questions...questions...questions......

[sacrebleu3]

Hi,.. newbie here . I am becoming very attached to this Chinese woman who has a 12 year old daughter. Of course I am thinking ahead at this point.

 

I have been told that there are two ways to go about marrying a Chinese woman. 1 ) ..someone goes to China and marries that person ... comes back to the USA., and satisfies the requirements of a K-3 visa ( spouse visa ). 2 ) ..there is also what is called a ' fiancee-visa ' ( ..do not know the specific form #) ..all I know about that visa is that when all requirements are met...she comes over to the US...and you then have a month to get married or she has to go back to her country.

 

1 ) In this perticular instance of a woman with a young child ...( which would have to come over with her.. not later ) ..is one visa better suited than the other ? ..or is it another form of visa that I do not even know about.

 

2 ) If both visas can apply in this instance ...is one way to go faster than the other....easier or preferable to the other....do both ways cost more or less the same money.

 

3 ) If someone decides to go and marry over there ...is it a civil ceremony that must be performed ?

 

4 ) In the messages posted I keep seeing references to Guangzhou...( GZ for short ? )..which I assume is the city in the province of Guangdong. Is that the ONLY city in all of China that deals with immigration matters ?

 

5 ) Assuming that the answer to # 4 is yes...is there one visa type that gives most of the paperwork to the person in the States and less to the one in China...making it so that the person in China does not have as much to do ..or travel as many times to Guangzhou ?

 

6 ) Does anyone know a phone # That I can call to also help me with all these questions.

 

.....I think I will keep some questions for later..if that's allright with you guys.. ...it must be obvious at this point that I need all the help I can get ! Thanks to anyone that will reply.

Sacrebleu3.

[warpedbored]

Welcome to CFL. To add a little to what Don said the decision whether to go fiancee visa or get married in China is a highly personal one which has been debated here many times. From a purely practical stand point I believe the fiancee visa wins hands down.

 

There is less paper work intitially

 

The fees are a little less.

 

It is usually faster (especially if you live in an area serviced by the Vermont Service Center)

 

It is easier to change her last name to yours if she so desires.

 

She can get a social security number after entering the country without waiting to get employment authorization.

 

Here is a link to some other links that will help you navigate CFL as well as places with sample forms filled in. http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...mp;#entry248244

Edited October 2, 2006 by warpedbored (see edit history)

[frank1538]

Another welcome to you. I'll add a bit more and by the time everyone chimes in, your head will be spinning from information overload. Not to worry. You'll have plenty of time (6 months to a year) to sort thing out before the actual interview at the consulate.

 

One thing to keep is mind is that the K-3 spouse visa does require that you first file an I-130 to petition for an immigrant visa (CR-1 classification). After you get the acknowledgment from USCIS for that petition, you can then file the I-129F petition for the K-3 visa. Not to complicate things, but you can simply file the I-130 by itself and not file for the K-3.

 

In the alternative, you can file for the K-1 fiance(e) visa, in which case you do not have to file an I-130 petition first. That's one of the reasons the K-1 is thought to be a bit faster than the K-3.

 

Like the others have said, whether to go K-1 or K-3 is a personal choice based on your relationship.

 

Good luck.

[Rickmt57]

welcome,

 

I think they all covered it pretty well for you so I will just say welcome and if your looking for help there are a lot of good people here, they have been a lot of help for us.

 

Rick & Liyan

[rosyanne]

Hi,.. newbie here . I am becoming very attached to this Chinese woman who has a 12 year old daughter. Of course I am thinking ahead at this point.

 

I have been told that there are two ways to go about marrying a Chinese woman. 1 ) ..someone goes to China and marries that person ... comes back to the USA., and satisfies the requirements of a K-3 visa ( spouse visa ). 2 ) ..there is also what is called a ' fiancee-visa ' ( ..do not know the specific form #) ..all I know about that visa is that when all requirements are met...she comes over to the US...and you then have a month to get married or she has to go back to her country.

 

1 ) In this perticular instance of a woman with a young child ...( which would have to come over with her.. not later ) ..is one visa better suited than the other ? ..or is it another form of visa that I do not even know about.

 

2 ) If both visas can apply in this instance ...is one way to go faster than the other....easier or preferable to the other....do both ways cost more or less the same money.

 

3 ) If someone decides to go and marry over there ...is it a civil ceremony that must be performed ?

 

4 ) In the messages posted I keep seeing references to Guangzhou...( GZ for short ? )..which I assume is the city in the province of Guangdong. Is that the ONLY city in all of China that deals with immigration matters ?

 

5 ) Assuming that the answer to # 4 is yes...is there one visa type that gives most of the paperwork to the person in the States and less to the one in China...making it so that the person in China does not have as much to do ..or travel as many times to Guangzhou ?

 

6 ) Does anyone know a phone # That I can call to also help me with all these questions.

 

.....I think I will keep some questions for later..if that's allright with you guys.. ...it must be obvious at this point that I need all the help I can get ! Thanks to anyone that will reply.

Sacrebleu3.

 

Welcome to the board!

Sounded like you've been studying!

 

I am sure you've got your answers above, but I just can't help to give a try too.

 

1. If you go there and marry her in China, you will apply K3 and K4 visa for her and her kid. If you perfer to marry her here in US, you will apply K1 and K2.

 

2. K1 and K2 might be slightly faster then K3 and K4, but you never know... K1 and K2 will cost less money up front, but you will need to pay to adjust her status later on so.

 

3. A civil ceremony is not must, but gals need it in most case.

 

4. GZ is short for Guangzhou which is a city in GuangDong and yes, it is the only immigration office in China.

 

5. You need to perpare a list of things before you file the I-129 and she will have to collect all the evidences and paper work before she goes to her interview. As far as I remember, she will need more stuffs. But how many trips to Guangzhou... that is up to the Visa officer.... hopfully, only once.

 

6. Read around... you can probably get your answers.

[sacrebleu3]

I want to thank you for very that valuable information...I don't know what we ' newbies ' would do if this site did not exist. I will no doubt need ' you guy's ' advice many times again. I am a little lost as to whether this message will just go to you ...the Don...or to everyone ....because of course I want to thank everyone for their input..!!?? ....later...sacrebleu3.

Welcome to Candle, you got here at a good time.

 

The decision to marry in China or the US determines the visa route to take. Generally a K-1/2 Fiancee visa is the fastest and easiest way to go, especially with a child. Cost is a bit cheaper, too. In order to file a Fiancee visa, you must have met face to face with the two years prior to filing the petition. Also, you would have to marry within 90 days of her arrival in the US. From the time she gets her visa, she has 6 months to enter the US and begin the 90 day stay.

 

To get married in China , you go the registrar and give them some papers. Half hour later you get a red book that registers the marriage. The is no civil ceremony as we understand it.

 

Guangzhou is referred to as GZ or GUZ and is the only US consulate in China that does immigration visas. Normally only one trip is required to attend the visa interview.

 

There's really no phone numbers that can help much. There is the USCIS 800-number that gives more misinformation than anything useful, but I wouldn't recommend it. Other than that, an attorney might be able to help but I've seen as many horror stories as good ones about using an attorney. The alternative is to read, read, read here and at visajourney.com.

[jim_julian]

Two points no one has mentioned ...

 

1. Does she have official custody of the minor child? If not the birth father's written permission is required before the child can leave China. These "fathers" have been know to be very difficult, demand bribes, etc.

 

2. It's best to keep your relationship fairly quiet and low key. While I'm sure you'll meet family etc she should avoid mentioning it at work and in other non-family relationships. Why? All it takes is one letter (Third Party Correspondence or TPC) to GZ questioning the legitimacy of your relationship and you visa is set back months while a mandatory investigation is conducted.

 

Good luck!

[sacrebleu3]

Thank you so much to run that by me ...that's incredibly important. I'm on it ....I am going to ask her about that ..very next e-mail. Thanks again. How did people manage before this site was set up..??

Two points no one has mentioned ...

 

1. Does she have official custody of the minor child? If not the birth father's written permission is required before the child can leave China. These "fathers" have been know to be very difficult, demand bribes, etc.

 

2. It's best to keep your relationship fairly quiet and low key. While I'm sure you'll meet family etc she should avoid mentioning it at work and in other non-family relationships. Why? All it takes is one letter (Third Party Correspondence or TPC) to GZ questioning the legitimacy of your relationship and you visa is set back months while a mandatory investigation is conducted.

 

Good luck!

[pkfops]

You got some good info from the top guys.

 

May your journey in the Visa Highway

be a speedy one.

[SheLikesME?]

Good advice and the basses are covered. Welcome to Candle.

 

We were going to do the K1 to speed things but once we met we just knew we should get married and did. It added confidence to both of us. Just our choice. Beside we both had some preperations to make so the little extra time for a CR1 & 2 we decided would be the best in the long run.

 

Wish the best for all 3 of you.

 

PS: You might think about a good cover letter explaining any special circumstances, if you have them. You can probably do a search on this subject. After doing that I read a site from a link here in CFL that it makes it a little more dificult for GZ to delay the visa for more info. Just a thought.