K-1 vs Marrried CR-1

[ktmracer]

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?

Also the ITIN? I was not asked to submit marriage certificate when I filed joint in Feb 2007, just a notarized here in the states copy of wife's passport.

[SheLikesME?]

Tony I cannot add any additional info to the good responses so far other than to add a yes to the benefits of CR1 & CR2 which we did.

 

In the case of my wife who was a working professional, it was good that she had her Green Card so she could start interviewing. This gave her something to do until she got employed. Also drivers license and SS# and all happened easily enough.

 

BUT, for us it simply came down to what we wanted regardless of the process. Commitment meant a lot to my wife for sure. It made her extremely happy that I had the courage to marry her. We both felt it, we wanted to seal it with marriage as soon as possible and so we did. I feel it made a little extra special bond, but that is just us. Others have their own feeling.

 

I guess our only next step is removing conditional status from the Green Card. In our case we need to get more things in both our names for eveidence. The fact I travel within an 8 state territory and that she found work in one of those states but not in the state where my house is could look funny. We did put her apartment in our names along with utilities, BUT our plans are for her to come back to TX well before we have to file for unconditional permanant res.

[warpedbored]

The decision whether to marry and file the I-130 or go K-1 and file the I-129F is a highly personal one. Some feel more comfortable with having the marriage commitment. Sometimes your sweet heart's family feels better about it.

 

From a practical view I think K-1 makes more sense. It is faster, There are less fees up front and your wife can get a Social Security number upon entry into the country where as a K-3 has to wait for either EAD or a green card. It is easier to change her name to a married name. Some would argue that it gives you more time to get to know one another before marrying. I feel you should be sure before you file for the visa. The 10 year green card arguement as an advantage for the I-130 doesn't really hold water unless you want to wait until you've been married two years before she enters the country. If she enters the country before you have been married two years she will still get a conditional green card and have to file an I-751 to remove conditions within 90 days prior to the green card expiration.

[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.

 

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

 

Yes, The CR-1 has its advantages, We did that and when my wife is admitted to America she will be an Unconditional Permanent Resident. No more paperwork, no more fees, no more waiting, no more interviews, Sure we were apart for longer but I can fly round trip to China for less than the AOS fee alone. I say get married in China with her family and do it again in America with my family. Just my opinion. I was not this smart to start with, it just worked out that way. I told my wife that when you get to America you can get rid of me and you will be free. Wow, What is that Chinese word when you are supposed to take back what you said... not PEEEEEEEE! maybe PAYPAYPAYPAY. Somthing like that. Anyway I love it and I love her...

[credzba]

 

Yes, The CR-1 has its advantages, We did that and when my wife is admitted to America she will be an Unconditional Permanent Resident. No more paperwork, no more fees, no more waiting, no more interviews, Sure we were apart for longer but I can fly round trip to China for less than the AOS fee alone. I say get married in China with her family and do it again in America with my family. Just my opinion. I was not this smart to start with, it just worked out that way. I told my wife that when you get to America you can get rid of me and you will be free. Wow, What is that Chinese word when you are supposed to take back what you said... not PEEEEEEEE! maybe PAYPAYPAYPAY. Somthing like that. Anyway I love it and I love her...

 

I think when you are comfortable with your wife, you can tease this way.

We married in Nanjing, and I often ask my wife if she is going to return me to Nanjing to get a better model.

 

As for coming to America...

My wife doesn't WANT to come to America. She (and I) think it is so arrogant of USA and the VOs to think people want to come here so badly. I guess some people do, or used to want to. I don't think people are so desperate to come to America anymore.

 

I would love to listen to the interview with my wife.

 

VO: Why do you want to go to America?

Wife: I don't.

VO: Why are you applying for green card then?

Wife: My husbands job in America paid more than mine in China, it was strictly a financial decision.

VO: Well, maybe we wont grant your visa then.

Wife: GREAT! then my husband will move to China and I wont have to mess with you arrogant Americans.

 

Best wishes on all your visas!

I am bored, waiting on customs to give our papers to the embassy so they can sit on them for a month or 2.

[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. 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?

 

 

Jim, first, I am sorry I missed your post and the other one, until I just happened to spot the two questions, late tonight !!

 

Yes, it is true that we were married in the PRC, at a civil ceremony in GZ, which BTW, made her family very happy. Additionally, we have [always] talked about having another ceremony here in the US, soon after her arrival, and to include all of my family members here in CA. I was not aware, that there would be an issue with this endeavor ?? I was not aware of anything which would prevent a marriage initiated outside of the US, also being documented/recorded within the US ?? But as I think about it more now, I wonder how they would resolve the difference in dates. So therein may be the problem ?? I love this woman so much, I would marry her again and again, each year if I could !!!

 

Next, with respect to the (now moot) question about the W-7, I did include with the W-7 ITIN application, a notarized copy of our PRC marriage certificate, along with the US notarized copy of her PRC passport, when I filed our taxes jointly, one year ago for the 2006 TY. I just do not remember now, if including the marriage certificate was something (info) I read in the instructions, or if it was some suggested advice I picked up here, at that time over a year ago, when we were having a lot of heavy discussions about filing joint taxes and issues with getting the passport notarized.

 

Obviously I didn't do anything incorrectly or improper in that regard, as I received my wife's ITIN number, about six weeks after I mailed it.

 

As a footnote, my employing agency also asked for a notarized copy of our marriage certificate, when I enrolled both my wife and daughter on my Blue Cross medical and dental plans. They accepted the Chinese notarized and English translated version, from the GZ Notary Office, without question.

Edited February 10, 2008 by rogerinca (see edit history)

[SheLikesME?]

As for coming to America...

My wife doesn't WANT to come to America. She (and I) think it is so arrogant of USA and the VOs to think people want to come here so badly. I guess some people do, or used to want to. I don't think people are so desperate to come to America anymore.

 

I would love to listen to the interview with my wife.

 

VO: Why do you want to go to America?

Wife: I don't.

VO: Why are you applying for green card then?

Wife: My husbands job in America paid more than mine in China, it was strictly a financial decision.

VO: Well, maybe we wont grant your visa then.

Wife: GREAT! then my husband will move to China and I wont have to mess with you arrogant Americans.

 

Best wishes on all your visas!

I am bored, waiting on customs to give our papers to the embassy so they can sit on them for a month or 2.

My wife originally had no interest in America or Americans. If I could have swung a transfer to China, that is where we would be..... and HAPPY! But we are finding our way here. It is harder but, yeah money.

Edited February 10, 2008 by SheLikesME? (see edit history)

[Guest Tony n Terrific]

My SO and myself have been having areally lovely time since my arrival in Nanning last week despite all the hurrdles and whoops I had to jump through. Maybe this is why she is so special to me.

We are planning on going the K-1 route but something is telling me not wait. (My SO has no idea of my current thoughts). I know the 129 F is faster but I am having second thoughts about this. I am thinking seriously about popping the question now and marrying here in Nanning. If we did this route what are some of the things we must be prepared for to make sure all the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed.

[yanping]

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.

 

Right on, you explained it well

[credzba]

If you marry in China, you need to get notarized copies (get 2 or 3) of your marriage certificate. The govt. office we married in arranged (for a fee) ours to be delivered in about 1 week.

 

You need 4 passport photos of yourself, and 4 of your wife (used to be 2, but now ds0230 needs 2 more).

 

Start thinking about "proof of relationship issues" though you don't need them at filing.

 

I can't think of anything else off top of my head. Look at I-130 and see what else is needed.

[Shadowman]

I would love to listen to the interview with my wife.

 

VO: Why do you want to go to America?

Wife: I don't.

VO: Why are you applying for green card then?

Wife: My husbands job in America paid more than mine in China, it was strictly a financial decision.

VO: Well, maybe we wont grant your visa then.

Wife: GREAT! then my husband will move to China and I wont have to mess with you arrogant Americans.

This comment really cracked me up! Thanks for putting a smile on my face! Without getting into an off-topic rant about how the good old USA maybe isn't so "good" these days... I'll just mention the fact that my wife also has no real interest in coming to the USA. She wants to be with me... wherever I am. And these days... I would much rather be in China for many, many reasons.