Birth Certificates / Custody issue

[PaulandBetty]

I am trying to get my fiance here on a K-1 visa. My chinese fiance and her oldest daughter were never issued birth certificates. How do they go about getting them issued? Also, the father has legal custody of the youngest daughter. He has stated that the youngest daughter can come to America. According to the K-1 requirements, all he has to do is sign a notorized letter stating that he is letting her come to America. Is there anything else?

[Randy W]

Chinese Notarial Documents - see DOS China Reciprocity Schedule

 

NOTE: If the link is broken, try

http://travel.state..../fees_3272.html

or go to

http://travel.state.gov/

and search for "Reciprocity by Country" (they seem to change this periodically)

 

Most of the documents needed

can

be obtained from one of China's Notarial Offices (Gong Zheng Chu). All Chinese documentation to be used abroad is processed through the notary offices and issued in the form of notarial certificates. Notarial offices are located in all major Chinese cities and in rural county seats

 

The documents required are the GongZhengShu 公证书

 

Sample application for documents (your province or

hukou

may vary):

 

http://www.bnpo.gov....72115331419.doc

 

http://www.bnpo.gov....ide/detail1.asp

 

A discussion of the huji (or hukou 户口) system can be found at Hukou System. Chinese residents should go to their hukou for all notarial documents (birth, divorce, and/or single certificate, and police records). For the police record, one obtained at the hukou will cover all of China.

 

A notarial document will be in the standard white notarial booklet, have an official red seal, an English translation, and an attestation to the true translation.

 

Note that police records and single certificates are valid for one year from the date of notarization. Others are valid indefinitely.

 

If ANY document is unobtainable, you should submit a statement of WHY it is unobtainable, and what effort you made to obtain it.

[dnoblett]

keep in mind foreign birth cert not needed when filing the I-129F they will be needed when interviewing for visa and later in the states for marriage and and other things, so it is not something that should hold up filing a petition.

 

How old is oldest daughter and will she be coming to the USA? If less than age 18 and you could marry before turning age 18, then consider marriage first and filing for visas for spouse and step children, this will save a pile of fees.

 

Here are the costs breakdowns, visa petition filing to green-card..

 

I-130 CR-1/CR-2 Spouse/Step child case

• I-130 $420 each
  
• DS-230 $330 + $74 Each
  
• I-864 $88
  
• $912 each if filed petition in the USA
  

I-129F K1/K2 Fiancee visa

• I-129F $340 (Just for K-1, K-2 gets a derivative visa)
  
• K-Visa fee at Consulate $350 each
  
• I-485 fee for green cards after marriage $1070 each
  
• Total $1760 for K-1 and $1420 for each K-2
  

The positives for a spouse visa are:

• Green-card status upon arrival to the USA, no adjustment of status needed.
  
  • Can travel and work shortly after arrival.
    

  [*]Lower costs due to no need to adjust status.

Neg:

• Need to travel to China to get married.
  
• If step child is already age 18 or older, this is NOT an option, would not be able to file an immigrant visa petition for step child.
  

Positives for K-1/K-2

• Slightly shorter processing time to get visa.
  
• If step child is age 18 but less than 21 at time of marriage this is only way to bring step child over as part of process, due to not being able to file an immigrant visa petition for a step child after turning Age 18.
  
• Can file now if you have already visited fiancee.
  

Neg.

• Much higher costs in fees.
  
• Can take several months after marriage to get green-cards for family.
  
• Cannot work until either getting EAD or green-card after marriage.
  
• Cannot leave the country without either getting AP doc, or green-card.
  

Edited April 24, 2012 by dnoblett (see edit history)