K1 Visas or getting married in china

[Robert S.]

I agree with Patrick that it can be done in one day. Then you go back the next day and they give your your sweet little red books.

[Orrin]

I had been living and working in China for about 4 months before my wife and I were married in Zhuhai. I went to the GZ consulatefor my Single Certificate on 6/10/01, took the physical exam on 6/11/01, and was married with red books in-hand on 6/12/01. Marriage in China is strictly a civil affair, and it can be accomplished very quickly indeed..............to quickly for some of the VOs, however.

 

If your goal is to have your lady with you in the U.S as quickly as possible, the K1 appears to be somewhat quicker. The reason that my I130 was processed so rapidly is because my wife and I had been married and living together as husband and wife for about 18 months before I filed the I130. My VO in GZ told me this, and that they like to see at least one year of married life together to legitimize the relationship.

 

I'm sure that this will vary from consulate to consulate, and from VO to VO, but this was what was told to me.

 

I think it will be a little quicker if you go the K1 route.

 

Best of luck

[dvs7310]

Ok, here's another thought for you if you want to go the K-3 route. There are some "IF's" here to deal with....

 

IF she is a resident of Guangdong Prov., Shanghai, or Beijing, then she can easily get a travel permit to go to Hong Kong.

 

Hong Kong does not have any of the rediculous marriage requirements that China does and the Marriage Certificate is in English and Chinese both. Go to the Hong Kong SAR webpage for more info.

 

IF you Marry in Hong Kong, then the K-3 should process at the consulate in Hong Kong....not Guangzhou. You still have to wait for the security checks and namechecks because she is Chinese, but Hong Kong is not dealing with the huge numbers of applicants like Guangzhou.

 

This could speed up your K-3 process by quite a bit, we'll see, I'm going through this process right now.

[johnnybill45]

In Shenzhen, in 2001, we had to wait 15 days from the day of application to the day of getting the little red book. Maybe they've changed it now, or maybe it is a Shenzhen thing.

 

John

[keelec]

I believe that it is very important for the Fiancée to come to the USA and see what her future home is going to be like before taking the plunge into marriage. Coming to the USA is just as important as actually meeting her before calling her a Fiancée. http://images.bravenet.com/common/images/smilies/28_spin.gif I wish it was possible for her to come for a month early in the relationship to just visit, but the USA doesn't go out of the way to make building a lifetime relationship easy.

 

Here on the Candle I've seen a few sad stories of people who waited a year to get a visa, but after the Fiancée finally arrived in the USA, they discovered that something wasn't quite right between them. I believe PJ had such a story, although I haven't tracked it down yet.

 

I have a Ukrainian friend who met the "Man of her Dreams" in Kiev and Odessa. Then, got her visa to Sweden (which only took a couple of months to get). However, when she got to Sweden, she met his son (soon to be her stepson) who was only a few years younger than she was and never recognized her as a parent. The ex-wife was too involved in the man's life. I am very thankful that she recognized the problems early enough to leave.

 

International marriages are difficult. After writing to my Fiancée, Irina for a few months, I met her in Egypt, place she had never even dreamed of being able to visit before we began our correspondence. We had a wonderful time spending a few weeks in hotels and touring ancient monuments. But, that may not have been representative of our future life in the USA together. Since then, I have visited her and her entire family in Russia. Again, we had a wonderful time together. Again, me staying as a guest in her relative's houses may not represent our future as life partners in the USA.

 

Unfortunately, the cultural differences between the USA and Russia or China are HUGE, and there are many aspects of everyday life that a couple just doesn't have the opportunity to experience during a vacation. What will it be like when she gets here and has to stay home alone before we get an opportunity to enroll her in school or find a good job? What about dirty socks?

 

Just as I had met Irina's parents, brother, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, http://images.bravenet.com/common/images/smilies/28_spin.gif I would like to introduce her to my own family prior to marriage. I hope we get the opportunity to go camping or boating before we tie the knot. What about my Fiat Topolino sitting down in the basement?

 

I can't imagine anything coming between us, but I want to make sure that Irina is certain that everything is right before we get married.

 

Of course, every situation is different. Those individuals who are living and working in Russia or China are very different than those who are just touring.

 

Just my opinion,

Clifford

[Bob & Minglian]

IF you Marry in Hong Kong, then the K-3 should process at the consulate in Hong Kong....not Guangzhou. You still have to wait for the security checks and namechecks because she is Chinese, but Hong Kong is not dealing with the huge numbers of applicants like Guangzhou.

Damian, you may very well be correct in that further processing of a K visa takes place in Hong Kong if married in Hong Kong. However, my understanding has been that it is based on where your spouse resides, not on where the two of you actually married. Are you sure NVC will forward your case to the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong when that time comes? I'm not so sure; it may instead end up in GZ. You may want to confirm and let us know.

[dvs7310]

Yes, it clearly states on the I-129F application and somewhere else in the official documentation for the K-3 that it goes to the consulate in the country where you were married, not the country where she resides. I have found reference to this on some other unofficial websites too.

 

I'll definatly keep everyone posted when the time comes for it to get sent to HK or GZ.

[Bob & Minglian]

K-3s are processed in the country of the marriage.....unless the country of marriage is the US (no US consulates here), or the applicant can not travel to the country of marriage again, or a request is made by the applicant to have the visa issued in their home country. I have heard that the HK consulate is fast, friendly and helpful.

If only we could have married in Hong Kong! I bet others, knowing that to be an option, will follow suit. I know it is now much easier for people to travel from mainland China to Hong Kong. Is there also the 15-day waiting period as there is in mainland China or is that more relaxed? With the very slow processing of cases in GZ it sounds like quite an incentive to make the trip to Hong Kong! It will be interesting to see the time it takes once it leaves NVC to the time the U.S. visa is issued.

[Bob & Minglian]

Ya I have heard that about HK too but Ling said she could not get a visa to go to HK at the time we were married in Nanning in July? has it changed since then?Sounds like the way to go to me.

I was told by my local BCIS office that K-3's are taking 6-8 months when I filed here in Portland Or. One can dream, can't one?

Ray, I'm also in Portland, Oregon. In fact I think we have both indicated we're joining others in Portland for the Sunday, November 2nd, dim sum get-together. We'll likely meet in person in NW Portland then.

 

I don't want to rain on your parade but I think the BCIS here in NW Portland is a little out of touch. I think everyone of us would love a 6 to 8 month timeline from start to finish. I'm afraid it's just not realistic. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of consistency from one case to the next, so it's difficult to accurately gauge how much time it will take with any individual case. And, of course, we are kept in the dark during most of the processing of our own cases. Those with timelines in their signature blocks help tell the real story.

 

Best of luck with your case.

 

Bob

[dvs7310]

Here is the process to marry in Hong Kong if anyone wants to go that route.

 

There is no residency requirement, you can live anywhere in the world and still get married there.

There is a 15 day waiting period after you register before you can marry. To make this easier, only one of you has to go to register, so you can fly to Hong Kong from the US, register, then enter China and wait with your fiancee.

Take a copy of her passport with you to register and be sure you know the full name of both of her parents.

Make sure your fiancee can get a visa to travel to Hong Kong, it has got much easier over the last few months for residents of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and a few other cities in Guangdong Province.

She'll need about 15-20 days to get a Hong Kong travel permit and a visa, so get her started on that before you go to China.

It's pretty simple other than that. Oh yea, arrive early at the HK Marriage registration office, they only take a certain number of applicants per day. I was lucky, I told the guy my situation and that I was going into China that night, so they made an exception for me, but I don't know if they do that all the time.