Petitioner's Visa Question + Beneficiary's Previous US visits

[miminme 0]

Howdy all,

My wife and I just received the last packet in the mail (on Xmas day!!), and we are busily putting together all the documents required. My Chinese visa, however, is due to expire in February, which most likely will be before her interview date. I have been on a student visa for the last year and a half, and this semester is soon coming to a close. I'm guessing that we'll have our interview within the next four to five months, but that will not be enough time fore me to finish another semester of study. As my visa was valid when the initial I130 form was filed, I'm wondering if it's necessary for me to renew my student visa for another semester just to wait for the interview. I definitely plan on remaining in country throughout the process, but it would be much more cost effective if I got a tourist visa after my current visa expires rather than paying for another semester of tuition that I very likely won't finish. The tourist visa, however, would obviously no longer allow me to be classified as a resident.

Does anyone have any experience with this issue or any words of wisdom? I did a few searches and didn't come up with anything related, so I apologize in advance if this has been convered before.

As well, my wife has visited the US four different times in the past three years. On the DS-230 Part I, we need to list some details regarding the locations of her visits. She came on a business visa each of those times, and spent a significant amount of time traveling to different parts of the US, including time visiting my family. Do we need to give detailed descriptions of her movements each day (names and addresses of hotels, etc.), or will a more general description suffice?

Thanks,

Miminme

[Darnell 8,479]

iirc - 'last packet' for the DCF'd I-130 is the DS-230 and I864 and something else, right?

I suggest that after you send it in, she'll get scheduled within 2 months (and not 5) for the interview.

You are married, so you have another 'option' available to you, to remain in China - and it's this -

Go to the Big PSB office in your district, with yer wife, her hukuo book, her china ID card, your passport and yer marriage certificate (the red book ) and apply for temporary residence permit. You won't be able to work, and the duration is from 6 months to 2 years, depending on where you are. price ranges from 200 to 1100 rmb, as well.

You have to have ' china residency' status at time of filing, not at time of HER interview. For many DCF-couples, the USC goes back to the USA after filing the DCF'd I-130, to get a USA job and re-establishing USA domicile. This is normal, GUZ understands this (and really expects you to prove up US Domicile by interview day, and also prove up either assets or income or employment in USA by interview day) . As long as you had residency prior to filing, is ok to leave to USA after you file the DCF'd I-130.

Hopefully someone else can give more advice about the location listings for the DS-230, but my general advice is to list each 'jump' from China, the first 'landing city' and the last 'jump' city, for each 'jump' from China, on the form itself, without much detail. THEN, if you want, provide in columnar / tabular format, on an addendum page, the detail per jump. I don't think the detail is needed, but if you want to give a lot of minutae, I don't see the issue with an addendum page or two or three.

[Darnell 8,479]

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sorry, wasn't clear about the residency permit.

You'll need to go to the Big PSB office in the district where HER hukuo is registered, which may be different if she's a student or a migrant worker.

[miminme 0]

Darnell,

Thanks for all the help. Those were just the answers that I was looking for. It's great to hear that I won't be having to pay for another semester of tuition, as we're currently in "belt tightening" mode in preparation for the move back home. And two months sounds so much better than five, so I really hope that's the way it works out!

Thanks again!

Miminme

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

You definitely won't have to pay for tuition- even if the thing PP suggested doesn't work out, the USCmay actually leave the foreign country as soon as the I-130 is filed, so as yours was already accepted, your residency no longer matters.

[Darnell 8,479]

Hey - any news/update?

[miminme 0]

Howdy Everyone,

Just wanted to update this post with our recent approval on 3/17. The whole process ended up being extremely smooth, and we feel very fortunate to be done with this first major step. We're in the process of tying up various loose ends here in China and will be moving back home in May. Thank you again to everyone for building this amazing resource! We could never have gotten through all this without all of the combined wisdom and experience that everyone so generously shares here.

Hugs,

Miminme