married in the States but live abroad

[maumee 0]

Hello all!

I am a U.S citizen and my wife is from Japan. We were married in the United States but never lived together in the States. we both live (and I work) in China. We have been married for about 4 years now and we are thinking about moving back to the States.

Does anyone know which visa we need to apply for? Do we have to move back first or can we begin the process here? We do not have any children yet so I am not sure if that makes the process easier, more difficult or the same.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Best Regards,

Maumee

[jundp 191]

You should read the guides for the Direct Consular Filing here. You apply for the visa from your country of residence and await the visa there before moving to the USA. Good luck.

[maumee 0]

You should read the guides for the Direct Consular Filing here. You apply for the visa from your country of residence and await the visa there before moving to the USA. Good luck.

Wow! That was very fast. Thank you very much!

[Lia792 5]

If you have already been married for four years, the only visa that would make sense is the IR-1 using the I-130. If you have some form of residence in China you can file using the embassy rather than sending it to the US - "DCF."

Here's the link I got from the USCIS:

https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=of...atecode=Bangkok

although it sounds like if you want to do DCF in China, you have to have residency of some sort and do it in person in Guangzhou. So if that is inconvenient, you can just do a regular IR-1 and mail your documents to the US. However, a quick check of a DCF timeline for China seems like it would be a fairly quick process.

Since you have lived out of the country for some time I'm assuming, the US govt is going to expect you to prove either sources of US income or a co-sponsor as well as proof of intent to re-establish US domicile such as a lease or house and proof of employment. You deal with that more at the interview stage. I believe the understanding is that the USC has to move back either before or at the same time as the intending immigrant.

Kids are not necessary for the visa process. I wouldn't worry about it. They just want proof of a bonafide marriage however you prove it.