Need help with getting Chinese girlfriend to the US to meet parents/fa

[yanglan]

Hey everyone, my girlfriend and I have been living together in China for over two years (I'm American). We originally met while I was here on a school trip and I came back half a year later after graduating. I have stayed by using a visa agent to convert my L to F visa and then continually extending it while I work on building my online business. We are soul mates and have literally been living side by side the entire two years other than my 1 month trip home for Christmas.

 

We are both 25 and I am well aware that we are not financially capable of moving to the US right now. I would however like to eventually bring her to the US with me to meet my family and friends and I was wondering if this is feasible and if so, how long it would take?

 

From what I understand there are essentially 3 ways to get someone to the US, or rather apply for a visa to the US... tourism, fiance, and marriage. I have done a bit of reading on these visa paths in the past and it seems that for my situation bringing her over as my fiance is the only real possibility. We're too young/financially unstable for marriage (in the eyes of an immigration official) and tourism I hear is extremely difficult for Chinese to go to the US on, especially if they aren't wealthy.

 

I guess my question boils down to would it be possible for us to get a fiance visa in our current situation and what would the expected timeframe be?

 

Thanks in advance for your help. I look forward to becoming a part of the great community you guys have built here!

[chobagui]

as i understand it, the purpose of a fiance visa is so that you can bring your fiance to the States and marry her and then immigrate with her to the States. It's not a visitor type visa where you declare she's your fiance and you can just bring her back for a visit without actually marrying her and immigrating.

 

Since you don't plan on getting married for awhile it seems your best bet is a B2 visitor visa....but good luck with that....it's pretty hard to get, especially if your g/f does not have significant ties to China (property, business, job, family obligations, etc). And any mention of your relationship is sure to kill any application.

 

My g/f (now wife) was denied twice. Even now that we're married it seems unlikely I can get her a B2 visa (as we have no intention of her immigrating for now).

 

I'm sure there are others on here with more experience who will offer advice and comments.

 

best of luck

 

regards

will

[dnoblett]

Sounds much like our moderator Kyle, his wife was able to visit USA while still his GF.

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?showuser=39520

 

I am sure he will comment.

[Kyle]

My wife (then girlfriend) visited the US once before marriage on a B-2 visa. After returning from America, my wife and I were married in Jingjing's hometown. Jingjing was able to get two more visits to America on a B-2 visa after being married - see timeline below. In my opinion, the most important thing to show when applying for a B-2 visa is to prove that the applicant will indeed return to China (obey the terms of her visa). My wife had a considerable amount of assets that were frozen (Citic Bank) until her return to China - she had strong employment ties, as well as family ties. I also had a very personal letter from someone in the federal government, which helped out greatly. After successfully returning to China - following B-2 attempts were easy for us. My wife was able to apply without the need of an interview. If you have any questions, drop me a PM or leave them here. I have to go to work, but can check back this afternoon when I get home. Good luck.

Edited November 17, 2010 by Kyle (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

As to the question: "I guess my question boils down to would it be possible for us to get a fiance visa in our current situation and what would the expected timeframe be?"

 

Yes you can apply for a K-1 from over there, you would send the I-129F over to the USA, to the center that has jurisdiction over your US Domicile address. Time frame tends to be around 8 months.

 

Other option which is quicker and cheaper in your situation is to marry there, and file an I-130 directly at the consulate or embassy, time frame for that is 4-5 months.

 

Costs:

 

K-1:

I-129F: $455

Consulate: $350

AOS: $1010 (Adjusting status in the USA)

($1815)

 

CR-1

I-130: $355

NVC I-864: $70 Not charged when filing in China (DCF)

NVC Visa fee: $400 ($355+$45)

($825) $755

 

Note: In all Immigrant visa cases (K-1 fiancee, or CR-1 spouse) you will need to show to the interviewing officer that you maintained your US Domicile, because you are REQUIRED to sponsor the immigrant, and sponsorship requires an I-864 for CR-1 or I-134 for K-1, and these documents require US Domicile.

 

A few concerns are US Domicile, this is REQUIRED in order to get the visa, so it is a good thing to work on re-establishing domicile. You need to establish residency in the USA before getting the visa.

 

Maintaining US domicile:

 

• Valid US Driver's license
• Maintaining bank accounts in the USA
• Filing returns to the IRS. (US citizens may be exempt from paying tax on foreign income, however are not exempt from filing a return each year)
• Maintained a mailing address in the USA such as at a relative's home.

[yanglan]

Thanks for your replies...

 

dnoblett, Thanks for the timeframes. Regarding domicile I think I've got everything covered other than tax stuff. Only this year have I started earning enough money from my business to pay taxes on it so I'm guessing having no tax history would be a bad thing.

 

Kyle, PMed you.

 

chobagui, sounds like the polar opposite of Kyle's story. Unfortunately I think I'd be in a similar situation trying to go the visitor visa route

[Turbo SS1414]

Thanks for your replies...

 

dnoblett, Thanks for the timeframes. Regarding domicile I think I've got everything covered other than tax stuff. Only this year have I started earning enough money from my business to pay taxes on it so I'm guessing having no tax history would be a bad thing.

 

Kyle, PMed you.

 

chobagui, sounds like the polar opposite of Kyle's story. Unfortunately I think I'd be in a similar situation trying to go the visitor visa route

 

 

I tried to get one for my girlfriend. She is 27 without many assets or ties to china. They asked her like 3 questions and rejected her. They didnt even want to look at this big application we spent forever putting together. ugh.

[david_dawei]

From what I understand there are essentially 3 ways to get someone to the US, or rather apply for a visa to the US... tourism, fiance, and marriage. I have done a bit of reading on these visa paths in the past and it seems that for my situation bringing her over as my fiance is the only real possibility. We're too young/financially unstable for marriage (in the eyes of an immigration official) and tourism I hear is extremely difficult for Chinese to go to the US on, especially if they aren't wealthy.

If you appear too poor to marry in the eyes of immigration, your too poor for the finance visa too. I think your getting some bad info somewhere. As an immigration officer, I would be more suspicious of a supposed relationship of a few years which never married but filed for a fiancee visa. What would she answer to the question, "why does your american fiancee only want to live with you in china but not marry you in china"?

 

If you want to marry, marry. That is the logical step.

 

I would look at having your parents come to china since that will be easier to pull off. If they came over for a wedding party, they would get to see something very few get the chance to see.

[yanglan]

As an immigration officer, I would be more suspicious of a supposed relationship of a few years which never married but filed for a fiancee visa. What would she answer to the question, "why does your american fiancee only want to live with you in china but not marry you in china"?

 

Why? What's the matter with not rushing into marriage? If we were to apply for a fiancee visa wouldn't that show them that we are now planning on marrying?

 

And to answer your question, "He does want to marry me, but we want to make sure we do everything right and by the books so we can handle living and moving between China and the United States with as little trouble as possible."

[Randy W]

Sometimes I think we put WAY too much effort into reading the minds of the VO's - better to make sure they have one first. And then that they're not going to change it.

[david_dawei]

As an immigration officer, I would be more suspicious of a supposed relationship of a few years which never married but filed for a fiancee visa. What would she answer to the question, "why does your american fiancee only want to live with you in china but not marry you in china"?

 

Why? What's the matter with not rushing into marriage? If we were to apply for a fiancee visa wouldn't that show them that we are now planning on marrying?

 

And to answer your question, "He does want to marry me, but we want to make sure we do everything right and by the books so we can handle living and moving between China and the United States with as little trouble as possible."

Who's talking about rushing? You said you've had a relationship for 2 years. Rushing is meeting a person once and filing for a visa. Maybe we have different definitions of such words when it comes to the visa process. One key part of this process is to show how your relationship is distinguished from the rest. yes, your time together speaks volumes; your reluctance to marry ONLY in the US while living together for quite some time seems a bit out of the ordinary. So it seems to me your turning around the observations one might make. I would not give them any reason to wonder what's going on. If you must only marry in the US there is a reason you will not marrying in China. I just would have an answer for that reason. Your answer doesn't make much sense to me... What is "right and by the book" about doing a financee visa after living together a few years instead of marrying? There is no connection. And that answer is emotionless. Remember, she is the one at the interview to answer questions to a VO. I'm just thinking ahead to what she may face; and of course she may not either.

Edited November 18, 2010 by david_dawei (see edit history)

[chilton747]

As an immigration officer, I would be more suspicious of a supposed relationship of a few years which never married but filed for a fiancee visa. What would she answer to the question, "why does your american fiancee only want to live with you in china but not marry you in china"?

 

Why? What's the matter with not rushing into marriage? If we were to apply for a fiancee visa wouldn't that show them that we are now planning on marrying?

 

And to answer your question, "He does want to marry me, but we want to make sure we do everything right and by the books so we can handle living and moving between China and the United States with as little trouble as possible."

Who's talking about rushing? You said you've had a relationship for 2 years. Rushing is meeting a person once and filing for a visa. Maybe we have different definitions of such words when it comes to the visa process. One key part of this process is to show how your relationship is distinguished from the rest. yes, your time together speaks volumes; your reluctance to marry ONLY in the US while living together for quite some time seems a bit out of the ordinary. So it seems to me your turning around the observations one might make. I would not give them any reason to wonder what's going on. If you must only marry in the US there is a reason you will not marrying in China. I just would have an answer for that reason. Your answer doesn't make much sense to me... What is "right and by the book" about doing a financee visa after living together a few years instead of marrying? There is no connection. And that answer is emotionless. Remember, she is the one at the interview to answer questions to a VO. I'm just thinking ahead to what she may face; and of course she may not either.

 

And to support David's comments, in 2006 my then fiancee was asked by the VO why we didn't marry in China just before handing out the white slip. Yes indeed they do wonder about things such as this.

[dnoblett]

Only thing I can figure is a desire to marry in the USA, and returning to China, and then eventually file for a spouse visa, this is one use for a K-1, or possibly a B-2 if immigrations is not an intent.

 

If immigrations is an intent then In this case it's a no brainer, DCF process for a spouse visa is much faster than the process for a K-1, and also over $1000 less than K-1 when factoring in adjustment of status in the USA.

[Mick]

Whether or not you are too poor is not up to the VO to decide as there are regulations already in place regarding income. In order to qualify for the visa, your income has to be at a certain level or above. If I am not mistaken, your income must be 125% of the current poverty level or its a no go. The only way around this is to get a joint sponsor.

Edited November 18, 2010 by Mick (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

Whether or not you are too poor is not up to the VO to decide as there are regulations already in place regarding income. In order to qualify for the visa, your income has to be at a certain level or above. If I am not mistaken, your income must be 125% of the current poverty level or its a no go. The only way around this is to get a joint sponsor.

That is one yard stick, however they do look at the totality of the situation.

 

Having several periods of unemployment in one's past, and now have a job that meets the income requirement, still may be refused because of the past history of unemployment, the consulate's reasoning is; "whats to prevent petitioner from becoming unemployed again"?

 

(c ) If a sponsor recently started a new job (that the officer is satisfied will likely continue), the income from the job now meets or exceeds the legal requirement, you may find the Affidavit of Support (AOS) to be sufficient; and

 

(d ) 8 CFR 213a.2(c )(2)(ii)(C ) permits you to conclude that a Form I-864 is not sufficient, even if the sponsor¡¯s household income meets the Poverty Guideline threshold. For example, if the sponsor¡¯s income is from a job that is merely temporary or seasonal, you might reasonably conclude that the AOS, for that reason, is not sufficient.

http://www.state.gov...ation/86989.pdf