Mike and Thanh

How will they know if I got married before I get the marriage license? I'm a buddhist, so there won't be any church ceremony that a priest can marry us off, so how would they know? It will be a simple ceremony at my house.

Thanks for the replies. Wow, luckytxn, you move fast. The main reason why I can't do things right away because I had to work the very next day after I got back. I had to make up for lost time. Boss had me work regular schedule and overtime every single day. So everyday, I worked like 8am to around 10 pm. It was rough, but had to do it if I wanted to keep this job.

Anyway, can I have the wedding then get a marriage license? With my schedule right now, I don't think I have time to go to the courthouse to do it. I'm off on Sunday, but so is the courthouse I think. I could try to request an off day on the weekdays, but I have to see if my boss let me. He's a very hard and strict boss.

My fiancee has been here for almost 2 weeks now. I haven't done anything since we got back. I had to immediately return to work because I was gone for a whole month. Also I have been busy preparing for the wedding. Anyway, I need to start to get the ball rolling on the paperwork. I have some questions, I hope the mods will let this thread stay here because I want input from fellow VN petitioners. I apologize ahead of time, I know some of these questions are in the FAQs and Guides, but I want answers directly from you guys. What should I do first? Apply for social security card, marriage license, get married, and then AOS?

1. Applying for a social security card should be direct right? Apply it in her name as it is on her passport? Can it be done online?

2. The marriage license is more confusing to me. My wedding is on October 10th. I should apply for it now. However, I'm confused about the whole process. I know I can go to my local courthouse to apply for one. I read there is an expiration date, what does this mean? Apply now and then get married, but what does the expiration date mean? In one month time, it will expire? Then what, reapply? Another whole thing is I know if you get marry in a church, the pastor will be the person that marry you off and can sign the application or license. I'm not sure how it goes really, I just heard it from friends. Problem is we are both buddhist. So, how will our process suppose to go? We won't get marry in a church and the ceremony will be at home with family. I'm very confused at how I'm going to do this. I hope you all can shed some light onto this for me.

3. As far as the AOS, I will hire a lawyer to take care of that. So this part is ok for now.

Thanks for any information.

Hi guys, I'm back from Vietnam with my fiancee. Everything went pretty smoothly, even the POE went smooth. More details later. We just literally just got back from the airport.

I'm about to head to the airport. Hopefully, my fiancee and I can stay safe and healthy while in Vietnam and on the way back to the U.S. And go through the POE without much problem and hassle. It would be great if I somehow can I bump into a VJ member who is in Vietnam during my trip. I will mostly stay around the HCM area.

Good luck to everyone else through this whole process. Hopefully when I come back, I can hear some good news from those who are having problems right now. I will go to the temple on my trip and I will say a few prays for my fellow VJers. Pink Pink Pink!

Ok, thanks Scott.

Btw, should I bring a mask on my trip? My fiancee said I should not only bring it but wear it at the airport and on the plane. Is that necessary? I thought you wear only if are one of the sick? The people over in Vietnam aren't too clear about this H1N1 thing. They think wearing a mask mean you are safe and not eating pork. I told my fiancee the most important thing is being clean. Make sure you wash you hands often for example. Or should I just wear a mask anyway?

be sure you bring back certified copy of birth cert....

Her birth certificate? Certified? How? Does it need to be translated? I remembered when I first file the petition, the lawyer helped me translated it to English. Now sure if that's consider certified or not.

Do I need to bring any documents over there? Such as any documents pertaining to the petition or whatever? I don't I need to bring anything on my part. Only thing needed are her K1 visa and medical documents right?

Hi guys, I will be going to Vietnam on Tuesday, August 11th. I will be going for a month. I think I need the month away because I know when we come back, we will be very busy. We will have to get married, which in itself is a headache with all the stuff that is needed to be done, then of course we will have to start on the AOS and all that good stuff. I'm sure there are other things we have to do as well. I just hope and pray that we will both be safe and healthy(H1N1 safe)the whole time there and on the way back.

How soon should I start on the AOS after we get back? We should be married first right? So get a marriage certificate first and/or wedding ceremony, etc first? Then do AOS? Sorry I know this be asked before, but just want you guys input.

Lastly, I would like to say for those who got blue. Keep your heads up, you will get pink sooner rather than later. You all will have my prays and well wishes.

There are two dates on the blue slip. As if things aren't confusing enough for you. Like the others said, don't wait until the date(whenever that suppose to be). Gather everything you need and bring them in as soon as possible.

I will have to bring a whole bunch of stuff over too. I will have two luggage, one will have my clothes and misc stuff, the other luggage will all be stuff for them such as shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, medicines of all kind, gifts, etc. To be honest, it's a hassle. However, it's not like I do it all the time, so I guess it's ok. I hope all the stuff in that luggage won't go over weight. My fiancee said that they do have stuff like what I mentioned over there, but they are really expensive.

I don't know if that's the case or not. My wife turn it in and when she receive the paper back, there is no timeline. Either they keep it for further review or they just tossed it.

Something doesn't sound right. In any case, I wish you guys the best.

Man, have you heard of an American agent speaks vietnamese on the interview? That's who my wife got.

I believe there are two marks:

1. They don't believe in our relationship is real.

2. TIMELINE (which we did turn in at the first window).

that's all for now. she'll scan the letter soon. Thanks for your input guys.

Next date to turn in papers: September 12th

My fiancee was also interviewed by an American speaking Vietnamese. Don't worry, I'm sure she will get pink soon. Wait, you turned in the timeline and they said you didn't have a timeline? Or the person in the first window didn't give it to them?

No, i'm in the States. I don't think I can be able to go to work right now. It's gonna be hard.

I know exactly how you feel. I was in the same situation just last week. It's definitely very hard. I couldn't sleep until I heard the news. Even afterward, I still couldn't sleep. Don't worry, she will get pink. If we all leave near each other, that would be great. We could go get a drink and celebrate.

Tamiflu not working on H1N1 but H1N1 is not the only flu out there so it will help some...

I guess I should bring it anyway. I recheck the Tamiflu and it was actually issued to me in 2007. The expiration date is 2011. So is it still good?

Ok, so it's a no on the flu shot. It never really work for me anyway. I don't know if it's just in my head or what, the years I didn't have any flu shots, I was fine. The one year I had the flu shot, I caught the flu anyway.

I do have a pack of TamiFlu from the last time, I brought it just in case. Never used it. I heard the H1N1 virus is immune to TamiFlu though.

Or maybe I just hope for the best and make sure I wash my hands often and aware of people that appear to be sick?

HYENA, hope you don't mind me asking a question here in your thread. I'm about to go to Vietnam. Should I get a flu shot? I doubt a flu shot will help much or prevent the H1N1 virus. Should I get it anyway? I don't normally get yearly flu shots either. I haven't had the flu for a few years now, with or without a flu shot. What do you guys think?

Yes, you can go through with her in the non-USC line. I did and many others have, as well. It actually makes it easier on the officer there if you accompany her since she does not speak Engligh. It is very unlikely that they would have a VN speaking person to help.

Thanks for the info Todd.

I wonder how people over there stand wearing the clothes without fabric softeners. My fiancee's family doesn't use them because like most there, they hand wash the clothes. Maybe we used to it here or something. She washed my clothes for me once and after that, I didn't want to try that again. She had to bring me to a place that did the washing(with fabric softeners)and drying for you. It was cheap too. Just that you had to wait about a day to pick up your clothes. That is what I plan to do when I go over there.

Kevin, I hope you don't mind me asking a question in your thread. At the POE, I know there is a separate line for USC and non USC. Will they let me accompany her in the non USC line or maybe her with me in the USC line? I asked this because my fiancee doesn't know any English. So if they ask her anything, she wouldn't understand.

And congrats Kevin, my fiancee just passed her interview too.

You know I think sometimes we take things for granted. Such as a washer, dryer, and Tide fabric softener...lol. My fiancee did wash my undies once when I was there. I didn't like it. It was rough and itchy. It felt like I was wearing cardboard sheets. Then I knew how good are those fabric softeners.

Ok, I understand I should bring as little as I can. However, what if I run out of clean undies for example?

Best of luck.

Yes, yes I admit my mistake. You guys know the streets in Ho Chi Minh can get pretty noisy. She lived in a very busy street too.

Off topic a bit: How much do you guys pack when you go back to VN? Let say you will stay one month there. I don't want to bring too much this time. Maybe one week worth of clothes?

I made a mistake. She will get her visa on August 6th, not the 27th. I talked to Thanh today and asked her again. She said she told me the 6th. I must have been a bit too happy and also the background noises in Vietnam also affected what I heard. So mistake on my part.