CR-1 (DCF) with CCP on the record

[chengkai]

We'll be married in two days!

 

A few questions:

(1) Do we need our original birth certificates or will copies be OK?

(2) What kind of proof does my wife need for her work? She never got pay slips and she has no documentation for her taxes. We had thought about her getting a letter from her work and having it stamped and signed. Then, I would assume that it should be translated. Is this correct? Is this necessary?

(3) Should we get a certified check for the application fees? Is there an online payment that we could use instead?

[Beachey]

We'll be married in two days!

 

A few questions:

(1) Do we need our original birth certificates or will copies be OK?

(2) What kind of proof does my wife need for her work? She never got pay slips and she has no documentation for her taxes. We had thought about her getting a letter from her work and having it stamped and signed. Then, I would assume that it should be translated. Is this correct? Is this necessary?

(3) Should we get a certified check for the application fees? Is there an online payment that we could use instead?

 

 

I am guessing you mean for the I-130 and not to get married.

 

1. For you - a copy of your birth certificate is OK, For her - Chinese people don't really have a birth certificate, you have to go to a Chinese notary and they will create a notary copy listing her birth date, place of birth and parents. I think she will need her houku to do this. (as an aside - I can't figure out why they need a birth certificate if they have your passport, they both establish the same thing with the exception of a naturalized citizen?)

2. I will leave it to others if it is necessary (we didn't include it) but my wife used a letter from work to get her visa when we went to Thailand (different country though same concept).

3. This is China - Cash :-) Consulate will accept USD or RMB. Can you get a certifed check in China? The consulate in Shenyang does not accept credit cards so I am guessing Guangzhou won't either.

[chengkai]

So, does anyone know if we need a notarized pieces of paper showing my wife's birthday? The passport does indeed show that. Is that enough?

[dnoblett]

So, does anyone know if we need a notarized pieces of paper showing my wife's birthday? The passport does indeed show that. Is that enough?

 

For what?

To get married or to file a visa petition?

 

To get married, I believe the birth cert is needed to get married, it comes from a notary office, which is a records office in china. They are called Notary offices, however this is not the same as whet we think of as notarized documents.

 

If to file visa petition, foreign birth cert not needed, it will be needed later when NVC requests documents, and the consulate will needed it when interviewing for a visa.

[Beachey]

So, does anyone know if we need a notarized pieces of paper showing my wife's birthday? The passport does indeed show that. Is that enough?

 

 

You need the notarized 'birth certificate' for the I-130. I was just noting I don't understand the logic but irregardless you need it.

[Kyle]

For DCF - Her police cert, birth cert, and marriage cert will all be in a white book. You can do a CFL search for "white book"

Edited March 18, 2011 by Kyle (see edit history)

[chengkai]

OK, So I think we've gathered almost everything we need to submit the i-130. I just have a few more questions.

 

1. I've read a lot about the "white book" birth certificate for the foreign spouse. Do we or do we not need it to file for i-130 DCF? I've read conflicting posts. She has a birth certificate paper that we just received from Hunan (they just made it), but it's not a white "book". Is this necessary? Or, is only mine necessary?

2. What marriage certificate to we need to get translated and notarized? One or both of our red books, or the other piece of paper that we thumb-printed and signed?

3. I've read that some people have had affidavits signed by their family stating that they are genuinely married. Is this really necessary or helpful even?

 

Thanks!

[xiaozhu]

OK, So I think we've gathered almost everything we need to submit the i-130. I just have a few more questions.

 

1. I've read a lot about the "white book" birth certificate for the foreign spouse. Do we or do we not need it to file for i-130 DCF? I've read conflicting posts. She has a birth certificate paper that we just received from Hunan (they just made it), but it's not a white "book". Is this necessary? Or, is only mine necessary?

2. What marriage certificate to we need to get translated and notarized? One or both of our red books, or the other piece of paper that we thumb-printed and signed?

3. I've read that some people have had affidavits signed by their family stating that they are genuinely married. Is this really necessary or helpful even?

 

Thanks!

 

"White book" is the notarization of her birth certificate and your marriage certificate. In other words, her birth certificate and your marriage certificate need to be notarized. Just go to any notary office in Beijing. The office will do translation and notarization.

 

Affidavits from your/her family might help, but not necessary. We do not have any statement from our family, only marriage certificate.

 

Your birth certificate and notarized marriage certificate are required for I-130 petition. Hers (notarized birth certificate, notarized marriage certificate, notarized police certificate) will be required later.

[chengkai]

Thanks xiaozhu.

 

Right now, I'm filling out the I-864 sponsor form. There are two places for "sponsor's" address...mailing and residence. I have a place of residence in America, but for the past 2 years I've been living in China. I have a residence permit, which I'll be using to file DCF. I wanted to list both, so I used my Chinese address under "mailing" and my US address under "residence." Do you think this is appropriate?

 

 

--Curt

[Kyle]

Thanks xiaozhu.

 

Right now, I'm filling out the I-864 sponsor form. There are two places for "sponsor's" address...mailing and residence. I have a place of residence in America, but for the past 2 years I've been living in China. I have a residence permit, which I'll be using to file DCF. I wanted to list both, so I used my Chinese address under "mailing" and my US address under "residence." Do you think this is appropriate?

 

 

--Curt

 

Why would you list your US address as your residence if you're filing in China? I'm not sure I understand. . . Currently, you are a resident of China. Your mailing address and resident address will be your address in China. That's what we did.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Kyle (see edit history)

[Kyle]

OK, So I think we've gathered almost everything we need to submit the i-130. I just have a few more questions.

 

1. I've read a lot about the "white book" birth certificate for the foreign spouse. Do we or do we not need it to file for i-130 DCF? I've read conflicting posts. She has a birth certificate paper that we just received from Hunan (they just made it), but it's not a white "book". Is this necessary? Or, is only mine necessary?

2. What marriage certificate to we need to get translated and notarized? One or both of our red books, or the other piece of paper that we thumb-printed and signed?

3. I've read that some people have had affidavits signed by their family stating that they are genuinely married. Is this really necessary or helpful even?

 

Thanks!

 

"White book" is the notarization of her birth certificate and your marriage certificate. In other words, her birth certificate and your marriage certificate need to be notarized. Just go to any notary office in Beijing. The office will do translation and notarization.

 

Affidavits from your/her family might help, but not necessary. We do not have any statement from our family, only marriage certificate.

 

Your birth certificate and notarized marriage certificate are required for I-130 petition. Hers (notarized birth certificate, notarized marriage certificate, notarized police certificate) will be required later.

 

 

I sort of disagree with the word any There are plenty of translation/notary services available that won't cut mustard. I'd made sure that they can provide the standard

 

Your notarized/translated documents will all be done by the same office. My wife had her police report, our marriage license, and her birth certificate all done at the our city's notary office which is authorized to do notarizations for foreign consulates. If your wife does a search for "your city, notary, foreign" in Chinese, for example we did this search "Î人¹«Ö¤ÉæÍâ"

 

Our city, Wuhan: Î人

Notary: ¹«Ö¤ gong1zheng4

Foreign: ÉæÍâ she4wai4

 

The name of the office is probably (your city) gong1zheng4chu4 - £¨your city)¹«Ö¤´¦

 

Yes, all of these will be in a white book. You will need photos for all of these, but the requirements are different in different places. I'm sure once you find the proper office's website, you'll find what they require.

 

Make sure you go to the above office in your city (Hukou). Do not go to an alternative notary service, as there are many of them out there. Unfortunately not all services are created equal in the eyes of the Chinese government - thus, not all are qualified for foreign affairs. You're looking for at least a city level notary.

[dnoblett]

Why would you list your US address as your residence if you're filing in China? I'm not sure I understand. . . Currently, you are a resident of China. Your mailing address and resident address will be your address in China. That's what we did.

 

Probably getting confused with "US Domicile" address. Yes use current resident address in China, and attach evidence of maintained US Domicile to the I-864.

 

US Domicile is a requirement of the I-864.

 

"White book" is the notarization of her birth certificate and your marriage certificate. In other words, her birth certificate and your marriage certificate need to be notarized. Just go to any notary office in Beijing. The office will do translation and notarization.

 

Affidavits from your/her family might help, but not necessary. We do not have any statement from our family, only marriage certificate.

 

Your birth certificate and notarized marriage certificate are required for I-130 petition. Hers (notarized birth certificate, notarized marriage certificate, notarized police certificate) will be required later.

 

I just want to clarify some wording, the certificates typically are called Notary Birth certs, Notary marriage certs, Notary divorce certs, Notary Police record, etc, because they are generated by the Notary office. Saying Notarized can get people confused into thinking things need to be "Notarized" and this is not the same thing. (These things need an English translation attached, which can be acquired at the Notary office.) Also, Foreign Birth cert and police cert needed when interviewing, not when filing the I-130.

 

Affidavits are useful, however if providing evidence of living together as a couple for some time, then they probably wont be needed.

 

US Birth cert OR copy of passport is used to prove US citizenship, Notary Marriage cert+ English translation needed by I-130.

 

You need the notarized 'birth certificate' for the I-130. I was just noting I don't understand the logic but irregardless you need it.

 

Notary birth cert needed for interview.

 

I-130 is talking about US Citizen's birth cert used for proof of citizenship. Only foreign birth certs used by I-130 would be for children, siblings or parents of a petitioner, to prove family relationship to the petitioner, a spouse does not need to provide birth cert.

Edited March 22, 2011 by dnoblett (see edit history)

[chengkai]

Wow, very helpful. I was doing way too much work this week and didn't even know it. haha. So, I can go ahead and submit the i-130 application.

 

About filing...Is the i-864 filed separately from the i-130, or should I put all the paperwork together in one big folder? I have all these papers and I'm not exactly sure which go with which form haha.

 

I have copies of bank statements and bills from America - I just printed them out and attached them to the i-864 form. Would it be necessary to also attach a letter explaining what everything is?

 

Thank you guys so much for your continued help.

[Beachey]

Does he even need to file the I-864 with the I-130? Isn't that part of the P3 package? We just filed the the 2 G-325A with the I-130.

 

Is there an advantage to filing the I-864 now?

Edited March 23, 2011 by Beachey (see edit history)

[xiaozhu]

 

About filing...Is the i-864 filed separately from the i-130, or should I put all the paperwork together in one big folder? I have all these papers and I'm not exactly sure which go with which form haha.

 

I have copies of bank statements and bills from America - I just printed them out and attached them to the i-864 form. Would it be necessary to also attach a letter explaining what everything is?

 

Thank you guys so much for your continued help.

 

 

I think the following link might be useful for you. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/297900-how-i-did-dcf-in-beijing/