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I have been a member of this sight since my spouse and I started our Visa application 2 months ago. We left the interview today and were told that everything was in order and to expect her passport within 2 weeks. I simply wanted to post here to show my appreciation. I was able to see other peoples experiences and the process that they wen through and it allowed for us to better understand the Visa process and answer any questions or doubts that we had. So, now we are looking forward to the arrival of her passport with the Visa. Thanks Candleforlove!

Hi everyone, I have been reading the tons of inspiring stories and kind, helpful advice on the site for over a year now. I have just gotten married and now it's time to start this long process. The problem is that I think I have read too much information and advice (given to others)! I don't know exactly where to start or what choices are the right/best ones for our situation. I am an American and my wife is from Shanxi, both born in 1983. I have been living in Beijing for about 2 years and we got married on August 1st this year. We applied for a tourist visa but she was denied this morning. I have to go to the States on business in October and had hoped she could come after the business was finished and meet my family for the first time. I wasn't too surprised that she was denied; American husband+no real assets+low paying job=low chance of issuance. I have been amazed by the kindness of people on this site in helping total strangers and hope someone may be able to advise us as well. I have many questions so any help would be greatly appreciated. First off, we are trying to decide if we should try DCF or if I should submit the application when I am in America in October. I have read the rules several times and am mostly stuck on the issue of domicile. Right now I am on a student visa and will be getting a z-visa very soon (as part of the business trip). I believe I meet the residency requirements for China but I haven't lived in the U.S. since I graduated from university. I lived 4 years in Japan and now 2 in Beijing. I have no home in America but do have a current driver license, an active bank account, credit card, 3 small investment accounts and I have filed tax returns accurately every year. Everything uses my parents' address. Where should I start?

I arrived in China on July 7th of this year, and exactly 180 days after that (6 months) is January 3rd. The only time I am able to go to GZ is that first week in January (Jan 4-10) because I have exams the next week. I used the InfoPass website to schedule a petitioning appointment, and I am planning to be in GZ for a week (my sister just go happens to live there, so thats nice) from Jan 4-10. My question is: The only day for appointments within that time frame was January 5th. Two days before the actual CALENDAR year 6 months in China but 2 days AFTER the 180 day mark of being in China. Will the CO give me a hard time for not being there for 6 CALENDAR months, or will he let it pass?

My wife and I got married back in July, I have a stamp in my passport that I entered the country on July the 7th. I did not get a residence permit until October because I needed to wait for my school that i'm attending to handle that, but I have had a stable residence here since July. Will I be able to file in January like I had originally planned? Second question: The DCF guide mentions that these documents need to be included in the filing at the point of the interview: 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 certificateAll of these are no problem, except the part that confuses me is the birth certificate and hukou. My wife does not have a birth certificate, but she of course has her hukou. Aren't they considered the same thing since she was born before 1991 (when they started making official birth certs). How do I go about helping her obtain one. Third question: Where does she get her criminal background check from? We live in Wuhan (Hubei province) and she is from Xianning (which is also Hubei, just an hour or two south of here) Thanks so much, I did search with the search bar, but didn't get the results I wanted.

Hi everyone, just wanted to update everyone on our situation. My wife got her visa status changed to issued on 9/17/2015! We started the application process on May 7, 2015 I believe (I handed in the materials in person in Guangzhou), and she went to Guangzhou for her interview on June 8, 2015. Since she is a CCP member she was told that further administrative processing was required. During our wait, we emailed the embassy once a month with a question about the process and also asking is there was any update (each time they just told us that further processing was required and that there was nothing else we needed to do but wait). Finally in early September they asked her to send her passport over to the Embassy, and on September 17 the status of the visa changed from "Administrative Processing" to "Issued!" Overall, this was right in line what we had heard on the forums here, about 3-4 months of administrative processing. Right now we are waiting on the visa to be sent out. How long does it take after the status changes to "Issued" for the passport to be ready for pick up at the CITIC Bank? We bought our flight for October 6 thinking it would be more than enough time but now we are still waiting and the status online says "Passport has been received from the consular section and is currently being processed for delivery." We are afraid because the mid-autumn festival and national holiday are coming up that we won't get the passport back in time for her flight!

Greetings all. First time here. Great site. I am so happy I found it. I have worked in China for a long time and married about 3 years ago. I have always had a Z/working visa as I have stayed here for over a decade. I am heading home(USA) to spend time with my mom and start setting up life back there to bring my family from China home to live with me. I have a question. I will be giving up working in China but would like to get residence here. For example: Holding a working visa now which expires on Nov. 1st. (i'll be in the States at that time) I have plans to come back to China next summer. I do not plan to get another working visa I want what i heard is a family visa. Q1 or Q2 or something like this. The PSB here in Fuzhou said that I should come back into China on a tourist visa then go visit them with my family and apply for residency. has anyone done this? thanks - Alien

DCF Guangzhou Timeline: August 14th, 2015 - Filed I-130 at Guangzhou Consulate (DCF) August 19th, 2015 - I-130 approved August 31st, 2015 - I-130 Approval Letter received September 1st, 2015 - Received e-mailed from Visa Unit / State Department September 1st, 2015 - Completed DS-260 and turned in documents to the CITIC Bank in Guangzhou just before closing September 4th, 2015 - Received second e-mail in response to documents being received and directing us to schedule appointment, etc. September 8th, 2015 - Completed medical exam in Guangzhou September 11th, 2015 - Picked up medical packet September 15th, 2015 - Went to interview, approved September 16th, 2015 - CEAC says "Visa Issued" , now waiting to go pick it up at the "fast" CITIC bank in GZ! So we went from filing an I-130 to "visa issued" in a little over one month. It was nice to see things going quicker than expected Originally we scheduled the wife's interview in October, but got lucky by stealing another date earlier in September. Don't give up checking the CGI website if you in a rush for earlier interview dates. I might even suggest creating a second account so that you can check available dates without hitting the "Reschedule Appointment" page refresh limit (yes, there really is a per day limit). Interview Items: FIRST, the ones that the consulate actually TOOK, the most important docs! Interview Appointment Confirmation E-mailWife's PassportAmerican Marriage Certificate"White Book" ֤ Police Certificate"White Book" ֤ Birth CertificatePetitioner's I-864 with 1040-EZs and letter explaining why I had not previously filed taxesCosponsor's I-864 with W2s and 1040sCosponsor's Proof of Citizenship (Passport Copy)Medical Packet SECOND, all other docs we took were not taken or EVEN LOOKED at by the doc intake people or the officer, including: DS-260 Confirmation Letter (this was taken in the first document drop-off at CITIC, don't know why they say bring it again)Wife's resume (Eng & Chinese)Photos and proof of relationshipLetters regarding plans in the US"Proof" of domicile, which I had used my student ID and credit card information, along with supporting letters from my familyMy (petitioner's) own passport I surmise that the reason they didn't care about this stuff was that because they still had some of these documents that came from our I-130 packet... Interview Day: Arrive at GZ consulate at 8:35 AM, appointment time on e-mail is 8:40 AM Immediately go through the 1st line past Chinese police CGI Workers only checked my wife's appointment letter because she was "late" or "just on time" for the appointment Spent only 5 to 10 minutes in security line, my wife then went through to the consulate building and headed up to the 3rd floor She took her passport and appointment e-mail again to the 1st window to get her # in line Wait for her number to be called for document intake, the person asked her to give the docs one by one Asked my wife to go to 2nd floor and pay, so she did, and then came back Went back to the same window where doc intake person was, gave them the receipt Go wait in area B for her number to be called again Go to new window for interview, first take fingerprints Raise both hands and party... just kidding, my wife didn't realize she was asking her to swear Officer talked to her and asked questions (English) -- my wife also notes that if you even say "hi" or "good morning" the officer will probably automatically assume your English is good enough for the entire interview "When did you get married?" (Last year)"Where did you meet your husband?""Do you live in Guangzhou?" (Because my wife mentioned we met in Chongqing, which is her hometown)"What does your husband do?" (my wife suggested the CO comes to play ultimate frisbee with us...)"Have you been to America before?" (Yes, my wife attended Kansas State University before)"Where will you live in America then, in Oregon?" (Yep)"Who is your co-sponsor?" (My father in law)"Here, you're approved" (Thanks!) And then she was all done and left. She walked out of the consulate probably around 9:50. A grand total of 1 hour 10 minutes approximately. Other Random Comments (NOTE: this all applies to Guangzhou specifically, can't speak for other places) My wife thinks the medical is a complete sham and was super disappointed with that (I agree)... she says the yearly university medical exams are even more rigorous and cost 1/100th of the price. Medical center people are more picky about visa style photos, even more picky than the US consulate people themselves (re-printed 8 photos) Definitely fill out the medical forms BEFORE you go to the medical center and get a number ... and GO EARLY! No need to make an appointment online Notarization can be a pain in China, often times it will NEED to be done back in your spouses hometown. Do it early (but not TOO early, the police one is only valid for a short period of time) -- or be ready to have family do it for you (with appropriate documents left behind for them, such as ID card ) Good luck to everyone else! Thanks for all the help we got reading posts here!

So I filed my wife's I-130 in Guangzhou a few days ago. So I have a few questions about what will come next. Can the medical exam be done in advance? I've read some conflicting information. First, I read that you don't need an appointment to do the medical for starters. But, while this may be true, I also read that you must have your interview with the IV unit scheduled before you can go do the medical. Then on the "US Travel Docs" website it says that the medical must be done 2 weeks before your interview. So... what's the real situation? Can my wife go do the medical now even though the I-130 is still being processed? Next up, we have read that she will be asked to provide documents such as criminal history, birth certificate, hukou, etc. Is this info still up to date? She already got the criminal history letter from the police at her registered hukou, and she got a copy of her birth certificate... but is she really gonna need to notarize/translate the hukou sheet as well? Anything else besides these 3 documents? The I-864 stuff I'm feeling ok about, I'm filling out my copy and my parents who are joint-sponsoring have already done theirs. When my parents mail their I-864 over here to China, they will just need the original signed form, copy of their passport(s), and copies of tax returns, yes? Thanks in advance! EDIT: One last quesiton, what are the other fee amounts we should be expecting? I know of the 1100 RMB medical, the visa fee of 160 USD, what else is there that I'm missing?

Finally almost done preparing the I-130 petition! Yet I always seem to be coming up with questions about these tiny bits and pieces... (sorry) Quick background: My husband and I met and lived in South Korea for the majority of our relationship. We did, however, move a lot in 5 years and while we always considered Seoul "home", we also spent a significant amount of time visiting my family in the US and his here in China. I already know I need to include an attachment to fit all the addresses in, but should I include our parents' addresses to fill in some gaps in time? For example, we spent 4 months visiting the US last year (mostly traveling and for the holidays) before we came to China. My husband was on a travel visa so I don't want to make it look like he lived there. The same goes for me visiting China for a month a while back. Except for the 4 month visit (we came to China afterwards), we maintained our Korean residency status but didn't have an address there while we traveled. I was thinking of including our parents' addresses followed by a " (Family visit) " note in the address column...would that work or is it unnecessary? Thanks again! This site is so helpful. ^^

Hi All, Address questions here for the I-864 under Part 2 "Information on the Principal Immigrant" & Part 4 "Information on the Sponsor". My background - US citizen married to Chinese hubby, DCF'd with visa interview set at July 27 (I'm getting so nervous...). We have been married for 5 years and living in China the whole time. Hopefully the questions make sense. :-) Thanks a bunch! Question 1: Part 2 Information on the Principal Immigrant - Mailing Address (2.a - 2.h) <-- Do I enter in the address my husband I live at here in Beijing? Question 2: Part 4 Information on the Sponsor - Sponsor's Mailing Address (2.a - 2.h), Sponsor's Place of Residence (3.a-3.h) & Other Information (4-5) Sponsor's Mailing Address (2.a - 2.h) <--Is this my current Beijing address? Sponsor's Place of Residence (3.a-3.h) <--Is this my US residence? Other Information <--(4-5) Which number to use: US or China (current mobile no.)? Which country to record for domicile? US?

Hi all - finally got the interview letter/email today at 12:01pm for hubby's IR1. (Yay! Took like 3 weeks after submitting DS-260 in Beijing) Logged on to CGI as directed to schedule our interview in GuangZhou but get this message "There are currently no appointments available." Granted it's not yet 1:00pm yet, but am I just too antsy here? Has anyone exprienced this? Do I just keep trying again and again? Thanks!

After waiting for nearly 2 months here in Beijing (filed on March 19, approved May 13), we got the I-130 approval notice (email/post). But I'm not sure what's next...Do we wait for some other information from GZ? In the I-130 approval letter, it states my husband's "Beneficiary A Number" as all zeros - what does that mean? Thanks!

My wife and I live in Shandong province. I know that is under guangzhou jurisdiction. However, a friend told me that it's possible to file in Beijing and they would just forward it to Guangzhou. Is that true? Or must I go to Guangzhou to file? I'd rather not have to travel so far.

Hello! My wife is applying for a CR-1 visa. We are preparing to schedule my wife's interview and wanted to hear your thoughts about the documents she needs to bring to the interview. Marriage Certificate - The Immigrant Visa Instructions say that she needs to bring a notarized copy of our marriage certificate. However, when I went to the consulate in Guangzhou to submit the original I-130 application, the officer collected the notarized copy of our marriage certificate and said that he needed to keep it. Does this mean that we need to get our marriage certificate notarized a second time? - Do we need ti notarize both marriage certificates or just one? Birth Certificates - The instructions also saw that her notarized birth certificate "must state the date, place of birth, and names of both parents," but the notarized copy we got (got it done before seeing these instructions) doesn't include the date and place of birth of her parents. It just includes their names and Chinese ID numbers. Do we need to get another notarized birth certificate with the exact information or will the one we already have be fine? - Does she need to bring my US birth certificate? I am her husband and petitioner, a U.S. citizen. Police Certificates - We are a little confused where to go to get this and what it is called in Chinese. If someone could provide the Chinese for where we need to go and what to tell them we need, that would be great! vs ֤ vs ֤ We are in Hangzhou if that matters. - I assume we need to get this notarized as well? Medical Examination - My wife will likely need to get all of the vaccines required, since she has no records of previous vaccinations. Is it possible to get all of them done at once or does she need to wait a day between getting vaccinations? - We will be in Beijing for around 4 days, will that be enough time to get the medical examination done and receive the sealed medical report? Evidence of Support - I am filling out the I-864. Part Two (Information on the Principal Immigrant) requires us to fill in a mailing address, but it does not allow us to put in a Chinese address (for example the zip code box is limited to 5 numbers but the zip codes in China are 6 numbers). Am I supposed to fill out my address in the US for this? - The form asks for her A-Number, but I do not think she has an A-Number. Are we supposed to have one by this point? - The instructions say that she should bring my most recent Federal income tax return, but I see here that people suggest bringing the returns for the past 3 years. Does it make a difference? Also, would it help if she brought my employment contract for a new job I will be starting in August in the US? Thank you so much for the help, we really appreciate it!

While I've got all of the documents ready for my wife's interview (including last 3 tax returns for myself and the co-sponsors), I was wondering if I should include my 2014 return (not filed yet) as well? The co-sponsor's income is above and beyond the requirements for financial support ($100k+/year), but my last 3 returns are kind of shaky as I've been building a business (online) and living off of savings while in China. Either way, I'm planning on including a summary of the financials/evidence for my company showing monthly growth since June and even my personal daily income since November. Off topic: I've also been wondering if it's possible for me to go into the consulate with my wife to provide support and help during document intake? She speaks fluent English but I know it's going to be a stressful day and it would be great if I could be there to help.

My husband (Petitioner, US citizen) and I married in October 2013, he has been living in China for 10 years. The first 9 years he had a work residence permit, and the last year he has been using a dependent residence permit. Now we have decided to move to the US, and we are preparing to try to get my US residence permit via DCF in Guangzhou. My husband has had no income for the last tax year, so his parents will co-sponsor me, and they are both retired. We have couple of questions regarding to I-864: 1. Should he file his form I-864 and both parents file two forms I-864A?, or should he and parents file three separate form I-864s? Looking at the I-864 it seems like it should be the first option, since his domicile address is the same as his parents' address in the US. 2. His parents' retirement income is much higher than the poverty guideline (about 5 times), so is there any benefit to putting our assets and/or his parents' assets (e.g. savings, property, etc...) onto the form I-864 and/or form I-864A's? 3. When my husband fills out part 4 of the form I-864, should he put his US domicile address as his Mailing Address and his address in China as his Residence Address, or another way around? Thanks in advance.

I promised a longer version for reference. I hope this helps other CFL members that are going through the same process. We were married in 2013 in Harbin and had our first child in 2014. ~2014~ 9/2 DCF beijing 11/2 Emailed Beijing and received a reply that the petition had been approved 10/29 12/1 Received confirmation from Guangzhou that they had received our case. Also instructions to fill out a DS-260 and submit documents to Citic bank. 12/4 Submitted DS-260 12/18 Email from Guangzhuo telling us to schedule interview ~2015~ 1/15 Interview Here is what my wife took with her to the interview: Interview confirmation DS-260 confirmation and letter correcting one mistake we made on the form Copy of every email received from the US government during this process. My I-864 with a copy of my passport, transcripts from last 5 years, letter from employer, and past 6 months of pay stubs. (although I am not sure any of my paperwork meant anything since last 3 years I earned income overseas and filed 2555) My father's I-864 with a copy of his passport, transcripts from the past 3 years and pay stubs showing all of 2014's income. My father included assets even though he is above the income threshold. Taxes proving value of house and copy of most recent bank statement. Notarized Marriage certificate Notarized Birth certificate Notarized Police report Resume, English and Chinese Copy of my valid drivers license Copy of my US bank statement with activity CRBA of our daughter 40 pictures from random life events Email from parents promising a place to stay as long as we need. Everything that we could bring the original of. we also brought along a copy. Here are the questions they asked: Can you speak English? Which state is your husband from? Where did you meet? Do you have a child? How old is she? Have you ever been to America? Any other countries? Who is my father's name? Did your mother-in-law send any papers? He also saw that I am from Ohio and asked if I was happy about the buckeyes winning the national championship. RESULT: White paper requesting a I-864a from my mother. If anyone has any questions about any particular part, I am more than happy to answer!

We are working on filling out the DS-260 but are confused by a few parts. The section on information about the spouse (me), at the bottom it says "Is your spouse planning to immigrate to the U.S. with you?". If you check the "no" box it says "Will your spouse immigrate to the U.S. at a later date to join you?". It seems strange that the question even exists considering the spouse is always a U.S. citizen. Anyway should I say yes to the first question or no to both?

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!!

Hello all, Jocelyn of Speaking of China introduced me to this forum, and after exploring for quite some time, I am still utterly confused about a DCF petition. Let me be specific about what I am confused about. My husband and I got married earlier this year, and we have only recently decided to go to the States. I've been living and working in Xi'an, Shaanxi for four years. I am aware that the following documents are needed (or somewhat optional) for a I-130 petition: - I-130 form - two G-325A forms (one is mine; the other is the husband's) - copies of my birth certificate or my passport's biodata page - copies of hubby's birth certificate or his passport's biodata page - copy of hubby's hukou and notarized English translation - copies of my residence permits (2010 to present) - four passport photos (husband's and mine) - affidavits of our marriage - photos or other documents to show we have a bona fide marriage Am I missing anything in my list? In addition, as far as the filing is concerned, I am confused as to which jurisdiction I fall under. For the eligibility for marriage notary, I went to Beijing. Therefore, I am uncertain whether I should file my petition in Beijing and let them pass it on to Guangzhou, or go directly to Guangzhou. Does anyone have contact information (as in phone numbers) for USCIS or the Beijing embassy? I've already attempted to contact them via email with virtually no luck. I still have a couple of other questions regarding the I-130 form. As for my address, do I put my physical US address, where I still receive mail, credit card statements and the like, or should I put my mailing address in China? As for the affidavits of marriage, do they have to come from US citizens, do they have to be notarized, and who are usually the best options for the affidavits? I ask this because my family, with the exception of my youngest sister, have met my husband. As for organizing all these documents, is there a preferred mode, as in one envelope or should some of the smaller, more likely to get lost items be separated? As for photos, do they need to have a printed date on them or is it acceptable for you to write names and dates in pen? Will they accept a scrapbook filled with photos and letters written to one another? What are the "other documents" that show a bona fide marriage and perhaps should be included in a petition? Is there anything else I may have overlooked about the process of DCF? I am fully aware that I am asking a lot of you all, so if you could even just direct me to a particular discussion within the forum that deals with one, or several of the questions I am asking, I will be content. Thanks in advance, Marissa in Xi'an

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!

hello everyone.my fiance and i want to start a life in Thailand. im chinese and he is american. i wonder if my fiance can apply a CR1 visa for me in thailand.

The last step on the DS-260 instructions state: Once you have submitted the DS-260 forms for you and your accompanying family members, you must then submit your required civil documents, photographs and embassy-specific documents to the NVC. If your case is NOT processing electronically, please submit your documents to: National Visa Center Attn: CMR/DR 31 Rochester Ave. Suite 100 Portsmouth, NH 03801-2914 If your case IS processing electronically, please scan and email your documents to: NVCElectronic@state.gov If I DCF'd in Beijing then my case is processed electronically, correct? I don't need to mail these to NVC? Thank you in advance. Julian

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?

hi guys i want to know how long will the DCF process from I-130 filing to interview usually will take? thanks