Landy

It depends.... SOME employers permit insurance coverage for domestic partners and the domestic partner definition typically encompasses fiances. My company does this but it is not cheap so I am getting us married fast (today, actually!) so I can put her under my insurance plan as my spouse ASAP.

Is this really true??? If a K1 holder gets married in America, that person must wait until completion for AOS before they can file for SSN?? Doesn't sound right to me!

ONCE I MOVE HERE TO THE STATES...CAN I GO AND GET A SSN CARD RIGHT AWAY?

Wait 2 weeks then get Your ssn# before being married. As a K-1 recipient You are entitled. Do not wait till after You are married as You will have to wait for completion of Your AOS then.

I realize that the choice of a ring is a personal decision but this is what Lan and I did:

We bought the ring together in Vietnam at a reputable jewelry store. This way Lan could help select a ring that she really liked. It's also quite a bit cheaper this way. Just something to think about.

Let me add a follow-up. The ring is going back. They lied. It is that simple. But they will give me a full refund, so I will be satisfied when that happens.

In the meantime I have ordered a ring that I was going to go with in the first place and will have it by Thursday afternoon, which is just one week before I leave.

I just returned yesterday from Vietnam. Lan and I returned to America together last night! The POE experience at San Francisco was very easy! Here is a short description of what happened:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11679

Yesterday me and my fiance returned to America (via San Francisco together). She entered on her K1 visa. The POE was at San Francisco International airport. The process was pretty easy!

At SFO, they split the line into two: one line for US citizens and another line for everybody else. I went with my fiance to the line for all the others. Just as we got to the front of the line the immigration officer goes on a break so they sent us to another booth/window. The immigration officer looked at Lan's passport, my passport, opened the K1 immigration envelope that was given to us by the US consulate in Vietnam. He reviewed all the papers, asked us when we intended to get married and reminded us to follow-up by filing AOS papers. He then approved it and that was it. VERY easy!

I am also a Bank of America customer. I just called their customer service number and told them what I needed; they mailed it to me in about a week. It cost about $10 or so. It's a standard form letter (they must generate quite a few of these for their customers). Just to be safe when you talk to them tell them exactly what you need stated in the letter!

Anyone on here request their bank letter from Bank of America? If yes, can you elaborate more on your request? Were there any fees for the letter?

Trying to do this while living in Vietnam. My father is my power of attorney, but I wanted to see what I could find here before I sent him to the bank. Thanks in advance!

STL_HCMC

hi we bank with bank of america and over the course of the submittal of our paperwork we received four letters from them (they cant be more than 30 days old when submitted to the USCIS i think so we had to request an updated letter for sponser and cosponser) and there were no charges whatsoever - in fact they were super nice about it.

i suggest that you phone your local branch in person and explain to them the exact outline of the letter required (email it to them if possible - we did and they just filled in the gaps) and they should send it out to you for no charge and promptly at that. this might avoid the hassles of your Father having to go in and explain the situation. niall

Hello Lan and Andy,

I have a Question Regarding the MEDICAL EXAM

DO you know if the exam has to be done in HCMC, or can my fiancee who lives in Hanoi go to the IOM in Hanoi? I wasn't sure if your instructions specifically stated it must be done in HCMC.

Thanks,

Mike & Huong

Hi Mike and Huong,

I am not sure if HCMC consulate accept the doctors from Hanoi.

What i know is we have to have the medical exam from the approved doctors. And for HCMC consulate, they approve doctors from Cho Ray and IOM in HCMC

You can send email or call them to ask for information.

Good luck to you

Lan and Andy

Lan & Andy,

Thanks for your help. You two are wonderful!!!

Han & Bruce

Thanks Han & Bruce

We wish you successful on your incoming interview

Lan and Andy

Congratulation, kvtran!!!!

Wish you good luck!!!

Hi Lan and Andy,

I thought it would be good for all of us to start a question thread direted to you since you just sucssefully completed your interview. I know Dalegg is getting bombarded with alot of questions latley. I am taking you up on your offer to help answer some basic questions.

1. How long did it take to get your (Ly Lich Tu Phap) police report? Scy said it had taken his fiancee 3 weeks to obtain. If this is the normal time frame, there is not much time between packet 4 and interview date.

2. Exactly what documents need to be translated to english? House registration book, Police report, Single paper, Birth certificate.

3. Can the translation be done at any govenment office in Vietnam, or only specific location were the documents were handed out? Am I clear on this?

Thats all I have at this time, Thanks so much for your help.

Han & Bruce

Hi Han and Bruce,

It took me 4 weeks to have my polic report and i did it right after i got the packet 3.

Only the household registeration and the ID card (chung minh nhan dan) don't need to be translated. All other documents like police report, birth certificate, single status statement, ... have to be translated.

The US consulate accepts the translation from Notary Office in HCMC. They mention Notary Office #1 (Phong Cong Chung so 1) in their website as the place you can have your translation

Good luck on your journey

Lan and Andy

Besides the K1 visa in my fiance's passport, what other documents are needed at the POE? Initially I was thinking about bringing the complete I-129F visa petition package but I'd rather not carry so many senstive documents if I do not have to!!!

Any recomendations or suggestions??

Thank you!

My fiancee could translate whatever documents she nees to submit herself, but that is not allowed. So where can she get "certified" translations? She lives in HCMC District 3.

Hi Matt_Stevens,

I got my papers translated at Notary Office #1 (Phong Cong Chung so 1) at Pasteur street (at the corner with Ly Tu Trong street), district 1.

It takes about 3-4 days.

Landy

I (Andy) am flying to Vietnam on April 20. Lan and I will spend ten days with her family and then on April 30 we will fly to San Francisco. Now I have already s tarted reading up on the process about what I need to do once she gets here (ie get SSN number, getting legally married in USA, EAD stamp, etc etc etc)!

--Andy

----

Unless your fiancee lives in the countryside which i do recommend her to stay in HCMC the night before. She does not need to be there as early as 3 hours before her appointment. ONLY people who have been scheduled for interview that day will be allowed inside the Consulate. The consulate does have their limitation and workload cut out for themselves, so there isn't any LOOOOOOOOONG line like some said. YES, they may be a long line, but you already have your appointment, you will be let in no matter how many people who have arrived before you but do not have the appointment letter.

Eat a good meal that morning, since she'll be waiting for awhile before they will interview the K-1 cases. Just how they work, IR and K-3 go in first, the rest of their time is for K-1. I never once heard anyone with K-1 in HCMC got let in at the very first hour of the day.

So, relax, bring everything but the kitchen sink... notice what Andy said, be VERY organize and chronological about your evidence.

Good luck and Congrats Andy and Lan... your English is perfect... i'm still working on mine... still hahaha

When are you arriving in the US? Big party in Landy Land

A very detailed description, thanks Lan. Maybe you can help me out with some questions.

1) is an appointment time supposed to be listed in pack 4 ? I see that you have an appointment time of 10:00 am. The reason i'm saying this is that i just talked to my fiancee and she told me that she'll leave the house at 4:30 am when the date comes because there will be many people in line.

2) - the househood registeration and copy,

- ID card and copy,

- my birth certification, its translation and copy,

- Andy's birth certification and copy, my passport and copy,

- the polices certification and copy,

my fiancee never scanned me a copy of Pack 4, but do we need to hand in a copy of the above documents as well ?

Again, congratulations to both of you. Hope you'll have a fun and safe trip to the USA!

Hi yellow123,

For your first question, the appointmnet time is listed in the Interview Appointment Letter, in the same line with the interview date (As I remembered correctly)

And for the second question, in the instructions of packet 4, they do require to submit a copy of househood registeration, ID card (no need to translate to English) with notarized, birth certificate (with translation), petitioner's birth certificate, passport and police certificate (with translation)

Your fiance can see these requirements in the Intruction for Packet 4 she has with her

Thanks for your congratulation. We wish you good luck with the interview too

BTW: When I arranged the evidences of our relationship, I put emails, chat logs, pictures, phone bills, greeting cards, travel docs in time order, monthly basic. I also put the notes for what is included in each month file at the front page. It will help when the C.O. asks you to give evidences of the certain time and you can find them quickly.

Hope this will help you two.

So am I! She will go online in about 15 more mins so just hang in there for a little longer, ok? :)

Landy,

i'm so eager to hear your fiancee's version.

Hi folks

I'm Lan, Andy'sfiance. I am so sorry to make you wait for so long for my post!

Here is the detail of my interview

First, my interview appointment was 10am. So I thought it's ok to get to the U.S. Consulate around 8:30 to 9:00am since they wouldn't process my case by 10am anyway. Actually, this is not the true statement.

It seems to me that they process the case in turn no matter what your appointment is. (Because I got to the office quite late, my interview had to postpone until 1:30pm)

When I came to the front door of the U.S. Consulate (around 8:30am), I showed them my interview appoinment. The security guys let me in. I had to hand the cell phone to them (cell phone is not allowed) and had my handbag, and the bad carried the interview documents through the scan machine.

Anyway, after these security checks, I turned right when entering to the office to go to the Immigration Visa Unit.

When I was there, I gave my interview appointment to the girl sitting at window A and she gave me the number A042. (If you came to the office early, you may have to get line to get the number)

After getting the number, I proceced to the interview waiting area to wait for my number called. This area is in front of the interview windows 5 to 15. There are totally 10 windows served the interview.

I was waiting quite long. While waiting there, I noticed that the IR visa cases and K3 cases were called to be served ealier than the K1 cases

Here is what happened during my waiting time:

I was observing the C.O. when they did the interview, some of them are really nice and gave a lot of pink slips. But some of them are not nice at all.

As my estimation Out of 10 cases, they gave 1 or 2 pink slips only. And most of the approved cases are IR.

As I noticed (and I asked the people went to the interview too), there are only about 3 K1 cases got the pink slips at that day.

I talked to one of the girl that had blue slip for her interview, she said they told her that her fiance didn't put enough money on the saving account. And they told her the minimum amount should be more than 20,000$.

I listened to the interview of the other girl in Vietnamese with the help from translator. She was introduced to her fiance via her aunt and grandmother in US via mails. I saw the C.O. was quite mad when interviewing her since she didn't answer the question correctly/properly. She asked her when .... but she answered for where question. I don't know that the translator translated the question wrongly or the girl answered not properly . At the end of her interview, she got the blue slip to submit more documents about their relationships. Because of that, the girl was getting angry and argued with the C.O. but the C.O. said the interview was finished and she needed to give more proofs then she could have the other interview.

Anyway, I told to myself that C.O. is not very nice either. I hope I didn't have to see her for the interview. (Poor me I did have to see her for my interview)

Around 11:15am, my number was called to window 9. I went to the window and the Vietnamese girl there asked me to give my documents.

I gave her:

- 4 VISA pictures but she asked me to give her 2 more to attach to the DS156 form (in duplicate)

- MRV visa application receipt,

- DS156, DS156K, DS230,

- the househood registeration and copy,

- ID card and copy,

- my birth certification, its translation and copy,

- Andy's birth certification and copy, my passport and copy,

- the polices certification and copy,

- the medical exam result sealed envelope. She opened it out to get the MEDEX form inside and gave my back the lung film

- The I134 form and support documents. Andy gave me the whole file 2 inches But she un-assembled every thing and got the I134 form, the W2 and tax return transript of 2004, the employment verification letter from Andy's company and returned me the rest of them.

Then she asked me couple questions to fill out a form (all in Vietnamese):

1. When did I and my fiance first meet

2. How could we meet?

3. How many years different in our ages

4. Have I ever been in US, how many times and in which visa (B1)

5. My company name

6. How many times has Andy been in Vietnam

7. Did we have the engagement? When and Where? and how many guests (I told her we had 20 guests, all in my family)

Then she asked me to sign the single status statement paper in front of her and to fill out Andy name on the bottom line of the DS156K

Then she asked me to go back to the waiting area in front of window 8 to wait for my number called again to have the interview with the C.O. And she asked me to arrange the evidences to time order and divide it to 2 parts: before and after the engagement.

I went to the window 8 area and the C.O. mentioned above was the one was going to interview me

I waited there until 12pm and they called my name and some other people to tell that our interview was postponed until 1:30pm. They gave us back the interview appoinments with the number on it.

I went out to have lunch and to call Andy to let him know what was going on.

I went back to to the consulate at 1:20pm and went through the same security check process.

Then I walked to the waiting area in front of window 8 and handed my interview appointment.

Then at 1:30pm they called my number again to have the interview.

I said "good afternoon" to the C.O. and she asked me to put my index fingers (left and right) to get the fingerprint. When I was talking to the C.O. during the first process, the translater told us that we might not need her any longer and she walked out.

Then the C.O. asked me to write my name and sign to the DS156K form. After that she began to interview me. Here are the questions:

1. Q: How could you two meet

A: We met through a friend of us when I was on the business trip to SC

2. Q: Where did you two first meet?

A: In Santa Clara, CA

3. Q: How can my friend know my fiance?

A: Since Andy used to work in the same company with us. Then he moved to the other company

4. Q: Why did you go to US?

A: For training since I worked for the outsourcing company

5. Then she asked for the name of my company

6. Q: How many times have you fiance been in VN

A: 3 times

7. Q: Tell me the month of each of his visit

A: Nov 2004, Aug 2005, Dec 2005

8. Q: When did he propose to you

A: On his second trip to VN, August 12, 2005

9. Q: Where did he propose to you

A: In Phu Quoc

10: Q: Did you say yes at that time or later

A: I said "yes" at that time

11: Q: And when was the engagement party? On the same trip?

A: Yes

12: Q: Did his parents come to VN for the engagement party?

A: No they didn't

13: Q: Did you even meet his parents?

A: Yes. When I was in US, I visited them very often

14: Q: Where did his parents live?

A: In the same city with him, just 5 minute drive from his house

15: Q: Now can you show me the evidence of your relationship?

A: I have 20 month evidences with me. Which one do you want me to show first?

Then she asked me to show her the very first month

I showed her emails and chat logs of the first month we knew each other. She took a look and said nothing

16: Q: How could you two communicate with each other

A: We talked with each other every day through emails, chat, phone

17: Q: Can you show me some phone bills?

A: Here is the phone bill of December 2005. It's on the back of the folder

I showed her the evidences of Dec 2005, emails and chat logs and the phone records on the back

She took a look through the whole file and said nothing still

18: Q: Can you show me the pictures of your engagement?

A: (I showed her the engagement pictures, 8 of them with the descriptions on the back of each picture.)

Then she asked me if that was my Mom on the picture.

19: Q: Did your Mom worry when you move to US to live

A: Yes she did worry. But she didn't worry so much since even in Vietnam I had to stay away from her any way.

Then she was smiling and told me that she approved my K1 visa and I can go to the US consulate again tomorrow at 4pm to pick up my visa

And she gave me the pink slip!!!! YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

She also returned my original ID card, househood registeration, birth cerification and Andy's birth certification.

I walked out of the U.S. Consulate, got my cellphone back and called Andy, his Mom and my Mom to tell them I got the VISA!!!! So happy!!!!!

OK!!! That was what happened on my interview

If you have any question, feel free to post or send email to us, ok?

Thanks so much for your guys' helps during our process If we didn't have you, we couldn't know the process that well and have the well-prepared for the interview like that.

Thank you again!!!! And wish you good luck!!!!

Lan and Andy

So am I! She will go online in about 15 more mins so just hang in there for a little longer, ok? :)

Landy,

i'm so eager to hear your fiancee's version.

STL_HCMC,

I don't think the engagement ceremony has to be fancy. Ours was pretty basic, and it involved just Lan's family. Actually the fact that you LIVE in HCMC and spend time with your fiance every single day probably has more weight than an engagement ceremony. It's nice to have (a feather in your cap) but not essential.

A few questions for all of you:

I've read a lot lately about the engagement ceremony. My first question is not in regards to having one - we did - but to the necessity of the elaborateness?

I live/work in HCMC. Our ceremony was small (30 people). I was the only one, representing myself. Of her guests it was family only. We did the ceremony (i.e. meal, drinking, etc.) while we were visiting her family in the countryside of Can Tho this past Tet holiday. They, like my family, are very laid back and were more than pleased with the occasion.

We hired a photographer, no DVD made (nobody in the countryside available during Tet), had a cake made, she wore the traditional pink ao dai, have pictures presenting the ring, etc.

I see her EVERY day, she cooks dinner for me every night, and technically (VN laws) she has her own place in HCMC, but lives with me every night.

Right now our evidence (aside from checklist items & I-134) looks like this:

1. MobiFone (cell phone) call logs for her and I both.

2. Emails from her and I, and also her frequent emails with my family (i.e. mom, dad, sister) in the USA.

3. Skype Chat Transcripts. Sometimes we chat a bit on my lunch break at work

4. Phu Hai Resort (Phan Thiet) receipt (no signature, but pictures showing us there)

5. Engagement ring sizing receipt (passed down the ring my dad gave my mom 30 years ago)

6. English school receipts (I sign for payment)

7. Pictures (engagement ceremony; showing dates consistent with me living here)

8. Airline boarding passes (I pay up front for ticket, company reimburses me)

9. Passport stamps and business visas

10. Congratulatory emails/cards from family/friends on engagement

11. Letter I wrote to her family

12. Letter her mom sent back to me (translated to English)

13. Probably something else I'm forgetting to list as I write this at work!

- Pictures: should we only show pictures that have BOTH of us in them? I've got many of myself with her family, their place in Can Tho, etc. Perhaps we just put em all in there!

- Will the fact that I live/work in HCMC be a benefit to our situation?

I just wonder if the process will be different for us seeing that I'm currently living/working here. I still maintain a domicile in St. Louis, Missouri (parents home; the home I moved here from), and my contract here is finished in December 2006, although an earlier departure only requires 30 days notice. I've got a co-sponsor (father) lined up as we all know VN salaries bring one very close to the poverty line in the USA.

We are just a normal happy couple (met June 2005) and so very lucky that we get to spend every day together during this process. I just hope that doesn't take the edge off for us and get us too relaxed. So I'm writing to let you all "check us" and make sure we're in line.

Sorry for the length and thanks your responses in advance!

STL_HCMC

I think it's pretty straight-forward. It's definitely a lot of work, but it's definitely not rocket-science.

The government muddles the process up by making it somewhat murky as to what they want from the applicants, but thanks to VJ it's much much clearer.

In this process I have relied upon VJ and one book that I bought from Nolo Press about this subject. The book is sometimes nice to have because I know exactly where to go to get information quickly as opposed to wading through the site. The site is nice to have because there's a wealth of current up-to-date information and a whole community to ask questions and collaborate with.

Andy and Lan,

What is your thought about the Journey so far? Is it too hard? I thought it was pretty straight forward myself...

OK.... this is my recollection of what Lan (my fiancee) told me about her experience in dealing with the HCMC consulate. I will have her post her experience so you can all get a first-hand account when she wakes up in the morning (it is sleeping time right now in Vietnam).

Lan's interview was at 10 am. She arrived there before 9 AM in typical business attire (long skirt, blouse -- you know what I mean). She gave her documents to the person at the consulate and they told her to wait. At noon the consulate closed for lunch so they told her to come back at 1:30 PM.

After lunch she returns to the consulate. The CO who would adjuciate her case was a woman, about 35-40 years old. The interview lasted all of 5 minutes. This is what I can recall as far as the questions that were asked:

1) How many times has Lan visited USA? How many times have I (the petitioner) visited Vietnam?

2) Are her parents concerned that she will leave Vietnam and live in America?

3) How long have you known your fiance?

4) When did you get engaged?

5) Has Lan met my parents?

6) Did my parents come to the engagement ceremony? She asked to see pics of the engagement.

7) The CO kept the I-134 form (notorized), the letter from my employer that states my position/salary, and a copy of my 2004 tax return and W2s. That's it... they did not even look at my bank statements or any of the other financial documentation I provided (and Lan was carrying a boat-load of information!)

So after you few basic questions, the CO approved the K1. It will be ready to be picked up at 4 PM the next day (March 30).

Off the top of my head that is all I can remember right now! I am sure Lan will be able to provide a more detailed recollection. A few more items of interest:

Lan said that 9 out of every 10 visa applicants were getting turned away with a blue slip! She attributed this to two things. First most of them cannot speak english so they had to use the services of the consulate-provided interpreter. Very arrogant, not helpful at all, and downright hostile to several of the applicants. She probably is a hindrance to the overall process. Second reason people get blue slips is they are just not properly prepared- they did not seem to be aware of the process and the procedures. In general, it pays to dot all your I's and cross all your T's when working with this particular consulate!

I hope that helps; as I said Lan will follow-up with some more details. If anybody has any questions about the process feel free to ask either in the public forums or you can email me privately if you like.

My fiancee just called me... after a 5 minute interview with the US consulate in HCMC, Vietnam -- she passed the interview! She will have the K1 visa tomorrow!!!!!

This was MUCH easier than I anticipated... two reason for this:

1) We were very well prepared because of VJ's help

2) Lan speaks english very well

More details to follow on the Vietnam thread, ok???

SHE GOT THE VISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just talked with Lan (my fiance). She just got the K1 visa!!!!!!!! YAH YAH YAH!!!!

The interview was 5 minutes long. Very shortl.... just a few questions. Details to follow tomorrow, ok???

Thanks for the kind thoughts!!!

I am sitting at home right now. Lan called me just before she entered the consulate.... apppointment is for 10 am. I will be waiting for her call!!!!

Well folks.... tomorrow (March 29) is our K1 interview at the consulate in HCMC.

Lan and I are all set to go. Wish us luck. We're very well prepared (thanks to VJ) and I can't imagine doing this without the help of this group of people.

I'll post an update as soon as Lan calls me after the interview. I will also have her post her experiences with the consulate first-hand for the benefit of you all.

Landy,

I'm sitting here in the office in HCMC and thought of you and your fiancee. I imagine she is downtown right now immersed in the process.

Just wanted to drop a quick note! Best of luck.

STL_HCMC

One more thing to think about right now is how envious we all are of you- yes- even me having already passed this part. At what other point will you ever get to be this excited? All of the waiting and preparation is finally over. Not that I ever want to go back to those months of chatting on yahoo, but I really kind of miss that moment of waiting to hear the results of the interview.

In my case the answer was not good right away, but I still remember the excitement of the phone call. I was online with my friends and her friends in Vietnam. It feels like you're on stage and they are about to draw lottery numbers. I hate to say it, but there will never be a time you feel this excited again- except maybe when your children are born. So, I'm really kind of envious.

Dalegg,

Wow... I did not think about this!!!! Thanks for your insight (from someone who has been down this road before)... I have to say that the VJ community is great. I have never met anybody in person on this board but I know you are all amazing.... In fact... If anybody will be in Saigon on April 21 I want to invite you all to a party we are planning! Please contact me for details ok??

Thanks for all the support from all of you!!!

Thanks for the good wishes everybody!!!! (and i thought the joke about putting me into vietnam time to get a head start was a pretty damn funny joke!)

) ) )

Well folks.... tomorrow (March 29) is our K1 interview at the consulate in HCMC.

Lan and I are all set to go. Wish us luck. We're very well prepared (thanks to VJ) and I can't imagine doing this without the help of this group of people.

I'll post an update as soon as Lan calls me after the interview. I will also have her post her experiences with the consulate first-hand for the benefit of you all.

All the best! Hope you come through with flying colors!