SBB

Even if the booklet is lost, there should be a record of your family at the hukou office in your family's home jurisdiction. Hopefully, your sister's ID should be enough to get your birth certificate without having to go through the long hassle of getting a replacement hukou book first.

In that case, there is no "original birth certificate" and the notarial "white book" is all you can get and all you need. In my wife's case, we needed to send some passport photos and her Chinese ID card to her parents in Wuhan who then got the certificate for us.

Thanks.

I confirmed with my sister and the household registration document has been lost. Can other documents be used in its place to get the notorial birth certificate?

Do you and your sister have Chinese Resident Identity cards?

What do you mean by a "Notarized Birth Certificate"? Are you referring to a Chinese Notarial Birth Certificate? If so, that's most likely the only birth certificate that exists since China didn't routinely issue birth certificates until fairly recently, and should be all you need. If you are the American petitioner asking about your American birth certificate, any certified copy will do. If you have your original use it, if not, order a certified copy from the authority that issued your original one and use that; a birth certificate is a birth certificate is a birth certificate. If you are referring to a certified translation of a birth certificate written in a non-English language, whatever translator you use to translate it will certify it (I don't think it needs to be notarized).

I'm concerned about the enforcement of requiring vaccinations for the I-693. I'm not an advocate for vaccinations in the first place... in my mind there is now too much evidence against them for them to be an ethical enforcement - especially in a pro active health person who is trying to get pregnant, as myself.

Does anyone know the implications of refusing to get vaccinated? Or what steps I can take to become exempt? I've done the TB skin test, which I was negative for, but I'm very apprehensive about getting any of the others, including the flu shot - which has been shown to increase chances of miscarriage and cases of still birth.

Just get your damn vaccines. There's a reason that scenes like this are a thing of the past:

Some students who are filing for AoS maintain their F-1 in case their AoS gets denied, meaning they have their F-1 to fall back on. For most people it won't be an issue, however.

If you're a funded grad student, there's really no reason not to maintain your status. My wife kept TAing while undergoing AOS.

If your boyfriend is a US citizen it doesn't matter when you get married or if you are in legal status as long as you entered the US legally. Overstay is forgiven for spouses of US citizens.

Assuming you are yourself a Texas resident or would qualify as one within the next year, your wife will have to have been married to you for a year before she qualifies as an in-state resident, her green card doesn't matter (and at least in Texas, isn't strictly necessary). The university will require you to prove both parts of this (that you would qualify as a Texas resident, and that you two have been married for a year).

2. Is Chinese retirement money taxable in US?

All income of a US resident, regardless of source, is taxable in the US unless a tax treaty treats it differently.

You should be perfectly qualified for an EB-2 visa. Theoretically, your employer could send you to the US directly on an EB-2 visa, but they typically choose not to do that so you can't jump ship as soon as you land in the US. The major issue you will find is that there is nothing you can do to get the ball rolling on a green card; your employer is the one holding all the cards in that respect.

Just because her father claims her on his returns doesn't necessarily mean that she doesn't have to file. Regardless of he cosponsor she will be the primary sponsor and needs to include her tax returns or explain why she wasn't required to file. Here are the IRS instructions for determining whether or not this is the case: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_2013_publink1000220687

I just sent mine by Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope to the P.O. Box address and it got there just fine.

I don't know if they issue 5 year Q2s, but I just got my 2-year Q2 visa (and a Q2 is what you'll be getting, a Q1 is if you're going to China and never leaving). I needed to bring a copy of my marriage license, my wife's Chinese ID card, my father-in-law's ID card and an invitation letter from my father-in-law (we needed my father-in-law involved since the invitation letter, according to the instructions on the consular website, needed to be from someone actually living in China). They also wanted to see a photocopy of the info page from my wife's passport. I went to the consulate in person, but I guess any of the visa services should work, though they may not be familiar with some of the new visa requirements yet.

usually the china birth certificate has the child pegged with the father's last name

and the mother should be listed by her last name.

still, that's a plus - as your wife's birth certificate will have her mother and father's full name there. IMO, that's the bit to use to show the family tie. Different last names on mother and daughter are the standard, again IMO, so don't sweat that bit.

To add to this, it's standard for Chinese women to keep their name when married. Changing it would be considered somewhat unfilial.

If by "came here without a visa" you mean "came here on the visa waiver program" then it's a relatively straightforward Adjustment of Status filing. If by "came here without a visa" you mean "sneaked over the border" then there's nothing he can do without leaving the country and waiting a while.

You should also include your marriage certificate, and a copy of her Chinese ID to get a visa based on your family relations (whether Q or L or any other). If you do this, you MAY not be required to submit an itinerary. If you DO submit an itinerary, the length of stay on the visa may be limited by the duration of your itinerary.

Yes, I know you're not yet married. You'll have the marriage certificate soon.

You can also go to the PSB (Police) Entry/Exit bureau in her home town for an extension

He can't do a Q visa as they aren't married yet and is planning to go to China before the wedding. That having been said, if they want to travel to China to visit the in-laws on a Q visa, he will need the ID of the in-laws as well, as his wife will no longer be living in China. At least for my Q2 application, I had to include the invitation letter from my father-in-law, a copy of his ID, and a copy of my marriage license and my wife's ID (they also asked for a copy of the info page of her passport, but that ended up not being necessary). While a Q2 visa doesn't technically require an itinerary, the invitation letter will need to cover much of the same information.

It's not about you, it's about him.

That stamp in your passport is the legal equivalent of a physical green card. You won't have a problem.

Well, I just got back from picking up my 2-year Q2 visa at the Houston consulate. It wasn't much of an issue except for the whole getting a copy of my father-in-law's Chinese ID card thing. They also wanted a copy of my marriage license, and my wife's ID card and passport information page. This year will be Christmas With Chinese Characteristics in scenic Wuhan.

Once you file the I-130 and I-485 she enters a period of authorized stay until the case is adjudicated. In the mean time, she cannot work or leave the country unless she applies for and receives her EAD and/or Advance Parole. As for the wedding, it doesn't matter how long you do it as long as you get a certified marriage license out of it.

For the marriage license itself, she should only need her passport. On the other hand, there is a pile of other documentation she will need if/when you apply to adjust status including vaccination records and her birth certificate (as your girlfriend is Chinese, this would be the "white book"). Getting a Chinese birth certificate can be problematic as the country doesn't (didn't?) regularly issue them. Your girlfriend will need to have her parents get a notarial birth certificate prepared for her and send it over here (assuming she is still on their hukou); in my wife's case we had to send her national ID card and some passport photos to her parents to get this requirement dealt with.

J-1 might work. Might you be interested in working at a restaurant or hotel in a national park or amusement park?

Has anyone here applied for one of the new Q2 visas? Does it work like the old 2 year multiple-entry tourist visa for people with Chinese spouses that they used to issue?

1. Absolutely

2. Subject to the restrictions of the state in question.

3. Do you plan to file for her to adjust her status while she is here, or would she be going back to China while you file for a spousal visa? Does she know you will be planning to marry here while she is here?

To the extent that it matters if you try to keep her here while she is on a tourist visa, any questions that arise will concern her intent at the time of entry. If she wasn't planning to get married and stay when she arrived, then there shouldn't be an issue.

A lawyer would be the best person to talk to about this.

A .78 would fall into the category of "really awful". Good luck.