Hello, A belated Happy Chinese Years!! I have couple of questions about getting married in China. I have a friend who is a permament of resident of the U.S. He is from China. He wants to go back to China to marry his Chinese sweetheart. I am guessing that he should applied for a K-3 visa for his wife if he gets married in China this year after they get married. Correct? Should his timeline mirror that of an American citizen's K-3 application ? I am guessing that it should. I looked around this site and could not find a similar posting with this question. I tried to use the search function but I was getting an error message. The other question that I had was does he need a Single Certificate statement notarized and authenticated in the state that he is living now? This a document for the China government. Even though he a permanent resident of the U.S....he is still a Chinese citizen. I guess I could see an argument for answering this question either way. I don't think it is needed and it is just a waste of time and money but on the other hand I hate for him to be in the Nanning at the Marriage bureau being told that that document is required. I checked the Chinese embassy site but all they have is sample form but no information about the requirements. I would appreciated any information that anyone could give me. Thank You. Danny Boy I hope I posted these question in the right section.

No, a permanent resident's is not eligible for K3 and also must wait for a visa to become available for a family member. He can file for an IR1 visa for his wife and wait in line.

If he is still a Chinese citizen, he will be treated as such but the Marriage bureau in Nanning. His requirements will be the same as his intended wife. She can just check on this for them both, directly with the marriage office in Nanning. Of course, if it's going to take several years to get her here......

PushBrk, Thank you for the reply. Intially I was going to post just my question on the Single Certificate but I decided to ask the K-3 question also. I am glad that I did. I "assumed" that I knew the answer about the K-3 and was just looking for a confirmation. Wrong!! This time I will not assume.. I will look at the FAQ on Visa's. I suggested several times that some one should contact the marriage bureau about the Single certicate question, . I will pass along the information to my friend. Thank You again. Have a good day. Danny B.

How soon is he elgible for citizenship? Petitions from LPR's take alot longer as they are put on a waiting list with other LPR (It can take years). Plus, K-1 and K-3 visas are not available. If he is almost elgibile for naturalization (within a year) it might be faster to get citizenship first, then petition.

My friend has not been in the states that long. Perhaps a little more than a year so he is not that close (in time) to being able to apply for citizenship. I think he has to wait for 3 + years. Wow.. It seem like nothing is simple and straight forward in this immigration application procedure. It starts out with .."We are going to get married, and all l we have to do is :"... But then depending on one's particular circumstance there seems like there are multiple paths that one must choose to navigate thru. We are lucky for sites like VJ and people like you all that help us select our path. We are able to read and ask and get answers to our questions. Thank You very much. Danny Boy