please help (visa)

[charlie77]

I will try to make this as brief and concise as possible.

I was married to a Chinese citizen here in the USA back on October 15, 2004. She was here on a J-2 visa and had to go back to China on January 7, 2005 to finish schooling. We were not aware of the 2 year residency restriction prohibiting her return here as anything other than a visitor. We had a discussion and I agreed to quit my job and move to China with her for a while.

I am having some difficulty in finding a visa to suit this purpose. She was told that if I were to show the Chinese embassy in my country proof of our marriage that I could visit her on an L visa and stay up to a year (she was told this in China). She was told that I should apply for an L visa and it would be changed there. However, my research hasn't turned up the same results. Here is my main question, "Is there any way that I can go to live there with her as her husband in China (which I am) until she is able to return to the USA?". I would greatly appreciate any information on how I might stay there with her.

It has been 7 months since I have seen her, and I do believe I am going to start balding, or pulling my hair out from frustration. I can't afford to travel to and from there multiple times. She has about 1 year, and about 5 months left on her visa before she can return. I don't know if this will help but, she live in Shenyang. If there is any information I have omitted that might help you in any way please let me know. I thank you for your time.

[roddy]

With the usual caveat that China's visa laws are enforced differently depending on where you go and who are you . . .

I've met people able to extend L visas as many times as they want as they have a Chinese spouse, and I think an L visa is your best bet for at least getting into the country.

Once you are here you can look at other options - there is a residency visa for spouses (D, I think?) but you will probably have to jump through some administrative hoops to get it. If you wind up working, a Z visa will be your best bet.

Best of luck.

Roddy

[Battosai]

In Hong Kong you can a 1 year visa but it will cost you about 900HK$ (a little over 110 US$ i think). Another option is to get a 6 months visa (again only in Hong Kong as far as I know costs about 500HK$) and hopefuly sort out the spouse visa in the Mainland. If it doesnt work out you will only need to leave the country once to get another 6 months in Hong Kong.

Best Wishes

[roddy]

Those HK visas are, last I heard, not available for Americans.

[charlie77]

This was sent to me by the Embassy in Houston, my wife has told me that SHE was told by the government in China to prove our marriage to her goverment here, whatever and however i do that. I don't know what the **** to do. I am so frickin confused, spend all day at work, too tired to even take a bath when I come home.

"you can apply a tourist visa which allow you to stay upto 180 days provided

you submit your marriage certificate and any other proof that your wife is a

chinse citizen who has not abtained permant residence in the US( in other

words, her valid chinese passport and her status as a j1 visa holder here )"

The marriage certificate has to be notarized, then it has to be certified? Then verified by the embassy again?

annd I have to get her to mail her passport to me? I think i'll just go hang myself...much quicker. It doesnt look like i'll be seeing her for some time.

[Battosai]

I still think your best bet is thru Hong Kong. Try to get in touch with a travel agent there . Perhaps 6 months visas are not avaiable for Americans I wouldn't know (I'm EU) but Chinese rules can be bent sometimes. Talk to the travel agent. (try http://www.chinaworld.com.hk/eng/evisa.html)

Best of luck

[novemberfog]

First of all, if you have a large sum of money to spare, there are agencies that handle visas and what not, even in the USA--no need to go abroad. They are quite expensive, and normally used by companies who need to get a work visa quickly for an employee. I don't know how they do it, but they can get the visas and paperwork pushed through the system at an amazing speed. "Need a work visa for three weeks in Brazil? No problem, that is $2,000, it will be ready in 3 business days." In regard to pricing, I believe it will be in the thousands range. I guess that is the price to pay for minimal stress and a hands-off process.

So when that is not an option (the case for most of us I imagine...)

I would call the consulate there in Houston, take good notes, ask questions until you are 100% sure of the process that you need to follow. As the consulate will be issuing the visa, they will no better than any other agency or person et cetera. Find out what forms you need, what documents you must provide, all of that stuff. If you don't know what they mean by certified, verified, notorized and what not, ask about it. "Does this certificate need a seal from a public notary?" "What type of certification are you looking for with the marriage cert? A letter on city/state letterhead? blah blah blah". Sometimes you can get really grumpy people on the other side, but just stay polite even if you want to scream at them for being so ambiguous and apathetic. Sometimes you get lucky and there is a nice person talking with you on the phone though.

And check with them about your wife's passport. Do they just need the front page copy, or do they physically need it? If they physically need it, use some sort of certified delivery mail service (like the courrier serivices from FedEx), where the receiver must sign for it, and you have a paper trail of where it is always. It will cost a lot, but if the passport gets lost in PRC or US mail, things get bad quickly. It can take up to 6 months to try and track an intl. package. Definately use a courrier service, and have it certified and signed for where ever it goes. And make sure you and your wife both have a copy of the front page in case anything does happen.

Once you know what you have to do, and know the exact process and flow, you

might have to take a time off of work/school to apply to get all the documents you'll need. Some documents might take a few weeks to acquire as well. Call the offices that need to be called and find out about the general time required to acquite each certifcation or what not. Try to make a timeline plan so that you can arrange your errands around your work/school schedule as well. This will also help you see how the process is going, and hopefully as you strike items off of the timeline, you'll feel a little better too, and less stressed.

Because you will be dealing with government on both sides, you can count on the fact that the hours will be limited, no one will answer the phone during the lunch period, and no one will return any messages (you might get lucky with that one...but I doubt it). When trying to get my work visa for Japan, I remember they would only accept drop-offs from 10 AM to 12 PM for work visas. Pick-up was only from 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM. It was a pain...however, c'est la vie.

Unfortunately, residence/work/long-term visas are always a headache to acquire, unless there is a company that can hire a immigration-specialist lawyer to step through the paperwork and government tape. And I imagine when it is time for you two to return to the States at some point, it will be a headache once again. But worry about that when the time comes I suppose.

Just take it easy and try not to get too stressed out. There is nothing that you can really do about the process. You might wait for two hours just to be turned away after 30 seconds because there was one document missing that they never mentioned before. (oh how many stories I can tell you about trying to start my life in Japan with no help and on my own) That is why I suggest being as thorough as you can when making your plan for getting the paperwork sorted out. Verify as much as possible before each step, and follow up if you are not sure. It is a pain, but it is worth it in the end right?

I wish you good luck, I hope you can go be with your wife. I hope the process goes really smoothly too, with no bumps and what not. Once you get your visa, let us know about it as well. Good luck, friend!

ps - on the bright side, when you and your wife are done with all of this, you can make a business doing this sort of stuff for others!

[trevelyan]

A friend of mine is married to a Chinese resident. He doesn't know the details himself, but mentioned that his wife looked into it. I'm waiting to hear back from here and will post if she says anything that hasn't been said before.

This is what he does know: since he is married to a Chinese resident, he is able to stay in China however long he wants. There is a 5 year waiting period before he can get a permanent residency card... so he currently has temporary residence status. You will have the same, so the important question is (1) which document gives you that status, and (2) does it also allow you to enter and leave the country?

He is under the impression that the magical document enabling this is his Chinese marriage certificate, which proves he is legally wedded. I do not think you will have much luck in getting the Chinese government to start recognizing American marriage certificates, and would not want to try and pass through Chinese customs with one. Inquiring with the American consolate nearest to where you will be in China may be useful.

Anyway, if the magic document *is* the wedding certificate, the easiest route to solving your problem may simply be coming in on whatever visa you can get and getting "officially" married in China. This will not be very expensive, although you and your girlfriend may need to travel miles out of your way to get it done at the right office and stamped appropriately. Your girlfriend should be able to look into the paperwork China will need for this.

Good luck.

[charlie77]

Thanks for all the advice. From what I have gathered and been told by my wife thus far is

I need to get a copy of my marriage certificate. She told me that I need this document notarized, then certified (or apostilized rather since China was on the list that required that even though the website says certified *confused* ), theeeeen send it to the Chinese embassy to have it verified. This was also stated on the Houston embassy's website.

http://houston.china-consulate.org/eng/vp/gzrz/t53297.htm

Suposedly required for any document that is going to be used in China to be deemed authentic. Should I bother with a birth certificate or would the passport and visa be enough as far as my identification?

I really appreciate all the advice, it has given me quite a few ideas. I check back here quite often. I am quite embarrassed at my lack of knowledge on my current dilemma.

[charlie77]

One more little question....about the J visa.

When does the time start being deducted from her 2 year foreign residency requirement? From the time she set foot back in China?? Or would it be after she finishes the rest of her school in China. She is finished with the US part of schooling, and will recieve 2 diploma's upon completion in China, one from US one from China. She has no reason to come back to the US for any classes.Any ideas? Recently sitting here by myself the thought occured to me. Guess i need to get out more.

[tcador]

Hey Charlie -

Do you have any updates on this issue? I'm actually in a similiar situation as I cannot figure out what I need from my end to stay in China with my fiance in the near future. She is a Chinese citizen with an H1-B visa currently working here in America. We plan on moving to China after we get married, but we're having problems trying to figure out this visa stuff!

Thanks in advance,

Travis

[charlie77]

Well, I never did find a spousal visa or anything like that. I went for a tourist visa. My wife told me that if I got a notorized copy of our marriage certificate, then had it apostiled, then sent it to the Chinese embassy here in the US for authentication aaaand then brought it with me to China they would extend my visa to 1 year. I plan to find a job if that falls through.