Tourist visa from Japan to the USA (questions)

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Read the guide using a PC when you have a chance.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

No... I did not say that she should lie. I mentioned before that I have been told by several different people to either tell the truth or lie, and I was unsure if either was true. That is why I asked for someone on here to tell me.

You're American, right? Have you known the US to be a place where you lie to the gov to get ahead?

[p-ana 933]

The application goes to a lockbox located in Texas, if the application is approved it will eventually go to her country's embassy for interview. It can be her country of residence or country of origin.

[Chris and ZhiJia 146]

Really? She can do that in Japan? (I was told that it had to be the country of origin. Still, I do think that I could help her apply for the fiancée visa in Vietnam as I want to properly meet her family and ask for their blessings.) That way they can trust me with her daughter.

Would I have to be present in Japan if we do the K-1 in that country? Sorry, I'm typing on my iPhone and cannot re-read the other comments so that I can add them to this post, so I do apologize for that if I get some things wrong.

EDIT: Oh, you mean if we apply for the K-1 in Vietnam, she can get things processed in Japan?

Since you are living in the US, you cannot file for the K-1 in any country other than the US. Please take the time to visit the forums from a PC where you can read the guides found here.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/guides

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

You will want to do some of the process while she is with you, as you will need her signature on some of the documents.

[Rc123rc 528]

I have seen a number of Japanese blogs that say it's not a good idea to say "visiting boyfriend or fiance" in the U.S. because it results in a visa denial or turned back at the POE. Now, with that being said. Absolutely tell the truth at all times. Yes, the fact she is Vietnamese is a possible red flag but, it doesn't matter. Choose the right path, do the right thing.

[Jmeyer1987 0]

Why would my girlfriend being Vietnamese be a red flag? And people have MISREAD what I said. I have been told two things; tell the truth about the tourist visa or lie about it, and I was asking about either one. I was not saying that I want her to lie about it if she does the tourist visa.

I cannot pull up the links to two of those pages on the K1 forms. The links for DS-156K and DS-230 don't come up right.

[EmilyW 1,514]

High level of immigration fraud coming out of Vietnam. That's why more scrutiny might be applied to her application.

[Rc123rc 528]

High level of immigration fraud coming out of Vietnam. That's why more scrutiny might be applied to her application.

What EmilyW said. Vietnamese nationals need to show higher amount of ties to home country because it's a high risk fraud country.

[Jmeyer1987 0]

That's interesting. I was not even aware of that, or even heard that. I mean, I've heard of problems mainly with people coming out of the Philippines, but never Vietnam.

After this post, I have to wait until the newbie restriction for the forums is lifted tomorrow. So please, if any people comment further on my thread, do not be so harsh on me. I'm still learning all of this information, and if you have anything helpful that you want to add by giving me advice, please do so. I will mention that I'm autistic so sometimes I do not understand things fully, but if you explain them in detail and are patient with me, it will be easier for me to understand.

But as I mentioned on the last post I made, for some reason the DS-156K and the DS-230 are not coming up for me on the Visa Journey page that Chris provided. Is someone able to post links to forms/PDFs of those for me? They are on the K1 download page.

[EmilyW 1,514]

Oh man, I feel bad now. My son has autism and I know how tricky it can be for him to interpret things. Sorry man!

Re the forms, I just tried to open them without issue. If you're using a phone, that could be the problem perhaps?

[jan22 3,056]

There is no way you are ready for the DS forms. Read the K-1 guide, as recommended....the process begins first with a petition (I-129F) filed with USCIS in the US. It takes 4-6 months to get that approved and only then will you fill out the visa application forms. Until then, you won't be able to access them.

Edited June 14, 2016 by jan22

[p-ana 933]

The ds156 is not used anymore. For k1s, it's the ds160 but only when the time for the interview comes. It's a long way ahead

[KierenHby 899]

This is my first post on this forum, as I was told about it from my childhood friend's husband who is from Italy.

I have been told by different people (mostly foreigners from different Asian countries who live in my city) that with some questions, you have to answer either truthfully or downright deny that she knows me during the interview and lie where she's going when she is visiting me.

So what is it that she should do for the tourist visa? Be truthful or deny/lie?

Ummm.. Seriously?

Welcome.. and oh, never lie.

[mallafri76 1,012]

As others have said, she should tell the truth. On one of my VWP trips to the US, when asked for reason for visit, I told the truth, which was marrying my fiance. No issues whatsoever. Make sure you girlfriend bring ample evidence of strong ties to her country of residence. If she's a legal resident of Japan, bring proof of job/school whatever she's doing in Japan, mortgage/rental agreement, does she own a car. Anything that shows that she has something to return to in Japan.

[JFH 12,191]

Remember that she will have to write the address where she is staying on the blue customs form to hand to the officer when she arrives. These forms are gathered up by customs employees as the passengers pass through the airport. They keep these forms. Someone then has the unenviable task of entering all these addresses into the database. I know this because my husband moved. On my next visit to see him I used the new address. I got to the CBP desk and handed the officer my passport and he typed in the computer, looked at the form (with the new address on) and said "what's the purpose of your visit?" I said "to see my husband". He asked me "where does he live?" and I repeated the address on the form. He said "for the last three years you have been coming here and staying at 3845 xxxx street in zzzzz city. Who lives there? Why didn't you stay with your husband before?" I explained that the other address was my husband's previous address and he had moved since I last visited.

If she says she's just going sightseeing and then provides a residential address whilst claiming not to know anyone and then an individual at that same address subsequently files a K-1 for her.... It won't look good. It's not against the law to have a partner in another country. It's not against the law to meet people online. It's not against the law to visit your love interest in another country. It's absolutely against the law to lie to an immigration officer.

Edited June 14, 2016 by JFH