New to the forum

[Ross]

I have been looking over this site a bit and i have not seen situation that is exactly as mine and my girlfriends is. I am turning 25 in april, shes 23, and we have decided that we probally want to married and all of that, even though we have only known each other for 5 months. What is the best way for us to get started with the visa process? Would it be easier/quicker for her to go to school in the U.S. (shes a very good student, about to graduate.) And then getting married while shes is still in school so that she will have, a student visa, so that we can live together in the us.

 

Ross

[warpedbored]

Welcome to our group. If she can get a student visa go for it. You could then marry once she is here. Otherwise be prepared for a wait of 8 months to a year.

[Mick]

Student visas are probably faster but generally harder to get, even for very qualified students. I taught in China for five years and had many students apply for graduate study in America. Although most of them were accepted by American universities and most were awarded academic scholarships, probably less than fifteen percent were able to get a visa. If she can get the visa, that would be great, however, I am unsure what you would have to do once she got to the States in terms of the marriage. I would expect that you would have to file an Adjustment of Status somewhere along the way.

 

BTW: welcome to candle!

[bobmal99]

If possible get the student visa. Then when she comes you will be able to spend more time getting to know each other. If at this point you still are madly in love and want to get married, all you have to do is file an AOS.

 

Otherwise you should probably do the K-1 Fiance Visa process. You would file this using your home address in the US as your addrsss of record.

 

Good luck and welcome to our family..

[kimnjake]

i have a friend that is here studying on a student visa. they are definitely harder to get and definitely faster.

many students must try 2 and 3 times before being approved, even when they have everything they need. i think the interview is much harder too....well it depends on who you get!!

 

anyway, if there are things that either of you can be doing while waiting it out, i would go for the fiance visa, but just my opinion...i dont know though!

 

especially if you can be in BJ teaching while waiting for it! i assume she lives in BJ too???

[kimnjake]

as far as being like your situation....i am not exactly, but, i met my fiance in BJ, i was teaching over there for some time....several times....he just got here 2 weeks ago after about 11 months of waiting. he was working in BJ as well, a tour guide for foreign tourists....his english is very good.

i just turned 26 and he will 25 this year..... there are not many of us youngin's on here....hehe, but there are a few of us.....(nothing meant towards you "not so youngin's" heheh!!)

[turtle]

We were in a similar situation and decided to go with the student visa. Now I see we wasted about 1 year going through with a process, which, last I heard, had a less than 1% success rate. Anyway, after getting refused the student visa, we started the k1 process last September. While the f1 (student visa) route is nice in theory (no pressure to marry, chance for her to see if she likes the US, gives her some degree of independence while you build your relationship) the reality is that our immigration system is not set up in a way to facilitate what might "make sense" to 99% of people... In short, unless she already has an f1 visa in hand, I would strongly advise going the k1 route.

[skibum]

Mick, who funds the scholarships?

[Ross]

Thank you everyone for the replies. Yes, she lives in Beijing, what are the hang ups on the visa side? From our government or theirs? Shes an english major, so hopefully she can pass any interview, but if everyone thinks we should just get the K-1, we can do that. Shes got a job down in Tsingin "sp?" right next to hong kong, and i guess that i could teach another 6 months, or more, study chinese, and help her get prepared for the GRE for when we come back. I'm having my Mom (whos a professor) look into the student visa. We wills tart one of the visa processes and the start of next week, does anyone know if we can try for both?

Thanks for all the help

Ross and Gloria

[warpedbored]

Im not quite clear on whether or not you are living near hong kong. If you are perhaps you can get married in Hong Kong and save yourselves a bunch of time. I don't know the details but I have heard some pretty fast timelines for K-3 visas there. Student visas are very difficult to get. If you file for both a student visa and a K visa at the same time the student visa will fail simply because they will know she is an intending immigrant.

[sawadee]

Ross,

If you are currently working in Beijing and have a 'residence certificate' of Beijing, then my suggestion would be you get married in beijing, apply for CR1 in Beijing(not in States), it only takes 6 months to finish the whole process. There is no K3 for CR1 if the application takes place in China instead of States. (applying for CR1 in States takes 2 years time to finish)

Good luck.

Sawadee

[turtle]

The hang ups with student visas all come from the US side. In fact, it has very little to do with how well she speaks english, or even how good of a student she is. It comes down to whether the visa official believes she will overstay her visa. It's a "guilty until proven innocent" construct. All applicants for f1 visas are assumed to be potential illegal immigrants. Student visas are granted on the basis of proving that she has "strong ties" to china, which will preclude her from overstaying her visa. For example, if she has kids staying in china, or some great job waiting for her in china when she comes back. In this way, being a good student, or speaking perfect english can actually hurt your chances (visa officials may suspect she's planning to get a job in the US after graduating).

 

Ultimately, it becomes an arbitrary process, depending on which line she get placed into for her interviews. Some visa officials will grant 1 or 2 out of a group of 20. Others regularly grant none. My gf had two interviews, and no one in either of her groups were granted visas. Yes, you get 3 attempts per year, but if you are refused the first time, you can pretty much forget it. It would be like one visa official saying the other official didn't do his job right. Almost impossible.

 

I would suggest looking for alternatives to the student visa. This is a good place to find advice. If you are in china, and can stay there, I think k1 would be a nice option. Stay together, and in 6 months you'll already be in the home stretch.

[Ross]

OK, whats a cr1? I knnow the K-1 and k-3, and why does the cr1 take so much less time? I am living in beijing right now, and if we cannot get the process done in six months, we are going to move next to hong kong, but still in the peoples republic of china.

Ross

[sawadee]

not like K1 and k3, CR1 is an immigrant visa, CR1 is issued to the spouse of an American citizen who has married for less than 2 years. (Those who has married for over 2 years should apply for IR1) The children apply to CR2 and IR2 respectively. If the petitioner of CR1 live in the States, the whole process of CR1 need 2 years or so, for the purpose of a sooner family reunion, K3 is created. However, if the petitioner of CR1 live outside the States, CR1 should be applied in the country where he/she are currently living. In China, it takes about 6 months to get the approval of CR1(that's why no need for K3). When the case approved, the beneficiary (spouse of the petitioner) gets a temorary green card(if they have been married for less than 2 years) or a permanent green card(if they have been married for over 2 years) of the States.

You are very lucky you can apply CR1 in China, no need to go through the endless waiting torture of K1 or K3. Those who do not have residence certificate in China can only apply CR1 in States or K1/K3.

Sawadee :

[Guest pandabull]

A CR-1 is an immigrant visa and upon arrival to the states, he/she will receive a green card and become a permanent resident of the US. No need for AOS If you are working or residing in China or Hong Kong,obtaining an immigrant visa through the embassy in China or Hong Kong is lot quicker than applying for one in the states. Our whole process took less than 6 months from start to finish. Our timeline

 

I-130 Timeline

Marriage in Hong Kong..........................................................09/30/03

Sent I-130 to INS in US Consulate Hong Kong......................09/30/03

Received INS appproval.........................................................10/31/03

Received Packet 3 from Guangzhou.......................................12/13/03

Received Packet 4 from Guangzhou.......................................02/04/04

Interview...............................................................................03/11/04

Immigrant Visa Received........................................................03/12/04