My husband and I have been married for almost 5 months. He got assigned to Fort Shafter, Hawaii and he had orders with dependents and deferred travel. He has been there 7 weeks, and we are trying to get the command sponsorship papers done for me to get there. We want to live on base and they told him the command sponsorship has to be done to be on the wait list and even for me to get there, but I know people that were there before their command sponsorship was finished. Is there any way for me to move there with him and get TLA before the command sponsorship is finished, and about how long does it take for the paperwork to get completed in Hawaii? They said it would be done last week but it still isn’t yet.
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I’m asking a friend of mine who was in Hawaii to stop by and comment on this for you. 
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
You and your husband can pay out of pocket for you to move to HI. However the military will not pay TLA until the command sponsorship has been approved. I would have your husband check with his Chain of Command to see what the hold up is. Have all the EFMP screenings been submitted for yourself and any other dependents? I’ve never heard of it taking this long unless there was something missing from the packet. Really it should only take up to 4 weeks max.
Thanks for commenting, V!
hey, have you ever figured out what was going on with this? my husband is being stationed in hawaii, but is still awaiting his graduation. i need to know what i need to be taking care of to ensure that i am able to go with him as well, any suggestions?
My husband and I got married while on pcs leave and have been married almost 2months. He is now stationed in Hawaii and I’m in California. We applied for command sponsorship over 2weeks ago. They told my husband it would take less than that to process the paperwork. He already asked his chain of command for an update and wasn’t given any information. Is there other way we can get an answer or get the process done faster?
He needs to stay on top of it with his chain of command. If you have completed all of the paperwork, it shouldn’t take too much longer. Good luck!
Hi any good news yet? My husband is stationed in Schofield Barracks, we got married en route and have a daughter. He paid for our tickets to get there out of his pocket. He got BAH and we now live in a military housing nearby even when our command sponsorship wasn’t done yet. The army is really bad with losing papers so be sure to make copies and give them your completed forms in a folder with your husbands name on it. First they forgot to give him his 5888 and when we called from the hospital while enrolling for EFMP, his Sgt. had no clue what it was (DUH). It’s been 3 weeks now since we handed it in ( hubby was in Big Island for a week for PTA and was told they can’t help him til he comes back). As soon as he got back from the range, hubby checked on papers and they lost our 5888. They are also taking out money from his paycheck for food at the decaf even when he is not allowed to eat there because he is married.
Jasmine, my fiance and I are planning to get married this summer. He will already be stationed in Hawaii at this time. It sounds like your situation was similar. If we pay for my way to Hawaii out of pocket, will we start receiving BAH as soon we get there or will we have to pay for a hotel for me to stay in until all the paperwork gets completely?
We finally just paid out of pocket for me to come here. He asked about it every day and hey kept saying that it would be just a few days more. Then they said they “lost” my command sponsorship packet so my husband paid for me to come here and I had to redo all of the EFMP paperwork here at Tripler. We’re working on putting together the new command sponsorship packet and they said this time it should take a week, but I guess we’ll see.
Well, we’ve started the process for the concurrent travel/command sponsorship but aren’t for sure how long its going to take. My husband is scheduled to fly there on the 7th && we’ve purchased a ticket for me to come along with. I’m very glad to hear about the lodging being provided. I just hope everything works out smoothly and hopefully nothing gets lost.
My husband moved here on Oct 4th while I was pregnant with our second child. Child was born November. We were waiting for command sponsorship for the flight. But my husband was due to deploy end of march so we didn’t want to wait any longer. They messed up our paper work 3 times. Stillwaitung on command sponsorship and it now April. We are only recieving cola for just him. This is BS! 6 months it takes and still counting. The command sponsership in Hawaii Is a joke! They have thier heads up thier asses. Now I have to go in every week cause hubs is deployed! BS! I’m sure getting reimbursed and back pay for cola will be hell on earth as well! I shouldn’t have to stress over this bs while he’s deployed.
It’s better to get your command sponsorship papers done at the soldier support center, they push the paperwork through faster than your husbands unit command will.
My husband is in Schofield barracks and i just wanted to know the wait time untill we can join him our papers are done everything has been handed in last week friday i jus really need to know how many weeks it should take if thats possible for you to tell me..
Hello,
My husband is an E2 in the Army and has 8 weeks left in his AIT now. We recently got married, and they have not processed us yet even though I sent our marriage license and my birth certificate over 2 weeks ago. He has orders for Schofield Barracks and I would like to be able to leave with him when he finishes his AIT. What should I be doing as of right now? Is there any way to begin the command sponsorship process without the paperwork for us getting married being completed?
Without yet being recognized as a spouse, they can’t start command sponsorship. It shouldn’t take long though.
Hey Mauri, what ended up happening?
Hey guys,
My husband is already stationed in Hawaii and we got married during his leave in vegas. He has orders for another year and a half/ 2 years in Hawaii at Ft Shafter. Does anyone know what they will and wont cover as well as the current wait time for housing and command sponsorship. I am ex army myself so i know some of the ropes and i am trying to most of the follow up for him so he doesn’t have to worry about it.
Thanks in advance
Hey my husband and I got married in Vegas last December. When he got back to his station in Hawaii, they made him go through hoops just to know what to do to be able to move me out there. Finally on March 6th all the paperwork for command sponsorship was completed. I wanted to know how long it takes to go through so I can go out there? I am hearing a lot of bad things about his base and how they don’t follow the rules and take their sweet time.