anyone write a summary of their relationship for interview?

[songsparrow 0]

I had the idea of writing about a one page summary of how we met, when we met, our main methods of communicationg, when I traveled there, what we did there, when I proposed etc... Do you think something like this would help during the interview for the consular to better know our story? Because I know not all of us have the same experiences and the same ammounts of evidence lined up for our proof of relationship. In our case we have no phone bills because we often used internet lines or phone cards to talk. But our postal letters and emails are in large quantity (about 5 years worth) Anyway, to meit sounds like a nice way to introduce our relationship to the interviewer so he/she knows the circumstances of our relationship and can jusge our evidence based on our unique situation. What do you think? I did read a great post with actual Packet 3 and 4 instructions from the HCMC consulate. One quote about evidence said "The type of documentation you present will depend on your particular cirumstances". So I feel confident they understand not all couples evidence is the same. Whew...

Edited May 29, 2006 by songsparrow

[Bruce and Han 0]

I had the idea of writing about a one page summary of how we met, when we met, our main methods of communicationg, when I traveled there, what we did there, when I proposed etc... Do you think something like this would help during the interview for the consular to better know our story? Because I know not all of us have the same experiences and the same ammounts of evidence lined up for our proof of relationship. In our case we have no phone bills because we often used internet lines or phone cards to talk. But our postal letters and emails are in large quantity (about 5 years worth) Anyway, to meit sounds like a nice way to introduce our relationship to the interviewer so he/she knows the circumstances of our relationship and can jusge our evidence based on our unique situation. What do you think? I did read a great post with actual Packet 3 and 4 instructions from the HCMC consulate. One quote about evidence said "The type of documentation you present will depend on your particular cirumstances". So I feel confident they understand not all couples evidence is the same. Whew...

There is nothing wrong with writing a one page summary, however you need to be very sure that your fiancee understand all the details of your letter because they will certainly ask her questions related to what you write. You will need as much proof of your relationship with your fiancee. Just writing all the details it in a letter is not enough to convince the CO and they may even bypass your letter and go straight for the hard evidence. It would be a really good idea if you can establish some phone records too. Every little bit can only help.

We are here to help, so keep the questions comming!

[STL_HCMC 0]

songsparrow,

I second ALL of Bruce's comments!

The letter is certainly a piece of the pie that cannot hurt anything. Having said that, these interviewing officers are interviewing Vietnamese daily that have applied for visas. They know what they are looking for (i.e. hard evidence) to help determine "bona fide" from "paid ride".

One thing you have going in your favor is the length of your relationship before engagement - 5 years. However, you will need to back this length of time up with good evidence. The interviewing officer might expect that you would have some good proof after communicating and maintaining an ongoing relationship for this long.

I would second Bruce again regarding the phone bills.

Do you have any evidence of communication between her and your family (i.e. birthday cards, emails, mailed letters, etc.)?

I've included some links below that talk about the interview and evidence. Perhaps you've already read them, but they are good to bookmark and refer back to as the time becomes closer.

Link: HCMC Interview - How Do They Ask For Evidence?

Link: How Much Is Enough? How Many Emails/Chats for HCMC?

Link: The Vietnam Interview Thread

Link: The NEW Vietnam Interview Thread

As Bruce said, "we are here to help, so keep the questions coming!"

STL_HCMC

[wait4ever 0]

You really need to be careful about any statements you make concerning your relationship. The Consular officer can really pick it apart and use it for fodder against you. I did this initially and in my fiancee's first interview there was a misunderstanding between the Consular officer, the interpreter,and her during the interview. We got blue slipped with this statement "your stories do not match, etc.". That was one of the big delays we had at the start. We did finally explain that but it served to delay us for over a year. If I had it to do over again I would not have submitted that statement. It's the Consular officer's job to judge your fiancee's case based on the information before them and your fiancee's interview. Let them ask your fiancee the questions about your relationship. If you have a special situation concerning your work, school, or finances that would be too difficult for your fiancee to relay in the interview, that might be something you would want to speak to. Always be very careful about any statements that you make and be sure your fiancee understands what is in the statement, if possible.

Have your fiancee show any phone cards used. It helps if you also have reciepts for the purchase of the phone card. Yes, sometimes they will look at phonecards as evidence. Not the preferred method, but they do like to see everything. It's best to present an overwhelming amount of evidence at the interview. Once they see enough they'll just waive the rest off.

[songsparrow 0]

Yeah, thank you all for giving your advice. By now Im starting to know who else is going through or has gone through Vietnam and I can see some of you have been helping me a lot in the past weeks.

Well Im still concerned about a couple things.. First is our lack of any phone records. I even use a prepaid phone and I dont get any bills or statements. Well there are the records of the calls inside my phone.. Maybe I can go to the phone place and try to get aprint out of my calling records.. Its too bad because we talk a least once a week for a long time now. She even calls my grandma and mom sometimes, but there is no way to prove that. There are however a few letters and cards she sends to them once in a while. My sister also sent her a post card and letter thanking her for the gift she sent to my new niece. And mom already sent letters thanking her for Christmas gifts and such. I think all that is pretty good stuff.

Im also concerned about them asking for proof of purchasing the tickets. I sent the expedia.com reciept with the original petition. I used my debit card and it ust showed up on my monthly bank statement. Which is now long gone.... I never expected I'd need that..

Hm.. and now Im not sure a summary is such a good thing either. They could twist it around and find some flaw in it. I dont want to be responsible for her make a mistake during the interview. .

Ah, I just found something that could help. Its the carbon copy of the money order I used to pay the Embassy of Vietnam for my visa. Something small, but a cool piece of evidence

[STL_HCMC 0]

Hi songsparrow,

Just a couple of things...

...There are however a few letters and cards she sends to them once in a while. My sister also sent her a post card and letter thanking her for the gift she sent to my new niece. And mom already sent letters thanking her for Christmas gifts and such. I think all that is pretty good stuff.

Good evidence here. Do you and your fiancee still have the envelopes with postmarks and mailing markings on them? That is good evidence to have. Nonetheless, the cards will be good to have.

Im also concerned about them asking for proof of purchasing the tickets. I sent the expedia.com reciept with the original petition. I used my debit card and it ust showed up on my monthly bank statement. Which is now long gone.... I never expected I'd need that..

Regarding the bank statement, contact your bank. They might be able to provide you an archived copy of a bank statement. However, they might charge a fee for this.

Keep the questions coming!

STL_HCMC

Hi wait4ever,

Thank you for sharing your personal experience regarding the summary letter. This opened my eyes to a potential bump in the road that can be avoided. Thanks for the advice to all of us.

STL_HCMC

You really need to be careful about any statements you make concerning your relationship. The Consular officer can really pick it apart and use it for fodder against you. I did this initially and in my fiancee's first interview there was a misunderstanding between the Consular officer, the interpreter,and her during the interview. We got blue slipped with this statement "your stories do not match, etc.". That was one of the big delays we had at the start. We did finally explain that but it served to delay us for over a year. If I had it to do over again I would not have submitted that statement. It's the Consular officer's job to judge your fiancee's case based on the information before them and your fiancee's interview. Let them ask your fiancee the questions about your relationship. If you have a special situation concerning your work, school, or finances that would be too difficult for your fiancee to relay in the interview, that might be something you would want to speak to. Always be very careful about any statements that you make and be sure your fiancee understands what is in the statement, if possible.

[Bruce and Han 0]

Im also concerned about them asking for proof of purchasing the tickets. I sent the expedia.com reciept with the original petition. I used my debit card and it ust showed up on my monthly bank statement. Which is now long gone.... I never expected I'd need that..

Ah, I just found something that could help. Its the carbon copy of the money order I used to pay the Embassy of Vietnam for my visa. Something small, but a cool piece of evidence

I am sure your bank can provide a copy of the statment for the air fare purchase. When was the last time you visited your fiancee? within 2 years?

It is very good that there was communication with your family members and your fiancee. You should do the same and send some letters to her parents and her friends just to build up the link between you two.

Edited May 31, 2006 by Bruce_Han

[dalegg 143]

Im also concerned about them asking for proof of purchasing the tickets. I sent the expedia.com reciept with the original petition. I used my debit card and it ust showed up on my monthly bank statement. Which is now long gone.... I never expected I'd need that..

Ah, I just found something that could help. Its the carbon copy of the money order I used to pay the Embassy of Vietnam for my visa. Something small, but a cool piece of evidence

I am sure your bank can provide a copy of the statment for the air fare purchase. When was the last time you visited your fiancee? within 2 years?

It is very good that there was communication with your family members and your fiancee. You should do the same and send some letters to her parents and her friends just to build up the link between you two.

Dammit Bruce- with the quotes again!!

Edited May 31, 2006 by dalegg

[STL_HCMC 0]

HaHaHa!!

One of these days dalegg, one of these days!!

Dammit Bruce- with the quotes again!!

[Bruce and Han 0]

Im also concerned about them asking for proof of purchasing the tickets. I sent the expedia.com reciept with the original petition. I used my debit card and it ust showed up on my monthly bank statement. Which is now long gone.... I never expected I'd need that..

Ah, I just found something that could help. Its the carbon copy of the money order I used to pay the Embassy of Vietnam for my visa. Something small, but a cool piece of evidence

I am sure your bank can provide a copy of the statment for the air fare purchase. When was the last time you visited your fiancee? within 2 years?

It is very good that there was communication with your family members and your fiancee. You should do the same and send some letters to her parents and her friends just to build up the link between you two.

Dammit Bruce- with the quotes again!!

I am terrible at this, but you can see I did try!

[chuckandkim 0]

Sparrow...

the summary of your relationship letter is part of your I-129F application requirement. Therefore i'm not sure why wait4ever advises against it... Wait4Ever's case is an exceptional case which I still don't understand why he's been delaying all these years. There is no trick to this letter, you and your fiance will sit down and decide what will be writen for this Summary.

Two styles I've seen for this Summary Letter:

Facts stating letter: we met XX-XX-XXXX, did this, did that, decided this, did such and such.

Put your heart out: we were inloved at first sight, blah blah blah, long walk on the beach and propose to her blah blah you get the point?

Either way, it is extremely important you two agree what to say on this letter and memorize it!!!!

Good luck,

chuck and kim

[wait4ever 0]

Sparrow...

the summary of your relationship letter is part of your I-129F application requirement. Therefore i'm not sure why wait4ever advises against it... Wait4Ever's case is an exceptional case which I still don't understand why he's been delaying all these years. There is no trick to this letter, you and your fiance will sit down and decide what will be writen for this Summary.

Two styles I've seen for this Summary Letter:

Facts stating letter: we met XX-XX-XXXX, did this, did that, decided this, did such and such.

Put your heart out: we were inloved at first sight, blah blah blah, long walk on the beach and propose to her blah blah you get the point?

Either way, it is extremely important you two agree what to say on this letter and memorize it!!!!

Good luck,

chuck and kim

I was referring to a statement submitted at the interview in addition to anything submitted with the I-129F. That is what I thought the original question referred to. I agree, it is extremely important that both agree on what to say in any statement and have it memorized. I would also like to add that you need to be ready to back up just about anything you say with some kind of proof, because they just might ask for it.

[chuckandkim 0]

Back up for the back up!!! Just in case... You need to shower them with mount of evidences or not! Nobody knows the exact formular to crack this Consulate

[Kevin&Loan 0]

In my case, we had the detail description included in the initial I-129F and the package sent to the Consulate and still, Loan was given a blue slip asking for one. All I know is each Consulate Officer has his/her own set of rules and given the high level of visa applicants at this particular HMC post, I am sure the supervisors seldom check on what their COs are doing. So, when in doubt, better have whatever documents you deem neccessary. Better safe than the blue slip ...

[sarah and hicham 3]

I wrote a half page response to the I-129f question # 18 about how we have met in the past 2 years. I wrote how we talk, when I went there, how we met, our future plans etc. I will make sure my fiance goes over the letter even though he already knows everything just to make sure we're on the exact same page.

Good luck