babsloblaw

The manager has almost certainly never faced this before and is bewildered. They can probably do whatever they want to ensure your solvency; there may be corporate policies. However, find a real estate attorney who'll give you a free or cheap initial consultation. This will be easier than trying to research state laws and local ordinances on your own.

Thanks! There's a group called the Asian Law Alliance that seems like they can answers questions precisely like these. I'm calling them late tonight, but I wanted to check if anyone in VJ ran into the same problems before too.

Hello all,

The story is that my fiance and I are looking for an apartment right now in California, and we're relying mostly on our JP bank account to prove that we can pay for the rent, because neither of us will be employed when we move to the US.

Our bank statements are only provided in yen, so I sent them that, plus an excel file showing them all the amounts in us dollars. Now, the manager of the apartment is saying that we need to convert a years' worth of rent to US dollars. With the yen being high right now, we'll lose a couple of hundred dollars if we did something like that in one swoop. (We've set it up so that we have access to the account abroad, convert cash when needed, etc.etc.)

My question is, are they actually legally allowed to refuse our application on the grounds that our bank statements are in yen, despite the fact that when converted, it's more than enough to cover for several years of rent? Would it constitute housing discrimination on their part to do something like that? I kind of want to know my rights as a renter before I proceed.

Congratulations on your NOA2 and good luck on your interview!

I did mine in Japan, so I don't know how relevant this is to yours.

I mentioned during the start of the interview that my fiance was present, but the CO didn't really ask for him to join or anything. I just went through the interview on my own, and the questions were simple enough (How did you meet, Where will you live, etc.)

It was nice to have him around during the process though. The whole thing took around an hour or so, and most of it was just waiting without any kind of electronic device. It was great that he was around to calm me down.

To be honest, if I were in your position, I'd tell my fiance to save up his vacation days so we can go take a longer honeymoon. ;-)

Hi everyone,

We're still at the dreadful wait stage between NOA1 and NOA2, but would like to understand,

how helpful it was for you during your K-1 interview, in regards the difficultly level of questions from the CO, with your fiance on your side?

My country portal doesn't have much reviews in regards this, so thought of asking this question in general to K-1 filers.

We are going to decide whether or not my fiancé will be joining me for the interview depending on the replies here. As he has limited vacation days, we have to plan ahead according to the interview date.

So, please share your experiences.

Thanks in advance.

~K

Just a note - I got a PM on here from someone from casting for that show based strictly on my timeline. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I just got one too.

Does anyone know if Japan allows co-sponsors for K-1 visas?

Yep!

Not going to be a problem at all. You can just say you just own it and never really worked there, on the very small chance they ask.

I'd use the DoS photo tool to test it to make sure...

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/photos.html

If you wait until you have your green card the CFO sticker is not required to exit the Philippines. CFO is required for exiting immigrants, once you have your green card you are no longer an immigrant.

Thanks again. I'll probably meet up with my mom in Hong Kong until I have the GC sorted out.

I hate how they have these arbitrary rules for exiting Filipinos.

be there by 4am. get lots of sleep and eat before that. you'll be standing outside until the doors open at 6:30am. it's a pain in the a** but you'll be so happy when you walk out of the building with the sticker on your passport. make sure you bring all the document that the facilitator MAY require. I attended the seminar last March 14 (Friday) and there's this one lady who didn't have her husband's divorce decree, of course she didn't get her sticker. she attended the friday pm session and her flight was on sunday. bummer! not sure if she was able to complete the requirements that day. she told me her husband doesn't know how to scan and attach documents via email. double bummer! I asked if she did a little research prior to attending the seminar and she said nope. So... read, read and read!

Sounds like an absolute pain.

Is there any way I can avoid taking the CFO? e.g. if I have a EAD/AP card or conditional green card when I visit Manila? Or do I just have to bite the bullet?

Congrats on your visa approval !!

If you have the U.S. visa in your passport when you visa the Philippines you will need the CFO sticker to exit. CFO is a half day IF you can get a seat in the class (15 seats, twice a day)

There is CFO info in my link

Thank you twice over!

Hello, I'd like to ask for a clarification on the CFO situation.

I'm currently residing in Japan on a work visa. My K-1 visa just got approved (yay!) and now I'm planning on making a quick trip to Manila to visit my mom before coming back to Japan, wrapping things up, and leaving for the US.

My question is -- could the immigration officer possibly give me problems when I try to exit Manila to go back to Japan without the CFO sticker? I just don't think I'll have the time to attend the PDOS seminar this time around.

I'll have the OEC exit clearance for my work visa.

Whoaaaa. Why so expensive???

Next time, use http://nso.citizenservices.com.ph/ they are easier to deal with

I guess because they're the only courier service that NSO uses? >

I saw that site too, but it didn't deliver overseas.

Just to update, I ended up requesting that my certificate be sent to my mom in Manila instead of my JP address. They obliged, and my mom received the certificate last Monday. Then she just sent it to be on a reliable express service, and I got in on Tuesday for much cheaper.

Then you should be good to go. At least Japan is making it easier then what they do in Singapore.

Thanks!

I just checked, and they can reroute the certificate to a Pinoy address.

Such BS. I'm being charged $90 for a delivery that will take 3 days.

Whereas other companies will charge me $30 and take 1 day.

1. I have two first names too -- I put both in the Given Name field. put Pxxxxx in the Middle name field.

2. I would say just San Andres, Catanduanes should be fine. Or even Catanduanes only.

3. I'm not so sure about 34a. You have to prove that you've met at least once in the past two years by showing evidence like plane tickets, hotel reservations, etc. You might be better off meeting her in April first, THEN filing the 129F.

She may be able to pick it up, but the bigger question is will the embassy accept it, I know for other countries seeking a CENOMAR the embassy requires it be sent directly from NSO. Best read your embassy instructions letter.

Read it several times over. The only requirement is that it's a cenomar "issued for me".

They asked me to send it in along with other documents that they requested.

Can my mother pick up my CENOMAR for me?

The story is, I live in Japan, and I need my CENOMAR ASAP. I ordered through e-census, and had everything processed.

The problem is, when I mailed to ask to send my CENOMAR through FedEx, NSO refused and tries to peddle this company called SEAD parcel that only accepts Western Union payments.

Is there any way to get my mom to pick up my CENOMAR and then just have her FedEx the document for me? I tried asking the customer service people by e-mail, but their responses have been painfully slow.

I think those average may be covering much longer period, and its not reflecting recent months.

It's been 60 days now since my NOA1...so again your 42 days is relatively faster than other nationals in most cases.

Not really. You were lamenting about the December 13 filers, so I limited the time frame to that.

42 days would sit about right for CSC filers and fit in the estimates that VJ provided. As I said, the average for all nationals was 37 days.

My application was not expedited at all. Only those that lived near the affected areas (which is far from Manila), or those who specifically sent requests were expedited. You can clearly see which ones were processed quickly, because it would have been 10-20 days between NOA1 and NOA2.

My fiance called NVC last Thursday, and the (mean) CS Rep told him that they haven't received our packet yet. Suddenly on Saturday, I get a letter from the US embassy saying that I can start my application already.

I do hope your NOA2 comes soon, but I have to disagree with your observation -- I'm sure some Filipinos filed for expedite because they lived in the affected areas, and that made their applications just fly through everything, but the average Filipino application took 35 days to reach NOA2 for the December Filers (including the expedited apps). The average for all nationalities is about 37 days.

I think it's just because there's a lot more Filipinos applying for K1 in general, that it's looking like we're getting special treatment. About half of the Filipino applicants still don't have their NOA2 either.

FYI too, Mine took 42 days to process with no RFE, which pretty much aligned with VJ estimates for CSC. It's still a bumpy ride up ahead because I haven't heard from NVC yet.

Good to hear! Congrats with the NOA2.

Are you living in Japan with your Fiancé(e)?

Thank you!

Unfortunately, he moved back to the US a couple of months ago, and filed the paperwork there.

Hi Everyone

I'm in a bit of a funny situation as I'm a UK national living in Japan with my US fiance, and she's just sent off the I-192F petitioning me getting a K-1 Visa to enter america. Any other non-Japanese nationals been in a similar situation?

I'm Filipino, and I've been working in Japan for 5 years. I got my NOA2 a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm waiting for word from NVC or the embassy in Tokyo. I can't give you much advice just yet, but I thought you'd like to know that someone else is somewhat in the same boat as you. :-)

I called the clinic right after I got the NOA2, and I got the same response -- wait until you get a letter from the embassy before you make a reservation. I'm not sure how it is for your clinic, but the lady I talked to assured me that I can always be squeezed in within the week I make my call.

As I understand, your K1 visa will expire six months after your medical. You can also waive your medical exam when applying for AOS, provided it's within 1 year of your K1 medical.

So basically yeah, it sounds prudent to plan to do the medical last.

I just flew into the US a couple of days ago on my B1/B2 visa I've had from way back when.

The immigration officer just asked when I last visited the US, and for how long I'm staying this time.

When he asked why I'm here, I replied, 'just visiting.'

I was just wondering about the data on the i-129f timelines that VJ and its users generously provide.

It seems that applicants from the same country using the same service center would take anywhere from 20 days to 5 months before getting NOA2, even without any RFEs (at least none posted on the timeline).

I understand that there's really no way to speed up the process short of sending an expedite request (which is highly unlikely to be approved), but what factors cause some applications to fly by, and the others to stick around until the 5 month mark? Is it just entirely luck of the draw?

For example, would an existing B1/B2 visa and frequent travel to and from the US make it easier for USCIS to process applications?

Welcome to the forums. All this naturalization from one country to another is confusing to me. Why are you doing all of this? All the K-1 visa does is allow you to enter the US and get married to a USC and then file for adjustment of status (AOS) to become a lawful perment resident (LPR). The only issue your citizenship would have would be on the location of the interview for the K-1 visa and how much scrunity you receive in being issued a K-1 visa.

The important part of your question is that once you enter the US on the K-1 visa it is no longer valid so it does not matter which passport it is in. The document you care about after entry to the US is the I-94. I would make a copy of the old passport bio page and the K-1 visa page just to have it. Once in the US your citizenship does not matter except for which country you need to apply for a passport from in order to travel internationally. You do not need a passport at all if you plan to remain in the US and never travel internationally until you become a USC and then apply for a US passport.

Good luck,

Dave

Thanks Dave, that clears things up immensely!

The naturalization thing had been in the works for a while, before I inadvertently stumbled into a boyfriend-then-fiance. Really, this would be non-issue if I'm just remotely patient and waited out my naturalization. Curse my type-A personality.

J