My Son is a US citizen today:)

[No name 88 48]

I went to the US consulate in Ho Chi Minh today to file for my sons consular report of birth aboard. A lot of people before me got denied because they didn't have a photo, didn't have the baby with them, had no evidence, only had the hospital discharge form. Just dumb stuff. It's like they didn't even bother to read the instructions on the web site. The wife and I flew through with no issues.

One tip on Vietnamese names. I've been writing the wife's name wrong for the purpose of US forms. Let's say the wife's name is Nguyen Dao My Hanh; it's not. Nguyen is the family name. For years the wife has been writing her name on forms as follows.

Last Name: Nguyen Dao

First Name: My Hanh

Middle: ----------

The wife has no concept of what a middle name is nor do most people in Vietnam. How it's written above is how the Vietnam immigration department told her to write it when prompted to on visa forms.

The US consulate officer didn't make a big deal of it and corrected the form. They told me from now on write it as follows on US forms.

Last Name: Nguyen

First Name: My Hanh

Middle: Dao

Of course if someone in the US writes her name it would be My Hanh Dao Nguyen which is wrong anyway. Can't win but is makes the CO happy.

[Ryan H 3,813]

Moved fro IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Vietnam regional forum.

[JRF 117]

Thanks for the advice...I can understand my wife's name in Vietnamese, but I am constantly worried about how it translates thru in the Visa process. I find it's the Thi Thanh in the middle (in between family name and given name) that causes the problems - do the Thi and Thanh stick together, do they go with the family name, the given name...oh the USG and it's forms...

[frontgear 194]

+1 on the hyphen. It would be easier to recognize if it was My-Hanh.

My fiancee has 2 middle names, too, and her first name is only 1 word. I've been struggling as to how to fill out the forms correctly but I think I'll the consulate figure it out.

Edited December 26, 2013 by frontgear

[No name 88 48]

I think a lot of westerners make this mistake when filling out forms for there spouses. My insurance company actually changed the wife's name around when I put her on my company health and life plan to the way the embassy wanted it. I thought they made a mistake but I guess not.

Anyway the CO just asked the wife how she says her first name which is My Hanh. What ever is left counts as the middle name. I guess it makes sense. I just call her Hanh.

I used the wife's family name as my sons middle name. I got him the Vietnam birth certificate stating that he is a Vietnamese citizen and Vietnam passport just to make things easier for traveling. I got all this done before filling for the US passport as Vietnam doesn't recognize dual citizenship, I figured doing it in this order I wouldn't have to lie. One of the wife's relatives is a long since retired cop. He suggested I insert a Vietnamese name in order to get the baby Vietnamese citizenship and passport. Vietnamese law requires a Vietnamese name somewhere in the name if one of the parents are foreigners for the purpose of citizenship and issuing of the passport. He was right; the justice department issued the birth certificate with no fuss but the immigration office said they couldn't issue the passport to a person with a western name. The wife pointed out that the baby did have a Vietnamese name for the middle name and issued the passport. I guess this is why there only seems to be 10 different names in Vietnam.

[JRF 117]

I think a lot of westerners make this mistake when filling out forms for there spouses. My insurance company actually changed the wife's name around when I put her on my company health and life plan to the way the embassy wanted it. I thought they made a mistake but I guess not.

Anyway the CO just asked the wife how she says her first name which is My Hanh. What ever is left counts as the middle name. I guess it makes sense. I just call her Hanh.

I used the wife's family name as my sons middle name. I got him the Vietnam birth certificate stating that he is a Vietnamese citizen and Vietnam passport just to make things easier for traveling. I got all this done before filling for the US passport as Vietnam doesn't recognize dual citizenship, I figured doing it in this order I wouldn't have to lie. One of the wife's relatives is a long since retired cop. He suggested I insert a Vietnamese name in order to get the baby Vietnamese citizenship and passport. Vietnamese law requires a Vietnamese name somewhere in the name if one of the parents are foreigners for the purpose of citizenship and issuing of the passport. He was right; the justice department issued the birth certificate with no fuss but the immigration office said they couldn't issue the passport to a person with a western name. The wife pointed out that the baby did have a Vietnamese name for the middle name and issued the passport. I guess this is why there only seems to be 10 different names in Vietnam.

Fascinating story...and I can picture in my head the animated conversation in the office while they sorted through your son's name and whether it met VN law.

I just call my wife Vo. Anything else and I get a glare. Sometimes I use Nhu but only if I am prepared for the glare...