ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Asia: East and PacificTokyo Embassy Interview Experience Details
Hello all!
So for all curious as to how the interviews in tokyo go, here is our experience's details!

He arrived early. about 1 hour early. there was no one waiting outside the embassy so it was easy to enter. :whistle:
At the door he received some checklists and they security checked his bag twice.

The embassy was not that busy that day. only about 7 people were there for immigration visas at that time. (early morning)
There was probably only 2 people doing the visa interviews.

When entering the main building a lady gave him a number, and he took a seat. After waiting about 30 minutes they finally called his number. He went to the counter and a Japanese lady just checked some documents and he gave her his medical results and the expack 500 (envelope for sending the visa in).
She then asked in Japanese,
"What is your wife's father's name?"
"Is she working?"
then the lady was talking to herself and said something about how i have worked at my job for about 10 years. (apparently she was not impressed by it. whatever!! :hehe: )
She then told him to go wait again. and he waited some more.

About 30 minutes later they called his number and he did the fingerprinting.
American girl was friendly and told him to go sit down again after it was done.

After about maybe 20 more minutes they finally called his number for the interview.
the interviewer is some american guy (LUCKY!! :D ). he took an oath and then he handed him some document to sign (ds-230??). then the interview began.

"When did you meet?"
"Does she study Japanese?"
"How many times did she come to Japan?"
"When did she leave Japan?"
"When did you get married?"
"Where did you get married?"
"How many times did she come back to Japan (after the marriage)?"
"Have you been to her house in the USA before?"
"How many times did you visit?"
"What do her parents think of you?"
"What kind of work do you do?"
"Will you do that in the USA?"

Congratulations! Your visa is approved. You will receive your visa in about 1 week.


he says the interview was more like a conversation. haha.
The guy didn't ask for ANYTHING!! no evidence at all. so lucky us! some other people had to show photos or other evidence. so our case must have been good! alright!!!

Now we are done with this visa stuff for 2 years!! THANK YOU GOD!!!
THANK YOU VJ MEMBERS!!! without all you we would have been lost!! (L) (F)
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-21 05:00:00
Asia: East and PacificExtra bag on return flight - pay the overcharge?

Pre-paying the extra bag charge online on BritishAirways.com reduced the 2nd bag charge to $48 for her return trip.


awesome!!! :thumbs:
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-07-26 21:47:00
Asia: East and PacificExtra bag on return flight - pay the overcharge?
most airlines flying out of asia still allow two bags. (to compete with asian airlines). but i say pay the $60 cuse to ship it by mail would cost more than that!! good luck.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-07-22 00:23:00
Asia: East and PacificTokyo Embassy Interview Question
the interview will be in english. but it should be simple (unless your case has problems).
if he has trouble and cannot understand, you can ask to do it in japanese and a japanese person will appear and ask the questions in japanese. it is not a big deal.

my man passed the interview in english and his english is terrible. his understanding is terrible too. hah.

they ask basic things, you can see my tokyo interview review in this forum. it has details about the questions asked.
our case was more catered to us though, since i lived in japan for 2 years.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-08-11 00:25:00
Asia: East and PacificAirfare to Thailand, any recommendations
maybe if you transfer in korea or tokyo the price isn't so bad! ^_^
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-08 17:29:00
Asia: East and Pacificwhen an American citizen gets married in Japan
i am not sure about the 6 month requirement? i had lived in japan 2 years, visa expired, i left for 2 months, went back for 1 month, got married, then came back to the USA.

BEST PLAN:

have him be in japan for the required time to APPLY IN TOKYO!!! if you apply in japan the visa only takes a few months to process. but he has to be in japan for a certain amount of time and also cannot leave after applying. it is sort of like a game. we tried this, but we failed since i told them i would go back to the USA. i should have said i would stay longer....
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2012-10-23 11:00:00
Asia: East and PacificHow should my fiance write her address for Question 16 on the I-129F?
1-12-16 Tsukuda Nishiyodogawa-ku Osaka JAPAN 5550001
and the categories given are:

Number and street: 1-12-16 Tsukuda Nishiyodogawa-ku
Town or City: Osaka
State or Province: this would be prefecture. is osaka in aichi or is it osaka?
Country: JAPAN

assuming that nishiyodagawa is NOT a city just a section of the city?
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2012-10-23 11:04:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers

Hi everyone. I'm just putting all of the final touches on my I-130 application, but I'm left with one question which I can't really figure out on my own. I'm doing the translations of all of the documents (marriage certificate, koseki, supporting evidence, etc) and there have been zero problems aside from the incredibly thin paper they use for lease agreements here (what's up with that? The back side bleeds right through on all the copies I've made). The single hiccup I've run into is with the dating systems - lots of the documents, being official and all, make use of Japanese dates, so there's a bunch of Heisei dates along with like five instances of Showa. I've left them all in their original format ("Heisei 19 October 5", for example) and attached a note about the dating systems in use to the application, but I'm wondering if it might just be better to go on and convert them into Gregorian dates. For every point in favor of converting to Gregorian dates, I can think of a con, so I'd like to know what others have done in this situation. I've no idea how strict they are with this kind of stuff, and for all of the work I've put into this thing so far I'd rather not find out the hard way.

At any rate, once this is sorted I'll be mailing it all off to Chicago next week.



put all the dates in US standard format. DO NOT USE japanese heisei etc. They will not even know what that is.

Try photocopying the paper with anotehr paper behind it. Or, reduce the copy quality/lighter darker setting. see if that works.

Hi Japan filers! I just got emails that they have all the documentation they need for the next step, the interview!

So, how long does it take to get an interview in Tokyo? I think the NVC chooses the interview time for you, so you can't select a convenient time for you.



are you in japan? if so, you should file directly at the embassy in japan. you will have a GC in two months that way. otherwise it takes 8 months to one year.

Hi all,

Filed from here in Japan. Just got my e-notification that the I-130 has been received. Should be getting the NOA1 soon. Is there anything I should be doing once I get the NOA1? Just wait for the NOA2?

Also -- anyone familiar with the document you need to get the police to give you a clearance certificate? They seemed to want something from the embassy/immigration.

Thanks!

Colin


i forget, but i think you need NOA1 or one of those other forms to get the police document. GET IT ASAP!!!
You should gather up everything you can as quickly as possible. then things go faster at NVC that way.

Edited by tokyo.lovers, 25 April 2012 - 02:42 PM.

tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2012-04-25 14:42:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
what's the word with the PCC?
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-11 02:17:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to say "Thank you!" for all the help and advice. My fiancee had gone for her K-1 interview and was approved! :dance: Thank you again!


congrats!!!
you will be rejoined soon!! (L)
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-07 01:32:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
have you tried contacting the embassy in canada to ask about it?
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-05 23:34:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
congrats!!!
we gotta wait a long time to get that far!!

congrats!!!
we gotta wait a long time to get that far!!
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-07-26 00:44:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
tokyo is not as hard as some countries too!
you should be okay with that information!! ^_^
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-07-22 00:21:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
we did I-130 so i am not sure about k1.

with AOS we just had my tax returns, my joint sponsor's tax returns, letter of employment, paystubs, and joint sponsor's paystubs.
that turned out to be fine.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-07-20 19:00:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
hehe nice!
and now there is a new baby robot made by japan to promote baby making!! hahaha :rofl: :rofl:
http://www.cnn.com/2...ex.html?hpt=Mid


that thing is sooo creepy
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-23 16:51:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers

That's because we are worth it!!! :rofl: :yes: :D :lol:
Actually, I'm Japanese USC. Born and raised here in the good old US of A (4th gen). (F) (L) (F)


4th gen 100% japanese??? wow! i think that's rare!!! :devil:
my man said in the future 100% japanese will be hard to find because the population is decreasing and everyone will start to mix with foreigners. hahah :lol:


and i decided i am not gonna go visit him. i would only get to be there less than 1 week. and almost $2,000 to eat some ?????? and bring him a suitcase isn't really worth it. hahaha
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-20 00:35:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
cool!
thanks for the links. i always forget about how many travel services there are. i always can only remember JTB and HIS.
i can go visit him for maybe a little over $1,000....i wonder if we can come back on the same plane!? :devil:
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-18 14:13:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
i hope to join on that relaxing boat after my man FIANLLY enters the country!!
july tickets are RIDICULOUS!!!! we will probably pay $2,000 or more. doh!


i also want to get a japanese cell phone that i can use in the USA. i really like the new softbank 930sh or 942sh
http://mb.softbank.j...harp/942sh.html


anyone know where to get an unlocked copy? i can only find a chinese version. that or i gotta get a sim unlock chip that hopefully would work....hmmmm
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-18 00:17:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
it seems like most japan people do the fiance visa
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-17 14:56:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
i would say not to waste money on a trip to visit. like other said, you should go to japan and have a final good bye or something like that. once they enter the USA they can only leave with special permission for 2 years!!

i am going to go to tokyo to visit and escort my man home once we have our visa!
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-13 21:33:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
i hear you cannot travel into the USA while you are awaiting a visa. (at least for CR-1 not sure about fiance)


if you do want to travel you have to provide a lot of evidence that you currently have a job and intend to return back to your home country etc etc.
i think it is a real pain.

you also have to file some sort of petition i think.
do a bit of research.


my spouse did not come visit me at all for the past 7 months because we know how much of a heachache it would be for him to come during the visa process.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-12 15:28:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
ii think the best information is on japanese only sites. my man did some researching on the pension stuff too, but it was all on japanese sites.

and i am not gonna spend the time trying to translate them! haha :bonk:
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-10 22:41:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
i heard that japan and the USA have a sort of treaty. you can work for 10 years in japan, earning pension, then go to the USA, work 10 years, go back to japan, and add that 10 years of usa work to your japanese pension and things like that.

or she can just continue to pay into the pension from abroad.
anything is okay.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-06-08 20:10:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
and i just saw YOSHIKI IN PERSON FROM SUPER CLOSE this weekend!!! :dance: :devil:
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-05-18 23:20:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
oh a reminder after 2 years to update your status? that would be NICEE!!!! but i think technology will be getting so ahead by then that they will be TWEETING everything or something by then. hahah

by the way moltar, i totally had to get that america and japan flag like yours!!! (L) (L)
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-04-25 15:04:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
i hear some japanese people can get double pension from the usa and japan. it can combine since the usa and japan are best friends.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-04-19 14:20:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
i think someday in the future we will consider moving to japan.
(perhaps in 20 years when the us economy completely tanks?)

then we will think about naturalization! ;)


until then we are gonna stay in america with my family (L)


but i totally agree with you about life in japan and SK are pretty high statndards so people won't want to leave. i wish that first world countries got a speedy and faster processing for visas than 3rd world or 2nd worlds. especially since there are less of us!! :P
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-04-14 21:17:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
not too many people seem to immigrate from japan it seems....
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-04-12 00:10:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers

Don't worry too much about the interview. I went with Yumi to her interview, and when she couldn't understand the question in English, the interviewer asked it again in Japanese. Also, you can attend the interview with your SO as well.



they ask in japanese too?? THANK GOD!!! :innocent: i was worried he would just screw it all up!!! phew!
i would attend with him, if i was in japan....with him... :crying: (T.T)



but do any of you guys know if we MUST notarize our japanese english translations of birth certs and marriage certs? i keep finding links and files that say they MUST be notarized for japan. but some gov. docs say they don't need to be.

did you guys notarize them???
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-03-23 02:37:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
ahhhh

we have to get the police record now with NOA2. i hope they accept it the FIRST time he tries. their hours are terrible!! only weekday afternoons!
maybe he should try get his medical check early then??

i am also worried that at the interview he cannot understand their english and will make a mistake!!! >.<
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-03-19 14:58:00
Asia: East and PacificAll Japan Filers
anyone can tell me if he can get his police certificate at the city hall? or does he have to go to the police station?
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-03-19 02:32:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)I-130 Approved now on to NVC
yeah nvc can be quick if you do it right!
good luck!
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-07-26 00:55:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)CHECK LIST FOR DS230 LETTER AND THIS WAS NO THERE
you can call and confirm with an operator!
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-07-26 00:56:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)Form I-864A
i submitted my father's birth certificate and a photocopy of his passport.

try submitting some alternate info and a letter explaining your situation.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-07-26 00:58:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)Fingerprints?
i didn't know they could request FBI stuff. haha.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-07 01:22:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)need help-wife is ill
yeah hopefully they expedite your case.
good luck!
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-07 01:23:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)Letter from employer
yeah your boss or whoever writes the letter should say what your yearly salaray is, even if it's hourly. if it is hourly you have to convert it to what it would be per year.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-07 01:28:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)Increase in processing time
i think summer is just the busy visa time.
i think things have sped up recently,
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-07 01:25:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)SIF & Case Complete!! =)
congrats!!!

wait for the interview email.
then stalk the DHL site for when your package may go out. call NVC to confirm when it's sent.

then contact your embassy to move the interview to an earlier date.
good luck.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-07 01:30:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)NVC Case Completed
congrats on the CC!!

NVC schedules interviews at certain times of the month. you can call and ask and operator about when to expect yours.
tokyo.loversFemaleJapan2010-09-11 02:13:00