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A few questions, currently living abroad

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Situation:
K1 is the only possibility because  gay marriage isn’t legal in China, but K1 seems very annoying (especially as someone currently living abroad) – so it’s important I get it correct.  If you can only answer 1 or 2 questions, I’d greatly appreciate it!

Q1a:  Do I enter Chinese addresses and the like using Pinyin or an English translation or proper Chinese characters?  [I've opted for using Pinyin combo unless it required me to use the native langauge]
Ex.
Is it      Machang Rd. (Pinyin combo)  Racehorse Rd. (English translation) or 马场路 (Chinese)
Q1b:  If some evidence is in Chinese, do I need to provide translations for everything with a professional translator or can I translate some of it?  I.e.  Tickets with all Chinese on them.  Receipt for Engagement rings (everything in Chinese). Copy of my Lease  (do I need all of it?)


Q2:   Since I’ve lived in China for 8 years, I have filed “no income” for the last 8 years because that’s what most of my colleagues were doing. A few have declared their income correctly – and pay the same as me in taxes – 0. 
Will this be a problematic ? I’ve listed I have the same job in China on my form, but my IRS records will be different.   My mother will sponsor him  (as I will be moving to America during that time too).

Q3: When I was a minor, I got a misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge.  I’m 33 now.  When I was a teacher in America, I had to submit to an FBI background check and there was no problem.   The form says I have to declare this even though it’s sealed or expunged or whatever.   I have no problem declaring this EXCEPT the only way I can prove the charge (because it happened when I was a minor) is by going to my hometown and requesting a copy in person.  I’m currently in China and there’s no way I can do this in the next 3 months.     Should I declare it and say explain why I can’t prove it?  Or should I not declare it and just wait for a potential RFE (at which point I’ll be in America already and able to provide the evidence)?  

Q4: Because I’ve lived here, we don’t have any proof of trips taken together really.  He’s lived with me for the last year.  Do we need to do some kind of “fake trip”  I.e. take a trip just for the sake of getting documents? Is his and my name on a lease sufficent?  My passport shows me living in China for 8 years too. 

Q5: How detailed do I need to be in the “describe your meeting” ? I didn’t see any examples on this.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

 



 

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1 hour ago, russcore said:

Situation:
K1 is the only possibility because  gay marriage isn’t legal in China, but K1 seems very annoying (especially as someone currently living abroad) – so it’s important I get it correct.  If you can only answer 1 or 2 questions, I’d greatly appreciate it!

Q1a:  Do I enter Chinese addresses and the like using Pinyin or an English translation or proper Chinese characters?  [I've opted for using Pinyin combo unless it required me to use the native langauge]
Ex.
Is it      Machang Rd. (Pinyin combo)  Racehorse Rd. (English translation) or 马场路 (Chinese)
Q1b:  If some evidence is in Chinese, do I need to provide translations for everything with a professional translator or can I translate some of it?  I.e.  Tickets with all Chinese on them.  Receipt for Engagement rings (everything in Chinese). Copy of my Lease  (do I need all of it?)


Q2:   Since I’ve lived in China for 8 years, I have filed “no income” for the last 8 years because that’s what most of my colleagues were doing. A few have declared their income correctly – and pay the same as me in taxes – 0. 
Will this be a problematic ? I’ve listed I have the same job in China on my form, but my IRS records will be different.   My mother will sponsor him  (as I will be moving to America during that time too).

Q3: When I was a minor, I got a misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge.  I’m 33 now.  When I was a teacher in America, I had to submit to an FBI background check and there was no problem.   The form says I have to declare this even though it’s sealed or expunged or whatever.   I have no problem declaring this EXCEPT the only way I can prove the charge (because it happened when I was a minor) is by going to my hometown and requesting a copy in person.  I’m currently in China and there’s no way I can do this in the next 3 months.     Should I declare it and say explain why I can’t prove it?  Or should I not declare it and just wait for a potential RFE (at which point I’ll be in America already and able to provide the evidence)?  

Q4: Because I’ve lived here, we don’t have any proof of trips taken together really.  He’s lived with me for the last year.  Do we need to do some kind of “fake trip”  I.e. take a trip just for the sake of getting documents? Is his and my name on a lease sufficent?  My passport shows me living in China for 8 years too. 

Q5: How detailed do I need to be in the “describe your meeting” ? I didn’t see any examples on this.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

 



 

Could you and your partner not go get married someplace where same sex marriage is allowed (Singapore?) and then do DCF in Gungzhou?   That would probably save time.  

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Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Philippines
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Can't specifically answer some of your questions, but you can take your questions and search for them in the search bar on top right of the screen and you will find countless threads with information.

 

While K-1 seems "annoying"... as mentioned, for some of us, it is really only way to go so. Key thing, don't over think anything.

08/15/2014 : Met Online

06/30/2016 : I-129F Packet Sent

11/08/2016 : Interview - APPROVED!

11/23/2016 : POE - Dallas, Texas

From sending of I-129F petiton to POE - 146 days.

 

02/03/2017 - Married 

02/24/2017 - AOS packet sent

06/01/2017 - EAD/AP Combo Card Received in mail

12/06/2017 - I-485 Approved

12/14/2017 - Green Card Received in mail - No Interview

 

   

brickleberry GIF they see me rolling college football GIF by ESPN  

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4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Could you and your partner not go get married someplace where same sex marriage is allowed (Singapore?) and then do DCF in Gungzhou?   That would probably save time.  

It's illegal to get married in all Asian countries as far as I know   (according to Wikipedia, homosexual activities in Singapore are criminal).

 

However, if I remember correctly, Taiwan promised to legalize  gay marriage or civil unions in the coming years.  They're likely going to be the first Asian country to do it.  

 

(As far as I can tell, Europe would be the closest place to do it)

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Haiti
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US citizens are required to file taxes regardless if their income is from China. You will need to submit these with your petition.

 

Your mother isn’t the sponsor- you are. Your mother would be the joint sponsor.

 

There’s no requirement for taking trips together lol. You need to show you are both free to marry and have met within the past 2 years. I’d imagine you have hundreds of photos together that you can pick and choose what to submit and state the place they were taken at.

 

You will have to establish a place of residence in the US. Will your mother let you two live with her? I also imagine you would start looking for a job to establish yourself in the us as well?

 

In describing your meeting -we submitted a one page typed paper outlining how we met -dates, why I was in Haiti, how I eventually met my husband, how we stayed in touch etc.

 

All forms should be filled out in English - you can read them to see if you should be writing both his native alphabet with English or just English. I’m sure it states on he form though. 

 

If if you are able to translate Chinese you can translate it yourself with a note stating you are competent to translate from (language) to English and you swear the translation is accurate.

Our K1 Journey    I-129f

Service Center : Texas Service Center   Transferred? California Service Center on 8/11/14

Consulate : Port au Prince, Haiti             I-129F Sent : 4/14/2014

I-129F NOA1 : 4/24/14                            I-129F NOA2 : 9/10/14

NVC Received : 9/24/14                          NVC Left : 9/26/14

Consulate Received : 10/6/14 CEAC status changed to ready

Packet 3 Received : 10/27/14 packet received by petitioner in USA ( beneficiary never received packet 3)

Medical: 10/30/14 Dr. Buteau                  Medical picked up: 11/3/14

Packet 3 Sent : 11/10/13.. Had to schedule interview appointment and attach confirmation receipt to packet

Interview Date : 12/1/14                           Interview Result : Approved !

Visa Received : 12/10/14 picked up at Jacmel location

US Entry : 12/15/14 Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Apply for Social Security Card: 12/30/14 Connecticut

Marriage: 1/26/15

 

Adjustment of Status

CIS Office : Hartford                                  Filed : 3/18/15

NOA : 3/25/15                                            Biometrics : 4/15/15

Approved: 8/31/15                                     Received: 9/8/15

 

EAD

CIS Office : Hartford                                  Filed : 3/18/15

NOA : 3/25/15                                            Approved: 6/12/15

Received: 6/20/15

 

Removal of Conditions I-751

Filed: 8/14/17 at VSC                                 NOA: 8/15/17 Received 8/21 by mail

Biometrics: Dated: 8/25/17   Received 9/2/17   Appointment 9/11/17 

Approved: 10/23/18 -no interview

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18 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

US citizens are required to file taxes regardless if their income is from China. You will need to submit these with your petition.

 

Your mother isn’t the sponsor- you are. Your mother would be the joint sponsor.

 

There’s no requirement for taking trips together lol. You need to show you are both free to marry and have met within the past 2 years. I’d imagine you have hundreds of photos together that you can pick and choose what to submit and state the place they were taken at.

 

You will have to establish a place of residence in the US. Will your mother let you two live with her? I also imagine you would start looking for a job to establish yourself in the us as well?

 

In describing your meeting -we submitted a one page typed paper outlining how we met -dates, why I was in Haiti, how I eventually met my husband, how we stayed in touch etc.

 

All forms should be filled out in English - you can read them to see if you should be writing both his native alphabet with English or just English. I’m sure it states on he form though. 

 

If if you are able to translate Chinese you can translate it yourself with a note stating you are competent to translate from (language) to English and you swear the translation is accurate.

 

Thanks for the info! Helps a lot.   Now I have to go about looking how to fix my claims for the last few years  ><

 

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43 minutes ago, russcore said:

It's illegal to get married in all Asian countries as far as I know   (according to Wikipedia, homosexual activities in Singapore are criminal).

 

However, if I remember correctly, Taiwan promised to legalize  gay marriage or civil unions in the coming years.  They're likely going to be the first Asian country to do it.  

 

(As far as I can tell, Europe would be the closest place to do it)

I second getting married somewhere that it is legal and doing DCF. This is by far the fastest, cheapest, and least-problematic (can work & travel right away, no AOS in the US, etc.) option.

Other than that, do what you need to do.

 

27 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

US citizens are required to file taxes regardless if their income is from China. You will need to submit these with your petition. 

Tax returns would be for the Affidavit of Support (I-134 for K-1, I-864 for CR-1), which is not submitted with the petition.

For a K-1, this comes into play at the interview.

For a CR-1, this comes into play at NVC.

Timelines:

ROC:

Spoiler

7/27/20: Sent forms to Dallas lockbox, 7/30/20: Received by USCIS, 8/10 NOA1 electronic notification received, 8/1/ NOA1 hard copy received

AOS:

Spoiler

AOS (I-485 + I-131 + I-765):

9/25/17: sent forms to Chicago, 9/27/17: received by USCIS, 10/4/17: NOA1 electronic notification received, 10/10/17: NOA1 hard copy received. Social Security card being issued in married name (3rd attempt!)

10/14/17: Biometrics appointment notice received, 10/25/17: Biometrics

1/2/18: EAD + AP approved (no website update), 1/5/18: EAD + AP mailed, 1/8/18: EAD + AP approval notice hardcopies received, 1/10/18: EAD + AP received

9/5/18: Interview scheduled notice, 10/17/18: Interview

10/24/18: Green card produced notice, 10/25/18: Formal approval, 10/31/18: Green card received

K-1:

Spoiler

I-129F

12/1/16: sent, 12/14/16: NOA1 hard copy received, 3/10/17: RFE (IMB verification), 3/22/17: RFE response received

3/24/17: Approved! , 3/30/17: NOA2 hard copy received

 

NVC

4/6/2017: Received, 4/12/2017: Sent to Riyadh embassy, 4/16/2017: Case received at Riyadh embassy, 4/21/2017: Request case transfer to Manila, approved 4/24/2017

 

K-1

5/1/2017: Case received by Manila (1 week embassy transfer??? Lucky~)

7/13/2017: Interview: APPROVED!!!

7/19/2017: Visa in hand

8/15/2017: POE

 

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Brazil
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10 hours ago, russcore said:

3: When I was a minor, I got a misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge.  I’m 33 now.  When I was a teacher in America, I had to submit to an FBI background check and there was no problem.   The form says I have to declare this even though it’s sealed or expunged or whatever.   I have no problem declaring this EXCEPT the only way I can prove the charge (because it happened when I was a minor) is by going to my hometown and requesting a copy in person.  I’m currently in China and there’s no way I can do this in the next 3 months.     Should I declare it and say explain why I can’t prove it?  Or should I not declare it and just wait for a potential RFE (at which point I’ll be in America already and able to provide the evidence)?  

Declare it on the I-129F if you decide to go K-1 route.  Never intentionally hide anything or it will come back to bite you later.  You should be able to get the court records via email, phone, or a family member fairly quickly.  Scanned and emailed documents would be fine.  There's also FedEx for overnight delivery of your court documents.  Intentional misrepresentations on immigration forms are a big deal so don't go there.  When background checks are done on you your past criminal history will come up so if you don't declare it you will be viewed as a liar and that's not good.   It's always better to be honest and upfront about everything when it comes to immigration.  Your misdemeanor won't be an issue unless it is one of many charges and if it is you were a minor so you would be eligible for a waiver.

 

Also, look into Iceland, fast weddings, legal gay marriage, little documentation needed.  Then file CR-1.  Good luck!

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: China
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Hi, 

Looks like my situation is similar to yours, I’m just a month or two ahead of you in the process.

My beneficiary is also Chinese, and I also live in China, like you.

While I can’t vouch that my answers are the correct ones (since I’m still awaiting my NOA2) I can answer your questions according to what I’ve done so far.

 

Q1a. There’s one place on the I-129F that specifically asks for the beneficiary’s address in her native language. Other than that, I filled in all addresses in English (i.e. pinyin). Then, in the Supplemental page (page 13), I added the Chinese versions of those addresses. 

 

However, I’ve got to warn you. If you’re planning to enter a Chinese address as YOUR mailing address, that’s a problem. This is what I did, and as a result, I never received my NOA1. Apparently, the petitioner’s mailing address MUST be a US address. I only learned this after the fact, so I had to call the USCIS on the phone to get my case number, and then file to change my address through the USCIS website. Please save yourself the trouble and enter a US-based address on the original form (you can use your parents’ address if you don’t have one yourself. That’s what I did for my change of address).

 

Q1b. I had this exact same question. I had tons of documents in Chinese language. What I did is translate them all myself. It seemed like it would be a waste of money to hire a professional translator, when I am fully fluent in Chinese myself. I cannot yet verify that what I did was correct, since I’m still waiting for my NOA2, but I’m hoping that it’s okay.

 

Q2. This is not an issue for the I-129F but it will be an issue for the I-131 (Affidavit of Support). It could be problematic. When your beneficiary is interviewed at the Guangzhou consulate they may request to see your past three year tax returns. I worked in China like you, for six years, but I always reported my Chinese income and filed tax returns, since that’s the obligation for every American citizen. However, since you say you will have a co-sponsor (your mother) to financially support your beneficiary, then perhaps your mother’s tax returns would be sufficient?

 

Q3. Sorry, I don’t have any advice on this one.

 

Q4. I think you’re overthinking this. The reason they suggest evidence of “trips together” is to show evidence of a bona fide relationship. If you’ve been living together for the last year, that should count just as much (if not more) as evidence of a bona fide relationship than trips together. DO NOT make up some kind of “fake trip” (faking anything in this process is a red flag that will get your application rejected). Submit evidence of your living together. That’s what I did.

 

Q5. Are you referring to the place on the form, which gives you about a paragraph’s worth of space to “describe your meeting”. It’s just a paragraph, so obviously you can’t be too detailed there, but please remember that you (and your beneficiary) must also submit “letters of intent” which are an elaboration of this section. They should be about 1 page in length, signed and dated by you, and they should explain not just how you “met” but also details about the progression of your relationship, and your plans after you move to the US and get married. 

 

Good luck

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