Thanks to All -- Wife Approved - Guanzghou China

[Flightrider 0]

For Benefit of Others -- and a Thank You....

My wife and her 13 year old son were approved this morning for their CR-1 / CR-2 visas in Guanzghou. We prepared our own I-130 package and I submitted it without an attorney. I did hire an attorney after we were approved by NSCIS in May. Total time to interview from submission of the I-130 package was 291 days.

Here's my wife's impression of what they looked at, a little about us, and what seemed most important today:

First off, there's a 28 year age difference; I'm 67' she's 39; didn't seem to matter.

We were married in China on 9/23/15 after meeting in February 2015 through a mutual friend.

I'm retired but also own a small business.

The interview lasted all of about 5 to 8 minutes.

White male CO; very polite to my wife....

[Flightrider 0]

Sorry.. hit the tab key.. which apparently posted before I was finished!

What the CO asked my wife....

How did you meet?

How many times did I visit her? 5 times.. he seemed to like that.

How many marriages? 1 for her; 2 for me.... My wife commented that she has met my X wife....via WeChat

Is your husband retired? Yes, from large company; but also has a small engineering firm....

Do you speak English? Yes, at that point my wife answered him in English... they spoke a few sentences in English... she's about 90%; she mentioned to him that she and I understand each other very well, but sometimes when others talk to her fast, she has a little problem....

What will you do in the US? I will be a housewife and help take care of our home.

Congraduations.. you are approved...

We went well prepared. My wife had alot of supporting documents for our engagement party in China with all her family; my trips; everything you can think off. We followed the VisaJourney list and I read everything I could in Addition to hiring an attorney. However, when I went to the attorney I had the complete NVC AOS and IV package completed, organized and all she had to do was send them to NVC.

Things they took from my wife and looked at and what she thinks they paid attention to...

[Flightrider 0]

I keep hitting the Tab button which submits the post!

Continuing....

Things they looked at and seemed to like:

3 years of tax returns

my pay stubs

proof of retirement pension

Warranty Deed

They asked no questions about finances after taking the documents....

Good luck to all and I hope this is of some help.

Thanks to VisaJourney and all the people who contribute here...

Dave and Fang Colston

[Mrs.FC 2]

I keep hitting the Tab button which submits the post!

Continuing....

Things they looked at and seemed to like:

3 years of tax returns

my pay stubs

proof of retirement pension

Warranty Deed

They asked no questions about finances after taking the documents....

Good luck to all and I hope this is of some help.

Thanks to VisaJourney and all the people who contribute here...

Dave and Fang Colston

Congratulations! I feel a little relieve when I read your post because I'm really nervous on my future embassy interview considering my husband and me has a 26 year age gap (he's 53 and I'm 27) we met through my sister and after 11 months we got married. You just gave me hope that I could pull through this. But what I'm really worried about is that we got married on our first face to face meeting and we only saw each other once because its difficult for him to get a vacation as he is still working.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Mrs.FC

[Flightrider 0]

Congratulations! I feel a little relieve when I read your post because I'm really nervous on my future embassy interview considering my husband and me has a 26 year age gap (he's 53 and I'm 27) we met through my sister and after 11 months we got married. You just gave me hope that I could pull through this. But what I'm really worried about is that we got married on our first face to face meeting and we only saw each other once because its difficult for him to get a vacation as he is still working.

We were married on our 2nd meeting in China after 7 only months! I can only guess at the reasons why our situation went so well, but I will say we had a lot of supporting documentation and very solid evidence of a real marriage. We also prepared a very detailed chronology of our relationship as part of our I-130 package. We had a lot of pictures of our engagement party in China; which we made a big deal of --- included a lot of her family and friends.

My wife was also very nervous before this interview, but she really had no problem. We left nothing to chance though. We hired an agency in GZ to "interview" her a couple of weeks before hand and to review our package. I also had our attorney, who is a Chinese American, call China and prepare my wife for the interview. The guy at the agency in GZ told us the age difference was not a big deal. The attorney wasn't so sure of that. As it turned out, the CO didn't seem to care.

I think more than anything, they're looking to see inclusion of family and things that show you are a real couple -- we had lots of pictures of me with her family in the I-130 package and that seemed to sail through without any questions. I think preparing the I-130 package well on the front end saves some headaches down the road.

And, of course maybe a little good luck in GZ. However, I have to say, they were very courteous to my wife today.

So my advice is Go forward; prepare well; and you may be pleasantly surprised.

DC

[Mrs.FC 2]

We were married on our 2nd meeting in China after 7 only months! I can only guess at the reasons why our situation went so well, but I will say we had a lot of supporting documentation and very solid evidence of a real marriage. We also prepared a very detailed chronology of our relationship as part of our I-130 package. We had a lot of pictures of our engagement party in China; which we made a big deal of --- included a lot of her family and friends.

My wife was also very nervous before this interview, but she really had no problem. We left nothing to chance though. We hired an agency in GZ to "interview" her a couple of weeks before hand and to review our package. I also had our attorney, who is a Chinese American, call China and prepare my wife for the interview. The guy at the agency in GZ told us the age difference was not a big deal. The attorney wasn't so sure of that. As it turned out, the CO didn't seem to care.

I think more than anything, they're looking to see inclusion of family and things that show you are a real couple -- we had lots of pictures of me with her family in the I-130 package and that seemed to sail through without any questions. I think preparing the I-130 package well on the front end saves some headaches down the road.

And, of course maybe a little good luck in GZ. However, I have to say, they were very courteous to my wife today.

So my advice is Go forward; prepare well; and you may be pleasantly surprised.

DC

We didn't front load our I-130 package and just kept it simple. We included affidavits from relatives and pictures of us in different trips while he was staying in the Philippines and pictures of us with both our relatives and friends on trips and during our wedding. Hoping everything goes well.

Thanks for the advice.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Process & Process & Procedures to Progress Reports.

[Hik07 11]

We were married on our 2nd meeting in China after 7 only months! I can only guess at the reasons why our situation went so well, but I will say we had a lot of supporting documentation and very solid evidence of a real marriage. We also prepared a very detailed chronology of our relationship as part of our I-130 package. We had a lot of pictures of our engagement party in China; which we made a big deal of --- included a lot of her family and friends.

My wife was also very nervous before this interview, but she really had no problem. We left nothing to chance though. We hired an agency in GZ to "interview" her a couple of weeks before hand and to review our package. I also had our attorney, who is a Chinese American, call China and prepare my wife for the interview. The guy at the agency in GZ told us the age difference was not a big deal. The attorney wasn't so sure of that. As it turned out, the CO didn't seem to care.

I think more than anything, they're looking to see inclusion of family and things that show you are a real couple -- we had lots of pictures of me with her family in the I-130 package and that seemed to sail through without any questions. I think preparing the I-130 package well on the front end saves some headaches down the road.

And, of course maybe a little good luck in GZ. However, I have to say, they were very courteous to my wife today.

So my advice is Go forward; prepare well; and you may be pleasantly surprised.

DC

Congratulations!!!!!!!

Would you be able to share the persons name or email in GZ who helped with the interview questions? Also wondering if your wife is taking your last name and if so how do you go about doing that.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Hik07