K-1 Visa Questions

[Can't wait 0]

Hi everyone,

I am a US citizen petitioning to bring my Chinese Fiance to the US. She is living in China again, after a stay in the US with me. Unfortunately she was a study abroad student in the US, and is subject to the J-1 2 year rule. I know that I cannot file the I-129F petition like I had planned, and I now need to find out how to get a waiver for the 2 year rule.

I am looking for any advice on how to get the 2 year rule waiver, and what are the steps we should take. It is already going to be a long process without the 2 year rule, and finding this has just made it that much longer.

The other problem we are having is that she cannot get a criminal report in China, partially because she is being discriminated against for being engaged to an American citizen. I don't know if there is anything we can do about this or not, but the Chinese government is making this process all the more difficult for the two of us.

I guess I have one more question. I will be going to China in December, up through the 22 of January. If we file for the waiver now the soonest it would be processed is said to be close to 5 weeks maybe longer. I can marry her in China while I am there. I have the correct documents to do so. I was going to do the fiance visa route, because I could get her to the states sooner. My question is, now that the waiver won't finish until a few weeks before I am in China, is it better to get married in China and apply for a k-3 visa? Or is the k-1 visa a much faster and simpler direction to take?

Sorry for the long list of questions, but I just happened to hit a hard wall and haven't been able to move forward.

Thank you for any and all help you are able to give, it is all better than where I am now.

Jacob

[Amaro 0]

Not sure about a waiver, and that's crazy about the discrimination for being engaged to an American. Its a pretty straight forward process.

Also, if you do marry her, consider the CR1 route. Its cheaper and she will have her green card right away.

[garfield529 47]

I don't know how difficult the J-2 rule is to overcome, but you can try for the wavier. As far as the police report, I seriously doubt that you are being discriminated against. There have been far too many USC-engaged Chinese women who have had zero problems with this. Perhaps it is more a problem of confusion on the part of your fiancee regarding exactly what she needs and the office is just giving her the run around. While many men in China have a negative view of inter-racial couples, they are typically non-vocal and just ignore the situation. Your fiancee can obtain her police report at the same office in where her hukou is registered and also get her translated birth certificate and singleness certificate at the same time.

[Can't wait 0]

It would be fantastic if she was able to go get these forms herself, but she is in Shanghai doing an internship with limited time off. Her family, mom and dad, were the people who went to pick up her criminal report. They denied her parents the criminal report after they asked why it was needed, and their response was,"For our daughter to continue her application for a US fiance visa."

That isn't the big issue anymore. The biggest problem is the 2 year home stay rule, and whether or not we will be able to receive a waiver. She actually is a student at a school in the Netherlands, and was forced to study abroad in the U.S. for a semester. None of her Netherlands visas had a 2 year home rule attached to them, it was only the U.S. visa. I am a little confused as to where they are saying she needs to stay for 2 years, and if it actually applies to her having to stay within China. I know she can visit as a tourist during these two years, but as far as I know I am not able to petition for her to come to the states.

I guess another problem I run into is that if we cannot petition for a k-1 visa now, we are planning on getting married when I am in China this December. Would getting married make it harder/impossible for her to receive a tourism visa to visit me?

Sorry again for all of the questions. I am just looking for a way around this situation we are in, and still do things through the proper channels. We have no desire to risk going through the get married in the U.S. and apply for change of status situation...it just seems like a quick way to never have her brought to the country.

Thank you for your time, and I appreciate all of your advice.

Jacob