Matt_Stevens

Agreed, this forum is very much for VJ members and the complexities involved with being married to Vietnamese person.

Thanks you two for that info. That is exactly what I was looking for.

Hi, gang. I posted about this once before a few years ag, but the forum has changed and the links are all no longer valid and my searches only bring up answers to visas INTO the United States.

I have a new passport so I need a new visa INTO VIETNAM. I do not want the normal Single or Double entry visa.

I had a spousal visa. A visa for a husband of a Vietnamese citizen. My wife is from Saigon and still has her Vietnamese passport.

This visa is less expensive and lasts a heck of a lot longer.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

This is not the visa I want:

http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/services/visa-application-process

Again, I am not not NOT seeking a six month visa. Just a multi-entry. But it does appear that I will have to renew my passport right now since it expires in five months and airlines do not like that. Had no idea.

Sh*t. So I have no choice but to renew my passport.

By the way, I am not seeing a six month Vietnam visa. I just need it for May.

I paid less way under a hundred for my spousal visa. Looks like I need to get my passport taken care of now and get another spousal.

Holy cow! No way should it be that expensive. I didn't pay nearly that for my spousal visa. Not for my original visa to Vietnam back in 2006.

Hi gang. Long time no see. In a hard drive crash I lost a link i had for here that went over where and how to get a multi-entry visa to Vietnam. I current have the special spouse visa, but it expired last month since my passport is now six months from expiration.

Now I need a multi-entry visa for May (not spousal, just standard multi-entry), as I do not have time to renew the passport prior to leaving. A one entry visa won't work because we plan on visiting Thailand while in Vietnam.

Googling gives me so so many websites that are not affiliated with the Vietnamese embassy, so I figured I might as well come on on here and ask.

Okay, apologies about this, but I have read as much as I am able. My eyes no longer can handle it. Being dyslexic is not easy when trying to read massive amounts of text.

My wife is from Vietnam. Has been here for 5+ years. We want to invite her parents over to stay for a few months late next year, but know not where to begin.

We know will will not quality to support them. We don't have the cash or own property.

MY parents would be happy to help out. They are well set, financially, for sure.

But what is the process? Do my wife's parents need to apply first? Do we start paperwork here? I cannot for the life of me find the right answers.

I need simple, terse, to the point answers. Please don't send me to another massive FAQ page where my eyes will betray me.

Thanks for your help. Once i am on the right track I will be fine.

This is not even a small thing. This is big as the sky is blue. RUN AWAY! get out of this thing before it is too late.

I don't judge this woman for doing what she had to do to survive. She did what she needed to do. But you don't need the heartache that will come with marrying that woman. You WILL regret it. The warning signs are slapping you in the face so hard you must be numb and no longer feel the blows.

Trust me... I'm a writer. I've been working on a book for four years about this very subject.

Walk away. Unless she doesn't mind being a girlfriend who visits, you need to get on with your life. She wants that green card. PERIOD. And then half your money.

My wife read this thread and agrees. No way will she go back. It is what it is. She is here to stay. I'm willing to bet the majority of Viet girls who end up in small town USA leave their husbands to get to CA or NY or at least a large city. it is way too boring and oppressive for them to be in a small town with no friends, no Vietnamese food, no nothing. Even girls who truly love their husband find it terribly difficult.

Heck, Anh told me flat out, we move, or we're done. She could not take small town living.

We moved. And she was right.

It's PC madness.

Fool you once, shame on her. Fool you twice...

Not worth it. No way.

Good luck. You will need it. This looks like a tough one.

+1 on that. Don't do anything vindictive. Just don't.

Fed Ex or DHL

If you have to shower someone with money to have them stay with you, then your doing it wrong.

I don't think you get it at all. My point is, people who are struggling financially shouldn't get into this sort of thing. It's a recipe for disaster. Since 2006 I have watched one couple after another bust up where the man, who was the USA citizen, clearly was not well off and had very little money, if not any.

Finances matter. They can kill of any union. Love does not conquer all.

Forgive me for trying to make that point in a diplomatic way.

And considering how well my wife and I get along these days, I think I am doing it right, thank you very much.

We also had an advantage in that we met in France. Then I went back when she was in Germany. then I went to Vietnam for nearly a month. All between we talked daily. We saw each other much more than most here and STILL it wasn't enough, in my view. We are fortunate that we worked through the difficult first year and a half. This ain't easy, as many of you know.

Many people here (all throughout Visajourney) can typically be delusional. I was at times. Most are not well off. Many are so so financially and thinking you can bring a gal from the other side of the world to the middle of Nowhere USA is kind of silly. It is VERY difficult to make it work, especially if you are not able to shower her with shopping money. Rule of thumb is, if you cannot afford to go overseas twice a year for two weeks at least each trip, you can't afford to bring your girl here. You are asking for trouble. Many do make it, of course, but it takes work, luck and sometimes faith. The love has to be strong.

Suffering through so many troubles with regards to a visa, as in this case, will take its toll emotionally.

Kevin, if you do go to see her, make sure you are not alone. Do not see her without witnesses who are friendly to you. For your own protection. You don't know what is going on in her mind.

You may just have to let her go. As awful as that sounds. I truly do wish you well.

A movie that made me laugh and makes many in our situation laugh (uncomfortably) is Mail Order Wife. It's a mockumentary and I urge everyone to check it out. Just trust me. Only WE can get this movie. My wife found it to be eye opening at times, actually identifying with the girl.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377088/

I live in a small hick town (2700 people). The closest city is about 30 minutes away.

Ouch, That right there is a killer. 2700 people is barely a town at all. For SE Asian women to move to a strange small town where they do not have access to their normal food and groceries, activities, etc. and with nothing to really do, it will be pure hell. Love cannot conquer that.

Anh came here and I lived in a town with a population of 32,000. It was a well known city/town in CT and just a few hours from NYC. But she HATED it. Then we moved to NC to a town with a similar population, but more spread out. That almost killed our marriage.

I don't want to offend anyone, but there are some simple facts here. The government tries like hell to prevent these visas for being granted because of fraud and because so many will end in failure. The novelty of being in America wears off in days, if not hours for some. Most of the 'men' are years older than their younger pretty new wives and that doesn't help.

The isolation these girls will feel is impossible for us to understand and for them to foresee.

Anyway... this is a tough place for you to be in. I feel for you and hope it can be worked out. Be patient. Be kind. Make sure to speak or write to her parents so that they understand how much you love her.

She told my Mom that she's afraid I would hurt her and wouldn't let her go back to VN. I have no idea why she thinks that I would. I've never laid a hand on her. It must be VN cultural thing.

That is a danger for you. Many Asian girls start stating such things in preparation of filing for citizenship based upon being a battered woman. I hope to hell that is not it in your case, but I know someone it happened to and it was beyond stunning to everyone. She got away with it too. Despite the mountain of evidence she was a liar.

Tuyen may have gone home and found that she just missed the way things were too much. Many girls, especially those who were not college educated and who have not traveled outside of Vietnam cannot adjust to the mind blowing difference in the way of life here. MN is not exactly L.A. or NYC and in the mind of 95% of the Viet girls, they think that is what America is like.

My wife nearly went home in the first year here because she hated it so much. It was nothing like she expected, despite her having traveled to Japan and across Europe. With all her education and experience, she was not even close to being prepared. Her expectations were wildly insane.

Only when we moved to NYC did things improve.

How ironic that when she goes to visit her family in Saigon she is wishing to go back to NYC within hours of arriving. The heat, pollution, low class bribery BS and other such things inherent in Vietnamese culture just irks the hell out of her now.

Very touresty and crowded, but still a wonderful place. I spent four magical days there in 2006 and would LOVE to spend more time. The weather is fantastic. Perfect for me.

I could only laugh slackjawed at the people in the morning, wearing heavy winter coats, harts and gloves.

Meanwhile I was in pants or shorts and a t-shirt.

4 of the girls were wearing heart-shaped nipple pasties.

Nice.

Wow, what did I miss?!?!?!

I swear to God, I need to fly out there just to check these places out.

My advice to any couple looking into this... is this...

Economics busts up more relationships than anyone would like to admit. Lack of money, struggling to pay bills, not being able to go out to dinner, let alone on vacation, is disastrous for love. You add the fact that no matter what you think of how you girl thinks, that she will not understand how life works here, that just adds pressure. No Vietnamese girl who has not lived and seen the western world will understand how many people in the west don't really have money. You have a house, a car, lots of toys, but no cash. No savings. They don't get it. They can't get it.

Get one's life in order economically before getting hitched.

Absolutely positively take the extra time to be sure the relationship will work. That means taking at least two trips, each about three weeks in length.

Just my advice, based on my own experiences and the experiences of people I know who's relationships ended up broken.

During my two trips to Saigon I hit a few coffee houses, but never saw girls in bikinis.

My wife wants to go to Bangkok. I told her she had better be prepared.

I've been following this story but, unfortunately, cannot personally investigate.

Likely it is much ado about nothing. The police are throwing around phrases like "suspected prostitution" and yet they have not arrested anyone for it in the establishment. Talk about slander.

Being served by girls in skimpy outfits does not = illegal and it shouldn't. Big fricken deal. If the cops can prove prostituion is taking place, then okay. But prove it first. Don't just say it is there because you don't like looking at pretty little Asian bodies.

Let me add this: Prostituion being illegal has lead to the continued increase in the number of girls, many of them underage, sold into slavery and forced into brothels all across this country. The more it is illegal, the more innocent women and young girls will be exploited in a life of brutality. I'm speaking with real knowledge here after researching the issue for a book I am working on. Porn is legal, but prostitution is not and that has lead to serious crimes being committed that no one wants to talk about.

Make sure you've got $6,999.