Visa Interview Advice

[MrJLLC 0]

Hello everyone. I could use some advise and a sounding board for a few concerns I have for my fiancé and I K1 visa application.

 

Short backstory and feel free to ask me to expand on anything that more detail helps:

 

Backstory

We met online on international cupid back in 2017. We were online friends for about a year until we realized we were only talking to each other and we were seeming and acting like couple. We continued to talk and began making plans to meet after I finished my college degree. Then Covid-19 hit. I am from the US and she, while Filipina, lives in Japan. We stayed together through the Covid mess. Once Japan opened its borders, I visited her four times since May 2023.

 

 

Troubles

My fiancé got in trouble in 2014ish when she visited her now ex husband on a tourist visa to Japan. The ex wound up in the hospital (heart attack resulting in surgery) and she overstayed her visa to be with him and wound up being picked up by Japanese immigration. She was never deported and wound up marrying her ex husband and was allowed to stay in country on a special visa for three years. However when it came time to renew her visa in 2018 (she had already separated from her husband by the time we met online) she was told she would need to self deport her self for a year and then she could reapply. She did that and has been an upstanding resident in Japan ever since. She got her divorced done a year ago (aug 2023) and we got engaged Jan 2024 right before we filed the 129F.

 

On the K1 visa application she answered yes to "Have you EVER been arrested, detained, or cited by the police or any other law enforcement officer?" question. 

 

The concern is what kind of bearing will that have on the decision process? She does have her previous passport which shows the voluntary deportation and her current passport does show lawful readmittance to Japan. 

 

She is so worried that will cause problems. If anyone has thoughts or advice, I would be very thankful for it.

 

She has a K1 visa interview scheduled for early Oct at the US Embassy in Tokyo and I have made plans to be there with her if allowed to wait in the embassy while she attends the appointment.

 

Thank you so much in advance!!!

Edited August 13 by MrJLLC

[Yareth 32]

I believe she will be alright. As long as she gives honest and clear answers, there is little to worry about. Her history shows compliance with the law after an overstay, with the overstay being under exceptional circumstances. They have all the documentation they need to make an informed judgement. 
 

She will probably be questioned about the situation, but there is nothing to hide. 

[Jason and May 76]

21 hours ago, MrJLLC said:

Hello everyone. I could use some advise and a sounding board for a few concerns I have for my fiancé and I K1 visa application.

 

Short backstory and feel free to ask me to expand on anything that more detail helps:

 

Backstory

We met online on international cupid back in 2017. We were online friends for about a year until we realized we were only talking to each other and we were seeming and acting like couple. We continued to talk and began making plans to meet after I finished my college degree. Then Covid-19 hit. I am from the US and she, while Filipina, lives in Japan. We stayed together through the Covid mess. Once Japan opened its borders, I visited her four times since May 2023.

 

 

Troubles

My fiancé got in trouble in 2014ish when she visited her now ex husband on a tourist visa to Japan. The ex wound up in the hospital (heart attack resulting in surgery) and she overstayed her visa to be with him and wound up being picked up by Japanese immigration. She was never deported and wound up marrying her ex husband and was allowed to stay in country on a special visa for three years. However when it came time to renew her visa in 2018 (she had already separated from her husband by the time we met online) she was told she would need to self deport her self for a year and then she could reapply. She did that and has been an upstanding resident in Japan ever since. She got her divorced done a year ago (aug 2023) and we got engaged Jan 2024 right before we filed the 129F.

 

On the K1 visa application she answered yes to "Have you EVER been arrested, detained, or cited by the police or any other law enforcement officer?" question. 

 

The concern is what kind of bearing will that have on the decision process? She does have her previous passport which shows the voluntary deportation and her current passport does show lawful readmittance to Japan. 

 

She is so worried that will cause problems. If anyone has thoughts or advice, I would be very thankful for it.

 

She has a K1 visa interview scheduled for early Oct at the US Embassy in Tokyo and I have made plans to be there with her if allowed to wait in the embassy while she attends the appointment.

 

Thank you so much in advance!!!

I've read a lot of stories about beneficiaries having overstays in other countries, and it almost always ends with things working out just fine. 

As long as she obtains her police clearance certificate from Japan, I imagine she will be just fine. Since she is not applying from within the United States and since the arrest did not occur within the United States, police reports and other documents are not required. (My wife is going through something similar, and I had to check into this because we were both concerned she might need police reports for her overstay in another country.)