CR-1 and 2 year home-stay requirement

[China_Transfer 0]

I have been spending the better part of a year and a half trying to work out my wife's visa processing to come to America (CR-1 from China), and I have been extremely frustrated in trying to get answers pertaining to our situation.

I first met my wife about 2 years ago now, and we were married 1 year later in China. Well, we had the wedding in China, but due to some paperwork discrepancies in Guiyang we were unable to finalize the marriage until I revisited my wife in June of 2011. I have been living in China with my wife for the last 8 months, because we are waiting for her 2 year home-stay restriction to be lifted from her Visa.

My wife and I met at College and she was here on a student's visa. She finished her semester of education in America and went back to Europe to finish out her last few days of class in Arnhem, Netherlands. She then went back to China and was there until the end of January 2011, at which point she went back to Europe to finish her Bachelor's Degree project. She returned to China in early May of 2011, and has been in China since. I understand that since she was on a student visa to America that she is needed to spend an aggregated amount of time in China amounting to a total of 2 years. Her restriction should be lifted by late September or possible as late as late October, all depends on her passport stamps which I currently do not have memorized.

Our dilemma is that we want to go back to America as soon as we can, and the visa process can take 1 year or more to complete. I cannot count how many people I have tried asking this to, but it is becoming difficult to know if it is a possibility so I am hoping someone can help us. I would like to start her CR-1 application now, while in China and file it at the Guangzhou Embassy, but I want to know if filing for it while her passport has the visa restriction on it would result in an immediate visa ineligibility or if we can continue the process all of the way until her passport restriction is lifted.

We would like to be able to leave China yet this year, and I am expected back to work/school by the end of this year, but I have been unsuccessful at finding an answer to the question above.

Simplified version of question-

1. Wife has 2 year Home-stay requirement because she was a foreign exchange student to America for 1 semester.

2. I want to start her visa Application (CR-1) before her Home-stay requirement has been fulfilled.

3. While Home-stay is being fulfilled have the visa process continue.

4. Upon the fulfillment of her Home-stay finish the visa application and go home to America as soon as possible.

I really appreciate your help and time reading this.

Thank you and I hope to hear back from someone soon.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Contact the USCIS field office in Guangzhou and ask them if you can file the petition while the home stay requirement is still in effect. If they say you can, then go ahead and file. If you are allowed to file while the requirement is in effect, then it is quite possible the requirement will still be in effect when your wife has her interview at the Consulate. If that is the case, then they would simply not issue a visa until the requirement was no longer in effect.

[China_Transfer 0]

Thank you for responding so quickly. I have spent a long time trying to get an answer, but my emails have been bounced to many departments in Guangzhou. I guess my next step is to make a trip to the Guangzhou office in person this month then. I will remain optimistic about the news from them.

What are some of the requirements in order to be able to apply for the visa directly at the Guangzhou Consulate? I read somewhere that she needs to be a Chinese citizen, and that I have had to have been living in China for more than 6 months. Does anyone know if there are more specific requirements that I should be aware of before jumping in too deep?

Again, thank you and have a nice day.

[Ryan H 3,790]

What are some of the requirements in order to be able to apply for the visa directly at the Guangzhou Consulate? I read somewhere that she needs to be a Chinese citizen, and that I have had to have been living in China for more than 6 months. Does anyone know if there are more specific requirements that I should be aware of before jumping in too deep?

Filing a petition and applying for a visa are two different things. You, the USC, are filing the petition, your wife will apply for a visa after said petition has been approved.

For you to be eligible to file a petition at the USCIS field office in Guangzhou (the USCIS field office is housed in the same building as the Consulate), you must be living in China for 6 months or more AND you must be living there on a long-term stay visa or have a Residence Permit; tourist visa extensions do not count.

[China_Transfer 0]

For you to be eligible to file a petition at the USCIS field office in Guangzhou (the USCIS field office is housed in the same building as the Consulate), you must be living in China for 6 months or more AND you must be living there on a long-term stay visa or have a Residence Permit; tourist visa extensions do not count.

You are right, sorry. I am filing for my wife, and I have been living here since May 29, 2011. In late June, or early July, I received a temporary residence permit which is valid for 1 year. I will go and renew that this coming May, because I will still be here for a few months afterward.

Again, thank you for your help, and I appreciate your advice.

[dimples 9]

Not sure if this would help you in anyway. I too met my current USC husband while on a J1 exhcange visa.

I return to fullfill the 2 year requirment, but my husband and I wanted to move forwards with getting married and applying for the CR1.

You can have the 2 year requirement lifted if you can get a letter from your government stating that your area of specialty is not a must to the country.

You have to pay a fee to apply. You send it in to the USCIS once they approve it, the 2 year requirement is lifted.