Just married! Want to live in USA for 4 months of the year

[yunnanpuer]

Hi!

I an American living in Yunnan for 8 years and married the love of my life (together for 5 years). My wife and I run a tea business here in Kunming and we are wanting to be able to spend 3 or 4 months a year in the USA to expand our business and spend time with my father who is getting on in years.

It seems the fastest and most appropriate way is the CR-1 visa, but I am not sure if that will work for us since both my wife and I need to be in China for much of the year.

I am here on a Z visa for more than 3 of the 8 years I have resided in China.

So my questions are:

1. Can my wife and I travel back and forth between China on this visa? Are there some kind of time requirements for staying in the US after she gets it?

2. For income... does the USCIS look at the gross adjusted income or total income? In other words, will they look at my income after the Foreign Earned Income credit has been deducted or before? I remember in 2010 when I was shopping for a mortgage the banks refused to acknowledge FEI credit and said I was making $35,000 a year when in fact it was closer to $125,000 a year. I own a house in the US (rental), land and other assets exceeding $250,000 in value.

My wife and I have been working our butts off here in China and want to spend more time in the US for a change of scene.

Thanks in advance...

- Yunnan Puer

[dnoblett]

1) A CR-1 gets green-card upon arrival in the USA, so could leave the country the next day if needed, though I would stick around for the actual card to arrive.

 

2) Income is Adjusted if you use 1040EZ, or total gross income if you file 1040

 

As for requirements to sponsor an immigrant, the I-864 needs domicile, owning a rental may not qualify as domicile unless vacant or is something like an apartment building or double where you have your residence in part of it, however may qualify as an asset.

 

Note green-card is for residence in the USA, if DHS suspects not living in the USA they can revoke the green-card, periods of absence of 6 months or less per year are not an issue, however longer than that and they can start having an issue.

 

MORE: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=3f443a4107083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=3f443a4107083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

[Randy W]

Your Z-visa is good for a 30-day stay, and then must be converted to either a temporary residence permit or an L-visa. If you have the proper documentation for living in China, you can probably file your I-130 at one of the consulates (what we call DCF for Direct Consular Filing)

 

Whether filed DCF or in the U.S., the I-130 would result in an IR-1 visa and a 10 year green card. If you maintain a serious U.S. domicile, you can almost certainly use the green card the way you describe for one year, and probably for 2 or 3 (possibly longer) if you carry enough documentation of your domicile. "Almost certainly", "probably", and "possibly longer" are left to the discretion of the Immigrations Officer at the Point of Entry. When they finally notice that you're not actually living in the U.S., you face possibly being turned away at the border and/or green card revocation.

[Randy W]

Also, it is YOUR responsibility to document your income. If the picture shown by the I-864 does not reflect your actual income, you can draw up a statement showing your actual situation and include a cover sheet showing this. The I-864 and income tax returns are just one piece of that picture (well, maybe two pieces).

[david_dawei]

Your 'ideal' living situations is not a part of the green card.

 

A greencard is issued to people who plan to live in the US... you are not planning on doing that. So you are intentionally trying to play the system.

 

People who bounce in and out of the US on a greencard are flagged and pulled into rooms and questioned as to what they are doing.... and told, at some point, turn in your greencard on the next trip... Your on this crash course.

 

You need to really ask yourself: What are you trying to do and does it match with USCIS/DOS issuances of a greencard. What you stated above DOES NOT.

 

She needs to plan to be in the US at least 6-8 months in the US each year... anything less, then just stay in china and not risk putting her on some blacklist in the future.

[chilton747]

Your 'ideal' living situations is not a part of the green card.

 

A greencard is issued to people who plan to live in the US... you are not planning on doing that. So you are intentionally trying to play the system.

 

People who bounce in and out of the US on a greencard are flagged and pulled into rooms and questioned as to what they are doing.... and told, at some point, turn in your greencard on the next trip... Your on this crash course.

 

You need to really ask yourself: What are you trying to do and does it match with USCIS/DOS issuances of a greencard. What you stated above DOES NOT.

 

She needs to plan to be in the US at least 6-8 months in the US each year... anything less, then just stay in china and not risk putting her on some blacklist in the future.

 

My step son just got back from a 4 month stay in China. He said they gave him the 3rd degree and asked him repeatedly why he was in China for so long. He speaks little English and the CO told him he needs to learn more English. The CO also told him he couldn't go back to China anythime soon.

 

So all of this was just from his first trip back to China after receiving an IR2 visa last year. They can be rough if they want to.

[tsap seui]

I never bothered to respond to this thread when I first read it as I thought you should be looking for a tourist visa for your wife.

 

Good luck, just remember, a CR-1 and an IR-1 visas are for immigration purposes.

 

tsap seui

[Ryan H]

as I thought you should be looking for a tourist visa for your wife.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

[yunnanpuer]

OK... thanks everyone for the responses. I was under the impression that a tourist visa might be difficult for her to get. She does not own any real estate or have a job that pays alot of money. When she applies for a tourist visa will being married to me be considered during the process? I have heard horror stories.

 

- yunnanpuer

[david_dawei]

OK... thanks everyone for the responses. I was under the impression that a tourist visa might be difficult for her to get. She does not own any real estate or have a job that pays alot of money. When she applies for a tourist visa will being married to me be considered during the process? I have heard horror stories.

 

- yunnanpuer

Yes, getting a tourist visa is close to impossible... you just took too steps closer to that by getting married.

[yunnanpuer]

Well... I guess we are pretty well screwed. How utterly depressing.

[dnoblett]

Can always try, but you will need to show strong ties to China, your work, your wife's work, and convince them that you have no intent to immigrate at this time.

 

I have seen several get a visit visa but the key is to show no immigrations intent at this time.

[credzba]

Well... I guess we are pretty well screwed. How utterly depressing.

 

The crazy thing is, you COULD get an immigration visa if you wanted to immigrate, but by being married, and applying for a visa in the honest way, your chances are diminished.

I hope you get one.

[yunnanpuer]

Thanks for the responses... perhaps we can convince them that we just want to visit. We could not run our business without being here most of the time. If they could actually get a sense of our life and who we are it would be no problem. At any rate we'll make one attempt at a tourist visa. If denied... we'll worry about it later when we want to go back permanently.

 

Once again thank you all for your insight!

 

- yunnanpuer

[Randy W]

I don't know if you're interested in trying, but the Yunnan coffee might be a good business also, if it can be sold competitively.