jac_chappin

On 1/26/2017 at 5:31 PM, Bryan and An said:

 

Okay - so are you saying that we can apply for the marriage certificate with the "American" order of names, even though that would be different than what her passport and identification currently show? Or take the marriage certificate with the incorrect order to the SSN office and they'll still change it for the SS card? Thanks. 

When your get married, your wife can legally change her name. I live in San Francisco and the marriage license application has a section for desired new name. The marriage license application will be filled out matching name on passport but you can specify new name as described above. Go to SSN office and apply for SSN number using the marriage certificate (your wife has a new name now) and passport as passport is her only document showing her identity. Wait a few days until all systems are updated then go to DMV and apply for her ID card. Depending where you live, some DMV offices, won't issue the id unless you provide a 2 year green card. Fortunately we didn't have this issue. My wife only had 1 1/2 months left on her entry stamp but got an ID for a year. Take marriage certificate to VN consulate and have a annotation of your wife's new name on passport. Lot's of running around but well worth it. I hope this helps!

5 hours ago, Bryan and An said:

Sounds like you can't win either way on the name order...either it's in US order and you likely have trouble at the POE because it doesn't match the passport, or it matches the passport and ends up being backwards on the US documents. Anyone else have any experiences one way or the other?

 

As for the original question, here was the response I received from the consulate:

 

"You can apply for a single admission at a U.S. port of entry before your visa expires.  The petition’s expiration date will not affect the visa validity." So I guess that settles that at least. 

6 minutes ago, jac_chappin said:

My wife's k-1 visa had an expiration date 12/28 but the petition expired on 8/25. She came to the US on 9/2 and din't have any issues. 

I think it's a non issue to be honest. The visa process is very stressful but try to put your fiancee at ease. :-)

 

 

 

Bryan - We had an issue with the name also but got through it. The key is after you get married, take the marriage certificate to SS office and update the name on the SSN. Then go to your DMV to get an ID with the new name. As far as passport, have the Vietnam consulate where you live add an annotation with her new married name. When you book flights use her new married name and you won't have issues. You just have to direct folks checking passport at airport to the page with the new married name. This approach saved us countless hassle. Of course, this is once she got here. I hope this helps

On 1/22/2017 at 0:20 PM, Bryan and An said:

Good day everyone, 

 

My fiancee was approved near the end of December 2016. As expected, her visa has an expiration date 6 months after her medical; near the end of June 2017. However, below that, in a section labeled "Annotation," it also lists the "Expiration Date of Petition," which is in March, 4 months after our NOA 2 date. She will be coming to the US well before the visa expiration date, but after the petition expiration date. My fiancee is really worried about this. I told her that the only thing that matters is the visa expiration date, and I've searched visa journey and found a few people that have said the same thing, but she wonders why they would put the petition expiration date on there. I will admit that I'm confused by that too; once the visa is issued, why would the original petition expiration date matter? 

 

I did find one person through a Google search who said they were denied entry due to the petition being "expired" even though the visa wasn't, but it was a long time ago. Does anyone have any personal insights or experiences that might shed some light on this? POE will be Chicago, if anyone has anything to add about that specific location. 

 

And although any words of wisdom here will certainly be appreciated, I have a feeling that my fiancee's fears might not be assuaged unless I get an "official" answer from someone within the State dept. Who would I contact for that? I figured maybe the consulate in HCMC where she had the interview, but the only phone number on their website says it's "for US citizen emergencies only." I don't see any other email address or contact form, either. Who should I call? NVC? Immigration at the actual POE? 

 

Thanks for any help. 

 

My wife's k-1 visa had an expiration date 12/28 but the petition expired on 8/25. She came to the US on 9/2 and din't have any issues. 

I think it's a non issue to be honest. The visa process is very stressful but try to put your fiancee at ease. :-)

When we had the engagement party my parents didn't attend and didn't have any issues. I was asked to partake in interview and I just mentioned my parents are afraid to fly. 

On 1/3/2017 at 10:44 AM, Bryan and An said:

Your case sounds very similar to ours in a lot of ways. I also had only 1 trip before the interview (although it was for 30 days); we didn't have an engagement party, and I hadn't even bought her a ring prior to sending in the I-129F. I officially proposed to her on the last day of my trip, and started compiling documents for the I-129F as soon as I got home. I really loaded up the I-129F packet, with everything you mention, as well as copies of the postcards/Christmas/birthday cards we had sent each other, and also signed statements from each of my parents, my brother, and one sister supporting our relationship and talking about how excited they are to welcome An into the family. I also typed up a brief 1-page description of our tentative wedding plans, with pictures of the two venues we are considering. And for the question about how we met in person within the past 2 years, I typed up a 1-page description of our month together.

 

Actually, one thing you have that we didn't include is the timeline; I created one for the interview and had it notarized, but they didn't even look at it. Probably helps your case to have it included with the I-129F packet. 

 

The two biggest things I was worried about were 1) no engagement party, and 2) none of our pictures included any of her family or friends - just us. I did meet her mom, sister, and brother on my first trip, but in a mental lapse, failed to get any pictures. For my second visit (just days before the interview), we had a big lunch at her parents' house with about 15 relatives there and got lots of pictures. We arranged these nicely in a 20 or so page Word document with descriptions, printed it, and had it bound with a plastic ring to bring to the interview. We also did this with the old pictures as well, and labeled each package "Pictures before engagement" and "Pictures after engagement." The CO did flip through them briefly. 

 

We had an explanation ready for not having an engagement party; An's father is a fisherman, and is almost always out at sea. He hasn't been able to come home yet when I've been there, so to this day, I haven't met him in person. However, I'm going back in April to bring An home, and we will have a formal engagement party then. However, they didn't ask about it at all. It never came up during her 5-minute interview. 

 

Forgot to mention, one other thing I did include in the I-129F packet was screenshots of us talking on Skype - including some with my parents and her parents. So even though I never met her dad in person, they could see that we've talked to each others' parents (and our parents to each other). 

 

By the way, it may be a long shot, but don't rule out the possibility that she could interview during your visit in April, depending on how soon you send in the I-129F. Our case moved very quickly - I mailed the I-129F on Oct. 3, we had NOA 2 on Nov. 8, and our case number from NVC before the end of November. When An checked the interview calendar, February was the first month with openings, but then openings in December popped up with surprising frequency until we were able to get the perfect date during my upcoming trip. So it can happen. I can't stress enough the importance of you being at the interview. I feel it was a big difference maker despite some weaknesses in our case. As I mentioned in another thread, I was thrilled with how easily we passed; it was obvious the decision was made before we stepped up to the interview window. I think this was due to the bulk of our I-129F packet and my presence at the interview. 

 

I emailed you the short video I mentioned showing our chat logs. If you want, I can also send you a link showing our entire I-129F packet. Just let me know. 

 

Congrats Bryan! I was wondering how things went since I hadn't seen a post of the outcome. I'm glad everything went well. Really happy for you and your fiancee. 

On 12/28/2016 at 4:02 PM, Nowrya said:

I'm currently in Vietnam now with my fiancée. Her parents are very worried about us with the whole K1 visa process. They've heard from other Vietnamese how difficult it can be. I'm waiting for my NOA2, I hope to get it any day now.

They really want us to hire a lawyer here in Vietnam to help us. But I'm already getting help from rapidvisa. And from my research I don't need a lawyer at all. I keep telling her to tell her parents that we don't need a lawyer.

Any suggestions?

Hey there!

As many have stated, a lawyer is not needed. I do recommend that you leave no stone unturned.

What I mean is go above and beyond with documentation, proof of relationship, etc and prepare your fiancee for the toughest interview possible. I gave my fiancée about 100 questions to study and she was well prepared. Feel free to read my consulate review as I have noted some helpful items.

I think if you and your fiancee take the time to prepare you should be in good shape.

On a side note, my fiancee's parents were somewhat insinuating something similar about paying someone to help but I made it clear that it was going toe on my terms due to the fact that I thoroughly understood process.  It sounds like you have a good grasp of entire process. 

Best wishes!

Well, I head to the airport tomorrow for Ho Chi Minh City to be with my fiancee for Christmas, New Year's Eve, and...there was something else...oh yeah, her little K-1 visa interview! Things have really moved along quickly and smoothly so far (knock on wood), and we are amazed that we have an interview in December when I mailed the I-129F packet October 3.

When she was first able to log on to schedule the interview, the soonest openings were February; I wanted her to wait until April, because that was the next time I would be able to go (Easter break) other than this Christmas trip that was already planned. Then, something opened up in January, and she begged me to let her take it because she said she just couldn't stand to wait and worry until April and felt or case was strong enough that she could handle it without me. I was very reluctant, because I know the value of being there with her with a consulate as tough as Saigon. But I told her if she felt that strongly about it, to go ahead and do it and everything would work out.

Just a couple of days later, she messaged me excitedly that a spot had opened up on December 29th, right in the middle of my trip! We couldn't believe it. We are both excited and nervous, but feel like we've done everything we can do. This will only be my second trip, but I did spend a full month there last time and was with her 24/7. Plus, we will have time to take lots of pictures with her family and a small, informal "engagement dinner" this time before the interview. We didn't have an engagement party yet, because A) I proposed to her on the last day of my last trip, and B) her dad is a fisherman who comes home rarely, and the only time he can be home when I can be there is during my Easter break next April. So, fingers crossed, she will hopefully have her visa this month, and I will be back again in April for a formal engagement party and to bring her back home with me. Thanks to everyone on this site - it's been a tremendous resource throughout this process!

Wishing you nothing but success! I'm sure everything will go smooth! Best Christmas present ever I'm sure!

Agree and I had already bought the ticket and was planning to be there for interview. I plan to be with my fiance during the whole process. My fiance Nhung is worth it all and for our new life together.

I was more interested in getting forum members tips for petitioners at interview, how I can best help.

Thanks for responses and your encouragement.

@fontgear Yes. Thanks for sharing your interview experience and advise. Congratulations on baby daughter!

@Chuffnut: Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your interview experience.

@Cesar & Duong: Best wishes.

Thks,

Paul

Feel free to PM if I can help in any way!

Greetings Paul!

I agree with everyone that you should be there. I honestly think it does make a big difference. I had a choice to either be there for my now wife's interview (she just passed her citizen interview on 12/14/16 by the way- yayyyy) or go to pick her up when she had k-1 visa. I chose to be with her because without visa, there is no trip to pick her up. I made sure the CO knew I was there. I took stack of paperwork to counter and returned to my seat. The CO asked if I was her fiancé and she said yes. Surprisingly he asked me to come to window and partake in interview. I was shocked! I did an ice breaker and made CO laugh. After that, interview took 15 minutes and it was approved. I wrote a lengthy review of our experience and encourage you to read it if you are interested. The value of being there a few days before is so you can quiz your fiancée on questions they might ask her. I quizzed my fiancée on about 100 questions about me/us. The key thing is to be prepared and leave no stone unturned.

Me being there helped her immensily because she knew she was not alone and we were in it together.

Best wishes to all that have interview's coming up and happy holidays!

I did it my self when I was going through process with my now wife. I submitted Western Union receipts and it didn't impact our case as I don't think they noticed that documentation. Now in another forum, an OP had a perfect case (based on the details provided) and was sending finance money and their k-1 got denied. The reason "not a bonfire relationship" and the theory is that the send money statement derailed case.

IfI was going through process now, I wouldn't include it.

Best of luck!

Thanks again for all of the great advice. To answer some of the questions:

I have another trip planned for July (another one month trip). Engagement party, photos with family, all of that could be taken care of then. Plus, it would be another nice, long trip under my belt. I would feel very confident to interview at that point. (I assume that the evidence we have now is at least enough to make it to the consulate, right?)

The problem is that if we apply now, I think there's a very strong chance the interview would happen before July. There's simply no way, with my job, that I can make the trip any earlier than next summer (I could stretch it back into June if needed). Now, I could almost certainly take enough days off to shoot out there for the interview, no matter when it is - but I would have to be there and back in a span of 5 days, so clearly there would not be time for a party, family photos, etc. That would have to wait until July. (I'm a teacher, if that clarifies anything).

What I'm thinking now is just to wait until a couple of months before my summer trip to start the application. Then, get over there in July, do all of the good stuff, come home and wait for the interview. It would be a little more waiting, but I just feel it would make our case a lot stronger and reduce risks. I almost wouldn't mind doing it now and if denied, immediately start the process again (despite the extra cost) with the summer trip in there before the second interview, but I don't know what impact a denial has on the subsequent application/interview. I don't know if it's worth the risk.

But yeah, as I said, I'll almost certainly be at the interview no matter when it is.

Hi Bryan! I think your approach to give it more time and more trips is solid. My wife came in 2011 and actually working on the Citizenship application as I write this post. Your strategy to be at interview is very wise. I did the same and the CO asked if I wanted to partake in interview and I said "heck yeah." I think me being there was one of the reasons my wife got approved. From my perspective, I wanted to ensure my wife secured the visa. I couldn't go to VN to get her but feel spending the money to be at interview was well worth it. As hard as it might be, the longer you wait, the stronger the case is. We too had an engagement party or as they call it in VN, Dam Hoi. Gather as much evidence as possible and prepare paperwork as if it's going to be a tough interview and you'll be fine. Prepare by quizzing your fiancé on 100 questions that they can possibly ask you. I can re-call when my wife arrived and my whole family was there to greet her with flowers and balloons. It's an amazing feeling. I wish the same for you and your fiancée. It takes lots of work but if you are willing to put in the effort, everything is going to work out. Best of luck! If you have any questions feel free to ping me. For us it has been a while, 5 years but if I can help I'll be glad to do it.

Op - I strongly suggest you take matters into your own hands. lawyers are not going to make interview go any smoother. you can do the same by practicing.

If you can, fly over to Vietnam and be there for the interview which will put your fiancee at ease. At this point, your fiancee should trust you more than lawyers in my opinion.

It looks like lawyers are trying to instill fear so they can get paid.

Hi! I'm not sure if signing up in 2011 makes me an old timer but things are going great and happily married.

My wife is working and going to school. I submitted ROC in December 2013, Bio done, and now just waiting.

Good hearing from the old-timers!

OP - I have heard the same that VN doesn't allow co-sponsor.

Best wishes!

OP - The A# should match on what's on the bio application and on GC unless I'm mistaken. If not, something is wrong.

Also, NOA2 should have it printed on it as well. I hope this helps.

Op - As others have said, invest some time to get use to site and it will make sence.

It's far from perfect but without VJ, I wouldn't have made it through thus I really appreciate all of the effort that goes into maintaining it.

Vj crew - Thanks for everything you do for us!

OP - As others have stated, the more trips you make the better your chances of getting approved. Make sure you take lots of pictures with you and her family. The consulate likes to see lots of co-mingling with family.

Best wished!

I submitted a few receipts of some wire transfers but they didn't even look at it to be honest. It couldn't hurt though!

I totally agree! I didn't leave any stones unturned and had success!

Best wishes everyone!

OP - I did it my self for a succesful K-1 visa. It was a learning experience and learned quite a bit on how the immigration process works.

The advantage of doing it yourself is that you are aware of the entire process thus in a better position to deal with issues should something come up.

You have to be detailed oriented and triple check everything to make sure all applications are complete. Yes lots of work but a rewarding experience as you can imagine. As others have said, VJ is the perfect forum to get all of your questions answered. Save money and educate yourself in the process. You don't need a lawyer.

Best wishes!

OP - She needs to get Justice check in her home province. Each province has something similar to the Hall of Justice and police clearance must be from this place not a local police station. My fiancee then (wife now) was confused about it too and tried to get it in HCMC but they told her she needed it from her home province so that's what she did. It took about a month. I hope this helps.

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.

OP - Back in 2011 you could go to US consulate and get copy of letter. I assume you can still do this. If you live in HCMC you should give that a try.

Best wishes!

OP - You should be able to get a SSN without being married before I-94 expires. My wife and I waited (6 weeks before I-94 expired) because we wanted the card to be under her new name (she took my last name).

We didn't have any problems. Just ask to speak with a supervisor or try a different clerk. You should be able to get one.

Good luck!

OP -

You should file jointly due to the tax benefit even if your wife doesn't work.

I filed jointly and my wife wasn't working. We received a significant tax return because income was for 2 folks not on1 any more.

As long as you are married 1 day or 365 days in given tax year you can file jointly.

I hope this helps!