I finally got approved on the 7th of March. I am so excited to move to the second step. Anyways, what kinds of questions did you get at the embassy? I am a little concerned about questions because some questions can be so tricked. Like my fiance did not really propose me. We have been together for almost 7 years and the summer of 2006 when I graduated from American university, we talked about and kind of came up with marriage. and we often talked about future life which imply our marriage. So if the interviewer asks me when we engaged, it will be hard for me to answer.
Please let me know some sort of advice.

Hello,

My wife has her interview on the 31st of this month. I will ask her to write down the questions that they ask her and post them on this site.

Good luck!

Congratulations on getting so far in the process! Good luck on the interview!

I suggest that you just be truthful and explain how you were together 7 years, and just generally talked about getting married one day and eventually decided to go through with it. My impression from reading this forum and others is that the interviewer simply wants to determine whether you and your fiance are in fact a loving couple intending to marry each other. As long as you are honest with them, I feel that you will do good during the interview. You have a long term relationship of 7 years and probably know enough answers that you will certainly give the interviewer the feeling that you are a bona fide couple seeking to marry each other.

I had my interview on December 10, 2007. My husband was with me during the interview.

I was interviewed by a nice young officer. It was painless, but there were questions related to politics. Ex. After graduation in College (elaborate) what job or organizations I was involved (since I'm a BS Pol. Scie. graduate). I answered honestly.

Other questions:

When did we first meet.
How long we've been angaged before getting married.
How many times I visited US.

There were questions I wasn't sure about the answer but the officer let my husband answered the questions.

All questions rised from the application form we filled out so, make a quick review of all written informations and your wife will be safe.

Goodluck...





Hello,

My wife has her interview on the 31st of this month. I will ask her to write down the questions that they ask her and post them on this site.

Good luck!


[/quote]

The best thing you should is is when you receive your interview notice letter, sit down with your Fiance or talk on the phone about all these things.

Discuss your answers and be sure both of you have similiar answers. Be Honest with the Interviewing officer when they ask specific questions. Discuss these things with your fiance before your interview, when did you first meet your fiance, How long ave you known eachother, What does your fiance do for work, they do not ask a lot of silly questions unless they have reason to believe that the relationship is fraud.

Just talk with your fiance and be honest about your relationship asnwer what is asked but do not volunteer unnecesary info.

Good Luck!

Last night (Friday, March 28th, 2008) Masako and I got an email from USCIS CRIS, our I-130 petition is approved and our NOA2 has been mailed! :)
I just had to tell everyone!!!!! :D

Fantastic News!

Now comes NVC....

Good Luck!

Thanks dbzman! :)

No way! Thats freaking awesome!
We sent our I-130 about the same time.
But mine is at VSC.

Congrats man! I hope everything keeps moving fast for you guys.

Hi Japan filers, I have a question.

What kinds of questions did you get at the embassy? please let me know. I am sooo worried. I met my fiance at high school during my exchange student time. And since then, we are together. I went to the same college with him and decided to marry.

My wife had her Interview today.

They asked her only three questions:

1. How did we meet

2. When did we first meet in person

3. What is the age of my son (I have a 17 year old son)

That is all that they asked. My wife said that the person who interviewed her was very nice.

She had to go up to the counter three times:

1. To submit the required documents

2. For finger prints

3. The last was the interview

My wifes visa arrives in one week!!!!!!

Congratulations dbzman, your wifes visa will arrive in the mail box within 3 days

Congratulations dbzman! Thats great news! :)

How long does it take to get your new Koseki Touhon after your marriage? In other words: when we get married we will send a bunch of forms to Akishima City Hall, then they will update the Koseki Touhon with my wife's new last name, and then they will send us the new Koseki, right?

We're getting married in the US and then staying in the US, so I was just wondering how long it has taken anyone who has already done this step.

We finally received our paper NOA2 on Friday (April 4th, 2008). I am really hoping for the NVC to be quick as well! :)

On another note, what companies have people used for moving from Japan to the US? We are starting to look around.

Thanks,

My wife arrives in the US on the 20th of this month and she is packing now.
I will ask her what moving company that she used and I will post how well they did their job after her stuff arrives here.

It has been a long journey but she will finally be with me!!!

Thanks dbzman! :)

'Justin and Masako'


The moving company is called:

The moving company name is “NIPPON EXPRESS CO.,LTD”. 日本通運 にっぽんつううん Nippon tsuuun

My wife is the one who chose them (since she is much smarter than I am); I should know how well they did their job by the end of the month.

I used Yamato Unyu (Yamato Logistic here in US). I received my stuff exactly after 40days (by ship) and they did a great job. I paid 220,000yen for 17 big boxes including Insurance fee.

Your wife can ask for an estimation from different companies and decides which she thinks is best...

I am getting ready for I-134. How much does my fiance have to earn to be approved? He makes over 125% poverty line and he is hired officially. I went to the US embassy website, but does not say exactly how much over. Please let me know.

Thanks for the info dbzman and dejima! :)

We will of course get multiple quotes/estimates but I just wanted to see who people had been using and their impression of the service when the shipping was completed. I am a bit concerned about shipping close to us as I am no where near a sea port, unless you count Duluth, MN on Lake Superior. I have heard that things can be shipped bonded to more convenient locations but it sounds expensive and there still has to be a customs location there. Maybe Minneapolis, MN has one but I am not sure and it is not on a sea port.

Thanks again guys! :)

Woooooo!

NOA1, NOA2, appointment made. April 21!

Things are flying now!

Mariko is counting down her last days at work, now. The visa is almost here!

Still waiting on our NOA2. NOA1 date was 12/4/07. I'm thinking about giving them a call but I don't want to annoy the wrong person. Any suggestions on how to speed this up? It's been more than 4 months now and I see that most people's take 4 months exactly. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hello, I am a new user here. I filed I-130 (of CR-1) to Vermont for my wife. Got NOA1 on 02/06/2008. Still waiting for NOA2..

Wow, TimJ, is your local office Saint Paul as in MN? Looks like Justin's, too? Anyone else?

Among the (relatively) few America-Japan VJ couples active at the moment, I'm a little surprised at the concentration of Midwesterners. I'm currently at my office in Saint Paul-- lovely weather we're having here. Time for a barbecue...

Of course it'll probably snow again in a day or two. Oh well!

We're in the middle of our K1 process right now (it's been just over 4 months since I received our NOA1). I've noticed that most people get their NOA2 at around 4 months, so I called them to check on the status of our application and they said it might be another 85 days before they get to ours. Does anyone have any insight on this?

I'm hoping that they just didn't know what they were talking about, but if they're telling the truth, is there a faster way I get Mari over here than a K1 visa? Since I moved back to the states from Japan I've been back once and she came here for a short trip and for the whole summer last year, so we've seen each other a good amount but I'm still getting a little restless. Hope to hear from you soon.

You saw my reply in your other thread about this, didn't you? They're just telling you that based on the CSC processing times reports, I'm almost certain. There are no guarantees, but it's highly unlikely that it will take as long as that. They told you that on the basis of a September 9 processing date, but if you look at Igor's list, they're already processing some Nov/Dec applications.

So you could get yours within weeks (although it could also, possibly, be a lot longer than that-- you can never tell). But don't do anything rash based on an 85 day figure.

Ok, thanks. Sorry I must have missed your other reply. Sometimes it takes a while for the verification emails from visajourney to get to me. I guess I'll just cross my fingers and hope it comes soon! Thanks again.

I'm actually in Wisconsin but only about 2 1/2 hours from the twin cities. It was 65 F here today and boy is it windy. Nice though, and now most of the snow is gone...again. ;)

We are currently waiting for the NVC to get our I-130 and I am debating whether to attempt the "James' Shortcut" option. The sooner she can come the better but I don't want to screw something up and get us delayed. :/

It is interesting to see so many Midwest Japan filers though. :)

Yeah, it's quite windy in the Cities here today, too. That takes a little of the sting out of the whole not-having-a-grill pain on what would otherwise be a nice chance to eat outside.

Let's see, at 2 1/2 hours you must not be too far from the Hayward Area. I haven't been up there yet myself (except on my way to the Apostle Islands) but I've heard about the snowmobiling up there all winter from a coworker. Sounds like a nice area!

Waiting on the NVC sounds bad, but I'm waiting on CSC, which doesn't sound much better. I guess that's what we signed up for, though.... Anyway, good luck with it!

NVC finally got our case on April 15th! :)

I just found out on Friday night as they must not update their phone system database right away, or maybe it just took them a while to get our case entered after they received it.

I am not sure that we would be able to do this anyway but can a beneficiary come to visit while you are at the NVC? I know its possible when you are at the USCIS but I think I remember seeing a post here that said you can't when you get to NVC.

Thanks for any responses! :)

My wife came in but our documents were at the USCIS at the time. From what I have seen on the site it is hit or miss of they let the beneficiary enter or not. It seems to depend on a few factors:

1. The enter officer who they talk to
2. The amount of evidence that they bring and its type (if asked for this)
3. What is happening at the time of entry (terrorist alert level, etc)

I have heard that if the person is refused entry then they will have to file some sort of exemption form. It can be very problematic if they are refused entry.

Please be careful….

Hi dbzman, :)

My wife came while we were at USCIS as well and she didn't have any issues. I think I even posted the details in this thread. I was just wondering if its different when you are at the NVC.

Thanks for your response though! :)

Hey there everyone!!
Quick question: are Japanese Police certificates for the entire country, or are they just for the local prefecture? Like, if my wife grew up in Osaka (until about age 18 (16+)), then lived in Tokyo for a while, and is now back in Osaka waiting for visa, does she just need one Police Certificate? or is she supposed to get one from Tokyo and one from Osaka?
Just wondering because of the "lived in a different part of their country of nationality for more than 6 months" part from the instructions on the site.


Also, would my wife probably be able to go down to the prefectural police station with just a copy of the NOA2 and her passport and request the Police Certificate? or does she really need to wait until the packets come from NVC?? Saw a few different stories, but was just unsure what we should do...

She needs both Police clearance from Tokyo since she lived there for a while after her 16th birthday and from Osaka where she lives now.

Getting Police Clearance in Tokyo takes time, and there are Police Depts. which doesn't issue PC without the original packet from NVC requesting for PC and other documents. So she should probably call the PD information in Tokyo first and ask if they'll issue PC only by presenting the NOA2.

Nagoya and Kyushu PD issues PC by just copying the NOA2.

Hope this info. helps. Goodluck.

Finally my visa interview will be held on the 13th of May. I am super super super nervous now. And I am planning to enter the US in the middle of June. Ahhhh, Soo worried about questions from officers. I hope that everything will go well. Ahhh help me everyone. Give me advice.

From what I have read I would say the best advice is, be honest and don't elaborate. Just give them the info they ask for, don't volunteer info.
I am sure it will go well. :)
Be happy, your almost done! :)

I just got my NOA2 approval email!!!!
Can you update us in your document J&M?

Hi all,

Now that I have our NVC number I was looking at the requirements for the DS-230 and I-864. I noticed that the embassy requirements based on the first three letters of my NVC case number (NHA) were for Naha. Does that mean we will have to have our interview in Naha, Okinawa? I sure hope not, thats a lot further away then Tokyo. :/

Does anyone happen to know?

Thanks,

Same thing happen to us. Just contact NVC and tell them they are in error. They will reassign you to a new 'TKY' number.

I've been speculating that whoever assigns the number at NVC just picks the first alphabetically for IR/CR-1 so, NHA shows up before TKY?

I hate to throw a contrary data point to your speculation... They got my NVC number correct the first time (TKY)...

So, they are not all incompetent... just most of them

-- Rob

Thanks ahoka! :)

I will give them a call tonight. One thing, do you happen to know if it matters if you already paid the AoS Fee Bill? Does that mean they wouldn't be able to change it or will they just adjust it?

Thanks again, :)

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=125959&hl=

guys ,please give an advice

[/quote]

Thanks ahoka!

I will give them a call tonight. One thing, do you happen to know if it matters if you already paid the AoS Fee Bill? Does that mean they wouldn't be able to change it or will they just adjust it?

Thanks again,
[/quote]


I believe it should be fine, by the time we got the new TKY number we also already paid the AoS Fee Bill under the NHA number too. It took about a month for us from when we informed NVC about the error to when they gave us the new number. During that time we just continued the process as normal under the NHA number.

I called Monday night and got someone who really didn't want to be one the phone. All I got was a hard time and him stating that I would need to send a letter explaining why I thought they were wrong and maybe they would change it. He also insisted that for my wife to be interviewed in Tokyo she would need to be living in Tokyo. :/ I decided to call back last night, just in case that guy was having a bad day, and I got a much nicer person who said that just by looking at our file he could tell we should be in Tokyo. He said he would submit the request for change to his supervisor and said to call back in a week to make sure it had been updated. He said it could take up to 15 days but lately it was going quicker. :)

Thanks so much for the advice ahoka! :)

Hi Justin and Masako,

Give NVC another call... Actually, one VJ member with similar timeline with me who came from Kyoto had the same problem as yours.
NVC mistaken to give them NHA case number instead of TKY (because there's no IV interview in Osaka where actually they expected) but NVC corrected it when they sent the IV Fee Bill to the petitoner.

Godluck,
Dejima

just wanted to say hi to everyone. I'm glad that this has been a good place for eveyone to talk. My wife and I are living in TN. We never had any problems getting her a green card. But now we are thinking about moving to Japan in a couple of years to help her parents. We just visited them in March. They live in Kawasaki. If anyone (or your fiancee) knows of Jobs for gaigin please let me know. Also if someone knows what is required to get a good job teaching english there I would appreciate it.

P.S. My wifes interview was in Tokyo and it went really easy. However I do not suggest calling the embasy for help. They told my wife wrrong info when she called. Thankfully I knew it was wrong already. But if you need help I will try if you have questions.

Hi s-luvs-k, :)

Thanks for starting this wonderful thread! :)

One thing to keep in mind if / when you move back to Japan is that your wife can move back but you cannot. She will have to apply for a visa for you but she will need to be able to prove financial support. I know because we looked at this as a possibility instead of her coming here. You can always get a job and get a work visa in the mean time but I just wanted you to be aware of some hurdles you might hit. We are also keeping the option of moving back to Japan in the future open. :)

Thanks again for the thread! :)

I would try the website gaijinpot.com for starters. There's usually a good list of jobs in there. Most English teaching jobs require a bachelor degree. I did know some teachers who found jobs with high school diplomas, too. Higher paying jobs are available for certified teachers and those with master's degrees. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck searching.

My wife just received the DS-3032 today! :D

I am hoping I will have the I-864 soon too. :)