BackWhereIBelong

You can read the POE reviews (Google visajourney + poe + airport name), but luck on the particular day figures in, mostly depending on how busy they are when you arrive.  More important than the airport is the day/time of arrival.  Early mornings on the weekends are best. 

We went through DFW, I picked my husband up there, but it took him about 2-2 1/2 hours because full Emirates flight, also he was last one out of the "secondary" screening where they took his packet. Now he was entering using a K-1 visa; but I alwayss uggest people have at least 3+ hours between flights. Allows adequate time for delays plus having to transfer terminals possibly, recheck through security and bags, ect.

I have exactly the same experience. Nothing indicates that CBP has access to that information (by default), just by swiping your passport. The APC-kiosks don't react on it. It's only been brought up when I've mentioned it. Personally, I see no reason to not mention it when I'm asked about my purpose of travel, just like the majority of people on this site is suggesting too. But there are a lot of rumors around that it's not advisable to mention that you're visiting a partner in the US (at all) or that you can't visit when you're in the visa process. Clearly, neither is true.

Hopefully, the long range of people on this site saying the same thing can help some people feel a bit less stressed about their visits. 

Call the police clearance certificate office in Singapore and ask. They are helpful.
http://www.police.gov.sg/e-services/apply/certificate-of-clearance

Why do some people get a 6-month visa? ESTA gives 90 days

Entry not an issue, but exit on day 90 could be problematic if a host of issues collide.. flight cancellations, bad weather, medical issues, etc. Preferable to leave margin for error. Vaguely recall a posting or two here some months ago about unknowingly leaving on day 91 and issues with future entry.

I followed the example I-130 sheet shown here at VJ (link). Based on this (and my own personal submission) I would advise the following:
Question 13:
Check "Birth in the US" (if you were indeed born in the USA).
Question 14:
Write in "N/A".
Question 14B:
Leave blank as neither option applies to you.
Question 9 for Beneficiary:
I know many people write "None" here, however I left it blank. I was using Adobe reader to fill out the form and when I attempted to type in any particular letter, an error box popped up stating "Only Numbers allowed". I believe the reason for this is that the I-130 form uses barcode technology; you'll notice that there is a barcode at the bottom of the sheets which changes as you enter information. This allows USCIS to simply scan the sheets and extract the information. As such they allow only certain types of information in each box. For the social security number box, only numbers are allowed and since your beneficiary will not have one, the only option is to leave this blank.
Question 10 for Beneficiary:
Unless you're spouse has previously held a green card, it's unlikely they have an alien number. This is assigned much later in the process. I wrote "None" as it appears you can enter characters in this box.

Best results have on very top in front of coverletter with check or money order attached to G-1145.

It's on the base guide.
http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1
Forms Needed to File for a IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa:

1. I-130
2. G-325a
3. G-1145 (optional)
Attach "E-Notification" Form (Optional)
Clip a completed G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance, to the first page of your application (on top of the cover page). By completing this form and attaching it, USCIS will send you an email and/or text message to alert you when your application was received.
Keep in mind this only gives you the "initial" notification. You must sign up on the USCIS website after your NOA1 to receive any more updates.

You want to clip it to the very front of your packet along with the check for the application fee. And yes, you want to send it with the I-130 packet if you want to receive updates about your application via email or text message.

You must include it in the package if you want it to be associated with your case.

No alien number is a specific number given by the USCIS. put none for both that and SSN if they don't have one
no you do not need to answer the following questions if they don't apply because of the first one.

thank you both

hI
1) The US recognizes legal marriages performed abroad. So there's no need for the church license. As long as it's legal, you're good to go. That's what my husband and I researched when we registered our marriage in Kuala Lumpur. VJ'ers please correct me if I'm wrong
** We DID get the license certified at the Ministry of Foreign affairs just to be safe though
Good luck!

You cannot get married in the US (legally, anyway) as you are already married.
Your marriage (the ceremony conducted in Japan) is recognized by the US.
Leave the church marriage out of the equation.
Use the Japanese Marriage Registration and its English translation in your dealings with US immigration.
There is no way to "register" the marriage conducted in Japan in the US.
You are still married, though, in the eyes of the US Government.

When you get the NVC packet you'll get a case number, and you'll have to use that case number to request from the Singaporean Police Department.
You'll get NVC packet after you file I-130 and get approved.

So from what I understand you can go to the US on a tourist visa any time (meaning both at the pending i-130 stage and the NVC stage). Is that correct?
This is interesting though. I had a CR-1 visa before (then I gave it up, now applying again). Last time we were eligible for DCF. So I had personal interviews/ encounters in the embassy. I was specifically told by an officer in the embassy last time that I now have an immigration status and I am not allowed to travel to the US until my case gets approved. And my tourist visa (that was valid in my passport at the time) will no longer be valid... So I was certain all these years that traveling with a pending immigrant visa is not allowed.
Turns out that officer really dis-informed me.

Hi, I think that depends on the POE. I know that Detroit have the same lines for visitors that have been to the US before and USC, and a separate line for first time visitors. However they want people that travel together to stay together through immigration, so I suppose it should be ok. I think I would have asked at arrival.. there's always someone that helps with directing people to the correct waiting line.

This is a nice explanation of what I have read around the forum. To add slightly more recent experiences...
My spouse and I live abroad together and have not filed anything. Our last entry together (USC and VWP) was in 2015. Usually entering is no big deal. Once we were asked if we both live in Germany, kind of like an "I thought so" check. Another time, the CBP officer was not happy about the non-USC's expired student visas from the time period when we met. He looked through the passport a few times and asked questions about those visas, but didn't ask about spousal immigration plans. He also didn't ask to see the return ticket or any other documentation. (We had brought evidence that both of us were returning to Germany, but followed the VJ advice to have but not volunteer.)
The non-USC entered alone for work earlier this year. No problem.

We enter together (USC and spouse on VWP) and always ask one of the officers standing in the immigration area which line we should use. We have been told to do different things each time, so we'll just continue to ask.

Whether the scrutiny has gotten stricter since 2012 or not, I can't answer. But from personal experience, this really isn't a problem.
My ex wife filed an I-130 in February of 2012. I entered the U.S. three times on ESTA between the initial filing and my CR-1 interview. Twice for two-week visits and once for a six-week visit. Some takeaways:
- No message will pop up on CBP's screen saying "I-130 in progress. Deny." In fact, the first time I entered (a few weeks before NOA2), the CBP officer only asked me if I knew "people here" to which I replied a truthful but generic "yes." This was at EWR.
- Entering with your spouse isn't necessarily a metaphorical immigration death sentence either. I entered with my ex and her grandmother once after a cruise, and the officer asked how we were related, whether we had filed paperwork and when I was going back to Norway. No problem. This was at YVR pre-clearance.
- The last time I entered was 2 months before my interview, after NOA2, while the case was at NVC. I entered with my ex, and the officer asked straight out "are you planning to do your interview there, or will you adjust status here?" I told the officer I was waiting for my interview to come up in a couple of months, and the officer stamped my passport. This was at LAX.
It is my experience that if everything makes sense to the CBP officer, you have nothing really to worry about. Don't volunteer information unless asked, and give truthful answers if and when asked. Ultimately, you are allowed to visit while waiting for an immigrant visa, you're just not allowed to visit if you intend to stay. Their job is not to prevent legitimate visitors from entering, but rather prevent people from trying to immigrate on non-immigrant visas.

When you first get to the NVC you dont submit anything without the right case number.
Someone recently had to change their case number because they didnt have Montreal as a case number. Only took 14 days to change it. They were told they could submit items, but i suggested to wait because otherwise theyd have issues. Thankfully they took the advice.

I don't know if anyone here has ever been in this situation but I'm hoping someone might have some advice and help.
My husband and I were both living overseas when we met and got married. We then applied for a visa for me as his spouse so that we could return to the USA together.
Following that, sooner than we would have liked his work visa ran out and we had to leave the island in the Caribbean where we were living. He returned to the US and I returned to the UK.
We called and changed our addresses with the NVC and they told us that in order to change the location of my interview we had to do it in writing. I sent them a letter around the 10th of December. We waited a while and when I made a follow up call to see if they had recieved the letter they told me I could actually do it via email. So on the 5th of Jan I emailed with the same information. My husband followed up with another letter from the US once he got there. I came to the US for a visit on the VWP whilst we waited for the case to be sent on to the embassy in London.
Since then we have had confirmation that our case is complete and all we are waiting for is for it to be sent out to the consulate/embassy for processing. Unfortunately there is a hold on it whilst they wait to get the interview location changed.
It's now been three months - and nothing has happened. I guess my question is has anyone else had to change the location of thier interview, and if so how long did it take? It feels like it's been so long with nothing being changed when my case could have already been sent to the embassy and I might have my interview date by now.
We're getting so frustrated as my holiday draws to a close as we are facing being apart with absolutely no end in sight. Every time I call the NVC they are unable to give me any idea of when the change might be made.

Whatever you do don't file now with her address as Singapore and then change it to Japan later. It's NOT a wise move.
We just spent 6 months trying to get them to change my interview location because we'd done a similar thing. They told us it would be oh so simple to change the address (and therefore the interview location) later. It took us 6 months, dozens of emails and hundreds of phone calls to get it fixed. We filed when we were both living in the Cayman Islands, we then had to leave because of work permits there and tried to change everything. Nightmare. Honestly, our case was 'completed' back in Feb and I have JUST had the location changed to London. Which included changing our case number and our completion date to June.
As for your actual question, even with all our hassles we still did it all ourselves without a lawyer. Every time we spoke to a lawyer they tried to convince me to come in on my Esta and then apply for AOS. Obviously we weren't going to do that.
To be honest, the paperwork really isn't that complicated. It's perfectly possible to do it all yourself. And save a few thousand dollars in the process. We were quoted 3,000 and 3,500 each time.

Very true.