(K1) Military through Sydney? I-134 questions

[SweetDelish 38]

We got our NOA2 yesterday and I'm visiting my fiance in 10 days so getting him working on gathering the I-134 supporting evidence. I've been trawling through all the forums on here to ascertain what he needs to get prepared.

I've also seen a comment that Australia does not require tax returns.

Hes way above poverty requirements as hes active duty military (army).

This is the statements I've found that I'm sending to him, they were from a thread in June 2011 in the military section:

His LES will show the number of years he has been in, his pay grade and his income for month as well as the year. I would also include his LES last year. You can also get him to print off a Statement of Service, it is the same form needed for a VA loan and shows his length of service. Tell him he can print it right from AKO

mypay.gov you can get the ERB or LES or even the W2. You dont need to list assets if he makes the 100% since hes military. just annual income.

If he lists assets, then he needs to provide the documents proving those assets. If he doesn't need them, and doesn't want to bother getting the documents for them, then leave them off.

Can anyone who is military K1 - preferably Australia - confirm that this is suitable and relevant information for supporting I-134 docs? or add anything further?

[SweetDelish 38]

*crickets*

he can figure it out then. can't be all that hard.

[KLS2010 30]

Sorry can't be of much use - I didn't do K1 - the AOS requirements are a little different for CR-1.

Have you looked at the military forum here on VJ? I'm guessing so (is that where you quoted the threads from?)

Maybe try posting the question in that forum? You will probably be hard pressed to find anything specific to Australia - I haven't seen anyone recently saying they have a fiance/spouse in the military. But they may be able to help in general.

Good luck

[VanessaTony 3,567]

*crickets*

he can figure it out then. can't be all that hard.

Sorry!! Totally missed this. he needs a letter from his employer and a letter from his bank (those are the I-134 requirements). Can't hurt to have the most recent tax return just in case. Not a big deal.

[SweetDelish 38]

Thanks guys, should be easy enough for him, I'll just tell him to get all those bits together, and I'll take it all.

I just figured since military is slightly different to regular employment, poverty levels are lower, that the requirements might differ slightly too.

I did get the quotes from a thread on the military forum, but then I was reading that Australian requirements are also slightly different, so I thought it might not hurt to check if someone had a definitive answer.

[Giggles 1]

I had a copy of my fiances LES, TSP and a letter from the bank. We didn't get a letter from his command.

[SweetDelish 38]

I had a copy of my fiances LES, TSP and a letter from the bank. We didn't get a letter from his command.

Thanks!

Thats too easy.

[SweetDelish 38]

I had a copy of my fiances LES, TSP and a letter from the bank. We didn't get a letter from his command.

Sorry, I just noticed that you are now based in Japan. Can you tell me when that happened? as in, what stage in your visa process? I'm asking as my fiance is pending assignment instructions to Sth Korea, for mid 2013. I'm trying not to think too far ahead as he might not get moved there, but I'm aware this could add some complications to AOS if he does. If you have any tips or anything about your experience that you could share, that would be great.

[Giggles 1]

I lived in the US for a year and half before we PCSed to Japan. By that time I had already done my AOS and received my conditional green card so I don't really have any advice for you about doing that while PCSing. I can't see it being a problem though if you are on you husbands orders and move to South Korea during AOS (even without AP). You'll still be considered as being in the US and it still counts towards your time. When are you planning on getting married? I'd say getting married and being put on your husbands orders in time should be your biggest concern. If you can you should try to get married as soon as possible after arriving in the US so you can be put on your husbands orders. It would be awful being a new immigrant and left behind in the US on your own. I have a couple of friends here that were married after their husbands already had their orders to Japan and the process to get them here was a real pain in the butt and can take some time.

There are benefits for military dependants stationed overseas. I just removed conditions and received my 10 year green card. It took 2 months in comparison to non military for VSC takes about 8 or 9 months so I've read. Also once you have your PR, if you plan on becoming a US citizen I believe you can apply for expedited naturalization instead of having to hold your PR for 3 years and then apply (as long as your husband has overseas orders for more than 1 year). I haven't applied for expedited naturalization as I still haven't decided if I want to become a US citizen.

[SweetDelish 38]

Thanks. Thats helpful anyway, I ask him questions and I understand what he tells me, but the immigration part he doesn't quite get, hes been asking some of his co workers who have immigrant wives, but thats about the extent of his research, that and hes watched the Sandra Bullock movie 'the proposal' and keeps asking me "when do we have our interview together?" and "we should probably practice to make sure we have the same story".

Well he found out today that hes definitely being assigned South Korea, orders should come down in March, he has to report there by July 31. I'll be moving to Hawaii early December and we'll get married within the first couple of weeks. Hes already looking in to what he needs to do to get me on his orders and command sponsored, and what to do if I'm not sponsored, and hes not too worried about it. I'm going to see him this weekend for 10 days, so he said he'll explain everything then. I hate the idea of finally being together and then being separated again.

[Giggles 1]

Sweet! Sounds like you'll have plenty of time then

Haha! That's funny he watched The Proposal and is thinking about what to say at the interview. I didn't get an interview for AOS or removing conditions, maybe you won't either and your fiance will have spent all that time preparing and practicing his lines

Being together and then separated is a part of military life. It really makes you appreciate the time that you do have to spend together. Part of the reason we chose to come back to Japan was the deployments are usually shorter than ships that are stateside and it's much closer for me to go home when my husband is deployed. Are you looking forward to moving to South Korea?

[SweetDelish 38]

Sweet! Sounds like you'll have plenty of time then

Haha! That's funny he watched The Proposal and is thinking about what to say at the interview. I didn't get an interview for AOS or removing conditions, maybe you won't either and your fiance will have spent all that time preparing and practicing his lines

Being together and then separated is a part of military life. It really makes you appreciate the time that you do have to spend together. Part of the reason we chose to come back to Japan was the deployments are usually shorter than ships that are stateside and it's much closer for me to go home when my husband is deployed. Are you looking forward to moving to South Korea?

yes, I'm more relaxed about the process now that I've digested it.

I'm completely going to make him practice his lines, purely for my amusement. he likes a little bit of romantic comedy from time to time.

I can handle a bit of separation, I'm doing ok at the moment, the end is in sight. Hes only ever had one deployment before, to Iraq in his 13 years of being in the army, so hes been lucky.

South Korea? not yet. I would have loved Japan if he had that! I've been there a few times and studied Japanese through high school and university. Though randomly, as I was at the hairdressers last night, the lovely girl washing my hair was from Seoul, so that put my mind at ease a little, we had a chat. I have been there before, just for 1 day, its much dirtier than I would like, and they smoke everywhere. my SO is in for a big culture shock, other than Iraq, hes only ever been to Australia and NZ. He has no idea. I do look forward to seeing his reactions to all the differences.

so do you work in Japan at all?

[Giggles 1]

The whole visa process can be a little overwhelming sometimes and so can PCSing.

Haha! Too funny! Yeah my husband doesn't mind a romantic comedy now and then too. I've totally got him sucked in to some of the British shows I watch too like Downton Abbey

1 deployment in 13 years!! I'd say he's been very lucky! My husband just had his 20 year anniversary of being in the navy. One day he worked out how many years he'd actually been at sea and it worked out to be something like 12 years!! He did quite a lot of 9 month deployments and several back to back sea duties. The ship he's on now usually only deploys about 5 months of the year.

We really like living in Japan and we chose to live off base too. But like anywhere, some love it and some hate it. Usually the ones that hate it are the type of people that don't like getting out of their comfort zone and the kind that rarely ever leave the base. There are lots of those kinda people. I miss things about living in Australia and the US but I feel fortunate that we have the opportunity to live in another country and travel more. I haven't been to South Korea but my husband's had a few port visits there. We were talking about taking a MAC flight there sometime but haven't got around to it. Maybe you could take advantage of that too because I think they go several times a week between South Korea and Japan. I hope you like South Korea when you move.

I have a small business that I started here just to keep busy and make some extra cash. I make and sell fancy cakes and cookies. I got started earlier this year and it was going really well. Now we are expecting a baby and for about the first 3 to 4 months the smell and even just seeing a cake made me gag. I'm feeling much better now. Hopefully I can start back up again once the baby arrives and is settled. I was going to teach English here but in the end I decided against it because I'd be going home twice a year for long periods during deployments. I didn't really think it would be fair to the students having to switch teachers all the time. A lot of wives teach English and the pay is pretty good. Not being a US citizen makes it harder to get a job on base with a decent pay. Working for $7 to $9 per hour at the NEX or MWR is not very appealing to me.....it kinda seems like slave labour!

[SweetDelish 38]

My fiance is a mental health counselor, so deployment isn't the same process for him I guess. 20 years is a long time, has he decided how long hes going to stay in for? How much longer are you in Japan for?

I'm not sure what the process would be for living on or off base in Sth Korea, he doesn't live on base in Hawaii, I know he prefers not to, but it will depend what is included. so many things I don't know, and I'm banned from watching 'Army Wives' I never watched but now I'm curious, every now and then I catch an episode and feel so guilty watching it.

I'm not surprised really that D put his hand up for the assignment when they told him it was a possibility. He likes the idea of different cultures and being able to travel around Asia. I'm kind of proud of him about that. He has mentioned the MAC flights, that would be great. I hope I like it too, I'm sure I will after this initial shock has wound down and I get through the visa process. I'm fairly adaptable anyway, always make the most of a situation, I have no doubt I'll find the good things about being there.

your business makes me laugh.. because thats the kind of thing I would love to do! I love baking. when I spent a month in Hawaii I was getting requests from the guys in D's office for cookies. haha. they keep asking him when I'm coming back. it would be alot easier to have a small business like that in a foreign country, something different. hmm I might have to look at something like that too. I considered just having babies instead. I'm 37, so my window is closing, if we want them naturally, we can't waste any time. Teaching English seems like the obvious choice. I"m sure there are plenty of options. maybe I can learn how to speak Korean.

[Giggles 1]

Your fiance is lucky! We are in Japan for another 2 years and then he'll go back to shore duty for another 3 year and then retire. I think he'd probably like to stay in for 30 years if he could (for the money and pension) but we both agreed that it's not worth it. Neither of us want him to miss out on seeing our baby grow up. If he stays in longer than 25 years he'll have to do another sea tour. We are planning on moving back to Australia soon after he retires. What about your fiance, is he staying in for the long haul?

My husband won't live on base because he sees his co-workers enough at work and doesn't want to have to see them when he's at home. It's nothing personal against his co-workers or other sailors but I agree with him about that. It's nice to get away from military life. One of my friends said she wished she lived off base so she wouldn't have to put up with so many of the b*tchy wives. Living off base we save more than we would on base. We get more COLA and there's always money left over from the allowance we get for utilites. The first 6 weeks in Japan was the worst for us but once we were settle in our house and bought a car it was a lot better. We were in a hotel for 6 weeks (4 of those were in a tiny Japanese hotel because the one we were at on base closed for renovation). It sounds funny but we were so sick of having to eat at restaurants or get takeaway. It's good you both have a positive outlook about moving to South Korea. I totally agree about having to make the most of the situation.

I use to watch Army Wives. I use to get all teary at times when watching it.

I love baking too and my mum told me years ago that I should start a business. I had to go through the legal office on base to get my business approved and I'm only allowed to sell to SOFA sponsored people. I wish I could sell to the Japanese because they would love my cakes and cookies.....I'd make a killing! They'd be prepared to pay more than what the Yanks are too. It would be too much hassle to get legal/permitted to sell to the locals. You should look into it too if that's what you are interested in. I guess you'd have to go through the legal office too. Here they will only permit someone to have a home business if it doesn't directly compete with the NEX, Commissary or MWR. That mean I can't sell just regular cakes or plain cookies like the Commisary or NEX. When I moved to the US I did the Wilton cake decorating classes they teach at Michael's and Joann's craft shops. For me they were great to get started in cake decorating.

I will be almost 33 when I have this baby and it's my first. There are sooo many young mothers here (19-20 year olds with kids) and I was kind of shocked. I'm sure it's probably the same at any military base. I sort of felt like I was going to be an old mother at first. Most of my family, friends, co-workers from home and even my sisters-in-laws in the States all waited until their late 20's or 30's before having a family. Sound like the perfect time for you to start a family if that's what you want.

I had every intension of learning Japanese when I got here but I've hardly learnt anything. I'd love to learn it but it's just so foreign, I find it hard and honestly I'm not really interested in it. I learnt French at school (which I was much more interested in) and to me it was much easier because they at least have the same alphabet and sometimes the words are similar.