sorin

My spouse is now a USC and would like to petition for her mother to come live with us in the US, but her father is currently not interested in living abroad.

Would filing for one parent now and possibly the other parent much later cause any issue for either's case?

I am hearing from colleages at work that both parents need to be petitioned at the same time in order for the process to go smoothly, although I can not find any information online stating this would be an issue.

Both parents are currently living in Vietnam and are married living together.

Hi VJers,

Quick questions for you all. My wife's passport will be expiring next year in April. We are planning to travel back to Vietnam for a month in October. Does the 6 month window apply to people of that native country as they do for tourists?

Secondly, she was thinking of renewing her passport while she was there. Should she have her name changed to reflect her new married name (similarly book the return ticket) or go with her maiden name. We will be there only for a month, and scheduling a meeting can be hit or miss.

Lastly, what forms would we have to prepare for the name change?

I thought I would ask you before I email the consulate here in the states.

Thanks in advance!

Sorin

Thanks for the input everyone! We just got a letter in the mail saying we passed the interview process , welcomed her to the US, and they should be sending a 2 year green card within 3 weeks! I guess the IO did not have authority to approve us and had a supervisor look it over. Now on to the rest of the things we need to do!

Thanks again everyone!

Hi VJers!

We just had out interview in the LA branch and would like to give you a step by step for those that have some questions.

We arrived 20 minutes before the appointed time. There was a window we had to submit the letter and waited to be called in. We had a single IO call us into her office and she asked us to raise our right hand and were sworn in.

The IO requested the following items:

Her and My Certified Birth certificates (I only had a copy of mine..)

Her and My Passports and photocopies (with I-94 for her)

Marriage Certificate and photocopy

Drivers Licenses (She did not have one)

Her EAD and photocopy (no copy...)

She then questioned my wife:

What is your name

What is your birthday

What is your current address

Where did you meet

When did you get married

Mothers and father's first name

What was your job in Vietnam

She then questioned me:

Why did you go to vietnam

How did I meet my wife

After this she read straight from page 3 of I-485 and asked my wife:

Have you ever......

Do you intend to engage in the US.....

(Understandably my wife had some problems understanding her english, but replied correctly)

She then requested we show her our "Joint" documents:

Bank Statement with both names

Letter from friend with both our names with our address

Photos of our wedding

Medical/Dental Cards

She then requested our lease with both our names which I didn't have as she has arrived after I moved in. She then told me she was living illegally as she must have been on the lease to live there. I was a little upset about this as we would have been denied had she even tried to to joint apply for an apartment in LA (she had no credit history and would fail a credit check) so I told her the place was under my name and now that she has an SSN she will be added to the lease.

Next she asked my wife to identify my siblings and family in the photos and if she had meet them. (my wife was also in the photos...)

After that, she printed a letter with Adjustment of Status Notice checking "An additional review of your case and/or background check is required to determine your eligibility" and she signed it and told us to verify if it was correct.

They had misspelled her name, which she then fixed and reprinted, checked, and signed.

She went out to make photocopies of our documents, came back and gave us back our paperwork.

That was it, she said we should be getting something in the mail instructing us what we would have to do next.

Please understand this was our interview and yours might have different requirements and inquires.

I asked her if it was approved, if we would need to bring additional info (birthcertificate, lease with both names) but she only said wait for something to come in the mail. She said "do you have any question", but she never answered a single one. Just wait for something in the mail, she even said "go check your mailbox every day."

The letter says inquires will not be accepted until 180 days, so pass or fail, we have to wait.

Thanks all!

Well, I didn't get a reply right away so I ended up going to the Airport, where the jerk officer pretended he did not understand my english (native born...) and finally passed me onto an officer that was willing to help. Appartently, they can fix it if it happen at that exact time (while arriving) but I would have to go to the Deferred Office for Customs and Border protection. Once we went there, a simple explanation of the problem prompted the officer here to correct it in the system and everything is well again. No forms no paperwork. Now I pray the next time we go to the SSN office, they will not find some other issue....

P.s. It was 2 letters (they switched GU to UG) and the lady at SSN said it would not go through and would have to "inquire" by submitting something. At that point, I guess I paniced (fearing G-845) and told her to stop and let me correct the error in another way. Maybe I jumped the gun, but I only waited 1 week (I know the 2 weeks is suggested) and I have no time for errors.

Hi All,

Went in for SSN today and was informed the immigration offical at the POE miskeyed my fiance's last name and was unable to get her SSN processed. I had to stop them from posting a G-845... So now I need to contact someone to correct their error. SSN office was completely useless in giving me information on how do this. Only said it was not their error and I would have to go to the airport (#######?) or immigration office.

They also gave me the number to UCIS, but none of the automated options were any help.

Does anyone know what I should do to get this corrected?

Thanks in advance!

Okay now I am really confused.

I read this on the social security website.

"The K-1 symbol indicates you are the fiancé of a U.S. citizen. As such, you are eligible for a Social Security number and for employment"

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cf...amp;p_topview=1

Would that mean she is a Legal Alien allowed to work? I am printing this out to take with me when I go in 30 minutes...

Hi All,

My fiance is here now and we are looking at the next steps to get married. We are filling the SS-5 and where wondering how a K1 fiance should put for the citizenship question.

Legal Alien allowed to work

Legal Alien not allowed to work

I believe it is the allowed one, but the wording in the guide is confusing me.

Thanks again!

Hi Sorin,

Thank you. I looked at your timeline. Seem like your fiance passed her interview on May-05-09, and received her Visa on 05-07-09. I was wondering why my wife visa will received after 12 days.

Yes, we have a long way to go. Thanks.

My wife got the same deal, but she said it was a hardship for her to stay in Saigon *she is from the north*. Yet again, we got lucky!

Congrats hniHnitsuJ!!!!!! Looks like the May interviewees are going strong!!

My fiance already got her tickets to come here! Now on to the POE, AP and other stuff!!!

Man, there is still much more to do! Get ready!!!

Congrats, happy to hear the good new from you.

Sorin, what time is your fiance appointment? 1 day after completing the interview you can pick up the visa? wow.. that's great.

Thanks! They said 9:30 or something like that, but its all a cattle call. I told her to get there early as possible. People were forming a cue since 7am! She got really lucky with her interviewer, he had told her she could pick up her visa on 5/12/09 but she said it would be a small hardship for her since she is not from Saigon and asked if she could get it sooner. He said he would check, went out and came back telling her she could pick it up 5/7 instead!

My fiance had her interview May 5th!! PINK!! She got there early (7:30am-8:00am) as I had requested and for good reason. There were a ton of people there! They took a break for lunch and she still had not gotten her interview. At 2pm they called her in, she decided to take the interview in english (dismissing the translator) and it was pretty smooth sailing from there. They asked her most of the questions you will find on the guide, (with the exception of "What is the name of the church you will get married at") but she winged most of the questions she was not sure of and all went well. She is going today to pick up the visa at HCMC and head back home to start packing! Good luck to everyone!!!

Hi All!

Well, after postponing the appointment time, we have now a new date for the interview! May 5th!

Man, am I excited. I want to thank everyone here for all the info and advice that kept me from going insane with worry!

Also, I would like to share some info. HCMC seems to have a new automated reply for when you contact them electronically, it states to not send further e-mails or your request might be deplayed. I thought this was bull at first, but they promptly replied to my inquery a few days later.

The mail service is still a joke, as my fiancee never received either Package 3 or Package 4.... So she will be going to Saigon a week before the interview to get the letter, medical exam, and pay any fees.

I'll keep you posted!

Thanks Toddandhien!

Filling out form RSI as we speak... Sadly my fiance is no where near HCMC and is currently working on a tv program till Wednesday.... so I'll see if she can fax in the form and do the waiting game again.... hopefully the mail man will get his head out of his #######.....

Hi all,

The consulate in Vietnam gave us the interview date today for March 26... that is in 2 days, with no notice (she never got the damn Package 4)... Is there a way to postpone the interview date to a new one?

Calling them has proved useless...

Thanks again,

Sorin....

My fiance is in Hanoi.... so she might have to fly in if it gets lost in the mail....

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner.

I waited like 2 weeks before I e-mailed the consulate once I got the letter from NCIS. Like you said about Tet, they took their sweet time to reply, but after the second request they replied to my first e-mail saying they got it. After that, it was another month till I emailed them again about if they sent Package 3, third e-mail I sent they replied with the PDF to send to my fiance. We are still waiting for Packet 4.... Sending them an e-mail today, because if my fiance would have received it she would have texted my cell... and I have waited for over 2 monthes from them receiving the info...

Hi Toddandhien,

I had the same problem as you, we waited and waited with no reply. I ended up e-mailing HCMC about it and they said they had sent it but gave me a PDF if the forms my fiance needed. I e-mailed them to her and she filled them out and sent them. I e-mailed them again and confirmed they did receive her documents and are now waiting for a reply on an interview date (which has been over a month and I have been constantly e-mailing them for updates). You can call, but even they confirmed that the phone system will be going away and obsolete. To this day, she has not received her packet 3....

When you e-mail them always reference your claim number (HCM#) or they will give it to you once you use the claim number given to you by NCIS (NOA2).

Like you, I have no faith whatsoever on the postal service in Vietnam.... its common for neighbors to bring over mail and for sensitive documents like this, that just doesn't cut it... How about HCMC giving an option to FedEx the visa instead....

Hahahaha, she is from Hai ba. I know there is a lot of "tension" with the northies and southies, but consider yourselves lucky southies... My wife will be facing some pretty messed up prejudices when she gets here as having the Communist vietnamese flag on display will get you lynched were I live. Looks like the consulate finally replied to my e-mail, they got the info and will be sending her packet 4 shortly!

Tried giving them a call, but on the 4 separate occasions I called, it was a dead end phone call. When I got to the option I needed, it gave you an automated answer saying "we were unable to complete your call at the moment, please call again at another time..."

None the less, Good to have some info!

Thanks Melrose Plant!

She lives in Hanoi, but its not that she doesn't know, it's the one she knows "of." It has to do with city registration or something.. I know already that she was supposed to give me the one she is residing. Like I said, I think it is just a small mistake on her part. Anyways, going to clear this up tonight and call the consulate to correct it should we need to.

Thanks again!

Hi All fellow VJers!

Just a short rant maybe someone might be able to give some insight.

My fiance has yet to receive Packet 3 in the mail... I seriously think there is either something wrong with the vietnamese mail service or her address is not what she thinks it is. Either way, I contacted the consulate via e-mail and they were kind enough to give it to me electronically.

I had her fill out all the forms and send it back right away to the HCMC... but its been 3 weeks and no reply... I have an itching suspision that the it either got lost in the mail (she did not send it priority or sercured) or it has been received and Packet 4 was sent to a black hole...

I have tried e-mailing the consulate again, but have not got a reply back... Do you guys/gals think it's useful try calling them? Anyone try getting information from a live person there?

My only other option besides waiting on my honches is to send my SO some letters with her address and see if they get there. The whole multiple home address thing in vietnam (registered home, residing home) is too confusing...

Anyways, want to strangle something!

Thanks Mr. Leggs!!!

Wow, thank you! I was wondering which one she should go to, but now I am wondering if anyone has gone to IOM. I assume it is a little more expensive at IOM.

Hi all,

My SO will be traveling to HCMC soon, so I want to give her a good idea of what to expect for the medical exam. Anyone that has gone through this, I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me!

How long does the exam take? Do they give you the results a few hours after the exam is over or days later?

My SO is not for HCMC so traveling out involves a bit more time and money.

Thanks again!

Sorin :3