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| Tokyo, Japan |  Review on August 14, 2012: |
Tohoku
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
The appointment was at 2 PM and we arrived at the Embassy early and was told to come back 4 minutes before 2PM by a nice Japanese security guard.
A little tip for the non-Tokyoites (who is doing interview in hot and humid Tokyo summer), choose the path from Tameike-Sanno station. Walking from Kokkai-Gijido-Mae station towards the embassy in summer is no fun at all. Plus, apparently, there is an underpass connecting Kokkai-Gijido-Sta and Tameike-sanno sta, a long walk but beats the heck out of walk along the area with no shade in the middle of Tokyo Central Government buildings (as you can perhaps guess from the name of the station).
Anyways, we waited at the building next to the Embassy since there's an Excelsior Cafe there (and yes, with full-blown AC), and when we went back to the Embassy, there's already a line in front of us. Sure enough, at 4 minutes to 2PM, they opened the door and the line moved quickly.
We went through security check, put our phones and other electronic devices, proceed to the consular section and greeted by a receptionist asking for my name and checking if my name is listed in today7s interview list.
We were given a clear plastic map holder with the instruction about orders of documents and were told to get the number first inside, then compile the docs in order.
We got the number, arranged the docs as instructed, and waited for about 30 minutes (due to a person ahead of us who missed some documents and spent a long time debating with the officers about it).
However, once we were called to submit the documents (in our case only 2 photographs, passport and medical exam result), everything went quickly. A nice Japanese lady who speaks fluent English received the documents, compile them with the documents we sent to USCIS and NVC, then asked us to wait for my biometrics. 5 minutes later I did my biometrics and five minutes after the biometric our number was called for the interview.
It was said that your spouse didn't need to come to the interview, but my husband came anyways, and in the end, he got about the same amount of questions as I did.
The officer was very friendly up to the point I sometimes answered too much as if I was answering a question from my friend instead of a consulate officer (it's a good thing my husband was there because he was more straightforward with the answers than I was! lol)
The questions are: M:I answered H: Husband answered
-When did you meet (M/H)?
-When did you get married (M/H)?
-Where did you get married? (M/H)
-So, you were dating for 5 years before you got married? (which I answered no, because we were friends for years before we started dating)
The officer then stopped typing and asked me (in a friendly-as-if-we-were-in-a-coffee-shop-style): so, what happened in 2009 that made you started dating? (M/H) (this is the part when I started to give more-than-necessary-answer, lol!)
-How long have you been in Japan? M
-Do you like your job? M
-What's going to happen with your job if you move to the US? M
-Do you live in Japan now? H
-How long did you live in Japan before? H
-When did you move back to the US? H
(then he chatted with the husband about living in Japan, how difficult kanji
was, how did he feel about being back in the US after living in Japan for years, etc etc)
-Were you married before? H
-How long have you been working for this company? H
-So, when are you planning to move to the US? (M)
The he flipped some more documents (and looked for the Police Record from Indonesia which I didn't provide-- and made me nervous and distracted), but (according to the excerpt from my husband  ) then he told us:
OK, everything looks good, we have a little bit of visa processing to do now, so you can expect to get the visa within 10 days at the address we have on record
(I provided them the 500 yen Letter Pack because I live in Tohoku, so the Embassy can mail the passport back to me and I don't have to go back and collect my passport).
I was a bit distracted and nervous about the Police Certificate so I wasn't sure at that time wether we were approved or not, but the husband said it sounded like we were approved. I tend to worry too much, but come to think of it, the officer didn't ask for me to provide the Police Certificate from Indonesia (I had a Police Certificate from Japan, and I didn't submit the PC from Indonesia because NVC checklist said the PC from Indonesia is not available), so can I assume that he just need to verify that the PC is indeed unavailable, can't I?
Oh well, we'll see in 10 days, I guess...
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #10176