CR-1 Visa get started

[Lay4]

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum and hope to seek better understanding of this process and help.

 

Me and my husband, who is a Chinese National, recently got married (last month). I am 25 and he is 29 years old. We want to begin this process as soon as possible, however we thought we may need a lawyer for our situation. For example, my husband last year applied for a tourist visa twice and was declined twice under 214b. We think he was declined because he was honest and stated he wanted to visit his girlfriend's family and friends. We thought that because of this maybe we needed a lawyer for our Spousal visa. However the lawyer keeps changing prices and its up to 3,400 dollars, so we are really reconsidering if a lawyers help is really necessary.

 

If we don't go with the lawyer, we would most likely apply through the Guangzhou UCIS consulate, however we don't know where to begin. We don't want this to be a repeat of the tourist visa again. That was just disheartening because he wanted to do things right and meet my family and friends first. But alas....

 

So from what I gathered from these threads is that I need to gather:

 

Make an appointment with UCIS Guangzhou, bring in the below documents:

 

1. I-130 Form

2. I-130A Form

3. Proof of my residency in China

4. 2 passport size photos for me and my husband

5. Passport

6. Confirmation page

 

 

And is that it? Is that the first step? If so, how long will it be until I receive a response after?

 

 

 

[Randy W]

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum and hope to seek better understanding of this process and help.

 

Me and my husband, who is a Chinese National, recently got married (last month). I am 25 and he is 29 years old. We want to begin this process as soon as possible, however we thought we may need a lawyer for our situation. For example, my husband last year applied for a tourist visa twice and was declined twice under 214b. We think he was declined because he was honest and stated he wanted to visit his girlfriend's family and friends. We thought that because of this maybe we needed a lawyer for our Spousal visa. However the lawyer keeps changing prices and its up to 3,400 dollars, so we are really reconsidering if a lawyers help is really necessary.

 

If we don't go with the lawyer, we would most likely apply through the Guangzhou UCIS consulate, however we don't know where to begin. We don't want this to be a repeat of the tourist visa again. That was just disheartening because he wanted to do things right and meet my family and friends first. But alas....

 

So from what I gathered from these threads is that I need to gather:

 

Make an appointment with UCIS Guangzhou, bring in the below documents:

 

1. I-130 Form

2. I-130A Form

3. Proof of my residency in China

4. 2 passport size photos for me and my husband

5. Passport

6. Confirmation page

 

 

And is that it? Is that the first step? If so, how long will it be until I receive a response after?

 

 

 

 

This is hopefully a residence permit - if not, bring any and all evidence you have that you actually LIVE in China.

 

When filing DCF (Direct Consular Filing through the USCIS office in Guangzhou), the entire process can take as little as six weeks to four months to interview.

 

I saw earlier that you were reading up on some of the DCF threads, so you probably have a better idea now of what happens next.

 

Good luck, and welcome to CFL. I hope you can stick around for a while.

[dnoblett]

About the denial, with a tourist visa, the burden of proof that the intent to visit and not decide to stay has to be satisfied being married or engaged to a US citizen is a tough one to overcome. This is not the case with an immigrant visa, the visa is that intent. However, you need to show the marriage is genuine and prove the marriage is for just that and not only for immigration purposes.

 

You only posted the required forms however you left out the relationship evidence that should be attached.

 

Study topics tagged "Front Loading". http://candleforlove.com/forums/tags/forums/Front%2BLoading/

 

Also, study topics in the DCF forum. http://candleforlove.com/forums/forum/46-direct-consulate-filing/

 

Lastly, you will find that the majority here took the DIY approach to doing this, the few that did use a lawyer tended to have to double check all the paperwork and evidence filed. For the most part, lawyers simply give you a list of things to gather and fill out forms, you are doing all the legwork. Lawyers typically cannot guarantee success. A few times I have seen topics where the lawyer screwed things royalty.