Wish to Reside in Vietnam.

[RocketElephant 7]

Hello to all,

I'm engaged to be married in Vietnam. I wish to reside here, but honeymoon in the U.S. Our planned date of marriage will be 18 OCT 2015; however, the paper marriage will be done in June (approx).

Our target date of travel is for about six weeks spanning DEC 2015 - JAN 2016.

What type of tourist visa should I apply for and approximately how long will it take. I've heard that a green card takes at least a year. Is it the same in this case?

Lastly, someone had told ne that wedding pictures would be required. Would that help us if we got them done early?

Thanks in advance.

[Cathi 5,609]

there is one kind of tourist visa, a B2. Congrats!!

[Pitaya 2,576]

Welcome to the forum.

easily accessible at the top of the forum page. In particular, the Tourist Visa Guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/visitor-visa-guide

Congratulations, and good luck.

[dwheels76 5,459]

Hello to all,

I'm engaged to be married in Vietnam. I wish to reside here, but honeymoon in the U.S. Our planned date of marriage will be 18 OCT 2015; however, the paper marriage will be done in June (approx).

Our target date of travel is for about six weeks spanning DEC 2015 - JAN 2016.

What type of tourist visa should I apply for and approximately how long will it take. I've heard that a green card takes at least a year. Is it the same in this case?

Lastly, someone had told ne that wedding pictures would be required. Would that help us if we got them done early?

Thanks in advance.

If your are just coming to visit than a green card isn't for you. Wedding pictures would not be something you need for a tourist Visa. The non-citizen will have to show STRONG ties to their country convincing immigration every reason they will return.

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Did you mention green card on a visitor visa?

[RocketElephant 7]

I had thought that a green card would take longer than a visitor card. Was I wrong in that assumption. It is possible I'm notposting in the right forum.

I understand that I will need a butt load of documebtation, and I can prepare all that (work contract, residency card, VN wedding papers).

Once I'm married in Vietnam won't I also be married in the US? We would be going after the ceremony and documebtation status.

I'll have boxes of documents once I'm done with the Vietnamese marriage certificate and VEC.

Which of the two methods is faster? tourist visa or green card?

I'm sorry if these questions appear to be ignorant; however, the US embassy says nothing about this situation.

Even if we're married in Vietnam, is she still subject to all of the visitor visa requirements?

Thanks again for all of your quick replies.

I had thought that a green card would take longer than a visitor card. Was I wrong in that assumption. It is possible I'm notposting in the right forum.

I understand that I will need a butt load of documebtation, and I can prepare all that (work contract, residency card, VN wedding papers).

Once I'm married in Vietnam won't I also be married in the US? We would be going after the ceremony and documebtation status.

I'll have boxes of documents once I'm done with the Vietnamese marriage certificate and VEC.

Which of the two methods is faster? tourist visa or green card?

I'm sorry if these questions appear to be ignorant; however, the US embassy says nothing about this situation.

Even if we're married in Vietnam, is she still subject to all of the visitor visa requirements?

Thanks again for all of your quick replies.

[RocketElephant 7]

Please forgive my double (triple?) post. Could anyone advise me if I should buy the roundtrip tickets before or after the vía isuance?

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

You are confusing everyone with your unclear intention.

Visitor visa = non-immigrant visa, shows all ties with mother country, takes 1 - 2 months to get interview. The fact is she got married to an USC, makes chance of approval slim to none. If you got money around, you can try your luck.

Green card CR1/IR1 visa = immigrant visa, takes couple years to finish, costs thousands for everything. You don't want to reside in the US so why bother mentioning it?

US embassy states no flight ticket until visa in hand.

[Boiler 43,397]

Please forgive my double (triple?) post. Could anyone advise me if I shouldu buy the roundtrip tickets before or after the vía isuance?

Definitely no.

Vietnam is a tricky place to get a visitor visa from, especially when married to a USC.

[dwheels76 5,459]

Please forgive my double (triple?) post. Could anyone advise me if I should buy the roundtrip tickets before or after the vía isuance?

Of course you would wait until you have Visa in hand there is no guaratee she will be approved. You keep asking two things. Yes a green card path (IR1/CR1) takes longer it's about 12 months from start to interview to Visa in hand. Visitors Visa you apply and get interview within a few months if not faster. It's not easy at all to get a Visitor Visa out of Vietnam. All the documents you listed has nothing to do with showing strong ties. You are the citizen so her ties are now to you her US citizen husband. She has to show what does she have in Vietnam that will hve her return.

It might help you showing you are also returning your job, home ties to Vietnam and all you want to do is visit family and friends and return. That might help. If you say you want to live in Vietnam why would you be applying for a green card?

[RocketElephant 7]

Thank you for all of your replies. I suppose the visitor's visa is best. I'll start the process ASAP.

The reason I ask about the green card is because I'd like to get her on the path to citizenship.

For example: Suppose, I were to die in a motorbike accident; Gd forbid, could she emigrate to the U.S.?

(I'm 29 years old)

I've read that she wouldn't be eligible for 'the test' (naturalization?) without 12 months consequetive residents in the U.S. So, I thought we could live here for a few years and later pursue other options (even internationally).

Thanks again for your help.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Thank you for all of your replies. I suppose the visitor's visa is best. I'll start the process ASAP.

The reason I ask about the green card is because I'd like to get her on the path to citizenship.

For example: Suppose, I were to die in a motorbike accident; Gd forbid, could she emigrate to the U.S.?

(I'm 29 years old)

I've read that she wouldn't be eligible for 'the test' (naturalization?) without 12 months consequetive residents in the U.S. So, I thought we could live here for a few years and later pursue other options (even internationally).

Thanks again for your help.

If you want her to get US citizenship, then she must live in the US with a green card for 3 years with you.

There is no option that allows you to live in Vietnam with her and for her to get US citizenship by living with you in the US. You must pick one or the other.

She can not have a green card and live with you in Vietnam.

[RocketElephant 7]

I understand now. Thanks again for all your help.

[RocketElephant 7]

So, I've read quite a bit of the forum and I have a much firmer grasp on the visa situation. However, with this knowledge comes more questions.

My fiancée and I have been dating for almost two years, and I've also been residing in Vietnam for longer. I have a work contract, permit, and residency card. We both wish to reside here in Vietnam. However, we would like to visit my family in the USA for six weeks. It appears to me that there are two options: a B2 visa or a K1 visa.

From my reading on this forum it appears that the B2 visa would be nearly impossible for her to get. She doesn't own any property, and her job (while above average for Vietnam), doesn't pay that much compared to US wages. It doesn't seem likely that we can prove her strong ties to Vietnam. Furthermore, her association with me (US citizen) makes it appear that she would emigrate to the US. This is highly ironic for me, because if we wanted to emigrate, we could do it with the K1 visa. Which brings me to the next option...

We could apply for the K1 visa and go to the US and get married there, then return to Vietnam. Proving our relationahip wouldn't be difficult. We've had a joint bank account for a while, we can show photos, text messages, phone records; basically, the whole nine yards.

My questions are: Which would give us the better chance of a honeymoon in the US: the B2 or K1 visa? If we get the K1 visa and get married in the US, then return to Vietnam does that constitute fraud? If we're married for a few years, how could we go back to visit in the future? What happens to her chances of emigrating five or ten years down the road?

Thanks again for all of your help. Additionally this topic may need to be moved to the K1 forum, and I would appreciate the moderator's help if that is the case.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

It's not fraud to use a K-1 to enter the U.S. to marry and then leave. There is no obligation to adjust.

Her chances of visiting in the future will depend on her circumstances at that time. No one can predict her chances at this time.

Nothing changes for her if she immigrates in 5 or 10 years.

Best of luck