BubblyJoe

We can get married in the U.S. when she comes back on short term J1 visa. Then she can readjust her status. First J1 waiver. Then road to green card. I am slightly worried that i might come up in the J1 interview process and that she doesnt have enough real connections back to her home country when she is applying for this short term J1 visa. She does have real research opportunities in the U.S. as a recent phD graduate and networking at a top notch U.S. laboratory. From our understanding, the only way she can come to the U.S is with J1 visa or J1 waiver IF we don't want to wait the full 2 years on the J1 home residency requirement. And she found out she can only do the J1 waiver while in the U.S. (and it takes 9 months to process). If she waits the full 2 years, then we can just do K1, but that will be June 2026. But That's so far away 😢 I think her understanding of the visa process is likely more in depth than mine, because I'm a us citizen and there are many people in China that come to the U.S. on visas and much more discussion online. There is a university staff that even helps students with visas and she spoke with them as well.

I could do it today. But I thought she can't get K1 because of J1 residency period (212e), unless she does J1 waiver first which takes forever. So i thought there was no point in applying for I129F. Also, the longer she stays over there, the less she has to pay back for CSC, but this matters much less. She can pay it off, but prefers to just reside their for now to pay off CSC.

Ya that's what I figured. It just sucks if she does end up having to wait 2 years. She is going to reapply for short term J1 visa next year. Hopefully she gets approved. 6 months now she has been in China now. I went last month and visited her in China and traveled. While I was their I proposed to her. I was a little slow to propose because I am indecisive and don't take this big decision lightly. The beginning of our relationship was much more uncertain and slow due to cultural differences and maybe some stress at her work. We have grown a lot closer over the last 2.5 years.

Hello, I am a U.S. citizen asking a visa question on behalf of my fiance that lives in Nanjing (and is from Hunan province). She returned to China earlier this year, voluntarily expiring and leaving early to do her dissertation for PhD at Nanjing university. Being under the J1 visa that has now expired, it is our understanding that she has to stay in china for 2 years under a residency period. See restrictions: (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange.html) However I would like her to apply and see if she could do a K1 visa. Under the K1 visa page, I do not see any inelegibilities (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family-immigration/nonimmigrant-visa-for-a-fiance-k-1.html#12). Specifically section 212(e). In addition to this information she has a CSC scholarship that may affect her status (not too sure on this), unless she pays it off before applying for a visa. I was wondering if you could help me clarify the laws on if it's possible in her sitaution to get approved for a K1 visa after having the J1 visa and a CSC scholarship. If it doesnt work, I think she will just apply for J1 again. There is a researcher that wants to work with her back in the U.S. Thanks! Trevor