this process brings about. So......good advice, really bad advice, practical advice? Has anyone here gone this route? Just wanted to visit, got an IV then didn't actually immigrate? In case you are wondering....we've already applied....we were case complete at the NVC on Aug 14 so just waiting for an interview date which we expect to be assigned any day now (for interview in HCMC....by the way, my wife is Chinese) What has me worried now is proof of immigration intent and domicile. The lawyer downplays this....just need an address in the states...only need to show reasonable intent to immigrate within the validity of the IV. While I am looking for employment back in the States it's not likely to happen in the next 7 months anyway. I work here in VN, don't own a home in the US (using my mother's address to receive mail, etc). I have a valid driver's license, bank account, my children from a previous marriage live there (which is my main motivation for wanting to repatriate anyway) etc....would like to bring my wife back so I can get her name on my bank account, etc. So....are we going to be denied for this? Needless to say.....a rejection this time would be devastating....my wife thinks America is already effed up as it is with this process (how come it's so damn easy for me to live in China but she can't even visit the US) and my only hope to convince her otherwise is a chance to show her how lovely the States really is. of course, the thing that makes it worse is that I try to follow the rules and she hears all the time from other Chinese how they manage to lie/finagle their way to a visa of some sort. so it's frustrating..... anyway......would appreciate your comments and moral support.......thanks Regards Will

what if you are already married in China.....intend to stay in china for an undetermined amount of time...but would like to bring your wife to the States to visit and have a ceremony there? does it make sense to apply for a K-1 visa without mentioning the inconvenient fact that you already registered a marriage in China? the B-1 visa route is pretty much closed off to us for now. rgds, will

as i understand it, the purpose of a fiance visa is so that you can bring your fiance to the States and marry her and then immigrate with her to the States. It's not a visitor type visa where you declare she's your fiance and you can just bring her back for a visit without actually marrying her and immigrating. Since you don't plan on getting married for awhile it seems your best bet is a B2 visitor visa....but good luck with that....it's pretty hard to get, especially if your g/f does not have significant ties to China (property, business, job, family obligations, etc). And any mention of your relationship is sure to kill any application. My g/f (now wife) was denied twice. Even now that we're married it seems unlikely I can get her a B2 visa (as we have no intention of her immigrating for now). I'm sure there are others on here with more experience who will offer advice and comments. best of luck regards will

thanks for the info, folks! you are all so kind here..... now for a question more to my specific situation: 4+ year live in relationship here in china. recently married here in China. I work here in China. we live in an apartment rented by my company. I have no residence in america at this moment. my work situation is open ended, meaning i don't have a contract with specific dates on it but given the current economic climate and job situation i'll likely stay here awhile. but i'd like to go back eventually (i have kids from a previous marriage that I miss terribly) and the possibility exists that I could find employment back in the USA. given the length of time necessary for getting an immigration visa for my wife (months to years?) what would you more experienced folks recommend as a course of action? start the process now? or wait until i get an actual job and move back and then bring her back? it seems to me the better situation is to start the process over here. once the visa is issued how long do you have to enter the US and establish residency? any and all advice is much welcomed. trying to plan for an uncertain future. rgds will

I see a lot of acronyms being used here....is there a one stop location where i can find definitions for each one? the FAQ link takes me to some kind of timeline database. I can't seem to find any other general purpose information area for visa types, process steps etc. i'm particularly interested in a description of each immigration visa...I see K-1 which i know is a fiance visa but have no idea what K-2, k-3 or K-4 mean. same iwht CR-1/2/3 or !R-1/2/3 or DCF. the consulate office seems to not have very much information at all regarding immigrant visa types. a description of the various colored slips you are referring to would also be helpful. thanks will

thanks for the replies folks.....i understand all the points about rejection and intention to immigrate, etc. the visa reading is pretty clear. i am looking at it now like Bullmastif. i live here, no domicile or job stateside, we're married and together so that is the compelling reason to return. i guess we can just hope that they'll give her a chance to present this to the VO. she speaks good english. i was down in the GZH office a couple weeks ago to get my certificate of marriage eligibility. wanted to stick around for the US citizen visa hour and it seemed like things were much more relaxed at the interviewer windows. my strategic thinking is she comes down on a Monday, do the afternoon session....dawdle until she's one of the last left at the end of the day. nab a male VO (her other two times rejected were matronly looking female VOs who clearly discrminated against her) and hopefully not being pressed for time he might actually look at the app and talk to her....maybe even feel charmed and friendly and more disposed to believe her. can anyone comment on the general disposition of GZH Visa Officers? especially in comparison with Beijing or Shanghai. any tips for getting a word in edgewise for her own defense? if she goes on a monday afternoon i can actually get in the office by claiming i'm there for the US Citizen hour....would they allow me to come to the window if she pointed me out? well, it's just a short flight from here....couple hundred bucks...worth the effort i think. you can't win the lottery if you don't buy the ticket, right? thanks again, i'll let you know if we were successful or not. regards will

I know this site deals primarily with immigration visas but i hope you might weigh in with opinions/comments on this particular subject. I've worked/lived in China for 4+ years. Lived with my Chinese g/f-fiance for that entire time, first in Qingdao and now in Quanzhou (fujian province). Sarah has applied for a B2 visa twice now (Beijing office) since we've been together and rejected both times. She doesn't have a lot of strong ties here....she's divorced, her teenage son lives with his father in Jilin province. We own no property here, she doesn't have strong employment history but she was gainfully employed at the time we applied. The main tie here was our relationship and our jobs and that I lived here and had work/resident visa etc so she would come back here with me. I just wanted to bring her to meet my family on one of my home leaves. They barely looked at her application the first time....second time around they refused her in part because of our relationship (which we emphasized more that time). Needless to say it was a humiliating experience for her and it's taken me a lot of persuasion to get her to try again. This time around, we're married now......just registered the marriage in Jilin province a week ago. I am hoping that this might help matters as I'd like to bring her back to meet my family this Christmas. We're both middle aged. her son lives with his dad my kids live with their mom in California. I have no home/domicile in the States at the moment. We have no intention to immigrate at this time. My employment is here, we live in an apartment rented by my company. I have a work visa. We've got some money here but admittedly not a ton of it. no property....really, the primary tie is my employment here (she's currently not working). we're just honest folks wanting to take a vacation together and tired of being apart when i go back to see my kids. we live in china and plan to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. So we'll try again in guangzhou this time....which seems to be a bit easier than Beijing. I'd appreciate anyone chiming in and letting me know whether you think we have even a snowball's chance in hell of getting one this time around. Any advice, opinion, comment or cheerleading would be appreciated. Also, any links to other websites that might deal more specifically to people's experiences with getting B2 visas from China would be welcomed. At some point it will be time to return to the states and we'll go the legal immigration route. for now, she'd just be delighted to visit even once and finally meet my family. thanks! regards Will