Marry In Hong Kong?

[splinterman]

Attorney John Roth recently posted this advice this on his site:

 

 

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

 

 

Response to web blog query re Hong Kong processing

Anonymous says:

 

John, I remember you telling me NOT to get married in Hong Kong back in April, but I "went with the herd" and did it anyway. Now people are saying that HK changed its policies and is being really tough with PRCs married in China. MY K-3 has been approved and CR1 should be approved soon (did electronic processing), but I'm scared to death of HK. Should I write them a letter saying I wasn't trying to avoid Guangzhou when I got married in HK?

 

 

First, Hong Kong has not changed its policies. The same people are there as were there earlier this year and the policies are all the same, as far as we can tell. The problem with getting married in a third country in order to avoid the consulate of the beneficiary¡¯s home country is that it is almost ALWAYS a bad idea. It¡¯s a case of being ¡°too clever by half¡±. I posted something about this earlier in the blog (see Filing K-3 at Third Country Post After K-1 Denial).

 

OK, what to do?

The first thing to understand is that you get only one bite at the apple. Either your I-130 petition will be reviewed or the K-3. Normally, you would pick the K-3 because it¡¯s faster. My view is that you will have a better chance of approval if you withdraw the K-3 and just go to Guangzhou for the I-130 interview (plus the bonus that after entry on the I-130 you will not have to go through with the adjustment of status process, work authorization, travel document, another affidavit of support, etc. etc., which IS the case with the K-3). Count on being asked by the Consular Officer in Guangzhou why you married in Hong Kong rather than on the mainland (the more natural choice, since your wife¡¯s relatives are more close at hand). Do NOT lie and claim you had some personal/romantic/practical/whatever reason to get married in Hong Kong if none exists, or if you are ¡°puffing¡± a rather weak reason to get married there. As I¡¯ve said before, consular officers may be misguided in their policies from time to time, but they are most definitely not stupid and they usually see through bogus reasoning and rationalizations. When asked, the best answer is the honest one ¨C ¡°some people were recommending it earlier this year as a way around the problems at Guangzhou, but in the end we decided not to go that route,¡± or something like this. Consular offices tend to be pleasantly surprised by such candor, and, by being frank even when it¡¯s painful, you will have enhanced your credibility for other questions answered during the interview.

[dnoblett]

If this worries you, then KEEP THE I-130 moving through NVC and do electronic processing. Then don't bother responding to the K-3 packets and simply interview for CR-1 visa in Guangzhou.

[splinterman]

If this worries you, then KEEP THE I-130 moving through NVC and do electronic processing. Then don't bother responding to the K-3 packets and simply interview for CR-1 visa in Guangzhou.

 

No, it doesn't worry me, Dan. It's what I had planned to do anyway. I thought it was valuable to those other folks who married in Hong Kong as to what explanation they were going to offer to the GUZ VO when they are asked "Why did you marry in Hong Kong instead of China?"

 

And, for reasons I'm trying to find out why now, Mr. Roth suggests withdrawing the K-3 instead of simply withholding the P3 papers until after the CR-1 in GUZ is conducted. My thought on attending the GUZ CR-1 interview instead of proceeding with the K-3 in HK was that the fact alone that a couple was interviewing in GUZ on the CR-1 should already be explanation enough that they (the couple) were not intending to circumvent Guangzhou in the first place. Marriages usually coincide with honeymoons, and when US citizens are on a short vacation schedule when they visit their loved ones in China, it shouldn't be unheard of or suspect that they marry AND honeymoon in Hong Kong...

 

Splinterman

[Randy W]

No, it doesn't worry me, Dan. It's what I had planned to do anyway. I thought it was valuable to those other folks who married in Hong Kong as to what explanation they were going to offer to the GUZ VO when they are asked "Why did you marry in Hong Kong instead of China?"

 

And, for reasons I'm trying to find out why now, Mr. Roth suggests withdrawing the K-3 instead of simply withholding the P3 papers until after the CR-1 in GUZ is conducted. My thought on attending the GUZ CR-1 interview instead of proceeding with the K-3 in HK was that the fact alone that a couple was interviewing in GUZ on the CR-1 should already be explanation enough that they (the couple) were not intending to circumvent Guangzhou in the first place. Marriages usually coincide with honeymoons, and when US citizens are on a short vacation schedule when they visit their loved ones in China, it shouldn't be unheard of or suspect that they marry AND honeymoon in Hong Kong...

 

Splinterman

 

 

Exactly - I find it incredible that the Hong Kong consulate would deny you a visa because of WHERE you got married.

[splinterman]

You know Randy, that's the real kicker. If you marry your Chinese lady anywhere else but China and you go for a K-3, you HAVE to interview in the country where you were married, according to US law.

 

But in the case of Hong Kong-and probably other places too although CFL only deals with China (and Hong Kong)-then you're automatically branded as trying to circumvent Guangzhou. All of the time and effort spent on a K-3 is a total waste because you're NOT going to get a fair interview-just one that 'dots the i and crosses the t' as per the consulate's obligation, and you're told to go (back) to GUZ. You can forget the idea of telling the truth even if your reason was only that you had never been there before, heard it was nice and wanted to get married somewhere more exotic than your local Justice of the Peace.

 

So if you want to marry and honeymoon in Hong Kong then you're guilty of 'consulate shopping' even though US law requires you to interview there. You have to have some kind of ties to Hong Kong, like family living there, in order for it to be accepted as a legit reason for marrying there by the HK consulate. That's horsecrap!

 

I once got married in Las Vegas although I didn't have any ties to anyone there, yet that marriage was never questioned by anyone. So really, why should the government dissent on the motives of a visa- petitioning couple who married in a place that neither person had any ties to if they don't care where a domestic couple marries?

 

Splinterman