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Dearest Candle Lovers, After almost seven years in Beijing, and two and a half years of marriage to my Chinese wife, it's finally time to leave (China, not my wife!). I just got accepted to grad school, and have to be back in the US in August, so now I am frantically trying to figure out the most efficient way to get my wife home with me by August if at all possible. I have noticed a handful of people here in the forums who managed to do the whole process in under four months, and I'm hoping that our application process can go just as smoothly (but not getting my hopes up... I know so much of it is out of our hands, but we'd like to give it our best shot and at least get everything right the first time and get things submitted as quickly as possible). I've read up as much as time has allowed over the past week since getting accepted to grad school, but I'm working every day from the butt crack of dawn to the wee hours of the morning on a big project that will require me to work every single day like this until early May. So most of my research time has been on my phone while riding the subway (and its taken me several subway rides to write these questions!). After my initial research, here are the biggest questions that I'm most anxious about at the moment, in order of priority (the first one being most urgent): 1. I want to do a DCF filing, but I've read that you must have a residence permit and a valid visa. I've lived in China for seven years, first on a student visa, then four years on a business visa, and the past two years since getting married I've been on a travel visa (since we got married in the US and didn't get our marriage license translated and notarized at Chinese consulate in US, we couldn't apply for dependency visa for me in my wife's hometown, and since we go home to US every Christmas anyway, I just make a new visa at home every year). Will a travel visa be considered a "valid visa" for a DCF application? Also, after my first year as a student here in Beijing, I've been working as a freelance photographer, and as such have been unable to find any employers to sponsor me for a work visa. Yes folks, I'm sad to say, I am an illegal alien (more about this in Question 2 about my taxes). Is this going to hurt my chances with USCIS and GUZ, or can I potentially use this to support my case for residence here in China? The other problem is that my landlord for my Beijing residence lives abroad and has the hukou book with him, so the nephew who maintains the apartment has claimed from the beginning that they can't register me at the local police station (I've pushed them on this issue and they've refused to budge). This police station pass is the "residence permit" that I need to apply for DCF, right? If I can get a Chinese friend to register me as living with him at his local police station, would that be enough to only have a residence permit valid from right before I submit the application? Otherwise I don't see any way that I can get permits for the past several years! 2. I'm a bit worried about proving my financial stability. As I mentioned above, I work freelance here in Beijing. I'm almost always paid in cash or bank transfer with no questions asked and no taxes reported on the China side. It's my understanding that Americans living abroad don't have to pay taxes on foreign income up to about $92,000 if they are a resident in that country, so I've not turned in a tax return the past several years (which I've only now realized I was supposed to do even if I didn't owe anything... DOH!). However, I do have enough money saved up to get me and my wife through the next three years of school (and I will continue to work freelance on the side in the US - legally this time! - and my wife plans to work full-time as well). So what do I do about not having any tax returns for the past several years? Can I submit now for past years not submitted (and will this look bad to visa officer)? And does USCIS and GUZ care that I was working here on the wrong visa? Also, given my situation what is the best way to prove that my wife and I will not become a financial burden to the state? If I show bank account records in China and US with a fair bit of money, will they question my not having submitted tax returns? Can I avoid this, or at least supplement my application, by having one of my parents co-sponsor us? Also, how early do I need to submit financial information in the immigration visa process? Can I go ahead and submit the I-130 form without it to get the ball rolling on our application? 3. I've read up on the DCF filing process and am pretty familiar with the procedure, but I'm still unclear on how to GET STARTED. I've seen different info about this. Do I first put together my I-130 packet and then make an appointment to drop it off? Or do I make an appointment to pay a fee, and then after paying I mail in my I-130 packet? Is the I-130 packet the first thing I need to give them, or do I have to submit something else before that? Also I've heard lots of people say that they submitted a lot of materials early on before it was asked for (and even stuff that isn't requested). Is it recommended to do this when I send in the I-130 packet if my goal (like most people I'm sure) is to expedite the process as much as possible? I apologize for the long post (and my exceedingly obvious ignorance), and if any of you brave souls have made it this far I'm already extremely grateful. Any advice at all from this great community would be much appreciated!!!