Our Dilemma: AOS vs Consular processing for CCP membership case

[jsm438 0]

Hi Everyone,

 

First I want to thank all the excellent moderators and all the people willing to help each other on VJ. Great community and mods please move this topic to correct forum if I didnt post in the correct one...

 

I would like to get practical advice about our dilemma as we are trying to decide whether between Adjustment of Status (AOS) vs Consular Processing for our particular situation.

 

Here are some facts:

 

a)      My fiancé is from China and she has been in the US for the last few years. She is currently on a work visa. We have been together in a relationship for much of that time and plan to get married soon.

b)      She has received a job offer from a US company to work in China for a 1 to 3 year assignment/project. She is very excited about the opportunity as it will be a chance for her to spend some quality time with her grandparents who raised her. She is very attached to her grandparents and they are getting older now… in their 90s and she thinks this will be her chance to spend quality time with them... The offer is attractive too and it will be a step up for her career.

c)       COMPLICATION: Being an excellent student, she was invited to become a CCP student member in undergrad college in China. She became a student member (free membership) but did not pay for any dues after college and came to America for grad school. Her grandparents paid for her nominal membership dues after college for a few years unbeknownst to her (the local membership office repeatedly pestered them to pay). She found out about it by coincidence one day while talking with them and asked them to not pay for it in the future. They have not paid now for a few years (less than 5 years since membership should have lapsed automatically).

 

I’m hoping that some of the forum members have practical experience with these issues and could share their knowledge and experience as we have not received much advice from the lawyers we have consulted with so far.

 

Questions:

 

Given that her membership technically lapsed less than 5 years ago:

 

1.       Thoughts on chances of approval with less than 5 years since membership lapsed? Do they approve the petition if it has been 3-4 years since membership lapsed when the petition is filed?

2.       What are the chances that we face major issues and odds of denial with consular processing vs AOS?

3.       Do they ask for any proof or evidence to show that CCP membership has lapsed? My understanding is that it is usually sufficient to give a personal affidavit with an explanation. As far as we know there is no other way to get proof that membership has lapsed as the local CCP membership office usually does not give any paperwork out.

4.       Will she get administrative processing (AP)? If so, how long does AP usually last for such cases if they do AP? Will we need a I-601 waiver for the CCP membership, and if so how long does the waiver process take to process?

5.       OPTIONAL: Will she be able to make short visits to the US on a visitor visa (eg. 1 or 2 week vacation to visit me and for company business meetings in the US) while the petition is being processed at any stage including after interview but in AP? Will she be able to get an H1b or L1 visa if her company wishes to send her back to the US after her project ends while our immigration petition is still pending? Or student visa if she pursues an MBA program in the US? 

 

Our understanding is that AOS is much easier than consular processing and generally it’s harder to get non-immigrant visas like student visa or tourist visa if there is a pending immigration petition. Also that once we do the AOS and get the EAD card and travel parole, she can travel abroad but she usually its best not work abroad or stay abroad for long periods of time?

 

I’m potentially willing to move to Asia for 1-2 years and find work there while we wait for consular processing so that we can be closer to each other. We definitely want to come back to the US after her assignment. Thanks so much for reading our story! Any input is appreciated!

[RamonGomez 271]

My wife adjusted without any issues whatsoever from a B2 visa. She was asked about her CCP membership and just said she was pressured to do it for work reasons, but hadn't paid dues for some time or actively participated, and that was that. She did have her mom submit a resignation letter to the local office, which I'm sure immediately went into the trash, but at least we had something documented.

 

The topic was discussed for maybe 90 seconds tops and tbh it didn't seem like the officer particularly cared. She did include an explanation with the I485 application, per the suggestion of our attorney. Tons of Chinese are in the CCP and don't run into any issue although our lawyer told us every once in a while he has seen an officer blow up over the issue and really grill it. 

AOS is generally safer. As our lawyer said, if there's an issue, it's far better to be in the US dealing with USCIS (you can appeal, refile, sue, get help from your congressman, ombudsman etc.) rather than be stuck abroad dealing with basically an un-touchable embassy where there's no recourse if the hits the fan. 

Edited September 24, 2019 by RamonGomez

[Groovadelickun 0]

My wife applied for AOS (from a K1 visa) and during our AOS Interview she got grilled on her CCP membership.

She also was only a member as her high level of education and pressured to join but didn't pay the fees and was finally able to get a resignation letter from her local CCP office.

 

We still thought the interview went well overall but they said they would let us know as "they did not have all the paperwork to make a decision" (I thought that was odd)

We later received a denial due to her prior membership in the CCP so we filed a i-601 and now the long wait....

 

[RamonGomez 271]

On 10/15/2019 at 5:04 PM, Groovadelickun said:

My wife applied for AOS (from a K1 visa) and during our AOS Interview she got grilled on her CCP membership.

She also was only a member as her high level of education and pressured to join but didn't pay the fees and was finally able to get a resignation letter from her local CCP office.

 

We still thought the interview went well overall but they said they would let us know as "they did not have all the paperwork to make a decision" (I thought that was odd)

We later received a denial due to her prior membership in the CCP so we filed a i-601 and now the long wait....

 

Holy (removed) That must have been beyond disappointing. I've heard of a few Chinese people who got their N-400s denied for CPC reasons but have never heard of an AOS denied for this reason. In fact, when we went to our AOS interview, our lawyer brought a big stack of court cases as reinforcement if the CPC issue got out of hand. Perhaps the officer was uninformed,  made a mistake, or possibly didn't believe her?

 

The problem with the K1 visa is that the CPC issue can come up at the consular stage and at the AOS stage. At least if there's an issue at the AOS stage you can stay together, your spouse can continue working, etc. while you work things out. There's a lot of recourse once she make it to the US. At the consular level you're pretty much boned if they make a big deal out of the CPC membership. I've heard of people put into 9+ month administrative processing because of this... 

 

What irritates me most is that you basically get punished for being honest. If someone puts down "No" to the communist party question, how can USCIS even verify it? Calling up the Chinese government and asking LOL? 

 

Really wish you the best of luck. 

 

Edited October 17, 2019 by Unlockable
Edited for language

[Unlockable 7,314]

*** One post edited to remove inappropriate language. Please remember to not use foul language on this site.

 

VJ Moderation

[Pitaya 2,577]

Membership in the CCP or any totalitarian party IS such a big thing that it is specifically stated in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952. 

Quote

212(a)(3)(D) Inadmissibility due to Membership in Totalitarian Party. Foreign nationals applying to enter as an immigrant may be inadmissible if he or she is or has been a member of or affiliated with the Communist or any other totalitarian party.

The INA of 1952 governs the immigration to and citizenship in the United States. This code of laws was enacted by the 82nd session of the US Congress on June 27, 1952, AKA the McCarran-Walter Act. To be sure the world and world politics looks a lot differently today than it did then, during the Cold War. The Cuban missile crisis was still ten years away.

 

The next time you fly into Las Vegas, check out the name of the airport.

 

God bless our Republic !!

[Darnell 8,478]

CCP membership is one thing, and it opens up the tip of the funnel to keep digging, evaluating. 

Combine CCP membership with a TECHNICAL degree that somehow advances weapons technology, and suddenly it's a deep dive. 

So, take a look at the degree, internships whilst in China, other work done in China (state business versus absolutely private company) ...