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| Tokyo, Japan |  Review on December 7, 2020: |
ChelseaOx
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
US wife/UK husband both living in Japan on work visas. Our appointment was November 9th, at 9:00am, and we were not permitted to enter until 8:45ish. There are plenty of cafes and conbinis in the area, we decided to print some last minute evidence ideas off at a nearby Family Mart and then relaxed at the Starbucks across the street. We weren't sure if I was going to be able to enter the embassy with my husband for his interview, but when it was time we showed the embassy guards our appointment notification and they permitted BOTH of us to enter, no questions asked. There were many couples in the waiting area, so I think it's generally accepted at this embassy. Finding photo booths around Japan that have the correct photo size is a little difficult. We did find a photo booth near our home station that had a size a little bigger, thinking the embassy could cut it down. However, there was a booth in the embassy waiting room that you can use. Make sure to write your name on your photos and fill out the letter pack plus. We forgot to do this and didn't bring a pen, but the front desk was nice enough to let us use theirs.
The interview process was split into three sections: document checking, finger printing, and the actual interview. A week prior to the interview the embassy also emailed my husband with a list of requested documents they wanted to see at our interview. This included a W2 for our joint sponsor, an original UK longform birth certificate, our original marriage certificate, and the Japan/UK police reports. Of course, we brought everything from our I-130 application and the civil/financial documents requested at the NVC stage. Upon entering the embassy my husband was given a sheet that explained the order in which they wanted specific documents. This included my husband's passport, the letter pack plus, two visa photos, our marriage certificate, and a 2019 tax return. We were a bit worried about the UK longform birth certificate since we only had a short form and didn't know there was such a thing as a longform one. However, they never questioned this at the interview. During the document check they ended up telling my husband that because we submitted our evidence online they didn't need my tax return and only verified our original marriage certificate and our joint sponsor's W2 and then took my husband's passport, visa photos, and the Letter Pack Plus envelope.
After the document check we waited 15 minutes for him to get called to do his fingerprinting. Afterwards we waited another 20-30 minutes for him to get called for his interview. The interview happens at a window, not a private room. However, I assumed I couldn't join my husband at the window and just waited in the seated area. My husband was asked the following questions during his interview:
1. How and when we first met
2. When we first started dating
3. Dates about when I visited him in the UK and when/what I studied in the UK
4. When did we start living together
5. If he has met my family, and how many times he had visited America
6. Why did we leave the UK, why were we in Japan
7 Who attended our wedding, where/when did it take place
After the interview our interviewer explained that his visa was being refused due to questions over my domicile. This really puzzled us as I had been concerned about domicile being an issue and had followed the advice found on many immigration forums for evidence. My husband offered our interviewer the following evidence in regards to my domicile (this evidence was also uploaded online):
1. Voting Records, including the most recent 2020 election
2. Valid Michigan drivers license
3. Health insurance quotes (this was mostly in case public charge questions came up...but they didn't!)
4. Records of bank accounts maintained in the US
5. Multiple years of US tax returns
6. Letter from my father (our joint sponsor) that we were going to stay at his house upon visa approval
7. My degrees and Japanese schooling certificates to explain why I was in Japan and that I was qualified and could find work in America
However, the interviewer stated that none of this evidence was credible in terms to domicile as things like voting and having US bank accounts can be easily handled from outside the US for long periods of time. They handed my husband a document stating that his visa had been refused and suggesting that we provide evidence such as plane tickets, moving expenses, or a US job offer to mitigate the domicile concerns. The interviewer stated that once we uploaded this evidence to CEAC they would issue his visa within 2 weeks. Obviously we were very concerned if this would be the case or not.
We uploaded the following evidence to CEAC to try and overturn the refusal based on domicile:
1. Plane tickets for me and our dog from Tokyo-Detroit
2. Purchased US health insurance (180 day temporary insurance through Pivot)
3. Proof of closure of my Japanese bank account
4. Resignation Letter from my job and emails between myself and HR about my resignation
5. USPS Change of Address to my father's address where we are going to reside
6. Change of voting address to my father's address
I uploaded this evidence on November 22nd. On November 23rd our visa status on CEAC Status Tracker changed from Refused to Administrative Processing. I was a little confused because on the CEAC portal none of the documents I submitted changed to Approved. I continued to gather more evidence to submit, such as our dogs Japan export paperwork, paperwork ending our rental lease, and purchased mobile service in the US, however before I could upload it our visa status changed to Issued on November 30th. On December 1st we received my husband's passport back with the US visa in the Letter Pack Plus envelope.
While disappointed for not being approved at the interview, we were overall happy with the service we received at the embassy and the quick turn around time between getting our interview scheduled and receiving an issued visa after submitted further evidence.
Timeline
I-130 Application Submitted Electronically: January 15th, 2020
I-130 Application Approved: April 5th, 2020
Case Received by NVC: June 6th, 2020
Documentarily Qualified: September 20th, 2020
Email of Interview Notification: October 14th, 2020
Interview Date: November 9th, 2020
Interview Result: Refusal due to insufficient domicile evidence
Domicile Evidence Submitted: November 22nd, 2020
Visa Issued: November 30th, 2020
Visa Received: December 1st, 2020
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #28870