
Right before Christmas 2000, when my employer told me that I needed to go, I started to prepare changing my visa status from E-2 (Investor Status) to H visa. My lawyer was confident that it could be changed and could be changed in relatively short time. I waited, waited, waited,
and received rejection notice. I tried to be re-hired by a group companies in US of my then employer, and could not get one. Economy was starting to be bad, dot com company recession. So, I needed to go out of US returned back to Japan, re-enter US as non-visa status. I continued to be back and forth between US and Japan for about a year.

We took another interview 8 months later. Here I needed to point out that if you apply for Green Card, you need to obtain temporary work permit and emigration (traveling out from US) and re-entry permit for working and even traveling to outside US. Since they expire in 12 months and needed to re-apply for them, it was hectic process. USCIS attitude and reaction was far from friendly or cooperative. Even my lawyer advised me not to be angry no matter what they say or do. One day in USCIS office waiting for my turn, I found somebody curved cursing words to base of chair "XXXX USCIS". I myself would not have done that, but I could easily imagine the feeling.

There are some people who are advertising in the net in Japanese saying that they can EASILY obtain Green Card for almost doing NOTHING. I hope they have a magic wand and help their clients. But my experience was quite different from what they advertise.
The lesson was "Be prepared, study all the possibility, make sure you are comfortable and confident. But be flexible enough to cope with unexpected happens." So the words I came across in a movie definitely helped. It was "Knowing the Path is Different from Walking the Path."
Check my websites to find out what I am doing:
http://funami.edcdiamond.com/
http://www.shawfunami.com/
http://zhenintl.ws/
Feel free to contact me:
shaw@zhenintl.ws
Shaw Funami
Fill the Missing Link

2 comments:
Hi Shaw .. it must have been so difficult and unsettling - but I'm so pleased it's all worked out and you're now happy and settled.
As you say "knowing the path will be different to that you're walking" .. always expect the unexpected and then you can plan to adjust as necessary ..
Interesting .. All the Best -
Hilary - Be Positive Be Happy
Thanks Hilary for your comment. It seems to me I am destined to come across only difficult things LOL. Only positive approach like you suggest can keep me going. Thanks, agaian.
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