January 2015 - TSC Filers

[Eric The Wait 40]

Congrats to Sea-Schtick!!!!

I have two questions: One for Sea....It indicates you got an RFE. Did you send your RFE response to a P.O. Box or to a physical address? Either way, were you able to track your RFE mailing to confirm TSC received it? (I ask because I'm not sure how to track anything to a P.O. Box number).

For others who contacted their Congressperson and/or Sentator: Did you provide any address or phone number for the Congressperson to contact TSC, or just rely on their office to be able to make contact through the most efficient channels?

Congrats again to all who have made it through the TSC with approvals.

[racheal&david 108]

Congrats to Sea-Schtick!!!!

I have two questions: One for Sea....It indicates you got an RFE. Did you send your RFE response to a P.O. Box or to a physical address? Either way, were you able to track your RFE mailing to confirm TSC received it? (I ask because I'm not sure how to track anything to a P.O. Box number).

For others who contacted their Congressperson and/or Sentator: Did you provide any address or phone number for the Congressperson to contact TSC, or just rely on their office to be able to make contact through the most efficient channels?

Congrats again to all who have made it through the TSC with approvals.

Nope. My fiances senator emailed TSC I believe. The immigration liason is who replied to them as per their reply. Also by email. So I assume they have their own channels

[Eric The Wait 40]

racheal&david: Thanks so much for the response. That makes sense.

I know my questions seem really basic, but I'm so deep in the woods on this it is hard to think straight. Perhaps I could advise others with clarity, but for myself my mind is total mush. For me, the help I get here is super beneficial.

[sea-shtick 2]

Congrats to Sea-Schtick!!!!

I have two questions: One for Sea....It indicates you got an RFE. Did you send your RFE response to a P.O. Box or to a physical address? Either way, were you able to track your RFE mailing to confirm TSC received it? (I ask because I'm not sure how to track anything to a P.O. Box number).

Thanks!

The RFE contained a cover sheet that tells you explicitly where to mail it. It was a PO Box. I did next-day shipping through USPS, which includes tracking... but I never checked the tracking. I sent it out Tuesday to arrive Wednesday at noon. They recognized receipt on Thursday. NOA2 came exactly a week later. I was lucky I had an extra copy of my birth certificate on hand! But of course that's what you learn after going through the visa process multiple times (I've had several student visas) and what they advise on here... minimum three copies of everything!

[Eric The Wait 40]

Thanks very much for the info Sea. Very helpful.
I'll do the next day shipping through USPS also......if necessary.
Also, good advice about keeping multiple copies!!!!

[StephanieC 43]

Eric, have you actually received notice that you have an RFE on the way?

[Squamish 10]

Eric, the two Senators that I contacted from Georgia first sent me privacy releases to sign. I then with great detail outlined my case to them regarding the processing time differences between the CSC and the TSC. I also reminded them about the Senate hearing in March 2015 to try to fix the backlog at the TSC and how their answer was to route new filers to the CSC where they are approved in a matter of weeks. I knew the Senators had a direct line to Immigration that we don't have (I found this by researching on line).

My petition was approved July 27 and left for the DOS on July 29. I have no idea if my Senators helped or not but for anyone that is tired of the long wait at the TSC I would still write your Senators. Hoping for everyone to receive their approvals soon. I truly understand the horrible wait.

[Eric The Wait 40]

Hi Stephanie:

No. But I did a lot of research here and found bad news. My fiance was divorced. In Japan people can get a divorce without going to Court. It's called a Ward Office divorce. A majority of divorces in Japan are done this way when the parties are in complete agreement. There is no Court decree. Paperwork is filled out, sometimes with special seals for signatures, and it is filed with the Mayor's Office. Two things then happen.
1. The Husband's Family Register (Kind of like a Birth Certificate) has an entry added noting the divorce and includes the ex-wife's name, thereby noting she is divorced from him.
2. The Mayor's Office issues something called a "Certificate of Acceptance: Notification of Divorce".

We've got two problems, and the highly likely RFE may be the lesser issue:

1. I sent in the Family Register of the Ex-Husband with English Translation as evidence of the divorce. But my research shows that this won't cut it. People on VisaJounrey who sent the Family Register get an RFE saying it is "not a divorce decree". I've seen it on this forum...in recent posts.

2. Here's the real scary part: Everyone who got an RFE for only sending in the Family Registry as proof of Divorce responded to the RFE by sending the only other possible available document, which is the "Certificate of Acceptance: Notification of Divorce" signed by the Mayor. I just obtained that document with English translation. Now for the super scary part: The RFE's received in these situations ask for a "Court Decree". This is impossible because no Court issued the Divorce. While these Ward Office divorces are legal and routine in Japan, there is no so called "extra-judicial" divorce in the United States. I have been unable to find any Japanese fiance divorced under the non-judicial process described above who received a K1 Visa. It seems like a technical trap. I know I shouldn't think about it until disaster strikes, but it's very hard.

I did receive a one line response to an inquiry on Visa Journey that the United States recognises the City Ward Japanese divorce, I would feel better to find an actual K-1 Visa holder from Japan who was divorced through the Ward Office process.

[StephanieC 43]

Could you then get the Certificate of Acceptance from the Mayor's Office in the event that you do receive an RFE? I'm asking if you will have more options to prove the divorce.

Have you read this? http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/446336-rfe-divorce-decree-from-japan/

[Eric The Wait 40]

OMG!!!! StephanieC......Thank you thank you. From the bottom of our hearts we say thank you!!!!!!!!

YES!!!! I already have the Certificate of Acceptance from the Mayor's office. My fiance just got it last week and mailed it to me with translation. I'm ready to send it in the second I get the RFE.

BUT, you answered the far more scarier question by pointing me to that thread!!! On that thread are two fiances from Japan who had Ward Office divorces like my fiance......and they BOTH got their K1 Visas.

So that proves the Ward Office divorcee is considred "free to marry" for K1 purposes!!!!!!!. (WOW. I read a lot of information which led me doubt this, but the proof is in the Visa!!!)

Okay. That's great. Now if they would just send me the darned RFE already we can get moving forward. But I feel infinitely better.

Squamish: Thank you!!!! Thank you!!!! for the tip. I just made arrangements....Tomorrow I'm going to run down to my Congressman's local office which is right around the corner and they said they'll have the Release form there waiting for me.

Okay okay, no news on our I-129f yet, but today has been a good day thanks to my January TSC pals here who gave me such GREAT info. I'm getting my bearings. Wow do I feel better.

[JDailey717 2]

I suspect it'####### or miss when it comes to involving senators. All they have the power to do really is a congressional inquiry (fancy political term for asking a question). Now what this does do is makes them have to find your petition amidst the boxes of presumed crudely organized cases. If it's been there awhile or the case worker is in a generously good mood they may move it to the top of their stack. Or they could just as easily "accidentally" shred your birth certificate just to spite you for making them work more. There seems to be no real accountability at this stage of the process. I will say that so far, having done sooner research and submitting an organized and labeled position everything has gone smoothly for us so far without any lawyers or senators involvement.

[Tekejian44 2]

Eric, the two Senators that I contacted from Georgia first sent me privacy releases to sign. I then with great detail outlined my case to them regarding the processing time differences between the CSC and the TSC. I also reminded them about the Senate hearing in March 2015 to try to fix the backlog at the TSC and how their answer was to route new filers to the CSC where they are approved in a matter of weeks. I knew the Senators had a direct line to Immigration that we don't have (I found this by researching on line).

My petition was approved July 27 and left for the DOS on July 29. I have no idea if my Senators helped or not but for anyone that is tired of the long wait at the TSC I would still write your Senators. Hoping for everyone to receive their approvals soon. I truly understand the horrible wait.

[Tekejian44 2]

Eric, the two Senators that I contacted from Georgia first sent me privacy releases to sign. I then with great detail outlined my case to them regarding the processing time differences between the CSC and the TSC. I also reminded them about the Senate hearing in March 2015 to try to fix the backlog at the TSC and how their answer was to route new filers to the CSC where they are approved in a matter of weeks. I knew the Senators had a direct line to Immigration that we don't have (I found this by researching on line).

My petition was approved July 27 and left for the DOS on July 29. I have no idea if my Senators helped or not but for anyone that is tired of the long wait at the TSC I would still write your Senators. Hoping for everyone to receive their approvals soon. I truly understand the horrible wait.

Thank you for the advice! I contacted the senator but left a message because it was past office hours. I'm a January 20th filer and still waiting!

[Tekejian44 2]

Hi everyone! I don't know what to do! I have to put my down payment for the wedding venue Saturday, thinking I would have found out by now, but haven't I don't know if I should put the Down payment down :/

[Kyle and Linh 64]

Want to get your Senator's attention?

Mail in your request with a check made out to his/her re-election campaign. In most countries in the world this is called a bribe. In the USA it's called business as usual the democratic way via lobbying

Good Luck to all....