Filing I-130 for my wife and 2 month old baby

[billyc]

Dear member on this Forum, I am a new member of this Forumm and surprising found so many helping hands and kindness here. I got married with my wife last year when I was a green card holder in US and she is a Chinese citizen in China. We had a baby in Jan in China. We were waiting for me to become an US citizen to file their green card application, so that our family can be reunited sooner. I am ready for filing the I-130 application. One big issue I overlooked and now seems a big problem is: my wife is a memebr of the communist party. It is not because the belief, It is simply the job requirement. She is not an currupted offical, just an office manager there in a state own company. My lawyer told us not to mention she is a party member, saying they have been applying a lot of cases till now without any issue. The lawyer said if we disclose this information, the application will be delaid for very long time. However, both my wife and I are honest and afraid that we lie to the UCSIC and the consequences will be even more severe. I missed my baby very much and can't bear being apart from my wife and daughter baby any longer. Please advise what is the best way to deal with this issue? Thank you in advance! billy chang

[dnoblett]

In this case you will be filing two I-130 forms one for spouse CR-1 and one for child CR-2, in this case child would not automatically obtain US Citizenship through your becoming a USC until after the child arrives in the USA.

 

CCP is not a big issue, it tends to cause a 4 month delay after visa interview due to additional processing for the consulate to automatically obtain a waiver, in this case don't bother quitting the party, quitting only helps if done at least 2 years prior to immigration petition filing, and this would need documentation. When the time comes for interview simply be honest and they will do the waiver, lying if caught would cause them to deny on misrepresentation which is very difficult to impossible to overcome. Lawyer is giving you bad advise here.

 

You can file the I-130 petitions now, and once becoming a USC inform USCIS or NVC of the status change, and they will move the petitions into the Unlimited Visa # class.

 

Study topics having to do with CCP: http://candleforlove.com/forums/tags/forums/CCP+Waiver/

[billyc]

Thank you so much Dan for your answers! You are wonderful!

 

You mention something about my baby daughter's citizenship. When she was born I was still a green card holder. I thought she would not be able to become an US citizen either until age 18 or when her mum becomes an US citizen?

 

If I read your comment right, there is a path for her to become an US citizen without wait for her Mum's citizenship application?

[dnoblett]

Yes, only one parent needs to obtain citizenship for an under age child to be able to obtain citizenship through parent, in your case since child was born prior to you obtaining citizenship, the child will need to get an immigrant visa, and then once in the states on that visa the child can claim citizenship based on your citizenship, either file for a US Passport shortly after arrival on the immigrant visa, or file for a certificate of citizenship by filing an N-600 to show citizenship status.

I am not sure if you could get away with not paying the USCIS immigrations fee for the step child after child arrives and simply go straight to citizenship once the child arrives in the USA.

Info:

Automatic U.S. Citizenship After Birth - But Before the Age of 18

A Child Born Outside the U.S. is a Citizen after Birth
IF… The child was under 18 or not yet born on February 27, 2001
AND... At least one parent is a U.S. citizen, the child is currently under 18 and residing in the U.S. in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent pursuant to lawful admission for permanent residence.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=32dffe9dd4aa3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=32dffe9dd4aa3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD

Lawful admission for permanent residence above means on an immigrant visa.

[billyc]

She is my biological child.

 

So I can file a N600 for my duaghter's citizenship once she is in US on an immigration visa.

 

Thank you again for the advise!

[tsap seui]

Good man, you are right, never lie or hold back information during your visa process. Like Dan said the CCP issue will add some months ot the process, but it is really no big deal other than that.

 

Good luck to you and your family Billy.

 

tsap seui

[billyc]

Thank you. We will not lie in the process. It is because we are honest, my wife had the valid B-2 visa when she was pregnant, she didn't come over and lie to enter the US.

 

However being apart as a falimy, especially with my little baby is very hard for all of us. We wish the green card process for them could be quicker.

 

Is the waiver (4 months) delay is mandatory? Is there any way in the interview process to avoid the waiver? (such as providing an affidavit declair to quit the party might help?) or the waiver is inevitable?

[dan1984]

Hey Billy,

 

It definitely looks like you are on the right track, but I just wanted to chime in too and echo Dan's and the Tsapper's advice and say definitely don't lie. The CCP thing is not a big deal, whereas lying and getting caught could really put you guys up a creek.

 

I know it's not easy, but you will all be together sooner rather than later.

 

Good luck with everything!

 

dan~

[billyc]

Thank you, every one here for answering my question!

 

I am overwhelmed by the love and caring from each of you. I wasn't expected to have so many answers in such short time period.

 

The warmness of this Forum eased up some pain for being away from my family.

 

Thank you all for your kindness!

[warpedbored]

I am concerned about your lawyer giving you bad advice. #1 rule in dealing with the USCIS is never ever ever lie to them. It could come back to bite you and cause your wife to be banned from the US indefinitely. Time to go over your visa application with a fine tooth comb to see if there are any other mistakes your lawyer might have made. The 3-4 month delay because of the CCP issue is unavoidable but much better than a 10 year or more ban because of misrepresentation.

[billyc]

warpedbored:

Yes, you are right. Fortunately I have not started my filing with this lawyer yet. Based on the advises from this forum, I am contacting a new lawyer who advises us not to lie for the CCP. We will hire the new laywer to proceed our case.

[dnoblett]

The 4 month delay tends to be common, because the consulate has to deal with a couple extra checks, and deal with Washington.

 

It really makes no difference about quitting the party or not, I know quite a few who did not and had no problems, and a few who did quit and got the same length of delay.

 

Here is what the department of state says:

 

(3) Security and related grounds. -

(D) Immigrant membership in totalitarian party.-

(i) In general.-Any immigrant who is or has been a member of or affiliated with the Communist or any other totalitarian party (or subdivision or affiliate thereof), domestic or foreign, is inadmissible.

(ii) Exception for involuntary membership.-Clause (i) shall not apply to an alien because of membership or affiliation if the alien establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer when applying for a visa (or to the satisfaction of the Attorney General when applying for admission) that the membership or affiliation is or was involuntary, or is or was solely when under 16 years of age, by operation of law, or for purposes of obtaining employment, food rations, or other essentials of living and whether necessary for such purposes.

(iii) Exception for past membership.-Clause (i) shall not apply to an alien because of membership or affiliation if the alien establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer when applying for a visa (or to the satisfaction of the Attorney General when applying for admission) that-

(I) the membership or affiliation terminated at least-

(aa) 2 years before the date of such application, or

(bb) 5 years before the date of such application, in the case of an alien whose membership or affiliation was with the party controlling the government of a foreign state that is a totalitarian dictatorship as of such date, and

(II) the alien is not a threat to the security of the United States.

(iv) Exception for close family members.-The Attorney General may, in the Attorney General's discretion, waive the application of clause (i) in the case of an immigrant who is the parent, spouse, son, daughter, brother, or sister of a citizen of the United States or a spouse, son, or daughter of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence for humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, or when it is otherwise in the public interest if the immigrant is not a threat to the security of the United States.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/ineligibilities/ineligibilities_1364.html#visa

 

Note (3)(D)(iii)(I)(aa) this is the only case where quitting CCP prior to the petition being filed that would result in no CCP delay happening, would need to have quit at least 2 years before you filed the I-130

[warpedbored]

warpedbored:

Yes, you are right. Fortunately I have not started my filing with this lawyer yet. Based on the advises from this forum, I am contacting a new lawyer who advises us not to lie for the CCP. We will hire the new laywer to proceed our case.

I don't think you really need a lawyer. You still need to check and double check everything they do. Remember no one cares more about your case than you do. If you still want to get one , find a lawyer that is familiar with the inner workings of the consulate in Guangzhou. The only one I would consider is Mark Ellis. http://www.marcellislaw.com/ He has an Chinese assistant in Guangzhou that is more knowledgeable about the consulate than most lawyers. Last track I had they have a 100% success rate.

[dnoblett]

As for lawyer, there is a couple options.

 

1) Ask a lot of questions here and do the petitions your self, this is not a very hard thing to do, many on this board did this without a lawyer.

2) Interview a few lawyers and again you take ownership of this and review the case before filing it using the lawyer as a second pair of eyes.

3) If you still want a lawyer, only one is commonly recommended by many on this community, Marc Ellis http://www.marcellislaw.com/

 

My wife and I did the whole thing by ourselves from visa to naturalization.

 

One last thought, it is highly doubtful that a denial would happen considering having a child together.

[billyc]

Dan,

 

You had me start to think about doing filing myself.

 

The lawyer I contacted today saying their are doing the paper filing. Do you recommend to do the efiling? Will the efiling speed up the things a little bit? Because I have a baby, I need to file two I130. Will the cases be seperated if I do the e-filing?

 

Thanks!