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| Tokyo, Japan |  Review on February 15, 2012: |
Gaijinsan
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Arrived at the embassy at around 8:15 for our 8:30 appointment. There was absolutely no one in line in front of us (in either the visa or the American Citizen Services lines). Quick pass through security and we headed inside.
At the entrance to the consular area (just before the second metal detector and security guard) they had someone working reception at a table. She asked for our name, gave us a clear folder and some instructions and in we went. Judging by the list there were about 25-30 names on it, and from what I could see there were some applicants for non-immigrant visas like F-1 on there. Not that it makes much difference, but I was under impression that the embassy did only immigrant visas on Mondays.
We went inside and took a number. There were about half a dozen people in front of us. We ordered our documentation according to the instructions, put it into the envelope, and waited for our number to be called, which it was at around 8:35 or so. (Just like at a casino, there are no clocks in the visa waiting area at the embassy... guess they don\'t want people to get agitated by watching how long they\'ve been waiting.)
Got called up to the first window, handed over our folder, and the document intake person looked everything over. I went along with my wife in case of any questions around the I-864 in particular. While the woman at the window thumbed through the stack of papers, we went to the cashier and paid the $404 fee by credit card. (Note that you can also pay in cash, and they in fact ask you to bring cash just in case they are having problems with the credit card system, but they also have a sign saying that they do not make change -- so take note if you are planning to do this.)
We used our own assets for the I-864 (required to be 3x the I-864P poverty level for our family size). I attached a simple statement of assets breaking them down in slightly more detail than is possible on the I-864 itself, attached a copy of the most recent bank statement for the relevant savings/checking accounts, a photocopy of our 2011 tax return, and tax transcripts for 2010 and 2009 (I had ordered them a couple of months ago since I wasn\'t sure if we\'d have our 2011 taxes done by the interview -- since I had them, I just submitted them anyway. They went ahead and kept them). I brought the previous 2 statements for each of the accounts just in case they asked for additional evidence of the stated assets, but no one ever did. Also to cover our bases, I brought in photocopies of my fund transfer receipts from Japan to my US accounts, a copy of my California driver\'s license, and a copy of my resignation letter from my job in Japan to show clear intention of abandoning my residence in Japan to return to the US. None of these drew any comment one way or the other, so I can\'t say if they were beneficial to have, but again, just wanted to play it safe and avoid having to mail any additional documentation to the embassy later.
Anyway, after 2-3 minutes of document intake, we were finished and took our seats again. After waiting for approximately 20 minutes, my wife was called back up to have her fingerprints taken, which was completed uneventfully.
It looks like most of the document review happens between the intake and the fingerprinting, because less than five minutes later, my wife was called up for her interview.
I couldn\'t hear the consular officer, but from my wife\'s responses I had no problems deducing the questions. They were all routine and perfunctory:
Where is your husband? (When I saw my wife pointing in my direction)
What does he do?
How long have you been married?
Were you married before?
What will you do in the United States?
Where are you planning to live?
My wife said the officer spoke very quickly. I told her that probably was a good sign since she perhaps saw little in the application that looked like an issue and wanted to get onto other applications faster.
The interview was over and the officer gave my wife the white \"Your visa has been approved slip.\" We were out of the embassy by 9:20. We got the visa and visa packet back by Letterpack 500 the next morning.
All in all, a big anticlimax. We were slightly overprepared but better to have something and not need it than vice versa.
(updated on February 15, 2012)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9154