Jump to content
nakuke

Are there any communities (other than VJ) for expats/immigrants to the US? Or international couples in the US? Particularly from Japan?

 Share

7 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Japan
Timeline

This is a huge longshot but I may as well ask. There's plenty of communities/groups/forums on the internet for American or European expats who move to other countries (especially Asia); unfortunately as those groups are geared towards that group they're not keen or friendly on entertaining questions regarding those in the opposite situation. My wife is thankfully now in the U.S. with me and we're doing pretty well, waiting for the next step in the immigration process. However now we got a kid on the way and there's certain things that we wish we could discuss with other couples like us who have raised or are raising their kids in the U.S. (for example citizenship issues on the Japanese side, international schools, medical records etc etc). This has so far proven to be impossible for me to find. I suspect its probably because the ones that exist are run by the immigrant and in Japanese rather than English. However if someone happens to know of a group like this - or if you're in the same boat yourself, I would greatly appreciate being pointed in the right direction. I appreciate that people here are much more friendly and helpful to those found in toxic expat communities of other countries - speaks volumes to the kind of people the U.S. is exporting around the world.

 

Thanks in advance

K-1 Fiancé Visa

01/17/2018: I-129F Sent

01/19/2018: NOA1 Received

08/03/2018: NOA2 Received

11/01/2018: K-1 Visa Interview

12/12/2018: Married in U.S.

Adjustment of Status

02/01/2019: I-485, EAD and AP Filed

02/15/2019: I-485, EAD and AP NOA1

08/07/2019: EAD and AP Approved

10/29/2019: Interview for AOS

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Philippines
Timeline

Probably. FB is known to have a lot of custom groups.

08/15/2014 : Met Online

06/30/2016 : I-129F Packet Sent

11/08/2016 : Interview - APPROVED!

11/23/2016 : POE - Dallas, Texas

From sending of I-129F petiton to POE - 146 days.

 

02/03/2017 - Married 

02/24/2017 - AOS packet sent

06/01/2017 - EAD/AP Combo Card Received in mail

12/06/2017 - I-485 Approved

12/14/2017 - Green Card Received in mail - No Interview

 

   

brickleberry GIF they see me rolling college football GIF by ESPN  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: China
Timeline

I'm actually interested in something like that as well. More for my wife to use and read.

 

There's the Japan-America Society and other local (for me) groups. The Japanese Consulate website also lists events which could help you meet and connect with others in your situation.

 

https://www.jas-socal.org/

 

https://www.jashawaii.org/

I-130                                                                 I-129F

Spoiler

Mailed: Mar. 9, 2019 (Phoenix LB)              Aug. 9,  2019

Delivered: Mar. 12, 2019                               Aug. 12, 2019

NOA1/PD: Mar. 15,  2019 (LIN)                   Aug. 15,  2019

NOA2: Sep. 24, 2019 - Approved                 Sep. 24, 2019 - Denied 

I-130 sent to NVC: Oct. 8, 2019

Received NVC: Oct. 18, 2019

NVC Case#: Nov. 09, 2019 (Assigned to China, should be Japan )

AOS Submitted: Nov. 18, 2019

IV Submitted:  Dec. 23, 2019

AOS/IV Approved: Jan. 16, 2020 

Interview Scheduled: Jan. 23, 2020

 

Request location change: Mid Nov. 2019 --> Feb. 21, 2020

Contacted my Reps (House, Senate): Feb. 5, 2020 - Rep contacted Guangzhou & Tokyo. 

Response 1: Feb. 11, 2020 - Guangzhou gave copy/paste info to my Rep's office.

Response 2: Feb. 18, 2020 - Tokyo Embassy - Requested transfer fm China - Case moved to Administrative Processing 

A Short Time Later after talking with Rep. Case's office, they contacted the embassies again. 

Response 3: Feb. 21, 2020 - Transfer complete; New interview scheduled.

 

Interview Date: Mar. 2, 2020 - Tokyo Embassy 

Interview Result: Approved

Visa Issued: Mar. 4, 2020

Visa in hand: Mar. 6, 2020

 

Time: ~359 Days from start to finish 

POE:  Stupid COVID-19 delaying travel to the US....

POE: Aug. 13, 2020 - San Francisco 

 

SSN: Oct. 23, 2020

GC: Aug 5, 2021 (51 weeks from entry)

 

I-751

NOA1 - May 20, 2022 CA Service Center

NOA2 - July 20, 2022 Case Transfered to NBC

NOA3 - Mar 6, 2023 48 month GC extension letter

NOA4 - Sep 1, 2023 Biometrics Appointment 

Update - Oct 6, 2023 Case status update to show fingerprints taken  

:clock:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Russia
Timeline

Try facebook, reddit, meetup.com...you could even try looking on YouTube, see if you can find relevant videos, maybe reach out to the creators if they are active on YT.

 

NYC has a huge Japanese community...I would assume LA does too. Try looking into local Japanese grocery stores and see if they have flyers/event posters for community events. You may have to resort to networking in person rather than online but since you are in a big city, it shouldn't be too hard.

🇷🇺 CR-1 via DCF (Dec 2016-Jun 2017) & I-751 ROC (Apr 2019-Oct 2019)🌹

Spoiler

Info about my DCF Moscow* experience here and here

26-Jul-2016: Married abroad in Russia 👩‍❤️‍👨 See guide here
21-Dec-2016: I-130 filed at Moscow USCIS field office*
29-Dec-2016: I-130 approved! Yay! 🎊 

17-Jan-2017: Case number received

21-Mar-2017: Medical Exam completed

24-Mar-2017: Interview at Embassy - approved! 🎉

29-Mar-2017: CR-1 Visa received (via mail)

02-Apr-2017: USCIS Immigrant (GC) Fee paid

28-Jun-2017: Port of Entry @ PDX 🛩️

21-Jul-2017: No SSN after three weeks; applied in person at the SSA

22-Jul-2017: GC arrived in the mail 📬

31-Jul-2017: SSN arrived via mail, hurrah!

 

*NOTE: The USCIS Field Office in Moscow is now CLOSED as of February 28th, 2019.

 

Removal of Conditions - MSC Service Center

 28-Jun-2019: Conditional GC expires

30-Mar-2019: Eligible to apply for ROC

01-Apr-2019: ROC in the mail to Phoenix AZ lockbox! 📫

03-Apr-2019: ROC packet delivered to lockbox

09-Apr-2019: USCIS cashed check

09-Apr-2019: Case number received via text - MSC 📲

12-Apr-2019: Extension letter arrives via mail

19-Apr-2019: Biometrics letter arrives via mail

30-Apr-2019: Biometrics appointment at local office

26-Jun-2019: Case ready to be scheduled for interview 

04-Sep-2019: Interview was scheduled - letter to arrive in mail

09-Sep-2019: Interview letter arrived in the mail! ✉️

17-Oct-2019: Interview scheduled @ local USCIS  

18-Oct-2019: Interview cancelled & notice ordered*

18-Oct-2019: Case was approved! 🎉

22-Oct-2019: Card was mailed to me 📨

23-Oct-2019: Card was picked by USPS 

25-Oct-2019: 10 year GC Card received in mail 📬

 

*I don't understand this status because we DID have an interview!

 

🇺🇸 N-400 Application for Naturalization (Apr 2020-Jun 2021) 🛂

Spoiler

Filed during Covid-19 & moved states 1 month after filing

30-Mar-2020: N-400 early filing window opens!

01-Apr-2020: Filed N-400 online 💻 

02-Apr-2020: NOA 1 - Receipt No. received online 📃

07-Apr-2020: NOA 1 - Receipt No. received via mail

05-May-2020: Moved to another state, filed AR-11 online

05-May-2020: Application transferred to another USCIS field office for review ➡️

15-May-2020: AR-11 request to change address completed

16-Jul-2020: Filed non-receipt inquiry due to never getting confirmation that case was transferred to new field office

15-Oct-2020: Received generic response to non-receipt inquiry, see full response here

10-Feb-2021: Contacted senator's office for help with USCIS

12-Feb-2021: Received canned response from senator's office that case is within processing time 😡

16-Feb-2021: Contacted other senator's office for help with USCIS - still no biometrics

19-Feb-2021: Biometrics reuse notice - canned response from other senator's office 🌐

23-Feb-2021: Interview scheduled - notice to come in the mail

25-Feb-2021: Biometrics reuse notice arrives via mail

01-Mar-2021: Interview notice letter arrives via mail  ✉️ 

29-Mar-2021: Passed interview at local office! Oath Ceremony to be scheduled

13-Apr-2021: Oath Ceremony notice was mailed

04-May-2021: Oath Ceremony scheduled 🎆 Unable to attend due to illness

04-May-2021: Mailed request to reschedule Oath to local office

05-May-2021: "You did not attend your Oath Ceremony" - notice to come in the mail

06-May-2021: Oath Ceremony will be scheduled, date TBA

12-May-2021: Oath Ceremony re-scheduled for June 3rd, then de-scheduled same day 😡 

25-May-2021: New Oath Ceremony notice was mailed

16-Jun-2021: Oath Ceremony scheduled 🎆 - DONE!!

17-Jun-2021: Certificate of Naturalization issued

 

🎆 Members new and old: don't forget to fill in your VJ timeline! 🎇 https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Japan
Timeline

I saw your post on r/japan. That group is mostly weebs outside Japan who don’t have any specific knowledge about Japan (with some exceptions). r/japanlife is specifically for grumpy expats inside Japan. And r/japancicrclejerk is for bitter alcoholic expats who’ve given up on life. 

 

 

In addition to what’s been mentioned, many cities have a Japanese supplementary school (補習授業校) so you might check into that. If you live in a larger city there might be a Japanese supermarket. There aren’t any communities dedicated to American/English-speaking spouses of Japanese as far as I know, because as you’ve noticed that’s not how it works. Honestly unless your Japanese language skills are quite advanced you should let your wife handle the JP baby registration, JP passport, etc., and let her pick things up through her own social network. Having a kid is exciting (congrats!) and the first impulse is to do everything at once but the first rule of parenthood is to relax :) You'll be fine. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Japan
Timeline

Do sites written in Japanese count?
https://losangeles.vivinavi.com/
https://www.us-lighthouse.com/

These bulletin boards seem pretty active.


If you can go to Japanese markets like Mitsuwa or Nijiya, there are some free magazine/newspaper with a lot of info catered toward Japanese in US too. (also written in Japanese)
Congratulations on your baby by the way! 

ROC mailed (from overseas) 7/7/2022

Delivered to lockbox in Phoenix AZ 7/18/2022

Text with case number & check cashed 7/25/2022 

Fingerprints applied 8/10/2022 

It says Approved!?!?  8/23/2022

Finally received the Green Card 9/30/2022

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Japan
Timeline

@nakuke One more thing to keep in mind, a few years from now. Japanese schools basically can’t refuse to take kids so you can potentially send your kid to school in Japan for a couple months every summer. There’s a super cute little girl who shows up in my daughter’s class in June/July every year during the US summer holiday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
Didn't find the answer you were looking for? Ask our VJ Immigration Lawyers.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
- Back to Top -

Important Disclaimer: Please read carefully the Visajourney.com Terms of Service. If you do not agree to the Terms of Service you should not access or view any page (including this page) on VisaJourney.com. Answers and comments provided on Visajourney.com Forums are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Visajourney.com does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. VisaJourney.com does not condone immigration fraud in any way, shape or manner. VisaJourney.com recommends that if any member or user knows directly of someone involved in fraudulent or illegal activity, that they report such activity directly to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. You can contact ICE via email at Immigration.Reply@dhs.gov or you can telephone ICE at 1-866-347-2423. All reported threads/posts containing reference to immigration fraud or illegal activities will be removed from this board. If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by contacting us here with a url link to that content. Thank you.
×
×
  • Create New...