All Japan Filers

[GreenPaddy 3]

Hello everyone,

New Japan filer here. Thought I'd introduce myself and start a Q/A record for future couples. We just got our NOA1 from CSC (was VERY happy to find we were forwarded there) yesterday. If all current timeline info is correct enough to go on, we estimate it'll take 2-3 months' to clear CSC and NVC.

About us: I'm currently in North Carolina and my I-129F was received at the Dallas Lockbox on 10/30/15. NOA1 arrived at my place on 11/9/15 with an I-129F received date of 11/3/15. Misaki is currently living in Shiga Prefecture and will be doing most of her stuff there wherever possible. This is my second K-1, my ex-wife is a Canadian citizen who still has approx. 20 quarters of work left on my original I-134 before I'm no longer responsible for her. I'm not quite sure how these two things may affect the process, but I'll keep everyone updated if it becomes an issue.

Questions for recent K-1 filers:

1. How long did it take to get the visa from the day you got your NOA2 until the day the passport with visa arrived?

2. What required elements; documents etc, were you able to get taken care of before receiving Packet 3, where were you located, and what sort of documentation was required? We all know and "love" the Japanese need for a paper trail of official documents.

3. Did you encounter any procedural hang-ups from NOA2 through to the interview? If so, how did you deal with them?

4. Medical check- Assuming you had to travel to a designated clinic, when did you schedule your check-up for in relation to the interview (day before, week before, etc)?

5. How long did it take to get all of the official documents translated to English, and what company/service did you use?

Glad to be a part of this fine community,

Phil

Hi ShimizuPhil san, I'm moving to NC too. Congrats on your NOA1!

First of all I think you had better ask in the general K-1 forum about any implications concerning your I-134 financials.

And document-wise, your fiancee will make police certificate(s) from foreign country a priority because it might take a long time.

1. NOA2 to packet in hand: 1 month and 3 days

2. Love of paperwork is not only for Tokyo! ; )

Your fiancee can prepare:

a) a copy of your current passport's biographic data page 現在有効なパスポートの写真と氏名の記載があるページのコピー

b) a copy of US visas in your passport(s) if any

　　　　今まで取得したアメリカのビザのコピー（学生ビザなど、紛失の場合はその旨をメモ書き。ESTAはビザではないので必要ない）

c) Two photographs with the white background(see requirements)　<-- she can wait till receiving packet from embassy

　　　　背景が白の写真2枚（有効期限は6カ月。面接日に写真が有効であれば、再度提出の必要ない）

　　Above a) to c) are what she will be required to send to embassy on receiving the packet.

These are the items she'll need to submit at the day of the interview:

a) 1 color photo (put in plastic bag) <-- but the embassy says at the end of instruction "please disregard items you have already handed in"

b) current passport (must be valid for six months beyond the intended date of entry into the US)

c) DS-160 confirmation page <-- she can't prepare this until receiving the packet

d) Family Register with English translation, any other civil documents if applicable

e) I-134 Affidavit of Support and/or evidence of other financial support

<-- check this on embassy site carefully! Get your employer's letter if you are an employee

f) Police Certificate(s) from each country in which she has resided for more than six months or longer after the age of 16

<-- obtaining foreign police certificate is the priority.

In principle she can only get Shiga police certificate after packet 3. She can check Shiga police requirement on the web or call them

g) court and prison records, military records, if applicable

h) medical examination report <-- she can't prepare this at the moment

We submitted a new Affidavit of Intent of Marry from both of us and new pictures after the petition as per the VJ instruction.

I felt the interviewers liked to see our pictures because it tells a lot.

3. luckily no mishandling from USCIS. The embassy here is very effective so you could ask anything by email once she receives the packet.

4. Medical exam should be just before the interview because it is the starting point to count the validity of K-1 visa.

She can get immunization shots now at her local clinic. It isn't covered by insurance but it will be cheaper than having them in embassy-designated clinic

at the day of checkup. And it is not good for her body to take multiple shots in a day. Note she cannot get pregnant for 6 months after inoculation.

5. All you need is English translation of her Family Register (Koseki Shohon戸籍抄本、not Tohon戸籍謄本 which includes all her family).

I heard you need someone's translation testimony for Shohon so got a friend's signature and used self-service (me).

Not sure if you need a third party's signature though. I can give you the template of English trans if you need.

OK, good luck !!!

[gaiaslastlaugh 1]

1. How long did it take to get the visa from the day you got your NOA2 until the day the passport with visa arrived?

About 3-1/2 months. We received NOA2 near the end of July, and just received the visa last week.

2. What required elements; documents etc, were you able to get taken care of before receiving Packet 3, where were you located, and what sort of documentation was required? We all know and "love" the Japanese need for a paper trail of official documents.

I sent over my I-134 to Aya as soon as we received our NOA2. I also sent printouts of our Line chats (all in Japanese) as further proof of ongoing relationship, a signed statement from my bank re: my deposits, a letter from my employer, and a printout of my holdings in my brokerage account (mainly unvested RSUs with my current employer). Aya waited until she received official notice from the Embassy before we began collecting documents on her end, after which she went to the 役所 to get her family registry and to the 警察庁 to get her police report.

3. Did you encounter any procedural hang-ups from NOA2 through to the interview? If so, how did you deal with them?

None. It was all very smooth. The only tiny blip was that Aya was interviewed by an American who spoke only passable Japanese, and at one point she couldn't understand what she was asking, so they brought in a native speaker to pinch-hit for him.

4. Medical check- Assuming you had to travel to a designated clinic, when did you schedule your check-up for in relation to the interview (day before, week before, etc)?

Aya had her medical and interview in Tokyo. Aya was told by the Embassy to schedule her interview after her medical was completed. There are apparently only two hospitals serving the Kantou region （関東地方） that do the visa medicals, and they only do them on Mondays and Tuesdays, so it took almost a month to get this. After it was completed, she scheduled the interview, which happened about three weeks later.

5. How long did it take to get all of the official documents translated to English, and what company/service did you use?

Uuuhhh, good question I'm not sure she had her family registry translated, though she might have. I'll ask. I know I didn't get anything else translated, including the pages of documentation we submitted for relationship support (Aya only speaks Japanese currently, so none of our correspondence is in English). We didn't have any issues with this.

[TheSuzukis 0]

Good evening fellow Japan-ers,
My husband is driving me crazy. I told him we needed his birth certificate, so he asked city hall for it, and they said "Humm, that is only given out in really really important legal matters, like court, how about your Koseki Touhon?" To which he was like "Sure! Souds good."
I JUST looked at it, and it only has OUR names on it. With of course his DOB, parents names etc in his information area, but still.
I feel like I have read 100s of times that the Koseki Touhon isn't what is needed. Please please tell me I am wrong and I don't have to bash my head against the cement wall that is the stubborness of my beloved spouse.

[GreenPaddy 3]

Hi Suzuki san, in Japan Koseki Touhon or Koseki Shouhon (Family Register) is used as birth certificate.

Sounds like he got the Shouhon (short version) because there's only you two's names on?

For a Japanese citizen that's what you will submit to US embassy, with an English translation.

[TheSuzukis 0]

THANK YOU! Green-san
Now I just have to figure out how to work out my sponsor paperwork (using a joint sponsor) and we'll be set! (Fingers crossed!)

[neocarbunkle 2]

Hi, I apologize in advance if I posted this in the wrong place, but I've been reading about the police clearance and I'm getting different answers on my question. Since they are sealed but NVC requires copies, do we send the sealed original police clearance as part of the IV package? Or do we not send it and bring it during the interview? Thank you in advance for the help.

NVC told me I needed to submit the police clearance to them. This thing really confused me and cost me valuable time.

[neocarbunkle 2]

Hey everyone. I just want to introduce myself and get an idea of what I can expect going forward.

My wife and I have been married for over two years. I sort of dragged my feet on the paper work, but right now I am dealing with the NVC. They have all of my documents, but since my wife was born in China while her parents (Japanese) were working abroad, they originally sent a letter saying that the birth certificate was from the wrong issuing organization. I wrote back explaining the situation, and how the family register I submitted shows that her birth registration was done at the Japanese embassy in China. They have that letter, but now I am just waiting for them to read it. It has been about 20 days since they got it, so most likely I should hear back from them in the near future. Hopefully, once that is done, we can move on to the embassy in Tokyo.

So if we were finished with NVC on November 25th (just pulling a date out of the air), when do you think we could actually get the visa?

I'm trying to decide if I should purchase an airplane ticket for back to the US.

We actually both lived in China for a year after we got married and we went form China to the US. She went in on VWP and was here for just under 90 days. She flew back to Japan recently and is currently living with her mother. The ticket I bought was a round trip ticket (pretty much the same cost as a one way which I never understood) and it has a trip to the US on January 18th. My wife suffers from anxiety disorders, so this trip of hers has been really difficult. I am trying to decide if I should put out the money to get her back to the US for another 90 days and make her go back to Japan again when the interview is scheduled, or just wait it out and hope things happen very quickly.

[Project_Harajuku 28]

Ok so currently I'm working on getting the police certificate from my home country. My home country requires a copy of my fingerprints: can I get this done at the Japanese police station?

[Maria4Garrett 5]

Ok so currently I'm working on getting the police certificate from my home country. My home country requires a copy of my fingerprints: can I get this done at the Japanese police station?

Where is your "home country" ?

If you are living in Japan , you can get police certificate from where you are presently living.

[Project_Harajuku 28]

Where is your "home country" ?

If you are living in Japan , you can get police certificate from where you are presently living.

Jamaica - I guess I should've said "birth country" lol. Yes I will get the certificate from the police station in Japan but I also need one from Jamaica as well. In order to get that done I need a set of fingerprints.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Project_Harajuku

[Maria4Garrett 5]

Jamaica - I guess I should've said "birth country" lol. Yes I will get the certificate from the police station in Japan but I also need one from Jamaica as well. In order to get that done I need a set of fingerprints.

Japanese certificates are only within Japan.

You have to complete the requirements from your home country , if they can't do that your home country's consulate/embassy office.

[Maria4Garrett 5]

Good evening fellow Japan-ers,

My husband is driving me crazy. I told him we needed his birth certificate, so he asked city hall for it, and they said "Humm, that is only given out in really really important legal matters, like court, how about your Koseki Touhon?" To which he was like "Sure! Souds good."

I JUST looked at it, and it only has OUR names on it. With of course his DOB, parents names etc in his information area, but still.

I feel like I have read 100s of times that the Koseki Touhon isn't what is needed. Please please tell me I am wrong and I don't have to bash my head against the cement wall that is the stubborness of my beloved spouse.

Koseki touhon is a family registry documents, where details on birth, divorce or death of all family members are written.

Koseki shouhon is an individual's registry record. It is an extraction from koseki touhon.

I submitted my son's koseki shouhon as his birth certificate and we didn't get any problems with it.

Good luck on your journey.

[Project_Harajuku 28]

Japanese certificates are only within Japan.

You have to complete the requirements from your home country , if they can't do that your home country's consulate/embassy office.

I know that part. I was just wondering if there were any non-Japanese residents who got their fingerprints done at the police station to their birth country for processing. Practically speaking I can't fly home just to get that done so everything will be processed from Japan. I've contacted the Jamaican embassy in Tokyo so I'll see what can be done.

I also see on the U.S. embassy website where they say I can come in to do the fingerprinting there so I'll just do that and report my experience in case any one else is in the same situation. Thanks!

[Maria4Garrett 5]

I know that part. I was just wondering if there were any non-Japanese residents who got their fingerprints done at the police station to their birth country for processing. Practically speaking I can't fly home just to get that done so everything will be processed from Japan. I've contacted the Jamaican embassy in Tokyo so I'll see what can be done.

I also see on the U.S. embassy website where they say I can come in to do the fingerprinting there so I'll just do that and report my experience in case any one else is in the same situation. Thanks!

I am a non-Japanese and was a resident for 15 years in Japan. I had my fingerprints done at my birth country's embassy in Tokyo and personally sent the paperwork to my family there to process it and sent back to me the complete police certificate.

Would be best to check your consular office.

Good luck to your journey

[Cristina375 7]

Ok so currently I'm working on getting the police certificate from my home country. My home country requires a copy of my fingerprints: can I get this done at the Japanese police station?

My country didn't need fingerprints so I have no experience with that, I only needed a power of attorney so my sister can apply on my behalf in my home country which I had done at the romanian embassy.

My best bet would be to get it done with/through your birth country's consulate.