Hong Kong Marriage vs Mainland China Marriage

[SinoTexas]

The thought never occurred to me as an option and I don't remember reading anything about it when I joined this site two years ago, but is getting married in Hong Kong a viable option? I have read bits and pieces here and it seems that if you can get married in Hong Kong, the process is simpler and faster. As opposed to a K-1 visa or K-3 or CR-1, how does a Hong Kong marriage shakes out in terms of speed? How easy is it for a Chinese national to get a permit to enter Hong Kong for that purpose and return later for an interview? Although I'm no longer part of the visa process anymore, is a Hong Kong marriage a faster alternative? If it is, perhaps it should be discussed more here at CFL. Perhaps answers can help the folks just starting the process,

 

As aye,

 

Jim

Edited August 14, 2007 by SinoTexas (see edit history)

[Randy W]

if you can get married in Hong Kong, the process is simpler and faster

 

from adamchildress' timeline

6-28-05 NVC recieved I-129F and is conducting the background check

7-03-05 HK recieved and enterd K3 info from NVC

7-20-05 Wife recieves P3 from HK

7-28-05 HK recieves P3 (will send P4 when my wife returns her checklist)

8-10-05 Set in Checklist

8-25-05 Interview set for 9-8-05(can change if not enugh time) PASSED

I shuldnt have wasted time and after I130 apprved shuld have applied for i129f!

 

2 months total consulate time for a CR-1

Edited August 14, 2007 by Randy W (see edit history)

[IllinoisDave]

I saw this mentioned in another thread as well. I don't remember hearing anything about it before now.

Is it really that simple? My SO lives in Shenzhen and it would have been much more convenient, not to mention quicker, for us to do it in HK in the beginning.

What are the downsides that we're not seeing?

[david_dawei]

just to clarify, adamchildress did K3 in HK, not CR1... he never knew to do the K3 till very late and waited a long time to file it, that's the point of his comment at the bottom.

 

---

 

The issue revolves around the location of the interview & the location of the marriage.. but here is the general rule:

 

Marriage Visas (K3, CR1):

 

The USC files the I-130 (CR-1) in his/her country of residence. The interview is conducted in the country where the alien resides.

 

The USC files the I-129F (K-3) in his/her country of residence. The interview is conducted in the country where the marriage took place.

 

----

 

Based on the above rule:

1) An alien resides in China and marries in GUZ results in:

-- USC files I-130 in country of residency or work..

---if US, then US. Interview in GUZ. (most members)

---if in China, then DCF. Interview in GUZ (DCF members)

---if working in HK, then either US or DCF HK. Interview in GUZ. (at least one member did this)

 

-- File I-129F in US. Interview in GUZ.

 

 

2) An alien reside in China and marries in HK results in:

-- USC files I-130 in country of residency..

---if US, then US. Interview in GUZ. (nothing saved pursuing this)

---if in China, then DCF. Interview in GUZ (DCF members)

---if working in HK, then either US or DCF HK. Interview in GUZ. (can save time by filing in HK)

 

-- USC files I-129F in country of residency..

---if US, then US. Interview in HK. (adamchildress and others--save time on consulate side)

---if in China, don't file... just pursue I-130 DCF.

---if working in HK, then US. Interview in HK. (save time on consulate side)

 

 

3) An alien reside in HK and marries in HK results in:

-- USC files I-130 in country of residency..

---if US, then US. Interview in HK. (save only little time since still must do consular adjustment at NVC).

---if in China, then file DCF. Interview in HK. (fast time)

---if working in HK, then either US or DCF HK. Interview in HK. (fastest time if filing in HK)

 

-- USC files I-129F in country of residency..

---if US, then US. Interview in HK. (save time on consulate end)

---if in China, then just pursue I-130.

---if working in HK, then just pursue I-130.

 

I hope I got these right, but there would obviously be other combinations possible...

[david_dawei]

I saw this mentioned in another thread as well. I don't remember hearing anything about it before now.

Is it really that simple? My SO lives in Shenzhen and it would have been much more convenient, not to mention quicker, for us to do it in HK in the beginning.

What are the downsides that we're not seeing?

I cannot recall any downsides reported... you get to interview together as a couple as well... they are not necessarily any easier in teh interview.. but it's just faster...

[Guest Rob & Jin]

I saw this mentioned in another thread as well. I don't remember hearing anything about it before now.

Is it really that simple? My SO lives in Shenzhen and it would have been much more convenient, not to mention quicker, for us to do it in HK in the beginning.

What are the downsides that we're not seeing?

 

 

yes i asked this question

[agm]

Hello

 

 

I got married in Hong Kong, and she is from mainland.

 

 

Not so good:

Getting married in Hong Kong was more time consuming process compared with doing so in mainland.

 

Same:

Processing applications with U.S. agencies in U.S. side is same as far as the methods and time.

 

Good:

Once you have your application with U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong, it appears to be very fast and very helpfull.

 

May be same:

Wife must travel to Hong Kong for medical and interview, but, she either way must travel to Guangzhou..... so that, it may be same.

 

Good:

Being interviewed together.

 

Very good:

If you have questions to ask them, they will e-mail answers back in 2 days or so............very helpfull.

 

Very very good:

If you want to attend the interview, you can control the interview date when you calling them to set up the interview date.

 

Good:

Traveling expenses can be lower as long as going to Hong Kong.....just one flight from California here I am.

 

 

agm

[SinoTexas]

I figured the process and processing time in the US might be the same, but once it got to Hong Kong as opposed to Guangzhou, it would be faster. It appears from the above responses that there are advantages to getting married in Hong Kong with a speedier visa process, an interview where both parties (or in the case of a family) all can attend the interview. It also appears that the Hong Kong US Consulate is a little more responsive when it comes to questions.

 

As to the second part of my original question, how hard or easy is it for a Chinese national to obtain a permit to go to Hong Kong for marriage and returning for an interview?

 

If a Hong Kong based marriage route/visa is indeed viable, perhaps it can be promoted here on CFL a little more and as an option with details in the FAQ section. I know nothing about the Hong Kong process, so my ramblings could be all wrong.

 

Thanks David for you various scenarios.

 

As aye,

 

Jim

[agm]

I figured the process and processing time in the US might be the same, but once it got to Hong Kong as opposed to Guangzhou, it would be faster. It appears from the above responses that there are advantages to getting married in Hong Kong with a speedier visa process, an interview where both parties (or in the case of a family) all can attend the interview. It also appears that the Hong Kong US Consulate is a little more responsive when it comes to questions.

 

As to the second part of my original question, how hard or easy is it for a Chinese national to obtain a permit to go to Hong Kong for marriage and returning for an interview?

 

If a Hong Kong based marriage route/visa is indeed viable, perhaps it can be promoted here on CFL a little more and as an option with details in the FAQ section. I know nothing about the Hong Kong process, so my ramblings could be all wrong.

 

Thanks David for you various scenarios.

 

As aye,

 

Jim

 

 

Hello SinoTexas

 

What I know about how hard or easy for a Chinese national to obtain a permit to go to Hong Kong is depend on where she lives.

 

For instance, my wife ( Guangxi resident ) must apply a permit with using a local travel agent. The actual permit is issued by the her local government ( I will check in the detail on this with her ). The most of the time, it takes one week to get a permit stamp on her so called domestic passport. ( Not the one for an international traveling passport). I think she must submit a bond to the travel agent so that the travel agent is sure of her return.

 

And, I heard about there are different regulations apply for residents of cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other big cities.

And also some Chinese nationals have multiple permit good for 6 months, even one year.

 

Anyway, my wife must join the small group of the Chinese travelers at the Lohu (Lofu ??) crossing point in Shenzhen to cross Chinese immigration check point together with the group. This arrangement is done by the same travel agent which she used to get a permit.

 

 

Once she is done with Chinese immigration section, she can get separated from the group to go through Hong Kong immigration section.

 

When she is going back to the Mainland, she must use same crossing point of Lohu, but she does not have to join the group any more.

 

Once she obtain the U.S. visa, she can use any crossing points between the Mainland and Hong Kong to take a flight to U.S. from Hong Kong.

 

agm

[david_dawei]

least so obvious a chance has been thought to have missed CFLs radar.. I'll state that HK issues are in the CFL DCF & HK FAQ.

 

Because I made that DCF on a fly-by-night encouragement by a past DCFer... it's probably time to improve the HK issues (since jim is being so interested ).

 

I'm going to break out a separate section in that FAQ so that the HK issues stand out more... there's been some good comments splintered over various threads on how to get married in HK, etc.. so I'll track them down.

 

For now.. keep the thread running with any info as desired...

[Guest Rob & Jin]

I figured the process and processing time in the US might be the same, but once it got to Hong Kong as opposed to Guangzhou, it would be faster. It appears from the above responses that there are advantages to getting married in Hong Kong with a speedier visa process, an interview where both parties (or in the case of a family) all can attend the interview. It also appears that the Hong Kong US Consulate is a little more responsive when it comes to questions.

 

As to the second part of my original question, how hard or easy is it for a Chinese national to obtain a permit to go to Hong Kong for marriage and returning for an interview?

 

If a Hong Kong based marriage route/visa is indeed viable, perhaps it can be promoted here on CFL a little more and as an option with details in the FAQ section. I know nothing about the Hong Kong process, so my ramblings could be all wrong.

 

Thanks David for you various scenarios.

 

 

Jin is from Yunnan, got a multi visit HK permit in 1 week on her regular (international) passport from local police station i believe

 

As aye,

 

Jim

 

 

Hello SinoTexas

 

What I know about how hard or easy for a Chinese national to obtain a permit to go to Hong Kong is depend on where she lives.

 

For instance, my wife ( Guangxi resident ) must apply a permit with using a local travel agent. The actual permit is issued by the her local government ( I will check in the detail on this with her ). The most of the time, it takes one week to get a permit stamp on her so called domestic passport. ( Not the one for an international traveling passport). I think she must submit a bond to the travel agent so that the travel agent is sure of her return.

 

And, I heard about there are different regulations apply for residents of cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other big cities.

And also some Chinese nationals have multiple permit good for 6 months, even one year.

 

Anyway, my wife must join the small group of the Chinese travelers at the Lohu (Lofu ??) crossing point in Shenzhen to cross Chinese immigration check point together with the group. This arrangement is done by the same travel agent which she used to get a permit.

 

 

Once she is done with Chinese immigration section, she can get separated from the group to go through Hong Kong immigration section.

 

When she is going back to the Mainland, she must use same crossing point of Lohu, but she does not have to join the group any more.

 

Once she obtain the U.S. visa, she can use any crossing points between the Mainland and Hong Kong to take a flight to U.S. from Hong Kong.

 

agm

[SirLancelot]

As to the second part of my original question, how hard or easy is it for a Chinese national to obtain a permit to go to Hong Kong for marriage and returning for an interview?

 

If a Hong Kong based marriage route/visa is indeed viable, perhaps it can be promoted here on CFL a little more and as an option with details in the FAQ section. I know nothing about the Hong Kong process, so my ramblings could be all wrong.

 

There is no downside to this HK scenario. The only problem is the "second part" of your question. Despite some people having success in traveling to HK, many of the ladies will find it very difficult to get to HK in the first place. Bigger city residents (SH, GZ, BJ) will have an easier time, but smaller, rural Chinese residents will have a much harder time getting to HK.

 

And one would have to do a K-3. You couldn't do a K-1, based on this idea.

[BrokenHeart]

My wife lives Shenzhen and the last time there she had to get a Visa to take me to HK to fly out. We went a week before and the wife had no problem. I also went in the office, I forget what city. It took about an hour to get there, we had a driver. We were there for 30 mins. and she had the Visa to HK of course with a fee. Every time I fly in I always go HK and she is always there to pick me up. We always take the bus and leave the driving to them back to Shenzhen.

[BrokenHeart]

The beauty about the Visa Unit in HK. You can write them an email and most cases they email back in 24 hours with an answer. Very professional even on the phone.

[Randy W]

 

According the the U.S. Department of State website, a K-3 Visa application for the foreign spouse of a USC when the marriage occurred outside the U.S. MUST be filed and the visa MUST be issued in the country where the marriage took place. The same website says that after the visa process has been completed, and the visa is issued, the spouse can travel to the U.S. to wait for the processing of the immigrant visa case.

 

What I haven't verified yet is how long it would likely take to obtain the visa. I also don't know what the final sentence in the preceding paragraph means.

 

If the visa application would be processed significantly faster through Hong Kong, and then Ping could come to the U.S. while her immigrant visa case is being processed, would this save us a lot of time?

 

 

 

For a K-3, you would first have to file a CR-1 (I-130), the immigrant visa referred to. If the I-130 is approved (after the K-3 is used), she would have to go back to Guangzhou for an interview there. This would result in a greencard.

 

The K-3 may be filed as soon as you receive the I-797 for the CR-1 I-130. K-3 processing in Hong Kong can be as short as 2 months. So she could conceivably be here by the end of the year.

 

She could then either wait for the immigrant visa processing, or file the I-485 to adjust status here.

 

The time savings is in the consular processing - 2 months vs 4 or 5 months at GUZ.