chubuwest

This message is a little after the fact, but I'd like to say thank you to everyone on these boards who helped out with the immigration process. My wife and I arrived in the US on December 12 - exactly two months ago. She's already had her biometrics taken care of and has received her Green Card in the mail, so I think we are pretty much done with the entire process now. She even started working just a month after we arrived!

Thanks again! I really appreciate everyone's help and would definitely recommend the site to anybody I know who will go through a similar process in the future.

After going in for an interview at the US Embassy in Tokyo this Tuesday, my wife received her visa in the mail the following morning. Talk about record processing time!

Thanks very much to everyone in this forum for their help!

The day has finally come! My wife and I will be in Tokyo for her interview at the US Embassy this Tuesday morning. We are looking forward to finishing this part of the process...

While the last e-mail we received from NVC said that most of the documents were already taken care of, we are bringing copies of everything along with us just to make sure.

In addition, she has her medical exam (taken last month in Tokyo) results and 2*2 inch photos to turn in during the interview. We have also prepared a letter pack (large envelope) so the embassy can send her passport back with the visa inside.

I am fairly sure we have taken care of everything at this point, but is there anything else I am missing? We'd hate to waste a three-day trip to the area (not to mention the time taken off of work, etc.)

Thanks in advance!

Great news today! We received our interview date at the US Embassy in Tokyo - October 9th!

However, there's one slight problem (or maybe not, depending on what can be done...)

One of my wife's friends is getting married in Hawaii at the end of October. These were plans made last year, well before we started the application for her visa. I will not be going with her for this wedding, and we are not planning on moving to the States (at which time I assume she would have her POE) until the middle of December at the very earliest.

Given this information, should we reschedule our interview until after the wedding is done? It wouldn't interfere with our timetable for moving.

After my recent trip back to the States for a relative's funeral, I have images of her getting harassed for a trip to the States by herself with a US visa in her passport (just because I would not be with her at the time...)

Thanks in advance!

Grats on the case complete!

As for the interview schedule, it varies by country. Some people find out within a few days, others a few weeks.

The only point of calling NVC and/or DOS is to find out your interview date asap. It won't help in getting a sooner interview date.

Saylin,

Thank you - that is very helpful! I've actually spoken to several friendly operators at NVC, so I have no desire to make their job more difficult than it must be.

For what it's worth, as long as we can make the move in December I would be fine with a later interview date. Then again, the sooner we know when that interview is the better! (This is not only for planning purposes but also to schedule the medical exam. Going to an eligible clinic requires a bit of travel on our part...)

From the looks of this thread it seems like there's a gap of about 1-2 months between getting a case complete at NVC to the interview. Does anybody here know what the situation is like with the US Embassy in Tokyo?

I just found out that the case for my wife was finally marked as complete at the National Visa Center on August 27. From what it sounds like we will now have to wait until an interview is scheduled at the US Embassy in Tokyo.

Does anybody know what the wait times for that particular embassy are? Most of the other information on the Internet (especially from Japanese people who have been through the process before) is out of date and seems to reflect a time when most of the process was done within Japan.

There is no particular rush for us as we don't plan on making the move until December at the very earliest, but at the same time the earlier we know interview date the better.

Thanks in advance!

I just called NVC a few minutes ago and found out that my case was complete on August 27! It's so nice to have that out of the way, especially with the checklist that was sent for the AOS package...

Now I'm wondering how long it will take for us to get our interview scheduled at the embassy in Tokyo, but I guess that depends on what their schedule is like. Will calling NVC help in trying to get an interview date scheduled?

(Regardless of waiting for the interview to be scheduled, I am so glad to have this case complete! We're making progress!)

Along with what you listed here, I also included credit card statements and a letter explaining why I working abroad.

Thanks for the reply. In addition to the items you mention above, I will also get a letter from my parents explaining that they will provide us a place to live if necessary until we find our own apartment. We have enough savings where we're not worried about meeting the poverty guidelines, but this domicile business is proving to be more complex than previously thought.

I suppose I could contact some real estate agents in the place we intend to move to let them know the situation, although my wife thinks that it would be fine for us to just fly over and *then* find an apartment. After reading all of these explanations I get the feeling that might not be acceptable...

Finally as far as employment is concerned, I work as a Japanese-English translator and will still continue getting work from clients in Japan, so I am not worried about the employment aspect. Perhaps I should get letters from those clients saying they will be providing that work?

Thanks again!

I received an email from the NVC a few hours ago saying that the sponsor (myself) had not provided proof of U.S. domicile. It appears they would like me to submit the I-864 again...

I live in Japan with my wife and plan to move with her, but until we get the visa we won't be able to find an apartment. I did submit these three documents as proof of U.S. domicile:

Driver's License

Voter Registration Form/Recent Ballot

Bank statement copy from a U.S. bank with a U.S. address

I know this has been encountered before, but what other items can I provide to prove that we will have a U.S. domicile? Or do I have to move back early by myself?

Thanks in advance!

We finally sent out our AOS and IV packages last week on August 7 and 9, respectively. I remember reading in the guide somewhere that said it takes about a week to process the packages (unfortunately I have no way of confirming when the packages will arrive, and the operators have spoken to have given the usual "20 business days" answer, which isn't terribly helpful…)

Assuming we don't receive any checklists, how soon do you think we will get a case complete?

I am in the process of gathering documents for my AOS and IV packages. There is a point of concern about the IV package, specifically with the birth certificate.

According to this page, the names of both parents must be on the birth certificate. However, as her parents had never married, her father's name is not listed on the birth certificate. This is particularly noticeable on Japanese documents, and while my father-in-law is definitely my wife's father, there is no proof of it in the birth certificate.

Will this cause problems in the application process? Thanks in advance!

After reading through a lot of people's experiences about this stage, it seems like the best way to get through the NVC process is to be persistent and call them until a case number is received.

Our NOA2 was sent on June 18, and the case was received on July 9. According to the operator I spoke with on the phone today, he said it would take up to 20 business days to create a case number.

Is that the case, or has anybody else heard the same thing?

Congrats to everyone making progress!

I called NVC today to ask how long it would take for them to assign a case number, and they said 10-20 business days.

Is this normal? Despite some of the positive estimates given here, the estimates given by the NVC staff have been much, much longer...

I called NVC a few minutes ago and they finally received our case from USCIS. According to the operator, she said it would take up to 2-4 weeks to create the case number, but she also said I could call back next week and hear whether the case number is created by then or not.

The good news is that we've had time to assemble some of the necessary documents, so once the case number comes it shouldn't take that long to send everything. Being able to pay online will help matters a lot too, as both of us live abroad.

How long has it been taking for other people to get their case number after NVC receives their NOA2?

For assets you want to prove the value and if cash/cash equivalent, how long you've held the asset.

Thank you - it sounds like a simple statement obtained online will suffice! One final question regarding these documents...

Do the tax returns need to be official documents or can they be PDF files from previous returns? I have the necessary returns ready to go if the latter is the case...

Do the I-864 tax returns have to be official transcripts from the IRS, or can printed files (PDF) of previous returns be used?

If the income will be continuing from the same source (employer) then you can list your current income. If not, it will be zero.

Assets held outside the US are valued at a 5:1 ratio. Assets held inside the US are considered at a 3:1 ratio. You must supply proof of value and ownership for the assets being presented. See page 8 of the I-864 instructions for what is acceptable as far as valuation.

Thank you! The assets in question are held inside the US, and the total amount is over the 3:1 ratio. As for the employment, it is impossible to say how many of the clients will continue work at this point (and the amount of income they provide varies from month to month), so I will probably put down zero in that category. That being said, I will still provide my tax returns from the last three years.

Do I need to provide a printed statement from the company or would a printed PDF file from each institution suffice? I ask because all 3 institutions provide online statements, and those would be much easier to access. In addition, they have all of the required information.

Thanks again!

Hello again,

Good news! We got our NOA2 only 36 days after receiving NOA1. I will be calling the NVC (despite hearing stories of how busy they are) pretty soon to get the case number, but before I do I have a quick question regarding the I-864.

We both live in Japan and will be moving to the States at the same time, although I plan on continuing most of my current work after the move (Japanese-English translation.) What do I put in for income in that case?

I have US tax returns for the last three years to send with the I-864, and the amount of assets we have is enough to cover the poverty line requirement.

Thanks in advance!

Thank you for everyone's help so far. I sent out the I-130 petition for my wife last week, and thanks to the G-1145 form we have already received confirmation of the receipt of the petition. A letter with with instructions on how to access our case online at UCSIS should come soon.

Assuming a wait time of several months, what can be done in the meantime to help Step 2 go faster? Preparing all the documents for the Step 1 took more time than expected, so hopefully we can get some of that preparation out of the way before we receive our NOA2...

Thanks in advance!

I am almost ready to send out the I-130 for my wife, but I have a question regarding payment of the $420 fee for the application.

After contacting a bank in the States that I have an account with, they said they would be able to send a cashier's check either to me in Japan or directly to the Chicago Lockbox. The latter option is much faster (as the Lockbox is about 100 miles away from their main branch.) That being said, I could imagine sending the payment and application separately would cause all sorts of problems.

In this case would it simply be easier to have a cashier's check/money order made out in Japan instead of waiting for my bank in the States to send a cashier's check?

Thanks!

Thank you for both of the replies. The advice about the pictures was quite helpful - I have them ready to go now!

Regarding the address question: If I were to return to the States tomorrow, I would probably go back to my parents' house in the Midwest. However, my wife and I are planning to live in a completely different region (and most likely won't do any apartment hunting until we make the move, or at the very least until her visa is confirmed.)

Am I to understand that we are not bound by the address we put down in Question 18? If that's the case I will just put in my parents' address.

Thanks!

It's nice to meet everyone here. I'm just starting out on the process to get an IR-1 Spouse Visa for my wife. We both live in Japan, so hopefully the process of getting the visa won't be too difficult. A former coworker of mine just arrived in the States this week with his fiancee and highly recommended VisaJourney!

I have a couple of questions regarding preparation of the I-130 and bonafide marriage evidence...

1. The marriage certificate needs to be translated from Japanese to English. I actually work as a Japanese-English translator, so would it be acceptable if I do the translation on my own?

2. For bonafide marriage evidence, I have emails going back almost six years and quite a few pictures of us (not to mention her two visits to the States and our wedding ceremony, etc.) Do I need to make actual film prints of the pictures (almost all of them were taken with a digital camera and are stored on my hard drive) or are printed copies (on A4 or similar paper) of the pictures acceptable?

3. What exactly needs to be said in the affidavits? I have family and friends who are willing to vouch for us, but before asking them to write an affidavit what points should be covered?

4. Question 18 of the I-130 asks where the relative intends to live. Given that we can't move to the States until she has her visa, what should we put in that section?

The whole process seems complicated (especially in terms of gathering the bonafide marriage evidence) but once I've gathered the material we should be able to send it out pretty quickly. It's hard to know how long the entire process will take from start to finish.

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing everyone's opinions and advice!