U.S. Citizen Married to Japanese National

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branden.k.moore

Registered Users (C)
Hello to all...

I am married to a Japanese national and we are not newly weds. We have been married for almost 8 years now (Dont ask why I haven't applied for this before...a lot of drama but we are in good notes now.) I am in Tokyo right now but will be moving back to Hawaii on the 9th of May by myself while she stays in Japan. I will file a I-130 for my wife to start the Green Card process. I have a few questions;

1. How soon can I bring my wife to the states after filing the I-130?

2. What applications or forms do I need to complete in order to bring her to the states before the GC and at which step of the process?

I'll start off with these questions and will answer any specific questions anyone may have. I have reviewed these forums for a while now and the UCIS website...Im still not clear on these issues I am facing.

The bottom line is that I need to get my wife to the states to live with me and I am asking the community here for clear answers.

Thank you in advance.
 
Have you considered bringing her to the US and filing from here?
You've been married for so long (and I'm sure you have many documents to back it up) so won't have a problem getting the GC.

Just my humble opinion :)
 
BornintheRSA said:
Have you considered bringing her to the US and filing from here?
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The problem with that is twofold: (1) unless she has a dual intent visa like H1 or L1, bringing her to the US for the premeditated purpose of immigrating would be a violation of the visa or visa waiver, which is grounds for denying the green card, and (2) she could get rejected at the port of entry, given that she is already married to a USC, because if they know of the marriage they would suspect an attempt of (1).
 
That was going to be my question...I keep reading about people legally coming to the U.S. and submitting the necessary forms to change to permanent residency; are they talking about people coming to the U.S. on a Visa-Waiver or college visas/etc.?

My wife has no visa. I am assuming that she will just stay put in Japan until everything is approved and she can enter with her GC.

My other question is that if she is in Japan and I am in the states...how will the interview be conducted? Do I have to fly back to Tokyo so that her and I will be there together for the interview? Or will she have to come to the states on the Visa Waiver program for the interview?
 
My 2 cents

If I were you I would file the application/petition from Japan.
Here is a detailed step by step information from US Embassy in Japan web-site:
http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-ivi130check.html

My spouse and I applied from my home country and the whole process took us 1 month 18 days in 2006 from the day of application to the day of my interview.

If you have any questions - feel free to ask.
 
branden.k.moore said:
That was going to be my question...I keep reading about people legally coming to the U.S. and submitting the necessary forms to change to permanent residency; are they talking about people coming to the U.S. on a Visa-Waiver or college visas/etc.?
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People do it, but they either had a change of heart after entering the US (i.e. entered the US intending to visit for a few weeks or months, and then decided to stay), or they simply lied about their intent when they entered the US.

But many don't get that far, because the preexisting relationship (in your case marriage) results in the noncitizen being rejected at the port of entry or when applying for a visa. And some who do enter the US successfully are rejected at the green card stage because USCIS catches the lie.
 
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