US SOFA Contractor living in Japan with Japanese wife

[R16M05-77 1]

This is kinda unique and I am trying to figure out what to do.  I have been told that active duty military married to Japanese can apply for the green card while they are stationed here in Okinawa Japan.  That way when they get reassigned they do not have to split up the husband and wife.  I am currently a Status of Forces Agreement Contractor living in Japan.  I was engaged to a Japanese citizen when I was living in the US and in the USAF.  While the process for the finance visa was going thru I got out of the USAF and took a job as a contractor here at Kadena.  So my question is this....since I am SOFA status just like active duty military and the contract could be terminated just like active duty orders can be changed can I apply for my wife to get her green card while we are here?  Otherwise we will be split up for 6 months to a year if my company moves me or I try and take a job back in the US.  If this helps I do have a PSC 80 address which is basically a PO Box with a US address.  I tried calling USCIS but I could not get thru to a human.  The stuff I read stays I have to be living in the US but since I am basically assigned to a US Air Force installation with a PSC address and a SOFA visa I was hoping I would be considered for this purpose as living in the US.  Please help!

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

12 minutes ago, R16M05-77 said:

This is kinda unique and I am trying to figure out what to do.  I have been told that active duty military married to Japanese can apply for the green card while they are stationed here in Okinawa Japan.  That way when they get reassigned they do not have to split up the husband and wife.  I am currently a Status of Forces Agreement Contractor living in Japan.  I was engaged to a Japanese citizen when I was living in the US and in the USAF.  While the process for the finance visa was going thru I got out of the USAF and took a job as a contractor here at Kadena.  So my question is this....since I am SOFA status just like active duty military and the contract could be terminated just like active duty orders can be changed can I apply for my wife to get her green card while we are here?  Otherwise we will be split up for 6 months to a year if my company moves me or I try and take a job back in the US.  If this helps I do have a PSC 80 address which is basically a PO Box with a US address.  I tried calling USCIS but I could not get thru to a human.  The stuff I read stays I have to be living in the US but since I am basically assigned to a US Air Force installation with a PSC address and a SOFA visa I was hoping I would be considered for this purpose as living in the US.  Please help!

You can go ahead right now and file for a CR-1 visa that shouldn't be a problem at all because you are overseas working as a Defense Contractor. So go ahead and do that, just be aware that can file for DCF(Direct Consular Filing) since you are living in Japan right now and more than likely have a Japanese residency as well. The average wait time for a CR-1 visa is around 12 months right now so go ahead and get to it. 

 

Please do not make multiple posts that is just irritating. 

[R16M05-77 1]

Thanks for the reply....I honestly do not know why it did that....the site locked up and then when I reloaded it I saw there were three of the same posts....so if you know of a way to delete the other two please let me know.  Thanks!

[daveo 0]

On 9/25/2017 at 10:18 PM, R16M05-77 said:

This is kinda unique and I am trying to figure out what to do.  I have been told that active duty military married to Japanese can apply for the green card while they are stationed here in Okinawa Japan.  That way when they get reassigned they do not have to split up the husband and wife.  I am currently a Status of Forces Agreement Contractor living in Japan.  I was engaged to a Japanese citizen when I was living in the US and in the USAF.  While the process for the finance visa was going thru I got out of the USAF and took a job as a contractor here at Kadena.  So my question is this....since I am SOFA status just like active duty military and the contract could be terminated just like active duty orders can be changed can I apply for my wife to get her green card while we are here?  Otherwise we will be split up for 6 months to a year if my company moves me or I try and take a job back in the US.  If this helps I do have a PSC 80 address which is basically a PO Box with a US address.  I tried calling USCIS but I could not get thru to a human.  The stuff I read stays I have to be living in the US but since I am basically assigned to a US Air Force installation with a PSC address and a SOFA visa I was hoping I would be considered for this purpose as living in the US.  Please help!

 

Did you ever get an answer on how to fill out the I-130 when you have an FPO/APO address? I'm in the same situation. I'm a SOFA Civilian which means I'm not eligible for a direct filing at the consulate, but there's very little guidance available on how to complete the filing forms with an FPO/APO address.