undependable

Hey everyone, after a month or so I think I've finally collected everything I need. Below is a table of contents of stuff I am including, theres also a few big questions if anyone can answer!

Question A: There's a lot of non applicable spaces on my I-130 and I-130a forms, do I write N/A or just leave them blank? My mother who does a ton of paperwork says I should only write N/A in response to a question.

Question B: I got a certified/notarized translation of our wedding certificate (japanese)  from an online website, do I need to send in the original with the signature or just make a copy of it?

Question C: I both met and lived with her during multiple tourist entry and exit visas. We don't have any kind of joint finances. I've put in notarized affidavits of bonafide marriage(from my parents and a mutual friend in japan), photos of us in the 2 years we knew each other (including when our parents met each other), photo copies of my passport entry and exit stamps, and some photos of our text messages in the last 2 years (it would be a 200 page printout if I used them all)

Will this be enough to establish a bonafide marriage? I'm not sure what else I can add.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much.

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To whom it may concern: Below is a table of contents for my CR-1 Visa application. I pray I have filled out everything correctly and I can be reunited with the love of my life someday soon.

 

1. Check for $535 to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

2. I-130

3. I-130a

4. Photo Copy of my full birth certificate front to back.

5. Copy of my marriage certificate(in japanese) with certified and notarized translation.

6. Two passport sized photos of both me and my wife

7. Evidence of Bonafide marriage:

·        Sworn affidavits from my parents that our marriage is legitimate. Also one from a mutual friend in Japan

·        Copies of my Visa entries in Exits into Japan during 2016-17

·        Photos of our time together including when our parents met in person.

·        Photos of dated text messages between us between 2016-17

Hey guys! I dearly hope I can get an answer if anyone knows about this. I met my wife while hitchhiking and lived with her in japan for many months on a tourist visa, so I don't have much evidence to establish a Bonafide marriage.

My parents and a few of my friends have written letters to support our marriage, that include place of birth, ect, ect.

Question 1: Yesterday my mother took hers to a public notary at work and the notary was confused as to how my mother should notarize it. She said there were two options, and Acknowledgement and a Jurat.

She said a Jurat would mean that my mother would have to swear in front of her that the info is correct. An Acknowledgment means she is acknowledging her signature. Which one is the one she and my other friends and family need?

Question 2: My wife translated our marriage certificate(she speaks perfect english), but I was unable to get it notarized before I left Japan. Am I able to get it notarized here? Or this is impossible because I am not the translator? Do I need to get a japanese translator and a notary in a room together?

Also, for those specificly married to a Japanese woman/man, I used the translation provided on the US/Japan embassy website. There is space for a "seal" I have no idea what that is for, unless its for a japanese citizens Inkan. Link below.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

https://jp.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/205/2016/09/fsmall.pdf

15 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Totally understandable. I think if working right away is really important for you guys, the CR-1 is really the only way to go. Unfortunately spending time apart is required in this process...the only people who don't have to are us lucky folk who can do DCF. Other than that, everyone has to wait.

 

She can visit you in the US on the VWP. For those who can, that helps ease the time apart for a lot of couples.

That's actually really good to know. Being from Japan (a country in the VWP) can she just grab a ticket to the US and visit me whenever? I was under the impression that when a CR-1 Visa is pending this was frowned upon (or not even possible). That might considerably ease the strain of separation.

2 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I don't have personal experience with this, but I've seen on VJ that if the spouse gets a job offer, then the EAD can be expedited. Again, I don't know the in's and out's of how it works myself or how much faster it makes it, but it's something to also consider.

 

And I agree with @aleful that 3-4 months is a much more realistic waiting time for EAD.

 

You can live with your wife in Japan while the CR-1 is processing, by the way. So, if that's an option, you could still do the CR-1 and just stay together there while it's processing. Getting a Japanese spouse visa is a thousand times easier than getting a US one. I have personal experience with that and I can tell you it's disturbingly easy.

Thanks for the kind reply. Unfortunately, I have a good job offer back in cali that is far more then I could get here. Ironically unless the housing market becomes less insane we would probably move back to Japan in the long run, nice to know that part will be less of a nightmare.

1 minute ago, aleful said:

hi

 

if you decide to go the k1 route, expect her to not be able to work for 3 or 4 months, that's how long the EAD can take

 

just bear that in mind before you decide to change things. she won't be able to work immediately, it will take a while

 

on the other hand, if you pursue the CR1, she will be able to start to work right away,

 

 

The finances would not be an unbearable strain, but she would not be happy being a couch potato for 3-4 months. If that is the norm and 1-2 months is totally unrealistic...I guess CR-1 might be the way to go.

Hey everyone.  Long story short, I was planning to legally marry my Japanese fiancé (in Japan) in week. While we always planned on getting married, the initial reasoning behind getting married in Japan was I thought it would be an easy and quick way to enable her to come live and work in the US with me. California right now is so expensive a 1 income situation would be difficult to maintain, she's also an active woman and does not want to be stuck on a couch for X amount of months.

However,  it looks like the application time for a CR-1 Visa is potentially a year or even more. This is a brutal amount of time to be separated.

Can anyone give me advice on how long it takes to get an Adjustment of Status and EAD(work permit) approved on average?(if we file the paperwork immediately after she arrives/we marry in the US). If the timeline for a K-1 Visa is around 7 months, and generally no more then a 2 month wait to get an EAD, it seems like it might be better to cancel the marriage and pursue this path instead.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hey everybody, a quick run down of my situation. I have collected all the paperwork necessary and will be married to my fiance in 3 days in Japan (she is a Japanese citizen). I will return to the US on June 19th this month and send in my I-130 before the month ends. 

My intent is to bring my spouse to the US as soon as possible but also ensure she would be able to work (since a single income household is nearly impossible in California these days.)

From my initial investigation, all Japanese/american marriage forums recommended getting married in japan to make the process smoother/faster. Many people also mentioned a timeline from filing the I-130 to spouse setting foot in the country/green card could be 3-6 months.

Having looked at the timeline and statistics from this website even 6 months at a minimum seems wildly unrealistic. Is there any pathway (K3?) that might speed this up and have any chance of getting the love of my life in the US with me by Christmas? For both of us, we just wanted the ability to live and work in US and felt that marriage was the fastest route to achieving this. A work visa isn't feasible since she would be simply be looking for a job on arrival (she does however speak excellent english)