All Japan Filers

[Anonymous 57 0]

A month's notice to quit is standard in Japan, according to my husband. The opposite happened to us though, his company knew that he was going to the US in a few months (or so we had thought before I was forced to go to war with the USCIS and Tokyo Embassy) so they went against their initial agreement by making him quit early because they "had enough people" after making him train his own replacement. The whole employment system there is completely different and somewhat ridiculous at times, in my opinion, so good luck with that.

Akiko - Dude no fair, we got our biometrics and we still haven't gotten any updates. It took us a while too at biometrics too, they fingerprinted him at least five times, put some gunk on his hands, tried again, asked him to go to the bathroom to wash said gunk off his hands, and apparently made due with a substandard handprint because his hands are completely covered in knife scars from his work. Double bummer. Oh well, at least we can go rob some banks while we're waiting for our EAD, what with him having no fingerprints and all.

[Chris&Kirara 0]

Thanks you two. My fiance is in a similar situation as osakalove's fiance. I have been telling her the same thing, but her boss is very degrading telling how childish and selfish that she is. It makes her start feeling guilty, but I have been telling here the same stuff as you and more. She finally went in and told them she might just stop showing up, but they were telling her they would call her and come to her house, blah, blah, blah and try to make her come back. She is starting to get more aggravated at them and starting to take the more "American Culture Approach".

[Kyle and Krystel 0]

hello Japan friends, i havent post for awhile and was busy with school and work..after a month of waiting I got 2nd mail from embassy requesting another docs from for the second time.They requested me to send the following:

1. Identity Document

a. Preliminary Interview Form

b. All prior passport and/or an explanation why they are not available

c. Reason the birth certificate was registered more than 6months after the date of birth.

2.Relationship Related Documents

a. The circumtances of initial meeting and on going relationship

Now, me and my fiance all bit confused if do i have to send my whole passport to the embassy or juz a copy. But, before the requested me all these docs I sent them the first doc the requet and this one is the second requested docs. Please vj member whoever had the same experience please share..any advice/help wud be appreciate..And oh im Foreign here in Japan.Thank you so much for the time reading my post

[Justin and Masako 0]

My wife told her company that she would be moving to the US and would be quitting but she gave them a good 7 months of notice. Even then they wanted her to finish the year with them. Still she left under good circumstances. We are going back for New Years and she is staying thru January, she mentioned that to a friend who works in the same department she did (as she wanted to get together for dinner with her) and she was offered a short term (1 week) job during January to help with end of year accounting stuff. But from what I have heard from many others that isn't the most common place. I have heard a lot of horror stories about employment in Japan. Mostly having to do with foreign workers at Japanese companies but also heard a few about Japanese workers.

Thanks you two. My fiance is in a similar situation as osakalove's fiance. I have been telling her the same thing, but her boss is very degrading telling how childish and selfish that she is. It makes her start feeling guilty, but I have been telling here the same stuff as you and more. She finally went in and told them she might just stop showing up, but they were telling her they would call her and come to her house, blah, blah, blah and try to make her come back. She is starting to get more aggravated at them and starting to take the more "American Culture Approach".

[redglasses 1]

My wife told her company that she would be moving to the US and would be quitting but she gave them a good 7 months of notice. Even then they wanted her to finish the year with them. Still she left under good circumstances. We are going back for New Years and she is staying thru January, she mentioned that to a friend who works in the same department she did (as she wanted to get together for dinner with her) and she was offered a short term (1 week) job during January to help with end of year accounting stuff. But from what I have heard from many others that isn't the most common place. I have heard a lot of horror stories about employment in Japan. Mostly having to do with foreign workers at Japanese companies but also heard a few about Japanese workers.

Thanks you two. My fiance is in a similar situation as osakalove's fiance. I have been telling her the same thing, but her boss is very degrading telling how childish and selfish that she is. It makes her start feeling guilty, but I have been telling here the same stuff as you and more. She finally went in and told them she might just stop showing up, but they were telling her they would call her and come to her house, blah, blah, blah and try to make her come back. She is starting to get more aggravated at them and starting to take the more "American Culture Approach".

Too bad many companies don't comply with the labor law. According to it, you can quit your job 14 days after the resignation notice even the company doesn't agree with it. If they don't let you quit, the labor standards supervision office (roudou kijun kantokusho) would be a good place to get help.

[Akiko 0]

Just letting everyone know that I received my employment authorization card in the mail today.

Quitting a company is indeed difficult in Japan. Good luck.

[Chris&Kirara 0]

Well she passed the interview Monday She told me she had a very nice American lady and spoke English the whole time. She said she saw some people speaking Japanese. The lady asked her who (enter my name) was, and Kirara started giving her a bunch of information. She told them I was her fiance, where we met, how me met, how long we had, been together, etc. Then the lady asked were we would live at. Asked her, "isn't Arkansas in the middle of nowhere?" Asked how both of our familys felt about our engagement. Asked how I proposed. I think that was it..... Then the lady told her congratulations you are getting a visa. She told me that she saw the file that I made and the lady was looking through it. She wasn't asked to show any other proof, but she take a photo book from Snapfish, just incase they asked. We "practiced" a lot of questions, so she would feel more comfortable answering questions. Instead of giving one or two word answers, I tried to get her to volunteer a little bit of information. I reminded her not to lie, and tell them to repeat the question or tell them that you do not know. We are pretty "simple case" We dated for almost 4 years before I proposed and met through mutual friends at college. She didn't get there until 9:00 and had to wait about 3 hours all together. Thanks for all the advise!

I will have to tell her to look into the kijun kantokusho. She was reading something on the company website about possibly a fine for quiting early. She is a "national worker" or something like that. She talked to her boss' boss and he told her he would have to let her know later when she can quite. She wants to do the "right thing" and leave on good terms, but they are making it difficult for her.

Have to start prepairing for AOS now

[Akiko 0]

Congratulations Chris&Kirara!

Good luck to your fiancee with her job also.

I just received my interview letter for my AOS. I didn't expect it to come right after my EAD.

My interview in scheduled for Jan 21, 2010. I have to start gathering all my papers (again) for this final step.

I'm ready to start the new year with good news

[Justin and Masako 0]

おめでとございます！

Congratulations Chris&Kirara!

Well she passed the interview Monday She told me she had a very nice American lady and spoke English the whole time. She said she saw some people speaking Japanese. The lady asked her who (enter my name) was, and Kirara started giving her a bunch of information. She told them I was her fiance, where we met, how me met, how long we had, been together, etc. Then the lady asked were we would live at. Asked her, "isn't Arkansas in the middle of nowhere?" Asked how both of our familys felt about our engagement. Asked how I proposed. I think that was it..... Then the lady told her congratulations you are getting a visa. She told me that she saw the file that I made and the lady was looking through it. She wasn't asked to show any other proof, but she take a photo book from Snapfish, just incase they asked. We "practiced" a lot of questions, so she would feel more comfortable answering questions. Instead of giving one or two word answers, I tried to get her to volunteer a little bit of information. I reminded her not to lie, and tell them to repeat the question or tell them that you do not know. We are pretty "simple case" We dated for almost 4 years before I proposed and met through mutual friends at college. She didn't get there until 9:00 and had to wait about 3 hours all together. Thanks for all the advise!

I will have to tell her to look into the kijun kantokusho. She was reading something on the company website about possibly a fine for quiting early. She is a "national worker" or something like that. She talked to her boss' boss and he told her he would have to let her know later when she can quite. She wants to do the "right thing" and leave on good terms, but they are making it difficult for her.

Have to start prepairing for AOS now

[netsatwork 0]

A question for those that have gone through the interview process in Tokyo: I am going to Japan to be with my fiancee during the interview process. Does anyone know if I can go into the actual interview with her? The consulate info page on VJ seems to suggest that I can, but I wanted to see if anyone had actually done it.

Thanks!

[redglasses 1]

A question for those that have gone through the interview process in Tokyo: I am going to Japan to be with my fiancee during the interview process. Does anyone know if I can go into the actual interview with her? The consulate info page on VJ seems to suggest that I can, but I wanted to see if anyone had actually done it.

Thanks!

Yes, you can.

There are usually many USC fiance(e)s/spouses accompanying their non-USC partner for the final interview.

Make sure you bring your official ID so you can get into the embassy.

[M -and- A 3]

Sachie was finally granted a Jan. 25th 2010 interview date by NVC. After tracking the arrival of the package from NVC to the US Embassy Tokyo, I used the web form to request the earliest possible interview date. They called her today and told her she has a Jan. 4th 2010 date now.. the wait is almost over...

Edited December 21, 2009 by Mike & Sachie

[Johnny & Yumi 0]

Congrats to Chris and Kirara for passing the interview!

Good Luck to Mike and Sachie, and to Netsatwork for their upcoming interviews!

Yumi and I just completed her AOS stuff and mailed it yesterday. Although if we had done it a few weeks earlier, we could've avoided the 20 minute wait at the post office. We hope that everyone else is doing well, and wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

[Chris&Kirara 0]

Congrats....Everyone have a Merry Christmas

[DerekJ 0]

hello Japan friends, i havent post for awhile and was busy with school and work..after a month of waiting I got 2nd mail from embassy requesting another docs from for the second time.They requested me to send the following:

1. Identity Document

a. Preliminary Interview Form

b. All prior passport and/or an explanation why they are not available

c. Reason the birth certificate was registered more than 6months after the date of birth.

2.Relationship Related Documents

a. The circumtances of initial meeting and on going relationship

Now, me and my fiance all bit confused if do i have to send my whole passport to the embassy or juz a copy. But, before the requested me all these docs I sent them the first doc the requet and this one is the second requested docs. Please vj member whoever had the same experience please share..any advice/help wud be appreciate..And oh im Foreign here in Japan.Thank you so much for the time reading my post

Quitting is nothing compared to trying to get a vacation of any more than a week to come to the US for my fiancee. Last time, Fumie was on the ground here 5 days before she had to be on her way back....and that was after her boss canceled her prior date at virtually the last minute because he needed her to work. I had to fight with the airline to recover half the airfare.