Beijing Embassy retained marriage and divorce original certificates

[syzygy]

My wife and I submitted the I-130 petition and I-130a at the Beijing Embassy recently. I had assumed that all Beijing would do would be to check to see if the forms had been properly filled in and the necessary documents and copies had been included. However, they retained the originals of the marriage certificates and divorce certificates (Chinese), and told us that they would be investigating our case, and that we might be asked to provide more evidence to prove the genuineness of our marriage, and might even be interviewed. This was a surprise to me, as I had assumed that sort of thing would only be done by the Guangzhou consulate. My wife had previously been married to another American citizen, and he began the immigration visa process which was not completed. I notice that the new edition of the I-130 petition (p.5, Part 4, #10) does ask "Has anyone else ever filed a petition for the beneficiary?"...which wasn't asked before, if I remember correctly. So evidently the US government is being more careful of such cases...something I have worried about for years. When I asked what the process would involve, I was given a very vague answer...really no answer at all. And I was told that the process might take up to three months to complete before the petition was either accepted and sent on to Guangzhou or denied. Can anyone tell me what Beijing will do as part of its "investigation", and whether it is SOP to retain marriage and divorce documents? I have asked in another thread if I had cause to worry that my wife's previous marriage to another American would cause problems, but didn't receive much response. The fact is that her previous marriage, on the surface at least, does seem sort of shady. Is the retention of the marriage and divorce documents a sign that we will in fact have a problem, or is it just standard procedure? Thanks in advance for your help.

[inadmissible]

"Has anyone else ever filed a petition for the beneficiary?"

That question has been on the forms for decades, perhaps even longer

[syzygy]

That question has been on the forms for decades, perhaps even longer

Thanks. I looked at the old I-130 some time ago and I didn't remember it asking that question. That's why I added "if I remember correctly". I did remember being asked if I had sponsored another person in the past, but not if my wife had been sponsored by another person. My main concern was whether it was SOP for the Beijing Embassy to retain originals of the marriage and divorce docs, or to do much more than check the submitted petition to make sure it was filled in correctly and that all the required docs were included. I thought the real investigation would be done by the Guangzhou consulate.

[inadmissible]

Why don't you tell us if her first marriage was legit?

[syzygy]

Why don't you tell us if her first marriage was legit?

I believe it was "legit", but it might appear otherwise to a suspicious government agent. From what I have read and heard, even "legit" marriages are sometimes suspected by the US government to be "shams". But my real question was: is it SOP for the Beijing Embassy to keep originals of marriage and divorce docs and to do a full blown investigation as to the genuiness of a marriage relationship? It was my understanding that was done at the Guangzhou consulate.

[NettieL]

I believe it was "legit", but it might appear otherwise to a suspicious government agent. From what I have read and heard, even "legit" marriages are sometimes suspected by the US government to be "shams". But my real question was: is it SOP for the Beijing Embassy to keep originals of marriage and divorce docs and to do a full blown investigation as to the genuiness of a marriage relationship? It was my understanding that was done at the Guangzhou consulate.

It appears that if you live in one of the regions that USCIS Beijing serves, they will process the application. See https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-...g-field-office

I don't know if it is standard procedure to keep the originals.

[syzygy]

It appears that if you live in one of the regions that USCIS Beijing serves, they will process the application. See https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-...g-field-office

I don't know if it is standard procedure to keep the originals.

Thanks. I just assumed that since the interviews are done in Guangzhou, that most of the work processing the petition was done there too. I thought that the role of the Beijing embassy was probably just to check the petition for obvious mistakes or omissions before sending it on to Guangzhou. When I was informed that the originals were being kept and that we might be called back to Beijing for an interview, I tried to get some clarification as to just what was going to be done in Beijing and what in Guangzhou, but the person I talked with wasn't very communicative. She talked to whom I guess was her supervisor a couple of times, so perhaps she didn't know what was going to be done or why the original documents were being kept. Evidently, the statement on the web page you linked to, "USCIS Beijing is in the Asia/Pacific District and has jurisdiction over U.S. immigration matters in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Mongolia" is more comprehensive than I realized when I first read it. Has the web page been changed recently? In other words, has the method of processing I-130 petitions in China been changed? My recollection was that it merely stated that I-130 petitions could be submitted at the Beijing embassy, but not necessarily processed there. Or perhaps I just read it too carelessly...I have been guilty of that more than once! But if all the processing is done at the Beijing embassy for residents of northern China,. why don't they do the interviews there as well? It certainly would be more convenient.

[NettieL]

I have no idea how things in China works. Being aware that only some embassies/consulates process GC applications, I tried to get some info for you. Perhaps emailing your question to the embassy or consulate would be more helpful to you. It sounds as if you have 2 concerns: 1. You're concerned that they kept your originals and 2) You are not sure where the interview is going to be. Make sure you get your information directly from the appropriate embassy or consulate. Here is an email address that I found online. [email protected] I got it from this page https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn...com/usa-visas/

More info here: https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn...tion-services/

[syzygy]

I have no idea how things in China works. Being aware that only some embassies/consulates process GC applications, I tried to get some info for you. Perhaps emailing your question to the embassy or consulate would be more helpful to you. It sounds as if you have 2 concerns: 1. You're concerned that they kept your originals and 2) You are not sure where the interview is going to be. Make sure you get your information directly from the appropriate embassy or consulate.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate you taking the time and trouble to help. "Immigrant visas to the United States are processed for citizens and residents of China at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. This is the only consulate that processes U.S. immigrant visas in China, including immigrant visa applications for nationals of other countries." (https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn...migrant-visas/). I know that THE interview will take place in Guangzhou (Canton). As I said, I assumed all the Beijing embassy would do would be to pass on the petition to the consulate in Guangzhou, after checking that the forms were completed properly and all necessary documents included. China is a big country, and we live in the far north. Going all the way to Beijing is bad enough. Guangzhou is way down south. so I assumed it was to make it a bit more convenient that the embassy in Beijing accepts petitions. For that reason I was surprised when they kept the marriage and divorce originals and informed me that we might be called back for an interview in Beijing and /or asked to supply additional evidence proving our marriage to be bona fide. As I stated in my original post, I have been worried for years that the fact that my wife was had been married to another American who had begun the immigration visa process might cause problems for us. I was afraid that keeping our originals and telling us we might be interviewed in Beijing were signs that our marriage was suspected of being a "sham". I was just trying to get some idea as to whether this was SOP or something out of the ordinary. I guess we will just have to wait. Beijing will either tell us that the application has been accepted or rejected, or that we must go to Beijing again to be interviewed or supply more evidence. Thanks again.