klester

Yeah, K-1 has to schedule the interview themselves through the website

Just wish we could get some kind of response. Why can't it be like all the other embassys where you make your appointment over the phone instead of a website submission...

My fiancee didn't get anything after packet 3; I think once your stuff is all together you are just supposed to submit an interview date thingy.

Almost 2 weeks now and no response on our interview, my fiancee is getting really stressed because we thought we already went through the tough parts of this

Johnny, did you ever get a reply about the interview? My fiancee submitted a request on the 17th, and we still haven't heard back either

Just as an update, she said the two that she needs are human papillomavirus and mumps.

So, basically, she CAN get these in Japan and it might be cheaper, but she can also wait until she gets here?

Hi guys,

My fiancee (in Japan) had her medical visit at the end of April. At the visit, she got a few shots but they said something like they needed to check into her files and see if she needed any additional shots and they would notify her.

A day after she got her doctor packet in the mail (about a week after her checkup), she got a letter saying that she needed two shots, I can't remember what she said they were but the letter also said that the shots may not be available in Japan (they were common US shots). It doesn't say in the letter that she needs to get those shots before she leaves Japan, but it doesn't say she doesn't need them before she leaves; she said it was somewhat vague.

Does she need to go back and get these shots before she can come to the states? Are these shots she will have to get in the US after she enters on her K1, in which case we don't need to worry about it right now?

Thanks for your input.

Hey guys! Been a while since I've lurked here, because we've been moving a bit slow since NOA2

Chiaki got her medical, police, and family record stuff sorted out, and she's going to schedule her interview on Saturday (seems probable for some time in June). Otherwise not much to note, everything is going pretty normally!

Hope all is well

Japan doesn't really have much of a packet 3 that they want returned; just have to fill out the DS-230 and fax it back to them. Everything else, they want it at the interview.

So we faxed back the DS-230, and Chiaki scheduled her Medical for 4/30 ($450!). Around the same day, she will be visiting the Police office and the town hall place to get her koseki (family record/birth certificate type thing).

So, we will probably put in our request for interview around 5/1, and she wants to have the interview around the middle of June. I'll get the rest of my side finished by then (copy of NOA2, affidavit stuff sent to her) and we should be done around the middle of June, more than ready for her entry in August.

Woo!

Hey guys

My fiancee returned packet 3 about a week ago. Does anything else come? I've heard of "packet 4" but do they do this in Tokyo? She hasn't heard anything back yet. I was just wondering if we are supposed to hear back after faxing in packet 3, or if we just go ahead and schedule the interview online after we are ready?

Thank you!

Online and in packet 3, it says we should pay the $131 interview fee at an ATM and bring the receipt to the interview. However, we want to pay in Yen, and it doesn't list the yen equivelent that they want. A lot of the interview reviews I read talked about people just paying at the embassy, is this still something they do? Nobody even wrote anything about paying before-hand at an ATM, so I was wondering if this was new or something people didn't actually need to do.

If we can still just pay on the interview day at the embassy in yen please let me know, thanks!

Just so you know, I got my NOA2 with no problems in 68 days, and I only attached one extra sheet (instead of 4 copies of it) to the G-325A about my work history (wouldn't fit on the page). Now that I think about it, it is probably better to attach 4 copies of it! But I didn't think about it at the time, only attached one, and it was still okay

Just a quick question about bank statements for the affidavit of support (shown to the consular officer during interview).

Are they wanting to see this information because they want to determine that you have a high account balance? Or are they trying to use this information to reveal that a good amount of money has been continuously deposited into your account during the year?

I am going to use my Dad as a co-sponsor, but he doesn't really have much money in the bank (around $2~3k in his checking account depending on the month) and doesn't have a savings account. He makes 70k a year so getting his W2 info from previous years and getting a letter from his employer as well as his paystubs won't be a problem, so I was wondering if I needed to bother with the bank account statement?

Straight from Tokyo's website:

"To substantiate the information regarding income and resources the sponsor should attached two or more of the following items to the affidavit:

* Copies of his or her latest federal income tax return

* Statement from his/her employer showing salary and the length and permanency of employment

* Statement from an officer of a bank regarding his/her account, the date the account was opened and the present balance

* Any other evidence adequate to establish financial ability to carry out his/her undertaking toward the applicant for what might be an indefinite period of time"

So do you think I should include a bank statement if it isn't going to show a high balance (but will show ~5-6k entering into the account and most of that going out every month)? Or should I just use the employer letters, paystubs, and W2 and assume that will be enough?

Thanks.

Woke up this morning to a text from my girl in Japan saying that her packet 3 was waiting for her when she got home from work

So I guess we'll start planning and schedule days for her to go see the police and doctor!

That helps a lot!

If you don't mind my asking, approx. how much money was in your bank account with the bank statement you provided?

Thanks a lot!

Laura, just so you know I got a letter from NVC yesterday (7th) that said something like "Your petition will be mailed out within a week."

Came pretty quickly!

Hey guys!

I have a question for anyone who has been through the Tokyo Consulate for K1!

Regarding the Affidavit of Support, what exactly did you bring? Did you use a co-sponsor? Was there any questions regarding this?

I ask because my fiancee is going to her interview within the next couple of months. As of right now, I plan to send:

-A letterhead from my employer stating current job title/salary, etc. (which is currently enough to support my fiancee alone, but since I spent most of 2008 in Japan for school I didn't have a job and thus am using a co-sponsor)

-My 2008 tax return

-4 or so of my most recent paystubs

-A letterhead from my father's (co-sponsor) employer stating job/salary, which is around $70,000/year

-My father's 2008 tax return, which he made over $60,000 from employment wages

-4 or so of my father's most recent paystubs

Will this suffice? My only worry was that while my Dad makes a decent wage, he doesn't really have much money in the bank currently, so it would be a waste of time showing the consulate his current bank account. Also, he owns a share (about 1/8th) of a few condos in California, of which he makes a few hundred dollars a month on. Should I even bother including this information if I can prove that he currently does, and did last year, make a good salary?

Thanks for your help!

Yeah, I totally understand!

Well, it is nice to have both of you with dates really similar to mine, we can make our way through this mess together

Hmm, I'm not sure about that! We aren't planning on Chiaki coming to the States until late August, so once I found out my NOA2 date was so early, I have been kinda relaxed and not worried at all about the rest because it should be really smooth and easy to get it all done inside 4 months

I'm not positive but I think we only get one letter from the NVC. It gives us our foreign embassy and case number and says they will "send it out within 10 days" or something like that. I don't think we get anything from the NVC after that, and the next thing to come should be packet 3 from our foreign-based consulates. If you want, you can always call the foreign-based embassy and see if they have received your case yet, but calls to them cost a lot of money it seems!

My fiance called for his IRS tax transcripts and they said that 2008 would not be available until AUGUST!! So we are getting 05, 06, 07 and made a copy of the 08 return and W-2. He was told 10-15 business days, but I heard some people say as little as 6 days after ordering. He also called his bank (USAA) about the bank letter, first he told me that it would take 3 months to get, because he has had to have one in the past for work, but more detailed. (My heart dropped) So he called today and was told 6-8 weeks!! Maybe thats just to cover their butts! LOL I hope not! Do you think we could get by in the interview with out the bank letter? Vancouver usually schedules 4-6 weeks in advance depending on if you have a preferred day of the week, maybe i could hold off sending in Pkt 3? I just really want this interview done and over with already!!! We will have tax information, letter of intent, letter from his employer, and recent pay stubs.

regarding the tax transcripts, what form does that supplement? I'm still having a hard time pulling together all of the information that is required for the interview in advance.

The tax transcripts are for the I-134, the affidavit of support.

New question for everyone: So, like I said NVC told me that my petition left NVC yesterday. There is nothing on dhl.com with a reference of 06 APR 2009A. However, I was just being...weird I guess, and looked at 03 APR 2009A again, and there were a TON of packages with a ship date of April 6 (but the reference was the 3rd), one of which was 6.8 pounds to London. Also, another person who said that NVC told them their package also left the 6th, to Seoul, and there was Seoul on the list of 03 APR 2009A references with a ship date of April 6. So so I asusme this is my package??

I just double checked and there is a 06 APR in DHLs system now, with a shipment to London. I would be betting that is your package, not the 03 APR one (which would be Friday's shipment, even if it didn't go all the way out until Monday). For my case, they told me my shipment went out April 2nd, even though the 02 APR shows it actually went out on the 3rd. Anyway, I think your shipment will be the 06 APR that went out on the 7th (today!) and your actual tracking number for the package going to London is 9147706562.

My package got to Tokyo, so packet 3 is probably on the way! Shouldn't be long for you either, because your shipment will be in London in no time

Out of curiousity, have you gotten a letter from the NVC at all? I haven't received anything from them, just did all my correspondence on the phone.

I think they day they receive it is usually the day they put it into the computer (NVC is very efficient!) which means I think if you HAD called back at the end of the day it probably would have been in there, but yeah, I understand not freaking out! It doesn't make it go any faster! All I know is, when I called, the lady just said something like "Okay, your packet was received on 4/1 and sent out on 4/2". Being the typical worried K1 filer, I said "Sent to Tokyo, right?" Haha. And she said "Yes, sent to Tokyo."

May seem like obvious evidence you didn't include on your list, but be sure to include any and all flight itineraries from visiting each other, flight ticket stubs, pictures of passport stickers, and that kind of stuff.

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it at all

It probably means your number has been scanned, so they can check and see that it is sitting in their facility, but that an office worker hasn't gotten to it yet today to input your specific information into the computer and generate your London number and shipping information! I would bet on that happening today

And as far as mine getting their before yours, it could be a regional thing; the number of cases going to Asia or Japan specifically might have been less in number or handled by somebody else, and shipped quicker due to that. Again, don't worry!

Laura, just to let you know, I called the NVC again today and they said my case was arrive on the 1st (Wednesday, the original day I called and they hadn't put it in the computer yet ) and was sent out on the 2nd. Since our NOA2s are really close I'd say there is a decent chance your case is in the NVC system now, so you could give them a call if you haven't yet!

I meant to reply to this yesterday with some info but I kept getting interupted with WORK

Just so you know:

You only need one of your parents to be the co-sponsor. If they file their taxes together, that is fine; get a copy of their most recent tax return (some embassies need the last 3 years I guess; Japan only asks for the most recent, so that is the only one I know). You will also want to ask your parent who is co-sponsoring to get a letter from their employer (on official company letterhead) stating their current salary, position title, and start date at the company. You will also want 3+ of that parent's most recent paystubs. Get all the same for yourself (even if it isn't sufficient; you still need to fill out an affidavit of support for yourself as well as your co-sponsor) except the things you obviously can't get if you aren't employed. As long as your parent makes like 20k+ (roughly enough to support that parent, your other parent, and your spouse; I was assuming since you had a job up until now you might no longer be their dependant; but if you are, as long as that parent makes like 23k+) you should be good to go

Just make sure you get all the documents to back everything up and it seems like it will go smoothly!

Hey DoBoy! Looks like you and I are applying for a fiance from the same country^^ Let's keep eachother updated on the updates of our case status.

BTW^^ did your online status on USCIS website been updated ?

It seems to me that NVC is really backed up, its taking them forever to receive our case.

Sure thing. My USCIS status is still "received and pending" even though there was an update on 3/27/09 (which was the NOA2). So website is pretty much unreliable. Also never received email from them. I also called NVC (couldn't wait ) and automated system has never heard of me

Thanks everyone for your sentiments.

Just so you know, the automated system at the NVC doesn't include K1 applications. You need to press 1 and then 5 to talk to a real person and ask them about your case