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| Tokyo, Japan |  Review on September 13, 2020: |
Jelighte
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My appointment was at 9.30am so I went to the embassy at 8.45 after reading loads of reviews from others saying to go early. MISTAKE! Maybe it's only in Tokyo, but they wouldn't let me in. They only admit people 15 minutes early and told me to come back at 9.15.
I come back at 9.20 and went through the usual procedures for security to gain entry to the processing area.
The receptionist at the entrance of the processing area needed to see my interview letter and ID. She gave me a paper which listed the documents required and the order in which to organise them.
1. 2 colour photos with your name written on the back of each
2. Current passport (I also took my old with my maiden name which they also looked at)
3. I-864 Affidavit of Support
4. Police certificate(s)
5. Court and prison records, military record if applicable
6. Medical examination
7. Self addressed LetterPack
She then told me to go through the door and take a ticket from the machine and wait for it to be called. I would have to go to three different windows. The first to check the documents I had on me, the second to take my fingerprints and the third to have the interview. I was suprised that the interview was conducted at a little window in the same room as everything else. I thought I would go to a seperate room with just me and the interviewer, but nope!
I had taken a huge binder with me with all sorts of documents so I started to organise them in the order listed above. I was about 3 minutes into organising and my number was called!! I went to the first window and apologised that I hadn't finished sorting and the lady who dealt with me was really lovely. She said not to worry and that's what we were about to do now so it wasn't a big deal. This first window took just under 10 minutes. The lady took all of the originals of the listed documents and told me to wait for my number to be called for the next step which was the fingerprint counter.
I waited about 40 minutes for the next step, which was weird because there were only 3 other people in the waiting room at the same time as me (really nice because I was worried about a crowded Corona room!). The fingerprints took all of 5 seconds. It's all digital, so no inky fingers. I was told to sit and wait for my number to be called for the final interview window.
I waited about 10 minutes for my number to be called for the interview. I went up to the window, binder in hand, laiden with photos, affidavits from friends, evidence of our life together for the past 3 years etc. The interviewer asked to see exactly ZERO of it all! D:
She asked me about the relationship; 'When, where, how did we meet? When did we get married? When are we planning to go to the US? How will we support ourselves out there?'
Then it was over. We were denied because my husband doesn't have a job out there yet, doesn't live there right now and we haven't booked flights back yet (we were waiting for the outcome of the interview, like it says to do on the website before booking flights....)
The interviewer was really friendly though and I didn't feel like she was trying to trick me with any of her questions. She explained that we were denied due to everything being rather fluid in terms of getting to the US. She told me that she believed the relationship was legit and there was no issue there, BUT we needed either a job offer in the US OR a joint sponsor AND proof of booked flights. She kept my passport and the LetterPack and said once we have the neccessary documents, to upload them online and then she would approve the visa and return my passport with said visa. A second visit to the embassy is not required.
So, the process was super easy and didn't take too long at all. I'm suprised that they didn't want/need to see any of the proof of relationship stuff that I had prepared, but I guess that's a good thing! Corona measures were in place and I didn't feel worried about it at any point.
Currently we're in the process of getting the sponsor's document filled in and then I should be good to go!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #28559