johnsnow1234

We are considering global entry, but again my wife is balking that it requires an interview lol. Like I said she is super introverted. Our immigration lawyer said not to worry about a thing. He actually suggested 60 days in US, 60 days out, 60 days in, etc., and that it will be a breeze. But I am skeptical so I am here asking questions!

Hey all thanks for the helpful advice so far! I told her to adjust her plans so that while her first trip may be 60 days, her subsequent trips should be a month or less at a time, and she was OK with that. We do have an accountant and an immigration lawyer who assisted my wife on her options to go visit the kids etc., which is how we ended up at filing the I-130. Since I also make a decent chunk from a passive business in the US, I have been simultaneously paying both federal and state taxes, as well as Japanese taxes here, for over the past decade. I have had to deal with foreign earned income/tax credits, so that's definitely on my radar. Re my wife's ties to Japan, well she's got several million (in US value) in her name here, including the house we currently live in and a separate "vacation home" that we go to for fishing. It also has a farm attached to it that sells produce and cute little bonsai trees. Literally all of her family is here as well, as well as her dogs. She, as the eldest child, also stands to inherit a lot from her parents. No job though, since she's retired and doesn't need the money. I told her to take documentation and photos with her just in case they ask. Just to rant a bit, my wife actually gives me a lot of ####### for being a US citizen lol. She says we wouldn't have "lost our kids" to America if I wasn't a citizen, and blames me for putting her in this position. Believe it or not, a lot of Japanese believe Japan is the greatest county in the world, absolutely refuse to learn any English, and so few consider emigrating to the US to be a good option, which is probably why so few Japanese end up in America. So while I do get the skepticsm here that we may be trying to skirt some rules, trust me, my wife really doesn't want to go to America or become a US citizen lol. But as I said, we're doing this to be closer to the kids and not end up as empty nesters. And I don't want my wife to blame me even more if she ends up being mistreated in secondary or denied entry, which is why I'm here trying to come up with a script for her to memorize and practice before she goes!

Not everyone who lives in America is there because they want to be...we have a happy, good life here in Japan. But our kids are getting older now and they want to go to school in America - they have been begging to go to USA for the past 3 years and we finally caved and let them go this year. So we sent them to the US first, and are reluctantly working towards slowly moving over there to be with them. That means, for my wife, leaving her friends, family and life behind, to live in a culture where she can't communicate well, with no friends or roots. For me, it means abandoning a very successful career at my peak, which I have worked hard my entire life to achieve. But that's because for us, above all else, we don't want to grow old and die living a whole continent away from our children. We wish they didn't want to be in the US, we sent them to the very best private school here, gave them everything they wanted, but they still insisted on going to America, so here we are (they actually insisted we (mom/dad) stay here in Japan and that they'll be fine on their own but wife is having none of that). Rebellious teenagers, but that's another story. The 60 days in/60 days out plan is only for their first school year in the US. So it would be a maximum of 3 trips in total - not each year, but ever, on her ESTA. And then we'd wait out the I-130 process, and during that time either try to convince the kids to come back home, but if we fail, we'll have to pack up and move over to the US.

Of course, we have no intention of lying. If she gets denied entry, she gets denied entry - we can bring the kids back here and send them to school elsewhere. My question is more about "how" to respond truthfully. She is not a native English speaker and extremely introverted/shy (typical Japanese woman lol) so I thought it would be a good idea to practice/memorize her responses in advance. So for example, if she is asked for her purpose of visit, she could truthfully respond as follows: "To visit family" (because of her language barrier she would prefer her to say less, but then I don't want her to sound vague/like she is hiding something) "To be with my children" "To visit my children who go to school here" "To help my children settle into school." "My US citizen children live with their grandparents and go to school here so I am visiting to be with them for a few months but my US citizen husband lives and works in Japan and I plan to leave in 2 months" (is she unnecessarily saying too much detail?) I just want to make sure she doesn't unintentionally trigger any red-flags in her responses.

Sorry I wasn't clear in my OP. I assume I-130 process will take another year or two, so I'm still plugging away at my job here in Japan. Obviously once the I-130 process wraps up and green card becomes available, I'll have to quit and move with the wife. I'm looking into possibilities where I can spend a significant amount of time here in Japan (splitting time but with majority in the US), while wife stays permanately in the US. If that's not doable, then I'll have to sever all ties to Japan obviously.

Sorry if I'm not clear - just want to make sure she doesn't phrase/say things wrong since English is not her native language. "I'm here to be with my US citizen kids", or "I want to help them with school" obviously sounds off to me! Instead, I was hoping for some advice/guidance as to how to accurately convey her situation to immigration if asked. Something like "I'm visiting to help my kids get settled into their new school" is truthful, but then so is "I'm here to visit family." So which is she supposed to say as a non-native speaker? Sorry if this sounds weird. My wife definitely does not want to live in the US. Neither do I. But our kids have to go to school there, so we are going through the I-130 process so we don't have to live the rest of our lives on a continent away from our children, and can eventually move there once the process is complete.

After I-130 is approved, I can quit job and move to the US. I know I-130 and the process takes a long time so I have no plans to move yet. I already have a couple homes there so that's not an issue. Not saying we are going to lie. What I meant is, if staying with in-laws is problematic or would look suspicious from an immigration risk perspective, we can just get her a hotel or AirBNB for 2 months.

Hello, I have a question on what NOT to say during border check. Some background: We live in Japan. Me (US citizen) applied for a I-130 for my wife (non-US citizen). My two US citizen kids are moving to the US to go to school and will stay with my family until I-130 clears for wife. I have a very high paying job here so no immediate plans to move until the whole I-130 thing is done, and even then I may not move. However, wife is worried about the kids being without dad and mom, so she wants to go visit kids/help them adjust (she retired early so has a lot of time) using her ESTA. Wife has no intent of cheating through AOS etc., especially since she has a ton in assets back home and has no desire to live in the US. (I'm not trying to sound snobby, just giving some background facts.) Wife has an ESTA and is planning on spending maybe 60 days in the US, 60 days back in Japan, and so forth, during a single school year (and not doing this for more than a year). She isn't worried about being denied entry, but I am. I would appreciate advice on what not to say if asked the following questions: 1. Purpose of visit -Can she say she's here to visit family, or that kids are going to attend school while living with family and she is there to help them get settled in? Or leave out the "living with family" part? -Or should she just ambiguously say she is visiting friends and family? (basically I don't want her to offer up any more information that could trigger any red flags) 2. Duration of stay -Assume she can just say the date she will leave the US? 3. Where will you be staying -Should she say (and stay) at a hotel? Or is it OK to say she is staying with family/friends? 4. Do you intend to return to Japan? -US citizen husband is still living in and working in a high-paying job in Japan -She has a multi-million dollar home in her name at home, where we live, along with a ton in financial assets, etc. -All of her family is in Japan, except US citizen student kids Many thanks in advance!