All Japan Filers

[cculbertson81 43]

1 hour ago, JGG5 said:

My wife is scheduled for the 13th of this month. I've been hearing about difficulty with the Tokyo embassy and a recent policy change. Not sure if it's related to public charge. That said, the embassys of other countries appear to be approving as normal. 

That tracks with the language for a denial under section 221(g).

Quote

What does a visa denial under INA section 221(g) mean?

A visa denial under section 221(g) of the INA means that the consular officer did not have all of the information required to determine if you are eligible to receive a visa. This means you are not eligible for the visa now, but your case is pending further action for one of the following reasons:

• Your application is incomplete and/or further documentation is required - Applicants whose application forms or other documentation are incomplete are refused. If further documents are required to complete your case, you will be informed what is needed and how to provide it to the embassy or consulate. You will also be given a letter stating your application has been denied under 221(g) and listing which documents you need to provide.
• Administrative processing - Further administrative processing of your application is required before a decision can be made regarding your eligibility for a visa. You will be given a letter stating this and next-step instructions after the administrative processing is complete.

Is there something I can do about a refusal under section 221(g)?

If your application was denied because documentation or information is missing, you can provide the missing documents or information as soon as possible. After submitting the documentation, your visa application can then be processed to conclusion to determine whether you qualify for a visa. You have one year from the date you were refused a visa to submit the additional information. Otherwise, if you do not provide the required additional information within one year, you must reapply for the visa and pay another application fee.

If your application requires further administrative processing, this takes additional time after your interview. Processing times can vary based on individual circumstances. For more information, review Administrative Processing.

In general it means that the consular office does not have all of the information required to determine whether they should issue a visa. Normally this would be due to missing documentation or forms on the applicant's behalf. Nothing new to most posters here.

 

Based on the denial letter @jmcl10 shared, it would appear that they are refusing visas where the public charge changes are muddying the waters, hence "pending until further guidance." That would imply more of a stall than an outright denial. I believe that is good cause to remain optimistic until they get their policies sorted.

 

[JGG5 39]

14 minutes ago, cculbertson81 said:

That tracks with the language for a denial under section 221(g).

In general it means that the consular office does not have all of the information required to determine whether they should issue a visa. Normally this would be due to missing documentation or forms on the applicant's behalf. Nothing new to most posters here.

 

Based on the denial letter @jmcl10 shared, it would appear that they are refusing visas where the public charge changes are muddying the waters, hence "pending until further guidance." That would imply more of a stall than an outright denial. I believe that is good cause to remain optimistic until they get their policies sorted.

 

I think saw that post as well. If I recall correctly the Consulate Officer made it sound like this was a boilerplate response and they were trying to hash out policy interpretation or actual written policy on their end. Sounds like the applicant was not at fault. At least that's my optimistic interpretation. 

[JGG5 39]

19 minutes ago, cculbertson81 said:

That tracks with the language for a denial under section 221(g).

In general it means that the consular office does not have all of the information required to determine whether they should issue a visa. Normally this would be due to missing documentation or forms on the applicant's behalf. Nothing new to most posters here.

 

Based on the denial letter @jmcl10 shared, it would appear that they are refusing visas where the public charge changes are muddying the waters, hence "pending until further guidance." That would imply more of a stall than an outright denial. I believe that is good cause to remain optimistic until they get their policies sorted.

 

The frustrating part is there seems to be a misalignment between the Tokyo/Japan embassy and what we are seeing elsewhere. None the less, we are on the home stretch now and I find it a pleasant distraction to start looking at airplane tickets and travel arrangements.

[cculbertson81 43]

23 minutes ago, cculbertson81 said:

Based on the denial letter @jmcl10 shared, it would appear that they are refusing visas where the public charge changes are muddying the waters, hence "pending until further guidance." That would imply more of a stall than an outright denial. I believe that is good cause to remain optimistic until they get their policies sorted.

 

Apologies, it was actually a denial letter shared by 攀弥旺.

[carpfan 37]

Has the embassy been asking for the DS-5540 public charge questionnaire at the interview?

[JGG5 39]

48 minutes ago, cculbertson81 said:

Apologies, it was actually a denial letter shared by 攀弥旺.

I saw the same. Here is another one from a different thread. This time the experience was a bit more global but again, the discussion died quickly and has never picked up since. Look for a post by Cccl. Their experience was in Japan. 

 

 

[JGG5 39]

18 minutes ago, carpfan said:

Has the embassy been asking for the DS-5540 public charge questionnaire at the interview?

We didn't receive a request for the 5540. I haven't seen anyone else get the request either. Might be prudent to complete it and take it just in case but I felt pretty confident in our AOS and supporting documents.

[jmcl10 5]

5 hours ago, JGG5 said:

I saw the same. Here is another one from a different thread. This time the experience was a bit more global but again, the discussion died quickly and has never picked up since. Look for a post by Cccl. Their experience was in Japan. 

 

 

isn’t that the public charge rule is currently on hold just recently? this is confusing. Oh well better have the public charge form ready

[JGG5 39]

11 minutes ago, jmcl10 said:

isn’t that the public charge rule is currently on hold just recently? this is confusing. Oh well better have the public charge form ready

That's what I thought as well. But, I didn't really want to ask about their financial stability so I just left it alone. Either the Japan embassies are basing their decision on recent discussions on public charge or the timing is an inconvenient coincidence. I just can't see how its public charge since it seems like that direction has been decided.

[roimmi 0]

Hi,

 

16 minutes ago, JGG5 said:

That's what I thought as well. But, I didn't really want to ask about their financial stability so I just left it alone. Either the Japan embassies are basing their decision on recent discussions on public charge or the timing is an inconvenient coincidence. I just can't see how its public charge since it seems like that direction has been decided.

I want to add to this since I would really like some more info. 

We were not asked for the DS-5540 form neither at the NVC stage nor at the embassy. We did have it filled out ready to hand over with evidence. 

 

We only submitted an I-864EZ form in which last year's income was way over the poverty line and the current income double of last year's since last year I only worked for 6 months.

We did not have nor were we asked for a cosponsor. 

 

32 minutes ago, jmcl10 said:

isn’t that the public charge rule is currently on hold just recently? this is confusing. Oh well better have the public charge form ready

We assumed it's the public charge injunction (since we the consul mentioned a recent ruling preventing him from issuing a visa) and given the timing of it (12 hr before).

 

https://fam.state.gov/FAM/Ct.aspx?VolumeID=09FAM

Here you can see that the actual communication to the Embassies was on the 30th and it modified the handbook on the public charge section and the affidavit of support (now blank).

AOS: https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM060114.html

Public Charge: https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM030208.html

I am not sure exactly if the timing matches given timezones. Workday hours in the 30th EST are basically the end of the day in Romania. My wife had her interview in the morning.

 

There is still some confusion as to why other consulates around the world are still emitting this kind of visa.

Also, when we called at the embassy in Bucharest, we were told very rudely that they are "not issuing visas" and told not to call back until we hear from them. 

So, if you called at the embassy/consulate in Japan, and got some more pertinent info or at least some kind of reassurance could you please share.

[JGG5 39]

2 minutes ago, roimmi said:

Hi,

 

I want to add to this since I would really like some more info. 

We were not asked for the DS-5540 form neither at the NVC stage nor at the embassy. We did have it filled out ready to hand over with evidence. 

 

We only submitted an I-864EZ form in which last year's income was way over the poverty line and the current income double of last year's since last year I only worked for 6 months.

We did not have nor were we asked for a cosponsor. 

 

We assumed it's the public charge injunction (since we the consul mentioned a recent ruling preventing him from issuing a visa) and given the timing of it (12 hr before).

 

https://fam.state.gov/FAM/Ct.aspx?VolumeID=09FAM

Here you can see that the actual communication to the Embassies was on the 30th and it modified the handbook on the public charge section and the affidavit of support (now blank).

AOS: https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM060114.html

Public Charge: https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM030208.html

I am not sure exactly if the timing matches given timezones. Workday hours in the 30th EST are basically the end of the day in Romania. My wife had her interview in the morning.

 

There is still some confusion as to why other consulates around the world are still emitting this kind of visa.

Also, when we called at the embassy in Bucharest, we were told very rudely that they are "not issuing visas" and told not to call back until we hear from them. 

So, if you called at the embassy/consulate in Japan, and got some more pertinent info or at least some kind of reassurance could you please share.

Hi there. I'm currently in the US and my wife is in Japan. She's been checking some kind of sms/blog where local Japanese are discussing their experiences with the embassy. Especially here recently. What she's hearing is that recent policy is preventing (221/admin processing) the embassy from issuing visas but they are still expecting applicants to leave their visa and the self addressed envelope. But other than that it sounds like the officers are waiting on guidance from above. The strange thing is that embassies in other countries seem to be issuing visas. This is also contradictory to what my wife has seen online. Apparently the embassy is saying the delay is global but there isn't much discussion on VJ about it. Nor Facebook. 

 

The embassies are so far behind as is and I just can't see how they can afford to waste anymore time. 

[roimmi 0]

5 minutes ago, JGG5 said:

Hi there. I'm currently in the US and my wife is in Japan. She's been checking some kind of sms/blog where local Japanese are discussing their experiences with the embassy. Especially here recently. What she's hearing is that recent policy is preventing (221/admin processing) the embassy from issuing visas but they are still expecting applicants to leave their visa and the self addressed envelope. But other than that it sounds like the officers are waiting on guidance from above. The strange thing is that embassies in other countries seem to be issuing visas. This is also contradictory to what my wife has seen online. Apparently the embassy is saying the delay is global but there isn't much discussion on VJ about it. Nor Facebook. 

 

The embassies are so far behind as is and I just can't see how they can afford to waste anymore time. 

Regarding visa issuance in other countries, quite the opposite is shown on VJ. Admittedly this a small sample and we cannot know how each case is influenced by the evidence. But it seems that in Japan and in Bucharest so far has happened like this. I am unsure why those two specific embassies are going through this. 

 

This case:

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?cfl=&id=349019

They had the same issue it seems but were later approved within a week.

 

In my case, my wife was not asked to leave her passport at the embassy and was told she will mail it later via courier. 

 

[carpfan 37]

19 minutes ago, JGG5 said:

Hi there. I'm currently in the US and my wife is in Japan. She's been checking some kind of sms/blog where local Japanese are discussing their experiences with the embassy. Especially here recently. What she's hearing is that recent policy is preventing (221/admin processing) the embassy from issuing visas but they are still expecting applicants to leave their visa and the self addressed envelope. But other than that it sounds like the officers are waiting on guidance from above. The strange thing is that embassies in other countries seem to be issuing visas. This is also contradictory to what my wife has seen online. Apparently the embassy is saying the delay is global but there isn't much discussion on VJ about it. Nor Facebook. 

 

The embassies are so far behind as is and I just can't see how they can afford to waste anymore time. 

Got a link to that blog by any chance? 

[JGG5 39]

33 minutes ago, roimmi said:

Regarding visa issuance in other countries, quite the opposite is shown on VJ. Admittedly this a small sample and we cannot know how each case is influenced by the evidence. But it seems that in Japan and in Bucharest so far has happened like this. I am unsure why those two specific embassies are going through this. 

 

This case:

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?cfl=&id=349019

They had the same issue it seems but were later approved within a week.

 

In my case, my wife was not asked to leave her passport at the embassy and was told she will mail it later via courier. 

 

He says he called in some favor from some heavy hitters in the state department. 

 

Either way the inconsistencies are annoying. 

 

My wife was telling me that some were given the option to leave their passports at the Tokyo embassy. I've seen others that said they were instructed to and now I'm seeing some were told to hold on to it. 

 

If I had more hair I'd pull it out. Unfortunately I don't have enough to spare.

[JGG5 39]

33 minutes ago, carpfan said:

Got a link to that blog by any chance? 

I think this link is to a specific thread but navigating the site might unlock more information.

 

https://daysintheusa.com/forums/topic/フリートーク/