Chat logs in a foreign language?

[NotAFish 11]

Hi,

 

I'm starting to work on an I-130 packet for my wife and I have a quick question:

 

We have chat logs but they are in Vietnamese (we speak Vietnamese together).  Do I need to have these translated?  How important are these?  If we need them, can I just translate them or does it have to be an official translation?

 

I ask because it is a years worth of conversation and that's a metric ton of translation to do!

 

Thanks!

Edited February 17, 2019 by NotAFish

[C90 376]

1 minute ago, NotAFish said:

Hi,

 

I'm starting to work on an I-130 packet for my wife and I have a quick question:

 

We have chat logs but they are in Vietnamese (we speak Vietnamese together).  Do I need to have these translated?  How important are these?  If we need them, can I just translate them or does it have to be an official translation?

 

I ask because it is a years worth of conversation and that's a metric ton of translation to do!

 

Thanks!

Chat logs are secondary evidence. Most important are mingled finances, having her as a beneficiary on your life insurance and that kind of stuff. If you're going to send the chat logs you can translate them and send them with a signed statement that you're fluent in both Vietnamese and English. Don't send everything, just pick a few chats. But again, it's secondary evidence.

[NotAFish 11]

Just now, C90 said:

Chat logs are secondary evidence. Most important are mingled finances, having her as a beneficiary on your life insurance and that kind of stuff. If you're going to send the chat logs you can translate them and send them with a signed statement that you're fluent in both Vietnamese and English. Don't send everything, just pick a few chats. But again, it's secondary evidence.

Thanks, unfortunately I don't have life insurance, so I'm not sure how to show co-mingled finances.  We live together and the lease is in my name, and most things here in Vietnam are just paid in cash.

[Liam2021 560]

6 minutes ago, C90 said:

Chat logs are secondary evidence. Most important are mingled finances, having her as a beneficiary on your life insurance and that kind of stuff. If you're going to send the chat logs you can translate them and send them with a signed statement that you're fluent in both Vietnamese and English. Don't send everything, just pick a few chats. But again, it's secondary evidence.

There is no such thing like mingled finances since they live at different country. In addition, the OP will apply I-130 and will have to deal with US Embassy in Vietnam, so it will different from your country. To OP, you can send the chat log with no problem( when I'm send my i130 2 year ago, i send that also). Try to focus on evidences you spend time together.

[C90 376]

Just now, NotAFish said:

Thanks, unfortunately I don't have life insurance, so I'm not sure how to show co-mingled finances.  We live together and the lease is in my name, and most things here in Vietnam are just paid in cash.

Do you guys have a joined bank account, health/car insurance in both names, anything? Those are good pieces of evidence. We did K1, so we didn't have to have all this proof at the time. What I write here are tips I read from people that did CR1/IR1 on other topics. 

[C90 376]

1 minute ago, H&T said:

There is no such thing like mingled finances since they live at different country. In addition, the OP will apply I-130 and will have to deal with US Embassy in Vietnam, so it will different from your country. To OP, you can send the chat log with no problem( when I'm send my i130 2 year ago, i send that also). Try to focus on evidences you spend time together.

They live together in Vietnam so there could be mingled finances, and I read that other people do have joint bank accounts while not living in the same country when filing for I-130. Some people do, some people don't. And again, I did K1 so what I write is purely based on tips I read in other topics.

[NotAFish 11]

2 minutes ago, H&T said:

There is no such thing like mingled finances since they live at different country. In addition, the OP will apply I-130 and will have to deal with US Embassy in Vietnam, so it will different from your country. To OP, you can send the chat log with no problem( when I'm send my i130 2 year ago, i send that also). Try to focus on evidences you spend time together.

 

Thanks!  I am a bit worried because my Vietnamese is not fluent, but my wife understands me very well even if my writing is not very good.  We have some other pieces of evidence like wedding pictures (and pre-wedding pictures), flights we took together, hospital bills (though they only say her name), some other pictures, and things like that.

 

2 minutes ago, C90 said:

Do you guys have a joined bank account, health/car insurance in both names, anything? Those are good pieces of evidence. We did K1, so we didn't have to have all this proof at the time. What I write here are tips I read from people that did CR1/IR1 on other topics. 

I have no bank account in Vietnam, I pay cash for health problems (I paid for her emergency surgery due to ectopic pregnancy about 6 months ago) because it is not very expensive, and we only have motorbikes, not a car.  Maybe the electric bill or the internet bill are in her name, I'll check.  Thanks!

[Liam2021 560]

Wedding pictures, pictures both of you on vacation, picture you spend time with her family on special events( Tet, 30/4-/15...etc).......

[Ryan H 3,791]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[pushbrk 12,146]

8 hours ago, H&T said:

There is no such thing like mingled finances since they live at different country. In addition, the OP will apply I-130 and will have to deal with US Embassy in Vietnam, so it will different from your country. To OP, you can send the chat log with no problem( when I'm send my i130 2 year ago, i send that also). Try to focus on evidences you spend time together.

Correct, that the evidence of time spent together in person is most important.  You don't need two names on a lease if you are married and stating on forms that your address is the same.

 

They will be dealing with the Consulate in HCMC, not the Embassy in Hanoi.

[NotAFish 11]

Since many of you seem to know the process for Vietnam, do you know if DCF is a possibility?

 

Thanks!

[Ryan H 3,791]

On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 1:28 AM, NotAFish said:

Since many of you seem to know the process for Vietnam, do you know if DCF is a possibility?

 

No

[pushbrk 12,146]

52 minutes ago, Ryan H said:

 

No

The clear answer is that Yes, Ryan knows, that DCF is NOT available in Vietnam. 😉

[NotAFish 11]

Thank you!