Newbie Questions

[alohafromkona 0]

Aloha everyone, I have been reading the forums and searching online for months, and I figured I would ask specific questions, so there is no more confusion.

I married my wife on Nov 30, 2007, here in Hawaii.

She went back to Japan after the holidays, where she lives and works.

I am here in Hawaii, and will be filing for a K3 visa, so she can live here.

My first question is very simple, but I think by reading the guides, the checklists, and everything else numerous times, I am making myself a little confused.

I know about the long processing times for everything, but my understanding is she will be able to come live with me here, while she waits for her green card.

I am wondering at what stage she is allowed to enter the states to wait. From reading, it looks like I apply for the I-130 first, then when getting that NOA1, I apply for the I-129F. I then wait for the I-129F NOA1 and NOA2 to arrive.

Is it after this process she can come here, or am I getting this all wrong, and she cannot enter the states to live with me until the whole entire process is complete?

I think I was less confused when I first read the guide. Now after numerous times, and different places, I think I have made it worse.

I also had on other question.

We were married here, and I already received my marriage certificate. We also submitted her name change here, so she has my last name. Would it be better for her to change her Japanese passport asap to my last name, or would she be ok leaving it how it is?

When I am filing all of these application forms, should I be using her maiden name, or my name, now that we are married?

Any help is appreciated. Mahalo in advance!

[Justin and Masako 0]

Well she would need to (at the very least) register your marriage with the Japanese government, then officially get her name changed in order to have her passport show your last name. The registration is pretty easy, she will need a marriage certificate, your passport (a copy of the first page and the page that says amendments if it is listed on the first page), and your wife will need to translate the marriage certificate and passport into Japanese. Then there is some other things she needs to fill out on the paperwork too but I don't know what. It doesn't take long to get that part done and submitted to the local government. Ours was approved in a couple days. The name change takes longer though and has a lot more hassle. I can't clue you in there as my wife will keep her family name in Japan and use mine in the US. As for which name to put, I put her US name on the I-130 paperwork (as thats what the marriage cert has) and put her Japanese name under the "other names used" part. I asked USCIS about this but they were not very helpful, so this was a "best guess" on my part.

I filed a standalone I-130 and we are not going to file a K-3 so thats about as much help as I can be to you. I hope this helps a bit, and good luck on your Visa Journey!

P.S. : We were married on Nov 25th in Kaua'i.

[Elbereth 0]

i dont think that she will be ale to go wait with ou in the US unless she already has some kind of visa that will allow her to stay for that long. Getting through customs might be troublesome, aswell... I read here some people who had their spouses visit on holidays and pulled it off just fine, but I don't know if anyone was actually able to take the spouse to wait in the US, unless it's one of the countries who are allowed that visa waiver thing

[vbtbmrt 2]

Aloha everyone, I have been reading the forums and searching online for months, and I figured I would ask specific questions, so there is no more confusion.

I married my wife on Nov 30, 2007, here in Hawaii.

She went back to Japan after the holidays, where she lives and works.

I am here in Hawaii, and will be filing for a K3 visa, so she can live here.

My first question is very simple, but I think by reading the guides, the checklists, and everything else numerous times, I am making myself a little confused.

I know about the long processing times for everything, but my understanding is she will be able to come live with me here, while she waits for her green card.

I am wondering at what stage she is allowed to enter the states to wait. From reading, it looks like I apply for the I-130 first, then when getting that NOA1, I apply for the I-129F. I then wait for the I-129F NOA1 and NOA2 to arrive.

Is it after this process she can come here, or am I getting this all wrong, and she cannot enter the states to live with me until the whole entire process is complete?

I think I was less confused when I first read the guide. Now after numerous times, and different places, I think I have made it worse.

I also had on other question.

We were married here, and I already received my marriage certificate. We also submitted her name change here, so she has my last name. Would it be better for her to change her Japanese passport asap to my last name, or would she be ok leaving it how it is?

When I am filing all of these application forms, should I be using her maiden name, or my name, now that we are married?

Any help is appreciated. Mahalo in advance!

ok i will try to help i thought the same thing my wife could come while waiting but thats not the case she will have to wait till the whole process is over and she has her visa to come

yes you would file the I-130 with all the required forms you will file under her name she is using now if it is your last name thats the name you use through the whole process if it her last name you use that through the whole process you want to be consistant uscis dont like surprises. i filed with my wifes last name due to name checks there would be no confusion and will adjust her name when she comes. whan you get the noa-1 you would file the I-129f for the k-3

you could just file the I-130 and go with the cr-1 visa it is a better visa and the wait time is about the same because she will come here with gc and wont have to adjust status after she enters usa which cost 1010 usd now i am not sure but i also think you can file both the 130 and 129f at the same time if you want to go with k-3

i hope that clears some stuff up good luck and aloha japan is also under visa waver program so she would be able to stay for a little while but would have to leave before process is over i know my stamp when i was in japan was good for 6 months so i am sure it is the same here i am not sure how it is so dont take that one to the bank

Edited January 27, 2008 by vbtbmrt

[pushbrk 12,824]

To reside with you (immigrate) in the USA, she'll need the actual visa, whether CR1 or K3. The K3 is far more costly and she can't work for several months after arrival and still needs to adjust status before receiving the green card. The CR1 might take an extra month or two but green card and work is virtually immediate upon arrival.

She may be able to visit you during the process.

[mengo76 0]

I'll second the opinion that she'll be able to come in to visit you temporarily while you wait for the process. She can come in as a tourist (someone above mentioned that Japan is in the visa waiver program?), but would need to return to Japan to receive the immigrant visa or the K3 visa to come permanently. My wife happened to have gotten a tourist visa before we got married and was able to use it several times to come visit me while we are waiting for her immigrant visa, and the immigration officers at the airport were always sympathetic to her situation. However, I think they do have the authority to deny her entry, so anything might happen...

[alohafromkona 0]

Aloha everyone, and thanks for all the feedback. I had looked at the CR1 visa vs the K3, but I think I will still go with the K3. It says if filing for CR1, she may not be able to come here even to visit while waiting. Also, it will probably take a little longer.

I will lean towards the K3, just to get her here faster. Filing AOS when she is here is no pfroblem. Main thing is we are together asap.

Justin and Masako- thanks for the info. We have already begun her part in Japan. I have sent over all of the things she needs, and now she is going to her prefecture office to register the marriage.

Sorry to be redundant, but if I were to file for a K3, what is a guess at how long it will be before she can enter the US?

We had thought it would take awhile, so we had been planning our ceremony/party in December. Im wondering now if that is even too soon.

Thanks again for everyones help and opinions.

[C and J 1]

I had looked at the CR1 visa vs the K3, but I think I will still go with the K3. It says if filing for CR1, she may not be able to come here even to visit while waiting. Also, it will probably take a little longer.

The chances of being refused entry when visiting are the same whether it's a K3 or a CR1/IR1. They can refuse entry based on the fact she would be visiting her spouse (and does not have enough proof to show she will leave), not on the type of visa applied for. Yes, the CR1/IR1 generally takes at least 2 months longer than a K3 visa.

Sorry to be redundant, but if I were to file for a K3, what is a guess at how long it will be before she can enter the US?

At the moment the process, from sending the petition to the K3 interview, is taking an average of 10-11 months (but this does vary by consulate/embassy).

Service centre to approval = 6 months

Approval to NVC receiving petition = 3-4 weeks

NVC to consulate = 2-3 weeks

Consulate to interview = 1-3 months

USCIS have a large backlog of petitions that they are curently working through, so we do not know what impact this will have on later processing times.