Vietnam VisaJourney Members

[Tyrobe 1]

Hello all,

I am really not sure how to post here so i will give this a try. I have made one trip to Siagon and getting ready to make my next trip. I have lots of questions about the engaugement party as that is the main reason I am going this time. Xuan and I have already filed all of the inital paperwork, the I-129 and such. It has been recieved by the USCIS on March 10 so I fear we still have a long time to wait. If anyone can give me a heads up on what to expect or any advice at all to make this process quicker or better please drop me a note. My email is jack35_6003@yahoo.com I will check back here as well. I will say that I have learned many thinks from your postings so far.

Looks like I am the newbee so everything is welcome.

Thanks for your help.

Jack

First of all, welcome to our VN VJ community. We've a big K-1 members here. Check this K1 Process Flowchart to see what to expect. For further information regarding specifically Vietnam post, read up on Vietnam K1. If you have any questions throughout the process, feel free to ask in a new thread as there are some very experienced members still posting in this board to answer your questions.

About your main concern regarding Vietnamese engagement party (dam hoi), there are many posts such as this one, or engagement party, is it necessary? or join this recent thread and many others. Good luck in your journey and don't forget to post your experience, too!

[cantho_usa 0]

hi every1,

My fiancee and I have decided to get married in Cantho city, then apply for K3 visa. I guess this question is for the folks who have been through process to obtain marriage certificate in VN. I 'm obtaining the following documents, which I got from VN embassy website, for my fiancee to submit along with application for marriage:

1. An application for marriage registration (photo attached, filled out, signed, and notarized)

2. An affidavit of single status (notarized)

3. A certificate of no-marriage record issued & signed by county registrar

4. A premarital exam of mental health (notarized)

5. A photocopy of US passport signature page (notarized)

6. A bio info sheet (filled out and signed)

7. A power of attorney (notarized)

Our planned wedding is in 2 months and i hope to get their approval on time. Must these documents be authenticated by US department of states to be accepted by vn government ??! What is the timing from submission of registration till approval for wedding then issuance of marriage certificate ? At what point do I need to be there for the signing ? Will 3 weeks be enough time for the wedding and getting the marriage license back to start the k3 process ? Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks a lot !!

[Kevin and 10]

hi every1,

My fiancee and I have decided to get married in Cantho city, then apply for K3 visa. I guess this question is for the folks who have been through process to obtain marriage certificate in VN. I 'm obtaining the following documents, which I got from VN embassy website, for my fiancee to submit along with application for marriage:

1. An application for marriage registration (photo attached, filled out, signed, and notarized)

2. An affidavit of single status (notarized)

3. A certificate of no-marriage record issued & signed by county registrar

4. A premarital exam of mental health (notarized)

5. A photocopy of US passport signature page (notarized)

6. A bio info sheet (filled out and signed)

7. A power of attorney (notarized)

Our planned wedding is in 2 months and i hope to get their approval on time. Must these documents be authenticated by US department of states to be accepted by vn government ??! What is the timing from submission of registration till approval for wedding then issuance of marriage certificate ? At what point do I need to be there for the signing ? Will 3 weeks be enough time for the wedding and getting the marriage license back to start the k3 process ? Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks a lot !!

If you have all the required documents 2 months should be fine. If not you might be cutting it close.

Once you get all the required documents notarized. Call the Office for the Secretary of State in the state which you reside in and tell them you need Authorizations for a Public Notary. They will let you know the process.

You must then send all the paperwork to the VN consulate. Call the VN Consulate to get the processing fee. There was an extra fee for expiditing, but I'm not sure about now. You must pay for the shipping fees, so use Fed Ex or something like that for next day or express delivery. That took a few weeks.

Once in VN go right away to the Offical to get everything rolling. 3 weeks may not be enough time. I got married in May and had to go back in July to sign the book. We went to that office 3 or 4 times. You should be there for submitting the papers and you must be there to sign the book.

Good luck

[Tyrobe 1]

After I gathered those 7 documents that you have listed, I sent the package to VN Consulate in San Francisco with an additional $250 for rush service in March '07. I got the package back from the Consulate and immediately sent them to my future-to-be wife in VN as I know I only traveled there for 15 days in May '07.

At first I thought the Power of Attorney would let my wife submitted the application on my behalf, but that was not the case in Dong Nai province. When I got back there in May '07, we immediately went to the Justice Dept on the first day but 15 days were not enough to obtain the marriage certificate.

Similar to Kevin, I had to go back in July '07 to physcially be there to sign the marriage certificate. So, your 3 weeks in VN are going to be really, really close. I recommend 4 weeks if you can schedule it so you don't have to make another trip to VN.

Good luck!

[cantho_usa 0]

Thanks kevin ..tyrobe...!

I heard variety of problems with Dong Nai province such as my friend, after taking back his documents assembled by his attorney to submit, was asked to redo his medical certificate there (2 hours of mental assessment exam ..urggg); yet he still needs another trip for signing after his previous 6-weeks trip.

umm.. I got an email from vn embassy in DC stating the fees are $50 for each seal per signature and $20 for rush service, but it didnot state how many seals i would need. I wished they were more specific. However, I read from their website that only one seal is needed per signature and they only authenticate state-level state department's signature, in which case i only need one seal ?!! Because California secretary of state department already authenticates 2 signatures : 1 from county level and 1 from different notary public office.

I hope Can Tho city would be a bit lenient and congruent with that of embassy.

[CoolHand2x2y2z 0]

This is a great forum with so much helpful information. Thanks!

[Huanyen 0]

We just got the interview date, Aug 19

[Tyrobe 1]

We just got the interview date, Aug 19

Congrats and good luck on the interview!

[Huanyen 0]

We just got the interview date, Aug 19

Congrats and good luck on the interview!

Tyrobe,

I need your help to prepare for this interview. There are a few things that I 'm not clear about this interview process.

Let me describe my situation:

In November 2007 I submitted the I-130 and G-325a with the following evidences:

1. Marriage certificate

2. Insurance Policy that my wife is the beneficiary

3. A photocopy of my passport

In April 2008, our case was approved and forwarded to the NVC. I submitted the following along with required forms:

A. DS 230 part 1 and 2 for my wife

1. Birth Certificate

2. Marriage Certificate

3. A photocopy of my wife's passport

4. Police Records

B. AOS I-864:

1. Employment letter

2. Pay stubs from the most recent three months

3. 2007 Federal Tax Return and W2

4. 2006 Tax Transcripts

5. 2005 Tax Transcripts

Preparation for Aug. 19 Inteview:

1. Our relationship timeline : 3 pages long

2. Wedding pictures and other pictures we took when we were together. We did not have the engagement ceremony.

3. Emails from 2004 to 2008. we have a lot of emails; over 500 emails

4. Phones Records from the past 7 months. Unfortunately, I did not keep the phone records from the beginning. However, we have one phone records in Jan. 2006.

5. Phone Bills from 2005 to 2008

6. Letters (with postmarks and without postmarks because they were hand-delivered by my friends who came back to Vietnam)

7. Birth Certificates of our Parents ( We do not have the same last names; I was born in the South; my wife was born from the Central of Vietnam)

8. Boarding pass of three visits to Vietnam

9. Credit Card statements show I made the ticket purchases. ( One ticket I bought with cash, so I do not have credit statement for that. However, we have travel agency receipt for the purchase)

10. The VoIP phone we use to make calls everyday

Note: My wife does not have any relatives that currently live in the US so we do not need to prepare for the list of relatives.

We were introduced by a mutual friend who currently live in the US. However, she lives in CO. I live in CA.

Here are a few questions that I have:

1. Do I need any other supported evidence that you think I may need?

2. During the interview process, when does the C.O. request to see evidence? Should we submit them during check-in before the actual interview?

3. If we were given the blue slip and we have the requested evidence at hands, should we turn them in immediately? Or should we return the next day to submit them?

4. If we were given the blue slip, when would that happen? Before or After reviewing the evidence my wife brings????

5. My 2005,2006,2007 tax returns are below the poverty line (below $17,500). However, my (2008) current salary ($60K) is well above the poverty line. Should I worry about the tax returns? If so, what do you suggest us to do to avoid unexpected results due to the troublesome tax returns?

Thank you very much in advance for providing answers.

[luckytxn 2,263]

Howdy all. I returned a few months back from VN and met my fiancee's family and we got engaged and had a party (Wasn't sure it was a engagement party at the time and thought it was more to just have a party) and met a few hundred family that lived nearby. We knew from our long time chat and talking that we would get engaged.

I returned and had already been on this site for a long time and did the paperwork myself and sent it all in to the Vermont office back in May as my timeline shows. I wanted to thank the site and the people here on the forum for all the great info. I was ready to hire a lawyer and all but decided to just do it all myself.

I have been very confident and all with our prospects and expected no probs except the regular little things and reading recently about the fraid marriages and the embassy giving many a hard time has me concerned. I am not gonna worry about it as I will do what needs to be done and all to get the process and my future wife for life here with me.

I will continue to monitor and even start posting if I feel anything relevent that I go through. I do hope and pray for all. Thanks again for all the help so far and any help in the future.

[Huanyen 0]

Thanks Luckytxn for your encouraging PM. We were blessed to have your support. And of course, we did not disappoint you. We finally received our pink slip. Yen will pick up her visa on 09/05. This was a stressful journey. However, it worth every minute of it because we have learned a lot from this prolonged process; and without all the help from Tyrobe and many other supporters, we would not have gone this far of the journey.

Specially thanks to Landy for his book recommendation. It was a great book that guide through how to get an immigration visa. This book is a keeper from NOLO

[luckytxn 2,263]

Thanks Luckytxn for your encouraging PM. We were blessed to have your support. And of course, we did not disappoint you. We finally received our pink slip. Yen will pick up her visa on 09/05. This was a stressful journey. However, it worth every minute of it because we have learned a lot from this prolonged process; and without all the help from Tyrobe and many other supporters, we would not have gone this far of the journey.

Specially thanks to Landy for his book recommendation. It was a great book that guide through how to get an immigration visa. This book is a keeper from NOLO

Totally awesome and many congrats. I am so happy for y'all. You would not have disappointed me if it went the other way. The only way I could be disappointed with anyone is when someone does not even try or they quit and you went and did it.

This success is because you both went and did it so it is all on you and I am proud of this achievement for y'all. Many blessings and much good luck in the future.

[bangity 0]

I have a question, is the HCMC really hard on the co-sponsor part? I hear that they allow it but giving many people trouble?

[bangity 0]

As I have a post here http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=151433, I just found out that HCMC is very strict on co-sponsor thing. But I can show that I'm a fully time student, therefore cannot make sufficient income to meet the poverty guidelines.

I need help, there is no way for me to make such money, but I can clearly show that I am fully able to support her when I'm out of college. and there is no way for me to do the K3 since I'm not even 20 years old yet. co-sponsor would not be a problem if I asked my uncle and aunts, who own their own super market and their million dollars houses. Please help me with this step at the HCMC. I want to prepare everything and not have to deal with it blindly later.

[tup14ongtu 0]

Just got an e-mail from my Fiancee! I was out of town for a few days and in my absence my fiancee called the consulate and asked if she could pick up Packet 3! They told her to send them her passport with CMNN????(which she has already done) I never heard of anyone sending in the passport before getting Packet 3 and I have no idea what CMNN means. She is sleeping right now so thought you good people may have some insight to these questions!