JasonGG

If I remember correctly, you said earlier that you front loaded you application. You'll want to bring new letters of intent for each of you to the interview. Prepare a "family tree" as some couples are asked for it including a VJ member fairly recently in this forum. We provided one that included grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, and siblings with birth and death dates, addresses, and phone numbers. When we applied (2017) and interviewed (2018) there were several VJ members in the Vietnam forum who had difficulty and received blue slips, home visits, and extended administrative processing. We corresponded with many of them and even though they had a difficult time getting their K1 or CR1 in Vietnam, everyone we talked to at that time eventually got approved. When I attended the interview with my fiance, we brought a LOT of paper in two 6 inch, clear folders that included emails, receipts, chat logs, photos, travel itineraries, airline tickets, etc. for the time between our application and interview. I had no expectation that anyone wanted to see it. We brought that paper to give the appearance that we were ready to provide them with anything they could possibly ask for. The evening after the interview, we shredded it all at our hotel's business center. Don't bother with the translation of your chats. If they really want to read them, they have the expertise nearby to read them in Vietnamese. I found that some of the best advice came from the HCM City consulate reviews. I can only share my experience from 2017-18, but you will get the most up-to-date advice and recommendations from these reviews - https://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Vietnam&page=1&dfilter=5&topic= Jason

Just wanted to provide an update . . . USCIS tier 2 called this morning. She confirmed that yes, we need to hold on to my son's 10-year green card even though he has a U.S. passport now. The passport proves that he is a U.S. citizen to the State Dept. and most federal agencies, BUT it does not prove legal entry into the United States. The State Dept. computers have recorded him as a citizen, but the USCIS system has not. She recommended he carry the green card in his passport until he receives the certificate of citizenship. The certificate "may be needed" when applying for financial aid or dealing with social security. Ugh . . . just when we though USCIS was behind us and now we have another step to complete! Thanks everyone for you responses. They were very helpful. - Jason

No, he does not have a naturalization certificate. Just his US passport.

My wife and her son were permanent residents, but when my wife became a U.S. citizen, her son acquired citizenship through her and received his U.S. passport 6 months ago. Last week, his long-overdue 10-year green card arrived. I called USCIS today to ask what we do with the card and the representative only scheduled me for a "non-urgent" return email or call in 30 days. She added that I may have to call back and submit a new 30-day request when the deadline passes. I found a couple very old posts saying that USCIS "should be dead to us" now that my wife and her son are citizens. Since USCIS was very strict about having the cards returned at the citizenship swearing in ceremony, do we need to return this to someone or simply throw it out? Thanks - Jason

Congratulations to you and your wife. Glad you were able to find someone to watch the baby. Good luck on the rest of your journey - Jason

You’ll be fine. Bring it to the interview. The ceremony doesn’t seem to be as important now as it was years ago. - Jason

Congratulations! Best of luck to both of you - Jason

My son got a new blue passport in March and it only shows the province also. - Jason

Yes, you can - and you are encouraged - to accompany your fiance to the appointment in Vietnam. There were lots of couples and families having visa interviews with infants when I attended with my fiance. Most were pretty unhappy and noisy after a few hours in that waiting room. Best of luck to you - Jason

Great! You have nothing to worry about.

Good luck to you and your fiancé. Just making sure . . . Did you file any official papers with the government? If not, you are fine. You are definitely only engaged. We submitted dam hoi photos when we applied for our K1 and the consulate expected to see them in 2017/18. If it comes up , just say that was the florist’s andfotion and you did not have a wedding ceremony after the engagement ceremony. They can confirm you didn’t submit papers for a marriage if they want. Best of luck to you. It is a long and stressful process. Be patient, visit each other again if you can, and continue to collect as much documentation as possible. Jason

Oh, my wife just said that means engagement AND wedding ceremony on the same day. I don’t think you should resubmit, but prepare to explain it at the interview.

The sign is good. It confirms that it’s your engagement ceremony and not a wedding.

When I was scheduling for my wife and later her son, we checked Friday 12-1:00am U. S. Eastern time (noon to 1pm embassy time). In 2018, the embassy seemed to load new dates every Friday around that time and they were gone in 1-2 hours. Jason

Did your wife get her documents? We have only waited a couple weeks for the return of my wife's naturalization certificate, but came here looking for others' experience getting documents back. Thanks - Jason