long&kieu

thanks for the link scott

wow...did you guys have no evidence at all??

good luck, you'll find a way!!

thanks for the post...yeah, I had someone help me with it and they did it incorrectly and it was a pain to get that fixed here in the states to have it in time before my trip...luckily it worked it though

good luck!! let us know how it goes!!

so you didnt have real individual photos?? just the compiled ones in your presentation??

hope you get well soon!!

congrats!!

so did you submit timeline, 10yr residency and stuff prior??

congrats!!

Long

Don't be intimidated by the process. HCMC Consulate is well-known for being notorious when it comes to visa issuance. Keep your chin up. You're in a genuine relationship then there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Your true love and the truth should prevail. DON'T try to forge something that you don't have, as the COs are trained to detect fraud. Don't risk it.

Sorry I was little too late in giving you some input here but I've seen many posts that are very helpful, especially from Kenvin's. Just try to put yourself in the COs shoes. It's easy said than done. Here are some tips that worked for me. You might have already seen these from some previous posts.

1. If you're financially sound, then you can afford a few more trips to VN to be with her. Save all receipts and pictures of the places you two have been to like hotels, restaurants, trips, events, etc.

2. Chat and web logs are also important but I strongly believe a few heartfelt emails from you both are even worth much more than stacks and stacks of nonsense chats.

3. In your timeline, explain in details your relationship. Describe clearly how you two met, why and how you decided to marry her, the reactions of your families when they learned of the news, etc. Don't be afraid to write a long timeline, as long as you have to explain, but try to avoid unnecessary lengthy details.

4. Proof to show that you continue to have an ongoing relationship, not just before and after marriage. Some examples, if possible, such as trying to put your wife's name on your life insurance policy, auto insurance policy, IRA accounts, bank accounts, etc. I did.

5. Also, if you two are interracial, showing that you really went further than you could for your love such as your trying to learn Vietnamese. Those who aren't naturally Vietnamese speaking people know how hard that is to learn Vietnamese.

Those above worked well for me. I had many red flags such as proposing six months after meeting each other only once, my ex was also from Vietnam, no kids from previous marriage, we were married on my second trip to VN (but I visited my wife five times in total). The last time was to travel with her. Wishing you the best.

not as an excuse, but just a setback to go visit her again is that even though I can afford moneywise to go again, I have to start saving up vacation days...I spent nearly all of it for this last trip and it maybe a while before I get a worthwile amount again...

as for the insurance policy, correct me if I'm wrong but for such thigns dont you need a social security number and such before you can add her, or can you get away with a name and birthdat or something, its been a while since I did that type of paperwork,

thanks for the help!! it is defintely keeping me in good spirit, espically after other comments that worried me and brought me down, thanks again!!

We have different surnames. There are two red flags. One of them is my fiance failed a Student Visa interview more than 2 years ago. She didn't know me back then. During the interview the CO asked whether my fiancee "said" she had relative in the US during her Student Visa interview. My fiance said "yes". In reality, the Student Visa CO asked whom will my fiancee live when she arrive in the US on student Visa. This is simply understood that if she is going to live with her relatives, then of course she has relative in the US. The CO did not ask whether she has relative during her Student Visa interview. The second flag is she has so many relatives in the US which can make the CO think my fiance will live with her relatives in the US and not with me. This is just BS b/c we are legit and I don't have time to do a fake marriage with more than 2 years worth of relationship. I have a good job and with good salary.

I was never married. She was never married. She is only slightly younger than I am.

It has been a burden on my fiancee and I. She cries every single time I talk to her over the phone. All she wanted is to be with me. Worst case, I will have to live in Vietnam.

I just wish the consulate charge higher fee for immigrant VISA and use that fee to search for fraud after the couples live in America. Harsh punishment for fraud if caught after living in the US.

Sorry for your problems...let us know how it goes. I feel the same way and I haven't got as far as you yet...it's ridiculous how much trobule we have to go through even if we are legit or not...

Thanks all for your advice, it got there safely in about 3 business days, would've been quicker had she been in HCM, package had to go to HCM to DN to NT.

so how did you end up sending?? thanks, Long.

I didn't submit any timeline with my application nor did I realize about a timeline.

They need not ask my wife for a timeline...we didn't have one.

If you submitted your timeline line along with the application AND if the timeline CLEARLY document how you two met, I say that is good enough.

If you haven't submit anything, I would include a letter at the NVC stage. You're trying described how you two met so the CO can make a determination for pink.

gotcha, that's what I'll do then, thanks!!

congrats!!

Long,

Like you, I married my wife 2 months after I met her for the frist time.

I was introduced to her by her aunt and I over come that red flags.

She and I are 13 years apart...she being 23 when we got married. She has just finished college too.

What you will need is good evidence. The marriage certificate is a big first step, IMOP. I went through hell with the Vietnam government to get it.

If you can and should, take at least one more trip over there before the interview. I took 4 trips total. The last one was to pick her up.

The wedding pictures are very important in my case, after they saw the pictures, with 5 of my family members from America attending, they gave her the pink slip.

At least that was what my wife told me.

Lastly, just tell them how you arrived at where you are in a letter. Send that to NVC when you application gets there (kinda like front load late in the game).

NVC will include it when they send you paperwork to Vietnam.

Nothing beats the truth...IMOP, the CO can smell a lie, they just can't always figure out when someone is telling the truth.

so would the letter be different from the timeline?? or just a summary of that the timeline is suppose to provide?? thanks for the help!!

I just got one completed over there, it was a crazy mess, let me know if you have any questions...

Thanks much to everyone who responded!

My fiancee is currently waiting for a k-1 interview but I just want to do some research as a contingency.

Thanks a bunch.

BTW - So states do issue a certificate of being single? What's the actual nomenclature for it? I live in California!

I had to go to the county office where issue a paper saying that they did a search from the last x amount of years and can declare that your single...

AP-addition processing. Usually after an interview the CO wants to look at the case again/closer.

The actual interview is only about 15-30 minutes, its not enough time for a CO to review/investigate any new evidence brought to the interview. They will hand out a blue sheet explaining what you will need to do. Its normal procedure for them to ask for a detailed timeline of the relationship, list of beneficiary's relative in the US, and proof of residency for the past 10 years. There's a debate on whether they actually need it for the investigation or for a stalling tactic. Regardless of what their reason is for asking for them, they want them.

Right now just focus on getting all your paperwork ready for the NVC and gathering evidences.

Have you read the process guides at the top of the webpage yet?

I have read quite a bit of the guides...but still have more to go...

Did you get a marriage certificate from the government? You would have had to fill out a ton of paperwork before you even went to VN to get married.

yup, got that taken care of in my trip out there...without that marriage certificate, I'm not sure I could've sent in the I-130??

That's where affidavits would come in. IMO, you should get three (you, your wife, and your uncle)explaining how your relationship started. I don't see any other way to get around it without any other evidence for explaining the nature of your case.

Its too late to frontload, you already submitted your I-130. The best you can do is continue building a strong relationship and keep all your evidence.

Don't be shocked when/if your case is put into AP. The CO will only have the bonafides you submitted with your I-130. Any new evidence brought to the interview most likely will not be reviewed at that time.

What is th AP your referring to?? Also, does that mean that the affidavits I will eventually provide will not be reviewed at that time either??

her having us relatives and first time meeting marriage is a red flag...very common for us relatives to proposition VK and pay for his/her trip back to vietnam and get married right away for money.

you being "financially great" will ease some of that suspicion...and if you need joint financial support that could be another possible excuse the CO can use to delay your case. since you have the money i'd say take a couple weeks off in the near future and visit her one more time (either before or during the filing process).

lots of talk and argument about front-loading the potential red flags...i think your case is a perfect example to do so. the case will look highly suspicious, so you really have nothing to lose in laying it all out on the table (timeline, 10 yr res, her us relatives' address etc, both set of parents' birth cert...and alot more)

thanks for the advice, I will try to frontload all of the red flags and try to visit her again before the interview...but at the same time, since the paperwork is in, all of this evidence being gathered now will not help the before marriage stuff they want to see...

doesn't matter if they are near to you or not. It isn't uncommon for the "wife" to come to the US and then leave her "husband" to go be with her relatives. Marriage on the first trip/meeting is a big red flag most places. Add to that you were introduced by a relative and that she has relatives in the US. IMO, these can be overcome, but you just have to be aware of them and any others (i.e. not financially established recent college grad) and prepare your case to address them. There is nothing that says you have to submit your case right now so I would try to make at least one more trip to be with her and make every possible effort to be there for the interview.

Would my Uncle be considered a relative of hers?? And when you say prepare, do you mean to have statements and papers to address the "red flags" that may exist??

The submission date is for next month. Right now is gathering evidence and creating the timeline and 10 year residency. The household registration book is to keep record of household members. I am not sure what the school grade books would be used for but it maybe for background information.

As suggested by VJ members, you should definitely make more trips. The excuse that you are busy with work or school will not fly. The CO does not care for that. Personally our case was rush too, but I was able to make 1 more trip while waiting for the interview. Do not compare with Americans. American couples are already together. They don't go through immigration. While you are not together with your wife. The goal here is to get her to USA.

I understand that excuse won't fly, but it's just another obstacle in front of me. So you made another trip to be at the interview, or did you make another trip prior to the interview??

one thing that i don't see get brought up alot but the CO must surely look at is the age factor?

if VK is a 65 year old man and he's petitioning a 22 year old girl, that's gotta be a red flag (nghe`o ma ham) compared to someone in their 40s petitioning a late 30s woman. it also works the other way, like a 24 yr old us-born struggling (financially) college grad being setup with some girl in vietnam.

hmmm...yeah I'm 26, financially great in my opinion, and shes 20...

this about sums it up. 2 red flags for a fake marriage: a relative of hers in the US propositioned you to marry the girl over, or you and her are related somehow.

it would give your case more credibility if she has no US relatives...and be prepared with both of your household registration booklets, parents' birth certificates to show you guys are not related. would also be nice if you have about 100 emails between summer '10 when you were introduced to when you got married.

even so be ready for some potential processing and delays as they want to drag your marriage out and test its validity. seems like the whole process is rushed. i'd wait 1-2 years before filing, to give the marriage more time, visit her one more time for a few weeks to get to know your her.

I believe she does have relatives in the US, but no where near me...I don't even know them, lol... but yeah, I got a few hundred pages of emails from that time...I did somewhat rush it, but at the same time, Americans tend to rush marriages anyway, lol...I wouldn't have been able to visit for another year or so due to work and prolonging visits and such to gather evidence makes it longer before she will ever be able to come

Not to scare you or anything but I want to provide a similar case that could be like yours. One of my relatives did CR1 and only had 1 visit. After the interview they provided a white sheet asking 5 things: timeline, 10 year residency(petitioner/beneficiary), beneficiary relatives in USA, and any evidence to submit on the submission date. I'm just giving you a heads up so you don't end up getting this result.

* Consular officers are not convinced that there is a petitionable relationship between the petitioner and beneficary. Please submit photos and other documentary evidence such as old household registration books, school grade books.etc... which supports the claim of a petitionable relationship. Please label and itemize all materials submitted.

So what ended up happening with your relative??

What are household registration books?? Also what would schhol grade books have to do with a marriage?? Just curious...