Tony_H

Hi Andrew,

I am assuming that the reason why you used Dd versus D is because in the Vietnamese alphabet, there is another D with a bar in middle of the downstroke capitalized and a bar crossing the top of the downstroke in the uncapitalized "d".

If this is correct, then this is my understanding. The other Vietnamese D has always been converted to our D for lack of equivalence. There has never been another way to represent it. The Vietnamese just figure it out when needed. However, there is an informal convention that has been used among Vietnamese to represent the other D and d as Dd and dd accordingly. It was never recognized by any formal means, just a way that Vietnamese use for email or chat to distinguish these 2 different D's among themselves.

I would suggest that you ask for the correction otherwise, it would cause all kinds of confusion. An almost parallel to this problem was that the Vietnamese write their last name first and first name last. Shortly after 1975, many Vietnamese ran into troubles with many businesses, agencies, schools, banks, etc.. with this problem. They never liked their name being reversed but eventually they had no choice but complying the U.S. convention. Each time they ran into this problem, it was more difficult to explain and to correct the problem than just to reverse their name.

I hope this helps somehow.

Tony

Green and Tran voiced an issue that caused me some concern and maybe someone can give me some insite. My fiance family name is D- ( double dd ) as opposed to the singe D. All the forms I used a single D - fearing if I wrote Dd it would create more confusion.

You would think the consulate staff , NVC etc will know to deal with this easily. Any ideas ?? Thanks

I would like to venture a guess to why there seems to be a policy of making a pregnant foreigner wait till the birth of her child.

Take a situation of a K-1/K-2 for someone who has children to come, both the mother and the child(ren) will be subjected to the immigration process and rules until they become naturalized.

For a one who is pregnant, if she arrives thru a K-1 visa, the child would be born in the U.S. and would be a U.S. citizen automatically regardless of who the father might be. This would allow her to stay in the U.S. much easier and not be subjected to the immigration screening rules.

However, if the baby is of a U.S. citizen, then the citizenship would be granted after DNA verification or by the process currently in place to grant the baby the U.S. citizenship. Then after that, it would be much easier for the mother to obtain a visa to enter the U.S. and she deserves it. My uncle has done the baby citizenship process for his 14-month old girl recently. She is now a foreign-born U.S. citizen, who has her own passport and can return to the U.S. anytime.

It appears to me that this has been designed to NOT inadvertently grant a U.S. citizenship to a baby who is not from a U.S. citizen. Does this make sense?

I don't know that this line of thinking is correct or not and maybe someone can verify it. It appears to have a silver lining in this unfortunate setback for 3AD.

I would like to pray for you and your fiance through this difficult setback and that you will have the patience and strength through this process.

Tony

Hi sealedkiss,

Phones: Here's how I would approach it. I would present the phone bills and explain the situation clearly regarding the names on the account. Highlight those calls that were yours. As for internet calling card, I would show record of their purchases and still present those calls anyway with a clear explanation. For the prepaid Verizon, I would show those cards and explain them. Please remember, it is not just the phones info that they are looking at. They will look at other things as well. You should start communicating in ways that are identifiable from now on and keep track of these new records.

Handwritten letters: Just present those you have.

Chat logs: I believe that Yahoo keeps track of those chat sessions anyway unless you specified it not to. I would show all. For me, I had logs for around1 months before I went to Skype and Sightspeed (video chat). I printed all those chat logs and sent them in. Now I am keeping track of my video calls, date, time, and length. I also show the service profile that is linked to me and her with our personal information.

Photos: Take some more and make sure you have other people in those pictures.

As for gifts: I bought gifts for her, her son, and her parents. But I think it's hard to clearly present them as evidence. However, I will show receipts for the engagement ring, wedding gown, wedding photography, and the engagement dinner itself.

Some other things that I am thinking about showing are: records of foreign money exchange, how my travel ticket was purchased (in my case, I used frequent flyer mileage so it would be my mileage statement showing that), email logs, emails, her ADSL bills, her web posting, birthday card.

Tony

Hi Sealedkiss,

I won't pretend to know what I am talking about. But this is what my observation is: Ho Khau seems to show where one registers her permanent address. It does not have to be where she lives or sleeps. Pack 3 seems to make a clear point about this as well.

I notice in my fiance's case, her ID card matches her Ho Khau. But she listed 2 different addresses in the past 5 years in the her Biographic form and I-129F, not the one listed in Ho Khau. Her current address is not the one listed in the Ho Khau.

She also has another book which I forgot what it's called but she had to list me as a visitor when I came to stay with her. This took place when I had to register my stay with the local police.

I hope this makes sense.

Tony

Hi sealedkiss,

Your A# is yours forever even after you became a US citizen, especially in this process. I believe that you must include that number otherwise you might incur some delays for RFE.

As for the "how we met" question, I had a short answer enough to fit in that space stating briefly how we first met online then I met her in person in Saigon and when. However, I also had a more detailed and longer description in my letter of intent.

Tony

Hi Robert and Van,

Congratulation to you both on the pink slip. It is wonderful isn't it! I wish you both a wonderful life together with lots of happiness, good luck, good health, and God's blessings.

Tony

Congratulation to you both and wishing you both lots of happiness and good health. God bless.

Tony

She passed she noted that 2 girls speaking throuh translators also passes. Every one very nice to her. Vn staff very helpful American intervier very very nice; quick 5 mins no problems very smooth.

Thanks for all the good info I will fill in the very big blanks when we are in the states

C&L

At the beginning in March, I used Yahoo messenger but it was so pathetic. I started using Skype for a few months after that but since July, I was not able to get her video feed across due to some software driver conflict in her computer. So I have been using www.sightspeed.com which has been quite reliable, however, the video quality is not as good as Skype. I still use Skype to send file back and forth. It is good to have a backup means of communication as in my case. I haven't spent much money on telephone calls anymore. However, it is good to keep track of a log of all your video calls.

Tony

The biggest congratulation to you both is in order. I am really happy for you.

Tony

I went to Vietnam in April and July, each time I paid $45 for the visa fee at the San Francisco consulate. However, I heard that most travel agencies have been getting them for their ticketed customers at around $30. I never got a straight answer from the consulate.

I also noticed that $45 took one day to process. It appears to be considered "Rush".

Tony

Hi all,

I just went back and did a check on our timeline database picking out only entries being processed through CSC and sorted by NOA1 dates. Looking down a couple of hundred entries, I found that there have been many petitions with NOA1 dates in the month of May that have been receiving NOA2 approvals since late July through now.

So I guess it appears that they are processing May petitions and some June ones in late July through August. That's actually very hopeful.

Tony

Hi all,

I noticed the same thing that you are talking about with the CSC going back from March 6th to Feb. 23rd. However, in my case, it did not mean very much. My NOA1 date was May 15th so according to that schedule, on 8/23/06 I should be expecting my NOA2 approval some time by mid November of 2006.

However, I got mine approved on 8/28 along with a couple other people in CSC. And it took 105 days including IMBRA RFE and another extra RFE.

So it might be better than it appears. I hope this helps somehow.

Tony

Hi Mike,

I am so sorry about your delay. I can only hope, wish, and pray that it will be short. I feel for your frustration after you both had gone through so much to get here. Please have strength, patience, and faith that it will all work out soon. I am praying for you both.

Tony

Hi Anh Map,

Congratulation on your petition approval. I also got mine today. Have a safe trip there. Try to stay dry, it has been raining a lot there. I just got back at the end of July. I am scheduled to head that way again in early November.

Tony

B) Another small step closer to the final goal. And received on the eve of my trip to Vietnam.

Hopefully good karma that will spill over to our dam hoi on Sunday and some R 'n' R in Vung Tau. (no real pun intended at Mr. Gadd's expense)

Let's all keep the faith and prop each other up. VJ definitely makes this a survivable ordeal.

Hi Mike and Huong,

I am praying that you both will have God's blessing at your interview, everything would go smoothly, and pink is the color. Good luck and best wishes to you both.

Tony

Hi Mike,

I use Skype and Sightspeed primarily for video chat. In Skype, there is a history which gives me the time, date, and length of my calls. I tried to find a way to print it out but there was no way. I asked Skype and got no response. So this is what I do now, I display the history log with all tool bar and status bar off to maximize the display area, and then I capture the active window, one screen at a time and store them as JPG files. Then I insert them into a Word document in pages for one month at a time. Then I print them out to keep them for the interview. I use a program called Howie's Quick Screen Capture posted by someone on this site. If you can't find the program, let me know so I can send it to you.

I hope that my method works for you somehow.

Tony

Yeah I have the same problems sometimes. She finally got internet at home about 6 months ago. We both were so excited, because this would not limit us to cafe hours of operation. One day it would work great and the next day it would not work and she would have to call the provider and they would instruct her how to fix it. I know the networking there is horrible. Many times when we chat, her cam will freeze or stop, and she has to resend it. I love using skype. We use yahoo messenger for webcams, and skype to talk. The only problem, is the fact you will not have chat logs. I have not figured out if you can print your voice chat logs.

Here's to better interner service!!!

A big congratulation to you and your fiance. Way to go! and good luck to you both.

Tony

Hi Mike,

My prayer is with you and Huong. I pray that God will bless this interview and guide her through with full confidence, smooth sailing, proper answers to all questions, no unforeseen obstacles, and return pink. All your patience is paying off now. God bless.

Tony

Nhatrang,

It's awesome and wonderful. A big congrat to you and your fiance.

May God bless your life together in every possible way and may your happiness be forever.

Just returned to California from Saigon a few days ago so I'm sorry for the delayed praise.

Tony

Hi Nhatrang,

I am here in Saigon for the next several days, so I will be praying for your fiance's interview. I wish you and your finance the best of luck and pink is "THE COLOR".

Tony

Hi STL_HCMC

A big congratulation to you and your fiance. I have been here in Saigon for the last 2 weeks, just logged on and saw your wonderful news. Let me tell you, I have been by our consulate many times in the last 2 weeks and I have to say that your happy news really touched me. I am very happy for you. I can feel it in the air and in the pouring rain.

Again, best wishes to you both and may God bless your wonderful marriage !

Tony

I got mine yesterday and sent it right back. My NOA1 date was 5/15/06. There are 2 other ways to send back, Priority mail with Delivery confirmation $3.95 of which you can track online, or Certified First Class mail $2.79 (no online tracking); but both will give you a receipt. Good luck to all of us.

Before you send your I-129F in, please make sure that you are sending the right form. I understand that USCIS has just recalled 1100 applications and is putting on hold on processing due to IMBRA. A new form is being drafted and not yet finalized. I just submitted mine about 3 weeks ago and I am in limbo. I don't know what I have to do next at this moment along with others.

If you send yours in with the current application, you might have to do it again. It is something no one seems to know at this time.

I am sorry to break this bad news but one member on the Asia post whose application was just recalled at Pack 3 stage yesterday. Please review that post before you proceed.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16711

Tony

I am from the united states and my fiance' is from the Uk. We want to get the k1 process started and send the 129f info in a few weeks. Btw i am the petionar. The thing is i am to visit him in august for 14 days. Is it not a good idea to have a k1 in progress while trying to visit him. Should i wait until i come home and then send the petition. And lets say we do decide to send the petition in before i visit could i be denied entry?? Thank you.... christy

Hi Tri,

My fiance knows English so we wrote the letter together. I drated it, she gave me input, and then I revised it until we both got what she wanted. Then she signed it.

I suggest that you have her write it in Vietnamese, then you can translate it for her there (provided that you can), then have her copy it as part of her letter then have her sign it. You can also email it to your sister and have her translate it while you were there then send it back to you for her to copy it. If you don't do it that way, you would have to have some one else who is certified for translation to translate it then certify the translation. You would have to pay for that translation. It gets more involved.

Perhaps other members here can also give you some other ideas.

Tony

Hi all,

My question concern the "letter of intent to marry(Beneficiary)" requirement for K-1. My finaces is in Vietnam and she don't know english, so do I have her write the letter in Vietnamese and sign it or do I use the english letter that is provided in the 'guide' on this site which is in english and just fill in her name and have her sign it?

I am thinking that she need to write it in vietnamese and sign it, and i will take it back to the USA and have my sister translate it to english. I will then send in both letters, the one in vietnamese and the translated one when submitting the K-1 application. I also will send in my "letter of intent to marry (Petitioner)" using the sample "guide" on this site.

Thanks,

Tri.

Hi Mike,

I am in the same boat as you, just 2 months behind you. Here are some documents I found that might be useful to those who are affected by this IMBRA law.

Interoffice Memorandum To: Office of Domestic Operations Office of Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Office of National Security and Records Verification

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/han...crhst050306.pdf

SUPPORTING STATEMENT Petition for Alien Fiance(e) (Form I-129F)

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for.../i-129fsupp.pdf

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for...i-129f_83-i.pdf

New I-129F Draft

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for...-129f-draft.pdf

Tony

IMBRA is a new law that was supposed to be in place on March 6, 2006. Well, of course USCIS dropped the ball and didn't have the a plan in place. They continued to approve the Petitions and sending them out to NVC and then to the Appropriate Consulate or Embassy. Well, after realizing that they can be in deep trouble in doing so, they recalled every petition with a NOA1 Receipt date of March 6th to the present. The very first case I read about on this board was such BS. A girl actually had her interview adn passed. She was given a pink slip and told to return for her Visa the next day or something. Well the next day she got a call saying that they were sending her case back to the US, and they could not give her the Visa at this time.

Here is what I get from this new law. it is called IMBRA (International Marriage Broakers Act). They are going to do a more detailed backround security check on the US citizens, because there has been to many cases of physical abuse and such, so they say. At the interview they will release this information to the beneficiary, so they know who they are going to marry. This also affects those who have used a marriage broker as well as those who have filed multiple petitions. The big problem is that they recalled 1,100 petitions, and are not processing any new petitions, because they still don't know or have the new form made for this. They have a draft posted on their website, and it is under emergency review. Everyone has been calling for information and they are given many different stories, and they are told there is no timeline on this. So anyone with a receipt date of March 6 and newer, are not being approved at all right now. None of us know how long this is going to take and what they are going to require from us.