One of our female clients wrote to us after coming back from her wonderful holiday with her boyfriend and his family. She brought us fantastic news. “We are engaged!” She has already started her visa work since she would like to be with him and start a new life together as soon as possible. She wants to share with our male clients how difficult it is and how long it takes to obtain a proper visa to enter his country (USA), since many men may not be aware of the visa process. Japanese women are required to obtain a visa in order to stay with their partner or spouse. Here is her message:
Hi Naoko san!
I came back from my trip to California to see my boyfriend and his parents.His parents were very nice to me and the Christmas and New Year I spent at his place were unforgettable moments in my life.
And... Guess what!
He finally proposed to me!!!
I was so happy when he handed me an I-129F Form (Form of Petition for Fiancé Visa) with all his information written on it, that I couldn't stop crying for a while...
Thank you so much for all your support you have been giving to me for a long time. Your words always encouraged me and made me feel more confident.
Now we are moving on to our next step.
Yes, the Visa issue!
We've just started to discuss this after I came back.
And what I realized was that we didn't really have any idea how much it will cost and how long it will take to get the Visa!
Well, it was not far from my expectation at all...
Now we are gradually learning. :-)
I found a great website to learn about the Visa application process so we are using this site to get more information along with USCIS’s official site.
http://www.visajourney.com/
What a perfect name! It really is a journey!!
We first have to decide which type of Visa to apply for, either a K-1 (Fiancé) Visa or a K-3 (Spouse) Visa.There's also a choice of whether to apply for a Green Card directly after getting married.
It seems like each of the options has both advantages and disadvantages.So, we have to be careful and choose the option that's the most suitable for us. This page compares the options well:http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare
Since we cannot be too patient to wait without seeing each other for a whole year, I think we will simply choose to get the K-1 (Fiancé) Visa instead of the K-3 (Spouse) Visa or Green Card.
Although it costs more, we will be able to be together sooner.Still, it looks like it will take more than 5 month to get the K-1 Visa.
We are going to fill in all the forms and collect all the documents we need as soon as possible.
Wow, there are lots of things to do!Hopefully, we can finish the first step of the procedure within a couple of weeks.
I've heard that the rules and the regulations of the Visas are likely to change very often.
So, I'd better keep visiting the official website to look for any changes to the Visa application process. This is the official website: http://ice.gov
Since, I'm already regretting that I should have been more aware of the Visa application process before, I thought that it might be good for you to let your members know that they can start collecting information ahead of time so that they won't have to be separated from their future partner for too long!
I recommend that you take as many pictures of you and your partner as possible in different situations, keep all of the envelopes from postcards and letters, keep all the flight tickets, and other documentation.Taking these simple steps will really help!!!
Good luck to us and everyone who is taking off for a great Visa journey!
Stella
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