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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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 Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:01 am Post subject: Japanese spouse, how to bring them to the US |
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I plan on bringing my Japanese wife to the US in march. Though it seems as though the immigration policy has gotten pretty strict. Though there is not much info about it in English, in Japanese there is a bunch.
A lot of info says that it might take 4-5 years to get a green card. So, before that, she can't even go to the US.
She is a nurse, which may help her get a working visa, maybe. But how can we get her a visa? The system seems very complicated, and we are getting a bit discouraged. Any advice would be great.
edit, since I still don't have a job in the US, I have to put zero down on my US tax forms. Should I get my parents to sponsor her, would that help? |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:16 am Post subject: Re: Japanese spouse, how to bring them to the US |
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| rxk22 wrote: |
I plan on bringing my Japanese wife to the US in march. Though it seems as though the immigration policy has gotten pretty strict. Though there is not much info about it in English, in Japanese there is a bunch.
A lot of info says that it might take 4-5 years to get a green card. So, before that, she can't even go to the US.
She is a nurse, which may help her get a working visa, maybe. But how can we get her a visa? The system seems very complicated, and we are getting a bit discouraged. Any advice would be great.
edit, since I still don't have a job in the US, I have to put zero down on my US tax forms. Should I get my parents to sponsor her, would that help? |
If you file the papers in Japan while you're still living there, my understanding is that it takes less than 6 months to get a green card. I went through the process here in the US, and it took just about 1 year from when I filed the first set of papers until we had green card in hand.
I found the site http://visajourney.com/ to be VERY helpful in understanding which forms to file at which time. Look up info on there about IR1 visas (or CR1 if you've been married less than 2 years, I think). I think you'll start with filing an I-130 form with the US embassy in Tokyo. It would also be worth calling the embassy.
Since you don't have a job in the US yet, you probably will have to have someone else (e.g., your parents) co-sponsor your wife. For that, you'll also need to get bank info and letters from their employers. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:24 am Post subject: Re: Japanese spouse, how to bring them to the US |
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Ignore everything you have read anywhere else so far because it is clearly wrong. There are three factors at play:
1. How long have you been married.
2. Are you applying in Japan or the US.
3. Can you meet the conditions of visa.
The visa is a K visa. It's one of the easiest visas to get if the marriage is real. Summary of how it works: If you've been married more than two years and live in Japan then you can get the visa within 6 months, she can enter the US and get a green card within 6 weeks of arriving. If you're in the US and/or have been married less than two years then it's a ~9-12 month wait for the visa, but once there she can get a green card within ~6 weeks.
If you don't have the conditions for entry and can't meet them (income sounds like one you'll miss on unless you have a guarantor) then the visa won't be issued regardless.
Buy the book below and follow it. You don't need a lawyer, unless you feel like throwing money away.
http://www.nolo.com/products/fiance-and-marriage-visas-IMAR.html |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:26 am Post subject: Re: Japanese spouse, how to bring them to the US |
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| rtm wrote: |
| rxk22 wrote: |
I plan on bringing my Japanese wife to the US in march. Though it seems as though the immigration policy has gotten pretty strict. Though there is not much info about it in English, in Japanese there is a bunch.
A lot of info says that it might take 4-5 years to get a green card. So, before that, she can't even go to the US.
She is a nurse, which may help her get a working visa, maybe. But how can we get her a visa? The system seems very complicated, and we are getting a bit discouraged. Any advice would be great.
edit, since I still don't have a job in the US, I have to put zero down on my US tax forms. Should I get my parents to sponsor her, would that help? |
If you file the papers in Japan while you're still living there, my understanding is that it takes less than 6 months to get a green card. I went through the process here in the US, and it took just about 1 year from when I filed the first set of papers until we had green card in hand.
I found the site http://visajourney.com/ to be VERY helpful in understanding which forms to file at which time. Look up info on there about IR1 visas (or CR1 if you've been married less than 2 years, I think). I think you'll start with filing an I-130 form with the US embassy in Tokyo. It would also be worth calling the embassy.
Since you don't have a job in the US yet, you probably will have to have someone else (e.g., your parents) co-sponsor your wife. For that, you'll also need to get bank info and letters from their employers. |
Great, thanks for the link. It only took one year? I wonder if that is the avg, or did you get it fast? Seems like a lot of the cases can be up to 4 years. Perhaps that is just to daunt the faint of heart 
but that gives us some hope. I guess we just saw a lot of long waits and got discouraged. Thank you.
She is a nurse, and has her masters in nursing education. So I was wondering if she could get a E-3 visa? Those seem pretty good. As the IR1 spouse visa, are they allowed to work in the US when they have that? |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:30 am Post subject: Re: Japanese spouse, how to bring them to the US |
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| G Cthulhu wrote: |
Ignore everything you have read anywhere else so far because it is clearly wrong. There are three factors at play:
1. How long have you been married.
2. Are you applying in Japan or the US.
3. Can you meet the conditions of visa.
The visa is a K visa. It's one of the easiest visas to get if the marriage is real. Summary of how it works: If you've been married more than two years and live in Japan then you can get the visa within 6 months, she can enter the US and get a green card within 6 weeks of arriving. If you're in the US and/or have been married less than two years then it's a ~9-12 month wait for the visa, but once there she can get a green card within ~6 weeks.
If you don't have the conditions for entry and can't meet them (income sounds like one you'll miss on unless you have a guarantor) then the visa won't be issued regardless.
Buy the book below and follow it. You don't need a lawyer, unless you feel like throwing money away.
http://www.nolo.com/products/fiance-and-marriage-visas-IMAR.html |
Just got married, actually. Which I know, makes it a bit harder. Though we do have the picture evidence of being together for years.
Applying in Japan. Does that make it worse?
Everything else seems ok. I don7t think we are lacking anything requirements wise.
Would it have been better if we waited to get married in the US? |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:19 am Post subject: Re: Japanese spouse, how to bring them to the US |
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| rxk22 wrote: |
Great, thanks for the link. It only took one year? I wonder if that is the avg, or did you get it fast? Seems like a lot of the cases can be up to 4 years. Perhaps that is just to daunt the faint of heart
but that gives us some hope. I guess we just saw a lot of long waits and got discouraged. Thank you.
She is a nurse, and has her masters in nursing education. So I was wondering if she could get a E-3 visa? Those seem pretty good. As the IR1 spouse visa, are they allowed to work in the US when they have that? |
It took us 1 year, and that is filing IN THE US - it is MUCH faster if you file it in Japan while you are living there. The waits you heard might be for people from different countries (i.e., the waiting time is different depending on where you are from and how many applications there are from that country). We had just gotten married also, but I was already working in the US when we filed the paperwork, so we did it in the US (which was a mistake - It would have been much faster if we had filed in Japan before I moved).
You mentioned the E3 visa. From what I understand, the E3 visa is only for citizens of Australia. Maybe you mean H-1B, which is also a work visa? The IR1/CR1 visas allow the holder to work in the US also. You'll be MUCH more successful getting a spouse visa for her than a work visa.
I completely forgot about the K3 visa, which is what I think G Cthulhu was referring to. Info here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2993.html. The K3 visa is a non-immigrant visa that acts like a fast-track to get the spouse of a US citizen into the US while they are waiting on approval of their immigrant visa (IR1/CR1). It's designed to keep families together, rather than making them be separated while the immigrant visa is being processed. Or at least that's what it's supposed to be. In my case, however, the K3 and CR1 applications were approved at the same time, so I cancelled my K3 visa and just did the CR1. In any case, you should apply for both. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:42 pm Post subject: |
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Ok thanks for your help guys. We are going to the embassy tmrw, so hopefully it works out.
Glenski, I meant from a strictly Japanese to America situation. That in its' self is not really well documented in English. As each country has a slightly different immigration situation when it comes to the US. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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| rxk22 wrote: |
| Glenski, I meant from a strictly Japanese to America situation. That in its' self is not really well documented in English. As each country has a slightly different immigration situation when it comes to the US. |
What? Completely untrue: the process is the same regardless.
The only difference is that some countries have a higher volume and the US spends more time looking at apps from certain nationals.
Look, the reality is that the process isn't very hard. It is, however, slow and expensive. It also requires considerable attention to detail and good record keeping: Slow down, make sure you know the terminology, and take every step methodically and carefully, and keep records of everything. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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Gotta agree with G Cthulhu. With perhaps a few exceptions, the immigration laws are pretty uniform.
What have you found that is so "Japan specific"? |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:39 am Post subject: |
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| G Cthulhu wrote: |
| rxk22 wrote: |
| Glenski, I meant from a strictly Japanese to America situation. That in its' self is not really well documented in English. As each country has a slightly different immigration situation when it comes to the US. |
What? Completely untrue: the process is the same regardless.
The only difference is that some countries have a higher volume and the US spends more time looking at apps from certain nationals.
Look, the reality is that the process isn't very hard. It is, however, slow and expensive. It also requires considerable attention to detail and good record keeping: Slow down, make sure you know the terminology, and take every step methodically and carefully, and keep records of everything. |
Yeah it is just a long haul. But I was wondering, don't certain countries have different quotas? Or is that the old system? |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:44 am Post subject: |
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| rxk22 wrote: |
| Yeah it is just a long haul. But I was wondering, don't certain countries have different quotas? Or is that the old system? |
Quotas exist for some visa categories (eg. H1B) and there are some visa classes that are restricted to certain nationalities that also have a limit on numbers (eg. E3), but nothing you might apply for has a limit or quota. The only variation is going to be time to process. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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Ok, I didn't know that. Thanks.
Oh, if our kid is bron in the US, they can never have their name in Kanji, is this true? My wife just looked into this. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| rxk22 wrote: |
| Oh, if our kid is bron in the US, they can never have their name in Kanji, is this true? My wife just looked into this. |
That one I'm not sure on and have never heard of, but as far as I know the ideal way to go about things is to register the birth with the Japanese government first to claim citizenship (which I would have thought meant kanji could be used) and then later on, if desired, register with the US for citizenship.
When the kid reaches 21 they, in theory, have to choose Japan or the US for citizenship, but I've met plenty of people who simply kept both and denied having dual citizenship to the Japanese authorities. The US authorities won't give a crap about dual citizenship. |
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Mr_Monkey
Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 661
Location: Kyuuuuuushuuuuuuu
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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The government computers and staff aren't set up to deal with kanji - my kids' names are romanised on their British passports.
However, their Japanese passports are chock full of kanji, including their names.
Think about it - how would a US border control officer be expected to read the names on a passport if any script were permitted? They'd have to be a linguistic GENIUS, which would likely mean they work for someone that pays them a lot more! |
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