I do not know what your husband is referring to when he says “he will … present his passport at the US embassy”. If you were not yet married, then I would imagine he is talking about going to the embassy, and asking them to provide him a document saying “he is single”, which often is needed for a foreigner to marry in China.

Since your husband is not living in China, he will not be asked or required EVER, to visit the US Embassy.

The process to apply for a CR-1 starts in the USA. A petition called the I-130 will be completed by your husband. When he sends this to the US government, he MUST provide many, many documents. Some are used to prove identity and citizenship. Some are used to prove that you have a real marriage.

One documentation will be for your Husband to prove he is a US Citizen. Normally he will attach a copy of his birth certificate or passport (every page).

So when he starts the application, he will (MUST) include the documents, and MAIL them in to Immigration.

No trip to China. No visit to the Embassy is needed. No birth certificate required. He has his passport. That is all the proof needed.

Tags: CR-1, I-130, spousal visa, Spousal Visas, uscis

A group of Immigration attorneys who help prepare and submit Fiancee K-1 and Spousal K-3 visas are rallying together to complain and lobby against apparent procedural problems at the US visa section, Guangzhou China.  In reviewing their in-house data, and then combining this data across the different firms, they believe their statistics demonstrate that the Visa Section in Guangzhou is denying an abnormally high percentage of K-1 and K-3 petitions.

The attorneys assertion is that the visa officers in Guangzhou are over zealous in applying a higher standard than is official State Department policy. They believe this has resulted in Petitions which routinely would be approved at any other consulate, being unfairly denied in Guangzhou. Based on their own review of the denied cases, the attorneys have intuited the following list of extra-ordinary reasons they believe K petitions were denied in Guangzhou.

• No English, No Visa.
• One Visit, No Visa.
• Marriage on First Visit, no Visa.
• Very Large Age Different, No Visa.
• Three or More marriages by Petitioner, No Visa.

These are the apparent “Red Flags” when applying for the Fiancee or Spousal visa in China.  It seems that these could also negatively influence the consideration of your petition in other countries as well. To “err” on the safe side, I would suggest to any couple to strengthen the appearance of their genuine relationship, by addressing some of the issues listed above.

• Enroll the Fiancee in English School if her English is weak.
• Take a second trip.  Enjoy a second or third visit, spend face to face time  together.

In the case of the denied petitions, true love finally won out. Each denied Fiancee couple, got married, in China, then applied again, this time for an IR1or CR1 visa, and after long delays, these were granted.

For further information about Fiancee or Spousal Visas visit FianceeVisaServices.com

Tags: China Bride, fiancee visa, Guangzhou, K-1 Visa, K-3 Visa, spousal visa, uscis

I get a lot of calls asking for advice on how to apply for a Fiancee Visa.  I put together these videos to walk through the I-129F petition process.

Click Play to view the video.

Tags: fiance visa, fiancee visa, I 129F, I129F, immigration, K-1, K1, uscis

I got a phone call today from a person asking for help. He said his I-129F K-1 Fiancee Visa Application was denied and he wanted to know what he could do.

Note: I had never talked to him before, he was not my client.  None of My Fiancee Visa Preparation clients have had their applications denied.

In his case after his fiancee attended her interview, they were notified that the Manila consulate wanted additional information.  They wanted copies of travel itineraries, emails, photos.

Some were provided. The Fiancee had a second interview. The I-129F Fiancee Visa petition was denied as the consular officer suspected the relationship was not Genuine.

Some applicants think petitioning for a Fiancee Visa is like getting a drivers license. You just fill in the blanks, pay the fee, get your photo taken and done.  This is not the case for petitioning for a Fiancee Visa, the process is closer to applying to get into college.  In addition to filling in the blanks, there is also the ESSAY question, where you must convince the reader you are worthy.

The essay question for a I-129F (which is not officially asked on the forms but had better be answered in full if you want the petition to smoothly navigate the system) is:  “Is this a genuine, bone fide relationship between two people who sincerely seek to spend their lives together in marriage?”

When I help prepare a Fiancee Visa K1 petition,  usually the final package contains about 100 to 150 pages. We devote at least half of the tabbed sections, and half of the pages to answering the “is this genuine?” question. The answer starts with a two page letter that describes the relationship, its history, present and future. I help my client write his letter. We try to cover the following points:

• Describe the history of your relationship.
  

• include, details of the courtship? Frequency of contact etc.
  

• How did you come into first contact with your fiancée?
  

• Describe the nature of relationship?
  

• Why did you choose your fiancée?
  

• What features, attributes do you find most attractive?
  

• What are your plans for the future with your fiancee?
  

• What are your plans for the wedding ceremony?
  

• What are plans for honeymoon?
  

• What are your plans for establishing a household?
  

• Where do you plan to live after marriage? – what kind of house, where, buy rent location and so on.
  

• What do you expect to happen within a year of marriage?
  

• What do you expect to happen after 5 years of marriage?
  

• After marriage, do you have plans about work for your spouse?
  

• Are you planning a family?
  

• Plans for vacations together?
  

• Plans for social, hobbies, educational interests?

Then in addition to this letter, I have my clients provide supporting documents, such as:

• Photos of the couple together

• Travel Itineraries

• Passport Visa Stamps

• Telephone Bills

• Copies of Emails/Letters/IM’s

• Hotel Receipts

• Engagement Announcements

• Engagement Ring Receipt

The objective is to fully dispel any doubt that the reviewer may have that the relationship is genuine. Once convinced that the relationship is real, the petition should move along smoothly.  Details on how to apply for the I-129 petition and how to demonstrate the genuineness of the relationship are also discussed in detail in the Fiancee Secrets eBook Chapters “Documenting the relationship” and “Letter to describe the relationship”

In the case of the caller, he was given the choice to appeal the decision or start over.  If it was my petition, and my relationship was genuine, then I would do the work I should have done in the first place. I would put together a clean, compelling package that included a detailed two page letter on the relationship, plus all the relevant supporting documents I could find. And I would file attach this package to the appeal request.

Tags: bone fide relationship, fiancee visa, genuine relationship, I 129F, K-1, K1, uscis

My Fiancee is from Colombia and the birth certificate is in Spanish. Can I simply write the English words above the Spanish words in the form?

from: Brian

Every foreign language document that accompanies a Fiancee Visa Petitions I-129F must be accompanied by a Certified Translation.  See the “Certification of Translations” page in the Fiancee Visa Secrets eBook.

If I were you I would not mark up the original birth certificate, but provide a separate typed page, in English that is an accurate  translation.  Attached to this translation should be another page written and signed by a professional translator attesting that he is a competent translator, and certifying that the translation is accurate.

If you are a professional Spanish to English  translator, you could do the translation yourself, and certify the translation. However even if you are a professional translator, I would not recommend that you do it yourself.  Instead use an independent third party.

In submitting your petition, you want it to be as clean, and straightforward as possible. You should provide USCIS and State with exactly what they ask for, in exactly the format they prefer. This avoids questions, and avoiding questions helps to speed processing of the petition.

Best

Fred Wahl
Matchmaker

Tags: Certified Translation, fiancee visa, I 129F, I129F, K-1, K1, spousal visa, uscis