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Thanks very much Randy, that was helpful. I'm still a bit confused about obtaining a notarized and translated copy of the police record and birth certificate. I know that she must go to her home town where her Hukou is, but it's a small town which I don't know will provide notary or translation services. So is it correct that we first go to her hometown to get the police record, marriage certificate, and birth certificate AND THEN go to a Gong Zheng Chu to get them translated and get those translations notarized? Also, regarding my fiancee being pregnant: When we file the I-130 she will not have given birth yet, but she may have given birth by the time the interview comes along. Will it be a problem if on the I-130 we don't include any children, but then during the interview process she will indeed have a child? Also, if she is still pregnant at the time of the medical examination, I'm worried that we won't be able to complete everything. I know there are supposed to be vaccines (which mostly can't be done during pregnancy) and an x-ray, which I'm not sure is okay or not. Thanks again for all of your help.

Sorry, I just want to be clear. I will be DCF. When you say domicile evidence is submitted during the "consulate stage" does that mean when you submit the I-130 package to the consulate? I know the I-864 is submitted at the interview. I am wondering if the original post is correct that when DCF the I-130, domicile evidence must (or should) be included.

Is evidence of domicile in the US, ie. financial records, tax returns, necessary when filing the I-130? I thought that was only required for the interview process?

Hi guys. My fiancee is 7 months pregnant (Due May 8th) and we are beginning the process of the CR-1 Visa. My work visa here in Shenzhen lasts until July 10th. My head is starting to spin thinking of all that needs to be done and knowing that I have so many questions about this process. We have to go to Nanchang (hopefully next week) to actually get married, after which I will try to DCF the I-130 petition as soon as possible. I have a lot of questions that I would greatly appreciate your help with. 1. About the process of actually getting married. From what I've gathered from my fiancee, we need to go to Nanchang because I'm a foreigner and her hometown of Ji'An won't process a marriage with a foreigner. Do I need to do anything special to make sure the marriage is properly registered after I marry in Nanchang? 2. I read that when I bring in the I-130 to Guangzhou, I will need a notarized marriage certificate. I've also read that I will need to bring a notarized translation of the marriage certificate. Where can I get these notaries completed? Do other documents need to be notarized such as birth certificate and police report? I read that her birth certificate, which I think we only need for the interview not for for the I-130, must be obtained by a "local notary public office", and I'm not sure what that means. Does she need to go to Ji'An to get a notarized birth certificate? 3. Since my visa expires July 10th and I doubt the process will be finished by then, what can I do to make sure I'm able to stay in China until the process is complete? Should I go to Hong Kong and apply for a tourist visa? Or is there a longer term visa I can apply for since I will be married? Can we still stay in Shenzhen if neither of us are working or would we have to live with her parents? I'd really like to avoid that because they live in a tiny village in the mountains and I'd rather not bring my newborn baby there. 4. For filling out the I-130, I know this question has been answered before so forgive me, but line 1, 2 and 3 about name address obviously is meant for names and addresses in English. Do we just attach a form with her name and our adresses written and write "see attached form"? Should we use Pinyin or Chinese characters? Line 20 says to write the name and address in relative's native alphabet, so I'm assuming for line 1, 2 and 3 we would use Pinyin. The next few questions are concerning the interview, which I know is in the future but it would help put my mind to rest having a few things cleared up: 5. Does she need to bring both of our "police certificates" or criminal records with her? Or is it just her police certificate she needs to bring? If she needs mine, would I need to provide one from America and Suzhou (where I lived last year) and Shenzhen? 6. I read that her medical examination must be completed in a designated place, but I didn't see it written where that designated place is. Will we have to go all the way to Shanghai to get the medical check done? I'm worried that because the baby is due in early May it will be complicated for her to be travelling around and getting vaccinations. 7. I don't think I'll have a job lined up for when I get back to the US. We've saved up some money and I was planning to go job hunting once I actually get back to the US. I will have a joint-sponsor (my mother) because I would not qualify. Will it be a problem that I don't have something lined up for when I get back? Is one joint sponsor enough (she is well above the poverty line but not rich). Okay that's all that's coming to mind right now. I'm sorry for so many questions, but I'm just feeling very overwhelmed especially with the baby on its way. I'm sure that as I go through the process I will think of a few more. You all are an amazing resource, thank you so much,

Not sure if I need to file my California state taxes since I don't owe anything and it costs $39 to file. Anyone know A) if I will need the state tax returns for the interview and B) if filing a state tax return is necessary when you've been living abroad and don't owe taxes? Thanks!

Hey guys, I'm getting married this month and will be starting the CR1 process after that. I need to file my taxes for both 2013 and 2014 while I was working in China. In 2013 I was technically exempt from filing because I only worked for 4 months, but I think I should file anyway since I need the record for the CR1. I know this topic has probably been addressed so I'm sorry if this is redundant, but I'm confused about how to file my taxes while here. I don't have anything complicated to file, just simple foreign earned income fromhttp://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png my ESL teaching job for 2014 and part of 2013. I'd rather not pay a tax specialist if it's simple enough to do on my own. I always used online software while I was in the US like TurboTax, but I don't think I can do that here. Your tips are greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hi guys, I know this is kind of specific to the individual, but I'm wondering if anyone might be able to share what their (or their fiance's) experience was with finding work once they received a green card. My fiance has a bachelor's degree, and a couple years experience working for a foreign trade company in China. We plan to move to the San Francisco area after the summer. We don't really know what to expect in terms of her prospects for finding work. Her English level is great, but not spot-on perfect. Anyone who could share their experience or even take a wild guess about the job market for someone like my fiance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

A family member of mine knows an immigration attorney who answered a few questions as a favor. I asked what she thought of doing the CR-1 with direct consulate filing instead of the K-1. She said this: The U.S. Embassy in China does not allow for direct consular filing of the immediate relative green card. Instead, first, an I-130 immigrant visa petition would need to be filed with USCIS. Then when that is approved, the case would be transferred to the National Visa Center for payment of fees and transfer to the U.S. Embassy in China for scheduling of the immigrant visa medical and interview. This would take much longer and your fiance would not be authorized to enter the U.S. while she awaited a decision on the process.You can read more here: http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/immigrant_visas.html The U.S. Embassy in Guangzhou is the only one which handles immigrant visas. Is she just misinformed? Obviously there are several accounts of other people doing DCF in Guangzhou. Anyone have an idea whether there is a problem in our communication or if this attorney is just wrong? Thanks!

Wow thanks Dan for sharing all that info! Completely changed our minds, and now we'll go for the CR-1 as soon as we get married here, which will likely be during the holiday in February. What a relief it is to have this site. Wish I could buy everyone on here a gift for all the help, you guys are awesome THANK YOU! Mick, thanks very much for the congrats and well wishes. To answer your question- I live in Shenzhen currently, and last year I lived in Suzhou.

Before I found this site I had been reading pretty much everywhere that the CR-1 took longer to process than a K-1. I keep reading that the I-130 takes longer to process than the I-129f, which is what would make the K-1 option faster. Obviously that's not true for all cases given the story in the last link that was posted. Is there a big time advantage to DCF? I've read scary posts on different sites about the I-130 taking years to process. I just don't want to make a mistake by filing the one that takes longer. My biggest concern is time. The cost difference and getting the green card immediately are not as much of a concern for us as making sure we can finish the process as quickly as possible. Thanks all for your replies!

My fiancee is pregnant and our baby is due in May. She and I are living in China together. We are just about ready to send our i-129f package out. A previous post discussed how the new Obama legislation on immigration may slow down other immigration processing, I'm wondering if anyone thinks that may be true for the K-1 visa as well, or since it's a non-immigrant visa it may not be affected? Our plan was to hopefully move to the U.S. in August, assuming everything went according to plan with the K-1 visa. So my questions would be: 1. Is the 7 month timeline a realistic expectation, especially considering the new immigration legislation? 2. If the K-1 visa were granted earlier than expected or the baby wasn't quite ready for the move, is it correct that we have a few months to leave China before the actual "3 months to marriage" countdown begins? 2. Will the pregnancy/baby have any effect on the visa process for my fiancee? I am assuming she will either be very pregnant looking or will have given birth shortly before the interview in Guangzhou. Again, thank you so much to the people who reply on this site! It's unbelievably helpful and so appreciated.

I'm living with my fiance in China. I'm wondering how to write my Chinese address on the I-129f. I've seen some posts talk about it already, but I'm still a bit lost. I can't fit all of the pinyin in the space allowed on the form. Should I just write "See attachment" and write the pinyin and Chinese characters on a separate page? This might sound stupid, but is the attachment page supposed to be stapled to the I-129F? How does one include it as an attachment among all the other documents that accompany the I-129F? Same goes for my phone number. The spaces provided at the end are for a U.S. number. Should I leave it blank and just provide an email? Thanks for any advice!!

Hi everyone. I've read that my fiancee will be required to bring my tax returns from the last three years to her interview in Guangzhou. The problem is, I was not required to file a tax return in 2013 because my income was below $10,000 as I wasn't working during my final year of college and only started work in China in September of 2013. I have my tax returns from 2012 and 2011, but none for 2013 since I didn't need to file this previous year. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!