nachocheese

Haven't replied in a while, but wanted to say that the fiancee has got the visa and everything couldn't have gone more smoothly. She said the interview was extremely easy and there was absolutely nothing to worry about. Maybe it is because Japan is considered a "low fraud" country, but she said about the hardest question was "what is his favorite food?"

Okay to clarify for everyone, the US citizen does NOT need a valid passport for any of this process. It does not matter that your passport is going to expire. The only passport that matters is the beneficiary's.

This is incorrect for the OP's case. Read the instructions for the I-129F. It very clearly states that in lieu of other documents (such as a birth certificate), the US citizen can use their passport to verify their citizenship as long as it has five years of validity on it. From what was said, it is looking like the OP was doing this and in this case the US citizen's passport's expiration date emphatically matter. It does say issued with a validity of 5 years- however, this part is open for interpretation. I (native English speaker) read it as it needs to have 5 years left on it- but maybe I just misread it. Why chance it though?

Hate to say it- but you might get an RFE and delay here unless you also sent in a copy of your birth certificate as the instructions leave little room for interpretation on the "five year validity".

Renewing an unexpired passport isn't anything unusual. I just went to the passport office with the renewal form/pictures, paid the passport fee, and waited about two weeks before receiving the new passport. They don't take your old passport during that two week period so you can still travel internationally if you want. When you get your new passport, however, they do "invalidate" your old one by punching holes in the ID page.

Make sure that when you send in the copy of your passport, you send in a copy of EVERY single page (including cover, info pages). I've heard of people getting and RFE because they only sent in a copy of the ID page.

Are you using your US passport to prove that you are a USA citizen?

If you look at the instructions for the 129-F, under the requirements it says:

"In place of any of the above, you may submit a copy of your valid, unexpired U.S. passport issued with a validity period of at least 5 years. You must submit copies of all pages in the passport."

For me, I live overseas with my fiancee and did not have my birth certificate on hand so I had to use the passport. I had to renew the passport at the Shanghai consulate and wait until I had the new passport in hand before I mailed in my 129-F.

My fiancee and I currently live in China together (we met here). She is Japanese and I am an American citizen.

We just got our NOA2 for the I-129F and are starting to anticipate some of the other material that we have to put together for the consulate interview (we are planning to do it in Tokyo).

One area of concern is the "certificate of no criminal activity" that she has to get for every country that she has lived for more than six months. For her- this is China and Japan. Japan and USA should not be an issue- but the timing of the China certificate is somewhat ambiguous.

I plan on staying in China until late February and she plans to go back to Japan in March and then on to USA whenever the visa is approved. For the Chinese police certificate, does she have to get that after she returns to Japan? Can she get the Chinese police certificate now, live in China for a few more months, and then use the certificate from December/January for the visa application even after returning to Japan?

I realize this is a somewhat oddball question and appreciate any insight that people have to give.

Best Regards,

Tim

We figured Japan consulate was a safer bet for the interview as Japan is somewhat of a "low fraud" country. China's embassy is also in a weird place (Guangzhou)- so travel from Shanghai is about the same to either Guangzhou or Tokyo.

We can take a asynchronous visit to Tokyo for the interview- that's no problem. She can also go over to USA early without a problem. The problem is more having the China police certificate on a skewed date from when she actually leaves China. I wonder if the Japanese consulate is going to ask something like "Did she commit some crime after she got the police certificate!?".

My fiancee and I currently live in China together. She is Japanese and I am an American citizen.

We just got our NOA2 for the I-129F and are starting to anticipate some of the other material that we have to put together for the consulate interview (we are planning to do it in Tokyo).

One area of concern is the "certificate of no criminal activity" that she has to get for every country that she has lived for more than six months. For her- this is USA, China, and Japan. Japan and USA should not be an issue- but the timing of the China certificate is somewhat ambiguous.

I plan on staying in China until late February and she plans to go back to Japan in March and then on to USA in May (or whenever the visa is approved). For the Chinese police certificate, does she have to get that after she returns to Japan? Can she get the Chinese police certificate now, live in China for a few more months, and then use the certificate from December/January for the visa application even after returning to Japan?

I realize this is a somewhat oddball question and appreciate any insight that people have to give.

Best Regards,

Tim

Hello everyone,

We also got our NOA2 today. Was I the only one that wasn't particularly nervous or worried about it? It seems like it is very process oriented- as long as you read the instructions adamantly and fill out the paperwork properly there is nothing really to worry about. Guess what I am trying to say is- don't worry so much :-p

Going to start reading what is needed for the interview in Japan.

Cheers

Got my NOA1 hard copy today in the mail. Sounding like California is keeping up the steam with their fast deliveries. Hoping for the best!

I got my NOA1 eNotification today. It was transferred to California for processing. I live in Asia with her so it is always nice waking up to this sort of news.

As a promising sign, today I checked my bank account statement and it looks like the check posted. This is definitely a promising sign as it shows that they at least opened the package and it is not floating in limbo somewhere.

I see! Thanks. Still no eNotification for me yet. I have been checking my bank account daily to see if the check has posted yet. I suppose that once they do that, it is a promising sign!

Just out of curiosity- what's the big deal of getting the NOA1 hard copy? Is this just for peace of mind- or is there some relevance to it? It seems that once you get the eNotification that this should be adequate enough.

The 129-F package was delivered today! I am actually living in Shanghai (I've been here on work assignment until February), but I am encouraged by the unusually fast turnarounds that have been reported. Looking forward to good news.