CEBTL

My wife and I recently moved back to the US from China. I am a USC and she is a Chinese national with a CR1 green card. She has been in the US for 6 months. We would like to have her mother come and visit us. Her mother contacted a local visa agency in China to get help with her B2 application. They told her that since her daughter has a CR1 green card and has not been in the US for very long, her chances are low of obtaining a B2 visa and that if she applies now and is rejected, it might hurt her chances of obtaining a B2 visa in the future.. Is this sound advice? Should we try anyways?

In the end, I needed to contact my State's Senator's office. Within three business days I got a response that said they the document I provided was a copy and that they required a notarized copy. I contacted the court and received a notarized copy. Then I sent it to my wife who later mailed it to the consulate. I am happy to report that on 11/07/2022 her visa was issued

I am happy to report that on 11/07/2022 my wife's visa was issued. Thank you to the community for helping me through the process. She will be in America in less than 2 weeks 😀

Latest update... I ended up contacting a Senators office, they were able to ask what the issue was with the divorce paperwork. The Consulate responded that the divorce paperwork I provided was a copy and not the original even though, I provided the document the court gave me. Later I contacted the court and they were able to give me notarized copy of the divorce document that included stamps from the court. After I received the notarized document from the court and given the fact that I am in the US, I contacted the Consulate through the Senator's team (as they respond much quicker and provide more detailed information) to see if I could mail the document directly to them. The consulate informed me that it is better and quicker to mail the document to my wife and go through the CITIC bank mailing process. Once my wife received the document, she mailed it to the Guangzhou Consulate. I am happy to report that on Nov 7th she was issued her US entry visa. It took about 10 days before she could go to a CITIC bank and pick up her passport and US immigrant visa!

Yes, I am in CO and she is in China. That is good news, the DCF process is usually quick. In our circumstance, it is just taking a little longer than expected. I was able to email the consulate. Just waiting to hear back from them. When I went to the interview for I-130 DCF I noticed they were all young recent college grads. So I not surprised it is not going as smoothly as I had hoped. But in the end it should work out.

Okay, thank you. It was just weird to receive a second 221(g) this time an emailed 221(g) asking for the document, when they already had the document for 2 weeks.

Yes unfortunately we are currently stuck. The consulate is asking for my original divorce document even though they currently have it in their possession. Sorry to hear that about the job offer, if there is no rush, you could always start the standard way to apply. But direct file is much faster.

Where did the divorce take place? The Divorce took place in 2014 in Boulder County Court, Colorado, USA. The U.S. consulate currently has in their possession the only original divorce document I have. Why would USCIS have returned ANYTHING to you? When I went to Direct File I-130 at the US Consulate in Guangzhou the VO asked to see my Original divorce document as well as many other documents. The majority including my divorce document were returned to me.

My wife went for her interview on Aug. 15th. She received an 221(g) due to bringing a copy of my the (petitioner) divorce paperwork. On June 8th, I the (petitioner) went to the Consulate in Guangzhou, China and they asked to see my original divorce document when I filed the I-130, the document was accepted no problem and returned to me. So when my wife went to her interview she forgot to take the original and brought a copy. So she was given a 221(g). On Aug 16th she mailed the original divorce document to the consulate. Our guess is that they received it on Aug 25th as that was the first time here status updated. On Sept 9th we received an email copy of the 221(g) Dear Applicants, Under the section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Consulate General is unable to issue you an immigrant visa (IV) at this time. If you have already submitted your passport to the Consulate General, we will keep your passport with your file pending the issuance of your visa. ** Please note that documents issued in China must be translated and notarized by a local notary public office in China. For documents issued in other countries, applicants must obtain an original or certified copy of the requested documents. My name: Please submit an original notarized/ certified copy of Divorce Certificate Please submit an original or certified copy of the divorce certificate. We cannot accept photocopies. This is really frustrating, as we have already sent them the original divorce document. Not to mention they say, provide Original Notarized in one place but two other places say the Original document is fine. In addition, when my wife went to the interview the VO said she only needed to provide the original document. Which they now already have. The original divorce document was issued by a U.S. county court. Can any offer advice on how to proceed?

*Update Sept. 9th Received an email that was a 221(g). Dear Applicants, Under the section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Consulate General is unable to issue you an immigrant visa (IV) at this time. If you have already submitted your passport to the Consulate General, we will keep your passport with your file pending the issuance of your visa. ** Please note that documents issued in China must be translated and notarized by a local notary public office in China. For documents issued in other countries, applicants must obtain an original or certified copy of the requested documents. My name: Please submit an original notarized/ certified copy of Divorce Certificate Please submit an original or certified copy of the divorce certificate. We cannot accept photocopies. This is really frustrating, as we have already sent them the original divorce document. Not to mention they say, provide Original Notarized in one place but two other places say the Original document is fine. In addition, when my wife went to the interview the VO said she only needed to provide the original document. Which they now already have. Can any offer advice on how to proceed? P.S. I should add that the Original divorce document was issued by a U.S. county court.

Update* After Guangzhou received the paperwork her "Case last updated" has been updated twice, once on August 29th and once on September 1st. When I checked on the CEAC website. The only thing the VO requested was the Petitioners Original Divorce paperwork and beneficiary's passport. They have had both for one week now. On CEAC visa status check, we only get this message Refused Case Created: 08-Jun-2022 Case Last Updated: 01-Sep-2022 A U.S. consular officer has adjudicated and refused your visa application. Please follow any instructions provided by the consular officer. If you were informed by the consular officer that your case was refused for administrative processing, your case will remain refused while undergoing such processing. You will receive another adjudication once such processing is complete. Please be advised that the processing time varies and that you will be contacted if additional information is needed. For more information, please visit TRAVEL.STATE.GOV or the website for the Embassy or Consulate at which you made your visa application. For more information, please visit TRAVEL.STATE.GOV. Since they updated twice but we have not received an email or any information from the Guangzhou consulate should we start to worry?

A quick update, My wife went to the interview on 8/15. The interview was fine but she was issued a Section 221 (g) In the Section 221 (g), she was told that she needed to mail my (the petitioner) original divorce paper work. In addition, she needed to mail her passport ( my wife's passport.) I am a little upset, because 2.5 months ago when I went to the first DCF I-130 interview, I presented my original divorce paper work. When my wife went for her interview, she brought a copy of my divorce paperwork, but not the original. The VO said I am giving you a Section 221 (g) because you do not have the original document. ****************************** With that said, the VO did say "looks like your husband makes enough money," and therefore, from our understanding the I-864 passed So thank you all.

A quick update, My wife went to the interview on 8/15. The interview was fine but she was issued a Section 221 (g) In the Section 221 (g), she was told that she needed to mail my (the petitioner) original divorce paper work. In addition, she needed to mail her passport ( my wife's passport.) I am a little upset, because 2.5 months ago when I went to the first DCF I-130 interview, I presented my original divorce paper work. When my wife went for her interview, she brought a copy of my divorce paperwork, but not the original. The VO said I am giving you a Section 221 (g) because you do not have the original document. On 8/17 using the CITIC bank process we mailed the original (petitioner) divorce paperwork and her passport to the Guangzhou consulate. It has been over a week, but when checking her case status through https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx her status is still rejected

I made a big mistake in my post. It is true that my income was not 3x the poverty guideline for the past three years. However, that is not required. You only need to have 125% of the poverty guideline. And good news, on my 3 year tax returns, I did make 125% above the poverty guidelines. So with my 3 years of tax returns above 125% and my current income also above the guidelines, my I-864 should pass no problem. My wife goes for the interview 8/15. Looking forward to giving a positive update after that. And a big thanks to the community and everyone that offered advice.

First sorry for the multiple posts, I could not go back and edit my last post. You might have misunderstood how the DCF process works. It is easy to mistake as I did at first. But to your point, "any quarantine time required for traveling to the I-130 interview in China." I did not have to quarantine in China as I was already living in China. I hadn't even left the country for 3+ years. So all that was needed at the time was a Green CR code in the Chinese APP. At first I contacted the USCIS office in Guangzhou and got this response Please note that as of February 1, 2020, direct filing of Form I-130 with USCIS offices overseas is no longer available.* Please review the following information on the USCIS website for instructions on filing Form I-130, including where to file: https://www.uscis.gov/i-130 *USCIS issued guidance, effective Feb 1, 2020, delegating authority to the Department of State (DOS) to accept and adjudicate a Form I-130 filed by a U.S. citizen petitioner for an immediate relative if the petitioner establishes exceptional circumstances or falls under blanket authorization criteria defined by USCIS. This guidance, which applies even in countries with a USCIS presence, can be found in the USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part B, Chapter 3. As of Feb 1, 2020, USCIS will no longer accept and adjudicate routine Form I-130 petitions at its remaining international field offices. Petitioners residing overseas who are unable to file with DOS must file Form I-130 by mail with the USCIS lockbox facility in Dallas, or online using the USCIS website. Sincerely, USCIS Guangzhou However, later that day I received a second email from USCIS Guangzhou You may find more information on eligibility to file an I-130 petition at the US Consulate Guangzhou based on “exceptional circumstances”. If you meet the “exceptional circumstances” standard, you may contact the Immigrant Visa section at https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/visas/immigrant-visas/immigrant-visa-unit-question/ Sincerely, USCIS Guangzhou Using this link I was ably to apply for DCF with the Guangzhou embassy. After writing a basic description of my circumstance to them, I received an email back, requesting more information. Dear petitioner, Thank you for your inquiry. If you would like to ask Consulate Guangzhou’s Immigrant Visa Unit to accept an I-130 for direct filing in Guangzhou, please respond with detailed information about your situation and the background of your petition. Please explain the reason you would like to file directly with the Consulate and are unable to file directly with USCIS in the United States. Have you already filed an I-130 for your beneficiary directly with USCIS? Please confirm that both you and the beneficiary are currently present in China, and will be able to remain in China for the duration of the immigrant visa petition filing and immigrant visa application process. Hope this help you.