Consulate Reviews in the Vietnam Portal

[Chris & Trinh 15]

Hi guys...

I often check the consulate reviews in the Vietnam portal section of the website but seems not too many people share their experience about their intierview. In order to help us all get great tips and advice I hope more people will share their experiences. Does anyone have any recent stories/experiences to share?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

My wife's interview was in 2009, so it wouldn't be recent. Back then they didn't allow petitioners into the consulate, so I had to wait outside. The only thing I know about the interview is what my wife told me. We didn't write a review because her interview was apparently very brief - four questions, and the first was "Do you speak English?". The most time consuming part for her was when they went over her evidence that her two teenage kids were really hers. They took her into a separate room to go over that evidence. She was in the consulate most of the day, but she spent the bulk of that time just waiting for her name to be called.

I have my own personal theories about why my wife's interview was easy compared to many others.

1. She lucked out and got the "white American man" CO, who was regarded at the time as being a relatively easy CO.

2. We addressed all of our red flags in the original petition package.

3. Mr. Nam, the associate of the attorney Marc Ellis, prepared my wife's documents for the interview, and also helped my wife prepare for the interview. Mr. Nam's staff has a unique way of preparing and organizing the documents that I believe the consulate staff immediately recognizes. I believe this might help at the consulate because it might give the impression that the applicant is well prepared, but I have no solid evidence to back this up. Not everyone who hires Mr. Nam is successful.

Things have changed since my wife interviewed in HCMC. Maybe someone with a more recent interview will chime in. I peek into this sub forum once or twice a week, but it seems like it's been kinda dead in here lately.

[phil09 8]

Wonderful news:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/05/23/192116/foreign-service-officer-made-millions.html

I lived in Sg pre-1975, and we complained about corruption back then. I guess we didn't know how good we had it...

[WeatherEmperor 21]

My wife did her interview in May 2011 which is somewhat recent. The CO was a young white american female in her early 30's. My wife described her as being professional. In all, she was asked around 40 questions and she was never screamed at. My wife was given a blue slip at the interview foe the timeline, proof of residency and a document explaining why we used a matchmaking agency to meet each other. After submitting the requested documents a month later, she received another blue slip which put us in AP for nearly 8 months. Looking back, even though I front loaded evidence to cover our red flags, I never went into full detail on the matchmaking agency. Had I done that from the getgo, we may have avoided AP.

[bobtrann 0]

My wife had an interview last month. Her appointment was 8 AM and she arrived at 7 AM. She was actually not interviewed until 10 AM. She was interviewed by a caucasian man that could speak Viet...so it was just her and the CO. He asked how and when we first met, when did we first talk on the phone? how many times have i been to Vietnam to visit her, when was my 1st and 2nd marriage and why they ended. How long were I separated from my second wife before I met my current wife? My 2 kids' names, birthday and what grade they're in. Her interview took about 15 minutes. Good luck to your wife.

[jac_chappin 24]

Op - I wrote a thorough review on 7/20/11. I provided all of the questions that we prepared for.

Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to provide link but if you can find it, it should help.

[Chris & Trinh 15]

Thanks everyone for sharing. It is good to read other's experiences to know what we can expect when we get to that stage in the process.

[jmhull 2]

I believe you can view those reviews posted at this link

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Vietnam&cty=&dfilter=5

[Chris & Trinh 15]

I believe you can view those reviews posted at this link

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Vietnam&cty=&dfilter=5

Yes the reviews can be read there. However, I think people over look that section because it does not get updated very much. That is why I was asking for more reviews.