Visa advice for Unique Situation

[Dan Riley 0]

I'm looking for advice on the best route to take for getting a visa for my fiancee. We are in a somewhat unique circumstance. I am an Air Force officer stationed in Japan. She is a British citizen who is a resident alien of Japan. We are getting married in July in Hawaii, then returning to Japan, and then I expect to PCS back to California in December. It appears that if we applied for a K-1 Fiancee Visa, she would not be able to return to Japan after the marriage, and since we are only there for two weeks after the wedding, there will not be time to apply for an Advance Parole (and also not sure it's appropriate for this case).

So it seems the best option is for her to come to Hawaii on a tourist visa for the wedding, and then apply for a K-3 Spouse's Visa and hope it is processed relatively quickly in time for her to return to the US with me in December. Is this correct? I don't suppose there is any way for her to come to the US in December without the K-3 since I am military and then submit the application once we are there?

Or would DCF be the best way to go? Some things I read indicate that it is only for citizens of the country? IE, since she is British, but a resident alien of Japan, can we file at the Embassy here in Japan? Or is it my status that matters...since I'm stationed here (have been for 2 years) are we ok? The Tokyo US Embassy website does indicate that they do support DCF. Do you think August to December is enough time to allow for that? I wish we could go ahead and file now, but even if we got a paper marriage now, her travelling to Hawaii before it's approved would screw everything up, right?

Thanks for any advice!

[txladykat 1]

You really should contact the embassy in Japan. Since you are military, it might be a little different. In most other countires, I know that both parties must be legally residing in the county to which you are applying (in your case Japan) for 6 months preceding the filing date. You are correct in that she cannot return to the US with you in December. You must either file the DCF in Japan, or she must return to her country of residence and wait there while you file the application from the US.

[Dan Riley 0]

Actually after a little further research, it looks like she should be able to come to the US on a VWP or tourist visa for less than 90 days if the visa hasn't come through yet. The only thing I've seen is that the immigrations officer could deny entry, but one being military, and two, if she had a return ticket to the UK within that 90 day window already purchased just in case, they probably wouldn't deny it.

[txladykat 1]

sure, they can come to "visit", but not immigrate. i thought they were asking if they could come here then file. also keeping in mind, entry is not automatic on VWP, especially once married, its at the discretion of the officer at the POE.