USS_Voyager

I think the only way is to do a round-about at all of the agencies involved and fix each of them individually. I don’t know how else. And who charged you $600 to fix each name? Did you actually pay? 
 
For me, as mentioned, not gonna fix it. I told Mom “Look, I love you and everything, but me no spending the next 6 months filing papers at 25 different governmental agencies to get a name fix, so from now on, your name will be Marie Ivanka Trump. Deal with it!”
 
Maybe not those exact words, but you got the idea...

I am slightly confused as you said “fiancé” but if she gets a green card right after entry meaning you filed CR1, correct?
 
About the name, it happens all the time. I think it is because that’s how Consulate in HCMC put the name on the visa, and then it just cascades from there to SSA and USCIS and later even the DMV. Same thing happened to my mom. Say her name is (the Vietnamese way) Trump Marrie Ivanka , so first name: Ivanka, middle name: Marrie, Last name: Trump. They will put that on the visa as First name: Marrie Ivanka, last name:  Trump. So her GC and SSN arrived the same way. 
 
I decided not to fix it. Everything I got for her, we just followed the same format on the GC and SSN: bank accounts, state ID,.... and if anybody ask, I just point to the GC and said that ‘s how it is. The only thing different is the VNese passport, which is no big deal.

By the same people that got you in this mess in the first place? 
 
Anyway, contact Dyan. https://dyanwilliamslaw.com/solutions-options-success-stories-mobile/
 
She is THE best immigration attorney. She charges about $250 for a consultation. She is based in Minneapolis. She can do it over the phone, skype, FaceTime, ... whatever platform you want. And she will tell you the same thing that we’re telling you. 

Uhm couple things: first, I am sorry for what happened to you. If that was true, that lady definitely violated her professional conduct at the very minimum and possibly more. 
 
Did you apply based on 5-year or 3-year married to a US citizen? Cause if it’s 5 years, they have no reason to ask about the marriage. 
 
So what exactly happened at the end of the interview with Officer Carter? 

This one they set it up. So unlike K-1, with this one, you have to submit a lot of documents at the NVC. After you receive your case number, the first thing you will do is to log into CEAC and fill in form Ds-261, which is to choose the beneficiary’s representative, which 99% of people will choose the petitioner (you). That way, you get everything they will get. Then you pay 1 fee. Then you wait a few days or week, then you pay another fee, and then fill in the DS-260 which is the main form. At this point, you also have to send in all the documents like I mentioned above (police certificate, birth certificate, copies of passport, your affidavit of support I-864, tax transcripts, all that good  stuff...). The NVC will have to review all that and when they say everything is good, then they will schedule the interview in Saigon. They won’t review until you have completed the DS-260 AND sent in all the documents. Then they say it takes 4-8 weeks to review, could be faster. So you save time if you start having all those documents ready now and ready to go. The other thing is try to send everything in and not miss something, because if you miss something, they will ask you to submit or resubmit, then it will take them another 4-8 weeks to review. Good luck!
 

Here it is:
 
9 FAM 504.11-2(A)  (U) Visa Issued or Refused if Application Properly Completed and Executed
(CT:VISA-1;   11-18-2015)
a. (U) There are no exceptions to the rule that once a visa application has been properly completed and executed before a consular officer, a visa must be either issued or refused.  (See 9 FAM 504.9-2.)  For statistical and comparison purposes, all posts should follow the identical refusal procedures and report refusals the same way in their required reports of visas issued and refused.  (See 9 FAM 504.3-2.)  Accordingly, any alien to whom a visa is not issued by the end of the working day on which the application is made, or by the end of the next working day if it is normal post procedure to issue visas to some or all applicants the following day, must be found ineligible under one or more provisions of INA 212(a), 212(e), or 221(g). (INA 221(g) is not to be used when a provision of INA 212(a) is applicable.)  This requirement to find an applicant ineligible when a visa is not issued applies even when:
(1)  (U) A case is medically deferred;
(2)  (U) The post requests an advisory opinion from the Department;
(3)  (U) The post decides to make additional local inquiries or conduct a full investigation; or
(4)  (U) The only deficiency is a clearance from another post. 
b. (U) There is no such thing as an informal refusal or a pending case once a formal application has been made.

Yes. In fact I believe the majority of K-1 people do that, due to the uncertainty of exactly when the visa is being issued which make it almost impossible to plan such a big event as a wedding. This is one of myths about K-1. No, you do NOT have to have a wedding. They only care of you get legally married. Big difference. 
 
Btw, the other popular myth out there is if you have a child together, that makes your story more believable. No, it doesn’t. Having child just means you have sexual intercourse. It doesn’t say much about the relationship. God, there are people who sent pictures of themselves having sex in...
No they don’t. As mentioned, they do not care if you have a big wedding, small wedding, no wedding, 20 guests or 2000 guests, or whether you spent your honeymoon at the Ritz- Carlton in Dubai or at the local Motel 6. What they really want is proof of a valid bona fide relationship. That means you have joint insurance, joint checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, joint ownership on houses, lands, mobile homes, boats, cars, jet skis, see-doos, joint leases, cell phone accounts, filing taxes as married, proof of cohabitation, water bills, electric bills, ..... the list go on and on. 

No need to freak out, everything is going to be ok. Just to be clear, the I-485 was denied because you did not file the I-864 to go with it? Or you did file the I-864 but no evidence (taxes, paystubs, ... ) to support it? 
 
Anyway, the fix it to file another I-485 /I-131/I765 this time with the appropriate I-864 and supporting documents. Nothing has changed, you're still a spouse of a US citizen. Your entire stay was authorized. As long as there is a pending I-485 for you, you are in a period of authorized stay. 
 
Unfortunately, the mistake has costed you guys more money and time. Fortunately, that's all it is, just money and time. I don't think you're at risk of being deported, as long as you file another I-485 within 30 days. 

My brother-in-law never got a letter for his naturalization interview and actually missed the interview date. He received the denial letter. We called USCIS and screamed from the tops of our lungs. They just simply rescheduled another interview. Sometimes it happens.

There are others you successfully done that and posted their experiences (I'm not one of those, I just read a lot). You want to search around the forum for key word "INA 319(b)"
 
One other thing is I believe one person mentioned before that not all USCIS offices is experienced in dealing with 319(b) and they seem to freak out and not know what to do. There are several offices that specifically trained in dealing with 319(b). I believe Norfolk, VA and Seattle, WA are some of those. 
 
Timing wise, if I remember correctly, after you complete the naturalization, you can only remain in the States a maximum of 45 days, since the point of the whole thing is for you to be able to join your spouse overseas, so that might needs to be factored into when do you plan to do it. 
 
Do you have the official orders for 2020 in hand yet?

No, I don't think so. This is the kind of stuff can be straighten out at the interview. No worries, mate!

I happened before, not too often though. I've seen this in some cases. What's more often is they would do a combo interview I-751/N-400 all in one and they could approve both. Obviously did not happen in this case. You can only wait and keep dinging them on the I-751. You could have asked "the white guy" to see if he could pull the I-751 and adjudicate that. 

Wow that is some serious expedite. The visa God must be really blessing your case. 

If that was true, probably 80% of the people on K-1 wouldn’t qualify 😂 lol

Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American chain of soft serve ice cream and fast-food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. International Dairy Queen, Inc., also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn.
 
My favorite is the Triple Chocolate Brownie
 

Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American chain of soft serve ice cream and fast-food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. International Dairy Queen, Inc., also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn.
 
My favorite is the Triple Chocolate Brownie
 

I would wait and see. Also keep emailing the Consulate, they might sent update back via email or they may update their automatic email reply 

Yes, absolutely. I’ll remember the questions they asked that day until the day I die. But before we get to that, let me tell you, my mom’s background is much more complicated. My grandfather (her Dad) was a very high ranking official in the old South Vietnamese Government. She has 5 siblings, and three of them went to the US to study before 1975. Then 1975 happened, and they got “stuck” in the US. So by the 1980s, my mom’s whole family (her Dad, Mom, her brothers) were issued immigrant visas under the HO program. They refused to go. She met and married my Dad, had two children (including me). My Dad died in a car accident. She remarried a Vietnamese US citizen, went through the K3 process, only to get a denial on the visa. Then she ultimately divorced the guy. Meanwhile, her Dad (my grandfather) got a second immigrant visa through another refugee program in 2008 (thanks to John McCain), this time actually went to the US, got a green card, hated the US, lasted about 1.5 years and returned to Vietnam. While all that was happening, I was in the US under student visa, got my Master’s, got my H1B and eventually became a US citizen.  
 
Anyway, all of that to say that my Mom basically got an immigrant visa, refused to go, got a tourist visa in 1998, went to the US for 4 months and returned. Got denied a K3, then denied tourist visa 3 other times between 2009 and 2015, before finally got her immigrant visa again in 2018 when I sponsored her.
 
Now to actually answer your questions, they asked a grand total of two (2) questions:
 
1. What does your son do for a living?
2. How did your son get to the US? 
 
Then he said “Congratulations! Welcome to the United States!” And all I was thinking was: “that’s it? I took 10 days off work, traveled 10,000 miles, put on a suits and tie and waited 3 hours in an extremely hot waiting room (those cheapskates don’t have AC out in the waiting area of the Consulate) FOR THIS?”
 
Anyway, relax, you’re gonna be fine.
 
For the lunch celebration after the interview, highly recommend the sushi place (Hokkaido I think) on the top floor of Takashimaya downtown HCM. Great food, and AC is cold. 
 
Best of luck!
 
 

Well the short answer is yes, provide you have all the right documents to enter Canada. Canada doesn’t care if there is a pending I-130 for you from the US, none of their business. To enter Canada you either need a visa or if you are from certain countries, there is a visa waiver program. Applying for express entry doesn’t have anything to do with anything else, it’s a completely separate thing.
 
The only thing that would be very hard if not impossible is to maintain permanent residency for both Canada and US at the same time. 

Well, then her choices are: enter the US before the expiration date OR not enter the US and that'll be that. 

A certified translation is essentially a sworn statement affirming the translator’s ability to translate a document from the original language to the English language accurately.
 
Anybody who is fluent in both languages can translate. 
 
The translator need to include the following:
 
I, [typed name], certify that I am fluent (conversant) in English and [foreign language], that I am competent to translate and that the above/attached document is an accurate translation of the document attached entitled [name of document].
Signature_________________________________
[Date] [Typed Name] [Address]
 
 
 

You will be issued an immigrant visa. It will be valid 6 months from the medical date. So you will have at least 5 months or something like that. 
 
You can book any way you want. Nobody cares about that. Sometimes booking round trip is cheaper than oneway, due to the wonder logic of airline ticket's algorithms.  Maybe that's why someone said it. 
 
You don't book anything. At the stage, they will give you a date. It is usually at least 4 weeks ahead of the interview. Yes, you will have to go to Montreal. How's your French?
 
That's all fine. There is never a requirement to have a wedding anywhere. Lots of people get married without a wedding, either can't afford one or don't want one. Your plan is fine. 
 
Either way, doesn't matter. 
 
No, you do not have to wait one year. That's non-sense. However, there is one advantage to waiting down the road. The law states that if you have been married for less than 2 years by the time you enter with your immigrant visa, you will get a conditional green card that is valid for 2 years. At the end of those 2 years, you have to submit another application form I-751 to remove that condition. That is another cost, another wait, and another hurdle to get through. That application requires all the proofs of the bona fide marriage and all that stuff again. If you enter the US with the immigrant visa after you pass your 2 years anniversary, you skip all of that, you get a 10 years unconditional green card. You will be then eligible to apply for US citizenship 3 years after that, provide you still live in marital union with your partner. 
 
Yes. After you get married, you want to start commingling your finances, taxes, ... stuff like that. Commingling finances are one of the best evidence. 

You will be issued an immigrant visa. It will be valid 6 months from the medical date. So you will have at least 5 months or something like that. 
 
You can book any way you want. Nobody cares about that. Sometimes booking round trip is cheaper than oneway, due to the wonder logic of airline ticket's algorithms.  Maybe that's why someone said it. 
 
You don't book anything. At the stage, they will give you a date. It is usually at least 4 weeks ahead of the interview. Yes, you will have to go to Montreal. How's your French?
 
That's all fine. There is never a requirement to have a wedding anywhere. Lots of people get married without a wedding, either can't afford one or don't want one. Your plan is fine. 
 
Either way, doesn't matter. 
 
No, you do not have to wait one year. That's non-sense. However, there is one advantage to waiting down the road. The law states that if you have been married for less than 2 years by the time you enter with your immigrant visa, you will get a conditional green card that is valid for 2 years. At the end of those 2 years, you have to submit another application form I-751 to remove that condition. That is another cost, another wait, and another hurdle to get through. That application requires all the proofs of the bona fide marriage and all that stuff again. If you enter the US with the immigrant visa after you pass your 2 years anniversary, you skip all of that, you get a 10 years unconditional green card. You will be then eligible to apply for US citizenship 3 years after that, provide you still live in marital union with your partner. 
 
Yes. After you get married, you want to start commingling your finances, taxes, ... stuff like that. Commingling finances are one of the best evidence. 

You, usually they will send you a letter that specify what time/date and where you need to go. You will not be offered a choice. 
There are two types of ceremonies: judicial and administrative. Judicial ceremonies are held at a US district courthouse and officiated by a federal Judge. All name changing cases will be held at the judicial ones, plus if there are still spots, non-name-changing cases. Judicial ceremonies are usually less frequent. Administrative ceremonies are usually held at the local USCIS offices or they sometimes rent other venues for special events (for example, sometimes you can hear on the news that ceremonies are being held on board the USS Constitution for the Boston Field Office. I think in Los Angeles, due to sheer numbers, sometimes they have to get an auditorium that could accommodate 800-1000 people, ... )
 
Yes, some states of same day ceremony. I have seen cases where some people were interviewed and just so happened that there was a ceremony that same day in the after noon and they have spots available so they as the newly passed interviewees to join the ceremony right there. 
 
My recommendation is to go to the whatever date they first assign to you, whether it's Raleigh or Wilmington and get it over with. It's not that bad of a drive from Wilmington to Raleigh, I used to make the drive all the time when I used to live in Cary. This is an important enough occasion for that. 

You, usually they will send you a letter that specify what time/date and where you need to go. You will not be offered a choice. 
There are two types of ceremonies: judicial and administrative. Judicial ceremonies are held at a US district courthouse and officiated by a federal Judge. All name changing cases will be held at the judicial ones, plus if there are still spots, non-name-changing cases. Judicial ceremonies are usually less frequent. Administrative ceremonies are usually held at the local USCIS offices or they sometimes rent other venues for special events (for example, sometimes you can hear on the news that ceremonies are being held on board the USS Constitution for the Boston Field Office. I think in Los Angeles, due to sheer numbers, sometimes they have to get an auditorium that could accommodate 800-1000 people, ... )
 
Yes, some states of same day ceremony. I have seen cases where some people were interviewed and just so happened that there was a ceremony that same day in the after noon and they have spots available so they as the newly passed interviewees to join the ceremony right there. 
 
My recommendation is to go to the whatever date they first assign to you, whether it's Raleigh or Wilmington and get it over with. It's not that bad of a drive from Wilmington to Raleigh, I used to make the drive all the time when I used to live in Cary. This is an important enough occasion for that.