How I did DCF in Beijing

[Not me 1]

I thought I would make this post for anyone who is also going through the same thing that I am. As stated in the 'Title' I submitted my I-130 application by DCF at the Beijing embassy. I will give give some of my background and steps that I took to get to where I am now in the immigration process for my wife.

I am American 29 years old and my wife is Chinese 27 years old. We have never been married before and have no children. We met August 2008 and have been living together ever since. We were married August 2009 in Taiyuan, and a month later moved from Suzhou to Beijing because of work. I am an English teacher in China.

I paid a consultant (who is an retired embassy Visa officer, about 25+ years on the job) to help with the process since me and my wife wanted to immigrate together to America. He told us that we had two choices.

1. We could file the CR1/IR1 now, and maybe wait over a year to finish

2. Get my wife a travel visa to visit and return from US as a way to establish a record with the embassy (told us it would take less then 6 months most of the time)

The other reason he suggested to go for the travel visa was that they do a check your background, and anything they find that would be a reason for denial for a travel visa could also be a red flag for a immigration visa. I applied in July of 2010 for her travel visa, and was denied since she wasn't employed at the time. We applied again (this time my wife did have a job) and she was granted a travel visa in October of 2010.

We spent the Chinese new year at my parent's home, and returned middle of February this year. About a week after I returned I called the Beijing embassy to make an appointment to submit my I-130 application, but no one answered. I left a message everyday for about five days. I also emailed the embassy with the email they supplied for making appointments, and about two days later emailed me back when I would like to come in and submitted the application. They told me that they are available for submissions Tuesday through Thursday 2-4:30 pm. I emailed them back that I wanted Tuesday or the soonest possible. The replied with a time and date which was 2:45 pm February 22nd.

I put together the application, and I already had been gathering evidence of me and my wife's relationship together over the last three years. The hardest part was writing all the jobs my wife has had over the last five years, and were she's lived. Need to attach three extra sheets of paper to the G-325A to put everything on. I also found out that when they say they want colored copies of all pages in your passport they don't mean any blank pages. Also, take a full copy of your wife's or husband's passport along with the passport itself since the Beijing embassy will ask to see it.

I was advised by several people to front-load the I-130 with as much evidence of me and my wife's marriage and relationship as the embassy will take. The Guangzhou embassy are the one's who will ultimately decide if a visa is granted. By having everything upfront the Guangzhou embassy will have time to look over all evidence for months before the interview date. They gives them plenty of time to come to some kind of judgment before any interview takes place. These are the things that I included in the application.

* One copy of my US passport

* Four copies Form G325A for myself

* One ADIT photograph of myself

* Four copies Form G325A for my wife

* One ADIT photograph of my wife

* One copy of original certified copy of our marriage certificate

* One copy of original certified copy of the official translation of our marriage certificate

* two copies of notarized translations of last two apartment contacts showing joint residence for the last two years

* Three copies of Sworn affidavits from my mother, father and sister testify to our marriage and relationship

* Photographs of me and my wife together with family and friend over the last three years (about 89 pictures)

*One copy of my Evolution of Relationship letter detailing our ongoing relationship together

* One copy Copies of Airline tickets when we both traveled to my home in the US

* Copies Greeting Cards and accompanying envelopes from my family congratulating us on our marriage.

* Copies of my bank accounts over the last three years showing my banking activity in China

* Copy of a newspaper from my home town announcing our marriage.

I filed on February 22, 2011 and am now waiting for the next step in the process. Currently I am filing my tax returns and listing my wife on my taxes as a 'non-resident alien', getting my W2s, filling out a resume on monster.com, and also having my mother and father (who will be co-sponsors) send there W2s and tax returns along with other pieces of evidence that I will need to prove domicile to the Guangzhou embassy on my wife's interview day.

Here's hoping everything will go well, and that me and my wife have soon live a happy life in the US.

[xiaozhu 4]

Thank you a lot for sharing your DCF experience. Definitely it will assist other applicants with similar situations.

Wish your visa journey as smoothly as possible! All bests to you two!

[frenchphenom5 0]

Is that extra stuff that you presented at the time you filed the I-130 what the Beijing Embassy suggested you bring? I was under the assumption that the extra stuff you bring is at the time of the interview. And by photocopies of your passports, that's all the stamp pages as well? Basically, anything where you've gotten stamps or visas, is that correct? I'm about to file my I-130 in Paris and they don't really mention the stuff that you've added to your file:

http://france.usembassy.gov/iv-filingparis.html

But, if this is the time where we add extra stuff, I definitely have no problem doing so.

Thanks for your post, it's been really helpful.

[Not me 1]

You have to understand that China has a high percentage of visa fraud (mostly due to the sheer number of people applying)

I do know that in the instructions for filing the I-130 they do require you send evidence that you have a real marriage, and not a marriage of convince. They list a few things such as joint bank accounts and co-singed leases. The instructions also state that any other evidence not stated specifically that proves a real relationship between the applicant and beneficiary will also be excepted. I wouldn't go overboard and send a thousand emails and letters with the application, but I would send anything that you think is your strongest and most obvious evidence of a real marriage.

That would include pictures, plane tickets stubs, stamped visas from trips aboard, commingling financial resources etc... The strongest evidence I found was anything that can prove you both live together. If you have that then you'll be fine. Your problem at the interview since your using DCF is to prove domicile in the US.

That means you will need to prove you have ties to the US, and that have a place to live and a way to care for your significant other when you arrive in the US. This would include things like an apartment lease in the US or a job. You will also need to met the finical requirements to sponsor your spouse. If you don't make over 125% above the poverty line (for a family of four that would be over $31,000 a year) then you will need to find a co-sponsor.

Don't forget you need to file your tax-returns even if you did not make any income. You will need that later after the I-130 is approved. If you did not file your tax returns from the past three years you can late file them now and it won't be a problem if you don't owe anything in back taxes. Your co-sponsor will also need to submit their tax-returns and W2s with the application, along with proof of employment. If you have been married over a year you must file your taxes as MARRIED. YOU MUST FILE YOUR SPOUSE AS 'non-resident alien' on your taxes. Some guys didn't know this and later had problems with their spouse's visa on interview day

You will bring any evidence you submitted in the I-130 to the interview, along with everything else you have. You will also need your evidecne that proves your domicial in America, and anything else the embassy will want regarding your co-sponsor's eligibility to help sponsor your spouse.

You will also want to include a EOR (Evolution of Relationship) letter with the I-130. Most say you don't need to have it notarized, but some do it anyways. This is a letter you write in your own words detailing how your relationship with your spouse has developed since you met to the present day. It helps the embassy fill in the details and cross reference your evidence to see if your story matches up with what they have.

Don't forget that a well organized application will make them happy, and by extension you as well.

[Not me 1]

And by photocopies of your passports, that's all the stamp pages as well? Basically, anything where you've gotten stamps or visas, is that correct?

Yes, you need all pages of your passport that are stamped along with the bio page. When I filed I made copies of all the pages, even the blank ones. The instructions did say all pages, and that is what I did. But once I submitted the application to the embassy they returned the copies of the blank pages.

The embassy will also ask you for copies of your spouse's passport, and all the pages as well. Be sure to take the originals of everything you submit since they have the right to request the originals to anything you submit with the I-130.

[frenchphenom5 0]

If you front-load the I-130 with all these supporting documents, do you think you'd need to bring them to the interview? I know this may sound like a stupid question, but it seems to me that they'd have it.

[frenchphenom5 0]

Also, for the letters as support in support of your couple/relationship... did you get those notarized? Along with your Evolution of Relationship letter? I'm just trying to figure out how much stuff I should get notarized.

[Not me 1]

If you front-load the I-130 with all these supporting documents, do you think you'd need to bring them to the interview? I know this may sound like a stupid question, but it seems to me that they'd have it.

Yes. Anything you submit with the application will be a copy, but you must bring the originals to the embassy when you file the I-130. If you don't have the originals the embassy can refuse to expect it, or even reject the application completely. Not to worry, the embassy will look through your file first, and if they think everything is in order will instruct you pay the application fee.

Everything that I listed in my cover letter I did bring the originals to the I-130 appointment.

[Not me 1]

Also, for the letters as support in support of your couple/relationship... did you get those notarized? Along with your Evolution of Relationship letter? I'm just trying to figure out how much stuff I should get notarized.

I only had the translation of my apartment lease notarized. You don't need to notarize the EOR letter, I didn't and they excepted it. I would get notarized statements from friends and family testify to knowledge of your marriage and its legitimacy. You can notarize if you want to be same rather than sorry, but it was too expesnive for me to worry about.

[Not me 1]

If you front-load the I-130 with all these supporting documents, do you think you'd need to bring them to the interview? I know this may sound like a stupid question, but it seems to me that they'd have it.

Sorry, I misread what you original wrote. Yes, you will need to see the originals when you have your visa interview. I know it seems a wast of time, but those are the rules. i would also bring everything else you have that you consider evidence as well.

You will also need to being your domicile evidence and the finical records of your co-sponsor and his or her eligibility.

[Not me 1]

I wanted to end this post by telling everyone that my wife's I-130 was approved today. So it took less then a month to get approval. The only way I found out was I contact the Beijing embassy my email asking for an update on the I-130's status. They emailed me a few hours later, and told me that it was approved and being sent to the Guangzhou embassy.

Now I'm off to the next step: Package 3

I'm getting evidence of my domicile together, and having my folks be my co-sponsor. I've been collecting my finical records and filed my tax returns even though i don't owe anything to the IRS.

[Not me 1]

What to update everyone that I received Package 3 from the Guangzhou embassy today. It was sent by EMS directly to my home. The address the embassy sued was the one that my wife wrote on the second page of the I-130 application that asked from the applicant's current home address written in Chinese.

It took 41 days to receive the P3 since the day I filed the I-130 on February 22, 2011 at the Beijing embassy.

[Not me 1]

I just got my letter from Guangzhou embassy telling me my wife's interview date. It will be May 19th on a Thursday. It only took 16 days from the day I sent the P3 to the embassy to get the letter. Guangzhou is going really fast this year.

[moneybags 0]

Hey,

I filed DCF in Beijing on May 19th. How did the interview go?

I just got my letter from Guangzhou embassy telling me my wife's interview date. It will be May 19th on a Thursday. It only took 16 days from the day I sent the P3 to the embassy to get the letter. Guangzhou is going really fast this year.