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United States Visa from Japan

American Immigration is a complex area of United States law. It can be extremely complicated in certain areas while remaining quite a narrow area of American jurisprudence. Furthermore, the proliferation of the World Wide Web and websites with information about immigration related matters have lead to some misperceptions about certain aspects of United States Immigration.

One type of visa which many people are familiar with is the United States student visa. Each year, many Japanese people travel to the United States of American in order to attend American high schools, universities, and post-graduate programs. Meanwhile, J-1 visas, designed for cultural exchange between the USA and countries around the globe, remain popular amongst Japanese nationals.

Employment based visas may also be available to Japanese nationals and the categories available to Japanese applicants vary considerably depending upon the circumstances of a given case. The L-1 visa was intended for use by intra-company transferees within a multi-jurisdictional context. Many companies throughout the world have offices in the United States and specialized employees’ presence is sometimes required in the USA. The E-1 and E-2 visa are meant for those with a trading or business enterprise in the United States. In many cases, proof of a viable business plan along with a significant investment is essential to E visa approval.

Immigrant investor visas, often referred to as EB-5 visas, were intended for those who wish to make a substantial investment in the United States of America. Those interested in obtaining an EB-5 visa should note that a minimum investment of $500,000 is necessary in order to meet the minimum investment requirements pursuant to the language of applicable American law.

Family based visas are travel documents used by bi-national families to reunite in the United States. The K-1 visa is a fiance visa. The bearer of a K1 visa must marry the petitioner within 90 days of arrival in the USA and file for adjustment of status. Failure to do so requires departure prior to the expiration of the K-1 visa. IR-1 and CR-1 visas are immigrant spouse visas that have traditionally been used by United States Citizens and Lawful Permanent Resident to bring a foreign husband or wife to the USA. In the recent past, it was possible for a United States Citizen to obtain a K-3 visa for a Japanese spouse. However, recent policy changes at the United States National Visa Center have lead to a situation in which many K-3 visa applications are being “administratively closed” as the visa no longer serves the original purpose that it was designed for. In any case, it seems that K-3 visas are unlikely to be widely issued to Japanese-American couples in the near future.

Those researching the US Immigration process for the first time are well advised to make informed decisions when seeking an American visa. Some find that the assistance of an American attorney can highly beneficial during the visa process as such a professional, experienced in American immigration matters, can greatly assist in streamlining the overall process.        
 
For information pertaining to Consular Processing please see: US Embassy Japan