"John W." wrote:

> Wish I could help for the post 9/11 bit,

It does make a difference.

> but my info is about ten years
> old now. It wasn't easy, but mainly because my wife had to go to the
> main embassy in Tokyo to have a medical check for some reason or other.

They don't want people with communicable diseases like TB or HIV. I did
something similar to come to Japan, except I could go to the local doctor.
I consider this to be the easy part of getting my family to the US.

> I don't recall a lot of paperwork regarding fincancial sponsorship,
> though.

What the US Embassy in Tokyo writes on their website makes the visa
application procedures sound much easier than what I am reading on various
US department websites (if applying through offices in the US, it seems I
must go through a variety of departments like Department of State,
Immigration, and Homeland Security, each with their own paperwork, with
ominous statements like they will notify the applicant in the year that
they come up for review) but yes indeed, even the affidavit of support
form on the Embassy website is 15 printed pages long, requiring a short
list of other supplementary documents.

> Did you not register your kids with the embassy when they were
> born?

At the nearest Consulate. The Embassy tells me I need nothing to bring my
kids home. One bit of good news. I only need to go through the procedure
once. Another bit of good news is my wife can get some of her
documentation by mail instead of traveling two prefectures to her hometown
to request them in person.

> If so, isn't there some sort of provisional visa for spouses so
> they can go with you until the final paperwork on the permanent
> residency goes through?

I recall seeing forms available for that online at some US department
website, but the procedure for that doesn't seem faster or easier than the
real thing.

For personal reasons, I should be back home with my oldest child before
April 2005. I have no intention of going alone or splitting my family
while waiting for my wife, because she may not choose to show.

This could suck.