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Can a person print photos on typewriter paper to scan and submit or does a person have to use regular photo paper when submitting pictures for I-130? To me it should not matter but then I suppose they can say it has been altered. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks in advance Paul

Hello Candle Community! I came across this site a while ago, and already it's helped to clear up a lot, with the links & advice given by posters. So firstly, thanks to everyone who's given their time to keep this website going. I married my Chinese wife a few weeks ago, and we plan to move to the States next spring. We're about to begin the application process for her, and there are a few things that concern me. I'd appreciate any advice you all can give. My biggest worry right now is the I864, the Affidavit of Support, particularly the domicile issue. I plan to ask my dad to co-sponsor, since my income won't be sufficient, but I understand that I still require a domicile to be the primary sponsor. I've lived in China for four years now, and my US driver license has expired. I've read on a couple of sites that the petitioner may show the USCIS officer that steps have been (or will be) taken to re-establish a domicile--such as looking for a job, apartment searching--, then they may still qualify. Can anyone confirm (or elaborate on) that? Has anyone had experience filing I-864 this way? What would I need to prove I've taken those steps? We plan to go first to my parents' house for a couple months, then to meet up with a friend of mine & get an apartment together. If I show that my friend and I are looking for an apartment (and that I'll look for a job as well), is that helpful? Will my expired driver license be a problem? Alternately, I'd considered applying instead for a K3 first, thinking we could move to the States first & get a place to live (which I would use for the I-864), then apply for a change of status. But then I read that she will still need an affidavit of support, even for a K3 visa. Is that right? Or would this be an easier process for my situation? I hope I've made clear my position & what I'm trying to do. Let me know if there are other pieces I haven't considered here. As a side question (if this isn't too much for one thread), in putting together the I-130 packet, I was wondering what to include as evidence of our relationship. We've not been married long, so we don't have any shared property, and have never co-leased an apartment (not allowed in China unless you're married)--though we've lived together for nearly three years, we just don't have any documentation to prove it. I'm staying with her at her parents' apartment now, and have the police registration to prove that. I also have several pictures of me with her family I plan to include, some from the "Gan Xie Yan" dinner reception after we were married, and a few from trips we've taken together. We didn't have a ceremony. Most of the pictures are from before we were married, but show an ongoing relationship over several years (I plan to label & date each picture). We also have a letter from a private school explaining, in English, that we taught a children's class together (also before we were married). Are these relevant? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your advice. I'll be sure to post the results, in case it'll be useful to others. ** R~

Hopefully I’m not going to get poked at for asking these questions and would appreciate any feedback. My situation is that I have gone the English teaching route for some years and will be returning to the States for a job. I have been happily married since June 2009 to my lovely Chinese spouse and have stayed by her side even longer than that. We are expecting a baby in Feb-Mar 2013. My questions are: 1) Can I petition using an IR-1 so that my wife is permitted a green card? Will this automatically renounce her of Chinese citizenship? Is there a way for her to allow her residence in the USA but allow her to retain her Chinese citizenship? 2) Can I file everything from the USA even though we got married here in Shanghai? 3) What documents would I need to take back with me if it is possible to petition from the States? 4) I am guessing the best way to prove my bona fide residence with my partner is an affidavit from a third party source since I only rented all this time. I am confused how to go about obtaining this. Here is what it has to say: My question here is how do I obtain such an affidavit? Do I have through a certain body or do I have to draft this out myself? Are there any samples online? 5) I am expecting a baby in Feb/Mar 2012 as I stated earlier. Does that mean I have to sign two i-130 forms? 6) With the info I specified from above, does that mean I have to wait until the baby is born as I would need the baby’s birth certificate 7) When the baby receives his/her birth certificate, isn’t he/she supposed to be assigned a Chinese name by law? How could I assign the baby an English name? 8) I would also like for my spouse’s last name to be mine. How would I go about doing this? I here this is possible during the interview. Is this true? Would I just use her Chinese name on the forms? 9) Let’s say I need my parents to co-sponsor my spouse, would they have to be physically present during the interview? 10) Does my Chinese spouse need to obtain a birth certificate? Wouldn’t a houkou and passport be enough to establish Chinese citizenship? Are the houkou and birth certificate the same? I keep receiving conflicting info. Many thanks in advance

Hi all, so my wife finally got her CR1 visa a couple months ago, and we're about to head back to the US. Is there anything she will need at the border, aside from her passport and the big packet that was mailed to us when her visa was granted? For example, medical forms, her x-ray, anything like that? Also, is there anything she'll need to know or say during that process? Obviously I'll be in the US citizen line so I can't be there to help her, but she doesn't really speak english.

I've been living in China for the past 4 years, and finally moving back to the United States at the end of July. My Wife and I are at the stage where the case is at the NVS, and we've paid both the IV and Affidavit of Support fees, I also electronically returned the DS-230 to show my US address as the place that should be sent information in the future. Now I'm left with a few questions. 1. How long does it typically take from the time the fees are paid to the time when the P3 arrives? Both fees were paid by the middle of march, and I'm just trying to figure out time schedules. 2. Should I bring back the translated marriage certificate, police record, and birth certificate with me to the US, and have my wife fill out the other necessary forms and give them to me electronically? I'm thinking because they need to be sent to Vermont that it would be faster to send them from the US. 3. I've seen some varying times as to when the interview is scheduled from the time the P3 packet is received. Visa journey says it's an average of 85 days from when P3 is received, whereas this site seems to indicate 4-5 weeks. Is this time set from around the time the petitioner sends the package, or when the NVS enters the information into their system? Thanks for all the help and information! It's great to have a resource like this. EDIT: THIS IS FOR CR1

Hi all, So, with the help of many of you here, my wife and I have been planning to apply for a CR-1 visa, and I think we're finally ready to take the first official step by filing the initial petition. I live in Beijing, and have for the past couple years, so we'll be going the DCF route. Here's what we've got, all of which -- if I understand it correctly -- we need to submit right away as part of this first step (right?) FORMS: i-130g-325a (for me)g-325a (for her)g-1145 SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: Supplemental paper with full addresses in Chinese and English (it was impossible to fit them all on the forms themselves, some are very long).Copies of the relevant pages of our marriage certificates, with translation.Letter from me explaining out relationship and how we've been living together for the past two years.Letter from each of my parents in the US, confirming that our relationship is real.Letter from her father (and certified translation) confirming that our relationship is real and that he has met me and that we have visited her parents several times.A selection of photos of the two of us together in different places and at different times throughout our relationship, from right after we first met through our marriage photos, with captions explaining when/where each photo was taken.A printout of our email/chat logs from gmail, and a short introduction pointing out how it shows we've been in constant contact since we started dating, even while I was living in the US a couple years ago. That's all going to be arranged and organized in a nice binder sort of thing (should I put the actual forms in there too), but anyway, I was wondering what I'm missing here, or how this all looks...? Is there any additional form or proof required for DCF? Also, I recall reading people talking about how I would have to prove "domicile" filing for DCF, but didn't see anything about that on the forms, so I'm guessing that comes later in the process, right? Or is that the big hole in what I'm missing....? (I should be OK with that, as I have maintained US credit card, bank account, etc., but if I need to provide domicile proof now, what sort of proof is best?) Also, a very practical question, and one I was gonna call and ask about on Monday, but in case anywhere here knows, how do I file this? I mean like literally, physically, where do I go and who do I hand this to in Beijing?

Unfortunately my wife's CR1 visa was denied at her interview Nov. 2nd. The VO does not even give her a second chance to supply document or anything. It looks like they are going to directly send the files back to USCIS. I was totally surprised by such an outcome, and totally devastated. What do I do. How could I ask them to stay the case in the Consulate and give it a second look? Any help is appreciated. http://www.gztv.com/vod/v23443.shtml I can't believe it happened to us.

Hi all, Just got a bad news from my wife. She got a letter said a denial after our additional documents submitted (got blue slip for her interview). The reason is not bonafide relationship. I got few questions here: we applied for CR1. Do I need to wait for the actual document from USCIS before I reapply again? Also, I have sent them some original documents, do I need to fill out a form to get those back? Is there anything I can do right now actually? Thanks a lot, Ricky

My wife and I have been married for over a year and a half. We have been working on the visa process for almost as long. She had her CR1 interview in Guangzhou, China on January 23, 2008. Her entire interview lasted about 10 minutes and it was determined by the VO that all the documented records of phones call, msn chat, yahoo chat, yahoo voice, my cell phone records, and personal letters between us that we put together could have easily been forged. Even more surprisingly ,he was not interested in taking a look at those documents and it seem like he had already made his determination even before she talked with him. I have read a lot about GZ... and now i am not so surprised by the reaction of the VO. My wife left the interview with a blue paper and a pink paper. The blue paper stated that Consulate was unable to issue a visa based on Title 221(g) of the INA. The pink paper was the check sheet of information needed. The checked boxes were: Correspondences… Provide as much information to document the development of our relationship. Statement… Provide a detailed handwritten statement by the petitioner describing the evolution of our relationship. Statement… A handwritten statement documenting every trip taken I had taken to China to visit my wife and how we spent our time together. I put together all the information that they required, assembly it into a 1" binder with folder tabs to make it very convent, and mailed the completed 1” binder full of pages and pages of information on our relationship to my wife in China. She added the original blue and pink sheets to the binder and as instructed mailed it to the Embassy. On Friday she received this letter in the mail: THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Name of Applicant: Date: Dear Immigrant Visa Applicant: The Consulate is unable to issue you an immigrant visa because, according to the section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, section 5a, you do not fulfill the eligibility requirements for the partitioned visa. The Consulate has determined, based on your testimony, documents and any other evidence, that you do not has a bona fide relationship with your petitioner. The Consulate will now return your case to the Home Land Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department (CIS) for review and possible revocation. You will be informed by mail when the Consulate transfers the case back to CIS. Once your case has been transferred, please contact the CIS for information on your application. Processing your for return to CIS may take several months. Additional specific information regarding the reasons for decision can only be acquired during the CIS appeal process. If you or your petitioner contact the Consulate by email, fax, letter, or in person, no specific information will be provided nor additional documents will be accepted. Now I do not understand why she was so coldly denied a visa. This has emotional devastated us. Cases that are sent back to CIS for revocation are based on clear evidence that will hold up in a court of law, supposedly (The more I read about this the more it seams like a big fat ugly joke on us!). I know we did not do anything wrong. We both worked very hard with preparing and documenting our visa information. Has anyone been here before? What can we do from here? I know that GZ is dead. Do we appeal? Do we terminate our CR1 and begin all over again? Do I stow her away and take our chances... I say this jokingly but now realise that she might have better chances on a ship vs GZ! I have read Title 221(g) of the INA… just a lot of words and really not any thing related, (After reading and reading... I am no longer surprised by this!) but where is section 5a? I cannot find any information on this. I would really like to know what the Consulate found to be detrimental to my wife’s visa ( I also now understand... after reading and reading that this will never find an answer.). My wife and I talk 2 to 3 times a day and on weekends we video chat. This was OK while going through the visa process but now we want to be together as a husband and wife should be. Please all advice and information is greatly appreciated. Khim and Bizhen

Someone here told me that with the CR-1 Visa the beneficiary will have a green card before entry to the US. We don't seem to have one. The immigration officer at the LA airport just told me to make sure we follow the instructions on the paperwork in the immigration package. From what I see it is just instructing us to change her status before she is here two years. Also does she need the usually vaccinations with a CR-1? As always...thanks for your help!

Filed I-130 directly with USCIS in GUZ and everything went very smoothly. It was approved quickly and sent to the consulate where we just had visa interview yesterday. After the interview the consular official stated they could not approve the visa unless a co-sponsor was obtained. Asking someonme to be a co-sponsor is highly intrusive and I just don't get even why that is necessary. I submitted, according to instructions, a letter stating that for the last 2 years I was not required to file a 1040 with the IRS because I did not meet the income threshhold. On the I-864 it states that I need to show 125% of poverty guidelines (approx $25k) x three since beneficiary is spouse. We showed approximately $200,000 in cash assets verified by US bank statements. Why wouldn't that be sufficient? Is there any way to appeal this action or any other suggestions?

Now that I have my case number, I am starting this thread that will detail my EP experience with the NVC. I do so for the benefit of those who will follow me and would like to see a quick reference of what to do and what to expect. After I got my case number from the operator, I also asked for and received my IIN (invoice identification number). Once I had those two numbers, I confirmed with the operator that my AOS (Affidavit of Support) invoice would be emailed to me. I will send the actual OPTIN email to have the case converted from paper to electronic after I receive this invoice in my inbox. Now, you are able to send that OPTIN email once you have the GUZ case number, however, due to problems people have experienced sending in the OPTIN email prior to receiving the AOS invoice, I have made the decision to wait for the invoice in my inbox prior to sending the OPTIN email. Of note: When I was speaking with the operator in receiving my case number, the operator confirmed my email address and asked for my wife's email, I gave it to him; the only thing I would suggest is to tell your spouse that you will be telling the NVC their email address so they are not caught off guard when they start receiving emails from the NVC.In case you don't already know, you will be initially assigned a GUZ number followed by a set of number, when your case is converted from paper to electronic, the case number will change to GZO and have a new set of numbers.

I understand how it works (EP). My main concern is this (and it's twofold); firstly, I have a strong belief that the NVC may not receive all evidence from the initial submittal of the I-130. Secondly, I have a strong belief that if the NVC were to receive everything, personnel will take the time to scan everything into the system. I have already been told that doubling down with the frontloading (i.e. including evidence with the DS-230) could cause a delay at NVC. However, to ensure that a CO sees everything, this is something I'm willing to accept. I'm not willing to accept the possibility of having no evidence accompany the file. Granted, my wife will not be going to the Consulate empty handed, but I (and others here also) tell people all the time that the interview is not the place to submit evidence for the first time.

I'm thinking about getting some friends and family to do sworn statements. I've never even looked into such a thing and have no idea where to get such a thing done and how difficult it will be for them. Is it over kill? Is there such a thing? I also plan on putting her name on the title for the house, via quick deed, and my checking account. Am I going overboard?

hello my wife just arrived last wednesday with ir1 status! what should we do next for her? greencard? s/s card? how?

Got this 4/30/2010 with the RFE. 1. A certified copy of the adoption decree; 2. The legal custody decree; if custody occurred before the adoption; 3. A statement showing dates and places where child resided with the parents; and 4. If the child was adopted while aged 16 or 17 years, evidence that the child was adopted together with, or subsequent to the adoption of, a natural sibling under age 16 by the same adoptive parent(s). On 5/1/2010 I sent NVC the white books for her divorce clearly showing that she has custody and a legal statement from the father allowing his daughter to immigrate and the daughter's birth certificate listing both the mother and father names clearly. All this was front loaded in the I-130 petition to USCIS. My step daughter is not adopted. I don't even know about #3 and 4. WTF???

To view additional Information on K3 Processing, go here: http://candleforlove...showtopic=40925 ------------------------ Detailed write up can be found here: http://candleforlove...-ep-experience/ CR1 Processing NOTE: Electronic processing begins at NVC, NOT USCIS. The visa petition starts out normally by sending the initial petition (I-130 or I-129F) to USCIS (Chicago (I-130), Vermont/California (I-129F)) and only AFTER USCIS sends the approved petition (P2, NOA-2) to NVC will you opt into the electronic processing. Also electronic processing does NOT apply to I-130 filed DCF to the consulate or embassy in China. GUZ Speaks: http://candleforlove...showtopic=37514 GUZ website: http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/nv..._petitions.html http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_5163.html Eligibility PDF http://travel.state..../visa_4411.html Note: K-Visas should be automatically sent to Guangzhou using the electronic system, nothing should need to be done by petitioner to request this for K-Visas from NVC, but give NVC a call and ASK using "Wuhan4me's" sugestion below. GUZ Website: http://guangzhou.use...cn/iv_k1/k2.htm {Edit} Email address changed.

i know this is a stupid question, but is it possible to have both cr1 and k3 run at the same till to the end of the interview process?

If my wife is applying for an immigrant visa why do they require her to bring these forms? Or have I misunderstood the instructions? Sorry for the frequency of new questions, but I leave next saturday and am now going over all my paperwork. Some of these forms seem unnecessary to me. Mind you, I'm bringing them!

hi everyone i have had 2 white slips and i dont know what to do anymore. my first one was for a K3 visa we were given the white slip because they thought it was not a bona fide relationship. so we decided to get married and file a Cr-1. we were given a white slip again for the same reason. is there any other routes we can take after this or am i out of options? can we file the same petition over again? and is there anyway we can check the status of the case when it reaches USCIS? thank you in advance for all your help.

Hi guys, The disaster of all disasters happened - we can't seem to find my husbands passport. We're set to take off tomorrow. If it doesn't turn up from now to then, do you know what happens? Does he have to start from scratch, or can he get a new visa issued relatively easily when he applies for a new passport? Really, I thought I had it in my purse. The last place we remember having it was the United office when we bought our tickets. (BTW - did you know people entering on an immigrant visa get discounted tickets?) Just need some comfort and encouragement here.... Heather