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I think we're ready - I-130 DCF Beijing


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Here is what I have sitting in front of me ready to put into individual plastic folders with labels and give to the Beijing Dept. of Homeland Security desk when they email back our appointment date:

 

USCIS forms

  • I-130 form with attachment because our address didn't fit in the space they provided
  • G-1145 E-notification of application/petition acceptance
  • G-325A form for my wife with attachment because the addresses wouldn't fit in the form
  • G-325A form for me with attachment because the addresses wouldn't fit in the form
  • I-130 from filled out with attachment for our address because it wouldn't fit in the form

Documents to prove my U.S. citizenship:

  • Copy of my birth certificate
  • Copy of front page of my passport

Documents proving marriage bona fides:

  • Photos of our relationship including the time we dated, our wedding, my wife's pregnancy, and our son's birth
  • Marriage licenses
  • Copy of son's birth certificate (CRBA document issued at Beijing embassy since he was born in China)

Documents to prove my residency in jurisdiction covered by Beijing American embassy to be eligible for direct filing:

  • Photocopy of the residence permit in my passport
  • Photocopy of my last entry into China showing I've been here the required six months

Questions - do I need a cover letter with a table of contents? Does or should our marriage licences be translated into English by a company that provide notarization? Any other advice about our petition that you think is missing or should be included? :mobile:

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To prove US Citizenship only one document needed, (Passport BIO page, OR US Birth cert, OR US Naturalization cert)

 

Yes, any document not in english needs to be translated, this can be done at the notary office where you got the marriage certificate, this will also be the case with documents requested by Guangzhou for the visa interview, (Police cert, Marriage cert, divorce cert, birth cert...)

 

Cover letter is recommended.

 

Any prior marriages for petitioner or beneficiary? If so you need to include copy of divorce papers or death cert for prior spouse.

 

I-130 instructions:

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Immigration%20Stuff/I-130GeneralInst1.jpg

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Immigration%20Stuff/I-130GeneralInst2.jpg

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Please get the marriage license tanslated and notorized into a "white book" . I sent in a table of contents with my application, with the feeling to leave nothing to chance and make the whole thing easy enough for a second grader to find their way through it. Looks like you've got the bases covered.

 

Good luck.

 

tsap seui

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To prove US Citizenship only one document needed, (Passport BIO page, OR US Birth cert, OR US Naturalization cert)

 

Yes, any document not in english needs to be translated, this can be done at the notary office where you got the marriage certificate, this will also be the case with documents requested by Guangzhou for the visa interview, (Police cert, Marriage cert, divorce cert, birth cert...)

 

Cover letter is recommended.

 

Any prior marriages for petitioner or beneficiary? If so you need to include copy of divorce papers or death cert for prior spouse.

 

I-130 instructions:

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Immigration%20Stuff/I-130GeneralInst1.jpg

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Immigration%20Stuff/I-130GeneralInst2.jpg

 

Thanks for that. It looks like I wrote the attachment wrong according to the graphic you've posted so I'll get in there and fix that. Will also write a cover letter. No previous marriages for either of us. Will also leave out the passport photocopy.

Please get the marriage license tanslated and notorized into a "white book" . I sent in a table of contents with my application, with the feeling to leave nothing to chance and make the whole thing easy enough for a second grader to find their way through it. Looks like you've got the bases covered.

 

Good luck.

 

tsap seui

 

Can you clarify the white book? I haven't ever heard of that. We'd have to travel to Wuhan in order to have the place we got married at translate the booklet - would a translation that a company in Beijing could provide and notarize be acceptable? In the past, when we got married, we had a company here in Beijing translate our "Affidavit of marriageability" that we had to get at the embassy to complete our marriage application in Wuhan, and it was acceptable for the Chinese authority that married us (gave us our marriage booklets).

Edited by MarineClimateLover (see edit history)
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NO problem, a "white book" is just a nickname for what the official translation and notorization booklet looks like. You can get this done where you were married. Some of your other documents that were translated and notorized were made into "white books" also, such as your wife's birth certificate, etc.

 

There are many nick names and abbreviations, just ask all the questions you need.

 

tsap seui

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The white book is REQUIRED of the Chinese documents - http://travel.state....5.html?cid=9015

 

Most of the documents listed below 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. These offices are part of the Ministry of Justice structure, but are separate from the people's court system.

 

Notaries in China do not perform the same functions as their American counterparts. Chinese notaries affix their signatures and office seal to certificates that attest to the probity of claims made by the applicants. By regulation, notaries are empowered to issue certificates only after they conclude that the applicant's claims are true. Notarial certificates of birth, death, marriage, divorce, no criminal record . . .

 

The documents required are the GongZhengShu 公证书

 

Sample application for documents (your province or hukou may vary):

 

 

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.

Edited by Randy W (see edit history)
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The white book is REQUIRED of the Chinese documents - http://travel.state....5.html?cid=9015

 

Most of the documents listed below 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. These offices are part of the Ministry of Justice structure, but are separate from the people's court system.

 

Notaries in China do not perform the same functions as their American counterparts. Chinese notaries affix their signatures and office seal to certificates that attest to the probity of claims made by the applicants. By regulation, notaries are empowered to issue certificates only after they conclude that the applicant's claims are true. Notarial certificates of birth, death, marriage, divorce, no criminal record . . .

 

The documents required are the GongZhengShu 公证书

 

Sample application for documents (your province or hukou may vary):

 

 

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.

 

Thanks. After reading your post I looked around on the internet and found that Beijing has a gong zheng chu in pretty much every district. There was one down from our place so we went there after calling.

 

It turns out that we won't be required to go to where my wife's hukou is, thankfully, and we were able to get the "white book" made here in China. It'll be done in 4 days.

 

A question though - I was pretty confident that we only needed to have one of the marriage licences translated but am now a little doubtful that maybe we should have gotten both. Will getting only her licence translated suffice?

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The white book is REQUIRED of the Chinese documents - http://travel.state....5.html?cid=9015

 

Most of the documents listed below 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. These offices are part of the Ministry of Justice structure, but are separate from the people's court system.

 

Notaries in China do not perform the same functions as their American counterparts. Chinese notaries affix their signatures and office seal to certificates that attest to the probity of claims made by the applicants. By regulation, notaries are empowered to issue certificates only after they conclude that the applicant's claims are true. Notarial certificates of birth, death, marriage, divorce, no criminal record . . .

 

The documents required are the GongZhengShu 公证书

 

Sample application for documents (your province or hukou may vary):

 

 

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.

 

Thanks. After reading your post I looked around on the internet and found that Beijing has a gong zheng chu in pretty much every district. There was one down from our place so we went there after calling.

 

It turns out that we won't be required to go to where my wife's hukou is, thankfully, and we were able to get the "white book" made here in China. It'll be done in 4 days.

 

A question though - I was pretty confident that we only needed to have one of the marriage licences translated but am now a little doubtful that maybe we should have gotten both. Will getting only her licence translated suffice?

 

 

Someone who got married in China would be better able to answer your question, but I think you end up with just one white booklet - which is exactly what you need.

 

That is, the red books are for your own purposes.

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Get two white books photo copy one and submit with petition. Later at intervier Guangzhou may take one and keep other to bring to USA for future uses.

 

Also will have to visit home town notary office for police cert that will be needed for interview.

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Get two white books photo copy one and submit with petition. Later at intervier Guangzhou may take one and keep other to bring to USA for future uses.

 

Also will have to visit home town notary office for police cert that will be needed for interview.

 

I believe these two copies of the white book are IDENTICAL, no? That is, it's NOT one white book from his red book,and a different one from HER red book.

 

Just to clarify here.

Edited by Randy W (see edit history)
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Get two white books photo copy one and submit with petition. Later at intervier Guangzhou may take one and keep other to bring to USA for future uses.

 

Also will have to visit home town notary office for police cert that will be needed for interview.

 

A good idea. I knew that we'd have to make a trip back to where my wife was from for some other documents when preparing for the interview. But I was hoping to be able to avoid that before filing the I-130 petition. Luckily - it looks like we'll be able to do that.

 

Later on we'll probably have another made just to have a complete set of translated documents.

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After emailing the Dept. of Homeland Security and USCIS here at the Beijing embassy I was replied with an attachment with very concise and useful instructions, most quite similar to the instructions found on the generic I-130 form but also instructions specific to China DCF. If I knew how to I would post it here for others.

 

Randy - would you care to have me email you the document so that it can be archived here for those that come later and do China DCF?

 

At any rate - they've scheduled our filing appointment for tomorrow at 2:15.

 

Wish us luck

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Just back from filing the petition at the Beijing embassy.

 

I would have to say that everything went smoothly. The gentleman behind the window was Chinese and very competent and well spoken. He scanned all of the documents and there were a couple questions that I had neglected to fill in and he directed me to do so.

 

When our son was born we went to the embassy and got him his passport and CRBA (certified registration of birth abroad) certificate and applied for a social security number. Today when I went I only brought the CRBA document - the gentleman behind the window asked for the original Chinese birth certificate as well, which I didn't bring, and when I told him that he just said, "we'll notify you if we need to see that." That was about the only hitch.

 

After I paid he indicated that we'd hear from the embassy within 90 days. I tried to get him to be a little more specific but he stuck to that official line.

 

Does anybody have any experience with how long it will actually be? They asked for our address on an envelope but they also have my email which was on the G-1145 form - will they send a letter or email? I'm afraid a letter would get lost at our apartment or in the local post office gear train.

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