Help me assess my K-1 situation

[Zhu 0]

Hi everyone. So I'm a generally new member around here, and have been doing quite a bit of studying of the resources lately. After picking up as much as I can (while concurrently studying for my medical boards ) I thought it might do my some good to lay out our pertinent information and see what our outlook is.

My girlfriend (functional fiancé, but the romantic proposal is still to occur) is a Chinese national who is currently working for a large bank in Singapore. After spending most of her life predominantly in northern China, she moved to the US to obtain her masters degree at a major university. Post graduation, she put her smarts and tenacious spirit to work and secured a wonderful position at the previously mentioned bank in NYC, while still under her F1 OPT. I was fortunate enough to transition to NYC myself at this time and meet this wonderful lady. The bank has her under a 2 year contract and, unfortunately, choose to transition her to their Singapore location for her second year, which separated us after only 6 months together in the city. We weren't ready to make the leap into marriage then, but now after over a year of dating, we are.

It's worth mentioning that her employer did sponsor her for the H1B even after they decided to transfer her, but she was not selected in the ensuing lottery.

Over the past 9 months we have visited each other numerous times and she currently maintains a US tourist visa, so she's able to visit when she has time. Working in the states has already provided her with a SS card, so we have at least one thing checked off of the list. At this point I am preparing our K-1 packet, and have come across two concerns. First, although she is currently working in Singapore, her current contract ends in July. After this point she will almost certainly be offered further employment, but highly likely in the Asia-Pacific region, so a business transfer seems out of the question. The K-1 process will also almost certainly not be completed by then. So I've wondered about whether we should list her address/ embassy location as Singapore, or at her parents home in China (which she can always get to in her work situation changes).

Complicating things further, she is a member of the CCP. Not until tonight did I realize that this was such a handicap with respect to the K-1 process, but I'm not surprised.

So I have a dozen questions on my mind now. If she interviews in Singapore, will she still be faced with the CCP question? If she's forced to interview in Beijing, how much of a hinderance is this fact of her life, and how much longer will it extend the process? Will getting married in China, and then applying for a K-3 circumvent the CCP issue? (we were avoiding the K-3 route because it seems to typically be a longer process). How does level of party involvement come in to play?

She's suggested that we'd be better off not bringing it up and contends that it was never brought up in any of her other US visa interviews, but I'm not comfortable with the prospect of her appearing to defraud the system (plus her other visa's weren't linked to immigration, even if indirectly). Obviously this was a disheartening realization tonight. I'm hoping the community can help me reassess our best route forward.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Penguin_ie

[Darnell 8,478]

My 2 jiao:

1. Is someone still paying ccp dues for her? If yes, tell them to stop immediately. Ask the last date dues were paid. I sense she only pay during undergrad years at university, which may mean 4 years abandonment of ccp party membership already.

2. Seasia is a big place. Without you knowing the next transfer city, without you knowing if the company will base her in singapura and maintain her work visa there, suggest china for interview, guangzhou.

3. Study j1 visa, see if any encoding there, HRR, the paste all encoding here in your topic.

[Zhu 0]

My 2 jiao:

1. Is someone still paying ccp dues for her? If yes, tell them to stop immediately. Ask the last date dues were paid. I sense she only pay during undergrad years at university, which may mean 4 years abandonment of ccp party membership already.

2. Seasia is a big place. Without you knowing the next transfer city, without you knowing if the company will base her in singapura and maintain her work visa there, suggest china for interview, guangzhou.

3. Study j1 visa, see if any encoding there, HRR, the paste all encoding here in your topic.

Thanks Darnell; I've seen your responses throughout the forums and I was hoping you'd offer your 2 jiao! I'll check on those 3 points and report back.

As an aside, I've already been told I need to re-learn my English alphabet. She was under an F1 visa for school, not a J1. I've submitted the original post to be changed.

Also, (and I'm displaying my ignorance here) is Guangzhou the only location for the interview in China? Does the embassy in Beijing not offer these services?

[Darnell 8,478]

K-1s interview in guangzhou

[Darnell 8,478]

and don't worry about the student visa - it has no bearing whatsoever on the I-129F petition and subsequent K-1 Visa Application. Sure, there's some extra bits to put in for the G-325-A, but you can easily get that stuff from her.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Darnell

[Pitaya 2,576]

Welcome to the forum.

[Zhu 0]

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you.

So, after reading as much as I can on the above topics, I think I have a decent handle on what to expect from our situation. Although she hasn't lived in China since late 2011, and thus not current with her membership for sometime, we are still within the 5 year window.

One question that I haven't been able to find a definitive answer on is: does it make any difference if we include an acknowledgment of CCP participation in the initial 1-129F? It seems it probably won't make one bit of difference as this question doesn't arise until the interview, and the additional processing won't start early until this point anyway. Is there any benefit to providing an additional statement on this topic with my I-129F that I am missing?

[Pitaya 2,576]

It is good prudent practice to always tell the truth in these immigration matters. However, there is little to be gained by volunteering information until it is asked for.