toddandhien

I am trying to check the AOS case status on the USCIS website. It keep saying file number not found. My case number begins with MSC....maybe that is the reason why it can not find the case.

According the the website, the receipt number has to beging with something other than "MSC"

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard/CaseS...G2fDF_D6vWt0ZAs

Not true. Once your case is entered into and is active in the system, you will be able to query your case number, including if your case number begins with MSC.

Where did you read that the case number cannot start with MSC?

Having a rejected tourist visa won't hurt the spousal visa at all if the reason for the rejection was failure to establish sufficient ties to the home country. And that is the most common reason for rejection of a tourist visa.

If the reason for the rejection of the tourist visa was something else, such as lying on a visa form, or a criminal background, then that would still be a reason to reject the spousal visa, so it would still present a problem. This isn't common, but is possible.

It isn't the stated reason for the rejection that is the cause for concern here. The OP is from Vietnam, which is a high fraud post. The concern that I have on behalf of the OP is that they are appearing very anxious to get to the US and in Vietnam, that can make a CO very suspicious about motive/intent. They now have 3 applications (well, 2 applications and a petition) in 4 months. Also, the timing of the marriage will come into play. If you were married before September, why were you trying to visit a friend in the US instead of your spouse?

Specifically, just applying for a tourist visa will not hurt your chances for a spouse visa...many people do this without problems. But you need to assess your personal circumstances and be fully prepared to address the questions that could arise at the interview.

OP, does your USC husband live with you in Viet Nam?

I filled 2 times for travel visa but all was failed Now we are filling on spouse visa ? Is that ok ? Im worry that they will think im trying to get the US visa and may fail next time . What can I do or prepare ? Pls help.

Tks a lot

Are you the beneficiary or petitioner?

The beneficiary should be prepared to explain at the interview why they applied twice for a tourist visa and now are applying for a K-3 or CR-1. Also, look at timing. When were the 2 tourist visa applications filed compared to your current I-130 filing? Was the current petitioner the same person listed as providing support on the 2 tourist visa applications? If yes, it will make explaining easier. If not, be prepared to explain why you are so eager to get to the US.

It is very, very difficult to get a tourist visa application approved from HCMC. They are very concerned about visa fraud and will give a tourist visa only if they are very confident that you will visit the US and return to VN. They look for the applicant to have significant assets in VN as a way to feel sure that you have a strong reason to return. It's nothing personal about you, it's just business.

anyone try USPS global express? I used USPS international priority before and nothing is lost. It take a while but it get there. Was thinking of using USPS global express. Somehow I think USPS is safer because of the government affiliation with it. Vietnamese are always scare of everything government. It won't get lost...I hope so. I wish i could hand carry it but it will cost me a job. lol. can't afford that.

If you value what you are sending, I would recommend staying away from anything that will ultimately use the Vietnam Postal Service as part of the delivery vehicle. It is okay for a greeting card, but many have reported that important material has failed to arrive. It is not the Vietnamese people that I would worry about stealing it, it is the service itself, which IS the government. Good advice offered previously in this post. I would advise going with an independent international courier, like FedEx.

the catch is that there never was any cohabitation of her and her ex... they were married on paper because she agreed to marry him, but they never got married as there was a violent attack by him that ended the relationship... he went ahead and filed the paper that she signed before the attack with the government and it took an actual divorce to clear up the paperwork... he fought it all the way...

I really dont know how we can 'prove' where he lives as he has no real permanent residence other than his parents home.

The Ho Khau and an affidavit are the only things I can seem to think of.. there may not be any official record other than the divorce which they already have...

Police records are your only other course of action, I think. Technically, VN citizens are to report to the local police as they move and visit so that records can be kept of their whereabouts. I would start with inquiries at 3 local police stations:

1. Thuy's (just to see wht they have on record about her and about him...better to be forewarned)

2. His parents

3. The village where he is currently living near his job

It may give you nothing but if you get anything it is more than you have now. Would be great if you could be on the ground there managing these efforts.

Thuy said the CO acted as if she could not understand her.in either language. Could be due to the northern VN dialect.. the translation didnt reflect what she had said... it was compared to Thuy saying a story and then the CO saying 1 or 2 words.... I imagined those old kung fu movies where a guys mouth moves forever and you only hear two words..

I think the Black female CO is one of the big guns.. the other being that korean woman.. if they are the one doing the interview, then it will likely get ugly and take a long time... When I am there in a few weeks I will go in ahead of time and talk to the Consulate General. not as much to complain, but to inquire why documents were ignored that were in the initial filing as well as why documenst were refused at the interview... I want the CO's to be able to prevent visa fraud... I have seen far too much of it here... I also don't want to see families put through the pain that I have seen so many go through and am starting to feel myself...

The issue is that we were both legally married when we met..that is likely what they have a problem with.. most of the questions focused on that topic. had they accepted the notarized timeline she had with her and tried to give them, they would totally understand the relationship between us and our former spouses. If there is a political issue regarding her family or the north regarding what happened 40 years ago someone needs to grow up.. with all of the horror stories that Thuys grandmother told her growing up, it is amazing that she would even consider going to eat with an american, let alone marry one... they put it behind them and don't blame me for the actions of others...

I can address the issue with documentation and submit the documents that they refused to acceppt yesterday... IMO that, along with being there, and wanting to resolve any issues and take my fiance back to the US with me shows alot.

I applaud your efforts in trying to bring reform to the HCM Consulate. However, for your own self-preservation, I might urge you to consider settling your case favorably first and then tackling the global issue. I think what you want is to persuade human beings to see things your way. If you create a fuss and indirectly accuse them of wrongdoing, it seems to me that this would serve to strengthen their resolve as they review your case.

Maybe I can have her father call the ex telling him that they need a notarized/certified letter showing where he lives .. for something related to his sons school... he would likley send an affidavit or proof in that scenario. we have a month to come up with proof in a country where proof is hard to come by.

If there is concern about fraud, they would expect that her ex is part of the deception plan. Therefore, anything that comes from him (certifed or not) will be fruit from a poisonous tree.

If I were in your boat, I would focus on getting stamped government records that can support what you and Thuy are claiming for dates of cohabitation and then separate living arrangements. I know easier said than done but you have a limited amount of time to do this and I suspect that it will take some effort to get the records that you really need to defend your case.

Having gone through the blue slip word by word...

The first papragraph notes the 221g .. in that paragraph.. the standard first paragraph for all blue slips.. notes that the reason is either a lack of proof of bonafide or failure to present required documents.

The following paragraphs attached explain the documents needed... others have seen proof of bonafide listed and from what Thuy said.. they saw the proof she had, but only lookedat the photos.. she did look at all of the photos.. and she asked about specific dates and places for the past year... example.. during his third trip what day were you in vung tau? what were the exact dates he arrived and departed for each trip... while the CO looked at my passport pages and visa copies...

Given the previous visa fraud cases that involved a USC divorcing and marrying a VNC for $, they assume that is the case until we thoroughly prove otherwise... guilty until proven innocent when it comes to visas... on my end it is really easy to show that proof.. on her end its not so easy given the VN system... We will have a copy of her ex's family Ho Khau that shows him residing there.. the local government official will take the Ho Khau that is provided by the family and make a copy, and certify it to be true and real.. aside from that, there is not much proof of a VNC's address that can be provided without having that person provide it... that wonthappen given that he has threatened to attack her as recently as 6 months ago.

The blue slip specifically requests proof of his address, not proof that they reside apart... it would be easy to provide affidavits that he does not live with her and never has, but that would be outside of the scope of the paragraph and not directly address the blue slip as written...

I have two choices.. I can address them based on the exact wording of the items listed(proof of ex's address)... or I can read between the lines that they want proof that neither of us are with our ex's...

what do you guys think when it comes to her ex's family's Ho Khau as evidence of current address? any ideas of other ways to show it without requiring contact with him? some here have used affidavits, but that would require someone that knows him to write the affidavit and he does not live in the same area.. they dont share common friends or associates... we'll see if the government office in the province has any additional ideas...

for each of the ex's we will provide a cover sheet from each of us that is notarized stating that we don't reside together, listing and explaining the evidence provided as proof attached. this may be what feeling lucky is talking about...

Scott, I am not an expert on Ho Khaus but when flipping through the Ho Khau for my wife's family that she had with her on interview day, I was struck by the fact that things were not dated and the fact that when my wife moved to HCM for 2 years before we met that she was still listed in the family Ho Khau as if she still lived in her home village. She never was listed in the Ho Khau that her sister maintains in the city though she lived there for 2 years. I suspect that the local police station might have records of his residence and dates, but I am particlularly suspicious of using a Ho Khau to prove anything other than the names of family members with whom you (at least at one time) reside.

And, if I can surmise this, the Consulate must be all over it. Might be why they ask for evidence of his current address. How can you prove that in VN? You can't.

Because they live and work in Vietnam, the COs do understand some Vietnamese. That might be why the "translator" doesn't repeat everything back word for word in Vietnamese. My fiance said the translator was mainly there to ask the questions in Vietnamese or speak Vietnamese because the CO's Vietnamese skills must not have been very good. She said the translator sometimes spoke the response back to the CO, and even then the response wasn't complete. Many times the two talk and the person outside the glass can't hear anyway. So the translator not repeating the complete response to the CO is not necessary proof of a screwjob by the consulate.

Good observation. My wife said that the questions that she answered in Vietnamese were understood by the CO because he was nodding while she spoke. The translator translated her answers again but it was unnecessary in my wife's opinion. She said he seemed to understand Vietnamese relatively well. I doubt that the translator was trying to intentionally de-rail this case.

Scott, I believe Thuy was going to get this treatment regardless of anything you did or did not do in preparation for the interview. There is something about your case that they do not like and they tried to get her to make a mistake or crack. If that happened, they could white slip her without having to deal with the real issue, which you may or may not know about. We have all seen it many times here on VJ. Any interview that lasts more than 10-12 minutes is abnormal and is intentionally drawn out for a reason. Look back at the results of those interviews.

I suspect that this may have to do with her being from the North and something about her family history that they found (right or wrong) during the background check. This will be difficult to combat directly because they will never tell you that this is the reason for concern (if, in fact, it is). I believe that you are going to have to play the game, give them the info they want and push hard on the Consulate to settle your case one way or the other.

Good luck.

The actual visa is a sticker they paste in her passport that has her photo, name, etc and validity date, along with your name. You can see a sample in the gallery. It clearly says VISA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The brown envelope has her file and medical info.

I would suggest that she contact the embassy and clear it up. I doubt you were denied, but if you were, it will become a problem when she gets to the US.

This recently issued letter from USCIS is what field officers are supposed to use when assessing your immunizations for AOS. This would indicate that for many, Td or Tdap or DT, DTP or DTaP would be acceptable.

VaccinationChanges121509.pdf

The plane ticket was in her maiden name because the name on the ticket and the passport need to match. However, the Advance Parole approval was in her married name because that's how we filed for AOS. No problems and the name issue was never mentioned.

You were smart to get the name change issue resolved before traveling. Maybe no problem for recently married women because name change is common? Not sure. But I do know that they are becoming more and more strict about ticket and passport names matching due to security concerns.

My wife has not received her green card yet but we had applied for and received Advance Parole when we filed for AOS. We just returned from a trip outside the US and we came back through SFO.

We went together through the US Citizen line for immigration. No hassle at all. The officer knew exactly what the form was and only asked my wife to do biometrics then sent us to what they called "secondary processing". Went down the hall, handed the officer her passport, I-94 and AP approval. They said have a seat and we will take care of the paperwork. 5 minutes later, the officer came back and said "you guys are good to go!" No interview, no questions at all. She came here legally, had no overstays and has an interview pending for 12/29 so we sailed right through.

We flew China Airlines and when we checked in to come home, they had no problems with using the AP instead of a visa.

All in all, it was no more or less problematic on this trip than any other that I have been on, with or without my wife.

No problems at VN immigration with the visa exemption. They didn't look funny at it and did not ask why I had it. pretty good deal once you finally get it back from the Embassy.

After Hien was approved, she explained some extenuating circumstances we had to the CO and asked if he could please get us the visa the next day. He said it was just not possible because of the huge number that had to be processed. We were given a date that was 7 days out.

Is it possible? Sure. Is it likely? No.

If we schedule a morning appt at Cho Ray can we do the vaccination walk in that afternoon? or is the vaccination required before the medical?

I believe that you have to do the vaccination first. Look at Packet 4. It lists them as Step 1 and Step 2.

...and it doesn't cost any more to apply for advance parole with your AOS, so if you are considering traveling before green card issuance, apply for it. Took about 6 weeks to get it. We are traveling on it now and will report in how it goes coming back through POE SFO.

You have to get the vaccinations elsewhere...Cho Ray is only for the medical exam.

I suggested before that you consider doing the medical as soon as possible and not waiting until shortly beforehand. I still suggest this as a prudent approach. And, given that the medical would be done on a Friday and the interview is Tuesday, there is a real chance that she would not have the results in hand prior to Tuesday AM. Sometimes things in VN just don't go according to the plan. I find that my wife is used to it and somewhat unphased when it happens but we (Americans) don't tolerate it as well. In addition, if there were any complications that needed re-testing or anything, you would be out of time.

Up to you, but I would head for HCM as soon as possible and get this done. My wife went the day after she got Packet 4 in the mail just to be sure she passed and to not have it hanging as a potential show-stopper.

The x-ray will come in a big plastic bag with a handle. Everyone tends to just carry them that way (vs rolling and putting in a tube) because it is easy and it avoids bending or damaging the x-ray. They can just be tucked into an overhead bin inside the bag. They will likely not look at them at POE, but she can just bring them home and store them away.

I received a separate letter in the mail after my passport came back asking for the $10.

If you look at the embassy website, it says $20 for the exemption and $10 for processing. However, they did not tell me about the extra $10 until the visa exemption was approved and in my passport and they were getting ready to mail it. I am out of time and needed my passport back for an upcoming trip so I begged them to mail the passport to me and I would send them another $10. They actually did that and I sent them $10 yesterday.

Matt, you would be well-served to send them another $10 now so you don't have a delay at the end. Once your exemption runs out and you get a new passport, you can send in and get another exemption. See the embassy website rules.

Chuc mung, Linh!

Get a Delta (now owns Northwest) Skymiles account. You cannot combine the Symiles with United or AA (unless they merge at some point in the future). Korean is in the Skymiles network, but as Scott says you need to check.

At the very least give the agent your Skymiles number when you check in for Korean/NW.

Since I new have a nw number can I just use that for my Korean ff miles or do I have to get delta and if I get delta?

get a Delta skymiles account and then merge your NWA account into that one. You will then have all your old NWA miles, new NWA miles and new Delta miles. And hopefully the KA miles, too (go to the Delta website and read about KA miles eligibility).

Now I'm hearing that you still have to leave the country every 3 months to get your passport stamped, for those of you that plan on staying long term. Don't see anything about it in the regs though. Thanks for the update Todd.

That's right. I forgot to mention that. The exemption states that it is for 90 days maximum per entry.

OK, here's the long-awaited update.

This worked absolutely NOTHING like the website that we often reference here on this subject. This was an agonizing process from which I learned a lot. First and foremost, I recommend that you visit and read the Vietnam Embassy website on this subject here. If you can't read Vietnamese, get your SO to read it to you. It has pretty much the ACTUAL rules for this.

My learnings:

1. It took 1 month for me to get my passport back with the visa exemption and I think I only got it back now because I e-mailed them once or twice a day at the end. Forget about 7 day processing.

2. It does not cost $20 as we have previously read...it is $30.

3. You will not necessarily get a 5 year exemption. Mine is for 3 years and 4 months. I think it is because they stop the validity 1 year before your passport expires, at least that's what happened with me.

4. It IS multiple entry...that's the good news.

5. Don't bother calling the embassy at the phone number that they publish. They don't answer the phone. But they do read and respond to e-mail.

Happy to answer other questions on this.