Visa Process CR-1 or K-1 with son, also CCP issue

[Shenzhen K-1]

My new girlfriend has a one year "M" B-2 visa and has already been to my lovely city already.

We contacted a lawyer and he said doing a CR-1 here is not too much of an issue?

She has a 14 year old son, and what is quicker to bring him here my thinking is K-1?

The other issue is she was CCP when she taught at a university, is that better handled in the USA or in China?

[dnoblett]

in either case K-1 or CR-1 the CCP issue will be handled in China through an after interview administrative processing.

 

CR-1 has a lower fee cost from petition file through green card than does K-1,CR-1 has two petitions one for spouse and another for step child, K-1 will have derivative K-2 for child however the child has the added high adjustment of status fees to get a green card.

 

CR-1 gets green card upon arrival where K-1 can take months after marriage to get one.

 

CR-1 will require marriage before filing a petition, the marriage can take place in China or in the States, so she could travel here on her B-2 and get married, and you could then file two I-130 petitions one for her and one for step child, she would then travel back to China and wait for the interview for the CR-1 and CR-2 visas.

 

K-1 / K-2 involves filing one I-129F, for fiancee, once it is at the consulate, beneficiary applies for and pays fees for two visas, K-1 and K-2, after arrival on the visas, need to get married within 90 days, and then file two adjustment of status applications and pay the associated fees for both. AOS is $1070 each... Child age 14 or older gets to pay the full AOS fee

 

I broke down the fee costs from petition filing to green card, for a mother/child immigration case a while back.

 

• CR-1 / CR-2 total is around $2132
• K-1 / K-2 total is around $3180

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/44430-living-in-china-and-confused/?p=584584

[warpedbored]

If a K-1 is denied you have the option of getting married and starting over. there are no do overs for a CR-1. You would have to battle it out.

[Shenzhen K-1]

Thanks for the advice, second time around trying to make sure no problems, but who knows..............

 

I figured if they gave her a B-2 "M" visa it should be easier, LoL!

 

My only tough choice is I have a very good immigration lawyer hired this time because of several issues.

 

But he really wants us to get married and stay here and fight out the CR-1.

 

He tells me that he has done this for 20 years and can not help her at all there and he tells me they will not send her home?

[dnoblett]

Thanks for the advice, second time around trying to make sure no problems, but who knows..............

 

I figured if they gave her a B-2 "M" visa it should be easier, LoL!

 

My only tough choice is I have a very good immigration lawyer hired this time because of several issues.

 

But he really wants us to get married and stay here and fight out the CR-1.

 

He tells me that he has done this for 20 years and can not help her at all there and he tells me they will not send her home?

What he is suggesting, is using a visit visa to immigrate, that is filing an I-130 and an I-485 at same time to adjust status. Knowingly using a visit visa with the intent to immigrate can be treated as visa fraud by an immigration court, and denied.

 

I have dealt with a couple cases where a visitor adjust status, however in both cases they were visiting as international college students, in this case this is not a misuse of a visa, they were attending school which satisfied the visa.

 

Why does the UCIS offer a K-1 visa? If everyone were allowed to arrive as a common visitor and adjust status, then there would be no reason for the K-1.

 

Two proper routes.

 

File for a K-1 (I-129F) get the visas and come to the states and adjust status after marriage.

 

OR

 

Get married first, either here in the states on the B-2, or travel over there and get married, and then file two I-130 forms for CR-1 and CR-2 visas for spouse and step child, also can file an I-129F after USCIS receives the I-130 in an attempt to get K-3/K-4 visas, and interview for visas over in China.

[Randy W]

My gut feeling reading what you posted is that you need a new lawyer, unless you are not relaying corectly what he is saying. A CR-1 is a visa, which will allow her to enter the country. If she is ALREADY in the country on the B-2, she/you would file an I-130 and an I-485 together to adjust status. Entering the country for the purpose of doing this could open the door to an accusation of immigrations fraud. But yes, court-ordered Adjustments of Status are fairly routine, depending on the leanings of your immigrations courts. You need to have a better understanding of what you're getting into (AND whether your lawyer truly knows what he's doing). It doesn't seem like your lawyer is helping your understanding.

[Shenzhen K-1]

Thanks for all the help, a second time is even worse then before.

 

My fiance got her B-2 so easily it just seemed to me that she could stay here and get married.

So I read all the posts here and decided to call the lawyer I used on a very limited basis with the first wife.

He states to me that he would prefer she stay here and even if we run into a problem he can help us get out of it.

He has 4 offices in the Chicago (I know who cares) and seems to know what he is doing.

I did ask K-1 versus the CR-1 and he said keep her here, he had limited ability to help her in China.

I asked about K-1, CR-1 keeping her here or going back and doing a CR-1 and interview in China.

 

I have read on Visa journey of couples who did this and get quoted the old 30-60-90 so called rule!

 

Also I have called another lawyer for a second opinion.

[Beachey]

The other part of this is you mentioned she has a 14 year old son who is still in China? I would echo what Randy said but if you would get married here in the US and attempt to Adjust Status, I don't know how long that would take but I would guess at least a year and likely longer where she would not be able to leave the country and highly unlikely the son could get a visa. While the son would be eligible for a derivative visa (CR-2) you need to understand when you could start that process. I don't really know but I would not be surprised if you had to wait for your wife's green card to be approved. Friends of my wife and I are just about to go get her son in China and that has taken about a year and half from when they first sent in the I-130. So it might take as much as 2 1/2 to 3 years to get the son over here if you adjusted status in the US.

 

It would probably make sense to get married here in the US, send in the I-130 to start the process but have you then wife return to China when her B-2 requires it. The only advantage I see to the K-1 is if the son might age out (I think it is 18) but Dan or someone else would know for sure.

[dnoblett]

Yes beachy has a very good point, adjusting status would not include sep child, No such thing as a derivative CR-2 visa for step child, a separate visa petition is filed for step child.

 

In either case child will not have an age out problem, marriage needs to happen before age 18 in order to file a petition for a step child. Only advantage a K1 has is in cases where marriage would happen after child turns 18 step child is still eligible for a K2 up to age 21

[Randy W]

Thanks for all the help, a second time is even worse then before.

 

My fiance got her B-2 so easily it just seemed to me that she could stay here and get married.

So I read all the posts here and decided to call the lawyer I used on a very limited basis with the first wife.

He states to me that he would prefer she stay here and even if we run into a problem he can help us get out of it.

He has 4 offices in the Chicago (I know who cares) and seems to know what he is doing.

I did ask K-1 versus the CR-1 and he said keep her here, he had limited ability to help her in China.

I asked about K-1, CR-1 keeping her here or going back and doing a CR-1 and interview in China.

 

I have read on Visa journey of couples who did this and get quoted the old 30-60-90 so called rule!

 

Also I have called another lawyer for a second opinion.

 

 

What he's telling you is that he wants to deal with the American court system, rather than the USCIS. Under American law, you can marry anyone you choose, and that marriage will be recognized by the American legal system.

 

I would need a LOT more faith in this guy than what I'm getting from you here - sidestepping the Immigrations folks isn't always easy. It's at HIS convenience to deal with the American legal system - not YOURS.

 

My gut feeling reading what you posted is that you need a new lawyer, unless you are not relaying correctly what he is saying. A CR-1 is a visa, which will allow her to enter the country. If she is ALREADY in the country on the B-2, she/you would file an I-130 and an I-485 together to adjust status. Entering the country for the purpose of doing this could open the door to an accusation of immigrations fraud. But yes, court-ordered Adjustments of Status are fairly routine, depending on the leanings of your immigrations courts. You need to have a better understanding of what you're getting into (AND whether your lawyer truly knows what he's doing). It doesn't seem like your lawyer is helping your understanding.

 

But then again, if he has knowledge of and can work within the immigrations courts, that may work to your advantage. Or it may simply be more of a legal entanglement than you really want.

 

Once the two of you are married, you can file an I-130 for your step-son (her son) who is still in China. That should be MUCH more straight forward, by comparison.

[Shenzhen K-1]

She is coming here on the 29th of June and we going the 130 route and have her and son interview in Beijing.

 

She did well there before getting her B-2, hope the good luck holds out.

 

Like a K-1/K-2 on a 130 both will interview together yes?

 

130 for both, G-325A for mom, divorce papers, both need birth certificates?

[dnoblett]

All immigrant visa interviews happen in Guangzhou, Beijing only dose non-immigrant like B-2.

 

As for forms treat them as separate petitions, no sharing of any documents so each gets a copy of marriage cert attached.

 

Spouse (CR-1) would be:

• I-130
• Two G-325A forms, one from you one from her
• G-1145
• Copy of marriage cert
• Copy of yours and/or her divorce decrees if married before
• Copy of any death certificates if widowed
• Proof of US Citizenship:
  • Copy of BIO page from US Passport
  • OR, Copy of US Birth Cert
  • OR, Copy of Naturalization Cert
• Relationship evidence

Step Child (CR-2)

• I-130
• G-1145
• Copy of birth cert showing relationship to mother
• Copy of your marriage cert
• Copy of spouse's Divorce Decree and/or death certs showing prior marriage(s) were ended.
• Proof of US Citizenship:
  • Copy of BIO page from US Passport
  • OR, Copy of US Birth Cert
  • OR, Copy of Naturalization Cert

 

Two guides:

 

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

http://www.visajourney.com/content/childpet

 

Yes if both petitions are filed together, they should be connected and work through the system with interview together or same day.

[dnoblett]

Also, I will add another member, Doug has detailed his process, he tossed in the optional I-129F for K-3 process, it may speed up USCIS a little possibly saving a month or two at USCIS. Note, if USCIS ties the I-130s to the I-129F they tend to still run then together approve them together and send them together to NVC where the NVC will strip off the I-129F (K-3/K-4) and proceed with the I-130 for CR-1

 

Note: The K-3/K-4 life act was set up at a time when I-130 (CR-1/IR-1) were taking much longer than I-129F (K-1) cases, so congress made it so that I-130 cases can file an I-129F for a visa to allow the waiting immigrant to travel to the USA and wait out the I-130 processing with their US Spouse. It is rare nowadays to see a K-3 actually get all the way to an interview, if NVC receives the I-129F and I-130 from USCIS close together or at the same time, NVC closes the I-129F because the reason for the K-3 (Waiting for I-130 approval) at that point does not exist.

 

See: http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/46285-i-129f-wait-times-shorter-than-i-130-for-uscitizen-in-usa/

[Doug]

Yes at the time the I-129F saved us 3 months, by getting linked with the I-130 and getting processed before 5 months were up on the I-129F file date. You would need to look at processing times of the various centers and compare them with Green car holder processing for spouse verses US Citizen, and look at the K-1, K-3, CR-1 times to decide what to do. Now the I-130s are approved and no one knows where the I-129F is and it does not matter. It served its purpose. I posted the links somewhere.

 

In later steps, when it gets to the NVC, seems to be slowed down now as well. Many immigrants are flooding the system anticipating changes in the law, so I am told by officers etc.