decker

Fairbanks Alaska has a couple nail shops and it's mostly VN too.

Linh wants nothing to do with that. She went in for the drive through lunch stand. Doing ok as long as summer is here. Winter hits and it gets sloooooooooooow.

Immigrants have always done what they can to make it go I guess.

Linh had an interview which was easy enough. We had to go get some more papers and make a copy which was a pain but it all worked.

Jimmy Ngyuen is pretty good. Hui Linh (Spelling?) is real good as long as my wife translates.

I was sending a lot more than that and nobody even raised an eyebrow. Keep all the receipts.

Linh opened a small coffee and lunch stand. She went home last year and bought a giant pile of "spicy" (two trips to the airport to get it home) and cooks all manner of food besides the ubiquitous pho and spring rolls. She also imported several hundred pounds of Highlands coffee which I think was the best move she made in all of this. She is doing rather well and it keeps her busy. It totally drained everything we had which caused considerable friction. I never knew Fairbanks Alaska had so many Viet Kieu but they came out of the wood work after she opened. Apparently they own the nail shops according to Linh. Sadly a good number of them were exceedingly critical of her. She came home close to crying several times. Restauranting takes a bunch of time and will empty your accounts and the returns are fickle, so beware if she is contemplating that.

Two bright spots. She did make a friend out of it though and oddly enough Mai owns the other VN restaurant in town. Been here since the early 70's. They have become good friends and help each other a lot. And right across the street from Linh's shop is a Tai Chi center that has a nice pagoda inside. The guy that runs the place lets her go there to give smoke so she has that again. Pretty good.

We started in March 09 and had our CRBA done in a couple weeks. I was there for it and got grilled by the VN staff. I had a lot of travel and long periods overseas with the army to explain. The American guy was ok. Follow the instructions on the Consulate website. Be prepared to have a DNA requirement thrown down on you. It was a little pricey for us and the convenience factor was not really there, but be patient and it will work.

Linh had an interview same month as well but did not get her visa right away, we had to submit some other stuff (DNA) but was finally granted in june.

Not doubting your post Jim, our sons US passport does not have a exit stamp in it for some reason and he does not have a VN passport. Maybe an anomally?

So Linhs Mom and Dad have been here for a few weeks now. After the first failure and summary dismissal we went back to the Alaska Senators office and his assistant sent a letter. We got the standard explanation but she said try again and she would sent a another just before they went to interview. Behold...a B2 was issued from HCM. I about fell over.

Mom and Dad are enjoying their time here. It has been raining pretty steady and in the low 60's though. Mom is living in one of my down coats. We went to Denali park but could not see The Mountain or any mountains for that matter. Took them to the local hotsprings and to the schoolhouse down at Black Rapids. They can't get over all the free roaming animals and empty space. Dad is fixing all kinds of stuff I have not had the chance to. Of course they have been spoiling the kids especially our son who will not leave Ong Ngoai for any reason.

Pretty cool.

Buddy, first get the divorce thing sorted out. Second fix the house thing. Then get on stable footing with the finances. Then start on the visa deal.

Birthdays are interesting. Linh lived in Cambodia for a while and when the family came back, VN guvmint assigned her a new birthday and her sister a new country of birth. People like to assign themselves new birthdays as well. New Years and Christmas being top choices. Just make sure the paperwork is consistent across the board.

Linh and I have 14 yrs between us. Look at the photo gallery on this site and see the age differences.

My mother in law didn't really like me at first but she thinks I walk on water now. Dad will come around when he sees you are serious. Like any other Dad.

Keep all boarding passes, itineraries, hotel receipts, phone records etc. An expanding accordion file is awesome.

Make more visits if you can.

enjoy the ride.

B2? Yeah, my sister in law tried twice, my wifes parents tried once, I tried twice for my wife. Without the boring details of money, land, VP job, and travel/living abroad her family has giant ties and very compelling reasons to return to VN but were not allowed to present anything. Ever. No questions, no documents looked at, nothing but a denial letter with the ubiquitous 214b blurb. Call your congress guy? We went to two Senators on this and got the same form letter with the same 214b quote. Unless they are dripping money and are well known in HCM they are probably not getting anything but 214b. The Consulate is not even nice enough to tell you why. No. 214b, thats it. Go ahead and roll the dice, let me know how it turns out.

If you want to make this go, you will have to go there. VN is a cool place to visit and you should learn about her culture so enjoy that.

"Linh, teach me Vietnamese"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because other Vietnamese lady be talking to you"

That was pretty clear.

I can't comment on CR1, we did the K1-2 route. Unless they are on the bad side of the law ,VN guvmint will allow them to leave no problem, folks travel everywhere from there. It's the US side that will fill your life with grief. Our process took about a year and we had a fairly easy time of it. Other folks on this board have had a miserable time, even throwing in the towel and moving to HCM (ballsy move I might add.) You really don't need to have a lawyer, the process is pretty easy if you follow the guides.

Might want to visit more than once.

Be prepared for a DNA requirement for her child, that was our biggest hurdle. She also needs to get the father to give up custody.

Get the child in good English lessons early. It will pay off.

Enjoy the ride!

Welcome aboard!

you don't need it buddy.

Jim to answer your question, Linh was given a list of approved DNA collectors by the Consulate. Fairbanks Alaska does not have a DNA clininc so I had to get a company in Seattle named Genelex who is AABB accredited. Genelex contacted a clinic here in Fairbanks who they are affiliated with through the AK court system. I went to the clinic did the swab which was sent to Seattle. Genelex also sent a kit to the Consulate who informed Linh to go to IOM, then the whole thing was put together back in Seattle. Then the Consulate was FEDEX'd the results, Linh went back to finish her interview.

We had to do this for the Visa interview and not the CRBA. Consulate did not even use the test for our son, but for Linh and her daughter.

I did a CRBA and it was a very simple process. But oddly enough I did not have to do DNA for our son to get CRBA. Our DNA deal came about when Linh went back for round two of the interview and DNA was demanded for all four of us but only actually used for Linh and her daughter. Cost over 1000 bones for that one. Guvmint...

Linh's notice said no buddies allowed.

It's much more fun to hang out across the street. People watching at its finest.

You get to pick a job at MEPS. That is where you need to be careful. It's like buying a car. The sales guy (Recruiter) acosts you in the parking lot and drags you inside. The sales manager (Career Counselor) actually does the dealings.

MEPS will show you a number of jobs available. The ones that come up first are the critical shortages. A douchy career counselor will say "Thats it." That is a vessel of dung. If you are not seeing what you want either insist to see more, which there are more. Many more. Or walk the hell out.

Just like buying a car.

20 years in the Army and 6 years working for the Army as a civilian. Air Force is a lot more cerebral than the Army ever wanted to be so you can probably find something to do with your degree. Explore the possibility of being commissioned as an officer so you can use your degree for something. You can also look into student loan assistance but that requires a fairly big commitment.

If you do this beware of the folks at the MEPS. Your recruiter can tell you all kinds of stuff, but the rubber meets the road at MEPS. That is where you find a jobbyjob etc. Good luck to you.

No Tet post yet? You guys are slipping!

Happy Tet everyone.

They don't like the fast food at all, I can't really blame them. She cooks everything the way she wants it. She made a trip home in Oct and brought back a TON (14 boxes to the tune of $1500. took me two trips to the airport to get it all home) of stuff to cook with so it's all good now.

Fairbanks has a few Thai restaurants one of which was my favorite for a while, used to go 4-5 times a month with my co-workers. Took Linh there once and she was not impressed at all. I was banned in a very subtle but unmistakeable way.

My wife runs me like a rented mule.

Funny story concerning the haggling thing... Linh lived in Cambodia for a while when she was a kid and speaks Khmer. We were in the central market in Phnom Penh and I was looking at some doodad and passing the calculator back and forth with the girl. She is talking with a buddy and apparently said something Linh did not like. Linh launched into her and sent the girl scampering like a scalded dog. Came back all smiles. The lesson here is no matter while you are, somebody speaks your language.

Warm clothes.

Maybe offer to pay a big bill?

Stuff to get the new household running.

And more warm clothes.

Keeping her family name is the traditional way. Apparently so is keeping all manner of junk. Linh has discovered the "second hand" stores and has been preparing for some apocalypse to befall us. I thought I was the only one dealing with mild hoarding. Thanx folks.

Linh was told that she had one month to leave VN. This was in July 09. Don't know why.

Linh is returning to VN to clear up some financial and property things and will be returning with the resulting money. She will have to claim this on the customs form. We are not certain how the US taxman gets his cut. Does she pay at the airport or do we pay when we file next year? This is new ground.