Obtaining police reports from multiple countries

[amsins 0]

Hello,

My fiance (Japan) and I are sending in the I-129 packet in the next day or so. She's lived in Mexico, South Africa, and Uganda for extended periods of time in her life, but is back in Japan now. Anyway, she has been having a difficult time even getting guidance on how to obtain police reports from those three countries, although the people at the South African embassy seem to be working on it, as she's scheduled a fingerprinting appointment there in the next week or so. The Mexican embassy in Tokyo didn't even have anyone who spoke English or Japanese when she called, so that's proving difficult. How essential are these reports for the process, and what could happen if she doesn't get them? If anyone has ever gotten these reports from the countries listed, how did you go about it?

Thanks,

Adam

[baron555 934]

How essential are these reports for the process,

Deal breaker if not obtained.

and what could happen if she doesn't get them?

Only an official letter from them stating such would work.

[amsins 0]

Thank you. Do you have any suggestions beyond going to the embassies since other than South Africa, they aren't even attempting to show her the right way?

[Mickee 0]

How essential are these reports for the process,

Deal breaker if not obtained.

and what could happen if she doesn't get them?

Only an official letter from them stating such would work.

Yep, 100% correct. We got to the interview process and although approved we HAD to show police reports in all names in every country my fiance lived in. It took us about two months to get the documents back from Brazil of her previous married name, even though she used her Brazilian passport with her maiden name to travel there. I wish anyone the best of luck obtaining documents from other parts of the world. Also, note, they need to be written or translated to English.

[jan22 2,897]

The State Department website has information on which countries you must get police certificates for and, generally, a description of the process to use to get them at: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/reciprocity-by-country.html. BTW, this site indicates that police certificates are not available (and, therefore, don't need to be presented) from Mexico.

Good luck!