Seashell90

Hi all, 
 
My visa has been approved and I just received it in the mail!
 
I've updated my timeline as well but including it below as well. 
 
2022
Feb 2 - submitted request to file DCF to TOKYOIV@state.gov.  
Feb 3 - received notice for the I-130 petition appointment at the embassy Feb 14 - my husband submitted the I-130 (and I-864) and completed his interview at the embassy
Feb 17 - I-130 petition approved & received instructions to complete my DS-260 online, arrange medical visa appointment and secure police certificates
 
(In between these dates, I was mainly waiting to receive my police certificates from Canada, Japan and Singapore. I was able to secure the medical visa appointment quickly enough once my DS-260 was completed)
 
Mar 22 - received visa interview appointment request visa email with interview date
Apr 27 - visa interview date. I was also told during the interview that my visa was approved. (my husband came along but he didn't have to be there)
Apr 29 - received visa (in passport) via mail. Included in it were instructions to make additional payment online before departing for the US and a "do not open" paper package that I've got to hand carry and submit to an immigration officer at the port of entry to the US
 
My experience with the American embassy in Tokyo was great in that everything was processed very quickly. I am still immensely pleased it has taken slightly under 3 months for the entire process. 
 
The most frustrating part about this process for me however was getting the police certificates which I've detailed in an earlier post. 
 
@my_gf_wants_cr1 I ended up not asking about changing my address (where my green card will be mailed to) as I'll be staying at my in-laws during the time I expect to receive it. However for those who want to change the address they submitted to USCIS, there are instructions that came with my visa for changing that online. 
 
Hope this has been useful!

Hi all, 
 
My visa has been approved and I just received it in the mail!
 
I've updated my timeline as well but including it below as well. 
 
2022
Feb 2 - submitted request to file DCF to TOKYOIV@state.gov.  
Feb 3 - received notice for the I-130 petition appointment at the embassy Feb 14 - my husband submitted the I-130 (and I-864) and completed his interview at the embassy
Feb 17 - I-130 petition approved & received instructions to complete my DS-260 online, arrange medical visa appointment and secure police certificates
 
(In between these dates, I was mainly waiting to receive my police certificates from Canada, Japan and Singapore. I was able to secure the medical visa appointment quickly enough once my DS-260 was completed)
 
Mar 22 - received visa interview appointment request visa email with interview date
Apr 27 - visa interview date. I was also told during the interview that my visa was approved. (my husband came along but he didn't have to be there)
Apr 29 - received visa (in passport) via mail. Included in it were instructions to make additional payment online before departing for the US and a "do not open" paper package that I've got to hand carry and submit to an immigration officer at the port of entry to the US
 
My experience with the American embassy in Tokyo was great in that everything was processed very quickly. I am still immensely pleased it has taken slightly under 3 months for the entire process. 
 
The most frustrating part about this process for me however was getting the police certificates which I've detailed in an earlier post. 
 
@my_gf_wants_cr1 I ended up not asking about changing my address (where my green card will be mailed to) as I'll be staying at my in-laws during the time I expect to receive it. However for those who want to change the address they submitted to USCIS, there are instructions that came with my visa for changing that online. 
 
Hope this has been useful!

Congratulations!  Good Luck with the rest of your journey!

Hi all, 
 
My visa has been approved and I just received it in the mail!
 
I've updated my timeline as well but including it below as well. 
 
2022
Feb 2 - submitted request to file DCF to TOKYOIV@state.gov.  
Feb 3 - received notice for the I-130 petition appointment at the embassy Feb 14 - my husband submitted the I-130 (and I-864) and completed his interview at the embassy
Feb 17 - I-130 petition approved & received instructions to complete my DS-260 online, arrange medical visa appointment and secure police certificates
 
(In between these dates, I was mainly waiting to receive my police certificates from Canada, Japan and Singapore. I was able to secure the medical visa appointment quickly enough once my DS-260 was completed)
 
Mar 22 - received visa interview appointment request visa email with interview date
Apr 27 - visa interview date. I was also told during the interview that my visa was approved. (my husband came along but he didn't have to be there)
Apr 29 - received visa (in passport) via mail. Included in it were instructions to make additional payment online before departing for the US and a "do not open" paper package that I've got to hand carry and submit to an immigration officer at the port of entry to the US
 
My experience with the American embassy in Tokyo was great in that everything was processed very quickly. I am still immensely pleased it has taken slightly under 3 months for the entire process. 
 
The most frustrating part about this process for me however was getting the police certificates which I've detailed in an earlier post. 
 
@my_gf_wants_cr1 I ended up not asking about changing my address (where my green card will be mailed to) as I'll be staying at my in-laws during the time I expect to receive it. However for those who want to change the address they submitted to USCIS, there are instructions that came with my visa for changing that online. 
 
Hope this has been useful!

Hi, just a quick update but my I-130 has been approved. It took only 3 days (despite the fact that we forgot to sign a page on the I-864 and had to sign and send the scanned copy back to the embassy) to get the approval email!
 
One thing I noticed belatedly and wanted to warn everyone about is regarding the POLICE CERTIFCATE.
 
Please note that depending on where you lived after you turned 16, obtaining your police certificate can be a complicated, cumbersome and expensive process!
So it may be worth checking all the requirements for the police certificate in advance.
 
https://jp.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/family-immigration/how-to-apply-step-2/iv-checklist/
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html
 
Notably, it is quite unlikely that you'd be able to apply for a police certificate before your I-130 is approved but advanced research could save you a lot of anxiety if you know what to expect.
 
In my case, though I'm in Japan, as a Canadian national, I need a police certificate from Canada and I had also lived in Singapore, my birth country for 2 years from when I was 16-18 which meant I had to get a police certificate there too. 
 
I now have to gather a total of THREE police certificates.
 
Japanese Police Certificate
If you're in Japan, I suggest you head straight to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department immediately after the petitioner's appointment with the embassy with your provisional approval letter (+ residence card and passport) to apply for a certificate of criminal record (details here) as they will take 2 weeks to process it (you'll receive a slip of paper - don't lose this! with your pick-up date). I was in and out in less than 15 minutes but that may be because I went in on a Monday morning. No appointment is required and it was a very smooth process. Very important that you DO NOT open the sealed envelope with the certificate when you receive it from the Japanese police as that will INVALIDATE the document.
 
Other Police Certificate
It takes a lot longer and is usually a much more cumbersome process to get police certificates from other countries while you're not physically there especially with the current delays due to covid-19. There may be some specific requirements for the category/type of background check for each country so please be careful to check that via forums or the above 2 links I've shared. 
 
One important thing I've learned that is making the process of getting my Canadian check so cumbersome and expensive is that the fingerprint form that is required for an accredited 3rd party fingerprinting company to process my fingerprints into digital data to send to RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) needs to be notarized by the fingerprinting official. So what this means is that while you can get your fingerprints taken by the local police, as a matter of national policy, Japanese police avoid stamping fingerprint forms so your form will not be notarized. What I've discovered is that are basically 3 options for me in Japan:
 
1) Get fingerprints with Japanese police, get a notary public/lawyer to notarize it, then send to the fingerprinting company for processing
2) Do all this process at the only fingerprinting company (Fingerprint Room Japan) in Japan that can take your fingerprints for you, notarize the form and send it to RCMP but at a significant cost.
3) Get fingerprints with Japanese police, send fingerprint form without notarization to one of the companies who understand the situation and supposedly, somehow can accept the form without issue
 
Quote from company who could do option1 was around C$150 ++ some other optional fees
Option 2, i.e. Fingerprint Japan costs around 50,000 yen including tax
Quote from company who could do option 3 was around C$180 ++ some other optional fees
 
While 1 and 3 were clearly cheaper, I ended up going with 2 because I had issues with the other companies (communications that while quick, did not address my question or concerns, sometimes a little condescending even. The 2 companies that could do option 3 had reviews that were quite alarming - one was a company that was featured in this forum and quite a number of people had the wrong checks done by them, the other was a company who revealed the full names of customers in replies to negative reviews showing a lack of respect for personal data).
 
As some of you can already tell, I tried to look up as much information as possible and do what research I can and that's because any hiccups regarding this can severely delay your application process by weeks and months.
 
I honestly have more to write about this(it's another hurdle with the Singapore police certificate) but will stop here. If anyone is curious about my process in obtaining the police certificate from Canada or Singapore, feel free to message me.
 
Until the next update, take care all! Hope this was useful.

Hi, just a quick update but my I-130 has been approved. It took only 3 days (despite the fact that we forgot to sign a page on the I-864 and had to sign and send the scanned copy back to the embassy) to get the approval email!
 
One thing I noticed belatedly and wanted to warn everyone about is regarding the POLICE CERTIFCATE.
 
Please note that depending on where you lived after you turned 16, obtaining your police certificate can be a complicated, cumbersome and expensive process!
So it may be worth checking all the requirements for the police certificate in advance.
 
https://jp.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/family-immigration/how-to-apply-step-2/iv-checklist/
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html
 
Notably, it is quite unlikely that you'd be able to apply for a police certificate before your I-130 is approved but advanced research could save you a lot of anxiety if you know what to expect.
 
In my case, though I'm in Japan, as a Canadian national, I need a police certificate from Canada and I had also lived in Singapore, my birth country for 2 years from when I was 16-18 which meant I had to get a police certificate there too. 
 
I now have to gather a total of THREE police certificates.
 
Japanese Police Certificate
If you're in Japan, I suggest you head straight to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department immediately after the petitioner's appointment with the embassy with your provisional approval letter (+ residence card and passport) to apply for a certificate of criminal record (details here) as they will take 2 weeks to process it (you'll receive a slip of paper - don't lose this! with your pick-up date). I was in and out in less than 15 minutes but that may be because I went in on a Monday morning. No appointment is required and it was a very smooth process. Very important that you DO NOT open the sealed envelope with the certificate when you receive it from the Japanese police as that will INVALIDATE the document.
 
Other Police Certificate
It takes a lot longer and is usually a much more cumbersome process to get police certificates from other countries while you're not physically there especially with the current delays due to covid-19. There may be some specific requirements for the category/type of background check for each country so please be careful to check that via forums or the above 2 links I've shared. 
 
One important thing I've learned that is making the process of getting my Canadian check so cumbersome and expensive is that the fingerprint form that is required for an accredited 3rd party fingerprinting company to process my fingerprints into digital data to send to RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) needs to be notarized by the fingerprinting official. So what this means is that while you can get your fingerprints taken by the local police, as a matter of national policy, Japanese police avoid stamping fingerprint forms so your form will not be notarized. What I've discovered is that are basically 3 options for me in Japan:
 
1) Get fingerprints with Japanese police, get a notary public/lawyer to notarize it, then send to the fingerprinting company for processing
2) Do all this process at the only fingerprinting company (Fingerprint Room Japan) in Japan that can take your fingerprints for you, notarize the form and send it to RCMP but at a significant cost.
3) Get fingerprints with Japanese police, send fingerprint form without notarization to one of the companies who understand the situation and supposedly, somehow can accept the form without issue
 
Quote from company who could do option1 was around C$150 ++ some other optional fees
Option 2, i.e. Fingerprint Japan costs around 50,000 yen including tax
Quote from company who could do option 3 was around C$180 ++ some other optional fees
 
While 1 and 3 were clearly cheaper, I ended up going with 2 because I had issues with the other companies (communications that while quick, did not address my question or concerns, sometimes a little condescending even. The 2 companies that could do option 3 had reviews that were quite alarming - one was a company that was featured in this forum and quite a number of people had the wrong checks done by them, the other was a company who revealed the full names of customers in replies to negative reviews showing a lack of respect for personal data).
 
As some of you can already tell, I tried to look up as much information as possible and do what research I can and that's because any hiccups regarding this can severely delay your application process by weeks and months.
 
I honestly have more to write about this(it's another hurdle with the Singapore police certificate) but will stop here. If anyone is curious about my process in obtaining the police certificate from Canada or Singapore, feel free to message me.
 
Until the next update, take care all! Hope this was useful.

Thank you for updating us! I'm glad to hear your I-130 was processed so quickly.

Hi, just a quick update but my I-130 has been approved. It took only 3 days (despite the fact that we forgot to sign a page on the I-864 and had to sign and send the scanned copy back to the embassy) to get the approval email!
 
One thing I noticed belatedly and wanted to warn everyone about is regarding the POLICE CERTIFCATE.
 
Please note that depending on where you lived after you turned 16, obtaining your police certificate can be a complicated, cumbersome and expensive process!
So it may be worth checking all the requirements for the police certificate in advance.
 
https://jp.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/family-immigration/how-to-apply-step-2/iv-checklist/
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html
 
Notably, it is quite unlikely that you'd be able to apply for a police certificate before your I-130 is approved but advanced research could save you a lot of anxiety if you know what to expect.
 
In my case, though I'm in Japan, as a Canadian national, I need a police certificate from Canada and I had also lived in Singapore, my birth country for 2 years from when I was 16-18 which meant I had to get a police certificate there too. 
 
I now have to gather a total of THREE police certificates.
 
Japanese Police Certificate
If you're in Japan, I suggest you head straight to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department immediately after the petitioner's appointment with the embassy with your provisional approval letter (+ residence card and passport) to apply for a certificate of criminal record (details here) as they will take 2 weeks to process it (you'll receive a slip of paper - don't lose this! with your pick-up date). I was in and out in less than 15 minutes but that may be because I went in on a Monday morning. No appointment is required and it was a very smooth process. Very important that you DO NOT open the sealed envelope with the certificate when you receive it from the Japanese police as that will INVALIDATE the document.
 
Other Police Certificate
It takes a lot longer and is usually a much more cumbersome process to get police certificates from other countries while you're not physically there especially with the current delays due to covid-19. There may be some specific requirements for the category/type of background check for each country so please be careful to check that via forums or the above 2 links I've shared. 
 
One important thing I've learned that is making the process of getting my Canadian check so cumbersome and expensive is that the fingerprint form that is required for an accredited 3rd party fingerprinting company to process my fingerprints into digital data to send to RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) needs to be notarized by the fingerprinting official. So what this means is that while you can get your fingerprints taken by the local police, as a matter of national policy, Japanese police avoid stamping fingerprint forms so your form will not be notarized. What I've discovered is that are basically 3 options for me in Japan:
 
1) Get fingerprints with Japanese police, get a notary public/lawyer to notarize it, then send to the fingerprinting company for processing
2) Do all this process at the only fingerprinting company (Fingerprint Room Japan) in Japan that can take your fingerprints for you, notarize the form and send it to RCMP but at a significant cost.
3) Get fingerprints with Japanese police, send fingerprint form without notarization to one of the companies who understand the situation and supposedly, somehow can accept the form without issue
 
Quote from company who could do option1 was around C$150 ++ some other optional fees
Option 2, i.e. Fingerprint Japan costs around 50,000 yen including tax
Quote from company who could do option 3 was around C$180 ++ some other optional fees
 
While 1 and 3 were clearly cheaper, I ended up going with 2 because I had issues with the other companies (communications that while quick, did not address my question or concerns, sometimes a little condescending even. The 2 companies that could do option 3 had reviews that were quite alarming - one was a company that was featured in this forum and quite a number of people had the wrong checks done by them, the other was a company who revealed the full names of customers in replies to negative reviews showing a lack of respect for personal data).
 
As some of you can already tell, I tried to look up as much information as possible and do what research I can and that's because any hiccups regarding this can severely delay your application process by weeks and months.
 
I honestly have more to write about this(it's another hurdle with the Singapore police certificate) but will stop here. If anyone is curious about my process in obtaining the police certificate from Canada or Singapore, feel free to message me.
 
Until the next update, take care all! Hope this was useful.

This forum has been a great help to me so I'm starting this post to document my visa journey so that it may help others in similar situations. I'd like to give special thanks to @TYOGaijin. Your posts have been very helpful and I only wish I discovered it earlier.
 
==============
Context: I'm the beneficiary who's a Canadian citizen and my husband is the petitioner who's a US citizen and we're both based in Japan. He received a short notice of job relocation and we are filing our I-130 through Direct Consular Filing. During the time of this posting, we have our embassy appointment set and I plan to post updates along the way.
 
Process so far (some already mentioned in@TYOGaijin posts)
 
1) Trying to find out if you qualify for DCF by contacting the embassy yielded no results for us so best that you don't waste your time (and I spent quite a bit of time here) doing that. If you qualify for any of the exceptional circumstances (can't paste the link for some reason but it's on the USCIS website), go straight to the next point. 
 
2) We received the following information from the U.S. Visa Service Desk after a few back and forths asking for advice whether we qualified but long story short, they won't say anything until you do the following
 
------ extract begin -----
 
In order for us to consider your case for direct filing, please provide the following information to TOKYOIV@state.gov.
(Please kindly type them in the same order as below.)
• Name of Petitioner (you), Date and Place of Birth
• Name of Beneficiary (your relative), Date and Place of Birth
• Name of Child, Date and Place of Birth (if NOT US citizen):
• Date you became aware of a transfer or other emergency situations
• Has a petition previously been filed on behalf of the beneficiary?
• Please describe the emergency situations
• Petitioner’s expected departure date
• Proof of petitioner’s physical presence in consular district – Please provide a scanned pdf copy of your resident permit, employment or school ID.
• Job relocation order or job offer letter- Please provide a scanned pdf copy
• Proof of petitioner's US citizenship- Please provide a scanned pdf copy
• Copy of adoption decree or family register with its English translation -Please provide a scanned pdf copy
 
------ extract end -----
 
For info, my husband's relocation date is May 1 and we sent an email with the above info on Feb 2.
 
3) We received a reply within 24 hours with a petition appointment at the embassy with details on what to bring and are now a few days away from that appointment
 
Top tips so far:
A) Get civil documents translated as soon as possible as some companies take awhile and it may take some time getting a few quotes to compare prices. (The company I used was much quicker and cheaper than others. Not sure if I should be promoting any specific company so please PM me if you'd like to know.)
 
B) Fill in I-130 and all other application forms like I-130A, I-864 and get the accompanying IRS tax transcript as soon as possible. Some of those forms take quite a long time to fill in so don't wait until step 2 or even step 1 to do it 
 
*FYI but for step 2, I'm fluent in Japanese and English so I was able to translate the marriage certificate on my own and apparently that sufficed so if you're able to do the translation, at least for step 2, it might be worth proceeding ahead with your own translation if you don't have time to wait around for the professionally translated copy
 
That's all for now! Will share more after the I-130 petition appointment at the embassy (which by the way is just for the petitioner and not the beneficiary). 
 
Cheers!

Thank you, that is exactly the position I should be in around 4-5 months from now.
Also, good luck

Good to hear you are progressing.  I will help you out a little here with the list from the consulate.
 
Good Luck with the remainder of your journey!
 
Embassies overseas are only authorized to accept and approve immigration petitions in limited cases marked by exceptional circumstances. Examples of exceptional circumstances to file an I-130 petition directly with the U.S. Embassy in Paris include:
Military emergencies: A U.S. service member abroad becomes aware of a new deployment or transfer with very short notice. This exception applies in cases where the US service member is provided with exceptionally less notice than would normally be expected by most service members in his or her position. Medical emergencies: A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an urgent medical emergency that requires immediate relocation to the United States. This includes the situation where a petitioner or beneficiary is pregnant and delaying travel may create a medical risk or extreme hardship for the mother or child. Threats to personal safety: A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an imminent threat to personal safety. Close to aging out: A beneficiary is within a few months of aging out of eligibility in an immigration category. Petitioner has recently naturalized: A petitioner and family member(s) have traveled for the immigrant visa interview, but the petitioner has naturalized, and the family member(s) requires a new, stand-alone petition. Adoption of a child: A petitioner who has adopted a child locally and has an imminent need to depart the country. This exception should only be considered if the child has been in the petitioner’s legal and physical custody for at least two years and the petitioner has a full and final adoption decree on behalf of the child. Short notice of position relocation: A U.S. Citizen petitioner, living and working abroad, who receives a job relocation within the same company or subsidiary to the United States, or an offer of a new job in the United States with very little notice. The above is not an exhaustive list of examples. The Consular Section retains the discretion to accept an I-130 for compelling humanitarian reasons, including natural disasters, widespread civil unrest and other largescale crises.
 
https://fr.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/family-employment-immigration/exceptional-circumstances/

Good luck and hope it works out!

Not sure if you already filed DCF but my experience so far may shed some light. You can probably find my posting if you click on my profile. Hope it helps!

@Dashinka thanks and much appreciated!
 
I noticed I forgot to add my timelines so here's my current timeline so far:
 
Feb 2 - submitted request to file DCF to TOKYOIV@state.gov.
Feb 3 - received notice for the I-130 petition appointment at the embassy
Feb 14 - I-130 petition appointment

@Dashinka thanks and much appreciated!
 
I noticed I forgot to add my timelines so here's my current timeline so far:
 
Feb 2 - submitted request to file DCF to TOKYOIV@state.gov.
Feb 3 - received notice for the I-130 petition appointment at the embassy
Feb 14 - I-130 petition appointment

This forum has been a great help to me so I'm starting this post to document my visa journey so that it may help others in similar situations. I'd like to give special thanks to @TYOGaijin. Your posts have been very helpful and I only wish I discovered it earlier.
 
==============
Context: I'm the beneficiary who's a Canadian citizen and my husband is the petitioner who's a US citizen and we're both based in Japan. He received a short notice of job relocation and we are filing our I-130 through Direct Consular Filing. During the time of this posting, we have our embassy appointment set and I plan to post updates along the way.
 
Process so far (some already mentioned in@TYOGaijin posts)
 
1) Trying to find out if you qualify for DCF by contacting the embassy yielded no results for us so best that you don't waste your time (and I spent quite a bit of time here) doing that. If you qualify for any of the exceptional circumstances (can't paste the link for some reason but it's on the USCIS website), go straight to the next point. 
 
2) We received the following information from the U.S. Visa Service Desk after a few back and forths asking for advice whether we qualified but long story short, they won't say anything until you do the following
 
------ extract begin -----
 
In order for us to consider your case for direct filing, please provide the following information to TOKYOIV@state.gov.
(Please kindly type them in the same order as below.)
• Name of Petitioner (you), Date and Place of Birth
• Name of Beneficiary (your relative), Date and Place of Birth
• Name of Child, Date and Place of Birth (if NOT US citizen):
• Date you became aware of a transfer or other emergency situations
• Has a petition previously been filed on behalf of the beneficiary?
• Please describe the emergency situations
• Petitioner’s expected departure date
• Proof of petitioner’s physical presence in consular district – Please provide a scanned pdf copy of your resident permit, employment or school ID.
• Job relocation order or job offer letter- Please provide a scanned pdf copy
• Proof of petitioner's US citizenship- Please provide a scanned pdf copy
• Copy of adoption decree or family register with its English translation -Please provide a scanned pdf copy
 
------ extract end -----
 
For info, my husband's relocation date is May 1 and we sent an email with the above info on Feb 2.
 
3) We received a reply within 24 hours with a petition appointment at the embassy with details on what to bring and are now a few days away from that appointment
 
Top tips so far:
A) Get civil documents translated as soon as possible as some companies take awhile and it may take some time getting a few quotes to compare prices. (The company I used was much quicker and cheaper than others. Not sure if I should be promoting any specific company so please PM me if you'd like to know.)
 
B) Fill in I-130 and all other application forms like I-130A, I-864 and get the accompanying IRS tax transcript as soon as possible. Some of those forms take quite a long time to fill in so don't wait until step 2 or even step 1 to do it 
 
*FYI but for step 2, I'm fluent in Japanese and English so I was able to translate the marriage certificate on my own and apparently that sufficed so if you're able to do the translation, at least for step 2, it might be worth proceeding ahead with your own translation if you don't have time to wait around for the professionally translated copy
 
That's all for now! Will share more after the I-130 petition appointment at the embassy (which by the way is just for the petitioner and not the beneficiary). 
 
Cheers!