Jack & Xuan

Just curious where did you guys buy tickets for your spouse to come over to US?

Have your spouse/fiancee check at the local travel agents. I sent money to my Fiancee this week to buy hers. The best price I could find was $1100. I had her check and it only costs $640. I just looked for my round trip ticket and found the flight I wanted to purchase and gave her the flight details. Simple and saved me a ton..

Erik

Erik,

Would your wife happen to remember the name and location of the travel agent she used?

Thank you all for the well wishes. We did infact get the Pink Sheet today and it says we can pick up the visa on May 5th. We head back to the states on May 13th.

On another note, the price of a one way ticked is as much as my round trip ticket. What a crock. But it will be worth it to fly back together and have Xuan with me.

I've seen that some people have to wait a full week to get their visa after they've passed the interview. Is this the norm? I thought you pick up the visa within a day or 2 after the interview, but I could be wrong.

We will take Xuan's passport in on Monday 4/27. I will let you know.

Please do let me know when are you received your visa after the interview. Thanks in advances.

We got the pink sheet today at about 4:30pm April 27 and it said to return at 4:00pm on May 5th. I know there is a holiday in there as well so for others it may be a day or 2 shorter. I looks like about 8 days for us.

Good luck

Yeah I ate there twice.. Me being from Texas, I wasn't too impressed. the 1st time I ate there the ribs were kind of dry wasn't too good, 2nd time I at pulled pork sandwich, it was decent but not something I crave to go eat again. In my opinion I like going to al fresco's on dong du street right across from the sheraton hotel. Their ribs are better, the burgers are really good, pizza there is pretty good being made from scratch, and the customer service is outstanding. It seemed more foreigner friendly than Texas BBQ place even though the owner, an American, was around, the employee didn't seem to pay attention as much as al fresco's employees did. Plus al fresco has more people and you can't go wrong with a crowded place in Vietnam. My wife's family motto is if it's packed full of people then it's gotta be good. I think that could be very true in Vietnam. Texas BBQ didn't really have that many people there when I went. It has a good location though. The one thing that stood out to me at Texas BBQ was that they had DR. Pepper! That's the only place in Vietnam that I know has Dr. Pepper. They are the only one's that import it I think.

Great tip on "Al Fresco's". I got a cheeseburger and it was fantastic. If anyone goes make sure you are hungry (which I was). The burger is about 1/4 pound after it has been cooked and the burger comes with lots of stuff on it. There was an egg(which I thought was a bit strange but ok), lots of bacon, tomato, cheese, and some other stuff. Xuan and I got the same think because she did not know what to order. She could only eat maybe 1/8th of her burger and had to eat it in pieces at that. So I eat the rest. Don't want to leave a bad impression of a waistful American after all

Again, Great tip

Thanks for all the input. I could realy go for a nice cheese burger just now. I would love to try more Vietnameese food if I could keep from getting sick everytime I eat it.

I have looked for this in this site but for some reason the search will not direct me to it. I am sure it has been talked about. Anyone know the address to the Texas Barbecue that some have talked about in HCMC?

Thanks

I've seen that some people have to wait a full week to get their visa after they've passed the interview. Is this the norm? I thought you pick up the visa within a day or 2 after the interview, but I could be wrong.

We will take Xuan's passport in on Monday 4/27. I will let you know.

Here is the latest,

After 1 green sheet, 3 blue sheets, 2 medical exam's. 2 interviews for Xuan, 2 phone calls to her father, 1 phone call to me, about 6 emails from me, and a visit to the consulate to talk to a counslour officer we have been Approved.

After I got here to HCMC on April 14th I sent another email to the counsluate telling them I was comming to talk to them about the case. They replied saying that Xuan had been approved and they had to send a request to the State Dept. to have her name removed from an ineligibility list due to a prior visa request that was a few years ago (long story). I took that email and went to see them anway. The lady I spoke to was very nice though not much help as she did not know much about the timing of the State Dept. I did confirm that Xuan was approved but as we all know, until the visa is in hand, anything can happen. We got back from visiting her parents today and after the mail ran here she got another letter from the Consulate telling her that every thing was done and she needed to bring her passport to the consulate and recieve here acptance letter (I assume this is the pink sheet). We will do that on Monday 4/27. Not sure how long it will take to get the passport back with the visa in it but I am sure we have enough time left so that we can fly back together.

I am very much looking forward to ending this portion of the journey and moving on to the next. Will there be any supprises at the port of entry I should know about for those of you who have gotten that far? It will be Texas I think.

If anyone is going to use that 1 hour of time the embassy gives on Tue and Wed now, my advice is to show up about 3:30 or so. It seems to be first come first serve.

Jack

[insert your favorite interjection here], this thing has degenerated a lot since this morning. It was a simple question, it's a Vietnam-intensive forum, and the rules say you can talk about whatever you like concerning SE Asia. Why do you guys have to be so mean spirited?

Just remember, there's some poor dude out there who can't read, and probably will never be able to learn. It's very difficult to do as an adult. He's probably going to be dirt poor and downtrodden all his life. Then there's this other dude out there trying to help the illiterate dude the best he can, and give him some hope. And no, this second dude's name is not Jesus. So, what did YOU do this week?

Well put.

I'll ask whatever I like, wherever I like. I'm actually trying to help my brother-in-law. That is definitely a foreign concept in this forum these days.

Joe, I am with you 100% with this post. I completely agree about the questions. Let me tell you that because you asked this question I now know what questions to ask about getting a motorbike licenses on my trip in a few days and you have answered another question about your job for me.

Keep asking, anything you want, whenever you want. Many of us learn from these questions and sometimes we learn to ask questions we did not think we needed to ask in the first place. I would not have thought that there is a motorbike licenses for the scooters in Vietnam because you are not required to have one in the states for scooters.

See you soon Brother.

Jack

My Wife picked up her visa today in HCM. Travel arrangements are being made as we speak.

Big gratz to you and your wife. I hope I am as lucky. I think it time for me to make another trip to see if I can talk to someone in the new 1 hour window.

the sterotype of people that get forign brides are older men that are rich and marry women 10 to 20 years younger than them. I don't have to go to another country to get a beautifull women 10 to 20 years younger then myself I can get that here. Its not about sex or arm candy for me its about love. Google the phrase "twin flame" and you will know what im talking about. My wife and I are the same age and its like we can communicate telepathically. I cant live without her I have spent almost every penny I have saved the last 10 years for us to be together and have taken a second job I work 67 hours every week. I will fight for her with my last breath even if I have to give up my country to be with her. Neither of us have done anything wrong besides loving each other neither of us have been married or engaged before so we are starting our own love story. There are very few people that would go threw what Her and I have gone threw to be together and in my heart I truely believe she will get her visa because if she doesn't then nobody deserves a visa.

I think you are WAY off when you say "There are very few people that would go threw what Her and I have gone threw to be together". Do you really think you are the only person that feels they have gone through a tough time? Read my time line and the time line of many others on this site for the matter. It seems to me that EVERY one of us on this site have had to jump through hoops. Granted some less then others, though they still had to do some jumping. People here are here becaus of the tough time and are trying to help each other out with advice and most of all SUPPORT.

Please try to understand that you are not the ONLY one.

Just some thoughts.

Rental car? Dude you drove a car when you were there? That is some kind of crazy. I thought about that until the taxi left the area near the airport and I saw the traffic in Siagon. Then I see how cheap the taxi's were and that was it for me. I give you much respect if you drove a car in Siagon. Not me brotha.

He probably meant one of those Du Lich Cars you rent with a driver. I rented one of those Innova's that have a driver, he takes me everywhere cause I don't want to ride a motorbike and get hit by a 18 wheeler with faulty brakes.

Ok. I understand now. We did that on our trip to Dalat. Thanks for clearing that up.

Xuan and I have had an ongoing discussion about her not having a "birth certificate" She was born in 1979 and for some reason she does not have a birth certificate. She was assigned a birthday which is something I just do not understand. Of course we have hired Mr. Nam and Ellis and we have gotten past this issue for the interview I guess. My question is, have any of you had anything like this with the birth certificate? I am concerned that if she does not have a real birth certificate when she gets here and we move on to the next steps we will have a great deal of trouble. I have talked about this before and I am still unsure. Xuan says it is not a problem and it may not be while she is there. Once she is here and we have to move forward I am concerned.

Any thoughts?

In your last posting you wrote:

"But one trip they usually deny unless 1. your wife is pregnant or you share common children 2. you and your wife share a common language and she aced the interview, 3. You got an interviewer they use for congressional inquires they almost always pass everybody."

Well either I am fortunate or just lucky.

I only made 1 trip. I have no matches to your outline.

The short order is did the interviewer wake up on the wrong side of the bed that day.

AnhSau is right.

Here were our red flags:

• Introduced by sister
• 1 trip to vietnam (6 weeks)
• 1 month Pregnant at time of filing - 5 months at time of interview

We got PINK the very first interview. They didn't even make her speak english at the interview. She said hello when she walked in, but that was it. I really think they wanted to get her out of the building, as they interviewed her first. I think they wanted to avoid having a baby born in the US Embassy (automatic citizenship, hehehe)

But, you have to remember to present ALL the facts of your case, regardless of the situation. I was smart enough to document our relation ship and KEPT EVERYTHING.

Hiring a lawyer is personal preference. Because I had spent time reading the forums on VJ, I knew about the RED FLAGS. We visited Marc Ellis before my first trip was over, and hired him. He and his staff helped prepare all the papers for filing, and made sure all the facts were present.

But you can't just present the facts. Your papers need to tell a story of true love and committment. Plus we overwhelmed them with evidence at the interview.

• 3000+ pages of chat logs
• 200+ pictures
• 200+ emails
• Receipts for everything (jewelry, rental car, hotel, reception, dress rental, band, food)

And the TIMELINE is a MUST. You WILL get a blue slip without one. Here are some samples: TIMELINES

Another RED FLAG for HCMC, 99%sure they will NOT accept a co-sponsor.

Please people, ask the questions before hand. Save EVERYTHING.

Rental car? Dude you drove a car when you were there? That is some kind of crazy. I thought about that until the taxi left the area near the airport and I saw the traffic in Siagon. Then I see how cheap the taxi's were and that was it for me. I give you much respect if you drove a car in Siagon. Not me brotha.

The reason you were denied is because you have NOT spent enough $$$ (trips, ceremonies, etc...). If you believe one of the reasons you marry someone from this region of the world is because it gonna be "cheaper" than someone in the States, you now have learned the harsh reality.

And don't blame the US Consulate for your misery! Blame it on the Vietnamese people, who will try to cheat at every single opportunity presented to them. You have 2 choices to choose:

1) Learn to adapt to this new way of life, or

2) Stop pursuing this lifestyle. This region of the world is not the only place there still exists women.

This also applies to all those who whine and complain about the way of life of the Vietnamese people. You will NEVER change a thing about that society.

What are you talking about. I have spent well over 10k so far there several people who have spent less than 1k and have gotten there visas simple because they have money. Luckytxn said he only made one trip and I don't know if he even had an engagement cermony. Plus he didn't even pay for his plane ticket he stated it was her relatives. That is several huge red flags but he got his visa simple to have money is all that is needed not how much you spend. If your rich then you will get your visa if your poor it doesn't matter thhey will try to deny you. Don't get me wrong i'm happy he got his visa along with the other people but I think its very unfair how the poor or non wealthy people are getting screwed. I don't know if luckytxn is wealthy or not but there are several people on here that got denied there visa's that have stated they have money problems and there are several people that had the same red flags that got there visas that don't have money problems so you do the math.

Don't drag me into this idiotic theory. I am far from rich. I am just a over the road truck driver and make ok money. I had a engagement party and much other things that we all needed just like any other. I am no different than any other here.

Well put Tex . I have had to struggle as well. I am not rich but I do have a mortgauge, some ok credit and I can hold a job. I tell you this, if I were rich I would be living in Vietnam. At least as much as I could. For me I do not understand why the rich stay in this country. As some know I was a U.S. Marine and I have done my part for my country. I know that America offers some things while taking away others. Every country have those things that make it good and bad. If I were rich I would not go through all of this, I would just move there where there is far less trouble. Or that is the way I see it anyway.

Congratulations & thanks for the list. Your baby Lisa is so cute!!!

I don't mean to raise a religious or moral issue or suspect anyone's intention to upset anyone but have you guys noticed something unfair in the K-1 process? We as the K1 petitioners are not supposed to get married and if you are a person who doesn't practise premarital sex because of your faith, your chance of getting K-1 visa is less than that of ones who practise premarital sex. I may be wrong but so far that is what i've observed.

Again, I feel the joy/happiness of people whose genuine love for one another are so great that they bring beautiful kids to the world. And I also share the sadness or disapointment of those whose love for one another are no less than that of others but are trying to overcome disadvantages due to their religious beliefs.

Best wishes to those whose cases are truly genuine regardless your belief.

Cam

LOL, what century you're living in? The old days (maybe your wife's mother generation) with the conservative belief about "Cong, Dung, Ngon, Hanh" (ask your wife to see if she knows about this) is way history.

My Mom used to tell me that back in the days she first knew my father, she wasn't allowed to go out with him late at night (past 0800PM). And the Mother-in-Law (father's mom) would NEVER accept any daughter-in-law if she found out the future in-law is no longer a virgin!

Tell that morality to VNese girls nowadays, especially those that have their eyes fixing on marrying a foreigner (Viet Kieu or white Americans), you'll be laughed at like an idiot.

Vietnam girls have evolved far beyond your imagination.

PS> Most of them have learnt this script so well.......Get pregnant with him ASAP so you can tie him up and lessen the chance he changes his mind.

I should be ticked off by this, but instead, this made me really sad because what you said is 90% truth.

I guess I was lucky enough to get one of the 10%. I was upfront from the start that I can not longer have children.

100% of statics can be made to say anything you want 80% of the time. The remaining 20% can be explained away 90% of the time. The left over 2% of the original 100% is discarded for error 110% of the time which leaves you 90% certian that your original 100% of the data is inconclusive.

just a thought

So, after waiting since Oct 15 2007 when we turned in the requested documents and received our second sheet, I got a call from the embassy in HCMC. On Monday 3/3/9/09 at about 10:30pm my time a lady from the embassy called and asked if she could talk to me (like I am going to say no?). She then asked me about 20 or 30 questions. Many about our case but some I will list below were more specific about Xuan and her family. After she asked me the questions I took the opportunity to thank her for calling and asked here a few questions. I asked her if she could tell me what comes next and of course she could not. I explained how hard it has been waiting for the decision and how we understood that it does take time. I thanked her again for the opportunity to answer her questions and then we hung up.

The questions that were not on the list that Peter has sent to me.

How many brothers and sisters dose she have?

Where does her parents live?

Did any of your family come with you on your visits?

Where does she work?

How long has she worked there?

Who does she live with?

Does she live with her parents? (answered 2 times but ok)

How did you meet?

Who started communication?

How do you communicate now?

What is her phone number?

What is your address?

Where do you work?

How long have you worked there?

Who lives with you?

Have you been married before?

How many times?

When did you get divorced?

Where do they live now?

How many visits did you make?

When where your visits?

How long did you stay?

Did you travel when you were here?

Where did you travel?

When did you get engaged?

Ok, some of those questions are on Peter's list. Of course I did explain more then just the answers on each question. Especially the questions about Xuan and her family. I wanted to get across that I actually know what I am talking about (I hope that is what I did anyway)

Now for the fun part. As soon as I was done talking to her I called Xuan but she did not answer. After about 10 min Xuan called me. I guess after the lady hung up with me she called Xuan and asked her about 40 questions. After she was done with Xuan, we talked for about 40 min. Come to find out the embassy then called her father posing as a "friend of Xuan's" asking questions. Her father asked if she was from the embassy and she said no. The lady from the embassy questioned her father for about 20 or 30 questions then hung up. Shortly after that she called back and said she was from the embassy and questioned him some more. Xuan said that her father did very well. We did not match every answer exact but we were very close. The lady asked Xuan to speak in English which she had no problem doing. Xuan said the lady told her that it was getting close to the time where they had to say yes or no to her visa so that is why they are calling. I am not sure exactly if that is a good or bad thing but I am very happy that we had the opportunity to actually talk to someone and had the opportunity to answer their questions and add a few words. I got the impression that we would know for sure very soon.

I hope it was enough to get the Pink.

Your blue sheet looks almost identical to the first one we got at Xuan's interview. We had Marc Ellis before the interview and we have gotten the first Blue sheet and then a Green once we submitted all of the evidence they requested. We have been waiting since Oct 15 for the "review process". Mr. Nam was very nice to Xuan and helped us with some minor issues then was a nice help for the interview prep. So far since we have been waiting there has been nothing the lawyers can do for us. That is what we are told. I will be happy to go into further detail, if you wish to know just send me a message.

Good luck from what I have seen you can either get pink, have to wait like us, or flat out denied when you turn in the evidence. I think it is a ####### shoot either way.

How often do you call or e-mail the consulate? Are they friendly when you ask for a status update? Just curious about how you are dealing with the wait.

I have emailed the embassy 3 times in 6 months. They are always friendly and it is always a personal email to the questions I have asked in the email. And it always says about the same thing. Using my words it boils down to .... just wait and we will let Xuan know when we have made our decision... but alwasy differenty and always nice.

Your blue sheet looks almost identical to the first one we got at Xuan's interview. We had Marc Ellis before the interview and we have gotten the first Blue sheet and then a Green once we submitted all of the evidence they requested. We have been waiting since Oct 15 for the "review process". Mr. Nam was very nice to Xuan and helped us with some minor issues then was a nice help for the interview prep. So far since we have been waiting there has been nothing the lawyers can do for us. That is what we are told. I will be happy to go into further detail, if you wish to know just send me a message.

Good luck from what I have seen you can either get pink, have to wait like us, or flat out denied when you turn in the evidence. I think it is a ####### shoot either way.

Outstanding news. It gives me even more hope. Also thank you for your help. I have used your case as a measure for ours. Your emails and advice have been a big help to us. I am very happy for you and now I may have to make another trip myself. Provided of course I can find the money to do that.

Again, gratz

I believe that all new H1b and H2B visa's have been suspended until the economy has gotten better. I could be wrong but I think that is what has happened.

I just go back to what I was thinking when I started this journey. I should have just gotten Xuan a ticket to Mexico and let her come across with all the others.

Or just meet her in Canada and drive across somewhere.

But law way is the best way I guess.

Thank you for starting this post. I have wanted to read these experiances for some time. There was a post much like this about 6 months ago and it was very good but somehow I lost it or it was moved or something. Having some idea of what to expect based on these postings will help those of us who have not gotten that far in the journey yet.

Here is what Ellis had to say on the matter. Im just waiting this out to see what happens. Once I see the results I will go from there OK...

Hi. The consulate is incorrect. K-1 petitions won't be reviewed by USCIS as of 5/23/2008.

At least they're definitely not reviewed in the California Service Center. You should file again.

And you must rebut the consulate's conclusions about the case.

If the case is closed at the consulate - it's no longer there. The entire file would have been returned to USCIS.

Marriage & a CR-1 are options - but they are not silver bullets. Your case had some problems (either real or

perceived) at the consulate. You need to (a) learn what they are and (B) correct them for the next time around.

So how much help was the conversation?

Lolly and associates are handling my case. They will review the case and find out the reason for my rejection and freeze the case and keep it from being sent back for $500 additional services after that are more. Its worth it to keep the case from being sent back and finding out the correct course of action to take to make sure you dont make any more mistakes.

Sounds like a WISE move. Let me know how it works out for you. I may need their number. Are they state-side lawyers or in HCMC?

Good luck

Holmes and Lolly was one of the lawyers I was planning on using but them tried so hard to tell me I should get married in Thailand instead of Vietnam. That really turned me off when they tried to push me hard to do that. I decided to use a Vietnamese Attorney with experience with immigration in Vietnam.

This is Holmes and Lolly's website

http://www.fianceevisas.com/

If something happens where our case is denied in Vietnam then that is what I am going to do. Looking back, that is what I should have done in the first place. I thought about going with them as well. I should have listened to them I think. We will see.

That's actually an interesting idea. I'm assuming they would have wanted the interview to be in Thailand? I had considered trying that.