Hi All

I want to share what happened when Thi called the Consulate to find out about the status of our petition. The Consulate has a automated voice system that she had to figure out. It comes either in English or Vietnamese, she choose Vietnamese of course. After pressing the right number of buttons she finally got to talk to a real person.

It was a Vietnamese woman who didn't indentify herself. Thi asked her about the status of our visa and the woman asked Thi for our case number and looked up our visa on the computer. She told Thi that the Packet 3 would be sent out between 12/11 and 1/11. If she didn't recieve it by 1/11 she could come to 4 Le Duan St to pick it up. Then the woman hung up. Thi said she didn't think the woman was rude just in a hurry because Thi didn't have enough time to ask any of the other questions. As soon as the woman had answered the first question, she hung up.

My two calls to the San Francisco Vietnamese Consulate make me feel that's typical because the first call in February to find out the cost of the travel visa to Vietnam, the man who answered acted the same as the woman. The second call in August to make sure the cost was the same, the man who answered was a more polite, he asked if I had any other questions then did say goodby.

However we wanted to have these questions answered:
1. When did they recieve our petition
2. Has the Packet 3 letter been sent out yet?
3. If it hasn't, can she pick it up.
4. I'm coming to Vietnam for the interview, if she get approved for her visa, how soon can she pick it up? I can't stay 3-4 weeks in Vietnam, 7-10 days is the most I can stay. We plan on leaving together.

I'd like to ask any other VJs if they would share their experiences with HCMC Consulate personnel, ie their names and whether they were polite or not. If there is a problem with an interview, it would be good to know who at the Consulate might be more reasonable to ask for and who to avoid.

Tonight I'm going to email the HCMC Consulate my questios to see if they will answer them in the 4-5 days they say it will take. If they dont' then I may call there.

Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26
I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11
I-129F RFE(s) :
RFE Reply(s) :
I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26
Touched: 2007-11-02
NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16
Consulate recieved ??????
Packet 3 sent??????

Hello Peter and Thi,

My experiences with both the US Consulate in Sagon and the Vietnamese Consulate in San Francisco were a little over three years ago but I still remember vividly. All the Vietnamese employees at the Consulate are rude. They know they are and nothing has been done to correct the problem. The people who work at the Vietnamese Consulate @ SFO or the Vietnamese Embassay up in DC, on the other hand, are different on my own account. They usually do not answer the phone but when they do, they are quite poilte.

As far as you wanted answer on questions 1, 2 and 3, only the Consulate can give you such answers. Once your case leaves the Visa Center, it is in the hand and at the mercy of the Consulate. Tell Thi do not let the rudeness intimidates her. If they hang up, call again. However, don't call early in the morning, right after lunch and before the day ends. Those are sually not the good time.4. I'm coming to Vietnam for the interview, if she get approved for her visa, how soon can she pick it up? I can't stay 3-4 weeks in Vietnam, 7-10 days is the most I can stay. We plan on leaving together.

In regards to your question 4, I would wait to see the outcome of the interview before I go to VN.

Good luck

Peter and Thi,
I just called HCMC the other day and went through the automated system. I reached the woman working there and she seemed rather polite and I got the feeling she was concerned if I received enough information from her. She didn't appear to be in a hurry. I called to find out the status of our case and she told me the Chief Immigration officer is reviewing our case before sending out packet 3 or shipping it back to USCIS. I guess that's the SOP when cases are reaffirmed or a new one is filed.
The most recent pink slips here have had a 2 week waiting period to pick up the visa after the interview. If you want to go home together, I would wait until she has the visa in hand.
Good Luck!

I wrote them an email on Nov 21; they replied on Dec 11 = 20 days. Is better to talk to some on the phone. They're being rude to the Vietnamese (some of them are), but they try to act friendly to Americans.

I sent the email last night to them about my questions so I'll find out in 4-5 days or 20........ If I don't get an answer to the email in a week, I'll call them. I have noticed that they seem to be nicer to Americans too....... So far Thi hasn't had a problem and she knows that they can be rude, she says that normal for a lot of businesses too.


Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26
I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11
I-129F RFE(s) :
RFE Reply(s) :
I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26
Touched: 2007-11-02
NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16
Consulate recieved ??????
Packet 3 sent??????

Tram called the consulate to inquire about whether or not our packet 3 was received (the would not let her turn it in by hand). The girl was very nice to her and informed her that it was in fact received and that they had already mailed out the packet 4 and told her the interview date. About 2 weeks later the packet 4 arrived.

From pink slip to visa was 12 calender days for us.

Our interview was pretty close to flawless. Tram had a "Malaysian" lady that spoke average Vietnamese interview her. If Tram did not understand or know how to answer easily in English she politely asked if she could answer that question in Vietnamese. Tram was very polite from start to finish. She maintained a level head and kept a smile on her face. She was not intimidated. She was confident.

Remember that you are selling yourself and your relationship to the CO. Confidence, IMO, is key.

An and I have called several times to the Consulte we always pick english at the prompt we then are transfered right away to the information desk. The girl at the desk is allways polite to us. One thing I would tell you as for our case we never received packet 3 we went and found out what to send and express mailed it to them then called back 4 days later they said they have received it. As far as Packet 4 goes swe still have not received that as well. An called and talked after 3 weeks and onthe 8 of December they told her that we would not need to call back until January FYI. I called the 16th she gave me the interview date after An called to verify and it was set. She told me to please hold on and then explained to me that packet 4 was sent out and they will be closed Christmas day if we have not received Packet 4 by Christmas Day to please come to the window and pick it up after 3 pm on the 26th . I am having trouble getting the police cert they say it will take 26 days so fyi I would get that soon An took her Ds230 to the province and then they made a copy told her it would be ready in 3 to 4 weeks they said 26 days . As far as going to Vietnam I am going on the 28 th of this month will arrive Vietnam time the 30th of this month to be with her when she goes to the interview even though I will be out side. Plane tickets were hard to get . I wanted to stay as long as it took but my travel agent which is Viet told me I was only allowed to stay 1 month. I have never heard of this she said only Viet people were givin 3 month Visas have you heard of this . I would call and talk to them allot things change very fast our packet 4 was sent out 3 weeks after packet 3 was excepted. Eric

I have a friend, who had his interview for his CR1 on 11/21 and got a blue slip.
He went to Consulate 11/26 and got pink one (approved).
The Consulate said he could pick up the visa for his wife one week later.
Now 12/20/07 they still have not any visa yet.

Hmmm

I think after Christmas I'll call the Consulate and see what kind of answers I get. I'm hoping the reason for the two week delay between pink and visa is because it's December. There may be fewer US personel there now so it slows things down.

Speaking English seems to be the key for getting questions answered and things done at the Consulate. Thi's English is getting pretty good but she's not confident of it yet. My mother and sister in law have been text chattig with her and have no problems with her Englsh. Speaking and hearing it is another matter. We've been spending 1-2 hours voice chatting a day in addition to her Englsh school she goes to 3 times a week. She's been going to school since April. Now we can voice chat without much confusion. I think she'll be fine by the time her interview happens which now looks more like February.

I've heard that you can get extensions to your visa when you're in Vietnam. On the way to Vietnam in September I sat next to a French Canadian doctor who is living and working in HCMC. He told me, just go to a local travel agent who can get a visa to go to a different country for a day then return with a new visa for Vietnam. He has to do that for his work visa every 6 months. He's worked in HCMC for 3 years now. He said one job somehow got him a 1 year work visa but his other job wasn't able to do that.


Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26
I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11
I-129F RFE(s) :
RFE Reply(s) :
I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26
Touched: 2007-11-02
NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16
Consulate recieved ??????
Packet 3 sent??????

They told us that Packet 3 was mailed out on 11/17. To this day my fiancee never got it. Luckily, I asked my fiancee to go directly to the HCMC and turn in the DS-230 Part I form to them and within 3 weeks we got our interview date. Or else we would still be waiting for that Packet 3. My fiancee received Packet 4 on Dec. 18. All that is left for her to do now is the medical exam, which will be done 1 week before her interview.

Hi Peter,

I looked at your timeline and it matches fairly close to mine ( less 1 year ). Since you asked:

All dates are approximate - I had people 2-3 weeks before us, end up with Packet 3 & Packet 4 dates behind our date.

So around now Thi should be getting a packet 3. { could be now to 2 weeks ). There's not too much you can do but follow the process - and show up to pick up the applications if they get lost.

I did go to VN while my fiance had her interview.

Not all people are rude at the consulate. Some are helpful and even friendly, but you have no control over who will do the interview, or what kind of day they had or who was last rude to them. Much as we might like to think we can control / infuence outcomes, sometimes we simply cannot.

In emails to the consulate I found they woud reply in less than 14 days usually. In those emails that they did answer the question needed to be something that was specific and could not be addressed by typical FAQ. I also made effort to be polite as possible.

Once you have been there & seen the whole process you may have a different opinion.

We first got blue & we spent a week carefully making a new packet for their review. the guidance I woud have here is if you have ever been audited, this may give you a good idea on how to prepare. That is how I found their approach.

Best wishes - its a one of a lifetime kind of experience & only deepened our relationship. Andrew & Thuy

Andrew

Thanks to you and the rest for answering my request for info about the people at the Consulate. Also thanks for the info about preparing for the interview.

GOOD NEWS! Today Thi got her Packet 3! It's Christmas Eve there so this is a very nice Christmas present.!!! She told me about it while we chatting. My mother was also online so she happy for us. Now we fill everything out then return it and really get serious about finishing our paperwork for the interview. I wonder how long it will be beofre we get our interview date.

Still waiting for an email reply. I would like to know the answers to the questions. The most important question now is can she take the Packet 3 items to the Consulate in person instead of mailing them?

Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26
I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11
I-129F RFE(s) :
RFE Reply(s) :
I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26
Touched: 2007-11-02
NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16
Consulate recieved ??????
Packet 3 sent??????
Packet 3 recieved 2007-12-24

YES - Packet 3 can be delivered in person. I believe that is the most secure way.
Look at my timeline and you will see that we had prepared everything for Packet 3 in advance - the intent seems mostly a recognition that you are seriouse about getting a date & will be able to respond with all documents for the interview.

From return of packet 3 Dec 26 we had an interview date of Mar 14th. That accounts for the break for Tet. Remember that the dates & processing times still vary even based on packet 3 submissions.

When you get to AOS you will actually see that the consulate has forwarded back to the US everything they did and I think you did. She even knew details about my father which I was sure were not in my application. Although I was not permitted to see the documents - there was not time, the stack seemed to be about 2" high. I mention this because the consulate apparently do some work on each applicant and times do vary. Be prepared to check for a interview date about mid Feb if you turn in packet 3 now. Good Luck !

Hi All

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I got an email reply from the Consulate today. Here it is:

Dear Mr. Brunner,

We received your fiancée's visa petition. We sent her an Instruction Package (Packet 3) on December 11. She is requested to return the completed DS-230 Part I to us as soon as possible. We will schedule her for a visa interview after we receive this form. If your fiancée has not yet received the packet within one month of the mailing date, she can come to our office to pick-up a packet in-person or contact us to request that we mail another packet. It is not difficult to do so.

The interview is usually scheduled approximately 2-4 months after we receive the mentioned form. If the case is approved, the applicant can receive an appointment date to return our office to pick up the visa which is currently about 2 weeks or so due to our heavy workloads. Please note that the issuance time also depends on the personal circumstances of the applicant. Thus, we cannot confirm the visa issuance time at this stage.

Sincerely,

Info Unit Staff
Consular Section
U.S. Consulate General HCMC

Tel: (84-8) 822 9433 – ext 4636

Fax: (84-8) 824 5572

E-mail: hcmcinfo@state.gov (regarding visa issues)

acshcmc@state.gov (regarding services for U.S. citizens)

Adoption: HanoiAdoptions@state.gov

Website: http://hochiminh.usconsulate.gov
This e-mail is UNCLASSIFIED based on the definitions provided in E.O. 12958.

It was a week to get an answer. That's good. While they didn't answer all the questons I asked, I did find out that it appears that 2 weeks is the current wait time to pick up the visa and it may be March or April before she has her interview....... I'm hoping it's February. Thi plans on delivering the required documents tomorrow so the next step is Packet 4.

Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26
I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11
I-129F RFE(s) :
RFE Reply(s) :
I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26
Touched: 2007-11-02
NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16
Consulate recieved ??????
Packet 3 sent 2007-12-11
Packet 3 received 2007-12-24