just starting

[antryg]

I'm going back to Beijing on August 15th and will be in China for three weeks. Do you need to make an appointment for document authentication? Also does it have to be in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou? We will need to marry in Wuhan and there is a United States consulate there.

[dnoblett]

I'm going back to Beijing on August 15th and will be in China for three weeks. Do you need to make an appointment for document authentication? Also does it have to be in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou? We will need to marry in Wuhan and there is a United States consulate there.

I was suggesting Beijing/Shanghai/Guangzhou because these cities tend to be the ports of entry for international flights, so could visit the consulate during a long layover in those cities, if there is not a convenient US consulate near final destination.

 

However:

U.S. Citizen Services

 

 

Consulate General Wuhan is not equipped/staffed to handle consular affairs at this time. American citizens in the region who need assistance should contact the American Citizens Service section of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Please click here for more information, including telephone and e-mail contact information. For the Embassy’s home page, please click here.

http://wuhan.usembas...cn/service.html

 

For example if I were doing this in my case, I would probably had done a layover in Shanghai because the nearest US Consulate in my wife's case (Guilin) would have been down in Guangzhou.

 

Yes, an appointment is needed, SEE: http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/as092508.html

[Randy W]

The lesson IS - NEVER unattach anything for authentication. Standard operating procedure ANYWHERE, including the U.S. This is why the Chinese notary documents come in the bound white booklet.

 

Again - China IS moving in the direction of requiring stateside authentication of documents, although we still haven't heard of the consulate certification being rejected for the single certification.

[antryg]

I've been told that when getting the affidavit of single status that mention needs to be made about the fiancee's name, DOB and that we aren't blood related by at least three generations. I knew about the blood ties rule but haven't seen anything mention it in regard to the single status document. The sample document which the Chinese consulate has, doesn't mention it either.

 

Has anyone else heard about this practice or included it in their affidavit of single status?

[Randy W]

I've been told that when getting the affidavit of single status that mention needs to be made about the fiancee's name, DOB and that we aren't blood related by at least three generations. I knew about the blood ties rule but haven't seen anything mention it in regard to the single status document. The sample document which the Chinese consulate has, doesn't mention it either.

 

Has anyone else heard about this practice or included it in their affidavit of single status?

 

Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. - Marriage Registration in China (includes a sample single affidavit)

 

The one from the Embassy doesn't seem to be there anymore - this is from the Houston consulate - http://houston.china-consulate.org/visa/english/marriage/jh.htm#aoss

 

But Visa Express gives this example - http://www.visaexpress.net/china/singlestatus.htm

 

Your choice

[antryg]

I have all of my documentation and will be going to Beijing on August 15th. We will travel to Wuhan and register our marriage the first part of the next week.

 

I've read the information here http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1 several times. I'm just worried about making mistakes so would appreciate some hand holding and guidance through the process.

 

I have to return to the United States 3 weeks after we get married. Since I'll be in the US, do I file in the US and send it to the appropriate Lockbox? Establishing a joint banking account won't be a problem. We will do that right away. I'm concerned about the bonafides. The only third party affidavits which I'll be able to procure are all her family and friends.

 

I'm sure that there are many things which I'm forgetting or just don't understand. I would truly appreciate any and all help and advice.

[dnoblett]

Actually a joint bank account is quite difficult due to a number of factors, such as foreign citizen lacking a SSN, and not being physically present in the USA, for me to add my wife to account required SSN, Photo ID and birth cert. However policy vary by bank.

 

Get plenty of pictures together and with family. (I sent about 6 or 7 pictures of us in various places, and one of me with mum and sister)

A couple affidavits should do.

 

They do understand that in cases of a short marriage, the other evidence may not be available, that is why the OR is noted in the suggested evidence.

 

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Immigration%20Stuff/I-130Bonafides.png

 

Yes you will be mailing the I-130 to an address in the USA for processing by USCIS.

 

Keep asking questions.

[antryg]

I'm sorry. I wasn't clear. We plan to open a joint bank account in China. I've already looked into getting a joint account in the US and you are indeed correct, it is very difficult. However, my bank can do so once I bring them a copy of her passport (she is in process of procuring) along with the translated copy of the marriage book and then fill out all of the pertinent forms.

 

I appreciate the answer about the third party affidavits.

 

I have a question concerning pictures. Should the pictures be printed out or is it better to burn them to a cd or dvd?

[Beachey]

I have a question concerning pictures. Should the pictures be printed out or is it better to burn them to a cd or dvd?

 

You need hard copies. Since all our pictures were digital, I just created a Word document with three pictures per page with a short caption underneath and printed the document in color.

[dan1984]

I have a question concerning pictures. Should the pictures be printed out or is it better to burn them to a cd or dvd?

 

You need hard copies. Since all our pictures were digital, I just created a Word document with three pictures per page with a short caption underneath and printed the document in color.

 

Good idea about putting the pictures in a Word document - easier to handle than a bunch of random pictures, and also can probably include more this way, so as to paint a nice picture.

[antryg]

I've just returned to the United States after spending three weeks in China. The first hurdle has been overcome. My wife and I were married on August 20th in Wuhan.

 

The Chinese consulate in Houston kept putting obstacles in the way of getting my affidavit of single status so I handled that in Beijing at the US embassy. The cost was much better at the embassy as well. There was only a $50.00 charge for the document. The marriage registration office in Wuhan was happy to accept that. In fact they were very nice and helpful in all of our dealings with them.

 

I'm not an experienced traveller to other countries and this was my first visit to an embassy. I had known beforehand that the outer gates of our embassies are handled by security from the country in which the embassy is located. Even knowing this, I must confess that I have been seriously misled by Hollywood from what to expect at an embassy. At the moment, there is construction going on at the embassy and the American services entrance is restricted to the Chinese construction workers. This leads to a funny story (in hindsight).

 

I had the first appointment of the day at 8:30. Not knowing exactly where the embassy was located and coming from the 6th ring of Beijing, we left very early and got there about 7:15. I presented my appointment paper and was let into the embassy grounds with no problem. However, I wasn't allowed entrance into the building due to construction. The only entrance being used was for Chinese nationals applying for visas. The Chinese security people at this door wouldn't allow me entrance until they had a copy of that days appointments. By 8:00, I was starting to become worried. To this point, I'd watched about 100 Chinese construction workers enter and over 200 people applying for visas. It began to seem that the only way to enter the US embassy was to be a Chinese citizen. At 8:15 I asked the guard when they would have the appointment list. He said that they normally had it by 9:00 or a little after. Since my appointment would be cancelled for failure to appear by that time, I was becoming frantic. I was finally able to find an American who was near the American Services entrance and explained my problem. He got the head of the Chinese security detail to allow me into the building and pass through security. I made my appointment on time and everything worked out. In the movies, the American citizen is always welcomed and helped with no problems once they reach the embassy. Until the last moment, I was seriously thinking that the only way to enter the US embassy was to be a Chinese citizen.

 

Now we get to begin the glorious adventure of obtaining the visa. I'm sure that I'll have plenty of questions.

[Randy W]

Anytime an American citizen is denied access to an embassy or consulate by a Chinese assistant, that's a serious problem. Hopefully, they'll get that sorted out.

 

It's good to hear, though, that they're still accepting the single certificates issued at the consulates.

 

What obstacles did you get at the Chinese consulate in Houston? Another member, Doug, just got his there (last month) without any issues.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Randy W (see edit history)

[antryg]

The first time I had a problem with the Chinese consulate in Houston, I've already talked about. It was my fault. I removed a staple. The second time, they said that I'd used an old form and wording for the affidavit which didn't mention we weren't related by blood for 3 generations. The last time was because they wouldn't have time to research and approve the document before my flight left. They said it would take 7 working days meaning it would be ready on a Friday when my flight left on Wednesday.

 

I have no proof, strictly conjecture on my part. I think this was all just a deliberate slowdown in response to US actions concerning the Daiyou islands and the obstacles and slowdowns the US has been putting on Chinese citizens trying to get visas to the US. The latter was mentioned to me by every Homeland security person I talked with both coming and going on this trip. If the low level types who don't even deal with visas know there is an intentional slowdown then it's obvious that the Chinese government knows as well. I'll never understand why governments like to play this game of "tit for tat" and "they started it" by messing with the lives of people who have no influence with either side but history is full of such "reasoned statesmanship".

 

Not being allowed into the embassy building I believe was just a temporary problem caused by construction. The American Services entrance was being restricted to use by the Chinese construction workers and the Chinese security people at the visa entrance were just following the procedures they knew and weren't used to dealing with the Americans with appointments. Of course, it's not a great plan to have an employee who starts work at 9:00 AM prepare that days appointment list when the appointments begin at 8:30 AM.

[Randy W]

As Doug found out, they've pretty well announced the extra processing time they're putting everyone through as of Aug. 1 - no more same day service for now

 

I think Doug took his single certificate to the Dept. of State (in Austin) himself, so he was able to get 1 or 2 day (I forget which) turnaround at the consulate, since all they had to do was to certify the Dept of State authentication.

 

But, yes - just deal with things as they come up. Play it by ear and follow the path of least resistance. I'm glad it worked out - good job, and Congratulations!

[antryg]

First off, I'd like to preemptively give thanks for any and all help. This is where I admit my ignorance and beg constantly for help.

 

As I look at the I-130 packet, I see that the G-325a form has a place for the file number. Does this mean I should send in the I-130 form in first to receive a file number, and then fill out the G-325a to send in with the packet? I also noticed that the G-325a document on the USCIS site expired on August 31,2012. Does this mean I should wait for the new form to be posted? I'd hate to be denied for using an out of date form.

 

After reading another thread, I believe I've made a mistake. We were married in China and I knew that we needed a translated copy. I took it to a translation company in Beijing, one of the companies on a list provided by the US embassy in Beijing. I'm I correct in assuming that this won't be accepted? What is needed is a white book translation which is obtained from the marriage registration office? Can this be any wedding registration office or does it need to come from the office in Wuhan where we registered our marriage?