JasonGG

The judicial one. Not the local one.

Congratulations!

It definitely did. Your write-up convinced me to attend my fiance's interview last week and I think it made a big difference in her getting approved. The CO (a young mixed girl) didn't let me stand there with her though, and sent the interpreter away entirely. The questions weren't all that easy either - for example, she was asked what year my mother was born (even I might have gotten that wrong...) We too saw very few pink approvals while there. We got blue because the background on my fiance's visa photo was "too dark," but went back that afternoon with a new photo and got approved. Her visa arrived today.
 
Maybe things have changed at that consulate since all those reports of easy interviews were written. Our case was pretty straightforward I thought: I lived with her over a year in Vietnam, neither of us had been married, no kids, no huge age difference... Everyone we dealt with was polite, but it wasn't exactly a cakewalk. 

Hi, everyone... so I met this nice lovely lady in Colombia while, my husband and I where through our K1 process. We met the lady at the medical exam for K1 interview . The day before her interview the US embassy in Colombia called her and cancelled her appointment and asked her to reschedule. (this was in JULY 2019). She re-scheduled and had her interview in August. After her interview she was told that her case had to be reviewed, she went home empty handed. A few days after the interview, the lady  and her fiance received a phone call from the embassy and they had a second interview over he phone. They asked her really private embarrassing intimates questions, which they both had to answer. It has been over 3 months already and her case still under admin processing.... has anyone experienced this? any inputs? 

Wife passed her US Citizenship test!
 
Oath Ceremony Scheduled for Dec 12, 2019 in Oakland, Ca
 
SF Field Office
 
We are so glad and blessed that this process is done!
 
Good luck to the rest of you guys, Our Visa Journey will be complete!

The DS-160 is a visa (thi thuc) application.  The US Government does not issue Vietnamese passports.
 
Your fiance and her daughter will need Vietnamese passports (ho chieu).  They will need their passports in order to complete the DS-160 visa applications.  It's 200,000 dong and about 10 days to get a Vietnamese passport.  

thnx for the advice. i will talk to her. i want to do this the right way

Pay the fee and schedule the interview ASAP!!!

I don't recall a consent letter being requested at the consulate.  We included among sll the other paperwork, so I don't know if they copied it.  Korean Airlines did require it (with birth certificate) before issuing boarding passes in HCM City.  - Jason 

No, you are NOT authorized to work. K-1 is not authorized to work without EAD. I don't care what the SSA is telling you because as I mentioned, the SSA does NOT have the authority to grant work authorization to aliens in the US. Only the DHS, which USCIS is part of, can do that. You cannot work until to have an EAD in hand is the right answer.

Yes. Do all the name-changing after you get settled in the U.S. From personal experience, it is easier for your wife to keep her Vietnamese name (and make sure she has three names, not two, not four). Her name needs to stay in the same order from Day One until you get to the U.S. In my opinion, she should keep her VN name all the way through citizenship. She doesn't have to take your name and if you insist she take it now, you may pay the price. Take my advice on this one. If you do, you'll thank me a few years from now. You're welcome. If not, I told you so. Good luck on  your journey! 
 

I have found all the information on Visa Journey very helpful and wanted give something in return to help others .....
 
I went with my Fiancé Uyen to the US Consulate in September 2019 and had a very different experience then other people have had and want other people to be prepared. I think every case is different.
 
My fiancé and I prepared everything for weeks. I came to Vietnam a few days before the interview we meet with my fiancé’s lawyer at green visa,  I found out 1 of the lawyers their used to work at the US Consulate in HCM . She helped us to prepare everything in order as we need at the Consulate to also helped to calm Uyen’s nerves .
 
The next morning we arrived at the US Consulate at 6:30am there was already a line down the block. The greeters in orange shirts started to arrive at 6:45am and told everyone to stand close to the wall .
the worked through the line and checked for appointment letters and my fiancé visa and her daughter’s . We went through security checkpoint were they check your bags and wand you then you go through the door at a little after 7am. You wait in the covered room but not really indoors (no air conditioning) it takes about 30 minutes or so for the long lines to start moving where they say to be prepared to give them your phones .
side note ... no large bags like backpacks are allowed and no drinks or snacks inside and be prepared it’s hot with only ceiling fans.
 
Once in the next room you go through a metal detector and give up your cell phone . Then into the next non air conditioning room to get you number to sit and wait.
you go to the first window about 40 minutes to 1 hour later show all your paperwork so they can verify you have everything if not out you go . Seen a couple people turned away .
 
2nd time your called is about 2 hours or so ( they were very busy over 200 people) we got a older American guy with grey hair and a Vietnamese interpreter but my fiancé said she didn’t speak really good Vietnamese. At first he was a little rude and very direct asking if she could speak English my fiancé said she could speak a little and he asked a questions in English next asked how we meet but spoke a little quick so my fiancé miss understood and said when we first meet in person she was very nervous when she didn’t answer correctly and said she would prefer to speak in Vietnamese. Also he speaks very good Vietnamese but the interpreter asked the question. He then turned to me and ask how does this work if she can’t speak English clearly getting frustrated. I started to say how we talked then he cut me off and clearly annoyed with him I said stop let me finish explaining to his surprise that I did this . I explained if you slow down your English Uyen understand everything. Then he kinda gave me a look that he didn’t believe me so I turned I spoke to Uyen and told her what they were asking and she understood perfectly to his amazement . 
He started interviewing me not asking my Fiancé hardly anything else. Which surprised me. He asked her 1 more quick question the told me Congratulations in English only. 
 
Looking back I pulled out all of our paperwork as soon as we got to the window including 2500 text messages separated into smaller groups. He never asked for any additional paperwork.
I had our timeline of 5 pages separated before and after engagement notarized, how we meet, 1 year bank statements and paycheck stubs, last year tax form and W2. He didn’t ask for anything I was very surprised.
 
I seen a lot of blue slips haded out while I was there and only a couple Americans there with their fiancé. You could clearly see not a lot of approvals before I left at 10:30am but a lot of very sad people who  dint get approved. 
 
 

hope this helps the next person preparing for the interview in HCM as my experience was totally different from what had been previously reported by other people’s experience.
 
 

Cliff notes version: interview was today and we are finally approved!!!!
 
Fingers crossed AP goes by quickly.
 
This wait has been absolutely the biggest test of patience, strength and relationship integrity.
 
There are so many people here that have been such an infinitely solid guide throughout this process. This life really is a wild ride.
 
Computer hugs to you all
 

 

Yes, and that's one reason why Vietnam is an environmental hell-hole. Thank God the "coffee money" bribery system is nearly non-existent in the U.S. Everyone is tired from the long flight, but the first thing you needed was a thorough inspection of your luggage. There are many agricultural and environmental hazards brought into the U.S. every year - illegally and accidentally. Sorry your exhaustion is an inconvenient part of global travel, but I fully accept the inspection process as a part of keeping our country safe from the stupid things people stuff into their luggage. I've traveled numerous times between the U.S. and Vietnam and could write a book on the flagrant disregard many Asians (and others, including Americans) have for our import rules. Drugs, animals/animal parts, and agriculturally sensitive insects and seeds are stuffed into U.S.-bound luggage each and every day. Inspections are necessary.

I wrote 3-4 checks a year before my wife's AOS.  Once we applied for AOS, I had her write checks from our joint account for as many bills as possible and then brought printouts of all the cleared check images.
 
Good luck and congratulations on the quick interview! - Jason 

Not necessarily 

"Born and raise in the Philippines and just recently came to live in the US in 2017."
^ I'm assuming they don't meet the physical presence requirement to pass along citizenship to the child.

If it was me,  I'd be removing the attorney from my case and filing the application tomorrow since it appears to be ready to go. 
 
What the attorney should be doing is reviewing and sending rather than charging you an additional fee for writing some letter 
 
Just my opinion 

The K-1 visa is void and useless. It's a one-time entry and has no use beyond the POE. Don't worry about it. Not sure I would "slip in a $20" when dealing with VN in the U.S. This could be taken wrong or hold things up. Request to have the old passport. If they want to send it to you, they will. If not, your $20 will be wasted. "Coffee money" probably not a good idea in the U.S.

Sure have. As it turns out, they entered his middle name with his first name and added a space in the middle of the middle name. So it was Emmanuel Da Ao insead of Emmanuel Daao. I thought I had tried every variant including:
Emmanuel Lastname
Emmanuel Daao Lastname
Emmanuel Da-ao Lastname
Emmanuel Da Ao Lastname <--- This one worked
Thanks for helping me out!

Have you tried reversing the first and middle names?  We couldn't find out K2's I-94, but then someone suggested reversing her first and middle names and we found it.   CBP agent at Dulles simply put her middle name in as her first name and her first name as the middle name.  No problem with social security or AOS with the reversed order.  - Jason

I am on my third Vietnamese passport since I’ve been in the US and if memory serves right, I always got the old one back. To be extra sure, slip in a $20 and tell your wife write a note in Vietnamese! That’s how they roll.

I believe most countries you can request to have the cancelled passport back as a lot of people want to keep it for proof of travel, etc. I would reach out and ask them!

Read the link again ... if the document  is in English OR Vietnamese it does NOT need to be translated.   If it’s not in either of these two languages then yes , it must be translated into English

I think you might be wrong about that.  I think the CO had doubts about something.....it could be the way your fiance answered some of the questions..
But why would you chance another K-1?  You have another year of waiting ahead of you.......for an inferior K-1 visa?  
Just my opinion......feel free to blast away.....