nhatquynhle

49 minutes ago, HanhChi said:

Hello Quynh,

 

Their interview went well. The IO asked several questioned, mostly about their previous stay in the US. He also asked about how I came to the US and about my sister, who also lives here as a permanent resident. That was basically it. The results of  my parents’ medical exam are still pending though due to the TB test. Therefore, they won’t be able to receive their visas until the consulate receive those results, which will take about two months from now. Good luck to your Mom! I think she won’t have any problem getting the visa as her medical exam is cleared.

Thanks a lot for sharing, and I'm glad it went well for them!  When the IO asked about the time they stayed in the US, how detailed were the questioned, if you don't mind sharing?

@HanhChi How did your parents' interviews go?

2 hours ago, HanhChi said:

Yes, my parents had their medical exams done at IOM Hanoi as well. And it was there that they were told to do the test. It is a TB screening using sputum culture that takes 8 weeks to grow in order decide whether it contains TB bacteria or not. You may want to ask your mom again to make sure she has done the test. It is the TB screening method that has replaced the simple skin test since 2018.

 

Yes, I send copies of my tax documents to my parents. And I have just updated the package with my 2020 tax return, so they will be bringing all of them to the interview.

I called IOM Ha Noi and asked them to pull up my mom's records and they said they did all the tests required.  The way the nurse explained it to me sounded like when they scanned the bar code (I'm assuming the one on the DS260) it would show a list of exams needed for the applicant.  I wonder if the list of exams is different based on things like age.  I truly have no idea.  I looked at the paperwork they sent home with my mom and the exams they did on her were:  Medical examination, Mental health report, Gonorrhea, Chest X-ray, Vaccinations, Syphilis.  No TB!

Yeah, same here. I submitted everything electronically but I'll be sending my mom my 2020 tax return since I didn't have it when I submitted the paperwork last year.  Better to have something and don't need it than need something and don't have it I suppose.  Best of luck to your parents! 

On 3/24/2021 at 11:25 AM, HanhChi said:

I just learned that CDC no longer allows the TB skin test for immigrant applicants anymore. So if it is possible, tell your parent(s) to have their medical exam done as soon as possible to avoid lengthy delay of visa issuance. My parents were told that the TB test would take about 9 weeks to come back. That delay doesn't affect the interview date (which will go ahead as scheduled) nor the result, but I think the consulate won't issue the Visa until they receive the test result.

Did someone from the IOM office tell them about the TB test? My mom had her medical done at IOM Ha Noi and she didn't say anything specifically about a test taking a long time to get the results back. 

Side bar: Did you submit the I-864s and supporting financial documents (tax returns, W2's, etc.) electronically? If so, are you planning on printing them out for your parents to bring to their interview?

When my parents were married, we were registered in the same household book. After their divorce, my mother removed herself from my father's and registered in her mother's household book. I still remain registered in my father's household book even though I live in the US. For my mother's interview, should she bring just the household book that she's currently registered in without me in it? Should she bring both hers and my father's? Should I be registered in the same book as her?

Hers was March 12, 2020

@USS_VoyagerMy mom finally got the interview letter after months and months of waiting. COVID didn't help either, of course.  I've prepared a list of questions to help prep her.  Would you mind taking a look and tell me if there's something I missed? Much appreciated!

1. What is your son/daughter's name? I tell her to say both my maiden name and married name since I changed it after my marriage. Is it an overkill?
2. What is your son/daughter's DOB?
3. What does your son/daughter do?
4. Where does your son/daughter live? For this question, my mother already can pronounce my state alright, but I'm not sure if she has to learn the street address, which will be doable, but harder because it's all English.  Do they go to this level of details?
5. When did your son/daughter go to the US and for how long?
6. How did your son/daughter migrate to the US? I tell her to start with how I came on a scholarship, stayed for work, and then got married and settled there.  Is that too much? Should she just stop at me coming for school?
7. When did your son/daughter get married? We held our ceremonies twice, one in the US and one in VN.  Should she say both or just one? If just one, which one?
8. How did your son/daughter meet their spouse?  I'm not sure if they'll go as far as asking about my husband, who's not a co-sponsor (I'm sponsoring her myself), and things like what does he do for work, etc.
9. When was the last time you went to the US? How long did you stay?
10. Why do you want to migrate to the US?

Besides what the Consulate suggests to bring to prove petitionable relationship like old school records, household registration book, should my mom bring pictures with she and I in them? How far do I need to go? Everyone keeps saying IR5 is the easiest of them all but you can say that only after the visa has been approved! Here I am still being a worrywart.

On 3/19/2021 at 7:01 PM, HanhChi said:

My parents were documentarily qualified last June. Their interview date is April 9. Good luck to everyone’s parents! 

Good luck to your parents!  Would you mind sharing the interview questions once they're done?  I've prepared the following questions to go over with my mom but I'm still a little nervous since I won't be there with her.  I would appreciate everyone's feedback!

1. What is your son/daughter's name? Here I tell her to say both my maiden name and married name.  Is it an overkill?
2. What is your son/daughter's DOB?
3. What does your son/daughter do?
4. Where does your son/daughter live? For this question, my mother already can pronounce my state alright, but I'm not sure if she has to learn the street address, which will be doable, but harder because it's all English.  Do they go to this level of details?
5. When did your son/daughter go to the US and for how long?
6. How did your son/daughter migrate to the US? Here I tell her to start with how I came on a scholarship, stayed for work, and then got married and settled there.  Is that too much? Should she just stop at me coming for school?
7. When did your son/daughter get married? We held our ceremonies twice, one in the US and one in VN.  Should she say both or just one? If just one, which one?
8. How did your son/daughter meet their spouse?  I'm not sure if they'll go as far as asking about my husband, who's not a co-sponsor (I'm sponsoring her myself), and things like what does he do for work, etc.
9. When was the last time you went to the US? How long did you stay?
10. Why do you want to migrate to the US?

Besides what the Consulate suggests to bring to prove petitionable relationship like old school records, household registration book, should my mom bring pictures with she and I in them? How far do I need to go lol?

My mom's documents were approved last August.  I just received an email today with an appointment for April 16! Hope everyone will hear back soon!

Oh my... What a journey!  It seems like you and Odysseus can relate :P.  Thanks again for sharing and I am glad your mother is with you now.  

Quote

I did it for my mom last year also from VN. I-130 was approved Mar 1st. It was transferred to NVC within 2 weeks but NVC took until April 24th to input the data and create the case. You will receive an email from NVC with a case number and invoice number to start the NVC process and pay a fee. At this stage, all you can do is wait untik NVC assign you a case number. You can start gathering (if you haven’t already) all the civil documents from your parents such as their birth certificates, their police clearances (Lý Lịch Tư Pháp số 2), ... and your documents related to the I-864 (you can start filling this now) such as tax transcripts, returns, W2s,.... ) Do not do the medical until the interview is scheduled. Her timeline is below just for reference:

April 24: case created and NVC welcome letter

Around late July, early August: case documentarity qualified and sent to HCMC.

Sep 5th: Interview scheduled for Oct 2nd

Oct 2nd: Interview

Oct 16th: visa issued

Nov 11th: entered the US and became a LPR

Thank you for sharing and helping all of us.  Do you happen to recall the questions the CO asked your mother at the interview?  I am just a tad concerned because my mom first visited in 2016 as a tourist, re-applied for another tourist visa in 2018 and got rejected (still don't know the reason), and now she's a little nervous going into this interview.  Any input would be much appreciated.  Thank you.

Hello,

I just learned that we can now file the I130 online and opted for that route that because I had a very positive experience with filing my N-400.  While filing out information about my parents, the system requires that I enter both their DOBs and doesn't not allow input for ??.   I put in 1/1/1970 so that at least the year is correct.  Does anyone have the same experience or any input as to how to work around this?

Thanks!

Quynh

Thanks so much for sharing!

I am a dual citizen and planning to go visit this April.  I have a question on what last name should I use when booking my flight ticket to avoid confusion with both immigration and the airline.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.  My situation is below:

• My Vietnamese passport still has my maiden name
• My US passport has my married last name