Singaporean living in China, where do we start?

[muddyclips 0]

I am from Singapore and my husband is a US citizen. We met in 2009, and got married in February 2013. We are now living and working in China as foreign teachers. Our contract with the school ends in June 2015, and we are currently trying to decide if we want to extend our contract for another year. We want to apply for a IR-1/CR-1 visa, but we're not sure when to start the process. If we start it now, and decide to work here until June 2016, will our petition be terminated? How soon do we have to move back to the US after we have been approved? If we started the visa process now, is it too late (will the process take too long) if we decided we didn't want to stay an extra year? Is it even possible for us to apply here in China since I'm not a Chinese citizen?

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Your USC spouse could start DCF(Direct Consular Filing) I-130 for you.

Read this:

http://lawandborder.com/uscis-beijing-filing-instructions-and-checklist-for-form-i-130-petition-for-alien-relative/

As long as you are legally resided in China (not on Tourist Visa), I think you should be ok to have your visa interview in US consulate in China.

And you should also research how to get the Singapore police certificate when the time comes for interview.

[muddyclips 0]

Thanks! We both have our residence permits in China. I will look into the police certificate, I have no idea what that is. I haven't lived in Singapore for almost 4 years. Will that be a problem? Do you know anything regarding the timeline and how that works, if I can continue working in China to the end of our contracts if/when we get approved?

Edited October 2, 2014 by muddyclips

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Thanks! We both have our residence permits in China. I will look into the police certificate, I have no idea what that is. I haven't lived in Singapore for almost 4 years. Will that be a problem? Do you know anything regarding the timeline and how that works, if I can continue working in China to the end of our contracts if/when we get approved?

Here is the thread that people doing DCF in China. Seems like the processing times are fast for DCF.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/505881-beijing-embassy-dcf-timeline/

Each applicant aged 16 or older must have police clearance from any country where the applicant resided for one year or more.

Hence you have to get Singapore police certificate and China Police certificate

Here is the website to apply for the Singapore police certificate.

http://www.spf.gov.sg/epc/cert_issued.htm

China, See Police Records information:

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/reciprocity-by-country/CH.html#docs

The approved visa in your passport will have validity of 6 months, for you to enter US.

So research and plan accordingly. Good Luck.