BinhJerome

There have been posts on here before, I even posted the steps, just read through the posts it will help. How long will you be in Vietnam? Even if you don't want to use a service it makes it quicker. You MUST sign and do an interview in person. This usually takes about 25 days for the interview, then another 2 weeks to actually go and sign then get the papers. We used a service and it still took 30 days from start to finish, another friend just got married and didnt use a service and it took him 2 months. You will need to do the mental test here at Chao Ray, they will want coffee money, it was 200,000 when we were there. The affidavit of single status is usually good for 6 months, but I have heard of many people being made to get it done here even though they had it done in the US already. Vietnamese can be pretty picky if they want to be. Also there was a guy from the UK who was denied the wedding papers, his wife was from the country side and they had to go where she was from to do it, so there are risks by doing it yourself, time and many other things. Honestly it can be done by yourself, send your fiancee to the justice department and have her get the wedding information pack, you can have her fill out most of it without you being here, you will need to also have your state do a check and issue some sort of notary signed statement showing there are no marriage records of you for the past few years before you come. All of these documents that you do will need to be translated if they are in english, just be prepared for a long drawn out process if you do it yourself.

Jerome and Binh

Just notify them, you can do this on the phone and they will send you a letter in the mail, it isnt very hard, and as others have said you have every right to live your life, and if you are buying a house it seems that you are secure and stable, things that they actually want to see

if you got the medical 2 months prior it doesnt mean that the visa will only be good for 4 months.. but there is the chance... its all on a case by case basis...

It is based on your medical and how long before your medical becomes expired. There is no case by case basis when it comes to landing in america you must have a valid medical to arrive on US soil period. The visa expiry might not be to the day that your medical expires but it will be close enough that you will land in the United States while your medical is still valid, you might have 5 months on your medical and only get 4 months before your visa expires but you will never have 5 months on your medical and get 6 months or 8 or 10 months before your visa will expire, things can change in a person's medical that would effect a person from coming to the United States, pregnancy, TB just to name a few.

Aaah, now it makes sense. We were advised to wait until the last minute before the interview to do the medical, and now I understand why. It is based on the medical because the medical is only good for 6 months. If you do the medical 2 months before your interview, your entry will only be valid for 4 months. Does this track with other's experience?

It does depend on how much time you have left on your medical since it is only valid for 6 months. If your medical was done 2 days prior to your interview then you would have 6 months, if it was done 5 months prior then you would only have one month

1. Start to finish, Mid July-Mid November

2. Get familiar with the apostille process in your State. The bureaucracy is not just in Vietnam. For each document provided, you need a notarized copy, an apostille packet, and a Vietnam consulate packet before you go to Vietnam to file.

3. In my case I needed a: certified copy of my divorce decree from my county clerk, a "no marriage records" document from my State Vital Statistics office, both of those documents needed apostilles, then they were both sent to the VN consulate in San Francisco and sent back to me with the Consulate stamp on them. Then I took them to Vietnam.

4. We first went to the marriage registration office in HCMC and tried to do it ourselves, but graft was rampant and we didn't want to deal with it, so we hired a VN attorney for 200usd who took care of everything for us and got us our marriage certificate in 4 months. The best 200 I ever spent because while she may have had to pay money to someone, I never heard about it and because it would have had to come from her fee, I'm sure she didn't spend any more than it must take regardless. Before we hired the attorney we were getting the runaround, do this, do that, come back tomorrow, etc. It was very stressful on our new marriage so it was a blessing to hand it over to someone else to deal with, for such a bargain price.

Good luck,

R

Mine didnt require any apposiles, I did have to go to the US embassy and sign an affadavit, but everything else was just notorized when I got it done, and everything needed to be translated as well

Hello!

Can someone share their experience with me?

I heard USC marrying in Vietnam is a very complex process from a bureaucratic perspective.

Below are some questions I have:

1. How long did it take?

2. What can be done ahead of time to expedite the process

3. What kind of evidence did you produce indicating you were single? How did you obtain it?

4,. What pitfalls can I avoid?

Any information would greatly be appreciated

It takes about a month, it is a pain in the #######, but there are services that will help and speed the process up they are about $300. I know a man from England who tried to marry a woman from Vietnam about 8 months ago and they were denied! His fiancee lived in the countryside not HCMC and I guess they are much more particular, he said everything went well at the wedding interview but they denied their petition. After hearing that, I would be livid, but what can you do it is Vietnam.

As far as expedite the process, get all your information filled out prior to your arrival, then when you arrive try to arrive in the morning and go to the hospital right away, pay extra and you will have to only answer a few questions for your sanity test and they will get you the results back asap (a few hours later that day) Also hire the service, this way they can check everything over and make sure everything is right, also she will need to get alot of things and this service as I said will make sure everything is good to go before you arrive, then all you need to do is take the mental exam and then file, then the marriage interview.

Hope this helps

Jerome and Binh

my wife wants to send me some cigarettes but i told her i dont know how she can but then i remembered at my old job there was a vietnamese man there sold vn cigarettes all the time. Is it ok for her to send me some for my own personal use or does anyone know how the guy i worked with was getting them here? she asked the post office and they said she can mail them but they dont know if i will get them

Thanks

My wefe used to send me two cartons of cigarettes every few weeks, this was for my mother she sent about 10 in total. She will have to make sure they ave Vietnamese not American to send them out of the country. As long as she is only sending 2 at a time there should not be any problem as with my case. IF she sends tons then you might have to pay import tax in the US, but as I said my wife used to send them without any problems

I wanted to send my wife some paperwork and documentation. and her visa in preparation for her interview, i don't mind paying a bit more for peace of mind , so long as I can get it to her safely. Any suggestions?

I do not know if it has been said or not, but if it is only paperwork, or things that are flat and the originals are not needed, scan and email it. If it is just interview prep things scan and send, if they require the original with a signature, then use DHL. DHL is by far the best (biggest) shipper in Vietnam. UPS and FED EX are here, but not as big as DHL. IF it requires a signature or an original and you are making the original, IE bank statement or intent letter, make two when possible, this is just incase they do lose the original you already have a second one waiting. Even DHL can have a mistake or have a package ruined. Other ways are finding out who is headed to Vietnam and send the paperwork with them and give them your partners number so that she can meet up and collect. I personally would try this method before sending with DHL. Hope this helps Jerome

I payed for Visa on Arrival and the manager for UA in Houston got into it. She told me that copies or fax is not valid and I needed the original. That was money wasted on them. I will never fly United Airlines. That day I ordered my visa stamp for next day delivery and it cost 150 dollars.

I am all upset. They kept my sticker and did not stamp anything in HCMC customs. They did not even want to look at my little page that I filled out at the last minute.

Someone lied to you, everytime I have done the VIsa on Arival (3 TIMES) I only had a scanned invitation letter with my name on it. I printed this letter out and walked through the airports in the United States showing this and then when I landed in HCMC I used this same PRINTED NON ORIGINAL invitation letter walked up to the immigration window, handed it to them with my passport, filled out a form, and then handed them $25 for the single 30 day visa and $50 for the 90 day multiple entry visa and received a visa in my passport with NO troubles at ANY airport and at VIETNAM CUSTOMS. I think someone was trying to get more money from you and if you paid $150 then they got what they wanted.

I'm going to try visa on arrival on my next trip. Which visa processing website did you use? Thanks.

http://www.vietnamvisaexpress.com/

This is the one I used with no problems. Safe and reliable. Jerome

My travel agency in Little Saigon sends a photocopy of my passport to the VN consulate to get the visa, so my passport doesn't have to risk being lost in the mail. But VN immigration keeps the single entry visas. I used to take a c=photocopy of the visa in VN but now I pay extra for the multi entry visa just so I can keep it.

You can get visa on arrival but after the long flight and the layover etc, I don't really want to spend an extra half hour/45mins waiting for the visa knowing that my SO is just outside the gate.

So if you have a couple of weeks before your trip, get the visa through the travel agency or consulate since it takes around a week. If you are leaving in a couple of days, then visa on arrival is your best bet, but you'll have to wait at the airport.

The wait is negated, since you have to fight for all of your luggage and then you have to wait for the luggage to even get put on the belts. When I do the visa on arrival by the time I get done all the bags are on the belt and many of the people have already got theirs so the line is not nearly as thick and I usually get out a bit quicker because I dont have to sort through all those bags looking for mine. Truly not like I am the last one out the door, my first trip I landed at midnight and got out at 1:15 am, this was with visa in hand, the second I arrived at midnight and was out before 1 am, and the same on the others. So honestly filling out the paper is not that bad and the wait is negated by the wait for your luggage. Jerome

So, with Visa on arrival, do you actually get stamps in your passport? I've only gotten my visas through San Francisco, which are paper and not affixed to my passport. No problem with the multi entry cause I can keep them--but the single entry visas are kept on exit. I'd like to keep proof of entry without necessarily having to pay for a multi-entry.

Yes it looks like you sent your passport in, they take it from you at the gate while you fill out the form and they actually put a visa in your passport just like any visa you would send off for, then when you go through the gate they stamp it just like normal, it doesnt even say anything different. Simple and painless, and if you want the multiple entry it is $50 and 3 month visa, I got that when I arrived because I was planning on staying here and didnt know how long the marrige thing and visa exemption would take, not to mention any trips we might have went on. Yeah these are fixed in your passport, and you keep them as such, no worries either way you want to go, $25 for a 30 day single entry, and $50 for a 90 day multiple

what's the fastest way i can obtain a travel visa to vietnam?

Visa on arrival to Vietnam is the fastest, just do a search online for vietnam visa on arrival. You will need to get 2 passport sized and style photos prior to leaving, then you will print off the invitation letter the service emails you and check your name, this usually takes 2 days depending on the weekend, use this paper when you go to the airport, and when you arrive you just fill out a card hand them $25 USD and the photos and your passport, takes about 30 minutes when you arrive, depending on the line, as little as 15 minutes and as many as 45, they stamp your passport with the new visa inside and you are in. I did this 3 times only problem I had was the second time they had my name wrong, but I emailed and it was fixed the next day.

In Houston there are lots and lots and lots of Cafes popping in biz lately. I guess lots of ladies figuring instead of hard working at McD's, or Home Depot, whatever, they might as well "take advantage" of their "assets". Lots of folks where I work often invite me to join them to pay visits to these "cafes" after work, especially on the weekends and/or Fridays evening.

I told them "Sure, who wouldn't wanna some fun? But if I see one of my daughters or my wife working in there dressing up like that, do you think I still enjoy my cup of java?".

Their response? "Do I care? As long as they're not my wife, daughter, not my prob!"

I guess it's the same feeling for prostitution as well.

So for those folks who think it's no harm, no foul, read the above story and reevaluate your moral meter.

My best friends wife is a stripper in the states. He clearly doesn't mind and his own words is your money is going to pay my bills. The reason I know he doesn't mind is when I was with him he took me to a strip club and told me there was a really hot dancer he knew I would want to watch, so I went, low and behold it was his girlfriend (now wife) I was totally shocked and couldn't watch, the entire time he is laughing his butt off. Well after her show she came around and didn't sit on his lap she sat on mine and was talking with both of us, needless to say my night was very awkward and they had the time of their lives seeing how freaked out I was. The main point is even if it is your wife, do you trust her, it is is really prostitution going on then your wife doesn't have to work there, or your daughter, I would never want my daughter to work in that situation, but if she was 18 then it would be her choice not mine. I do agree that prostitution should be legal and then it would help stop the slave trade, and help stop on crimes as well. After all prostitution is the worlds oldest constant profession.

Besides Americans have a fetish, and that is served by slender Asian women dressed very skimpily, this is life the police and politicians who have the fat white wives are just mad they don't have the hot Asian wife like most of us do

what up with ps3 anyway, is there anythings a ps3 can do that a gaming pc can not do? may be i should drive up to my lilbrother's apartment and borrow his ps3 and see for my self .

If you like first person shooter games or any multi player games the PS3 is much better, they are designed to play games with good video and on a bigger screen with better resolution. I prefer first person shooters with online play, I dont usually play missions, just like going into battles with online friends.

That's strange about th PS3. Vietnam and all of SE Asia, Japan, Hong Kong is supposed to be Region A, same as the USA.

That is what I thought and mine came from Japan but my DVD movies I brought from the US both the original and copies would not play due to a region error, but all of the dvd's from the local stores played no problem

As a former manager flirting is VERY harmful and it can and usually does cost people their jobs PERIOD. If you think it is harmless flirting and this person is uncomfortable it is not flirting it is now sexual harassment and even though it did not have that intention now you are facing a complaint one that could cost your company thousands and thousands of dollars so usually they will terminate your position to play it safe. Also if the person has real interest in you and you are simply flirting to flirt with no real desire, you can cause trouble by rejecting the person causing them to lose face and look the fool for being rejected and then they can turn it around on you claiming you were in the wrong, or what if the woman is in a position of losing her job, you could become the scape goat that she throws under the bus to make sure they dont let her go, because if she/he screams foul before they get fired they can also say they were terminated because of the complaint, once again costing the company thousands of dollars. Make your own mind up, but the possible outcomes in a sue happy high unemployement America to me would have me terrified of flirting with any woman I worked with.

Here is the cut and dry about it. There are MANY foreigners here in Vietnam that speak English, I truly recomend not trusting anyone since how they might stab you in the back, but this is everywhere. They have PS3 here for about 9 million, and you need to understand that they are regioned so if you are bringing blue ray movies then I would strongly suggest you get on ebay before you come and order a replacement blue ray drive for one that is multi region, this way you can watch your movies. I just bought a PS3 and the network is still down here in Vietnam, and NONE of my DVD's would play because it was the wrong region, but all of the new movies I have bought here play just fine. $800 a month is easy if you teach, most jobs with only part time hours you can make over $1000 a month but usually evening hours, some jobs you can find morning hours but they are hard since they are coveted. If you want any of the COD games, buy them in the US, I can only find COD modern Warfare 2 I have been looking and looking for Black Ops and will probably have to spring for one on ebay and then wait for it to arrive, but I wont do that until after the network is back up, which it should be by the end of this month. Any other specific questions PM me and I will help if I know the answers. Jerome

It is all luck of the draw, you either have a convincing interview or you dont, you either have a nice CO or you don't. The better prepared you are the better chances you have, but one can also argue that if you come too prepared it can look staged as well. If there was a sure fire way to get a pink they would have to change it because of the fraud. The saddest part is those that are legit sometimes get denied and ran through the ringer while others that are fraudulent slip right through without any troubles. But I honestly feel it is most to do with the interview and the CO.

LIVING IN VIETNAM

Jeromebinh (HCMC)

Mr. Saigon (HCMC)

CURRENTLY IN VIETNAM

Pohtaytoh (Long&Linh)(Da Nang)

GOING TO VIETNAM

Ralph does not live in Vietnam any longer he has been state side for many months now

Wow vietnam taco!! I am an ammature chef and that is a great idea. All you need is beef, take it home and ground the hell outta it. There are peppers and tomatoes everywhere to make salsa. I dont know how to make hard tacos but with flour you can make soft taco.

Last time i was there and found some flour so i made pancakes. No butter so i used a bit of pig fat. No syrup so i put sugar and sprinkled powered sugar. Haha..now my aunt sells it on here street cart. Next time i go imma bring a tub of syurp. And some fruit seeds like avacados and err dont know what friut will survive the humid south uhh cherries?

mix the flour (corn for corn tortilla, or wheat for flour tortilla) with some water, get a dough, work your dough for a while, then roll it out thin, and bake it or fry it until it gets hard, there is your hard taco you just have to put it into the form, and while it cooks it will start to get hard still but it is flexable this is when you would start to fold it for the form. They have butter in any big market, and at many western shops you can even find the syrup, and they even have pancake mix at the western shops

hi everyone,

my wife wants to make tacos an she wanted to know if anyone here knows of a place in hcmc or some where she can get taco shells and seasoning? i told her i doubt it but im asking thanks

Make them, it is easy to do, but if you really want to buy, go to Vege's in District 7. The seasonings are only peppers and tomatoes, easy enough to make on your own. Send her a cookbook that tells how to make Salsa, it says you need Cummin, but you dont have to I make fresh salsa here all the time, Taco seasoning is a bit different, but for HCMC no one would complain, and the tortillas all you need is corn flour and some water, she can even make her own corn flour if she really wanted to, just dry out corn then grind it into a powder.

In some other thread somewhere in here, Jerome mentioned he had criminal records in the States. Maybe that's one of the reason he couldn't get the job he wants; therefore, defending the "high life" in VN so vigorously.

They simply just can't check the criminal record(s) there. I also mention this to warn any other potential VNese bride/groom out there. Check the criminal records of your partner(s)!!! Just because he/she looks so nice doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with his/her past history (that is if you care)

Don't worry about my past Dau Que, that is neither here nor there, I had a professional job in Missouri that moved me out to Indiana making over 50k a year, my crimes were when I was 18 so they never came up on a background check, and they had since been expunged years ago, I am pushing life in Viet Nam because unlike YOU I have ENJOYED my time here, and for ME it is a great place to live with a low cost of living. As far as informing the potential VNese bride/groom, my wife knew about my past history before I EVER came to visit her. I have nothing to hide when it comes to my past, it is what it is, and I have had a bad past, but I dont cry about it, because my past has made me into the person I am today, ever evolving and ever learning. Besides this post was about living in Viet Nam for $20,000 a year, not what a persons past is

Yes there is motorbike insurance here, not sure about apartment insurance, but I am sure someone would sell it to you, just dont know how good it would be. You can get about anything in Viet Nam you want for a price.

LG TV > TCL

At microcenter 47 inch for $549

At Fry's 50 inch for $579

Hannspree 42

at Walmart for $439.00

Oh and TCL in the US.

Amazon.com for $399.99

Oh yeah and in the United States all these stores have return policies, does anyone in Vietnam have return policies and let you try it out in your house?

I don't miss the rolling black outs that Saigon and the rest of Vietnam get almost every month. Maybe that's how they keep the cost down.

Electric in the US during the winter (depending on where you live) $200 to $300 a month > Electric anytime in Viet Nam a month $35 to $75 (depending on how much you run an ac) Hmm, and electric in the summer is still around $100 a month in the US if you run an AC any amount of time so lets say the average electric bill in the US is $100 a month (I know this is low but for the sake of argument we will use this figure) Average electric bill in HCMC $50 a month, high mine is only about $40 a month so lets see that is a savings of $50 per month multiply that by 12 months hmmmm that is $600 a year savings Hmmmm even the $399 tv VS the $600 one in Viet Nam off sale that equates to about $400 a year in savings. As far as the warranty, my brother in law's Samsung 65" tv's motherboard went out, it was 11 months old, one month left on warranty, it was replaced with an entirely new unit and given another 12 month warranty NO QUESTIONS ASKED, I know this because I had to drive him to the shop while he rode on back holding the TV. Not sure about trying it out in your house, but towards the rest I think it evens out just with the cost of electricity in the US against the cost of it in Viet Nam, if any of you have different figures for electric bills, by all means please let me know, I think I was pretty generous on what I quoted, and I know during the summer when I wasnt working and first moved here our most expensive electric bill was $45 and trust me when I say the AC was on amost 24/7 as I was NOT used to the heat. I also know that when I was in Indiana my electric bills during the summer were about $150 a month and then in the winter it was on cold months close to $400 with an average of about $325 a month, I never had an electric bill under $100 a month for 2 consecutive months in the US, in the spring maybe once in a while it was really close to $100.

But again it is all personal opinion on what is right for any person, some people love it here, and some hate it. The traffic sucks, but if any of you have been in a big city during rush hour it can get pretty bad as well there. Regardless of your preferences and if the TV does cost $200 more the savings on electricity alone make up the cost, then there is gas prices, I was spending $200-$250 a month in gas for my truck, WE spend about $20 a month, we each go through one tank of gas each week ($2.50) then lets figure insurance, most people if they have just liability pay what $65 a month? Yeah less traffic, American dream, (arguably better health care but here international hospitals seem very effecient and good) and there are many other positives about the US, but honestly it is all a persons opnion, if you have good experiences in Viet Nam then you will love it here, if you have had bad then you will hate it. Having a great job in the US and doing it for 9 years was great for me, and I loved having the big yard, raising dogs and everything that goes along with it, and I do miss some things, but I would not give up what I have here because FOR ME it is a better choice living here rather than the US

Congrats!! Just now wait for the test and you are home free!!