Zhu

Hi everyone - hopefully this will be an easy question with a simple answer. Following the K1 guides, I noticed that documentation of a name change is required if the previous name was used on any of the forms submitted with the I-129F. My fiancé had her name changed when she was a teenager for feng shui reasons. Her birth name is not shown on any of the documentation that we need to submit with the I-129F, nor is it on her passport or any of her previous US visas (student, work, tourist). Is it necessary to still show evidence of the name change with the I-129F packet? I'm sure this will be necessary for the interview, but I'd rather not wait for this document to be translated, thus delaying the rest of out I-129F submission.

Thanks in advance for any help.

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?

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?

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.

I'm replying because I hope you get an answer! My fiance is Australian but is working in Indonesia until December. If our petition takes longer than that, they will send him back to Australia and we'll have to change the consulate he'll process through.

Thanks for the bump Beverrlly. Hopefully your timeframe will prevent you from needing to change consulate location. In our case, we are likely placing an address in her home country for the K-1 processing, even though she doesn't currently live there. It just seems safer in case this process drags on (as she can always fly back).

For what it's worth, the following forum posts seem to imply that depending on where you are in the process, a call or a letter could be all you need to change embassy/ consulate location:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/432559-change-of-embassy/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/294995-what-if-we-want-to-change-to-a-different-consulate/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/419389-can-one-change-embassy-for-an-interview-k1/

Sorry to the OP for taking the discussion a little off track.

Is the process similar for a beneficiary change of address? I'm finishing up my I-129F now, but there's likelihood that my fiancé will not only change address during the long processing time, but change country of residence (she's on a long term work assignment in a country other than the one of her citizenship). It all depends on how long the process takes, and how long she can extend the work assignment, which isn't completely predictable. Of course, this address determines the embassy her case will be referred to as well. I'm having a hard time predicting where she will be for use in the I-129F.

I checked out the link usmsbow posted, and it seems limited to changes of address within the United States.

Thanks, both of you, for the replies. After looking at the I-129F form, it isn't complicated at all. I'll take advantage of the resources on here to make sure all the supporting documentation is on point and submit the package when everything is together.

After checking out the current timeline estimates, it seems I really underestimated the turn around times. This leads me to question which location we should enter for her address/ local embassy/ etc. Her current assignment in Singapore (where she has an employment pass) is guaranteed through the end of July, but after that it's unknown if she can continue on a non-contract basis. I can list her family's address near Beijing, but are there any potential problems with listing an address where she does not necessarily currently live? It is her country of citizenship, so she could always visit if somehow she's still in Singapore. I'm not so confident in the converse situation (returning to Singapore when she is not working there anymore).

Although I've just started to scratch the surface with the guides/ FAQ/ multitude of information on this site, I wanted to say hi to the regulars or just anyone who comes across this post. My girlfriend and I will be starting our K-1 process soon (even though the "official" romantic engagement is still a little bit off) and I find myself lucky to have come across this site. We were contemplating hiring a lawyer to take care of the process for us (and still partially are), but I tend to be a do-it-yourself kind of person and the process seems surmountable with all of the information and community support accessible around here.

Hopefully we will have a very straight forward application. She is a Chinese national who completed graduate work in the states and went on to find employment with a large company here. Last year she had an H1B application submitted on her behalf, but was not lucky enough to be selected in the lottery. Regardless, she was assigned to do a 1 year rotation back overseas, but I think the H1B would've made this whole process easier on us (and unfortunately her employer did not pursue it this year).

At the risk of entering the stupid question zone, are there any advantages that she has in the K-1 process due to her established presence already in the US? I don't see a better alternative to the K-1 myself right now, but if there is one, I pray a kind soul on here will let me in on the secret. At the moment she can still visit on her B2 visa, but that doesn't help from a paperwork point of view.

Either way, a warm hello from NYC to everyone. I hope to only hear and share good news on this forum.