cavoi xanh1

My friends, thanks to this forum, I have been meticulous in putting our petition together. All reciepts, joint taxes, photos, tickets tubs, cards, letters, emails, chat logs, insurance, life insurance, etc have been assemembled and was acutally submitted with the initial I-130.

I amended our timeline to fall in line with that standard questions they asked and to answer the questions more directly. We found my fathers' birth cert, but there is not way we are able to track down my mothers. We don't have the resources to return to the villages. My mom will sign a notorized letter explaining this and I will attach two affivadits from my grandfather stating how many children he had, with whom, and a letter from my aunt as well. These will also attest to the time and place of my mother's birth.

We included all the pictures and evidence with the intial application and also brought it along but I don't think they looked at any of it?

In any case, I will make sure the evdience package is accepted along with our document request. I have a very strong suspiciation that the word Cau and Duong were not properly translated during the interview to the CO? It is frustating because I knew this was going to be an issue. The timeline clearly shows how we do not share anway common ancestors. It is only through the marriage of my mom's half-sister and my wife's mother's brother that our families are remotely connected at all. Its odd we were acutally worried that the Vietnamese officials would raise flags about the need for birth certs for my parents when we did our marriage registration, but it went without a hitch.

I am not going to see an attorney, because there is nothing here that an attorney could do to make the our case any clearer. I welcome the investigation because there is nothing for them to uncover. It just is unfortunate because I wanted my wife here to help me move into our new place before the new year. :-(

Again thank you everyone for the advice. I have a couple more questions:

1. They have office hours mon-friday for notary services and etc. I would use the need to get something to notorized and get inside, but what is the point? How to get to talk to a CO about our case?

2. The last item on the letter reads:

R2: YOUR APPOINTMENT DATE FOR RESUBMISSION OF REQUESTED DOCUMENTS: is 16/12/09 between 13:00-14:00 at Window B.... and etc. It also states that the documents can be submitted and time prior and will be reviewed later.

As I understand, there will be no further meeting with the Consulate Officer? How will I know the result from the submission? This time is just horrible. It gives us no time to prepare tickets and travel plans.

I will be delivering this information in person, how do I make and impression and make sure the CO knows I was there. I don't want to play this game of submitting papers just to have them hold it. I demand due process !

Sorry to hear about the blue slip. Definitely a good thing to vent and then get back to work.

It's your obligation to prove that the documents cannot be obtained and then submit suitable substitute evidence. Here is what the HCMC FAQ consulate website says:

I am unable to submit my original birth certificate. What should I do?

If you are not able to obtain a birth certificate because records have been destroyed or the government will not issue one, you must obtain a statement to that effect from the civil registrar’s office and submit secondary evidence of birth. Secondary evidence of birth can be old family household registrations, school records, or baptismal certificates.

Always dependable- Thanks A Map. I just talked to my Dad and he thinks his birth cert might be with the refugee camp papers but doubts my mom's are available. I'm going to have to have my aunt and grandfather sign an affifavit attesting to my mom's birth. If i get notorized locally, do i need to get the local court nortary, and state seal? This is very hard for me since we live in separate states and i only have about 1 week or less before i leave for VN....

Ok OK I am a bit calmer- the blue slip is not that bad. Two of the three are default requirements with every blue slip.

1. submit notorized time line. We already did this, but will do it again.

2. submit list of relatives in the US. we are lready did this but will do it again.

3. Submit birth certificates for beneficary and petitioner's parents.

How any one know that is meant by "cabling" and "slugging"?

From State Department website:

When primary documents are unavailable, secondary evidence regarding Vietnamese who fled their country beginning in April 1975 may be available from the individual and his or her refugee record. If the applicant received first asylum in Taiwan, cable AIT - Taipei; if in Thailand, cable the U.S.Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand and slug for ODP; if elsewhere in east or southeast Asia, cable the U.S.Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand and slug for RMA/ODP.

Excuse me for a few moments when I vent. SERIOUSLY #######- do they people think this is a game. My wife left around 6am for the 8am appointment but we know appointed time is meaningless. She was third in line but did not get interviewed until 10am. She is scanning the blue slip now but i was too pissed to keep finding out the details. Here are the questions (no particular order) that I can recall from our phone call:

1. where does your husband work? She responded correctly.

2. what does he do? she responded correctly.

3. What is his Boss's name? she did not know.

4. How many times did we come back. she responded 4 in 2008.

5. He went back 4 times in 2008 but none in 2009? She said he was busy with work.

6. What? So he wasn't busy with work in 2008? She didn't respond.

7. Does be own or rent? How much? She responded correctly.

8. How did you meet? She explained that her mom's brother (who married my mom's sister) introduced us. "Technically" we have a mutal uncle but only through marriage. I knew is confusing, but actually detailed this out very well with a detailed family tree for both sides of the family to clearly show that the connection is through marriage only.

9. You are related so how can you get married? She said no we're not related, she calls him "Cau" and I call him "Duong". Two very different relationships.

Anyways, Blue slips ask for:

1. Time line from when you met to present. I gave them a detailed timeline from when we met until about 4/9/09 which was when I submitted the paperwork.

2. Birth certificate for wife's parents and grandparents and for my parents.

3. My birth certificate

we are scheduled to return 12/16 to submit. I will of course pay them a nice visit

I'm not worried about the time. But there is no possible way to get my parents birth certificate or mine. We left the country when i was 6-months. we were on a boat for 6 days and spent another 3 years in a refugee camp. We don't know what to do... we don't have the time or money (nor should we need to provide) such evidence. Your talking 2-3 months of searching and thousands of dollars that may not even uncover anything. These documents were either lost in the war, never produced. C'mon her grandparents are 93 your are talking 1916! The French were still enslaving our people! World War I! Women's suffrage! Less than 15 years since man could fly!

Awesome man Congratulations... cavoi xanh1 did you get pink too???!?!?

I wasn't clear on the timing. The interview is 11/18, 8AM HCM time. Which is 11/17, 8PM EST US TIME. MY hair is falling out becaues of nervousness. Just kidding...We went over the info for about an hour this morning and I told her just to be honest if she doesn't know. We gathered all of our evidence and prepared as much as possible. Oh and congrats on everyone else today!

WONDERFUL!! CONGRATS!!

Wife is in the gaunlet tomorrow (11/17/09 , 8AM HCM time). She is doing a lot better than me- I am a wreak right now hoping everything goes smoothly. Hopefully, she is out early so I can get some sleep tomorrow night. Will update soon---

i agree with your choice. of course, it the ideal world, having our so close would be best, but taking a step back is only going to result in good things for any relationship. you are at the beginning of a wonderful journey together. take every step firmly and confidently so that there is never a question or regret that what you both decide to do. i think if you rush into into- because i think you worry alot (like me) :-)- the next year will be absorbed in the process instead enjoying getting to know each other. its true that the CO can delay our case and our lives miserable, but when a case is genuine there is NOTHING that they can do to ultimately keep us from what we want.

Also from a more practical point of view, you and thu deserve the time to really get to know each other. That is something nothing but time can change, but the good thing is time will fly by before you know especially with all the trips you are planning.

keep looking for plane ticket sales! i check this page in June 2009 and was able to quickly capitalize on the Singapore Airline sale. Ticket was only $670 down from $1500 same time previous year.

For CR-1/IR-1, you can print the e-mail appointment letter and take that for your medical. K visas have to wait for an appointment letter in the mail or directly picked up at the consulate.

Thanks Todd (or Hien) How come the difference? Is it because the Consulate doesn't email the appointment letter when they schedule? and NVC emails it?

Do we need to wait for the hardcopy before getting the medical and the appointment?

Its been almost four weeks since your case was finished, and three since we received the appointment letter by email. The hardcopy has not come to my wife's house or my home here.

I hear from some that the 'printed' email's barcode is less legible and have been denied entry. My wife lives in Danang so we are trying wait for the hardcopy as long as possible before going into SGN through the remainder of the interview and my arrival...

Logically, there should be no difference if I print a PDF at home versus the NVC doing the same exact thing and mailing to you. Thoughts??

Keep us updated- it is so hard to be so far away. Pray for both you!

Some info from the CDC website -->> http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/animal/dogs.htm

Thank you! it is acutally easier to get your pets a visa than i thought. IF only the human visa process were so simple....

Has anyone successfully immigrated with pets? If so what resources do you recommend to get more information and any major difficulties? We have to small chiauaua that are clean, and healthy.

Thanks

Because i did not have enough time to get all the paperwork done. My first trip was only 15 days, and this one 20 there is not enough time unless you pay someone off, and that would have not been right and that in it self would have been a very big red flag. My first trip was over Christmas and new year. So the K1 is the only way we could file. I do not believe in paying someone off to get things done quicker, any CO can see that if you are there for 15 days and get a wedding done in that time that you had to pay someone off, and if they see that they would wonder why we did not wait?? Paying someone off to hurry and get married instead of taking the correct route??? To me this is wrong. I know that I am not 100% moral on everything I do, but everything I do or say I can sleep with a clean conscience over, and to pay off some official in Vietnam so that we could hurry and get a wedding on my first trip was something that I would never feel right about. Jerome

I loose a twenty dollars before even leaving the airport everytime but i think the extra 'import fee is only for viet kieu

.

Doan and I had the full blown picture day (before sun up to after sun down). We also had a ceremony and reception. However this was all before we submitted our original K-1 petition. I clearly definde and stated in the original document submittal that we are engaged and plan to marry when she arrives to the US. We received no RFE's and nothing was questioned. This provides background and evidence that would conflict with an alternate determination at the consulate.

Again, in my time line and all our documents and proofs, we never use the words marriage, married, spouse etc...always refer to engamenment and engagement party even though it was the other. We will have to see what happens when we have Doan's interview (just sending DS-230 and DS-2001 now). We can only hope that all will be well. If it comes down to legality of the issue, there is no factual and objective evidence that supports a claim that we are married within the lawful jurisdiction of either country. If it causes us AP then so be it. We cannot recall the package we already submitted to the USICS as our original petition. Its in the books and approved. I have a number of valid and factual points to defend our position.

Now if these activities took place more recently there may be more burden to prove your status, but as we already submitted this up front for petition approval we have already estabished our case to be factual.

Anyway, I'll let everyone know when we get our interview scheduled and how we make out!

We are the exact same as you. We both wrote sworn statements that say we are legally able to marry, and we are going to do this within 90 days of her arrival. Yes we had the wedding ceremony, the full blown thing, this was for her family, we do not call each other husband and wife, this was all done BEFORE we filed for a K1 visa. We had a Vietnamese wedding without the paperwork. Many people have been fine doing this and I am sure that some have had problems because of this. Everyone that is going through this process is not made of money or lottery winners, some people can not get back to take their fiancé or fiancée home with them once they get the visa. Most people can not afford to take off more than 2 weeks a year. I knew all this before I filed for our K1 visa, and we discussed the possibility that I might not be able to come back this year, so we went all out for her family's sake. I did not want to rob them of the joy of seeing their loved one having a wedding. Most people I have talked with that have had strictly a engagement party all say their family still consider them to be married, and this is without any type of ceremony. To answer Linda's question, yes she had the white dress after. I am sure you already knew this by viewing our photos in our profile. If it comes back to haunt us, so be it. I did what I felt was right for Binh AND her family, and I am more than prepared to deal with that later. I will also post as soon as we hear something, either negative or positive. From the day that our journey started, I have never second guessed any of my decisions and I will not start to do it now. What is done is done, would I have done things differently? NO and I can say that truthfully. I worry about the future and not the past. If I worry to much about something then I will miss the important things that are happening in the now moment. I think it is so sad that people would rob their loved ones family of such a moment, and that people are worried about getting a fiancée home in time for a tax break, joking or not, this is just wrong. I worry about getting Binh home for different reasons, I want her with me because I love her and I get tired of having a chat on a web cam, I want to be able to hug her and instead of cooking on the stove with my laptop behind me I want her behind me to sample as I cook. I know that if a person gets denied for photo evidence (not many different photos in different clothes) then they must have had a weak case, if a person gets denied solely because they had a wedding ceremony and are filing for a K1 then I think they did something else wrong, they did not have a police statement saying that they were able to marry, or did not address the letter clearly that they understood and knew they were going to get married within 90 days of her arrival to the united states, or the fiancée truly thought she was his wife already and told the CO that. If she is smart and if he is smart, they should be able to have a Dam Hoi without any problems. I am sure that the CO is looking for fraud, and he might try to nit pick something in a photo, but if your case is presented correctly then theory should be no problem at all. Point blank, this is not a perfect world, if it were then we would all go to visit our loved ones each weekend and then come home in time for work next week. We are not all made of money, and just making enough to meet the poverty level does not mean people can come back and forth 2 or 3 times during this process. When people say that they should go back for the interview, then go back for a Dam Hoi after they get a visa to take them home, I think is just unrealistic for most of us. Some people are lucky, I never thought I would EVER be able to come back for 3 trips in the same year. I got lucky due to my work situation, most people are not this lucky. Jerome

Why didn't you file for CR-1 Visa Jerome if you had a full blown wedding in Vietnam. It would have been easier and you could bypass the AOS and EAD stuff and get the green card and social security card when she enters the US.

It looks like he was only back for two weeks or so during the wedding. It would have been very tight to get the interview and paper work I was there for a month and sent to submit our marriage application the next day. They PROMISED that everything would be ready for signing two days before I left (i.e. come back in 3 1/2 weeks). When we showed up it supposedly would take another 1 week. I naively said ok and walked out about to get on the phone to call my company and preparing a sob story about how I am stuck and would be late returning to work... as I was crossing the street the 'dich vu' lady that was supposed our friend makes a few calls and suddenly $250 would get the papers ready in 6 hours... while on principle i hated giving in the $250- extending my leave of absence from work and rescheduling plane ticket would have cost much more....

Hi All-

I've been reading but did not come across how far ahead NVC typically schedules the HCM appointment for CR/IR petitions? Any thoughts??

Thanks All

Hi all just an update for all for are anxiously waiting for interview appointment! I got email notice today with the Appointment Letter with dated and instructions.

NVC case completed: October 2, 2009

Appointment Letter : October 13, 2009 (by email)

Appointment Date: November 18, 2009

I'm not back to VN until after the interview so will not have the 'pleasure' of standing across the street , but at least will be there in person to follow-up if things goes that way (knock on wood) Hoping for speedy processing for those who are still waiting!

Yea!! Congrats on the interview date! 36 days between notice and interview...pretty good if you ask me!!

GOODLUCK to you and your spouse!! Please come back and post an update after the interview...

Thank you :dance:

Hi All-

I've been reading but did not come across how far ahead NVC typically schedules the HCM appointment for CR/IR petitions? Any thoughts??

Thanks All

Hi all just an update for all for are anxiously waiting for interview appointment! I got email notice today with the Appointment Letter with dated and instructions.

NVC case completed: October 2, 2009

Appointment Letter : October 13, 2009 (by email)

Appointment Date: November 18, 2009

I'm not back to VN until after the interview so will not have the 'pleasure' of standing across the street , but at least will be there in person to follow-up if things goes that way (knock on wood) Hoping for speedy processing for those who are still waiting!

She is sending her clean paper to show she has no criminal record and all the other paperwork you send in after you get the case number. I am sending the I-864 and my pay stubs and copys of a bank statement along with the last 3 years tax returns

Whoa whoa whoa!!! You need to wait till the 3032 is generated and the AOS bill is paid and shows paid before you start sending stuff in to NVC!!! If you send anything before, it will NOT be accepted!!! I would however suggest that you have the benificerary fill out the 230, send all the required original documents to you and have everything ready to go... But do not send anything to NVC before they are ready to accept it!!!

Here is a formula I did for another post that tells the sequence

I posted this in another post.... might be of use in keeping things straight!

For anyone confused the formula is this

Petitioner = Get NVC # + receive AOS fee bill + pay 70$ online + wait to show paid + print cover sheet + send 854 AOS with all documents and case # written on each page

Benificerary = Get NVC# + receive 3032 + send 3032+ 3032 accepted + IV fee bill available to be paid + pay and wait to show paid + print IV cover sheet + mail 230 package with all original/certified documents

======= wait for case complete + wait for interview to be scheduled

Good luck to all!!!

Yeah I paid the 400 and the 70 online it shows paid I went to the next step and printed out my cover sheet and emailed the coversheet to my wife. She is getting the paperwork done there once she has it complete she is going to mail me her paperwork and I will mail them to the NVC either with my I-864 or by themselves if I send the I-864 now. I was just wondering speed wise would our case be completed at the NVC sooner and we will get our interview date sooner if I send my info in first if not I will send them both at the same time.

Thanks

Sorry, you do not have a current timeline so it is hard to see where you are in the process, please update

To answer your question, you can send the 864 package now then her package once it gets here... Since they are two different processes that merge, not sure if it cuts any time off, but at least you know if your part has any issues or if they need any other info....

I sent my I864 in about three weeks before I got the orginial police certs for my wife. NVC sent a notice "checklist" which just a barcoded letter stating that the I864 forms were received but the petition is missing additonal forms. Essentially, they said I needed to send in the DS230 for processing. I would send the I864 early if you can, at the very least it won't negatively effect the processing time.

As a GC holder, I don't think she'll need a visa as Greece is in EU... My husband didn't need a visa for all European countries we visited, including Greece...

She will need a visa; your husband's case is different, as he is from Bulgaria, which is an EU country.

Thank you all! This is consistent with what I have read. I'll stop by the Greek Embassy when I go to pick up my VN visa next week! Its less than a mile from each other.

I am anticipating our interview for this December 2009. If all goes well (hoping), my wife maybe able to return with me in December or by early next year. If she arrives in the US in January, how long does it take to get a green card?

I have an assignment on Crete (Greece) in Feb/March time frame and would LOVE to be able to take her to Greece and stop over in Paris . So my questions:

1. How long to get the conditional green card once spouse is here?

2. Do you keep the vietnamese passport until you become a U.S. citizen?

Thanks!

I saw some good hotel recommendations on another thread and hope to capture some more good restuarant tips here. Last year, I took my wife to a nice restuarant in Danang on the beaches just to get a way from family for a little bit. We've also hit all the good place 'hole in the walls' that locals keep secret. i'd like to find a nice restuarant in HCM that is also GOOD western food for out anniversay in November. Any thoughts? Anyone been to Panorama 33? Is the view worth it?

*activate flame shield*

we should probably close this thread before it gets WAY off topic

information rush here- jk thanks this clears it up alot.

Slightly off topic:

With a CR/IR case, the NVC does the heavily lifting up front by collecting and processing all the 'civil' documents while the Consulate bears this burden for the K-1,K-3 cases because of the intent to move things along faster. At some point, the bottle neck comes back to available CO officers right? Is the purpose of using the NVC in CR/IR to less the admin workload for the Consulate?