US Immigration from Vietnam

Happy New Year, everyone!

Has anyone here successfully applied for Form N-648 (medical certification for disability exceptions) without an attorney? We were quoted $5,000 $7,000 by an attorney, which is quite expensive for our family.

If you ve gone through this process, could you please share:

• How long it took from submission and payment until approval and interview scheduling? Or how long does the whole process take?

• Whether you felt an attorney was truly necessary?

• Will she need to be in the US all the time for this process?

A little background:

My mom currently holds a 10-year green card. She is living in Vietnam now but plans to return to the U.S. in April. She is 61 years old.

Medically, she suffers from insomnia, sleep apnea, depression, and anxiety. Her depression began after my father tragically committed suicide several years ago. In Vietnam, she has been treated by multiple doctors, formally diagnosed, and prescribed medication. However, she has never been formally diagnosed with depression in the U.S.

We are considering pursuing the N-648 medical waiver so she can eventually become a U.S. citizen. That said, she does not truly want to live permanently in the U.S. at this time she does not drive and does not speak English well. I am her only daughter in the U.S. My brother and his family still live in Vietnam, and she has much stronger ties there.

Our main concern is her immigration status. With the current climate, we worry that she could be considered to have abandoned her green card due to extended stays abroad. A tourist visa feels risky and offers no health insurance coverage, which is especially concerning given her medical conditions.

Our hope is to maintain her lawful status so she can travel back and forth, visit me and her grandchildren, and have access to health insurance and potential senior benefits if she eventually decides to live in the U.S. In the longer term (perhaps in 10 years), my brother s family may immigrate through an I-130, and she may then choose to relocate permanently.

If anyone has experience with N-648, similar medical situations, or navigating this without an attorney, I would deeply appreciate your guidance and support.

Thank you so much

Hi everyone,

I know it is totally ok to file AOS after I-94 is expired. Recently, there were people who were arrested at their green card interview. I heard K1 visa holder among them. We filed the I-485 two weeks after I-94 expired. We are worried. I also heard people were detained while waiting for their green card interview. This is really frightening for people who come to this country with a k1 visa!

Hi All

I want to revisit a VJ topic "Vietnam Exit Visa - Child Born in VN w/USC" from the year 2015. My wife is thinking about having a baby in Vietnam. In my opinion I feel she is complicating the birth of an U.S. newborn in terms of visa and registering the birth. She wants to have the baby near her family in Vietnam since my side of the family in the U.S. won't be very reliable when comes to helping with the newborn when needed which I totally understand.

Based on this post in 2015, the recommended approach is Vietnamese citizenship and passport to exit then CBRA to enter U.S. with US Passport. Another option is a exit stamp with a US a passport. Since 2015, I am sure new Vietnamese immigration laws are in effect and old one got phased out so if this approach or new approach is still recommended for a newborn.

If anyone could share their recent experiences with the process of registering a newborn and exiting Vietnam and entering U.S. of an USC that would be great.

My fianc e has K-1 Visa already and she s about to fly over here in the upcoming week.

We are trying to expedite the process of getting a marriage cert using Utah online marriage due the fact we are on a time crunch (I m going to deploy real soon) and we already did a really big wedding ceremony (not on paperwork).

I m just wondering is that going to mess up our paperwork or anything by doing this route instead just do an official normal ceremony where I station at?

Hi everyone,

I and my fianc e got married within 90 days after she arrived in the US. We are not able to submit AOS package within 90 days of her i-94. We watched videos on Youtube about the AOS package with expired K1 visa. We are aware that we have to put out of status in question 14 part 1 page 3 and answer yes in question 76 part 9 page 21. Additionally, we have to clarify that she overstayed between date and date in part 14. Is that all that we have to do or we have to submit I-130 with our AOS package? Thank you so much!