US Immigration from Japan

Hey Everyone, I (U.S. Citizen) am currently waiting on a response on the I-130 for my wife (Philippines) While we both live in Japan together. I know there is not much we can do in terms of preparation until we either get a RFE or an approval, we are discussing what we can do to have stronger documents when that time comes.

In preparation for the NVC stage, I know that my income here in Japan will not be sufficient for me to sponsor my wife, therefore my father has offered to be my joint sponsor to help.

I know that we would need at least the following:

• Tax Transcripts for the past few years for both me and my joint sponsor
• W2/1099 forms for my joint sponsor
• A signed and notarized(?) letter explaining that my father will allow us to stay with them until we are able to get our own place to live
  • Copy of his lease to support this letter
  • Other documents to prove my Domicile in the US.

As regards proving my own domicile, I would have the following:

• Proof I'm still an active voter in my home state (GA - I would early vote whenever I visited the states applicable)
• Valid Driver s License
• Active bank account stateside

Few final things to note is my parents both still live in the same house I was raised in and registered to in all these documents.

I have been filing my federal taxes since I started work here in Japan (since 2019) though I was studying here in grad school for a few years prior.

Now, in terms of questions:

1. Since we return to live in the same house all of my stateside documentation is registered in, would my father file as joint sponsor (I-864) or as a co-sponsor (I-864A)?
2. Would my mother have to also file an I-864A if my father files either form?
3. Would it be more imperative for me to return home and establish a stronger connection while leaving my wife here in Japan with her family than waiting for us both to leave together?

Sorry for such a long post, I am grateful for any advice or thought put towards my case.

Cheers, Y all

Thought I'd share this in case others are similarly looking for an answer about renewing a driver's license in North Carolina after receiving a conditional green card. We were expecting the renewed license to expire on the same date as the conditional green card, but the DMV officer indicated it would be a full, 8-year license (and charged the full $44 for a full term license).

While digging around for an explanation, I stumbled across this article. It looks like NC DOT changed its policy ~2 months ago. Glad we didn't renew the license a couple months ago!

Our I-130 was recently approved by the USCIS and now I'm in the process of completing the I-864, I tried looking at the instructions but they're not very helpful and I'm a little confused by a few sections and was hoping someone here could help me:

1. In Part 2 (Information About the Principal Immigrant) for Mailing Address, I assume I'm supposed to put information regarding my wife (she's the one immigrating to the States), but it only allows me to put a US address. Is this supposed to be in my name, or hers, and if hers, then what address am I supposed to put here?
2. In Part 5 (Sponsor's Household Size) I think it's supposed to automatically populate but no number is showing and it won't allow me to enter a number manually.

Would appreciate any help, thank you!

Hello! I would really appreciate if anyone could help me out here!

<My situation>

I have an Advance parole(expires in 2025) and am still waiting for my green card.

I traveled outside the US for a consecutive 95days this year. I had no issue of reentering the US with my AP.

In October I want to travel again for 140days consecutively till February, 2024.

But I am expecting and hoping that my GC will arrive before October, because USCIS is currently reviewing my RFE response that "will help them make final decision on my case" according to the RFE letter.

The letter sounds like I might be lucky to get my GC without an interview before October.

<My questions>

1) I heard two different rules so far that you shouldn't travel outside the US for more than 180days, or 1 year in a year.

But both the USCIS and US customs&border protection webpages say that a green card holder can travel upto a year in one trip without reentry permission.

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-we-grant-your-green-card/international-travel-as-a-permanent-resident

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-820?language=en_US

Where did the "6 months rule" come from? and which is true, 1year or 6months?

Is it the same rule for AP holders also?

2) My friend(green card holder) told me that the US customs and border officer told her "you cannot travel outside the US for more than 180days with GC. The 180days is counted from the first day of your departure from the US."

Has anyone heard or experienced the similar situation as my friend? I cannot find such information neither on USCIS or US customs&border protection webpages.

She traveled for 181days and was finally allowed to reenter the US after a few hours of questions by the officer.

3) If I receive GC before October, is my past travel days outside the US with my AP going to be renewed? (meaning that my travel days will be counted from zero again because I will use my GC in the next trip)

Thank you so much for reading this and I would really appreciate your help!

Best,

Apologies if this question has been asked and answered previously. My online account states that "Request For Initial Evidence Was Sent on May 1 2023". My concern is that I am presently out of the country visiting my wife and am not able to retrieve USPS mail sent to my US address. Furthermore, I don't see the RFE notice under the Documents tab although it is already the evening of May 2. My question is whether I can expect the RFE notice to be available in my account? Is this delay between the case status update and the notice not being available common? Have others been able to view their RFE notices online?

Thank you for any observations you might have!