HaoRan

My wife went for her interview yesterday. Everything was fine with one exception. She needs a Custody document from the Chinese Government saying she has full legal custody. After she provides this document she will have pink the VO said.

The problem is she gave birth out of wedlock in South Africa so there was never a divorce proceeding and custody was not defined. The father was not on any of the legal birth documents and she is not in contact with him for 7 years. She has no idea where he is or how to contact him.

In Chinese law, can she have Custody declared to her by default?

Or Any other suggestions would be great. My wife does not trust attorneys in China but if anyone knows an honest one in Shanghai they can recommend I would be greatful.

Thanks,

Congratulations

Yes, petitioned for my wife and son.

As I mentioned, after discussing this with my wife I'm fully confident we are well within the law and have filed correctly.

Well, I work 12 hours a day for the past 8 months plus I'm buying a house and dealing with family issues....

I had a momentary brain disfunction. Like I said, sorry for the confusion and thanks to all who posted.

Yes, I understand this. As I mentioned before I was in a state of non-rememberance when I posted earlier. I checked with my wife and:

My wife was NOT married in South Africa. There was NO fraud commited on my application. Everything is as it should be.

Sorry for the confusion and thanks to all who posted.

You're welcome. Be very careful how you handle this.

In the event her previous husband (if she was indeed married 'officially') annulled the marriage where would we stand at this point? Still need to start over?

tks...

A legal marriage in any country is recognized by other counties unless multiple spouses are involved.

The important thing is to tell the truth. If she was "married" (married is married) before and you filed a petition saying she was not, do not let her go to an interview and swear to that lie under oath. It could result in a lifetime ban from entering the USA. If she was not married, no problem. You need to undoofus really fast here as doofusism is no excuse for making a material misrepresentation during the immigration process. If she has a previous "husband" to whom she is still married, withdraw the petition. Both of you contact the Consulate by email and inform them you are not going through with the visa process. Send a letter to USCIS "withdrawing" the petition or petitions you filed. If you married in China, get that marriage ended. End her marriage to her former husband, remarry your girlfriend and file again.

Thank you pushbrk for a clear and informative post. I will follow up.

Well, I need to check with my wife. It could be this is a marriage which wasn't recorded in SA. Of course, I'm a doofus too... She probably told me all this but my memory does not serve.

Ok, I'll talk to my wife and see how we can make this right.

Would we need to start the process over?

HaoRan - How did you answer the questions on the I-130 asking about your wife's previous marriages? Question 11 "Names of prior husbans/wives"

Gosh, I'm getting that sinking feeling in my stomach....

It was left blank.

Thanks for the replies guys and gals... that's why I'm asking.

My wife spent 3 years or so in South Africa where she met her prior husband. The marriage was a nightmare but produced a son for my wife. The man was a liar, gambler and alcholic so she left him and went back to China.

That was 7 years ago and she has no idea where he is and really doesn't want to make contact with him if she did.

The question is, since she is not officially divorced, how should she handle this at the interview (we have NOA2)?

1. She could explain the situation if asked at the interview since she has a son who was born in South Africa.

or

2. She could just say her son was born out of wedlock.

Thanks to any suggestions on this question.

Hi all,

I-130 petition - CR1

My wife spent 3 years in South Africa from 1999 to 2002 and needs the police certificate for that time period. She is Chinese from Shanghai. Can anyone help with understanding on how to get this done?

She went to the South African Consulate in Shanghai who were not much help. They told her to go to her local Chinese police station and get finger prints and send them to South Africa to get the certificate. However, when she was in South Africa she never got fingerprints so there are none on record there.

I would be grateful for any information or help.

Thank you!!

My wife in China spent 3 years in South Africa from 1999 to 2002 and now needs to get the police report from South Africa. Does anyone know if this can be had from the Embassy in China or needs to deal directly with South Africa.

Anyone who can offer info that can help would be appriciated.

We had our documents translated in Shanghai before I left for the US. Now I'm getting my documents in line to start the process and I noticed this link:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...ge=translations

The Shanghai Translation service did not follow that format but have their company letter head and seal. Am I ok or do I need to have everything translated again.

Thanks in advance.

HaoRan

Here is the link to the Shanghai Interpreter's service:

http://www.52921234.com/waishi/en_01.htm

We had our documents translated in Shanghai before I left for the US. Now I'm getting my documents in line to start the process and I noticed this link:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...ge=translations

The Shanghai Translation service did not follow that format but have their company letter head and seal. Am I ok or do I need to have everything translated again.

Thanks in advance.

HaoRan

for SURE this isnt the right place to ask this question, but i dont know where else to go! Even "candle for love" is evil and doesnt let me ask, and thats supposed to be for my kind of situation.

anyway.. here we go..

Im going to china on jan. 17, 2008, and i want to live there until my wife's visa (CR-1) goes through. i JUST got the NOA1 like, 2 weeks ago... that took FOREVER (month and a half at least)... so i'm probably gonna have to wait a long while in china... actually.. our wedding is march 26 in Guangzhou. I doubt the visa will even be available by that time! (but lets hope it is). anyways.. so my plan is to stay in china at least 3-6 months. and i'll NEED to exit mainland to go to HK/Macau a couple of times (3 or so) in those months. AND i would want to work too (probably illigally, as a teacher or something..but it would be nice to do so legally). anyways... i went to the chinese embassy web site and its so confusing... I wont begin to pretend to understand. but yes, ive checked it out.

the point is.. i need help! who can tell me what i should do? what i should apply for? how can i enter and exit so many times easily? or at least be allowed to stay in GZ for more then 30 days at a time. i want to live with my wife in peace.

help me VJ.com! I dont know who else to ask!

Donato,

There are visa services within China which give a visa that is different from that given in the US. That is, even if you get an F visa from the US it will have a 30 day limit on it meaning you'll have to exit the country every 30 days or so to satisfy the visa reqirement. My suggestion is to come to China on a tourist visa. Then after you are in China seek a visa company which can change the tourist ( L ) visa to an ( F ) visa. You can get a 6 month, multi-entry or a 1 year multi-entry visa quite easily. See the following link:

http://www.visainchina.com/visa1.htm

Then you can relax in China during this time.

Regarding work, you're on you own there. I suggest staying as legal as possible to avoid trouble with your US Visa/Immigration processes.

Hello all. This is my first post here and want to say it's a great site!!

My wife and I were just married in Shanghai China on September 25th of this year. Unfortunately, I need to return to the US (Florida) on November 3rd for family issues. My wife has a son who we plan to bring over later, about a year after she comes.

My questions are:

Which visa should I apply for to bring my new wife over?

What documents will I need translated (maybe just the marriage document from Chinese government?)?

What documents will my wife need to have translated and when will she need to show them?

I should be able to handle all of this from the states, is that correct?

Oh, one more,

I've been out of work since January of 06 because I've been in China. As I understand it the US wants to see 3 years of continious work so that they will know my wife will not be a burden on the US society. Will my employment gap cause a problem?

Thanks again and again, Great Site!!