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visa or citizenship

culture (51 posts) • 0

Hi, I am looking to apply my Chinese spouse to the States in the near future, and I would like to get a heard start now since I heard it might take about two years. As for the procedure, I have been researching for a while and it seems overwhelming and difficult, should one apply for the permanent resident first then try to become American or should one apply for the citizenship from the get go? what are the forms to fill out and how difficult is the process? some even said to apply for a visiting visa which is easier and then change to a citizenship while in america? my wife can speak English well and same for me in Chinese, also we are having a baby so there shouldn't be any reasons for rejection as the marriage seems legit right? I have not worked in the states for years and do not have a lot of money in the bank will it be a problem? thanks for all the helps out there.

tallamerican (396 posts) • 0

@culture, If you were not already married you would have 2 options for gettting your wife an immigrant visa. There is a fiancee visa which after filling out a ton of paperwork and waiting for 6-12 months if you are given the okay you can take your fiancee to usa and then have 3 months to marry. At that point you then fill out paperwork for her to become permanant and green card paperwork allowing her to work. Because you are married you need to do the regular immigrant visa process. All the paperwork is available from the US embassy website in Beijing. First thing you need to fill out paperwork on yourself and preliminary paperwork on your wife. That goes to homeland security and if you are lucky in 6 months they will say it is okay to file an official application. By the way everytime you submit paperwork their is a specified fee for processing. Make sure there are no mistakes and what ever you do never stretch the truth. If they find mistakes they will send paperwork back to you and waiting starts all over again. Many people use an attorney to make sure they have the proper forms and to review them for errors. After all paperwork is approved which can take well over a year then you and your wife will be asked to set up an interview. As you eluded to the whole process can take easily up to 2 years. Nice thing is if you are approved your wife will have her green card when you you get to usa and she can work if she wants. One sticking point is you will have to prove you have the means to support yourself, your wife and child in the USA. If you do not have the means when you are going to usa you can have someone sponsor you and sign paperwork stating they will support you until you are able to support yourself. A bit of warning in no way do you want to mix a tourist visa to usa and immigrant visa. I am not an expert but i think it is okay for your wife to get a tourist visa, visit the usa, return to china as specified by the visa, and then later apply for immigrant visa. From what i have been told if at the time you are applying for a visitor visa they have any suspicion that your wife wishes to immigrate she will be rejected for the visa. That is why for your wife to get a visitor visa she needs to prove beyond a doubt that she will be returning to china. Owning a home, car, having a good job, money in chinese bank, and relatives in china are important considerations in granting the visa. Also having traveled outside china helps the process. Good luck my wife is applying now for a visitor visa for this summer. What is really a shame is USA is now considering giving amnesty to all the illegal workers who have come to the USA over the years, and also students who have attained advanced degrees. We expats for having had the audacity to meet and fall in love with a non-american woman have to fight like hell just to have the opportunity to take our wives to the USA to visit our families.

culture (51 posts) • 0

wow thanks for the useful info, it really helps, I just hope for us legal ones we are going to eventually make it but who knows what will happen in the immigration, but will try my hardest.

USImmiAttorney (1 post) • 0

Give US a call with any questions, we have an agent inside of China and this is what our law firm does: US immigration and nationality law. The process can be very tricky. We are sponsors on the goKunming.com. Please www.lawofficeofgwdennis.com. Call our Chinese agent 18887456667, we can talk to you for free for 15-mins to steer you to the correct forms. lawofficeofgwdennis@gmail.com

kmrk81 (3 posts) • 0

Never trust a company that can't even afford a proper corporate email address. The Law Office of GW Dennis should really invest in proper communication tools if it wants to acquire customers...a GMail address does not do the trick, me thinks.

Also: before shelling out on consultation fees with immigration "consultants", just call up the main US embassy in Beijing and get the info from them first. After that, you can make a decision to either pay a "consultant" or do the legwork yourself.

tallamerican (396 posts) • 0

@kmrk81, what is wrong with his website. I have never met this attorney and am not sure i would ever use him if i needed an attorney, but his website seems to be good for a 1 man operation and has contact phone numbers and what is wrong with gmail. Am i missing somthing?

kmrk81 (3 posts) • 0

@tallamerican

Must I spell it out for you?

GMail is a service that anyone can sign-up for, without verifying your identity or that of the business name you place in the email address itself. That is why free email services have been used by scammers and cheaters since the inception of the internet.

Now, if you own a domain name, you can also own email addresses that go with it. So for a company to set up an email system that corresponds to their company is easy. For you, the customer, at least you know that you are dealing with the company staff and not some Nigerian guy out to get your money. You see, to have corporate email tied to your domain, you have to verify that you indeed own the WWW address in question.

To sum up: this is a law firm and undoubtedly, if you deal with them, you might send personal information. Do you know where it is going or who receives it? No you don't. In today's world of identity theft and so forth, I wouldn't trust dealing with companies through private email.

Corporate email takes minutes to set-up, so there is no excuse not to do it and it gives customers piece of mind that you are actually dealing with the company itself. Finally, I never said anything about the website itself, just commented on the use of GMail for, what seems, private and confidential correspondence, as it is usually the case when dealing with lawyers.

tallamerican (396 posts) • 0

@kmrk81, thank you for the information, i would never send personal information to any email address corporate or otherwise. Would rather spend the money to send documents by certified mail or with a courier service with tracking ability. I did not grow up with internet so i only use it for information seeking and only on rare occasions for information giving that i would not mind if anyone sees.

bucko (695 posts) • 0

I am going through this process with my wife now. I do not recommend a lawyer to do the visa or green card filings. The process is not complicated as some will have you believe. Simply go step by step and provide everything requested truthfully and in as simple terms as possible. Answer exactly the questions asked, keeping to the point. The process is clearly explained and if you read the instructions, you should be fine.

You don't give much details about your situation, but the length of time you are legally married is a major thing with the INS. Having a baby has no bearing on your eligibility. I have been married in China for over 7 years we started the green card process last summer. Once the INS sent us confirmation that our marriage has been "officially" recognized as legit, it was 3 months later we received out interview appt in Guangzhou. They scheduled her interview in the middle of Chinese New Years, so we had them reschedule it which will mean another few months before they will give us a new date. We are in no rush. But after her interview she should get her 10 year green card immediately because of our length of marriage.

My advice is follow the application instructions completely and check and recheck for mistakes before submitting. You should have no trouble doing it all yourself.

DaMiao (66 posts) • 0

Ditto Bucko.
I did the paperwork for my wife and son. It took time and patience but it's doable. Just read the instructions carefully, be prepared and DO NOT FUDGE ANYTHING! We talked to a lot of people who had been rejected because they could not answer simple questions about their American spouses life, like where do they live in the US,their occupation and family members. Unless money is no object, I'd recommend saving yourself the $5,000-$10,000 and do it yourself.

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