K-1 vs Marrried CR-1

[Guest Tony n Terrific]

My Special Terrific has kinda thrown up the issue of getting married in China. I know the K-1 is faster vs the CR-1. Is there some benefit to this or what. I do not wish to misrepresent myself to my SO with a maybe (which means yes to her). Any thoughts on this one?

[C4Racer]

And I will be the 2nd.............WELCOME!!!

 

 

Yay. Thank you thank you!

 

Okay so let me be the third. Welcome to CFL.

 

Also regarding marriage license. The first place I used it was at the SSN office. Normally they have to wait for USCIS to provide immigration status. This can take a long time. They processed my wife's since she was K1 just off of the marriage license. They did add a comment about work needing to be authorized by DHS which we got removed later. After that, we were able to get her an Oregon ID card. The marriage certificate and my license showing where we lived was all they needed as for proof of residency. All this was done before we filed for AOS.

 

Later I used the marriage license and an affidavit from me to add her to the deed of our house. After which we refianced to get money for her new business venture. So having a US marriage certificate does have it's benefits.

 

We've talked about this before. Sometimes having a US marriage certificate while living in the US, has it's advantages. One issue is when you need to use it, it doesn't require translation. It depends on what you think your future holds. If you plan on living in the US over the next 20 -25 years, I would personally do the K1 route. If you are just not sure, then it really doesn't matter too much.

Edited February 1, 2008 by C4Racer (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

CR-1 has several benefits,

 

First it directly results in a GREEN-CARD issued upon entry, CR-1 gets an I-551 stamp in passport, allowing employment, and re-entry from trips abroad. (NO adjustment of status ($1010), NO applying for EAD for continued employment, NO short to NO driver's license)

 

K-1 requires marriage, adjustment of status, visiting a Civil Surgeon for vaccination supplement, cannot leave and re-enter the USA until they have AP document or green-card, has a hard time to being able to get a driver's license in most states until having EAD card or green-card, is temporarily work auth primarily to get SSN to avoid marriage license problems, so in most cases cannot seek employment until having green-card or EAD card.

[credzba]

Different people have different views.

I had this question, and ask here. Ultimately we married in China, and I have always been happy we did.

I will list the good benefits I saw for Marriage in China and CR/1 visa, only some of which are visa related.

 

1) My family could easily get visas to attend a china wedding/celebration, it is impossible for her family to come to America. (Some suggest a wedding celebration in China is as good as a marriage there, but it wasn't good enough for us).

 

2) We could immediately start building our future. That is, we purchased property together in both China and America. We made investments together. We made purchase decisions together.

 

3) There is an issue of "face" in China. Some Americans who work in China have Chinese girl friends, fiancees .. whatever. The truth is they are just lovers that the American leads on to have a ready sex partner while in China. This may or may not be true (actually I know it is true in one case) but it was a perceived truth by my wifes colleagues.

If her colleagues knew she was living with an American, without marriage they would assume the worst.

My wifes san mei mei, in fact, told her I was just using her, and that I would leave her sad and used one day (before we met and married).

Since then I have met san mei mei in person, and she is as close to me as my own sister. Turns out our personalities fit very well. She knows I will take good care of my wife forever.

 

4) The time difference between K1 and CR/1 is a MAXIUMUM of 6 months. If you look at my timeline, and other people K1 timeline you will see it is more like 2 or 3 months difference. I planned well for NVC, had all my paper work done ahead of time, and returned every item as fast as possible. I did not use a lawyer.

 

5) I have seen people on this forum get white slip for k1 (fraudulent relationship) and go back to re-file married for IR/1. I believe (true or not) that had they filed CR/1 to begin with they would be together today. Relationship is easier to prove when your married. As I talked about in #2 we own homes together. For a VO to claim our marriage was fraudulent they would really have to think we were insane. No one would mix all their finances and property in this way for fraud. We of course knew this going into our purchases, and arranged joint ownership to ensure we would not have this issue at the interview.

In short, it is easier to establish relationship married than engaged, and this appears to me to be the major issue when visas are denied.

 

6) My and my wifes children have time (thanks to the long visa process) to get used to the idea of the new family dynamics. At first the American children were unsure about dads new wife, my new daughter in China was unsure of this new man. Being married added a stability that let them know this was permanent, and let my wife and I build strong bonds with the children. Now when my wife and daughter finally come to America, we already know and love each other.

 

7) Almost forgot. CR/1 visa holders get a ss#, can work, get a drivers license, and travel back outside America the day they come into the country (well processing time for ss# etc.) All the other visas require more time, paper work, and money after your spouse arrives in USA.

 

You can see from this post, and others from me you can find, I am a strong proponent of the IR/1 visa. I ignore the K3 visa completely because I believe that being well organized, my CR/1 visa will be almost as fast as the K3.

 

The best advice I got when I asked this question you are asking is this:

Focus on the relationship. The visa is a short term bump in the road. You relationship is for the rest of your life.

Edited February 1, 2008 by credzba (see edit history)

[tsap seui]

Different people have different views.

I had this question, and ask here. Ultimately we married in China, and I have always been happy we did.

I will list the good benefits I saw for Marriage in China and CR/1 visa, only some of which are visa related.

 

1) My family could easily get visas to attend a china wedding/celebration, it is impossible for her family to come to America. (Some suggest a wedding celebration in China is as good as a marriage there, but it wasn't good enough for us).

 

2) We could immediately start building our future. That is, we purchased property together in both China and America. We made investments together. We made purchase decisions together.

 

3) There is an issue of "face" in China. Some Americans who work in China have Chinese girl friends, fiancees .. whatever. The truth is they are just lovers that the American leads on to have a ready sex partner while in China. This may or may not be true (actually I know it is true in one case) but it was a perceived truth by my wifes colleagues.

If her colleagues knew she was living with an American, without marriage they would assume the worst.

My wifes san mei mei, in fact, told her I was just using her, and that I would leave her sad and used one day (before we met and married).

Since then I have met san mei mei in person, and she is as close to me as my own sister. Turns out our personalities fit very well. She knows I will take good care of my wife forever.

 

4) The time difference between K1 and CR/1 is a MAXIUMUM of 6 months. If you look at my timeline, and other people K1 timeline you will see it is more like 2 or 3 months difference. I planned well for NVC, had all my paper work done ahead of time, and returned every item as fast as possible. I did not use a lawyer.

 

5) I have seen people on this forum get white slip for k1 (fraudulent relationship) and go back to re-file married for IR/1. I believe (true or not) that had they filed CR/1 to begin with they would be together today. Relationship is easier to prove when your married. As I talked about in #2 we own homes together. For a VO to claim our marriage was fraudulent they would really have to think we were insane. No one would mix all their finances and property in this way for fraud. We of course knew this going into our purchases, and arranged joint ownership to ensure we would not have this issue at the interview.

In short, it is easier to establish relationship married than engaged, and this appears to me to be the major issue when visas are denied.

 

6) My and my wifes children have time (thanks to the long visa process) to get used to the idea of the new family dynamics. At first the American children were unsure about dads new wife, my new daughter in China was unsure of this new man. Being married added a stability that let them know this was permanent, and let my wife and I build strong bonds with the children. Now when my wife and daughter finally come to America, we already know and love each other.

 

7) Almost forgot. CR/1 visa holders get a ss#, can work, get a drivers license, and travel back outside America the day they come into the country (well processing time for ss# etc.) All the other visas require more time, paper work, and money after your spouse arrives in USA.

 

You can see from this post, and others from me you can find, I am a strong proponent of the IR/1 visa. I ignore the K3 visa completely because I believe that being well organized, my CR/1 visa will be almost as fast as the K3.

 

The best advice I got when I asked this question you are asking is this:

Focus on the relationship. The visa is a short term bump in the road. You relationship is for the rest of your life.

 

I really like credzba's thinking and reasoning here. If I had read something like this back when I started our process, I think I would have done the CR-1 instead of K-1. Especially now that I have experienced the metamorphsis that has come over me with the administrative processing blue slip, over 6 months of wasted time waiting since the interview, that we were given for Gawd knows what reason.

 

My prior experience as an American has changed me drastically with this process, and it's attendant abuse from the government (the camel's back is broken). A CR-1 attempt would have suited me better...with 20/20 hindsight...

 

tsap seui

[rogerinca]

Yes, everyone has their own opinion and argument for a specific form of visa, which works best for their own specific circumstance.

 

K-3/K-4 works for Lao Po and me, in our circumstance. I will never be judgmental over the choices others my make.

 

We have had time to develop and establish the foundation of our relationship, so that when she arrives, our bond will have already been more fully developed/matured at multiple levels. I am now more sure of my current relationship, than I ever was with that of my previous wife in the US, wherein we married after dating for three months.

 

Lao Po and I were able to celebrate our marriage with friends and family in China. This was very important to my wife. This was probably the most overriding consideration for the two of us, given her situation and family culture.

 

Her family has been able to know and understand me, my personality and heart, over a long enough period of time; so that when it is time for her to depart China, they will have comfort in our relationship and in the well-being of her and her daughter, after they arrive in the US.

 

The bona fides and ¡®profile¡¯ of the relationship have been more clearly established for the record, and the chances for a successful interview are thus greatly enhanced, when coupled with the transparency of our mutual personal lives and backgrounds.

 

At the time I initially filed, the CR-1¡¯s were taking much longer than the K series visas. And while what the other member reports on his visa appears to be true in his case; for me having waited so long now, even an additional two or three more months, is too long to be apart and wait to be together as a family.

 

As I have stated in previous posts, the only issue I needed to consider, was that of her ability to be able to readily travel back to China, should an emergency come up with her family. Unlike the K-1, but similar however, to the CR-1, the K-3/K-4 visas, provides that option and peace of mind.

 

As far as a marriage certificate, I have needed that twice now, once for the ITIN tax filing and again for enrolling of wife and daughter in my agency¡¯s health/dental insurance plan. I had extra copies made of the notarized/translated version in China, and they were accepted without any question by US officials. Moreover, it is my plan to have a simple civil ceremony at our local courthouse, followed by a luncheon with family and friends, shortly after her arrival. This will give us a US marriage certificate in addition to the China one, should it be needed.

 

Yes, it takes longer to get the Green Card, but so be it. She is not going to work outside of the home, when here in the US, so for us, there is no urgency to accomplish any of that. As far as the thousand bucks for the AOS, this will be quickly off-set by what I am now currently sending her for support of her and our daughter each month.

 

So in our circumstance, the K-3/K-4 works for me and Lao Po. Others can do what works for them. It is nice for all of us to have these three or four options to choose from. The fourth, being the DCF option.

 

If I had it to do over again, I still would have filed for the K-3 and 4; but I would have filed a couple of months sooner and avoided the service center debacle, which we have now been witnessing.

[Shadowman]

As far as a marriage certificate, I have needed that twice now, once for the ITIN tax filing and again for enrolling of wife and daughter in my agency¡¯s health/dental insurance plan. I had extra copies made of the notarized/translated version in China, and they were accepted without any question by US officials.

Hi Roger... if I'm not mistaken, you were married in China, right? And you got your "Little Red Book". Is this "Little Red Book" considered your "marriage certificate". I hope so, since it was all that my wife and I were given. It seems as though we should have gotten something a little more "official" looking. I was expecting a laminated passport-like document. Our photos were literally stuck into the book using a "glue stick"... if the photo falls out, am I divorced?? And is this the document that I will need translated to English as "proof of marriage" when I file my I-130?

[rogerinca]

As far as a marriage certificate, I have needed that twice now, once for the ITIN tax filing and again for enrolling of wife and daughter in my agency’s health/dental insurance plan. I had extra copies made of the notarized/translated version in China, and they were accepted without any question by US officials.

Hi Roger... if I'm not mistaken, you were married in China, right? And you got your "Little Red Book". Is this "Little Red Book" considered your "marriage certificate". I hope so, since it was all that my wife and I were given. It seems as though we should have gotten something a little more "official" looking. I was expecting a laminated passport-like document. Our photos were literally stuck into the book using a "glue stick"... if the photo falls out, am I divorced?? And is this the document that I will need translated to English as "proof of marriage" when I file my I-130?

 

 

Yes, we were married in Guangzhou in December 2006.

 

The ‘Little Red Book’, which I am so proud to possess, and which each party to the marriage gets one, is the official certificate that you will receive. Of course there now exists more certification within the Chinese government civil files, to record and document the union.

 

When you go to the Official Notary in China to get the notarized and translated copy, for use with you filing and later at the interview; they will take the data from the official record, and in our case, use duplicates of the official Red Book photo, and create a new document, in Chinese and the English translation, which certifies that the two parties are officially married. This is similar to how the birth certificates are memorialized, for the notary process.

 

I had several copies of the marriage certificate made at the same time, as I needed them for taxes, and other matters related to our medical insurance etc.

 

Our photo is affixed very strongly to the Red Book. This must be a very good omen, for the success of our marriage !!! Sorry, pal a loose photo will not get you out of this one so easy !!!! B)

Edited February 2, 2008 by rogerinca (see edit history)

[yanping]

Different people have different views.

I had this question, and ask here. Ultimately we married in China, and I have always been happy we did.

I will list the good benefits I saw for Marriage in China and CR/1 visa, only some of which are visa related.

 

1) My family could easily get visas to attend a china wedding/celebration, it is impossible for her family to come to America. (Some suggest a wedding celebration in China is as good as a marriage there, but it wasn't good enough for us).

 

2) We could immediately start building our future. That is, we purchased property together in both China and America. We made investments together. We made purchase decisions together.

 

3) There is an issue of "face" in China. Some Americans who work in China have Chinese girl friends, fiancees .. whatever. The truth is they are just lovers that the American leads on to have a ready sex partner while in China. This may or may not be true (actually I know it is true in one case) but it was a perceived truth by my wifes colleagues.

If her colleagues knew she was living with an American, without marriage they would assume the worst.

My wifes san mei mei, in fact, told her I was just using her, and that I would leave her sad and used one day (before we met and married).

Since then I have met san mei mei in person, and she is as close to me as my own sister. Turns out our personalities fit very well. She knows I will take good care of my wife forever.

 

4) The time difference between K1 and CR/1 is a MAXIUMUM of 6 months. If you look at my timeline, and other people K1 timeline you will see it is more like 2 or 3 months difference. I planned well for NVC, had all my paper work done ahead of time, and returned every item as fast as possible. I did not use a lawyer.

 

5) I have seen people on this forum get white slip for k1 (fraudulent relationship) and go back to re-file married for IR/1. I believe (true or not) that had they filed CR/1 to begin with they would be together today. Relationship is easier to prove when your married. As I talked about in #2 we own homes together. For a VO to claim our marriage was fraudulent they would really have to think we were insane. No one would mix all their finances and property in this way for fraud. We of course knew this going into our purchases, and arranged joint ownership to ensure we would not have this issue at the interview.

In short, it is easier to establish relationship married than engaged, and this appears to me to be the major issue when visas are denied.

 

6) My and my wifes children have time (thanks to the long visa process) to get used to the idea of the new family dynamics. At first the American children were unsure about dads new wife, my new daughter in China was unsure of this new man. Being married added a stability that let them know this was permanent, and let my wife and I build strong bonds with the children. Now when my wife and daughter finally come to America, we already know and love each other.

 

7) Almost forgot. CR/1 visa holders get a ss#, can work, get a drivers license, and travel back outside America the day they come into the country (well processing time for ss# etc.) All the other visas require more time, paper work, and money after your spouse arrives in USA.

 

You can see from this post, and others from me you can find, I am a strong proponent of the IR/1 visa. I ignore the K3 visa completely because I believe that being well organized, my CR/1 visa will be almost as fast as the K3.

 

The best advice I got when I asked this question you are asking is this:

Focus on the relationship. The visa is a short term bump in the road. You relationship is for the rest of your life.

 

With the CR-1, if you wait to arrive in America until after you are married 2 years, you will get your Unconditional 10 year Status at the airport. If you are admitted with less than 2 years marriage you will get the 2 year Conditional Status and still have to do the adjustment of status. Just make sure that if you wait for the 2nd anniversary, you don't pass the 6 month window on the CR-1 Visa. This regulation is very clear in 14.6 of the Inspectors Field Mannual.....Loren

[credzba]

With the CR-1, if you wait to arrive in America until after you are married 2 years, you will get your Unconditional 10 year Status at the airport. If you are admitted with less than 2 years marriage you will get the 2 year Conditional Status and still have to do the adjustment of status. Just make sure that if you wait for the 2nd anniversary, you don't pass the 6 month window on the CR-1 Visa. This regulation is very clear in 14.6 of the Inspectors Field Mannual.....Loren

 

I don't believe that the application for the 10 year green card is another AOS process. I think it is just application for extension.

 

Perhaps someone who has done this CR -> IR application can give more detail.

cost?

Form?

[chilton747]

With the CR-1, if you wait to arrive in America until after you are married 2 years, you will get your Unconditional 10 year Status at the airport. If you are admitted with less than 2 years marriage you will get the 2 year Conditional Status and still have to do the adjustment of status. Just make sure that if you wait for the 2nd anniversary, you don't pass the 6 month window on the CR-1 Visa. This regulation is very clear in 14.6 of the Inspectors Field Mannual.....Loren

 

I don't believe that the application for the 10 year green card is another AOS process. I think it is just application for extension.

 

Perhaps someone who has done this CR -> IR application can give more detail.

cost?

Form?

 

Found this on yahoo answers:

Ninety days before your 2-year card expires, you need to file Form I-751 with CIS. The purpose of the I-751 is to remove the conditional status you now have, not to show that you are not likely to become a public charge.

 

The affidavit of support that was used when you became an conditional resident will carry over to the years when you have a 10-year card so nothing new is needed in that area.

 

Submit copies of documents indicating that the marriage upon which you were granted conditional status was entered in ''good faith'' and was not for the purpose of circumventing immigration laws.

 

As far as a fee goes, whatever is associated with the I-751.

I recently heard of a couple that is living a nightmare in these regards. After 2 years of a happy marriage, the USCIS is telling them their marriage is fake.

[credzba]

 

As far as a fee goes, whatever is associated with the I-751.

I recently heard of a couple that is living a nightmare in these regards. After 2 years of a happy marriage, the USCIS is telling them their marriage is fake.

 

This is just beyond comprehension.

Hopefully we don't know all the details, and USCIS is doing something reasonable.

I know that seems like a low probability, but let's hope.

[Randy W]

The I-485 is the Application for adjustment of status.

 

The I-751 is the petion for Removal of Conditions.

 

K visa holders must file the I-485 to adjust status in the US, and then file the I-751 to Remove Conditions.

 

CR-1 and IR-1 visa holders adjust status in China, and will be mailed a green card shortly after their arrival in the US.

 

For CR-1 visa holders who wait until AFTER their 2 year wedding anniversary before entering the US, and IR-1 visa holders, the green card is an unconditional (10 year) green card.

 

CR-1 and IR-1 visas are identical, except that if the visa interview occurs after the second wedding anniversary, the IR-1 visa is given.

 

The I-751 is filed within 90 days of the expiration date on the green card to remove conditions. This step is not necessary for those with an unconditional green card.

Edited February 5, 2008 by Randy W (see edit history)

[jim_julian]

As far as a marriage certificate, I have needed that twice now, once for the ITIN tax filing and again for enrolling of wife and daughter in my agency¡¯s health/dental insurance plan. I had extra copies made of the notarized/translated version in China, and they were accepted without any question by US officials. Moreover, it is my plan to have a simple civil ceremony at our local courthouse, followed by a luncheon with family and friends, shortly after her arrival. This will give us a US marriage certificate in addition to the China one, should it be needed.

 

Roger, could you please clarify the above quote? What kind of certificate can you get from the county/state given that you're already married?

[IllinoisDave]

As far as a marriage certificate, I have needed that twice now, once for the ITIN tax filing and again for enrolling of wife and daughter in my agency’s health/dental insurance plan. I had extra copies made of the notarized/translated version in China, and they were accepted without any question by US officials. Moreover, it is my plan to have a simple civil ceremony at our local courthouse, followed by a luncheon with family and friends, shortly after her arrival. This will give us a US marriage certificate in addition to the China one, should it be needed.

 

Roger, could you please clarify the above quote? What kind of certificate can you get from the county/state given that you're already married?

Good question.