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ferg9

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  1. ferg9
    Thank you Dan. Still a few things I need cleared up. 1. From what I understand, to calculate the household size on my i-864 I would count me and the person being sponsored, and on my mother's she would count herself and the person being sponsored, so it would always be a household size of 2 even though three of us will be living in the same residence. Is that right? Or should it add up to three (me, my wife, and my mother)? 2. There are so many boxes on the i-864 which do not apply to me, maybe more than actually do apply to me, like for family member 1, family member 2, family member 3, etc. all the way through 6. Is it okay to just leave those boxes blank, or must every single empty box have either N/A or None written on them (using N/A and None appropriately of course)? Maybe I am over-thinking this. 3. As a joint-sponsor, will my mother need a letter from her employer to establish her income and job status? What is the format for that letter? 4. The address on my driver's license is actually not the same as my mother's home address. My DL has my old college address on it. Does that mean it is useless as evidence for establishing domicile? 5. Should the affidavit stating that my mother's home is my US domicile be written by myself or by my mother? Sorry to ask so many questions. Your advice is very much appreciated.
  2. ferg9
    Having a little trouble filling out the i-864. Here's my story summarized: I'm living in China currently with my wife. I am employed and she is not. My current income is not above 125% of the poverty line. My mother will be a joint-sponsor. She is unmarried and lives alone. We plan to live in my mother's house temporarily when we arrive in the U.S. 1. Part 4.2 and 4.3 (Mailing Address and Place of Residence) - should I use my address in China? I know that I must provide evidence of domicile in the U.S. since I'm living in China currently, but wondering if I should use my intended address in the U.S. when filling out this form at all. 2. Part 6.6 a through c (Income you are using from any other person counted in your household size) - Should I leave this section blank? From what I understand, to calculate the household size on my i-864 I would count me and the person being sponsored, and on my mother's she would count herself and the person being sponsored, so it would always be a household size of 2 even though three of us will be living in the same residence. Is that right? 3. For every box we leave blank, including the squares for Alien Registration Number, should we write "None" or "N/A"? 4. Is it correct that both my mother and I need a letter from our employers? Is there a format for this? What should the letter from my employer in China state? My company is fairly incompetent when dealing with most issues, so knowing exactly what they need to write would be helpful. 5. As far as establishing domicile… I have a driver’s license, some credit card statements from 2013/2014, and transcripts of my past 3 years of tax returns. Will that be sufficient? Should I have my mother write an affidavit saying we plan to reside in her home upon our arrival in America? Should I have my wife bring my actual driver's license to the interview? Thank you!!
  3. ferg9
    I just read another user's detailed post about documents needed throughout each step of the CR-1 process which said that I would need a notarization/translation of the beneficiary's hukou for the interview process? Is that right? Will we then need to go to her home town again to get that completed? Also, we are having our baby next month. Will I need to provide the child's notarized/translated birth certificate and CRBA during the interview process? Here is an excerpt from the post I'm talking about -- Notarizations and translations (see example of format required by the US embassy attached): Notarization/translation of beneficiary’s birth certificate Notarization/translation of beneficiary’s hukou Notarization/translation of beneficiary’s criminal background check Notarization/translation of beneficiary’s marriage certificate Notarization/translation of petitioner’s marriage certificate Notarization/translation of child(ren)’s birth certificate Proof of bona fide marriage: Photos US Consular Report of Birth Abroad for children (if applicable) (copy) Child(ren)’s passport’s biodata page (if applicable) (copy) Any other evidence which proves the legitimacy of your relationship (e.g. marriage certificates, joint apartment/housing lease, matching passport stamps for travel abroad, etc.)
  4. ferg9
    Hey everyone. I DCF'd our i-130 over 3 weeks ago, still waiting to hear back from USCIS. I'm starting to wonder what I can do to get prepared for the next steps. My mother will be the joint-sponsor for the i-864 and I'm wondering what I'll need her to send to me in China from home. From what I understand, the three pieces of evidence needed from the joint sponsor are - 3 years of tax returns, 6 months of evidence of salary, and a letter from her employer. Does she need to send the originals of these documents to me or can they be scanned and sent to me via email? Will she need to send me her original signed i-864 form or will a scanned copy of that be enough? Is there anything else I should ask her to send from home for the i-864 or for the interview? Besides the documents I asked about, I also will have her send my original birth certificate. We're trying to make a list of everything so she can send it all at once. Thanks as always! -Sam
  5. ferg9
    Wanted to let anyone interested know that everything went smoothly at Guangzhou today. The man behind the counter accepted my I-130 and had no problem with anything I filled out, except that I put my wife's English name under "Other names used" and since it's not a name that she went and registered in any government office, he just told me to cross it out and write my initials next to it. Also, I brought both mine and my wife's red books and also my notarized translation and her notarized translation. He wanted to see both red books and both white books, even though at first I only handed him one of the white books. I'm not sure if it's just because I brought both that he said to himself "Might as well" or if it's required to have a separate white book for each red book. I know Randy had said only one was needed, so maybe the USCIS guy was just feeling crazy today.
  6. ferg9
    Thanks Randy! My i-130 packet is complete!!!! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I hope that was the hardest part. Thank you to everyone who helped me out!!
  7. ferg9
    Hate to quote myself but I think maybe this one got lost in the shuffle. I have to leave for Guangzhou in about 12 hours, bed time coming soon. Hoping I can figure this out before I go! Otherwise I'll just bring extra forms with Ji'an as the city and hope the person at USCIS is patient with me. Thanks.
  8. ferg9
    And one more thing (I really hope). My wife's birth certificate says word for word "Zhang Wenzhao was born in Suichuan County, Jiangxi Province" without mentioning the city. On the i-130 and G-325A whenever I wrote city or town of birth for her, I wrote Suichuan, partly because it doesn't mention on her birth certificate that she was born in the city of Ji'an (which contains Suichuan county) and partly because a county in China is smaller than a city, so I thought it would be more specific. Now I'm seeing that at the top of the page it says her household registration address is: "Darao Village, Yutian Town, Suichuan County, Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province". I'm wondering if I should change her forms to say Ji'an city. Thank you!!!
  9. ferg9
    What evidence will I need to submit to prove that I reside in the consulate's jurisdiction? This is the first time I have heard I need to bring that when DCF the i-130.
  10. ferg9
    What I'm saying is I am registered to live in Shenzhen, and so is my wife. Yet the English translation states that I am "now living in USA" and she is "now living in Jiangxi province". The significance of that to me is that our whole petition is based around the fact that we live in the same apartment together in Shenzhen, China. The translation in our white book saying otherwise made me nervous. I know we don't need to change her hukou or my passport. I'm just confused why it says "now living in USA" and hope the embassy doesn't think that I am or was living in the US at the time of the marriage.
  11. ferg9
    Emergency -- I have hit what might be a roadblock. I didn't realize until right now (kicking myself) that in our white-book of the marriage certificate, on the page that is translated into English it says my passport information, which is correct... but then it says "now living in USA". Similarly for my wife it says her ID card number and then "now living in Suichuan County, Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province". That is incorrect, we are both living in Shenzhen, China. In the same apartment building. My wife called the gong zheng chu where we had it done and they said that's how they do all their notaries/translations, by saying "now living in" wherever that person's hukou or passport is registered to. That seems crazy to me because that's just an incorrect translation or a failure to ask us where we are currently registered to live. They said that if the US embassy has a problem with it we'll have to send the white-book back to them with proof of our residence here in Shenzhen, which we do have, and then they will fix it. Are we screwed for the time being? Do you think the embassy will accept this? I do have a copy of my passport and residence permit in with my packet of i-130 stuff. I really hope this isn't a problem because we're trying to get this done as quickly as possible and I'm taking time off work to go to the embassy, which isn't easy. If my petition is likely to be rejected because of this, I would rather cancel the appointment tomorrow and try to get it corrected first.
  12. ferg9
    Doesn't the police certificate need to be translated and notarized though (white book)? We got the white-book done for the police certificate but don't have the original. I will get the original, but I will also need the translation right?
  13. ferg9
    Just to make absolutely sure, since it's been mentioned that we must have all original documents for the interview... I mentioned earlier that the gong zheng chu in my wife's hometown said we wouldn't need the original birth certificate and police record, but when I asked if they were correct I think I mistakenly only asked about filing the i-130, and not about the interview. Should I try to get my wife's original birth certificate and police certificate? Or will those originals not be needed for the interview, just the white books?
  14. ferg9
    Thanks guys. Also, I'm starting to worry that we don't have enough evidence of a bona fide marriage, which is silly because it's totally bona fide! We have included in the packet: --20 photos of us together over the last 18 months. Only one has a time stamp which was from January 2014. Included are pictures from our ceremonial wedding with her family, and pictures of us with my mother and sister when they came to visit China. I wrote on the back of every picture the date and place the photo was taken, and sometimes described who else was in the picture. --A color copy of the ultrasound of our (unborn as of yet) baby, which has Chinese writing below it explaining the medical details. Behind that picture though, is a screen print of a Facebook post I made with the ultrasound pictures announcing the pregnancy. --2 photos of my wife's friend's holding up "congratulations Sam and Winnie" artwork/cards with hearts and such that were made for our wedding. --2 affidavits, one from my mother and one from my sister, confirming their knowledge of our bona fide marriage. --A letter addressed to the two of us at the same address from my sister in the US. --Copies of multiple train/plane tickets that I kept from when I visited her in 2013/2014 before we lived together, and ONE copy of train tickets where we shared a train recently. --An evolution of relationship letter. I'm worried because nearly all of that could have been fabricated. The pictures together (without time-stamps) could have all been taken in a short amount of time. The ultrasound has her name on it but not mine. The congratulations cards could have been made just for show. The affidavits from my family could be fake. But that is all the evidence that we have. My name isn't on the rental agreement for our apartment, we don't have any joint accounts or insurance or shared bank accounts/money transfers. I'm starting to worry that we don't have the hard evidence we need. What are your thoughts after having seen a lot of cases? Thanks.
  15. ferg9
    Thanks Tsap Seui. I forgot to ask one thing, if I print the letter and sign at the bottom of the page, should I just photocopy the letter with my signature or do they want my original signature included in the packet?
  16. ferg9
    Hi again, sorry for the flurry of recent posts, I'm filing my i-130 day after tomorrow. I'm going to write an evolution of relationship letter because the evidence I have to prove that it's a bonafide marriage consists of mainly pictures, train tickets, two affidavits from my family members, and our baby's ultrasound. We won't have the writing under the ultrasound translated, but it will be attached to a post on Facebook that I made with the same pictures announcing that I was going to have a baby, which I'm hoping is sufficient. I'm wondering where to put the letter within the order of the packet? Does the order really matter? I assume it would go with the evidence I will include. Thanks!
  17. ferg9
    Okay, thanks!
  18. ferg9
    And for the passport-sized photos that we are to include, I've read that they must be put in a plastic bag and attached to a sheet of paper which goes behind the g325a. Again, is stapling the photo bag to the paper alright? If stapling is not okay, what suggestions do you have for attaching documents together? Should I try and find a two hole puncher and some string to attach everything together? Thank you!!
  19. ferg9
    Two more questions: Should it be stapled to the i-130 or just directly behind it? Is it the same process for the g325a as far as an attachment page for previous addresses? Thank you Dan and Doug for your replies.
  20. ferg9
    Hi all. I'm sure this has been discussed (though I'm having trouble finding it) so feel free to forward me on, my apologies for any redundancy. 1. Could someone please tell me exactly how to format and attach an extra page for our address? We both live in the same apartment in China, but it is a long address so we'll need extra space. Should I write in the space "see attachment"? What should be written on the attachment page other than the address? 2. Given that we live at the same address together as written in line 2, lines 19 and 21 (your relative's address abroad, and last current address shared) would be the same answer. Shall I fill them in anyway (write it on the same attachment page)? 3. Should I wait to sign at the bottom until I am at the embassy? While I'm at it, I have a question about photos. How many passport sized photos will I need for this process in total, including medical check and interview? We'll be going to get our pictures done tomorrow.
  21. ferg9
    Okay, one more question regarding records. Will I need my birth certificate for the interview? I've got a copy of it for when I turn in the i-130, but should I have the original sent to me from the US? Side note- I've read that we need a copy of the front and back of my birth certificate when turning in the i-130, but the back of my birth certificate is blank... Seems strange they'd want a copy of that.
  22. ferg9
    Okay thanks. Also, when filing the i-130, should I turn in copies of the white book or the actual white book itself?
  23. ferg9
    Hi guys. Very frustrated with the process of gathering white books and records for filing the i-130 in Guangzhou. We got married the other day, and went to get the white books the same day. The people at the office told us we would only need the white book for one of our marriage certificates, because both marriage certificates (red books) are essentially the same, the only difference being who's name comes first. I decided better safe than sorry and got white books for both of our marriage certificates despite their advice. Now my wife has just gotten her white books delivered for the police record and birth certificate... but with no original certificates, only the notarized copy and translation (white book). They apparently said that we won't need original copies, only the white books. Is this right? It doesn't sound right to me. Thanks!!
  24. ferg9
    Thanks Doug and warpedbored. warpedbored - I know that soon after the baby is born (this is my first on so correct me if I'm wrong but I think it will need a few weeks before it can make a trip to Guangzhou from Shenzhen) we must go to the US embassy and file the CRBA and apply for an American passport for the baby. I'm wondering about getting the exit visa for the baby. Does anyone know why exit visas are sometimes rejected, or what I can do to make sure it doesn't happen? I'm unclear - when the baby is born is it considered a Chinese citizen automatically? Also, Randy mentioned that if my work visa expires before I am ready to leave, I can take my marriage certificate into a local PSB and they'd help me out. Is that a visa they can supply for me? How long does that last? How far in advance of my current work visa's expiration should I apply there?
  25. ferg9
    Thanks Randy! You're really helping me out. I'm going to be annoying and ask one more thing. She knows what to do and who to call to get the certificates, but we both aren't sure whether we need to get the actual certificates themselves notarized or "white booked" or if it's the translations that need to be notarized. Last one, I think!
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