official marriage VS common law marriage

[tsap seui]

I have read extensivly through Immigration attorney's papers and what not, and one thing they seem to all agree on, is that anything that is liable to through up a "red flag" at the Consulate, should be adressed in the original petiton, so it becomes a "non issue" later down the road........This issue WILL come up eventualy, and I would prefer to give an explanation NOW (when there is more "control", if you will, as to later, I have seen how GUZ tends to opperate).

 

Maybe I am a fool, but, after all, it is my A$$ that's on the line.

 

Hamp, you're last sentence says it all.

 

Good luck,

 

tsap seui

[H.Woodside]

 

Hamp, you're last sentence says it all.

 

Good luck,

 

tsap seui

Yeah, uncle Tsap, it is the "grim reallity", but hey, "it is what it is".....we will see.

[H.Woodside]

As it turns out, my fiancee "requested" that the civil office issue a divorce certificate for her, she felt that is would make our son's existence look better (in her own words) except the "our" part, that is mine.

 

There is no "common law" marriage in China as far as the Gov. is concerned, from the begining of this deal, I kept thinking that how can the Gov. of a population of 1,321,851,888 (approx.) possibly keep track of who is living with who and how long in order to "deem" a common law marriage?........Well they don't, not to mention how easy it seems to be in China, to get a divorce from a legal marriage.

 

After I explained a few things to her about the general attitude of the US Gov. and how they tend to look at things, she promptly got on the phone to her sister in Harbin to go back to the civil office for her (my SO lives in Shenzhen) and get it changed to a "never married" certificate.

 

So it looks like when I submit my application, the "God honest truth" will be that she was never married.

 

I hope that maybe this might help someone, in a similar situation, in the future.

 

Hamp

[georgeandli]

Good thinking, Hamp. You found the way to turn it into a non-issue before it became one!

[warpedbored]

Sounds like the marriage that never was is a non issue then. There may still be problems with the father. She will need clear custody documents for the child. GZ may want to know where the father is and whether or not he has legal right to object to the child leaving China.

[H.Woodside]

Sounds like the marriage that never was is a non issue then. There may still be problems with the father. She will need clear custody documents for the child. GZ may want to know where the father is and whether or not he has legal right to object to the child leaving China.

I agree warpedbored, the father hasn't seen or spoken to the boy (or mom) in the fourteen years since he left. I don't know what kind of guy he is (well maybe I do) but if he were to get wind of this he may want $$$$, we have seen it before, jim_julian I believe.

I will leave for Beijing on Tuesday and I aim to discuss the custody issue with my SO when I get there.

The tricky part of finding the father (depending on custody issues) is to do it without clueing him in on what is going on, but if GUZ want's to know then that is what we will find out.

 

Hamp

[jim_julian]

Hamp ... 14 years, no contact, don't know where he is ... it might be worth a visit to ACH at GZ to see if anyone will discuss it with you and give you some advice. It might also be possible to get advice through the embassy while you're in Beijing.

 

An yes it was our family where the birth father tried to extort money ... we refused and just waited until our daughter was 18 and didn't need permission to emigrate. Obviously that's not an option for you.

[H.Woodside]

Hamp ... 14 years, no contact, don't know where he is ... it might be worth a visit to ACH at GZ to see if anyone will discuss it with you and give you some advice. It might also be possible to get advice through the embassy while you're in Beijing.

 

An yes it was our family where the birth father tried to extort money ... we refused and just waited until our daughter was 18 and didn't need permission to emigrate. Obviously that's not an option for you.

Thanks for the advice jim, I will look into that. Depending on the outcome, I suppose that we also have the option of doing a K-2 to follow. The boy lives with aunt and uncle (my SO's side) in Harbin and he is now 15, so if push came to shove, that might be a possibility.

[Randy W]

Hamp ... 14 years, no contact, don't know where he is ... it might be worth a visit to ACH at GZ to see if anyone will discuss it with you and give you some advice. It might also be possible to get advice through the embassy while you're in Beijing.

 

An yes it was our family where the birth father tried to extort money ... we refused and just waited until our daughter was 18 and didn't need permission to emigrate. Obviously that's not an option for you.

Thanks for the advice jim, I will look into that. Depending on the outcome, I suppose that we also have the option of doing a K-2 to follow. The boy lives with aunt and uncle (my SO's side) in Harbin and he is now 15, so if push came to shove, that might be a possibility.

K-2's must use their visa within one year of the mother's entry date.

 

So a K-2 follow-to-join at 18 wouldn't be possible (unless the mother's visa was also delayed by a couple of years). You can, however, file an I-130 for an IR-2 visa for your step-son (son for immigration purposes) after he becomes 18. Processing time for this would probably be well under a year. He would most likely be here before his 19th birthday.

[H.Woodside]

K-2's must use their visa within one year of the mother's entry date.

 

So a K-2 follow-to-join at 18 wouldn't be possible (unless the mother's visa was also delayed by a couple of years). You can, however, file an I-130 for an IR-2 visa for your step-son (son for immigration purposes) after he becomes 18. Processing time for this would probably be well under a year. He would most likely be here before his 19th birthday.

I guess that I will cross that bridge when or if I come to it....but thanks for the info. Randy

I really don't anticipate any problems from the father, but one never know's really, if anything like that should arise I will keep that in mind