What to expect?

[Rickmt57]

I am making my second trip to China in June to marry my SO. Can anyone tell me the order of forms that will be filed. I know I start with the I 130 but after that I am not sure. I know I have to be able to show support, when does that come into play.

Is it better to find an attorney to make sure things are filled out corectly? If so does anyone have the name of one in Washington State preferably the Seattle area or North of.

If everything goes weel what is the best time frame that a SO can be living here?

 

Thanks,

Rick

[Dennis143]

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...=0entry198880

 

Here's a visa flowchart of the process, pinned by Jesse, AKA ShaQuaNew.

 

Oh, and you might want to contact mercator. He's a CFL member from WA state who may know of an Attorney.

 

Good luck

Edited April 12, 2006 by Dennis143 (see edit history)

[RLS]

I am making my second trip to China in June to marry my SO. Can anyone tell me the order of forms that will be filed. I know I start with the I 130 but after that I am not sure. I know I have to be able to show support, when does that come into play.

Is it better to find an attorney to make sure things are filled out corectly? If so does anyone have the name of one in Washington State preferably the Seattle area or North of.

If everything goes weel what is the best time frame that a SO can be living here?

 

Thanks,

Rick

206308[/snapback]

I've seen time frames all the way from 5 months to over a year; it all depends on the individual and their own set of particular circumstances. By the way, welcome to CFL and good luck. This is a great website -- full of information. I can't offer much at this point because I'm only a short ways ahead of you. Some of these guys have been here a long time and know the ropes. Someday I hope to be able to offer more help. Ron

[A Mafan]

I am making my second trip to China in June to marry my SO. Can anyone tell me the order of forms that will be filed. I know I start with the I 130 but after that I am not sure. I know I have to be able to show support, when does that come into play.

Is it better to find an attorney to make sure things are filled out corectly? If so does anyone have the name of one in Washington State preferably the Seattle area or North of.

If everything goes weel what is the best time frame that a SO can be living here?

 

Thanks,

Rick

206308[/snapback]

I've seen time frames all the way from 5 months to over a year; it all depends on the individual and their own set of particular circumstances. By the way, welcome to CFL and good luck. This is a great website -- full of information. I can't offer much at this point because I'm only a short ways ahead of you. Some of these guys have been here a long time and know the ropes. Someday I hope to be able to offer more help. Ron

206320[/snapback]

Lawyer vs doing it yourself:

If a lawyer does it, you know it's done right. I didn't think about my ex-wife's name change between our marriage and divorce...I thought the SSAN would be enough to determine it was the same person. That delayed us by about a month, if not more. Having a lawyer would have avoided that.

On the other hand, a lawyer wouldn't actually do it themselves, they would have their clerk do the work. And the clerk has other things to do. When the letter comes, how many hours does it take to open the envelope? Does it sit on the desk overnight? Does it take 2-3 days to get around to taking the next step, when you'd send it back the same day?

Those minor delays (because it's not a vital emergency situation to them like it is to you), could potentially cause your visa to take longer.

Potentially.

It's not an easy choice. Either way could potentially delay the completion.

Know theyself, and choose accordingly.

[Luo_Bin_&_Jialu]

Do a search on this site for the Lawyer we call King. He is an American--originally from Washington State I believe--and has been in Guangzhou for some time. His company is called "global visa services" and they are located in the same building as the consulate. Do a search on CFL to find his info. He really helped me with a problem that had me hopeless.

 

Good luck!

 

Rob

[Randy W]

Lawyer vs doing it yourself:

If a lawyer does it, you know it's done right.  I didn't think about my ex-wife's name change between our marriage and divorce...I thought the SSAN would be enough to determine it was the same person.  That delayed us by about a month, if not more.  Having a lawyer would have avoided that.

On the other hand, a lawyer wouldn't actually do it themselves, they would have their clerk do the work.  And the clerk has other things to do.  When the letter comes, how many hours does it take to open the envelope?  Does it sit on the desk overnight?  Does it take 2-3 days to get around to taking the next step, when you'd send it back the same day?

Those minor delays (because it's not a vital emergency situation to them like it is to you), could potentially cause your visa to take longer.

Potentially.

It's not an easy choice.  Either way could potentially delay the completion.

Know theyself, and choose accordingly.

206322[/snapback]

 

 

Lawyers, in some cases, have been responsible for some very long delays experienced by our members. Check out Doug's (Mengxin's) timeline

 

There is nothing magical about lawyers - if you find a good one who knows what he's doing, he'll do just as well as you can by following the advice here.

 

About half of our members who have hired lawyers swear by them. The other half swear at them.

[Rickmt57]

Lawyer vs doing it yourself:

If a lawyer does it, you know it's done right.  I didn't think about my ex-wife's name change between our marriage and divorce...I thought the SSAN would be enough to determine it was the same person.  That delayed us by about a month, if not more.  Having a lawyer would have avoided that.

On the other hand, a lawyer wouldn't actually do it themselves, they would have their clerk do the work.  And the clerk has other things to do.  When the letter comes, how many hours does it take to open the envelope?  Does it sit on the desk overnight?  Does it take 2-3 days to get around to taking the next step, when you'd send it back the same day?

Those minor delays (because it's not a vital emergency situation to them like it is to you), could potentially cause your visa to take longer.

Potentially.

It's not an easy choice.  Either way could potentially delay the completion.

Know theyself, and choose accordingly.

206322[/snapback]

 

 

Lawyers, in some cases, have been responsible for some very long delays experienced by our members. Check out Doug's (Mengxin's) timeline

 

There is nothing magical about lawyers - if you find a good one who knows what he's doing, he'll do just as well as you can by following the advice here.

 

About half of our members who have hired lawyers swear by them. The other half swear at them.

206331[/snapback]

Thanks again everyone, its nice to see so many people willing to help.

 

Thanks,

Rick

[Guest pushbrk]

I am making my second trip to China in June to marry my SO. Can anyone tell me the order of forms that will be filed. I know I start with the I 130 but after that I am not sure. I know I have to be able to show support, when does that come into play.

Is it better to find an attorney to make sure things are filled out corectly? If so does anyone have the name of one in Washington State preferably the Seattle area or North of.

If everything goes weel what is the best time frame that a SO can be living here?

 

Thanks,

Rick

206308[/snapback]

Take the I-130 and the G-325A with you. You'll be filing both. I also suggest you thoroughly read the FAQ....BEFORE... you make the trip and come back to ask any questions you have along the way.

 

If you are humble enough to study and ask questions, I wouldn't get an attorney to NOT help you through this process.

 

It's really good you're here early in the process. Welcome to CFL.

Edited April 18, 2006 by pushbrk (see edit history)

[mercator]

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...=0entry198880

 

Here's a visa flowchart of the process, pinned by Jesse, AKA ShaQuaNew.

 

Oh, and you might want to contact mercator.  He's a CFL member from WA state who may know of an Attorney.

 

Good luck

206318[/snapback]

King I think has an office in Seattle.

 

I didn't use an attorney. If you can fill out a 1040, you can fill out an I-130, G325A and later the I-129F and second batch of G325A's. I was nervous about filling it all out too, but the sample forms on visajourney.com are straight forward, and the forms are also available in a fillable PDF format from the USCIS site. Sorry I don't have the links handy, but I am sure they are on the links forum. Where the fillable PDF wasn't big enough (or asked for Chinese characters), I just added an addendum, and did the same for the 325A. No problems so far, and we're waiting on the P4.

 

My 130 was all handwritten and printed REALLY small on the form so it would all fit. It is at NVC post NOA2. It took a while to get there, and I think it was because of its legibility. Now I swear by addenda and the fillable forms, since my 129F breezed through NVC. If you have a full version of Acrobat you can probably alter the font used and not even need an addenda, since the default font is pretty huge.

 

Be honest, be thorough, and use addendae if you need to, just staple them to each copy.

 

Good luck!

 

Merc.

Edited April 18, 2006 by mercator (see edit history)

[ameriken]

Rick,

 

Personally, if I had to pay for a lawyer I would have had to sacrifice one of my trips to China.

 

If you simply do not have time to do the research and paperwork, a lawyer could be a good thing. However, I dont feel a lawyer gives anyone an edge in getting a visa. If you have the time to do the research, you can find everything you need right here on CFL. You should be able to just as well as anyone else. If something unforeseen arises, then a lawyer could come in handy.

 

Good luck ! Ken