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um, it's been a while!

Goldiegirl

先輩
10 Aug 2006
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Hi to everyone...

it's been a long time...almost a year since I have really been on Jref. I want to say "Hi" to everyone who I know and to all the new members as well. I don't really even know where to begin. I feel the need to say that I wasn't angry or upset with anyone, just life got in the way. Anwyay....

It's been a long, long road, but my Japanese husband has finally gotten his US green card. It was a lengthy process and one that I hope I never have to go through again. As we were in a "grey" zone with immigration, we had to travel back and forth to Japan every 90 days. I have been back and forth 13 times. OMG! Was it all worth it....that I am not sure. It's nice to know that we have the security of living in the USA and not having to go back to Japan...but security, doesn't always make a person happy then does it?

So, now that my life is not contingent on traveling, I can be back on Jref! I sure did miss it here....

Hugs and well wishes to all...... GG
 
Wow every 90 days? That is a lot of traveling. How long would you guys stay each visit to Japan? Nice to hear you are back, I look forward to your posts.
 
Ya, every 90 days...we have lots of frequent flier miles and premium status! We always stayed at least two weeks, and as long as two months, I would say the average was about 3 weeks. I sure learned a lot though.

I think the biggest things learned, were that you need to speak the language of the country you are in, if you plan on making a life there. I found not being able to speak, read or write, to be so miserable....like a bird with clipped wings in a cage.

I also learned that you have to be who you are. You can't try and fit into a anyones ideas of who you should be, what you should be and so forth. I am who I am. I can't be "more" or "less" Japanese, for better or worse...

On the lighter side...I love Japanese snack foods. I am a true "Hi-Chew" connoisseur. They are the best candy ever. Well, I do like other real food too! But honestly, there candies and chocolates are the best! mmmm!
 
窶喩窶壺?ーツ Goldiegirl, nice to see you back! :)
And congrats to your husband's green card! :cracker:
 
Thanks a bunch! I am so relieved it is all done. We had a few close calls in immigration, where they didn't want to let him back in the USA. They didn't understand why we had to travel so often between the two countries. It seems they don't know their own rules. Japan, never had an issue with me going back and forth into the country!
 
Welcome back GG! I was wondering what happened to you. Glad to have you and your insight back again!
 
Nice that you're back, GG. What's the reason Immigration gave for the 90-day travels to Japan? To validate a tourist visa?
 
It's a long immigration story...the short version is this...he had a student visa, we didn't know that we could have just changed the status on that, but at that point we weren't sure as to which country we were going to live permanently in.....so....we came back to the USA on a visa waiver, and that's where the trouble started. The waiver program, "waives" your rights to immigration, you can't change a waiver, except that we are married. Immigration didn't know how to handle us. We were told that he didn't have to go back in 90 days since we had applied for a permanent visa, but there were no laws regarding our situation, so at any time immigration could show up and deport him. How nice! He could have also applied for a student or business visa, but you can only apply for one type of immigration at a time. If an over zealous immigration official deported him, we would then be in big trouble. So to make sure we followed the letter of the law, with no issues, we went back and forth on the waiver. It was the safest route. Our attorney said that we could have tried and stayed, and as long as he didn't draw any attention to himself we probably would have been ok...BUT...if perchance something happened to his parents or family in Japan and we had to leave the usa, he technically would have overstayed, even though he was applying for permanent residency. (goes back to the point that you can't change a waiver) So that would have been really bad! We figured better safe than sorry! So, I hope that kind of makes sense! I don't ever want to go through that again!
 
Welcome back GG!!!

That sounds like quite a run you had there! My sister-in-law had to wait forever for her green card, as well. Although in her case, she didn't have to deal with visa waivers and all that b.s. brings.
 
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