Holman come down

Well, I joined this page as a fiance visa filer around new years 2013, now we FINALLY have our green card in hand! 10 months after filing AOS papers. It came in the mail on Friday. Hang in there, everybody!

Huh, just got a letter saying that we likely won't need an interview for the Green-card, but that it will be up to 6 more months until we can expect a decision. Just when I thought we were about done. What a disappointment. Anyone else gotten this letter?

Welcome.

We are almost "done." Hoping to get the green card next month. Lots of waiting, but you know that. I wish you a smooth journey.

say buhhh bye money.....

you can take her out of country, she just wont get back in without AP

will they credit towards another trip at a later date?

Well, I will definitely try to re-schedule. I also want to at least try talking to USCBP about it by phone, but I'm sure it will lead no-where. It should just be a simple form you can fill out at the airport for short-term travel permission, a 3 month wait for it seems ridiculous. But, that's how it goes.

Our wedding was last Saturday and before that I bought a travel package to the Bahamas for our honeymoon, which isn't until the end of November. Did I screw up big time and just waste a bunch of money? I get the sense that there is no way for me to get the proper paperwork I would need to take her out of the country in time. Or is it ok because it's only 4 days? Or because it's just the Bahamas?

I'm really hoping I don't have to cancel this trip and lose all that money.

Thanks for any help.

I will start looking around. Did you try to get a refund or at least credit towards another ticket for the return ticket that you did not use? I have been reading that it may be possible to get a credit towards future ticket even if the original ticket was "non refundable".

Hah, yeah I think you can change it to another date for some fee like $300 (I really can't remember the number.) But think about it... then you get stuck in a cycle of buying Round trip tickets (JPN to USA to JPN) with a return date which you'll probably need to change (and pay the fee) b/c you're not sure when you'll be going back to Japan. It's better just to toss it and forget it.

I was over there late last month and got stuck with that $100 for my extra bag on my way back. Ouch!! I flew with United on the new "Dreamliner" 787. Nice plane. Not much more room unless you upgrade to Economy Plus. Where do you generally find your cheapest tickets? Also, I assume that when she flies over here I am better off buying a round trip ticket and just not use the return as opposed to trying to find a reasonably priced one way ticket? And have you shipped any of her things fromn Japan to US yet? Did you just use regular Japan Post?

Thanks

I've found that expedia gives good rates, and also Google flights is a new service which is great. Check them both out.

I got her a round trip ticket and we just won't use the return ticket. If I had bought 1 way it was around 3 times the price!!

She shipped 16 boxes. I'm not certain which service she used and I'm at work so I can't ask right now. Her mother paid for it though, which was nice. I'm thinking it was Japan Post, though.

Wish I could be of more help. My fiance had been visiting me over the past year, and brought her maxium 3 baggage at 32kg allowed as a frequent flier on ANA. I also visited Japan twice and brought back some of her things. Extra luggage on the airlines is very expensive but probably cheaper than sending it by air mail. She went with the maximum size and maxium weight. Some of her family are visiting for our wedding next week, they will also be bringing some of my fiance's things.

We flew last week on United (operated by ANA). It was one checked bag each, I had to pay $100 for her 1 extra bag. They said the rules had changed just a couple months ago about that. You may find shipping to be cheaper.

Congrats on your journey. My fiance will be moving here (USA) from Japan also. I have not found many choices for shipping companies that offer door to door or door to port service. We are not moving any of her furniture or big things, but she still has a considerable amount of "stuff". I have found Nippon Express, Econo Move Japan, and Eagle Net. I am interested in shipping by boat since air would be way too costly.

Any help is appreciated.

Heh, my fiancee shipped 16 boxes, purses and sweaters and boots and such (Japanese women love their boots, don't they?) I still have 4 left to pick up since they didn't all come in at once and the post office didn't try to deliver them to our door, only left a note (I guess because we live in a condo complex with a mail-box room).

I think she just got a bunch of boxes and sent them by regular Japanese mail.

Today marks an end to her 1st week living in America.

We just finished this process. After the NOA2 you just wait until they send you the packet. It has details on everything you need to do. It sounds like she is already ahead of the game with some of the paperwork. If she has questions she can call the embassy and ask. If she chooses the Japanese language option when she calls she can get an operator immediately. I tried to get an english speaking operator when I called and had a 25 minute wait, then the call was dropped :/

Well, it's been 8 months, but we finally got our K-1 visa! I'm off to Japan on Thursday. We're going to do a party in Japan and a typical wedding couple photo session, going to have lunch with her whole family, etc etc. Then we'll be back here in a week and wedding next month!

What a relief.

Wow, guys, she already got her interview date, and it's for August 26th! That's much faster than the norm I've been seeing on other timelines. She said the lady at the embassy told her over the phone that they have a staff member working solely with K-1 visas, so they are moving pretty quickly. I'm going to have to talk to my boss about taking time off to get over there. (We're going to have a little party in Japan with friends and dinner with her family before I steal her away.)

Is this the page she scheduled the visa from as per the instructions?

http://japan2.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-ivapptrequest.html

It sounds to me like she scheduled through the dashboard which wasn't the procedure outlined for Fiancé in Tokyo.

hm, I'm not sure. Before I was doing everything, but now that the process has gone over to Japan it's mostly up to her and out of my hands. She's following the embassy's instructions, though. I know she called them a couple times to sort out stuff with the dashboard. Hopefully we'll hear when the interview date will be early this week.

Well, we are waiting to get an interview date. My fiancee paid the money on Aug 9th, got a medical scheduled for Aug 13th, and was able to go online to select the week of her interview today. She said she was able to select the week of Aug 19th to the 23rd. That doesn't seem right to me, isn't the wait for an interview usually more like 4 or 5 weeks? Did anyone else request a certain week for an interview and get a date within that week? Or is it always much later than what you request?

Things are moving along quickly now , it's much nicer than waiting for NOA 2.

WooHooo!!! NOA2 came tonight! I actually got excited when I got an RFE, since it was easy to complete and I figured that meant we were close, sure enough, here it is! Time to figure out what's next.

Got the NOA2 e-mail just moments ago! WooHoo!!!

Sure... but if the embassy doesn't know I'm coming and I'm not on a list, I won't get past security.

I also have questions about the I-134 and if theynare looking for anything specific. Lastly, a Petitioner's address change/update. I suppose the support-japan email address is my best bet.

Has anyone ever done Skype chat? Is there a fee to call the 050 or the 703 phone numbers?

I went to the US embassy in Tokyo last year without making an appointment or being on any list, I just walked in and went through the metal detector. You're the petitioner so obviously you are a US citizen, right? There should be no reason for them to not let you in.

I use Skype all the time, if you want to call land lines you have to pay, but the rates are quite good.

Question:

What is the best way to notify the Embassy that the Petitioner will also be attending the interview?

From what I've read about the interview. You will both be waiting and she will get called up to the window to do her interview right there. She has to be alone at the window.

For me it is going to be about a month after they received the packet from NVC til the interview.

The average I saw was about 70 days. How did you get it to be ~1 month? Any tips are appreciated. We're hoping the NOA2 comes in about 3 weeks from now and a 1 month wait for an interview would be a blessing.

It's around 70 days. You can go up to the Timelines link at the top of this page and search for other people's timelines to get an idea. That's how I got this number.

Hey guys,

I was just wondering how much wait time there is between Tokyo embassy receiving the visa paperwork from NVC and an interview.

Thanks.

I was thinking the same thing. It used to be an indicator of imminent approval, but now (except for a lucky few) it seems those of us getting that notice right after filing will still have a normal wait time, but will have no head's up a few days in advance. Oh well, checking it and seeing an approval with no advance warning will be just as exciting, maybe moreso. I'm not even 2 months in and I check every day anyway... lol

Me too, but then I checked forums and it sounds like you get an automatic e-mail message when you get NOA2 just like when we got NOA1, so there's really no need to check the website, right?

Mr Jones then admitted that since leaving Vietnam, things just weren't the same, and every time his tractor backfired he would flinch.

My little girl just turned one and she needs a sister.

Why do you grave something more when you are told you can't have it?

You dig a grave for someone when they tell you you can't have something?

Why can't people use the words "loose" and "lose" correctly?

You might wet your pants.

If you eat too much...

you might not fit through the door.

If you keep a 9mm handgun by your bed...

stat- immediately

GTG - Good To Go