I could use some advice on what to do.

[neocarbunkle 2]

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 her to come 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.

Also kind of a side question, what is NOA 1 and NOA 2? I have spent so much time trying to figure this whole process out, but I still don't know what they are.

[Ryan H 3,834]

NOA1 is VJ vernacular for the receipt notice sent by USCIS indicating they received your paperwork and the service center it is being sent to.

NOA2 is VJ vernacular for the decision notice sent by USCIS indicating what decision they made (approved or denied) on your paperwork.

[neocarbunkle 2]

So once I am at NVC, I won't be getting a NOA?

[Ryan H 3,834]

So once I am at NVC, I won't be getting a NOA?

Communication to/from the NVC is explained here: http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process