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U.S. Marine's Japanese widow allowed to live in U.S.

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Took too long, but at least the outcome was OK.

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Took too long, but at least the outcome was OK.

Indeed. Now this woman and her child can get on with their lives.

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They should change the law altogether; it's pretty silly to require "consummation" of people who already have a kid together.

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MERRY XMAS! :-)

then again... the only ties she has with his side is the kid, she is better off back in japan with her families and friends for support.

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They should change the law altogether; it's pretty silly to require "consummation" of people who already have a kid together.

It's ridiculous to require consumation of any marriage before it's considered "valid".

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It's ridiculous to require consumation of any marriage before it's considered "valid".

Agreed.

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Promise they made to each other before he died in combat.

It's ridiculous to require consumation of any marriage before it's considered "valid".

It's a silly law from the 1950's.

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"then again... the only ties she has with his side is the kid, she is better off back in japan with her families and friends for support."

1: Why do you assume she has support in Japan?

2: How do you know she doesn't have support from his family in the US?

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They consummated before the certificate, so why the hassle?

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1: Why do you assume she has support in Japan?

this girl has a mother (in okinawa) who supports her and the baby all the way and lets her what she has decided.

2: How do you know she doesn't have support from his family in the US?

his family adores her and the baby so much and that was one of the reasons why she decided that she wanted to live there.

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This is a unique situation and the system handled it appropriately. It's a shame it took more than two years - it's amazing how inefficient government bureaucracies are.

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Semper Fi. Hope she will be happy in the land of the free

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This is a unique situation and the system handled it appropriately.

Yes, shame about the time frame, but compared to getting a verdict if a similar case were to arise in Japan, it's quite quick!

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This is a reasonable solution and outcome for the affected and I feel sympathy for her situation.

However I think it is ridiculus that he got special treatment as a soldier that a civillian wouldnt get. An american who is not a trained killer working in an illigal war - but say an humanitarian - would not be treated like this.

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ILoveNippon-

However I think it is ridiculus that he got special treatment as a soldier

He didn't get any special treatment.. he's been killed. It is about his family members and whether the war is legal or illegal, it isn't his fault and he should never be blamed on for this. He was a service member and he did his job. While I DO think this war was a mistake, I do not think he did anything illegal himself and his family should be allowed in the United States as family members of an American citizen. Blaming the war nor the service man is really not the thing to do here.

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Good outcome for a sad case (all around). I hope her life turns out to be a good one over there, and for the boy as well. It's sad that it'll be without her husband, of course, but again, at least the outcome was the desired one.

As to the whole consummation to make a marriage 'valid' thing, I agree with others that it's a stupid relic from the past.

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I guess foreign spouses of impotent military members are out of luck.

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Good for the US, this would never happen in Japan.

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However I think it is ridiculus that he got special treatment as a soldier that a civillian wouldnt get.

As the line by Heinlein goes, "Service = Citizenship." Plenty of non-Americans are getting their U.S. citizenship by serving in Iraq. Therefore, this action isn't surprising. Civilians just aren't worth as much, no matter how much handwringing they do.

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halleluiah!!! why the hell it took so long. a man serves his family deserves.

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The whole "consumation" thing is an attempt to weed out sham marriages or marriages of convenience.

@Laguna: "Consumation" does not require a pregnancy. It only requires intercourse between the couple.

@ILoveNippon: Your post doesn't make any sense. The "special treatment" the soldier got resulted in his death. The woman who received this special ruling IS a civilian, so I don't see how you can say a civilian wouldn't get this special treatment. I'm sure the reason the exception was granted was because the soldier never was given the opportunity to consumate the marriage before he died.

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Happy Holidays

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it's amazing how inefficient government bureaucracies are

Have you ever spent any time in the US?

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Very glad to see this was finally done. Should have happened more then a year ago. Hope she is happy in her adopted homeland.

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Great holiday present even if it is later than it should have been. I hope this brings a bit of peace to the family.

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Semper Fi. Hope she will be happy in the land of the free

Hahahahahahaha....are you friggin serious? Taxes - UP! Living costs - UP! Gasoline - UP! Crime rates - UP! Government ignorance of what 'we the people' want - UP! Wanting to charge you for collecting rainwater!

Yeah...welcome to the land of the free!

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Yeah...welcome to the land of the free!

Um.. the girl and the son are not going to the states to get out of Japan or anything like that.. she is taking the boy there so that he can grow up in a country where his father grew up and he can be near his grandparents and the grandparents can see their only grandson grow up, the girl and the husband promised to raise the boy in a land where the husband grew up so she is fulfilling the promise.. she and the boy are both adored by the parents of the husband...

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However I think it is ridiculus that he got special treatment as a soldier that a civillian wouldnt get.

WRONG, because what is loss in this story is that the congress passed another special bill to another Japanese national (a 28 year old Japanese male). He was also allowed to stay in the US and his immigration status was "normalized". He came to the US when he was 10 with his mother, however his mother was killed in a car accident shortly after and he lived with his aunt, but was never legally adopted.

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If his family got special treatment it's because they deserved it! He gave his life for his country and his son is an American citizen regardless of where he was born. His wife and child is being welcomed by his family and I wish her the best in the USA!

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Good for them! I wish them every happiness.

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she'll be coming back within 6 months.

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Good for her. I'm glad she will be spared the indignity of dealing with USCIS. They would have treated her like a criminal and done nothing to help her come to America. I'm glad she was given special assistance.

Taka

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Taka313, all this did was get her permanent resident "green card" approved. She's still going to have to deal with USCIS if she ever wants to become a U.S. citizen.

I imagine they had started the paperwork for a spouse visa, but that became void when the husband died. The only option for her after that would be to get put in the general immigration lottery for visas. This action by Congress bypassed the whole lottery mess.

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Marriage or not, she is the mother of the orphan of a US serviceman killed at work. How can they deny her a visa and the support to raise the child in his country ?

It's a shame that the US behave that way. They are able to make official declarations to condemn how others behaved with comfort women 3 generations ago (facts, OK), but look at what they do with theirs now. There are thousands of kids of US military in the Philippines too. The US don't think they have any duty to help them.

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However I think it is ridiculus that he got special treatment as a soldier that a civillian wouldnt get. An american who is not a trained killer working in an illigal war - but say an humanitarian - would not be treated like this.

Technically only the "invasion" could be considered illegal, the occupation is actually legal under UN law because of the UNSC resolutions that were passed in the summer of 03 all the way till I believe end of 08 that legalized the occupation after the UNSC resolutions ended the SOFA took over which is also legal.

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Cos at 02:51 AM JST - 17th December

You bring up a good point.

As far back as the Korean war countries such as France, Sweden and others had policies in place regarding children fathered by their soldiers something the USA refused to address, it seems that this has not changed much.

And judging by how the USA government gutted the original point of this bill so it only applies to this woman and her child and not to all that might find themselves in a similar situation it does not look like things will change any time soon.

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I do hope and pray she enjoys life State side, millions of folk from all over the world do, just ask all my Mexican family back in warm and sunny California and me out here on the islands with freezing cold feet!

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