tru123go

Ya, that is correct. I did make that assumption.

Afternoon everyone,

My fiancee and I are about to get married in March 11th. Here is a quick story about us:

In December 25th, 2015, we met online and traveled, stayed together, and fell in love. She is here on F-1 and is graduating at the end of May (but has one summer class for June before she gets her degree). By the end of 2016, I had bought rings to propose to her. Unfortunately, she left back to China so I had to wait until she came back, January 22nd, 2016. She came back with her daughter and Mother, both on B2 visas. I have stayed with them the week they came back. On January 26th, I proposed to her in front of her Mother and daughter (I made them both cry! oops). Through some surprising life circumstances, we decided to get married in March 11th (Spring Break).

Now, the legal questions. I think since I proposed and will be married her to close to her entering the US, I think applying for AOS would be a bad idea (pain and headache with proving no intent) thought we have a lawyer consultation on March 14th to discuss the matter. I am fully expecting his answer to be "Bad idea!". If this is what the lawyer says, then we are pursuing a CR-1 and CR-2.

Is there anything wrong with us applying for CR-1 and CR-2 while they stay here on B2 and F1 until their time is up and they go back? That would greatly reduce the amount of time we are separated from each other, for us to be here together until I at least know I have received NOA2 and whatnot. Also, the historic time frame for the US Embassy in China and, if we get the Texas Service Center since I am from Oklahoma, looks to be VERY short, like 273 days (9.1 months, just round to 10 months for safe side). This means if we apply in March after our marriage, the entire process would complete by mid January 2018. Since she graduates in June, she can stay for another 60 days before she has to leave, that would be around August, meaning it's just around 6 months apart.

Is there anything wrong with this process? Also, does applying for a CR-1 and CR-2 make the process take longer? Will her daughter and my fiancee have the interview together at the same time over in China?

Mhmm, since she is 7, that isn't much of an issue.

Thanks.

4 minutes ago, Dutchie2016 said:

I would assume she doesn't need a criminal history report since she is a minor. My kids are the same age and they don't need to do the bio metrics since they are under the age of 14.

But i don't know if there is any difference when the child is still living abroad.

I think the difference is if you apply an I130 while abroad, the FBI can't run a background check so instead they ask for police reports from the country. Doing the I130 while in the US, the FBI can do a background check.

For the I485, you only submit documents if you have any criminal history at all, within the US, as far as I understand it.

Thank you for the reply.

Do we need a criminal history for the stepdaughter (she is 7 years old)? I am going to assume no but I don't see anything in the instructions that say, one way or the other.

Thanks.

No she is not. She has only recently been here but she has visited here several times. She goes back to her home country for school. Her mother goes to school here.

That is why I say this would be impossible in our situation.

6 minutes ago, Dutchie2016 said:

In every application package we included a copy of our marriage certificate.

In the kids we added copies of school forms that listed my husband as their stepfather.

I made three different packages and send them as one package at once.

Wow. How did you have school forms with your husband as their stepfather? Did they go to school here or was this for school overseas?

That would basically be impossible for us.

Thank you for the information. That basically tells me what I needed, I130/I485 for each individual, wife and stepdaughter, all submitted as one big package, separated inside as specific packages for each individual.

Just now, Dutchie2016 said:

We, me and my two kids submitted a separate i-130 and I-485 for each one of us.

My husband who is the US citizen filed three I-130's and  me and my kids filed three I-485's.

Okay, basically, a I130/I485 per individual who is here.

Man, lots of duplicate information. In your case, three bona-fide marriage packages that are exactly the same.

Was this all submitted in the same parcel of mail or as separate packages?

Hello everyone,

I was looking at the guides on how to fill out the I130/I485 (for AOS) and I am confused on how to do that for a wife and our daughter (stepdaughter to me).

Do I submit a single I130/I485 for both of them, do I submit a single I130 and two I485's, one for wife and one for stepdaughter, or do I do two completely full I130's and I485's, for each the wife and stepdaughter?

Both of them are here in the US.

20 minutes ago, Venice1012 said:

There is no law stating you cannot get married in the US, AOS is but intent alone cannot be the reason for a denial. What you should be worried about is getting evidence read to provide that the marriage is bona-fide.

I don't think that will be much of a problem.

Year worth of courtship documentation (trips, time spent together, dialogs, ect), combining of car insurance (no medical as she already has some through her college while she is still attending), pictures of me with her family and daughter, pictures of her with my family, pictures of the wedding with all of us, joint bank account, her being the sole beneficiary of my life insurance at work, 401k, and IRA, then the ever present marriage certificate.

I plan on doing a quit claim on the house towards her but I am not sure if the documentation will be processed before we send out the package. At least I can submit the request of a quit claim on the house toward her.

Also, after we get married, I will be changing the utilities over into our names together and we will have a bill paid once in our names together.

Beyond that, not sure what else would ever be needed to show a bona-fide marriage.

But, thank you for the information, Venice1012.

I have a similar question that is related to this very same subject but the situation is slightly different.

If an F-1 visa holder has been in the US for 2.5 years (mid 2014), met me 1.5 years later (late 2015), then we are getting married a year later (very early 2017), but her I-20 or I-94 (can't remember which shows when you leave the us, it shows she left the US and came back late 2016), would this be a problem for the I-130/I-485 AOS application?

I see that this thread is stating that immigration intent is alone not enough for denial but insufficient evidence of bona-fide marriage is. But, I was just wondering if the I-20/I-94 showing she came into the US and a month later, we married, is an issue, even though she has been in the US on the F-1 visa for 2.5 years and started dating 1.5 years after she entered?

Under state law, the marriage certificate is the legal document that allows one spouse to take the other spouse's last name.

Changing her legal name under the state marriage certificate law is a choice. A legal choice based on the law which means her name is legally changed. This legal name change is what allows SSA to issue her a card in her new name.

Agreed.

But, before we file the I-130/I-485, is that all we need to do, go change her SS?

I have ran into an additional question relating to a name change with marriage and fiancee's passport/other documents.

When we get married in February, we wish to have her name changed. From what I am reading, the Marriage Certificate should be good enough to validate her change in name but this does not mean her name is legally changed.

So, what exactly is the process for performing this name change?

1) Get married and have the name change issued on the Marriage Certificate.

2) Contact SS Office and have her name changed (she has SS card).

3) Apply for I-130/I-485 and proceed as normal?

also go for the work authorization one. I forget which number but AP and work authorization are both free when applying for i485. and they take 90-180 days to approve. but check the tracker on the site for a better estimate.

good luck

Agreed.

We are planning to do both the I-765 (EAD - Employee Authorization Document) and I-131 (AP - Travel Document).

Ahhh, I see. The I-131, Travel Document is the advance parole to allow for traveling. It's just a terminology thing.

I would suggest applying for i485 and i130 as soon as possible since even though she has a F1 visa she can not use it for entry since she plans to adjust her status. she will need AP that comes with the i485 and i131 applications.

Actually, I am glad you mentioned this. I have been trying to figure out what the AP is.

What exactly is it?

She doesn't plan on leaving. She will be still here completing her Master's Degree when we plan on getting married. But, once her I-131 is completed, she then can go back to China if she needs to for any reason.

OP,

You have some very good advice given to you. Keep in mind that nobody is faulting you for your previous plans as many people have no idea of the do's and dont's of immigration. It is good that you have inquired. Use this site to educate yourself more on your options and you should be fine.

Agreed. The information and advice seems extremely logical.

Thanks.

That's the guide

Alright, I think this information will greatly help us clear up anything and get us on the correct path and see the way forward.

Thank you very much.

The CR-2 process is very similar to the CR-1 process. However, there are differences. Use the Guide for children of US citizens.

Is this the guild your talking about: Petitioning Procedures: Bringing a Child, Son, or Daughter to Live in the United States?

Remind your fiancee of what she had to go through to be able to attend school in the US. The rules that applied to her would apply to her daughter, so she should not expect her child to come over here with a visitor visa to attend school. No different from her.

Mhmm.

Thanks again, aaron2020.

Visitor visas are for visiting the US; not going to school. Visitor visa holders are expected to visit and spend money here to help the US economy. Visitor visa holders are not allowed to come here to use our resources for free and cost US taxpayers money to educate a non-citizen, non-resident child. US taxpayers are not responsible for educating foreign children who are here on visitor visas. This is why we have a student visa program.

I mentioned the marriage certificate because you are already calling her your daughter before the marriage. Just wanted you to know that you need to be legally marry to her mother in order to qualify to file an I-130 for her as your stepdaughter.

Makes sense.

I view her as my daughter, even if she isn't legally, yet. =)

Another simple question, is the CR-2 process no different than a CR-1 process (this guide: IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa) other than I am marking all this down with the daughter in mind?

She cannot go to school on the tourist visa.

Alright, thank you for the update. I will let her know. I don't think she is going to like that answer at all but this is how it is done.

Understood. My fiancee wants her to be over here so badly but I am just thinking there is no good or legal way for her to be over here and do this process with us.

She does have a Tourist Visa, the wife was thinking that she could come over for 6 months (legally allowable length of time) and go to school for 6 months then go back and finish out her year over there. Then, after that amount of time, her process would be completed.

The only problem with that is if the interview comes up before the 6 months, she will have to leave here and then go back and stay until she is valid to immigrate back here. This might be disruptive to her.

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Just a thought. You, and thank you so much for your very clear and concise answer by the way, and several others have mention that we can only do this with a marriage certificate. Why is this quantified if we can't do the I-130/I-485 for my wife without a marriage certificate anyways? I am just wondering why the clarification for our daughter? Just wanting to make sure we are not missing something.

Thank you so much for the information, aaron2020!

Hello everyone,

My fiancee and future wife have a few questions related to the process of doing the IR1/CR1 for a child who lives abroad (China) while the fiancee is here on a F-1 visa.

We plan on getting married in February and my fiancee will be graduating in June. In March, we plan to submit the I-130/I-485 with I-765/I-131 so she can work at her pace and travel back to China for family when she needs to.

Our confusion was that we thought doing the I-130/I-485 after we got married, our daughter could come over and stay with us until the process is completed. Apparently, this is not the case as immediate relative petitioning does not allow our daughter to also be on the same visa status (derivative). As far as I can see, it's because our daughter isn't over here already on some other visa status (no idea if the F-1 visa allows children of the visa holder to stay here and go to school while the parent does) but is instead staying in China to go to school.

So, this had lead us to some questions on the path forward:

1) Is there no legal path for our child to be over here in the US and allow us to file a single I-130/I-485 for my future wife and she be placed also on that same petition?

2) If no for #1, is there no legal path for her to be over here in the US and allow us to file an I-130/I-485 for my wife and an I-130/I-485 for our child?

3) If no for #3, this means that we will need to file an I-130/I-485 for my wife and an I-130 for the child at the same time. During this period, she will need to go to the US embassy in China on several trips for interviews, medical, ect? What do we expect in this process? Can she still come over to the US with us until those interviews are needed in the US embassy then she can go back and finish them? Does my wife need to be present for the process with her or can other family be there?

We are both kinda confused in this process because she will obviously need help (she turns 9 next year) in this process but we have to be split up because she isn't allowed to be over here, from what I can tell, and do the process over here while with us.

Thanks for any information and updates!

Separate. Your wife needs a concurrent AOS filing, not just an I-130.

For your stepdaughter, follow this guide:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

For your fiancee (then wife), follow this guide:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

Like I said, for your stepdaughter, the process will take a year, USCIS approving the I-130 is only the first step. This will take 5-6 months, then it gets sent to NVC, you have to submit documents to them, only after NVC is done processing will it be sent to China.

Okay, so when we get married, we file (fiancee and I):

I-130/I-485 (with all evidence, additional/optional forms)

Once USCIS has approved the I-130/I-485 filing (but have not finished), then we send in another I-130 for our daughter?

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Or, do we send both, separate mailing packages, at the same time, the I-130/I-485 for us and the I-130 for our daughter?

Basically, both processes will be happening at the same time but, it sounds like, my fiancee's package will be completed before our daughter's will.

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Thanks for this clarification and updates. When we spoke to our friends on this, it sounded like a single I-130/I-485 will be processed and once my fiancee gets approval, our daughter automatically got approval at the same time. But now knowing this, she has to go do her own process. We will need to sit down and talk about this because that means our daughter will need to do everything with the help of family over in China, having us tell them on what to do and expect, which is a lot different than having her over here with us doing the interview together.

In that case, no, she (your stepdaughter) doesn't need an I-693.

You'll need to file an I-130 for her (after the wedding), she'll go through consular processing in China, she'll have her medical there. Her process will take about a year from I-130 sent to visa in hand.

Oh, that is completely different than we were expecting.

Okay, so when we submit the I-130 (after our wedding), it has fields on there about both who I am petitioning for (my fiancee) and our children (daughter), correct? So the single I-130 will do both my fiancee and daughter?

Or will there be two separate I-130's, one for my fiancee and one for our daughter?

After everything is submitted and accepted, we will receive word on when to send our daughter to the embassy in China to do the processing?

Where is her daughter? If she's in the US, she'll need her own AOS package filed for her (by you, as USC stepparent), which includes I-693.

I-693 can be sent with the initial filing or brought to the interview.

I-485 Supplement A is NOT applicable in your situation.

File in March. She should get her EAD in 90 days, so by the time she graduates, she'll be able to work.

Oh, I left that important detail out. She currently is in China and will be over here on a Tourist Visa for the wedding (along with my fiancee's Mother).

Good, then we will get the I-693 done for both my fiancee and step daughter while she is here.

Ya, that would be prudent to do it in March so the EAD would come in as she graduates so she can just find work at her own pace. I most definitely think that is a good idea.

Thanks for the update!