Ex-Princess Mako
Because of husband Kei: Your home in exile New York is in danger
Kei Komuro and Princess Mako
© Kyodo News / imago images
After years of drama surrounding their marriage, ex-princess Mako of Japan and Kei Komuro finally wanted to rest in exile in New York. Now Kei’s imminent renewed failure in the bar exam could jeopardize the residency visa.
On November 14, 2021, Princess Mako, 30, now called Mako Komuro, started a new life. Since then she is said to have lived with husband Kei Komuro, 30, in a luxurious one-bedroom apartment in an apartment building in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen district. At least that’s what the British newspaper “Daily Mail” claims to have learned. But is her past in the Japanese imperial family, which ended so sadly, catching up with her faster than she would like?
Ex-princess Mako + Kei Komuro: Is their love drama going into the next round?
Mako and Kei’s love is reminiscent of a nightmare from which one would like to wake up immediately. It all started in 2017 with their engagement. The strict Japanese imperial family did not like that the daughter of Crown Prince Akishino, 56, and Crown Princess Kiko, 55, chose a commoner, her college friend. In addition, Kei’s family was in financial difficulties. Concerns were raised that he was only after Mako’s money.
Amid angry protests from the Japanese population, the couple said yes in October 2021. The wedding was sparse, Mako says he was “not doing well”. By marrying a commoner, she was expelled from the imperial family. The Imperial Household Agency claimed she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after all of this. Then her grandfather died and Kei failed his New York bar exam, a fact that could now spell doom for the couple.
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If Kei fails the bar exam the second time, his visa will be in jeopardy
The Komuros have applied for a visa to stay in their new homeland. Kei has been living in the Big Apple for some time, according to the international news agency “Reuters”, started his law studies at the private Fordham University in New York in 2018 and completed them in 2021. He was probably in possession of a US student visa, which, according to Japanese media reports, is about to expire in July of this year.
None of this would be so tragic if Kei didn’t have the exam problem. If he had passed the so-called bar exam on the first try, he could have stayed in New York on a US visa for a temporary work stay. However, the prerequisites for this are not without. According to the US Visa Service Team, not only does it require a secure job, but the applicant’s “educational level” and “qualifications” also play a role. The company is also under scrutiny; it should be big and successful enough.
Great exam pressure due to imminent job loss?
That should at least apply to the law firm Lowenstein Sandler, where Kei has been working as a legal trainee since his studies, according to “Reuters”. This is a common term for new employees who have not yet passed the bar exam. On February 22nd and 23rd, 2022, Mako’s husband made a second attempt. Pictures available to “Daily Mail” show him scowling as he leaves the examination office. Does that reflect his inner feelings? In any case, the pressure to finally pass the exam should be great for Kei Komuro.
At the end of April the Komuros will have certainty. The New York State Board of Law Examiners announced the test results according to their own statements. Until then, it’s time to tremble. In the state of New York, trainee lawyers can repeat the bar exam as often as they like, but according to “Reuters” many US law firms do not tolerate a second failure. And no job, no work visa. Then Kei and probably also Mako, for whom it is still not known where she will work, would have to leave the USA.
But where does the couple end up then? Back to Japan, the country where people took to the streets to protest their marriage? You don’t know – and you can only hope that Kei’s nerves held up. However, the success rate is not on his side – according to “Reuters” information, only 31 percent of foreign trainee lawyers passed the bar exam in July 2021. Perhaps luck is finally on their side, which the Komuros have so far held back in an extremely noble way.
Sources used: reuters.com, dailymail.co.uk, nybarexam.org, college-contact.com, usvisaservice.de, news.yahoo.co.jp, kenh14.vn