ValleyRD Mailing List: Kenji & Nobuko Shibata

[Bob Heiser (w7ikt]

Dear round dance friends,

This is to inform you that we have decided to go back to Japan around the end of August unless we receive good news from the Immigration office before we leave.

As you may recall, we filed a new application for a green card at the beginning of last year; at that time our lawyer told us it normally takes about a year to hear the result of our application.  We expected to get a decision from the I.N.S. in March or so, but have heard nothing.  Last week we visited our lawyer and asked about the status of our application.  The answer was that the process seems to be delayed (as in the past); the decision may be made in few months or it could be more as no one can push the office to expedite the process.  All we can do is wait.

We would wait if we knew when the decision would be made, but we cannot keep waiting without knowing. We have been in this unstable situation the past 13 years, and we cannot stand it anymore.  We cannot make any concrete plans for the future unless we know if  we will get a green card or not.  If we were to go back to Japan 3 years from now, we may be too old to rebuild our living foundations even in Japan.

We hope you understand our situation and why we had to make up our minds to go back to Japan.  Taking this opportunity we would like to express our sincere thankfulness for the kindness, friendship and support you have extended to us.

We will surely be back to see you again as visitors, and share dancing pleasure with you after we settle in Japan.  We will probably see you before we leave at the ICBDA Convention and/or the Round A Rama Institute.

Thank you for your time to read this note.

Kenji & Nobuko Shibata

Knshibata [at] aol.com