Visa
The wife went through the final step in the Visa process at 2pm Japan time at the US Embassy in Tokyo.Step one required us to fill out a variety of forms and gather a stack of data to corroborate our application. Step two brought us to the Embassy to hand in these forms, have a short interview, get everything stamped and notarized, and pick up a new set of forms. Step three required us to fill out the new forms, and gather a new set of personal, financial, medical, and criminal records.
Step four was today. She was to hand in the completed papers, have an interview, and if all went well, ...pick up a Visa to allow her enter to the US and apply for permanent resident status.
This is the step that worried me the most because it is where most visa denials occur. We have no margin for error. She is due on June 14th and any delay in this process would mean that my baby would be born in Japan and not in the US. Anticipating a successful interview, she had already purchased a ticket to fly to the US on April 14th.
There were three new pieces on information she needed to gather. She needed a police report from each country she had resided in to prove she was not a criminal or terrorist or evil genius. She needed one from the UK (where she'd lived for about 4 years) and her native Japan. She also needed to get a medical check up at an approved clinic. This part was a real racket, she had to pay several hundred dollars at a designated clinic to have a check up her own doctor has probably already done.
She received the police clearance from the UK several weeks ago, and requested one from her local police station. She also had her medical check up but had yet to pick up the results. She waited until the last minute and decided to pick up the police clearance and medical results on the way to the embassy.
This had me worried all weekend. Anything could have gone wrong and prevented her from coming to the US in time. The computers could have been down at the police station, preventing them from giving her the clearance. The medical results could have been lost. We had no margin for error.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly.
She picked up her forms without hassle, took the trains to Embassy, waited in line, went through security, and took a seat. They eventually called her name and she was asked only 3-4 simple questions. Then they told her to take a seat and they would call her in about 20 minutes with a visa. It only took 10 and she was out of there an hour and a half after entering.
Some people wait years and years for a visa, but due to our close relationship with Japan, the process took a total of a month and a half.
She called me from the train platform to tell me the good news.
She will be here April 14th, flying business class on my airline miles. April 23rd or 30th we'll have a wedding dinner (still being planned). Two weeks later we'll have a baby shower.
One month later we'll have a child.
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