NeverSeen

This is it guys!!! 1 more day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tram is now stoked and excited. I've got her in the right frame of mind and she is very confident. She has everything in order and she is ready to go! I've got half the world praying for us and I know we are going to bring the pink home in another day!!!

Your in my prayers as well. I'm surprised they would ask for it. I can understand why they did... but, wow.

The only thing on the blue was "No proof of first 2 trips to Vietnam?"

I can assure you that you can call that credit card company and get the old statements mailed/faxed to you. They may charge you a fee but who cares.

Don't think of the interview as a failure, its just a hiccup and a delay that everyone here is going to help you guys with.

10pm in FL right now... so 7pm in cali... what's the good word??? I'm sure you'll get the pink and tell us about it in 2 weeks right . hehehe... just keeping things on the light side...

Wait... forgot... interview time is 8am so she probably has to sit there all day first. I'll be looking for your post tomorrow some time .

let us know how it goes!

I said a little prayer for you guys. I hope for only the best! We are less than a week away so I know how you are feeling!

IMO: It can't hurt.

If I were the CO I'd say it is circumstantial evidence at best.

If I were to be setting up the phone part of your evidence file, I would start with the most current date on top and work your way back. In my mind, that would show you've certainly been talking for the past year with the Telecom records. That would then make the other evidence more palatable.

Will they turn you down for not including it? Not a chance. Will they approve you just based off of it? Nope. They are going to look at everything, not just one single piece of evidence.

I say include it, but put the current provable stuff up top so they don't just thumb through receipts and never see the real logs.

congrats!

Any ideas on why they were skeptical?

My opinion: long courtships for the consulate = real deal.

Anything less than two year courtship; they'll be skeptical.

I would too, wouldn't you?

To mytrang_chinhgoc, time and time, I see people get blue and green consistantly when it comes to case that has a short timeline, nothing personal or special treatment which HCMC gives your case. I'm glad you take the process with a clear mind and high concentration and extremely focus. Congratulations and let's this be an example and encouragement for all who are going through and struggle with HCMC.

Chuck and Kim

It's understandable why they would be skeptical at HCMC, but I always liken the situation to my parents (met to married in 6 months, 24 years later still married) and my younger brother (met to married in 5 months, married for 2 years now). You can never really know when it comes to love. It is still very understandable that such a high fraud post would be skeptical though.

I did read through a couple posts and saw that yours had a real tough interview. Does she only speak Viet or does she know english as well? I'm assuming she spoke Viet and the translator messed around with her?

I can only imagine (for now) how good it feels to know you got the pink in the end.

Outstanding! Congrats on the date! Now get ready and get the green!

1 week and counting until I-day. I think I'm more nervous about the interview than Tram is. She did her doctor thing today. Everything else is ready to go.

gahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

We've been over everything they could possibly deny us for and beefed up the ammo for it. I have this feeling of helplessness because I can't be there doing this for her. It's just her and the CO now.

The worst is knowing that in 2 weeks she could be flying into the States, or we will begin he difficult process of fighting for the pink. This makes me so uneasy not knowing what the future holds for us only 1 week from now.

I'll just keep praying and knowing that she will get the pink.

congrats!

Any ideas on why they were skeptical?

Seen a LOT of petitioners kicking themselves in the butte for NOT attending tho.

Remember, Hind sight is 20/20. Would the person that was denied be accepted just because they showed up? Showing up doesn't change their marital status or their income. It doesn't change how they met or how they filled out the paperwork. It really is just one more piece of evidence of a relationship. It's been said plenty of times, 1 single piece of evidence is not going to make or break your case.

Well, we have our interview in the next couple of weeks. I'll be letting everyone know how it goes. I will not be attending the interview. I have already made 2 trips this year.

In my opinion, being there for the interview is another piece of ammo for you. It is my understanding that you will not be allowed in the door so you would need to have her mention it to the CO. If she never mentions it, does it really help?

If you can, why not!

I found out in the 1st week of Nov that our interview would be in early Dec. So its roughly a month's notice that you will get.

Hey there NeverSeen,

Your responses are great, but it's not me you need to convince, it's the CO...which you know already. I was just trying to imagine I was the CO in your case...

So anyway...the only answer I had a problem with was the bit where you talked about European women vis-a-vis Vietnamese women. There are PLENTY of girls in VN looking for a way over to the States...I can't remember who it was (maybe wait4ever or Dalegg) who talked to an immigration consultant who said that some crazy number of marriages (like 80%) don't work because the VN fiancee/wife leaves after getting parole in the US. Anyway, what I mean by that is that the CO will likely be looking out for that as well.

In any case, glad that you are thinking of the relationship as a whole. In the end, if you look on VJ enough you will see that an infinitesimal number of visas are denied in the long run, so just know that true love always wins out. And that's the way it should be.

--j.

Yup, I know its the CO i have to convince. I appreciate you imagining the CO because it does raise questions and open my eyes to many possibilities. Heehe on the European Women. I personally am just not a fan, so try not to mind me too much . I wasn't very PC in most of that post.

I understand a lot of people have had their marriage break up after the VN is allowed to stick around. This is always somewhere in my mind, but i know our love is true and I do not need to worry about this. it will probably have a place somewhere in my mind. Remember 50% of all American marriages end in divorce so I guess I'm just playing Mr. Risk. I am fully confident we are in this for the very long run. House, Kids, Grandkids, the whole nine.

I appreciate your input and point of view! It really makes me think!

infinitesimal

I must say... outstanding word choice. I had to look that one up! heheh

If you don't remove the flag prior to her interview, the chance that she would be here for Christmas is nada....

I don't understand your post. What is this flag i must remove prior to her interview?

Hello,

Congratulations about your interview date and all. Plenty of people have posted sound advice here, so take heed. There were a few things I thought I should raise:

-- Get on MySpace, now, and change your marital status from "married" to something else. Period.

Interesting.

-- Her English: this will be key. You don't speak much Vietnamese. You said that her English is slow but passable. As others have said, imagine you are a CO. If her English cannot be comprehended at the visa window ONE YEAR after you have been speaking to her in English on the phone daily, according to your post, why would a CO believe that your conversations were meaningful in any real sense?

I think she is just nervous. We hold conversations constantly online on voice chat and in person. A guy I know married a girl from vietnam and she made it through knowing far less English. Of course, every case is differant. Tram is a part time college girl from the city and has studied english on and off for the past couple years + what she learned in high school. I think her smaller vocabulary is what bothers her the most. I've been working with her to expand it as much as possible.

-- Speed: contrary to others' thoughts, I think this will be a significant problem. You state that you were talking to her about marriage within 6 weeks of your very first contact. That is exceedingly rare. Incredibly rare. Except in Vietnam and other impoverished SE Asian countries. Someone you had never met face to face; with whom you had no real common language; who was introduced to you by a relative who - under US law - cannot petition for her for a visa.

I was sick of dating girls from the states that want to just date for years and years, then move in for years and years, then maybe someday get married. If i am going to enter into a relationship with a girl it is clear i want to get married and do not want to be bothered with a long drawn out relationship that we do not end up married happy for ever after. We started talking about marriage as in how we both felt about it, future plans etc, as i wanted to get a feel for what she was looking for in life. I was not proposing to her, i did that in vietnam after about 4 months of talking to her.

She has very little family in the states and they are not interested in bringing the family over. The uncle was not familar with this niece and couldn't care less if she came or not (he's not very close with most of his family over there). We worked on the relationship for 4 months before actually getting engaged.

As a comparison, my parents (typical white amercians) met and were married in less than 6 months. They've been married over 23 years now. Of course the CO does not know all this so i just have to hope for the best. We are now over a year into the relationship and we are both still fully commited to it. We're in it for the long haul no matter what it takes.

I apologize for bringing this stuff up, but I do want to help. It comes down to this: the CO will listen to the story, and will try to see if it passes a basic test. That test is that the simplest explanation is often the best. So he/she will consider this: which is more likely - that you met the love of your life through an uncle, chatted over the internet slowly and uncertainly, and filed with a few months of first contact? Or that the uncle and you have some sort of "arrangement" to get her to the US so that the rest of the family can follow later?

It sucks that this happens and legit peeps have to pay the price. I just happened to find what i consider the perfect girl and went after her. I did not want to waste any time with the filing because I knew the visas can take a very long time to move on. We met, 4 months later got engaged, 1 month later filed for visa, and after a year of knowing each other and developing our relationship we will get married in the states. Another comparison is my younger brother, Met to married in 5 months. I'm far behind both of these examples and i think i'm pretty on target for length of relationship. 1 year is plenty of time before getting married.

Vietnam is among the highest fraud posts in the world. It also has among the most K-1 petitions in the world, which is (not coincidentally) the fastest way to bring a foreigner legally to the US.

That sucks too. Just my luck right?

I know that you want to bring her here because being separated from the person you love is the worst. I know. But think about this: why is it that Americans and Europeans, who often speak fluent English but are equally separated by huge distances and financial constraints, do not file anywhere NEAR the number of K-1s that Viet-US couples do, and who wait MUCH longer before embarking on the visa process? You can bet the CO will be thinking about this.

Honestly? I can NOT stand white girls, especially american ones. I've dated VERY few (i can think of 1) and have stuck to mostly spanish girls and have been attracted to central american and south east asian girls (laos, thai, and viet) since as long as i remember. Besides look at it like this... what can you possibly find in europe that you can't find in america? I'm looking for a girl that likes to take care of her family and wants to prosper in the long run, not some brat that wants to suck me dry and divorce me. That simply does not exsist in america or european countires. Yes that is a general statement and no offence to those that disagree with me.

Just so as not to be misunderstood, I send you heartfelt best wishes and good luck with the interview process...perhaps your fiancee won't be asked any of this. But I thought I'd add my 2 cents, because you really should have answers for these issues.

It's always good to think of all sides of it. You are dead on with everything. Thank you for the eye opener.

Greater is He that is in me, than He that is in the World

she received packet 4 today!

Congrats! Does packet 4 contain info for getting the medical examination? Thanks.

Yup. It has a couple more forms in it, about vaccines, about the exam, about the vise fees, about the interview and about how to order everything, and of course the letter.

she received packet 4 today!

Outstanding! Hope for the best, you'll get it . Sounds like you have your bases covered. Keep praying for that pink! Tram and I are 2 weeks behind you so let us know how it goes!!

I ticked one up for salaried at 40k. I typically work 32-40 hours a week, although if we are busy enough i could work as much as 80 (GAH!). My most since i took this position about 8 months ago was about 50 or 55. Not too shabby for 23 with only a diploma. Only problem is... there's no where to go but lateral until i get at least a 2 year degree .

I can't wait till Tram gets here so we can start our own business or something (shes a nail tech and wants to open a salon eventually).

what peeps are they?

Dem my peeps!

As long as you have other proofs: emails, hand-written letters, cards, phone bills, pictures of you two together...it will be O.K. I also heard that a lot of peeps DID have engagement party (but fake), but no other proofs would fail the interview.

I'm pretty sure its common knowledge around here (VJ) that there is no single piece of evidence they are ultimately looking for, but your case as a whole. Every couple has a different background, and they've seen them all. If something may help, why not do it? The more the ammo the better. It will make the case more believable to the CO if you do have a party as one of your evidences. Not to mention it's an absolute blast (AND DIRT CHEAP!).

Tram called the consulate on Monday and they told her to wait until the 26th. If it does not come they said to go pick it up at the consulate. I downloaded copies to her computer while i was there so she can collect any remaining papers and know what to expect. Here's hoping it shows up soon! I really don't want to play games with the consulate!

You only have to meet 1 time in the last 2 years. If you've met twice in 2 years and your going to be there during the interview... you'll be fine. It's probably better because at the interview she can tell him that you are there waiting outside etc. Because i'm not going to be at vietnam for the interview I wrote a letter with a love story timeline deal in it that shes going to stick up the CO's nose until he reads it hehehaha.

You'll be fine. You can always explain stuff!

Yes, That's my name but now i have my husband's name

So now your last name is Tran?

Question:

We were told the interview date over the phone. We are 1 month away and do not have packet 4 yet. When should we start to worry about receiving packet 4? I will have Tram call the embassy to see when they mailed it and what to do if it does not come in time etc. Just curious what you guys think?

I know you need the letter in it for the medical and to get into the embassy so I'm hoping it comes with no less than 2 weeks to spare so we can get all the stuff done in it.

Thanks for the Congrats all!

Tram and I put the finishing touches on all our evidence and paperwork for the interview. It's a 6 inch stack of well organized paperwork. We have a section about my 1st visit with proof and pictures, 2nd visit with proof and pictures, a section of proof and pictures for our engagment party, phone bills, instant messanger convos, emails, letters to/from us and my family members, all the sent and received papers from me sending money, etc. Theres just so much paperwork! Oh and we have all her paperwork for the consulate nice and neat as well! We used tabs and binder clips for everything and have it in one of those "clear bag" folder things to keep it letter sized and easy to look through or take apart if needed.

Hopefully between the paperwork/records and a good interview from Tram (we've been practicing a lot with about 20-40 questions at a time to get her confidence up!), God willing, we'll have a pink slip on the first try!

Looking at NeverSeen's timeline it says packet 3 was received on 09/20. You're looking at close to 3 months from the time of packet 3 and the interview date.

Yup. Looks like from start to interview is just under 8 months for me. A little on the long side, but getting her here before Christmas was the goal all along. 1 month and counting until the interview now!