MarineClimateLover

My wife received her NOA and Packet 3 from Guangzhou last week. We are preparing the required documents and filling out the OF-169 and DS-230 form. Here are the documents that are listed on the OF-169 form and what we're planning on doing about them: MAILING ADDRESS LABEL: Pretty self-explanatory here. Get a return address label so that Guangzhou can send Packet 4 to us. Status: Check marked. PASSPORTS: Wife's passport is valid for a couple more years and she has no expired or cancelled passports, which from OS-169 asks for if they exist; good to go here. Status: Check marked. SIX PHOTOGRAPHS: Six 2x2 unmounted full-face colored photographs with white background and glossy paper. Status: Check marked. TRANSLATIONS: Documents we'll be getting translated: marriage certificates, birth certificate (see below for details on this - my wife wasn't issued one at birth), police report Status: Check marked (but with caveats - we have not had my wife's birth certificate or police report generated yet.) BIRTH CERTIFICATE: As stated above my wife was not issued a birth certificate at birth - however her family's household registry (hukou) is available and accurate. We will be taking that to the notarial office in my wife's home city, along with her mom as a witness, to have a certified document prepared. In addition we will be having my wife's parents provide an affidavit which we will have translated and notarized. Status: See TRANSLATIONS and BIRTH CERTIFICATE sections (but check marked so we can get on with the program) POLICE CERTIFICATES: Same deal here. My wife has called the police offices in her home city and made sure that she will be able to procure one of these. It'll be translated and certified at the notary office at the same time as the birth certificate and affidavit her parents are making about her birth information. Status: Check marked COURTS AND PRISON RECORDS: Left unchecked - my wife has never been involved in litigation of any kind, convicted of a crime, or spent time in a correctional facility. MILITARY RECORDS: Left unchecked. My wife has never been in the Chinese military. EVIDENCE OF SUPPORT: A couple questions here: we have a co-sponsor who has already filled out the I-864 form and sent photocopies of her tax transcripts. At the interview how many I-864 forms are we submitting? One that I fill out as the petitioner, the one our co-sponsor has filled out, and...does my wife need to fill one out too? At any rate - Status: Check marked MARITAL STATUS DOCUMENTS: We will have our marriage licences translated by the notary office (again) in preparation for the interview. Status: Check marked ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS: It looks like they're asking for more evidence of our relationship here? In that case we'll come with our son's birth certificate, passport, and photos of our relationship including of our wedding, her time spent in the USA with my family and I and...anything else that would be beneficial? Am I understanding this section correctly? Status: Check marked CUSTODY DOCUMENTS: Not applicable. Status: Left unchecked RESUMES: The OF-169 form indicates that if my wife's profession requires a large and complex array of skill and/or education then to include a resume. My wife has a bachelor's degree in English and was a teacher when we met (currently a homemaker). We'll include one anyway. Status: Check marked VISA EXTENSION NOTICE: Not applicable here Status: Left unchecked OK - I am sorry for the length of this post but it helped to get everything written out. It helps for me to organize things - sorry to have to subject you to it! If there is anything I have left out or that you think would be beneficial to know please do chime in - I'm hoping that the above is good enough. The only issue that I can see is that we don't actually have the birth certificate/affidavit thing sorted out or the police check completed. Our plan is to get the Packet 4 and interview date and then head to my wife's home city to have it done. Then from there just go to Guangzhou. Is that wise?

So just to make sure I've got this right - the OF-169 form is simply checking a few boxes and filling out the bottom (signatures etc.)? That, along with completed form DS-230, along with a photocopy of my wife's passport's bio page will be sent to GUZ - after which they will issue an interview date? Another potential issue - OF-169 asks for the case number. We have not been made aware of any case number in any of the correspondence we've had with either consulate. Is this something I should be emailing GUZ about?

I received an email reply from GUZ stating that the petition was received by them and that a P3 packet was sent via EMS courier mail. A couple of questions: Since we haven't received the P3 packet yet, and the email from GUZ says it'd be OK, I'm thinking about downloading the forms. However I'm a little uncertain as to what we're sending to GUZ to complete the P3. Is it: One DS-230 form and One OF-169 form and One I-864 form? Concerning the I-864. Since we have a co-sponsor will we be sending a copy of the I-864 form that our sponsor filled out and the tax returns that accompany it or will just the one that I'm filling out suffice? Another question - our co-sponsor wrote the address that we are intending to move to once we relocate to the United States instead of the address that we currently live at in China. As I fill out the I-864 should I use the address that our co-sponsor used or the address that we currently live at?

Thanks, Dan. I did go to the GZ site after I made my last post and emailed them. They have a web form with a few required fields one of them being the case number. On the letter indicating that the petition was approved which we received yesterday the case number is the only field that's left blank - so I wasn't able to provide that when I contacted them. I gave them my name/email/phone number, my wife's name (pinyin), and her DOB etc. though. Having to deal with the China Post is certainly less than optimal. It'd be nice if there was a way to request DHL or some other courier to handle the documents, at our cost, so that the packets and such would just get delivered to our door.

As an update to this post: Yesterday I came home and was surprised to find a letter from the embassy here in Beijing. As feared the China Post delayed the arrival of the letter by almost two weeks. The envelope had a time stamp of Oct. 18th - we only received it yesterday (Nov. 6th). I was a little surprised that there was no other communication from the embassy as I had filled out the form requesting an email. The letter stated that the application had been approved and that the petition has been forwarded to Guangzhou. It also stated that we won't be getting any of our original documents back (photos). A couple of questions: The Beijing embassy stated in the letter that they were officially done with our application/petition and that everything would now be handled through Guangzhou. The letter said that the Guangzhou consulate will be notifying the "beneficiary" with the next steps. How will they do that? Will it be another letter that we have to watch out for? Will there be any notification that a letter has been sent out?

Just back from filing the petition at the Beijing embassy. I would have to say that everything went smoothly. The gentleman behind the window was Chinese and very competent and well spoken. He scanned all of the documents and there were a couple questions that I had neglected to fill in and he directed me to do so. When our son was born we went to the embassy and got him his passport and CRBA (certified registration of birth abroad) certificate and applied for a social security number. Today when I went I only brought the CRBA document - the gentleman behind the window asked for the original Chinese birth certificate as well, which I didn't bring, and when I told him that he just said, "we'll notify you if we need to see that." That was about the only hitch. After I paid he indicated that we'd hear from the embassy within 90 days. I tried to get him to be a little more specific but he stuck to that official line. Does anybody have any experience with how long it will actually be? They asked for our address on an envelope but they also have my email which was on the G-1145 form - will they send a letter or email? I'm afraid a letter would get lost at our apartment or in the local post office gear train.

After emailing the Dept. of Homeland Security and USCIS here at the Beijing embassy I was replied with an attachment with very concise and useful instructions, most quite similar to the instructions found on the generic I-130 form but also instructions specific to China DCF. If I knew how to I would post it here for others. Randy - would you care to have me email you the document so that it can be archived here for those that come later and do China DCF? At any rate - they've scheduled our filing appointment for tomorrow at 2:15. Wish us luck

A good idea. I knew that we'd have to make a trip back to where my wife was from for some other documents when preparing for the interview. But I was hoping to be able to avoid that before filing the I-130 petition. Luckily - it looks like we'll be able to do that. Later on we'll probably have another made just to have a complete set of translated documents.

The documents required are the GongZhengShu 公证书 Sample application for documents (your province or hukou may vary): http://www.bnpo.gov....72115331419.doc http://www.bnpo.gov....ide/detail1.asp A discussion of the huji (or hukou 户口) system can be found at Hukou System. Chinese residents should go to their hukou for all notarial documents (birth, divorce, and/or single certificate, and police records). For the police record, one obtained at the hukou will cover all of China. A notarial document will be in the standard white notarial booklet, have an official red seal, an English translation, and an attestation to the true translation. Thanks. After reading your post I looked around on the internet and found that Beijing has a gong zheng chu in pretty much every district. There was one down from our place so we went there after calling. It turns out that we won't be required to go to where my wife's hukou is, thankfully, and we were able to get the "white book" made here in China. It'll be done in 4 days. A question though - I was pretty confident that we only needed to have one of the marriage licences translated but am now a little doubtful that maybe we should have gotten both. Will getting only her licence translated suffice?

Thanks for that. It looks like I wrote the attachment wrong according to the graphic you've posted so I'll get in there and fix that. Will also write a cover letter. No previous marriages for either of us. Will also leave out the passport photocopy. Can you clarify the white book? I haven't ever heard of that. We'd have to travel to Wuhan in order to have the place we got married at translate the booklet - would a translation that a company in Beijing could provide and notarize be acceptable? In the past, when we got married, we had a company here in Beijing translate our "Affidavit of marriageability" that we had to get at the embassy to complete our marriage application in Wuhan, and it was acceptable for the Chinese authority that married us (gave us our marriage booklets).

Here is what I have sitting in front of me ready to put into individual plastic folders with labels and give to the Beijing Dept. of Homeland Security desk when they email back our appointment date: USCIS forms I-130 form with attachment because our address didn't fit in the space they provided G-1145 E-notification of application/petition acceptance G-325A form for my wife with attachment because the addresses wouldn't fit in the form G-325A form for me with attachment because the addresses wouldn't fit in the form I-130 from filled out with attachment for our address because it wouldn't fit in the form Documents to prove my U.S. citizenship: Copy of my birth certificate Copy of front page of my passport Documents proving marriage bona fides: Photos of our relationship including the time we dated, our wedding, my wife's pregnancy, and our son's birth Marriage licenses Copy of son's birth certificate (CRBA document issued at Beijing embassy since he was born in China) Documents to prove my residency in jurisdiction covered by Beijing American embassy to be eligible for direct filing: Photocopy of the residence permit in my passport Photocopy of my last entry into China showing I've been here the required six months Questions - do I need a cover letter with a table of contents? Does or should our marriage licences be translated into English by a company that provide notarization? Any other advice about our petition that you think is missing or should be included?

Thanks!

Continuing to put our I-130 application packet together and I'm moving onto evidence for marriage bona fides. Background: my wife and I have been married for 2.5 years, have a child together, she's been to the United States to meet my family. We've lived in China the entire time we've been together, met here, and have photos from every era of our relationship. Would getting a letter from say my mother and a family friend that met my wife be meaningful? Unfortunately we don't have any joint accounts and the names on our leases from rented apartments all have her name on it (it was just easier to have her do all the paperwork - things in China can be inconvenient for foreigners). Thanks for any insight.

They're "client's copies" which I will sign and date before handing in my I-130 packet.

Informative post, thanks, Dan. The tax records will not be an issue since I will be able to make photocopies. Domicile, of course, is that persistent issue that needs to be dealt with. However - through mail that I have received at my mother's place (the address we're planning on staying once back in the US) that should do the trick I'm hoping.

Thanks, Randy! That's a relief. Almost ready to file the I-130.

I moved to China in 2009 and since I was not aware that I was responsible for filing taxes on income I made here I didn't file for the three years from 2009 to 2011. As my wife and I began her immigrant visa application process it became clear that tax records were required as part of the i-864 Affidavit of Support. So, with the help of an accountant recommended by the US Embassy in Beijing website, I have just had my tax returns prepared and and preparing to file those. We have a co-sponsor and with her i-864 form she has included transcripts of her past three years returns. My returns are being delivered from tomorrow from the offices of the accountant that prepared them in Beijing. Will I be fine just photocopying the returns, before I send them to the IRS, and including those photocopies in with the i-864? If not then I'll need to wait until the transcripts become available from the IRS is that right?

True, but of course that doesn't address cases where a short visit is in order while the X-1 application is in progress. Given that such applications can last nearly a year, or in some cases more, it does seem a bit much for that to be practically an automatic denial. Of course, none of us write the rules or procedures. I suppose the most annoying thing about the visitor, and even the immigration, visas is just how arbitrary it seems. Of course, that is because it pretty much just comes down to the VOs opinion and little if nothing in the way of objective standards. Also most interesting since such arbitrary tests and standards have so often been found unconstitutional here as they are too vague and carry too great a potential for rampant abuse. I'm sure I'm not saying anything new.. just a bit annoyed Being denied twice was annoying and exceedingly frustrating. After the second denial I had a sinking, depressing, feeling that my wife wasn't ever going to meet my family. That's ridiculous, of course, but it's how one is made to feel after being denied the right to bring YOUR OWN WIFE to visit YOUR OWN family - and her in-laws. I thought to myself how the two male visa officers would feel had their wives been in the same position. To anyone applying - I strongly suggest you bring in bank records showing a pattern of deposits (like monthly salary) and if your girlfriend or wife is living outside of where she was born then her residence and work registration. Another document we brought was from her boss saying that my wife had signed a two year long contract and was expecting her back. We actually wrote it but her boss signed and name chopped it. I don't know if it helped or not - but anything that might help should probably be brought along.

I wrote a post about my wife's experience getting a visitor visa here: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?/topic/43717-wifes-us-visitor-visa-woes-and-victory/ As was mentioned - your girlfriend will need to show lots of evidence that she's going to return to China and a have a good reason to visit in the first place. Saying it's to visit a friend and that additional tourism will be taking place might be good. Best of luck!

My wife and I met in China in May of 2007 and married in Jan. of 2010. We are in the process of preparing for her to immigrate to the US but earlier this year, in February, she visited the US with me. We had originally planned on spending Christmas 2010 with my family and in August of that year applied for a visitor visa interview in Beijing. We meticulously prepared documents and photos and I went over with her what she was to tell the visa officer. I had a hunch that she would be denied simply because an American friend of mine's wife was denied the first time she applied. That said - my wife was optimistic because we were married and, to her, it only seemed natural that she meet my family. She has a job in Beijing, family in Hubei, and at that point, wasn't planning on immigrating. Denied. She walked out and I could tell she was stifling tears. I was supportive and told her it wasn't a problem and that on her next application she'd be successful. We still had enough time to get in for another interview and be home in time for Christmas. With the first application there was one glaring problem that sent the train off the tracks. Our photos. My wife had prepared a USB drive to show the visa officer. I wasn't sure that'd fly but she seemed convinced it'd be no problem. Perhaps she'd heard it from a friend. Either way - it was a mistake. According to my wife the interview was going swimmingly until he asked for photos. As soon as he did and my wife pulled out the USB drive he said, "Dui bu qi. Wo kan bu liao USB de zhao pian", and handed her a denial slip. She was disappointed but there was an identifiable reason for the denial. With the second denial there wasn't. Almost 5 weeks after the first interview my wife showed up for her second. For this application we printed out many photos of us together and different locations. The visa officer, who had apparently woken up on the wrong side of the bed, took about 10 seconds to review my wife's documentation, ask her why she wanted to go to the States, to which she replied that she wanted to visit my family and spend the holidays with them, and promptly hand her a denial slip saying she needed to apply for a "fiance" visa. This was odd and indicative of his incompetence because my wife had brought our wedding booklets to the interview and had he taken the time to do his job he'd have known that a fiance visa was absolutely not the proper course of action. The denial was un-explainable - and this time my wife was almost inconsolable. Plans for Christmas were out as the next scheduled interview was in early January. We were both disappointed and I thought it a good idea to give up on the whole idea of my wife traveling with me to visit my family. My wife, on the other hand, was tenacious and decided to seek counsel from a business offering visa services in Beijing. They told her that she shouldn't have had a problem with either application and told her that applying for a third time might not yield a different result. I applauded their honesty but my wife was indignant and wasn't going to quit. So they told her a couple things to say at the interview, things we'd already used and that were the complete truth (my wife was never counseled to say anything dishonest - I think that would have hurt her chances of receiving a visa even more than what the poor odds already were), and wished her good luck. On the morning of the third interview I told my wife not to be disappointed, that she'd already been denied twice, and that would make it harder for another visa officer to go out on a limb and approve her. She walked into the embassy confidently with her arms full of documents and photo albums. An hour later she strolled out with a huge smile on her face and informed me that she'd been approved. When my wife collected her passport several days later we found out that the visa officer had approved her for a 1 year multi-entry visa - supposedly the best you can get. So. What was different with the third application? Was it simply that the third time is a charm? I don't know. My wife changed tactics a little bit during the third interview by handing her documents to the visa officer instead of waiting to be asked to hand them over. Also - the first two visa officers were male while the third was female. Make of that what you will. All's well that ends well, I suppose, and my wife thoroughly enjoyed her trip to the States. Now it's on to the immigration process!

I have a 1 year residence permit, obtained in Beijing, that you get when you're married to a Chinese person. It's not the "L" type "visiting family" visa that they used to give but rather a residence permit with the words "tan qin" on it instead of "gong zuo". But it's a legal residence permit and I assume that it will meet the requirement? I have asked my mother to be a co-sponsor as she does make the minimum (125% of poverty line right?) because my income in China doesn't meet that requirement. I'll be filing my 1040s now - I haven't filed them for any of the years I've been in China. I'm not sure why I thought I didn't have to. I've gone over the links you provided. Thanks for your advice.

Oh - thanks, Randy! I had no idea about that. Great news actually.

Can that be parents? I may have a job lined up anyway, but I can't be sure of that yet, of course. If not, can my parents be co-sponsors? They would be the ones supporting us while we get set up in the US... Yes it is quite common to use parents as joint sponsors. What if your parents don't make the 125% of poverty, either, but are employed?

Hello All! I've spent a good amount of time reading the forum and wish to start this thread to see what people's reactions are and hopefully garner a few answers to questions I have. My wife and I met in May of 2007 and married in Jan of 2010 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China where we received our marriage booklets (licences). We have lived in Beijing for our entire relationship. Her family lives in Hubei and I've visited them twice. Once in May of 2008 and the other in January of 2010 (when we got married). I have lived in Beijing since 2003 and have most of my visas in my current passport (my first passport was destroyed..and replaced by the embassy in Beijing). My wife and I went to the United States to visit my family in February of this year and stayed for a month. I didn't think to keep ticket stubs but we do have photos of the trip with my wife and I with various family members and at various locations. My wife is pregnant and due to have our first child in October. That said - I'm tired of living in China and am ready (have been - stayed in China because of my wife) and the immigration process for her is a little daunting for me. All these forms and whatnot to complete. Also - I'm worried I won't pass the financial part of the application because, as a teacher here in China, I don't make that much money. We have saved up a decent amount though - enough to get us over to the US and start a life there. So - with this information - what do you think our chances of having a successful application are? I was told by an American friend to wait until we'd been married for two years before applying - that way my wife can get an unconditional green card. That is coming up in Jan. I want to have the application in the moment the two years is up so we can get the green card and GO HOME! If we apply in China what kind of time frame would we be looking at, if we aren't missing any documents and stuff in the original application, to when she can get her green card? I've heard anywhere from six months to a year. Lastly - any threads on this forum that walk a person step by step through what needs to happen would be great. Thank you all very much! Regards, Justin