"Request for Documents" e-mail from consulate

[akavlie 0]

My fiance just recently got an e-mail from the consulate in Japan regarding her K-1 visa application. They are requesting the following:

• All previous passports
  
• Alien registration card - copy of current card and all old cards
  
• Original Birth Certificate
  
• Secondary evidence of identity (at least 2 separate documents)
  
• Evidence of ongoing relationship
  
• Two passport size photographs
  

The e-mail says "Once our processing is complete, we will send you an appointment letter".

Now, in everything I've read on this site and the Tokyo embassy website, I thought standard procedure was to set an interview date and bring all of this with you to the interview. In fact, they make it clear that they do NOT want you to mail any of these materials with the checklist. So why would they be asking for all of this now? Something doesn't seem right about it.

[ppboo 0]

My embassy have not ask for the actual documents until the interview..

I only need to send back DS230 Part1 and the check list. you may want to have your fiance call to the embassy to verify what they need for sure.

[mrswooten4ever 0]

London ask you to submit the DS230 DS156 & DS156K and bring supporting evidence to the interview. Perhaps she misread the email? I originally misread the instructions with my PK3 and realised after I'd sent the DS230 & the checklist that I had to send both the DS156 & DS156K as well. Double check the email and verify with the embassy if you are uncertain

Adele

[akavlie 0]

London ask you to submit the DS230 DS156 & DS156K and bring supporting evidence to the interview. Perhaps she misread the email? I originally misread the instructions with my PK3 and realised after I'd sent the DS230 & the checklist that I had to send both the DS156 & DS156K as well. Double check the email and verify with the embassy if you are uncertain

Adele

Actually, I'm reading it myself -- she forwarded it to me. Absolutely no misreading here, I could quote the e-mail in full. It says at the end to print out the e-mail and place it on to prevent a delay in processing.

I may have to have her call, but the embassy has inexcusable policies for that -- after all this money we pay, they make you use a credit card and pay by the minute for telephone or e-mail support. She would have to use my CC, if that will even work...

I should note that this is not the first time they have asked for evidence in advance. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but a couple of weeks ago she was called by the embassy and asked to submit photographs or something.

[Larry and Maria 0]

I hate to suggest this.

With all the spoofing and fraud going on the internet, you should check through some other mechanism.

If this seems outside what experience has been, it very well may be someone has been "reading the mail" and the items you send could promote identity theft, for example.

I think this would be time to be safe and take longer than sorry because that would make matters including your timeline worse.

I don't remember what your timeline looks like.

[akavlie 0]

I hate to suggest this.

With all the spoofing and fraud going on the internet, you should check through some other mechanism.

If this seems outside what experience has been, it very well may be someone has been "reading the mail" and the items you send could promote identity theft, for example.

I think this would be time to be safe and take longer than sorry because that would make matters including your timeline worse.

I don't remember what your timeline looks like.

This did cross my mind, actually. But I think it's very unlikely, for several reasons. This is an English e-mail sent to a Vietnamese girl living in Hiroshima, Japan. The mix of languages and nationalities makes it very unlikely that someone with sufficient English skills would have intercepted the mail, and also very much limits the usefulness of obtaining her identity info. Furthermore, whoever wrote it would have to have sufficient knowledge of the visa procedures to make everything look and sound convincing, and the know-how to get an e-mail look like it is coming from TOKYOIV@state.gov.

It is difficult to know what to do with this -- do we send everything they ask for? Ignore it, go through the process as normal, and hope it works out OK? Contacting them costs over $10 whether by phone or e-mail, and there's no guarantee we'll get a helpful response.

One possibility: I guided my fiance through filling out an online form to request an interview date, only to realize that this was for immigrant visas only (a K1 is a "nonimmigrant" visa). The end of the e-mail reads:

Regards,

Immigrant Visa Branch (K1)

So maybe this is an automated e-mail follow-up to that?

[akavlie 0]

I hate to suggest this.

With all the spoofing and fraud going on the internet, you should check through some other mechanism.

If this seems outside what experience has been, it very well may be someone has been "reading the mail" and the items you send could promote identity theft, for example.

I think this would be time to be safe and take longer than sorry because that would make matters including your timeline worse.

I don't remember what your timeline looks like.

This did cross my mind, actually. But I think it's very unlikely, for several reasons. This is an English e-mail sent to a Vietnamese girl living in Hiroshima, Japan. The mix of languages and nationalities makes it very unlikely that someone with sufficient English skills would have intercepted the mail, and also very much limits the usefulness of obtaining her identity info. Furthermore, whoever wrote it would have to have sufficient knowledge of the visa procedures to make everything look and sound convincing, and the know-how to get an e-mail look like it is coming from TOKYOIV@state.gov.

It is difficult to know what to do with this -- do we send everything they ask for? Ignore it, go through the process as normal, and hope it works out OK? Contacting them costs over $10 whether by phone or e-mail, and there's no guarantee we'll get a helpful response.

One possibility: I guided my fiance through filling out an online form to request an interview date, only to realize that this was for immigrant visas only (a K1 is a "nonimmigrant" visa). The end of the e-mail reads:

Regards,

Immigrant Visa Branch (K1)

So maybe this is an automated e-mail follow-up to that?

You know, thinking about it... this can't be a mistaken auto-sent e-mail like that. They specifically ask for evidence of an ongoing relationship and such, which would not apply for an immigrant visa.

[babybunny 2]

My fiance just recently got an e-mail from the consulate in Japan regarding her K-1 visa application. They are requesting the following:

• All previous passports
  
• Alien registration card - copy of current card and all old cards
  
• Original Birth Certificate
  
• Secondary evidence of identity (at least 2 separate documents)
  
• Evidence of ongoing relationship
  
• Two passport size photographs
  

The e-mail says "Once our processing is complete, we will send you an appointment letter".

Now, in everything I've read on this site and the Tokyo embassy website, I thought standard procedure was to set an interview date and bring all of this with you to the interview. In fact, they make it clear that they do NOT want you to mail any of these materials with the checklist. So why would they be asking for all of this now? Something doesn't seem right about it.

depends on the embassy. sounds like this is packet 3

[akavlie 0]

My fiance just recently got an e-mail from the consulate in Japan regarding her K-1 visa application. They are requesting the following:

• All previous passports
  
• Alien registration card - copy of current card and all old cards
  
• Original Birth Certificate
  
• Secondary evidence of identity (at least 2 separate documents)
  
• Evidence of ongoing relationship
  
• Two passport size photographs
  

The e-mail says "Once our processing is complete, we will send you an appointment letter".

Now, in everything I've read on this site and the Tokyo embassy website, I thought standard procedure was to set an interview date and bring all of this with you to the interview. In fact, they make it clear that they do NOT want you to mail any of these materials with the checklist. So why would they be asking for all of this now? Something doesn't seem right about it.

depends on the embassy. sounds like this is packet 3

This is the Japanese embassy.

I've seen plenty of references before to "packet 3" and "packet 4" but I'm unclear on what exactly they mean. It's not laid out in the FAQs or guides on this site. Can you clarify?

[Jaylen Brit 0]

HAve you checked in the Regional thread to find anyone else going thru Tokyo who might have hands-on info?

[akavlie 0]

HAve you checked in the Regional thread to find anyone else going thru Tokyo who might have hands-on info?

Just looked through there, 90% of that forum seems to be Vietnam-related threads. Didn't see anything for Japan.

[Jaylen Brit 0]

I just searched under the Embassy review section - there's a couple of users there (one is atg) shown as going thru Japan - maybe you could PM one of them?

Sorry didnt realise the Japan thread had so little info there.

[akavlie 0]

I just searched under the Embassy review section - there's a couple of users there (one is atg) shown as going thru Japan - maybe you could PM one of them?

Sorry didnt realise the Japan thread had so little info there.

Just saw those, sounds like a plan. Why do you single out Atg?

[akavlie 0]

OK, looking at the e-mail again, it actually says:

"please provide information concerning the following items."

Not the actual items themselves. So my concern may be much ado about nothing, after all. Perhaps we can just go through the procedure as normal, and the checklist will serve this purpose.

[Jaylen Brit 0]

atg seems to have been active the most recently is the simple answer!

I checked one of the other users and they havent been active on the board since last year

I hope it IS all a storm in a teacup tho - good luck with the rest of your journey!