Hello,
My wife and I have a very stressful situation at the moment and we are worried she won't be able to re-enter the US.
Me (US citizen) and my wife (Japanese, LPR) are currently in Japan with our 1 year old daughter. My wife is a Japanese citizen with a 2-year GC. Her GC expired March 2023, but we received the 24 month extension notice. Then we decided to come to Japan for 5 months to see her father (we came because he is sick with cancer and we wanted him to meet his granddaughter, we don't know when he will pass away). We arrived in Japan in May 2023, and we are supposed to return in 2 weeks.
Now before going back we realized that I forgot to bring the 797 form, so she can't go back to the US. We went to apply for a Boarding foil in the consulate yesterday, but at the consulate they were very negative on her chances to get it. The reason is that in September 2021 we had a domestic dispute that she was taken to jail for 1 day for. She was released after 1 day and no charges were pressed and there was no court date, the prosecutor decided not to press any charges. Unfortunately where we live (WA) when there is suspicion of domestic dispute/violence, one party must be taken to jail, and the officers determined it was my wife who should be taken. This whole situation had really stressed us out and scared us, but the attorney told us not to worry about the 10-year GC interview because there were no charges filed at all, and we've never had any other issues in the past (or since).
Now fast-forward 2 years later and this situation has reared itself again because of me forgetting to bring the 797! We're so scared on what to do now...
One option we have is that we can fly to Vancouver, CA, where my wife and daughter will stay in a hotel. Then I can rent a car and drive over to our storage in Washington, find the 797, and bring it back to her and then try to cross by land. The big question we have though is, what if the Boarding Foil is denied? Will they see at the CA border that she has a denied boarding foil and stop her from entering? Also will that affect her chance to get a 10-year Green Card next year? Can we cancel the boarding foil process before its finished?
Another question we have is, what if I go back to WA to our storage and I can't find the 797? Maybe it was lost or thrown out on accident (we only think its in the storage, but not sure). In this case would it be possible to apply for another boarding foil in CA if we did cancel the process here in Japan?
Sorry for so many long and difficult questions. I know I need to consult with a lawyer, but the earliest consulting time I could find is 3 days from now and we are worried sick right now : (
We are so scared of her losing GC status, or her needing to stay in Japan and restart the whole process again. We have a 1 year old daughter and to be away from them both for a year or more would tear us apart.
Please help with any advice, I'm so scared of what will happen now because of these mistakes :(