All Japan Filers

[heykatydid 3]

Oh gosh I think we are totally right. There have to be people who do this and post the checklist online in Japanese!

 

And thank you! I am originally from the Midwest (Iowa) so I hear you on the burgers, though we are generally pretty healthy veggie-eaters all the time haha. Hopefully that will continue after we move! (Though we are not planning to go to the Midwest to live) It's so nice to know that other people have successfully made it through this nightmare!

[DJWS 4]

On 4/1/2017 at 4:27 AM, heykatydid said:

Hello, everyone. I'm an American married to a Japanese citizen, and we are working on the I-130 now, about to send the packet in (hit a few snags with finding correct sized passport photos here, as they are all the wrong size in the booths). I'm trying to work ahead to make sure we have everything that we need, and either I'm going crazy, or we need to eventually get my husband's immunization records. His mother gave me a small book with many stamps in it for all the shots he received, and he says that medical clinics don't keep information for more than 5 years, so his information has been long purged. If this is true, will a translation of the book and stamps suffice? They are all official stamps, with inkan next to them and the clinic's name plus the date, but I am unsure because it seems like a strange way to get immunization records for something this big and important. Do the translations really not need to be certified? We got our marriage certificate translation notarized because the DMV and my stateside bank wouldn't change my name without it, so we are including that, but back in Japan it's harder to get those notarized translations done without trekking to the U.S. Embassy (and paying $50).

 

I've also asked my husband several times about a birth certificate, knowing we will need one. He keeps telling me that Japan doesn't have those, and instead got a koseki tohon from the city office. This forum mentions that we need a koseki SHOHON not a TOHON (individual rather than family)? Has anyone filed recently who can confirm that it's the one we need? We'll need to translate everything, so that's why I'm trying to get things early. I've asked him to find something about this process online in Japanese from other Japanese spouses who have gone through this, but he is insisting that he can't find anything (thus, I'm doing all the research). I've scoured through this thread, but have found conflicting information. Any help would be appreciated!  I'm running myself ragged basically trying to do this all myself.

 

(Honestly, I'm so anxious and stressed over this entire thing. I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders to do everything right and get everything that we need. Has anyone else felt this complete drowning sensation? I feel like I'll never get everything!)

We filed IR-1/CR-1 I-130 spousal visa in 2016.  

Birth certificates

We sent in my wife's koseki SHOHON and TOHON as substitutes for birth certificate.  Felt it was safer to just send in both and let USCIS decide which one they want, instead of getting a RFE(request for evidence) and more delays.   My wife translated it by herself.  We didn't notarize it.  We also printed out https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/fees/reciprocity-by-country/JA.html 

https://jp.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/marriage/family-registry-system/ and sent that along as explanations.

Our application went through USCIS Nebraska without any problems other than waiting for almost 6 months before moving to the NVC phase.

 

Passport photos

We used this free site http://www.idphoto4you.com to correct the size and printed it at the local 7-11 

 

Immunizations
My wife has the same small japan immunization booklet. We've compared it with https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/vaccinations.html and called the local clinics to get whichever ones she was missing or needed a booster shot.  Prices vary and they are not cheap, but still cheaper than if she were to get them from https://jp.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/medical-facilities/ 

 

Additional info for your japanese spouse:

My wife googled/yahoo and found some japanese blogs on ameblo.jp on japanese folks who went through the visa process. 

 

[TheSuzukis 0]

On 4/2/2017 at 11:19 PM, heykatydid said:

Oh gosh I think we are totally right. There have to be people who do this and post the checklist online in Japanese!

 

And thank you! I am originally from the Midwest (Iowa) so I hear you on the burgers, though we are generally pretty healthy veggie-eaters all the time haha. Hopefully that will continue after we move! (Though we are not planning to go to the Midwest to live) It's so nice to know that other people have successfully made it through this nightmare!

  I'm from Iowa!!!! But we had a job offer here in Wisconsin so we moved here, it gave us some space from being overwhelmed by the love of my huge midwest family! but leaves us close enough to visit often.

[gaiaslastlaugh 1]

On 4/3/2017 at 1:19 PM, heykatydid said:

Oh gosh I think we are totally right. There have to be people who do this and post the checklist online in Japanese!

I haven't read it thoroughly, but this seems like a good start: https://matome.naver.jp/odai/2143999341085653401

 

Tell your hubs ググってください ☺

[TheSuzukis 0]

Has anyone changed their last name AFTER moving to the states and getting their green card? Since I was the wife, in Japan,  they don't require foreigners to change names.
I am my husband's sponsor, but I want to change my last name. Will it mess up anything when he goes to do whatever it is we do at the 2 yr mark?

 

[heykatydid 3]

18 minutes ago, TheSuzukis said:

Has anyone changed their last name AFTER moving to the states and getting their green card? Since I was the wife, in Japan,  they don't require foreigners to change names.
I am my husband's sponsor, but I want to change my last name. Will it mess up anything when he goes to do whatever it is we do at the 2 yr mark?

 

Unsure about the green card bits, but I just recently (within the last 6 months) went through the process to change my name in both Japan and the states. The social security administration didn't require a notarized copy of the translation of our marriage document, but both my bank and the DMV (for my driver's license) did. There might be a time limit in which you can present this and use it as a name change without a court order (in Japan, it's six months or you have to go through a much more complicated process). I would say make sure that you have that notarized translation - and they were PICKY about where it had to come from. I changed my passport here in Japan with nothing more than my own translation, but both the DMV and the bank required a locally recognized and accredited agency to both translate AND certify the translation (we ended up using a local international center that was certified for translation with the state). And make sure you check the local laws for how long after you get married you can file to change your name without court proceedings!

[TheSuzukis 0]

Thanks Katy!

[Tom&Hana 37]

Hi All !!

 

I just filed the I-129F petition for my Japanese fiancée on 12/06/217. I know we are in for a long wait . I was happy to find this thread!  Any advice on the K1 specific to Japan would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[Uncle Wally 2]

This is your old Uncle Wally, signing in. Haven't been on this forum in years. Glad to see people still use it.

Happily married for 10 years now. 

JET Program participant 2003-2006, met the old lady back in them days. Living in New England with a halfu sprog.

I think my profile says that I'm 62 and my wife is 15, but we're both in our late 30s now. 

The only thing I don't think I posted here was the adjustment of status. Submitted a bunch of pictures of us at family Christmases, weddings, vacations, etc. to make evident that it wasn't a sham marriage, and we hired an immigration attorney to process it all just to play it safe. No problems.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Uncle Wally

[nakuke 13]

Hello everyone. Looks lik we will finally submit our application for K-1 this week. My fiance will soon be getting copies of the koseki (I guess those are the Japanese version of birth certificate?) and will start researching about the medical exam/vaccination record. Question is, should she wait until NOA2 to do this or can she get a headstart on it? And, if I may bother you guys,  can I ask how you translated documents?

When I did translations from Spanish to English with USCIS in the past, I translated on my own and got someone else to sign certifying the translation. It looks you don't have to be a "certified" translator to do so. Question is, if my fiance translates her own documents, can someone else certify the translation? Can she certify her own translation?

Any help is appreciated! I'll be sure to follow this thread to help others where I can.

[DJWS 4]

3 hours ago, nakuke said:

Hello everyone. Looks lik we will finally submit our application for K-1 this week. My fiance will soon be getting copies of the koseki (I guess those are the Japanese version of birth certificate?) and will start researching about the medical exam/vaccination record. Question is, should she wait until NOA2 to do this or can she get a headstart on it? And, if I may bother you guys,  can I ask how you translated documents?

When I did translations from Spanish to English with USCIS in the past, I translated on my own and got someone else to sign certifying the translation. It looks you don't have to be a "certified" translator to do so. Question is, if my fiance translates her own documents, can someone else certify the translation? Can she certify her own translation?

Any help is appreciated! I'll be sure to follow this thread to help others where I can.

For vaccination, we researched ahead of time and tried to get any missing vaccinations, as well as boosters ahead of time.  We called local clinics for prices since we heard getting the vaccination during the medical exam was much more expensive than getting it at local clinics.  Even after doing our homework, the kobe medical exam office told my wife that she needed one more vaccination (Tdap), which cost 10,000 yen, and was given it on the spot during her medical exam.

 

We translated the kosekis ourselves line by line in english, and just added the following at the end.  My japanese wife translated and certified her own translation.  Good luck!

I certify that I am competent to translate from Japanese to English and that the above/attached document is a correct and true translation to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Translator’s signature: __________________________________________ Date: ______________

Translator’s name: ______________________________________________

Translator address

[logemon 1]

Hello all,

 

I am sure that this has been probably been answered somewhere, but I can't seem to find the information.  What is needed in order to schedule the medical exam?  I saw somewhere that all you need is the NVC case number, but the hospital websites say that a letter from the embassy is needed.  Which is it?

 

Thanks

 

//i\\

[DJWS 4]

2 hours ago, logemon said:

Hello all,

 

I am sure that this has been probably been answered somewhere, but I can't seem to find the information.  What is needed in order to schedule the medical exam?  I saw somewhere that all you need is the NVC case number, but the hospital websites say that a letter from the embassy is needed.  Which is it?

 

Thanks

 

//i\\

There are 4 clinics in japan specialized to the exam(2 in tokyo, 1 in kobe, 1 in naha). 

My wife called the kobe clinic which is actually located in the hotel.

She called to schedule an appointment the moment we found out we passed the NVC stage, but still didn't have a scheduled final embassy interview since there is a lag when NVC contacts tokyo embassy to find a interview slot.  

She didn't need a letter the moment she called to schedule an interview.  However, you must bring the letter on the scheduled date of your medical exam.

 

Our timeline:  Found out we had a case complete from the  NVC  in late july. Called immediately to schedule medical appt in late aug using our best guess that our tokyo embassy appt will be in Sept.

early mid aug found out our tokyo embassy appt was in early sept.  We called the clinic to reschedule.  The receptionist wasn't too happy doing the reschedule.

Wife brought the letter along with her vaccine records and a paid envelope from 711 to the clinic on the date of the exam. We got the exam results in the sealed envelope approx 5-7 days later so keep that in mind if you have a tight window between medical exam and embassy interview.

 

[logemon 1]

On 1/19/2018 at 2:03 AM, DJWS said:

There are 4 clinics in japan specialized to the exam(2 in tokyo, 1 in kobe, 1 in naha). 

My wife called the kobe clinic which is actually located in the hotel.

She called to schedule an appointment the moment we found out we passed the NVC stage, but still didn't have a scheduled final embassy interview since there is a lag when NVC contacts tokyo embassy to find a interview slot.  

She didn't need a letter the moment she called to schedule an interview.  However, you must bring the letter on the scheduled date of your medical exam.

 

Our timeline:  Found out we had a case complete from the  NVC  in late july. Called immediately to schedule medical appt in late aug using our best guess that our tokyo embassy appt will be in Sept.

early mid aug found out our tokyo embassy appt was in early sept.  We called the clinic to reschedule.  The receptionist wasn't too happy doing the reschedule.

Wife brought the letter along with her vaccine records and a paid envelope from 711 to the clinic on the date of the exam. We got the exam results in the sealed envelope approx 5-7 days later so keep that in mind if you have a tight window between medical exam and embassy interview.

 

Thanks, I don't think I am bold enough to make an appointment without the letter.  I hope that decision does not come back to haunt me

 

//i\\

[watahana87 59]

Hi! I was referred here from the June k1 filers group. 

 

I'm in the same boat as logemon. Our petition is "At NVC" right now status wise. We have our case number and invoice number, but police records, medical, and interview all want the letter, so we're waiting.

 

My fiance called Seibo yesterday and they said they have about a 2 week wait for appointments. Police records take about 10 days. Interviews are about a week out. 

 

My best-case scenario plan: 

 

2/5: paperwork fron NVC

2/6: Police station

2/16: medical

2/19: pick up police report

2/28: interview

 

I was told that we need the NVC letter to bring to the medical, so that is the main thing that is causing the delay. We are toying with the idea of scheduling the medical as soon as our NVC case status is updated to show its been sent to Japan, as it shouldn't take more than two weeks after that to get out letter. 

 

Does anyone have any other insights?