obrakeo

How far in advance can you apply for a tourist visa?  If someone, for instance, wanted to visit 4-5 months from now, but wanted to secure the visa sooner.  I can't seem to find information on this.

I see.  Immigration would not come up before a travel visa attempt, only if it's untenable. They're really on the fence on whether they'd like to live in the US or not, but my wife being their only daughter makes it a necessity that they are able to visit us and their grandchildren in the US.

Yes, my wife will be going through the naturalization process this summer and we'll go through I-130's at that point.

Was hoping to have the in laws visit us in USA next year. My wife is their only child and they're not rich by any stretch. They are building a new house early next year and have a lot of brothers and sisters and cousin's in Vietnam. Will that be enough or are we pretty much guaranteed to be denied? My wife will likely be testing for citizenship mid next year. Should we just plan on petitioning for them to immigrate vs getting travel visas?

Howdy all,

Anyone here that's had any experience with the Vietnamese consulate in San Francisco.  I'm trying to find some information on fees for certifying signatures on documents meant for use in Vietnam.  I've called the consulate and they NEVER answer the phone, it's ridiculous.  Their website just states that there are "fees" for consular services, but with no information as to amounts.

Any experience anyone?

Howdy all,

Anyone here that's had any experience with the Vietnamese consulate in San Francisco.  I'm trying to find some information on fees for certifying signatures on documents meant for use in Vietnam.  I've called the consulate and they NEVER answer the phone, it's ridiculous.  Their website just states that there are "fees" for consular services, but with no information as to amounts.

Any experience anyone?

Thanks ddtenor2!  I appreciate the example. Unfortunately this shows the first 5 pages of the i-751 which is currently 11 pages long and seems to cut off right where my questions come into play. Does this imply that I don't even need to send the remaining pages?

Whoops, realized I posted this in the wrong forum.. Reposting.

Howdy all,

I'm filling out form i-751 but I'm a little unsure on some of the details. I did a search a few times on here, but can't specifically find a guide or previous post that answers my questions. Details are that I am a US citizen helping my wife fill this out who is from Vietnam knows English fairly well, but not well enough to fully comprehend legal documents.

1. Should I leave all non applicable fields blank?
2. Part 7 "The petitioner" from what I have read should be my wife.  Should I check that she can read and understand english, or should I list myself as an interpreter ( explainer really as I don't speak fluent Vietnamese )
3. Part 7 For the   I, [                                             ] understand that the pur.....  part I am assuming that my wife will print her full name.
4. Part 8 I am assuming is for me to fill out, but it looks as if the same verbiage as in my question 3 is there as well, which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but I did end up printing my full name there.
5. Part 9  Interpreter,  I've currently left blank, but I'm wondering if I should fill out my info if I need to revise my form after my 2nd question is answered.
6. Part 10. Preparer other than petitioner.  I've filled this out with the same information as part 8 and checked 8.7.a "I am not an attornet....."

Thanks in advance for anyone that can clear some of these up. I, as all of you I'm sure, don't want any potential hangups in this process.

Whoops, realized I posted this in the wrong forum.. Reposting.

Howdy all,

I'm filling out form i-751 but I'm a little unsure on some of the details. I did a search a few times on here, but can't specifically find a guide or previous post that answers my questions. Details are that I am a US citizen helping my wife fill this out who is from Vietnam knows English fairly well, but not well enough to fully comprehend legal documents.

1. Should I leave all non applicable fields blank?
2. Part 7 "The petitioner" from what I have read should be my wife.  Should I check that she can read and understand english, or should I list myself as an interpreter ( explainer really as I don't speak fluent Vietnamese )
3. Part 7 For the   I, [                                             ] understand that the pur.....  part I am assuming that my wife will print her full name.
4. Part 8 I am assuming is for me to fill out, but it looks as if the same verbiage as in my question 3 is there as well, which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but I did end up printing my full name there.
5. Part 9  Interpreter,  I've currently left blank, but I'm wondering if I should fill out my info if I need to revise my form after my 2nd question is answered.
6. Part 10. Preparer other than petitioner.  I've filled this out with the same information as part 8 and checked 8.7.a "I am not an attornet....."

Thanks in advance for anyone that can clear some of these up. I, as all of you I'm sure, don't want any potential hangups in this process.

Howdy all,

I'm filling out form i-751 but I'm a little unsure on some of the details. I did a search a few times on here, but can't specifically find a guide or previous post that answers my questions. Details are that I am a US citizen helping my wife fill this out who is from Vietnam knows English fairly well, but not well enough to fully comprehend legal documents.

1. Should I leave all non applicable fields blank?
2. Part 7 "The petitioner" from what I have read should be my wife.  Should I check that she can read and understand english, or should I list myself as an interpreter ( explainer really as I don't speak fluent Vietnamese )
3. Part 7 For the   I, [                                             ] understand that the pur.....  part I am assuming that my wife will print her full name.
4. Part 8 I am assuming is for me to fill out, but it looks as if the same verbiage as in my question 3 is there as well, which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but I did end up printing my full name there.
5. Part 9  Interpreter,  I've currently left blank, but I'm wondering if I should fill out my info if I need to revise my form after my 2nd question is answered.
6. Part 10. Preparer other than petitioner.  I've filled this out with the same information as part 8 and checked 8.7.a "I am not an attornet....."

Thanks in advance for anyone that can clear some of these up. I, as all of you I'm sure, don't want any potential hangups in this process.

Wow, we did not prepare for this at all. But sailed on through customs without even a batted eyelid. I didn't even consider it when rolling through TSN Int'l.

I think I was only asked about who attended the wedding from my Family. I was married in Vietnam and did IR-1/CR-1. Rvoss77, That sounds absolutely false and purposefully misleading. How are they not going to allow a US citizen into their own embassy? Nah, I went in and participated through the full interview in HCMC.

The interviewer specifically told me it makes it much easier if the petitioner attends the interview.

They actually called us and arranged for pickup at the post office.

Visa in hand 4 days after interview. Hasta la pasta Vietnam. It's been fun.

I'm not seeing this fee accounted for anywhere in that tread.

http://www.uscis.gov/forms/uscis-immigrant-fee

This is something we need to pay after receiving the visa right?

Wow, I just checked your timeline there myztic. You are JAMMIN' through the process. Looks like USCIS/NVC are getting their $&%^ together.

Yup, was dealing with Tet in there though, so hopefully things are now speeding up.

They didn't look at anything that the appointment letter said they had already received. There will be that list( on your appointment letter ) with the letters that designate what they have and don't have. Didn't look at my birth certificate, didn't need any english translations of any documents. In addition to what you mentioned they did look at the original marriage cert. My original I-130 was pretty loaded with photos and signed affidavits from friends and family. Sent a lot of tax and wage info to the NVC as well. I didn't have my taxes for 2014 as I've been in Vietnam since February and got an extension. They didn't ask about them.

Good luck on your interview! I'm sure it'll go smoothly.

Visa status is issued and I'm just awaiting the package. Was checking up on ustraveldocs.com and noticed that it's listed my wife's visa class as IR1. We've been married less than 2 years. Should it be CR-1 ( conditional with AOS needed )?

Are you able to track you EMS visa delivery? Curious how long it will take for visa's to arrive. Also, looks like there's one more fee to be paid after receiving the visa http://www.uscis.gov/forms/uscis-immigrant-fee ?

Well, we're done! Finally.

Overall took about 3-4 hours. Arrived around 7:00 AM for the 7:30AM appointment, which from other reviews you'll realize this has absolutely no meaning. The interviews seem completely random. Anywho, about 5 minutes outside, 10 mins in the 'holding tank?', probably 30-40 minutes to get the fingerprints done. Lucky for me I was able to go sit down, my wife had to do the tetris shuffle as they pack everyone into the queue. Really though, its a much needed lesson in waiting your turn that a lot of Vietnamese need. Another 40ish minutes watching random numbers called to submit paperwork. And then a good 2 hours sitting around watching interviews take place while waiting.

I went up with my wife and was not sent away for the entire interview. The entirety of it lasting all of 3-4 minutes. We had a woman interviewer and she was very friendly and seemed to make an effort to make my wife comfortable. She asked the basics. How we met, what's my job, where do I live, how many people in our wedding, who from my family participated. She asked to see a few photos, and chuckled at some of the goofier ones I personally wanted to submit. I think my wife was a little disappointed that all the work she put in gathering evidence didn't see the light of day.

Looks like you got your interview moved up? I saw initially you had an appointment the 11th? I'll be heading in Monday, hoping things go as smoothly ( they should ). And CONGRATS!

This is for those of you wanting to manage a printable version of your google hangout chat history.

http://blog.jay2k1.com/2014/11/10/how-to-export-and-backup-your-google-hangouts-chat-history/

For myself, it took some serious google scouring to finally find this. Downloading the hangouts backup is easy, but I was all over the place trying to find something that made formatting the json file google provides easier. This guy's done it and I was able to get a years worth of chat logs onto about 70 pages front and back. What's nice is you can just download the .txt and avoid all the photos.

http://hangoutparser.jay2k1.com/

The weather is definitely heating up. I'm on the coast in Nha Trang so likely not as muggy as in Saigon. Reunification day is blowing this city up though, major traffic jams. Flying down to Saigon next Thursday in preparation for interview on Monday morning. Will def report back with as many details as possible.