zmay777

We just had our I-485 interview today, and we were approved, so now we're just waiting on our green card

We just received our EAD card in the mail today

Alright so I have a question for everyone here!

My wife and I recently filed our I-485/I-130 AoS packet, but since doing so have come upon a new problem. Well, I'm not sure I'd call it a problem, but rather a concern that we have. When we got married here in the U.S. last November we decided not to change our name right away since it would have just be a pain to contact all of the different banks and such at that time for us. As such, our marriage certificate has her maiden name on it, and when we submitted her AoS packet we also filled it out using her maiden name. The problem however, lies in the fact that after talking with the Japanese embassy about notifying the country of our marriage, we were told that it'd be best to file the paperwork for the marriage with the country using her married last name instead of her maiden name. The reason for this being that, if we don't, then it'll be a pain to go to court and change it later on.

Now the concern that we have is that after submitting the paperwork for her marriage using her married last name, she'll have to update and change her Japanese passport to that new last name. Once her passport changes, the name will no longer match up with the paperwork filed for her AoS, so her green card will arrive with her maiden name, whereas her passport will have her married name. We plan to go through the process of changing her name on the U.S. side of things here as well, but the big issue is the discrepancy between the future green card and passport name differences. Once she gets her green card, we plan to leave the country temporarily to go back to Japan to take care of various things on that end, but our fear is that when we try to come back to the U.S. after that, she will be denied entry to the U.S. due to the different names on the two different pieces of identification.

So my question for you all is whether there is a way for us to change her name that we submitted on her AoS before the green card is created? Is there even any need to worry about going through all of this; would she be denied entry to the U.S. because of the different last names on her green card and passport? I couldn't find any topics with this exact problem so I'm just unsure as to what the next step we should take is. Thanks for your time and consideration!

Sweet! So I received my NOA1 for my I-485, I-765, and I-130 last night around 12:30 am so now we are also joining the wait game from now on Our form was received on the 9th and filed on the 11th!

Alright, I'm joining the February club! We just sent in our I-485/I-130/I-765 to the Chicago Lockbox today! Now we just gotta brace ourselves for the long journey haha!

Well the issue isn't that she doesn't have one, but rather that her family is opposed to our marriage and living in the U.S. and such, so they are unwilling to send us the necessary documents out of opposition.

I see... I don't think there's any way to get a birth certificate from Japan without actually being there in person to get it from the the local municipality office where you were born. Is there really no way to get around this at all without actually having to go back to Japan to file the paperwork in person?

Thanks for the quick replies guys!! We'll do our best

As I looked over the checklist for setting up the I-130 packet, there was one other things that piqued my interest as well, and that was the portion of the checklist #7 which says that you need...

A copy of the intending immigrant's birth certificate and/or passport along with English translation. (If in any language other than English)

Now this says and/or, so does this mean that if we don't have her birth certificate, it's okay to use her passport instead? Obviously she's here in America now so she cannot go back to Japan to go and get her birth certificate, so we only really have the passport option left for us. If we don't have hers should we just write a note about why we don't have it or something?

Hey Everyone!

So I'm about to embark on the I-130 AOS journey, but I have a big question in regards to visa restrictions.

My fiance and I met in Japan and have been dating for 2 1/2 years. Earlier this year in May I returned back to the USA to start graduate school, and shortly after she began studying abroad in the USA in an entirely different state on a 1 year J-1 student visa. Now here's where the trouble comes in. Whenever we both had our school breaks/holidays we would of course meet up, and well, in the process we ended up getting pregnant! So now we are going to get married this month and then we will begin our I-130 process, but my question lies in the J-1 visa restrictions. We don't have the HRR waiver problem, but once we are married and she finishes up her fall semester in the next month or so, she intends to move in with me at my home in my state and stop going to school are her exchange location. So my question is, would this create any problems with the validity of her J-1 visa while we are waiting on the I-130 to process? If she stops going to school full time that would invalidate her J-1 since she wouldn't be taking her necessary class load, so would that create any problems for us in regards to filing the I-130? Would she be forced to leave the country if she stopped going to school, even if we have filed for the AOS? I'm not very familiar with this AOS process for students, so I appreciate the help in advance!

Hello everyone,

So I have a question in regards to the K-1 visa application in regards to location at the time of application. So my fiance is currently in the USA on an F1 student visa, however she will finish here in a few months, and then she will go back to her country for her last semester of university to graduate from her university. So I was searching and I found that after you're approved and receive the K-1 visa, you have around 5-6 months to enter the U.S. with it. So what I want to know is whether or not it's possible to start the K-1 application while my fiance is still in the USA or not. Obviously she would be in the U.S. when it started, but by the time it is approved she would be back in her home country of Japan. If we could get a head start on it, it would be great since she could receive it before graduation, giving us to time to plan some things and giving her the opportunity to come to the USA as soon as she graduates rather than waiting until she returns to her country, potentially making her have to wait some time after graduation before she could come here. I look forward to your responses! Thanks so much for your time.

Thank you for your quick response! I see! I was unaware of the fact that the K3 was obsolete! So then, it'd be better to apply for CR-1 visa for us.

Yeah, I guess I should have re-worded it better. What I meant when I said DCF was actually referring to the fact that I would have to mail it to USCIS Chicago Lockbox. From what I'd heard and read I gotten the impression that it's faster to apply for the CR-1 from Japan sending the forms to the lockbox rather than going back to the states and starting the K1 directly with the local embassy there. As for the financial accomodations and things, I will be having my parents helping me as a joint-sponsor, so that will take care of the financial aspect of the process.

So now let me rephrase again!

I'm moving back to the USA a month from now, but since I can start this process from Japan, would it be faster to start a CR-1 and mail it to the chicago lockbox? Or would it be better to just go back to the USA first and start a K1? Or a whole other can of worms, would it be faster to apply for a K1 while in Japan, or would it be faster to apply for a CR-1?

Thanks so much for your time, and sorry about all the questions!

Hello everyone,

So I'm coming to you all today with a question in regards to doing the DCF process in Japan. I've been in Japan now for the past 2 years working and my fiancee and I have been together for even longer, but I'm going to be leaving the country to go back to the USA to enter graduate school and work in the upcoming month in May. Obviously she was planning on coming together with me, but there have been some things that have come up lately, and it would be more beneficial for her to come to America sooner than later so it brings me to this question. Currently I'm residing in Japan, and it seems that the fastest way to get a visa to come to the states would be to file from Japan rather than to go back to the USA and start the K1 fiance visa. For us getting married immediately here and beginning the K3 DCF is not a problem, however my question lies in the fact that I'm going back to America in a month.

So I guess my real question is, is it possible to start the DCF K3 visa process while I'm here in Japan, and then return to America as planned? My significant other would obviously be waiting in Japan for the visa, but would it create any problems with the process if I went home to the USA while the paperwork is still being processed? Or is it just better to go to the USA and file the K1 fiance and wait it out? As for things like the Affidative of Support and such, that's also not a problem, but I'm just curious as to whether it's possible to start the process here while I'm still in Japan in order to minimize time apart. Thanks for your help in advance!

Ahhhh noooo... Yeah, it seems like it cannot be done anymore in Japan as of August 15, 2011 so the I-130 will have to be sent to the USCIS Chicago lockbox by mail... I wonder how much more complicated this makes the process or how it affects the timetable for the visa

Ahhhhh thank you so much for that information truly!!! I'm so relieved to hear that!! It was weighing on me heavily since the other options had crazy wait times with separation involved unless I continued this job so... this is a breath of fresh air for me You guys rock!

Hello everyone! I have a question for you all in regards to the DCF application. So currently I am an English teacher in Japan and my fiance and I are finally going to get married here, but the question that I have for you is in regards to the 6 months of being a legal resident in the home country. I've been working here for about 4 months legally, and we will get married 5 months from now! So by the time we will get married, I will have been a worker here legally for around 9 months. However, for the DCF and it's 6 months as a legal resident requirement, does that requirement begin from the moment that we get married in Japan and my visa changes? Or will my previous 9 months here on my instructors visa also count towards that? I'm asking because from the moment we get married we'd like to return to the U.S. together 4 months later once my contract ends so that I we can start working and living over there asap, however if that 6 month timer starts from the moment that we are legally married here then it will mean that I will have to renew a contract here and stay longer.

So the TLDR version: Does my time in this country as an instructor count towards my 6 month DCF requirement or does it begin from the moment we get married and I change my visa to spouse of a Japanese? Thanks in advance for your replies!