I've been reading the immigration forums for a while now, knowing that eventually my boyfriend and I would be going through the process. However, a positive pregnancy test last night has kinda sped up the plan...
Anyway, we're starting now to get his clearances from the FBI and state, but he was also in the military for 3 years and served in Okinawa. Does he require additional information beyond the FBI and state clearances? Something from Japan?
Also, he's having a difficult time remembering all the addresses of where he's lived over the past 32 years...I think I remember someone on here saying they used a background check or something like that to get a lot of those details. Anyone have a link?
Thanks so much ~ Beverly
If he was in Okinawa for 3 years, then I would definitely get a check from them. It will probably be a pain, but they seem to really be nuts about military records just so they can know for sure that there isn't any past war crimes stuff that might come up.
I got my past addresses off a computer background check, and I think he said he paid $30 for it. It was just an online thing, I think called people search.
Thank you for your reply. He was actually in the military for a total of 3 years but only served 1 year in Okinawa. The rest of the time was spent on military bases in the States.
Trying to figure out how to get information on police clearance in Japan for his situation is turning out to be a bit challenging... Guessing this is just the beginning. lol
Thanks again ~Beverly
There are many "background" check companies, and a simple google search pulls up a huge, huge list. I suggest looking at few different ones before using or paying any one of them. I suspect that many are not altogether legitimate, perhaps some are fronts for scams, so be careful. Look for a reputable one, and pay a little more to get one you trust.
I just happened to have done one just a few months before applying for PR (and I don't recall who it was), and it did indeed help with the precise addresses -- it was not entirely accurate, more in the over-inclusive way, as in it listed several addresses at which I never lived. Most could be explained, addresses of close relatives for example, but some were simply unrelated to me. My own records and memory were sufficient to separate the real addresses from those which were not mine.
The check only went back for 25 years. So I had a few addresses in the period before that I was not sure about. I gave my best descriptions for those addresses, naming the city and a nearby landmark, roughly describing the street and distance from the landmark; in one instance in which the address was a rural one I recalled the name of the road and referred to how far it was from the nearest city. Then there was the period before even that, back to when my official residence was my parent's address, and even though I moved around quite a bit during those years (going back into the 60s) I listed that address and only referred to places I "boarded" in general terms during that time on a supplemental page to clarify.
My military history was during that period, as I always kept my home state drivers' license, so in the formal list of addresses the only one I listed for that period was my "home" address and, again, on the supplemental page I clarified and identified the various places I was stationed during my military service (much of this was also covered in the item for military service). Big difference, mine versus yours, was that even when I was abroad I was technically stationed out of a U.S. port (I was in the Navy), so I do not know how a foreign station might be handled. (BTW, if I recall correctly, the background declaration asks for the name of the Commanding Officer for every station, in the military background section -- I had no way of reconstructing that part, and ended up just listing my last Commanding Officer whose name appears on my discharge papers.)
I suspect that Americans with a U.S. military background who did not serve in combat or in conflict regions, who received an honorable discharge, who have no criminal issues whatsoever, and particularly where the service was not recent, probably do not trigger the kind of scrutiny that military service in many other countries might. But who really knows? I don't.
I think what worried me is Okinawa. When my son was in the Navy, I used to read the Navy Times, and there were lots of incidents, particularly rapes of the local girls with lots of protests. You can never tell what is going to get CIC's attention. My policy when it comes to CIC is to cover all bases, and answer their questions before they get curious.
That is good advice.
One way, or perhaps two ways (in response to addresses, and in response to military service), the information should be divulged, the time spent in Okinawa reported.
Whether or not to obtain a police certificate from Japan for that period of time, I am not sure. Depends on a number of factors. Could be a judgment call. If it is relatively easy, though, even if it would require some effort, some time, and a modest cost, definitely lean toward getting it -- why not? If the time of service was fifteen years ago, though, and it is difficult to obtain, not sure.
Thanks so much, both of you, for your thoughts and information on this issue. When he served was probably close to 25-26 years ago. I don't have the exact date off the top of my head but he was in his early 20's and he's 50 now so it's not in recent times that he served. I think he will be phoning the Japanese embassy in the States to see exactly what he might have to do in order to get that clearance. Then I guess we'll see how difficult it is if we'll go ahead for it or just explain in the application and see what CIC does with the information.
Thanks again for your help with this. :)
~Beverly