Interview done

[Stein 276]

Just got home from our interview.  We passed.

 

There were about 80 applicants in the morning group today. I was the only US citizen attending the interview with their spouse, which wasn't surprising since the border has been closed to foriegners since March 22 due to COVID.

 

The interviewer swore me in along with my wife and her daughter since I was there.  Actually I answered most of the questions.  The guy interviewing me grew up about 30 miles away from where I live in the US so that didn't hurt I'm sure.

 

Questions were:

 

How and when did we meet?

Does daughter have contact with biological father?

Do I live in Vietnam with my wife?

What was your last argument about?

 

That was pretty much it.  No questions for 14 year old daughter.  He flipped through photos and said we were approved.  Didn't look at tax transcripts or even a copy of 2019 taxes since I can't get a transcript for last year.  Apparently someone tried to file for a refund on my SSN so when I filed my taxes online they said they couldn't accept an e-file due to the fraudulent filing and I had to file a paper copy.

 

My only concern at all going into the interview is that we didn't have a letter from the bio dad saying it's OK to take the daughter out of the country.  He's not on the birth certificate and they have had no contact or support since less than one year old.  He didn't even comment on that so I'm assuming it's a non-issue.

 

It was as anti-climactic as I figured it would be since I live here with them.  We are moving to US mid-March.  Kind of sucks since our 2 year anniversary is April 28 and our medical expires April 19 so we will have to adjust status after two years but whatever.  Just glad it's done.

[craig5977 58]

Congratulations and thanks for a great write-up about the interview. Good Luck!

[Stein 276]

Interview was Monday, passports shipped to us Wednesday.  We weren't home Thursday so we got them today (Friday).  Pretty quick turnaround.

[CxP 22]

Congrats! My spouse had her interview on Monday 11/9/2020.  She passed as well.

 

Her appointment time was at 7:30 AM.  She arrived at 7:00 AM and no one was queuing.  It seemed everyone was chilling by nearby cafe that had stool seats outside.  At 7:20 AM, people were allowed to queue at the consulate.  She ended up behind 50 people since she went to another cafe for quick breakfast.  But it didn't seem to matter since people were being called up to windows seemingly randomly. 

 

First she had to get a "pre-interview" with one of the Vietnamese speaking staff, who checked if she had some of her original documents that she was required to bring like household registration, passport, police certificate, birth certificates, etc.

 

She said that there were several people who looked sad after leaving the windows, and she saw some folks get blue slips.

 

My wife brought a bunch of documents including copies of chat logs, photos of us together and at our wedding, emails, credit card and bank statements and receipts showing transactions of me paying for flights and hotels, affidavits, my W-2s, pay stubs, employer letter, tax transcripts, etc.  The interviewer didn't look at most of these documents.

 

When she was called up, the interviewer asked my spouse if she was comfortable speaking in English, and my wife confirmed that she was.  There was a Vietnamese translator but she just sat off to the side since my wife didn't need translating. She was asked the following questions:

 

1) Did she have kids

2) Was she married previously

3) What was her job

4) Where did I propose

5) How did we meet

6) Asked to see wedding photos

7) Asked if she ever applied for US visa before

 

My wife also read that some people who originally submitted I-864EZ during the NVC stage were asked to fill out and submit an I-864 instead.  So we did that on Friday, three days before her interview, submitted the form on NVC CEAC website and printed a hard copy.  My wife informed the interviewer that we uploaded it to NVC, but the interviewer and another staff member could not locate the file.  Nonetheless the interviewer was satisfied that we brought a hard copy of the I-864, and said they would scan and upload it at the consulate. 

 

He took my wife's passport, police record, I-864, and my birth certificate and said that they were granting her a visa.  She didn't get any document in return but has been tracking her visa online.  It was officially issued on Tuesday, and estimated delivery is Sunday night, so we assume she will get it on Monday.

 

Overall, my wife's experience was pleasant except for the queuing part.  She said the interviewer was professional and nice.

Edited November 13, 2020 by CxP

[Justin & Nhi 3]

Thanks guys. My wife is SO NERVOUS about Monday. I think she is very well prepared with all of the documentation needed. We have done some verbal English practice the last few weeks, but that is her biggest concern. She is very good with reading, but I'm worried she will misunderstand something and they won't be accepting of it. I will try to update here Sunday night(EST). 

[NotAFish 11]

10 hours ago, Justin & Nhi said:

Thanks guys. My wife is SO NERVOUS about Monday. I think she is very well prepared with all of the documentation needed. We have done some verbal English practice the last few weeks, but that is her biggest concern. She is very good with reading, but I'm worried she will misunderstand something and they won't be accepting of it. I will try to update here Sunday night(EST). 

Best of luck!

[Stein 276]

Yes, they wouldn't let anyone que until 7:20 or 7:25 when we attended ours.  We all stood across the street until they signalled us that we could come over.  Surprisingly it wasn't a mad dash.  Everyone was calm.

[Stein 276]

11 hours ago, Justin & Nhi said:

Thanks guys. My wife is SO NERVOUS about Monday. I think she is very well prepared with all of the documentation needed. We have done some verbal English practice the last few weeks, but that is her biggest concern. She is very good with reading, but I'm worried she will misunderstand something and they won't be accepting of it. I will try to update here Sunday night(EST). 

I was a bit worried about that as well and before we went in I encouraged her that if she is even the smallest bit unsure to ask for the Vietnamese translation. But since I was able to go to the window and was sworn in I either answered the question or re-phrased it in words that I knew she understood.  At least the interviewer that we had was OK with that.  Others may not be.

[Stein 276]

Good luck next week Justin and Seth! I know it will be a non-event for both of you.

[Justin & Nhi 3]

My wife had her interview yesterday and she passed! 

 

From what I've read, everything seemed pretty standard. Appointment was scheduled for 7:30. She was in line at 6:45 and out by 9. 

 

Questions:

Does your husband speak Vietnamese?

First time we met?

Where do we talk?

How many times have we met?

Did my family come to our wedding?

 

She said they didn't really look through what she brought and prepared, just at photos of my last visit. My wife said that I was right and she was worried for no reason. She didn't do medical before hand because she was worried that she wouldn't pass and didn't want to do medical twice, so she will do that this week and fly over probably between Dec 11-14. 

 

Next question would be, are there any hurdles for booking flights, are we limited to certain airlines at this time? I see many flights on united, delta, etc, but just want to make sure they go through. If its operating, I'll probably book the Eva air Sgn-taiwan-chicago and drive the 4 hours to pick her up. 

[CxP 22]

Congrats Justin and Nhi!

 

My spouse is planning to fly in January so please update us about the flights.  We were also planning to book with EVA Air, flying through Taiwan because of their very low COVID cases. I haven't heard about any restrictions yet. At least with US policy.  Seems like we are letting anyone from anywhere fly here.

 

Btw she received her passport and visa via courier on Monday morning.

 

She is concerned about how her name will be entered by Customs when she gets her green card.  The visa currently has her name reading the same as her passport (that's their policy) which is: "LastName, MiddleName MiddleName FirstName".  The first middle name is "Thi" which is basically given to all girls in Vietnam.  She doesn't want Customs to enter her first name as "Thi" so I advised her to talk to the Customs agent to see if they can enter it the way she wants.  There's been a few VisaJourney posts about this but I haven't read a concrete solution.

[NotAFish 11]

28 minutes ago, CxP said:

Congrats Justin and Nhi!

 

My spouse is planning to fly in January so please update us about the flights.  We were also planning to book with EVA Air, flying through Taiwan because of their very low COVID cases. I haven't heard about any restrictions yet. At least with US policy.  Seems like we are letting anyone from anywhere fly here.

 

Btw she received her passport and visa via courier on Monday morning.

 

She is concerned about how her name will be entered by Customs when she gets her green card.  The visa currently has her name reading the same as her passport (that's their policy) which is: "LastName, MiddleName MiddleName FirstName".  The first middle name is "Thi" which is basically given to all girls in Vietnam.  She doesn't want Customs to enter her first name as "Thi" so I advised her to talk to the Customs agent to see if they can enter it the way she wants.  There's been a few VisaJourney posts about this but I haven't read a concrete solution.

From everything I've read, you just put up with it until you get to the US and then apply for a name change, but I could be wrong.  I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure that out too and that's the best I got.  If you find an answer please post it here.  Thanks!

[Liam2021 583]

40 minutes ago, CxP said:

Congrats Justin and Nhi!

 

My spouse is planning to fly in January so please update us about the flights.  We were also planning to book with EVA Air, flying through Taiwan because of their very low COVID cases. I haven't heard about any restrictions yet. At least with US policy.  Seems like we are letting anyone from anywhere fly here.

 

Btw she received her passport and visa via courier on Monday morning.

 

She is concerned about how her name will be entered by Customs when she gets her green card.  The visa currently has her name reading the same as her passport (that's their policy) which is: "LastName, MiddleName MiddleName FirstName".  The first middle name is "Thi" which is basically given to all girls in Vietnam.  She doesn't want Customs to enter her first name as "Thi" so I advised her to talk to the Customs agent to see if they can enter it the way she wants.  There's been a few VisaJourney posts about this but I haven't read a concrete solution.

The name order will be flip to MiddleName MiddleName FirstName LastName, so it will become "Thi" :). It happened with both of my sisters, my wife, and many Vietnamese with name order like that. They all end up changed the first name when apply for N400.

[NotAFish 11]

1 hour ago, Liam2021 said:

The name order will be flip to MiddleName MiddleName FirstName LastName, so it will become "Thi" :). It happened with both of my sisters, my wife, and many Vietnamese with name order like that. They all end up changed the first name when apply for N400.

Is it possible to do a name change before the N400?

 

My wife only has one middle name, but I think she would like to not be named Thi as well. 

[Liam2021 583]

2 minutes ago, NotAFish said:

Is it possible to do a name change before the N400?

 

My wife only has one middle name, but I think she would like to not be named Thi as well. 

Yes, you can request a name change through court. However, it will cost some money.