You are probably reading this article because you are either (1) a U.S. citizen who has a fiancé(e) who is a citizen of the People's Republic of China and you want to bring him/her to the U.S., or (2) you are a U.S. citizen and you have a boyfriend or girlfriend who is a citizen or the People's Republic of China and you are thinking about "popping the question" and eventually bringing your new fiancé(e) to America. If either one of these scenarios sound familiar, then I urge you to brace yourself for the laborious, time consuming, and potentially maddening K-1 visa process. This article is aimed at helping with a few tricky situations that frequently occur in the K-1 visa process when your fiancé(e) is from China.
1) Your Chinese fiancé(e) does not have a birth certificate. This is a common predicament for many K-1 couples. Many Chinese citizens who were born either (1) in the Chinese countryside, or (2) before about 1990, do not have birth certificates. What can you do about this given that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") requires a copy of both parties' birth certificates along with Form I-129F (the USCIS form that is required at the outset of the K-1 process)? First, have your Chinese fiancé(e) go to his/her local health department in China. That department will likely be able to issue a birth certificate to your Chinese fiancé(e) so long as s/he presents proper identification. Second, have your Chinese fiancé(e) take his/her birth certificate to a local notary public, and get the document notarized. At this stage, the birth certificate must also be translated into English by a certified translator (have the translated version notarized as well). Keep these documents in a safe place and make three copies of them.
2) The Health Department in China will not grant your Chinese fiancé(e) a birth certificate. There may be several different reasons for this: (1) since each local government seems to operate differently, the Health Department may not be the appropriate department; (2) the Health Department official is corrupt; or (3) The Health Department official is asking your fiancé(e) for his/her parents' marriage certificate. If (1), then ask the Health Department official where birth certificates may be obtained, then go there. If (2), you may be forced to offer a monetary bribe. If (3), then you are not alone; this is a common requirement. Your fiancé(e) will have to ask his/her parents to either present their marriage certificate, or, more likely, to go get a marriage certificate from the local department so that s/he may present it to the Health Department official.
3) Your Chinese fiancé(e) needs to obtain his/her criminal records in China, but does not know where to go. The police department in your fiancé(e)'s hometown should be able to print out his/her police records. But remember, USCIS needs police records from every locality your fiancé(e) has lived in the past five years. If your fiancé(e) has lived outside China in the past five years, police records from that country must also be produced. All police records should be translated into English by a certified translator.
4) Your Chinese fiancé(e) has been previously married. The divorce decree or death certificate must be produced for every prior marriage. If your fiancé(e) was previously divorced, there is a good chance that s/he already has a copy of it; if not, the decree may be obtained at the same place the marriage was dissolved. If your fiancé(e) is a widow(er), s/he should obtain the death certificate of his/her former spouse at the local health department. All documents must be translated into English by a certified translator.
5) All of your Chinese fiancé(e)'s legal documents are written in Chinese. All documents written in a language other than English must be translated into English by a certified translator before submitting them to USCIS.
6) Your Chinese fiancé(e) speaks barely any English at all. If this is the case, going through the K-1 visa process will be even more difficult since it is likely your Chinese fiancé(e) will not be aware of the requirements needed for the I-129F petition or how to prepare for the interview at the U.S. consulate in China. It is highly advisable to hire an interpreter who can speak both English and Chinese. Better yet, when you select your U.S. immigration lawyer, make sure that s/he can either speak both English and Chinese, or at least can offer interpretation services. Some U.S. immigration lawyers provide free English-Chinese interpretation services.
7) Your Chinese fiancé(e) is a member of the Communist Party of China. If your fiancé(e) is a member of the Communist Part of China ("CPC"), s/he may face difficulties at the K-1 interview at the U.S. consulate in China. This is an antiquated issue, but the visa officer will most likely inquire about your fiancé(e)'s ties with the CPC if s/he indicates that s/he is a member. For this reason, many K-1 visa applicants have been denied visas. Although the current trend is more relaxed for CPC members, it is still highly advisable to have your fiancé(e) officially renounce his/her CPC membership before embarking on the K-1 visa journey.
8) You have not visited your Chinese fiancé(e) in over two years. To guarantee a successful I-129F petition, a baseline requirement is that you have visited your Chinese fiancé(e) at least once in the two years preceding your filing of the I-129F. For that reason, make a trip to China to visit your fiancé(e). Make two or three trips even. In each trip, take copious amounts of photos together, both just the two of you, and also with his/her family members. Show USCIS that your relationship is bona fide and genuinely loving. USCIS is adept at sniffing out fraudulent marriages.
9) Your fiancé(e) is worried about the interview at the U.S. consulate. S/he has nothing to worry about as long as the relationship is real. Presumably, in a real relationship, your fiancé(e) will know you and your habits. S/he will know details about your relationship, how you met, your family situation, and even your favorite food. S/he should be prepared to answer these types of questions and more at the visa interview at the U.S. consulate. Historically, Chinese citizens have faced tougher scrutiny at visa interviews than some other countries' citizens. This is so because there has been a history of fraudulent marriages originating with Chinese citizens. The U.S. consulate is well aware of these fraudulent marriages, so it takes painstaking efforts to uncover them at the visa interview. But again, there is no need to worry about this if the relationship between you and your Chinese fiancé(e) is bona fide.
10) Your fiancé(e) insists on hiring an agency in China to handle the U.S. immigration paperwork. Although such agencies do exist in China, it is generally a mistake to allow non-U.S. immigration lawyers to handle your U.S. immigration matters. In matters as sensitive as family-based immigration visas, it is always advisable to have a licensed U.S. immigration lawyer prepare the petition and advise you accordingly.
1) Your Chinese fiancé(e) does not have a birth certificate. This is a common predicament for many K-1 couples. Many Chinese citizens who were born either (1) in the Chinese countryside, or (2) before about 1990, do not have birth certificates. What can you do about this given that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") requires a copy of both parties' birth certificates along with Form I-129F (the USCIS form that is required at the outset of the K-1 process)? First, have your Chinese fiancé(e) go to his/her local health department in China. That department will likely be able to issue a birth certificate to your Chinese fiancé(e) so long as s/he presents proper identification. Second, have your Chinese fiancé(e) take his/her birth certificate to a local notary public, and get the document notarized. At this stage, the birth certificate must also be translated into English by a certified translator (have the translated version notarized as well). Keep these documents in a safe place and make three copies of them.
2) The Health Department in China will not grant your Chinese fiancé(e) a birth certificate. There may be several different reasons for this: (1) since each local government seems to operate differently, the Health Department may not be the appropriate department; (2) the Health Department official is corrupt; or (3) The Health Department official is asking your fiancé(e) for his/her parents' marriage certificate. If (1), then ask the Health Department official where birth certificates may be obtained, then go there. If (2), you may be forced to offer a monetary bribe. If (3), then you are not alone; this is a common requirement. Your fiancé(e) will have to ask his/her parents to either present their marriage certificate, or, more likely, to go get a marriage certificate from the local department so that s/he may present it to the Health Department official.
3) Your Chinese fiancé(e) needs to obtain his/her criminal records in China, but does not know where to go. The police department in your fiancé(e)'s hometown should be able to print out his/her police records. But remember, USCIS needs police records from every locality your fiancé(e) has lived in the past five years. If your fiancé(e) has lived outside China in the past five years, police records from that country must also be produced. All police records should be translated into English by a certified translator.
4) Your Chinese fiancé(e) has been previously married. The divorce decree or death certificate must be produced for every prior marriage. If your fiancé(e) was previously divorced, there is a good chance that s/he already has a copy of it; if not, the decree may be obtained at the same place the marriage was dissolved. If your fiancé(e) is a widow(er), s/he should obtain the death certificate of his/her former spouse at the local health department. All documents must be translated into English by a certified translator.
5) All of your Chinese fiancé(e)'s legal documents are written in Chinese. All documents written in a language other than English must be translated into English by a certified translator before submitting them to USCIS.
6) Your Chinese fiancé(e) speaks barely any English at all. If this is the case, going through the K-1 visa process will be even more difficult since it is likely your Chinese fiancé(e) will not be aware of the requirements needed for the I-129F petition or how to prepare for the interview at the U.S. consulate in China. It is highly advisable to hire an interpreter who can speak both English and Chinese. Better yet, when you select your U.S. immigration lawyer, make sure that s/he can either speak both English and Chinese, or at least can offer interpretation services. Some U.S. immigration lawyers provide free English-Chinese interpretation services.
7) Your Chinese fiancé(e) is a member of the Communist Party of China. If your fiancé(e) is a member of the Communist Part of China ("CPC"), s/he may face difficulties at the K-1 interview at the U.S. consulate in China. This is an antiquated issue, but the visa officer will most likely inquire about your fiancé(e)'s ties with the CPC if s/he indicates that s/he is a member. For this reason, many K-1 visa applicants have been denied visas. Although the current trend is more relaxed for CPC members, it is still highly advisable to have your fiancé(e) officially renounce his/her CPC membership before embarking on the K-1 visa journey.
8) You have not visited your Chinese fiancé(e) in over two years. To guarantee a successful I-129F petition, a baseline requirement is that you have visited your Chinese fiancé(e) at least once in the two years preceding your filing of the I-129F. For that reason, make a trip to China to visit your fiancé(e). Make two or three trips even. In each trip, take copious amounts of photos together, both just the two of you, and also with his/her family members. Show USCIS that your relationship is bona fide and genuinely loving. USCIS is adept at sniffing out fraudulent marriages.
9) Your fiancé(e) is worried about the interview at the U.S. consulate. S/he has nothing to worry about as long as the relationship is real. Presumably, in a real relationship, your fiancé(e) will know you and your habits. S/he will know details about your relationship, how you met, your family situation, and even your favorite food. S/he should be prepared to answer these types of questions and more at the visa interview at the U.S. consulate. Historically, Chinese citizens have faced tougher scrutiny at visa interviews than some other countries' citizens. This is so because there has been a history of fraudulent marriages originating with Chinese citizens. The U.S. consulate is well aware of these fraudulent marriages, so it takes painstaking efforts to uncover them at the visa interview. But again, there is no need to worry about this if the relationship between you and your Chinese fiancé(e) is bona fide.
10) Your fiancé(e) insists on hiring an agency in China to handle the U.S. immigration paperwork. Although such agencies do exist in China, it is generally a mistake to allow non-U.S. immigration lawyers to handle your U.S. immigration matters. In matters as sensitive as family-based immigration visas, it is always advisable to have a licensed U.S. immigration lawyer prepare the petition and advise you accordingly.
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