USCIS changes immigrant visa petition rules Published July 27, 2011 U.S. Consulate General, Naha NAHA, Japan -- NOTICE TO ALL PERSONNEL WITH FOREIGN NATIONAL DEPENDENTS WHO PCS IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS: Due to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) rule change, the U.S. Consulate Naha will no longer be accepting immigrant visa (I-130) petitions for foreign national dependents after Aug. 11, 2011. Thereafter, petitions must be submitted directly to a USCIS office in Chicago for processing. The consulate will still conduct immigrant visa interviews for foreign national dependents with approved petitions, but this change in the petition approval process will result in an additional six to 12 months processing time. This change may have a major impact on personnel transferring back to the U.S. if visas are not obtained in sufficient time prior to PCS. All foreign nationals intending to immigrate must be properly documented. If your foreign national dependent has not already obtained LPR ("green card") status, and there is insufficient time to complete this process before you PCS, they may be refused entry into the U.S. or denied boarding by the airlines. The consulate is taking steps to help those personnel who will be PCSing soon by opening more slots every day on their IV appointment calendar until Aug. 11 for accepting I-130 petitions. Please refer to their website for scheduling an appointment, for instructions on how to complete the I-130, and the necessary documents. The petition submission fee is $420 which can be paid at the consulate in U.S. dollars or Japanese Yen cash, by money order or credit card. The petition cannot be accepted on the day of your appointment without payment. The U.S. citizen sponsor (petitioner) must appear to submit the petition. The foreign national dependents who are the visa applicants are encouraged but not required to attend. Visa interviews for foreign dependents will be scheduled later after petitions have been approved. (Petitioners are not required to attend the visa interview.) A checklist of required documents and appointment availability is available at: http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/visa/tvisa-ivi130check.html. In addition to scheduling more appointment slots at the consulate, they will also be conducting a special petition acceptance day on Aug. 5 at the 18th Force Support Squadron Military Personnel Section Customer Service in building 721-B from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you would like to submit your petition on this day, please contact the Airman and Family Readiness Center at 634-3366 for more information and for scheduling an appointment time. On this day, payment can be accepted by money order only. The consulate will not accept any petitions without payment. The following constitutes a complete Part I package. All of the forms are available on the consulate website. Please try to come with a complete application packet. However, even if you are unable to complete all the items you may still schedule an appointment for the petition acceptance day, and it is to your advantage to do so. The consulate will accept the petition even if it is pending documents. The package must be complete before it can be approved and you can proceed to the second step for your foreign national dependent's visa interview, but you will have met the deadline to have your petition approved in Naha. In addition to these original documents, you must also bring one copy of each. All documents that are not in English must include a translation, although you can prepare this translation yourself. - I-130 - Applicant's birth certificate (or family registry for Japanese) - Proof of petitioner's U.S. citizenship (passport, birth certificate, or naturalization certificate) - Marriage license - Original divorce decrees if applicable for petitioners and applicants with prior marriages - DS-230 Part I - G-325 (for petitioner) - G-325 (for applicant) - One passport size photo each from petitioner and applicant - $420 (Money order payable to U.S. Embassy Tokyo) Again, all personnel with foreign national dependents who do not already have LPR ("green card") status are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity provided by the consulate to submit your I-130 immigration petition by Aug. 11. After that date, all petitions must be submitted to the USCIS office in Chicago which may result in a delay of six to 12 months processing time for an immigrant visa for your dependent(s) to obtain his or her LPR status.