how to get married to US citizen with my B1?

janet63322000 said:

What is the name of your state? california

I was sent by my Chinese company to work in Texas right now with my B1,which will expire on 15 may, 2005. my fiance is US citizen living in CALIFORNIA. We are planning to get married during my presence in US. we have some questions:
1. after getting married, we'll start to apply the Adjustment of Status(is this for conditional green card?). how long will the whole process take?are there any interview need me to attend in US during the process of the adjustment?
2. can i go back China when my B1 expires in May during the process of adjustment of status and my husband deals with it in california then i will wait for the result in China? then can i go to california with the conditional green card after i get it in China?
3. 4. during the valid period of my current B1, will this application of adjustment effect my current B1, can i still work in texas with B1 till it expires?
thanks for any helps and answers.

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evcalyptos said:

If you begin Adjustment of Status, you will have to stay in the US until complete, or at minimum, until you get a travel document called Advance Parole. There is ultimately an interview for both of you before your case is decided. Timeline for interview/adjustment will depend on your local office. Bay Area, for example, is running around 6 months (not bad) but other places may take as many at 2+ years to complete.
There are intirim travel and work permissions available to you while you wait for Permanent Residency.
or
After you marry, USC spouse may file a petition I-130 to start your immigrant visa application, you can return to China to complete your affairs and in about 9 months, apply for an Immigrant Visa. Going through China may take longer than 'usual'. If you follow this process from China, you will get an IV that will become a Green Card (Conditional because of short marriage) when you enter the US. There is a group called candleforlove.com that specifically discusses China-->US marriage-based immigration. They will have more common timelines and potential problems you should know about.

You may maintain the B1 status regardless of petitions filed for you, if you plan to leave and honor the limits of your B1.

Yours is actually a pretty tricky decision; good luck!

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janet63322000 said:

thank you very much for your such detailed replies. it is really helpful to us.

from your information, can i understand like this: it would be easier, shorter and safer for me to wait the adjustment if i choose to stay in US with my husband instead of going back China to wait interview, is that right? what if my B1 expires before my adjustment completes or before i get Advance Parole, since my visa will expire in this May but you said the timeline could be 6 months or longer? can i still stay in US during whole applying process after my B1 expires? thanks a lot!

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evcalyptos said:

hi,
easier, shorter and safer is all relative
IF you go back to China, recognize that it will be 1-1.5 year before you return to the US. When you do, you will have Perm Res status and can work immediately.

IF you take the 'short cut' available by Adjusting status, you pay the penalty of X period of time with limited 'freedoms' and can not travel or work without much paperwork and possibly hassle. If you do this, once your paperwork is accepted for processing, you have a new status (not B1): Pending Adjustment of Status. You can stay in the US with this status and the expiration of your alloted stay does not matter.

Suggest you drive by the website I mentioned and see what others with Chinese spouses/fiances are saying about their situation. In my case, the foreign spouse needed to be able to travel immediately (ill parent), so we opted for the Immigrant Visa route 9and it worked out very well for us). Your circumstances are very different, and the right solution for you might be very different as well. Good luck!

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janet63322000 said:

thank you for your so many helpful information. i also checked the website as you mentioned and realised there are so many people having the same situation as mine.
one more detailed question. for the AOS, i need to provide a medcial exam report. half a year ago, i had a medcial exam by a hospital which is assigned by the amercian embassy and dedicated for K1/K3 medical exam. the report i got is in english and covers the same items as required by k1/k3, and i think the form is just same as k1/k3 medcial exam report.
can i use that report for the AOS? thanks a lot!

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