summerlove

Interestingly, my wife hasn't yet gotten an e-mail at her e-mail address that we gave. Not have I gotten any instructions beyond the one-page approval notice.

Just got my I-130 approval notice today, by e-mail. Interestingly, it's actually dated for last Friday.

Great, thanks for the thoughts. This process is so twisted in so many ways that one is never sure what is good or bad for one's case.

Really appreciate the updates. This detailed overview of the entire process is very, very helpful to everyone.

Maybe because my parents file jointly? Not really sure. Some people have said that they want it to prove my mother's support of the immigration. It's unfortunate that they don't give a reason. Oh well, just a bit longer of a wait for you. Good luck - hope you get approved soon!

Very helpful, thanks.

Unfortunately, this insurance cannot be extended.

This must be a common issue for others as well. Right now both my wife and I are covered under my excellent work plan here in China. I lose this coverage the day I leave this job. My wife is also double-covered as well under her own insurance from her current job. She of course also only has this until she leaves her job. So there seems to be the issue of an insurance gap between when we would leave our jobs to go to the US, and when we could get new insurance (basically the first day of when my as-yet-to-be-determined new job in the US starts). It seems like Obamacare would plug the gap - but it looks like that has to be purchased during a set enrollment period. What do we do about just purchasing insurance to fill that gap period? We can't buy Obamacare now, because we don't yet have the required US ID numbers for her...

First of all, thank you everyone here for all your help so far, not just to me but to everyone who has to go through this insanely complicated, annoying and stressful process. This is a great community and a terrific source of aid for people who want to be with their loved ones. My specific question here - Once a US citizen (who is resident in China) successfully files a DCF which is accepted by the consulate in either Beijing or Guangzhou, there is no further reason that the US citizen has to stay in China, right? Basically, once the petition is accepted and the interview is granted, the Chinese citizen then goes through the process independently, no? The concerns are: 1. Changed residence or other information for the US citizen due to moving back to the US- could this impact the process negatively? (Including issues with the US citizen personal information with regards to the I-864). 2. If the US citizen moves back to the US first, before the Chinese citizen even gets an interview or gets the immigrant visa, will this jeopardize the Chinese citizen's chances at the interview (i.e. the interviewing officer therefore thinks the marriage isn't real). 3. Anything else? The issue is that I have to get a job back in the US anyways. Might as well get one first and start working and making money, and get a head start on finding a livable house, and so on.

Thank you for your very detailed write-up! That really sucks that they asked for the i864a. Why do you think they did so in your case?

Mick, where do you reside in China? Maybe the deliay is due to Beijing USCIS not having jurisdiction over your area and needing to hand off to Guangzhou USCIS? According to http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/uscis.html... I reside in Shanghai.

For sure. I guess that's probably why the officer told me 3 months.

Wow, I just checked and indeed they do have both of these addresses listed. Insane - very, very confusing.

Fantastic. That's very, very helpful to know. Really appreciate it. Encouraging that they actually answered your e-mail. Was your e-mail simply to DHSBeijing.CIS@uscis.dhs.gov? I DCF'ed in Beijing on the 2nd of September. On exactly the 60th day, I emailed and got a response that my I-130 had been approved. Our interview is on Wednesday, I will write up a timeline in the interview results section of this forum when we get back from Guangzhuo. That should be more helpful for you.

Thanks. The reason I asked was because I don't want to actually misrepresent the other way, by my spouse saying she is a party member when she isn't, anymore. But I can see how the "affiliation" part of the question can cover that, so that it is better than not to simply say "yes" there. Thanks for the correction about the I-485.

Thought I'd provide just another data point for everyone that could be useful. I filed for a DCF in Beijing on 25/11/2014. After the officer took my documentation he said it would take about 3 months (!). And indeed, we haven't heard anything yet at all. Big difference from some experiences I've read on here, with people hearing back after a week or two. It's getting close to the 60-day point when US CIS says you can begin to inquire about your petition status. So I'll probably do that in about a week. Anyone else applied around that time-frame? We're getting quite antsy. Another interesting question: I actually looked at the DS-260 form, and it only asks about current Communist Party membership, not past membership. But obviously the I-485 form does ask if you have ever been a Communist Party member. So it seems that if are a former member, and you follow the directions literally, you will write "No" on DS-260, but then later "Yes" on I-485, because they ask different things. That shouldn't be a problem, right?