Guide to U.S. Immigration

13. The American Embassy in Japan

Most Japanese nationals obtain their visas in the American Embassy in Tokyo or the American Consulate in Osaka-Kobe. Original visa applications are made there for B-1, B-2, E-1, E-2, and I visas. For the E visa category, supporting documents showing the establishment of the U.S. company (Japanese subsidiary company) must be given. For E-1 visas, documents such as the Corporate Articles of Incorporation, By-laws, and stock certificate must be presented along with trading documents (letters of credit, invoices, shipping documents, etc), bank statements, company lease, financial statements, etc.

For the E-1 or E-2 alien, a letter from the sponsoring company verifying his background and proposed position and duties and salary in the US must be presented.

The procedure for an L or H visa is slightly different. The original petition (Form I-129) is filed with the Citizenship & Immigration Services Office in the U.S. After approved, the Citizenship & Immigration Services Office sends the Notice of Approval (Form I-171C) to the American Embassy/Consulate in Japan. Thereafter the alien provides a verifying letter from the sponsoring company to the American Embassy/Consulate that it will employ the alien. Then the visa is issued.

It is the current practice of the American Embassy in Tokyo to require Japanese companies with U.S. subsidiaries to file additional forms. These forms are the Company Profile, Employee Profile, and List of U.S. Employees. These forms provide the Embassy with information about the number of visas issued to a particular company and in what positions they are employed. In that way the Embassy regulates the number of visas issued to a particular company.