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Frank and Duyen

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Posts posted by Frank and Duyen

    Checking in

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    Hello VJers

    Wanted to update those of you that were here while we were going through the visa process. My wife and stepson arrived at SFO May 5th. We used IOM, the ticket was less expensive and the service was awesome.

    Stepson is in 5th grade, hes doing great, has lots of friends and a great teacher. He rides his bike to school everyday.

    We bought a house, waiting for escrow to close.

    Wife has been to dmv more times than she will let me say to get her drivers permit :wacko: , they have a Vnese version of the test but it doesnt seem to help. Shes stressing over passing, all I can do is encourage her and say "Next time we will get it".

    She's still looking for work. There has been a couple interviews by recruiters but nothing has come from it. Hoping to get hired on somewhere for the holidays.

    We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend, did the corn maze, pumpkin blaster and haunted house, the expression on my sons face was priceless. He's going to be dracula for halloween.

    To all those going through the visa process, be patient and no matter how long it takes, hang in there, its soooo worth it. Im thankful everyday that my wife and son are here. Life is so good.

    Frank

    Approved

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    Congratulations! That's the power of love and perseverance right there.

    You got that right my friend, couldnt have done it without either of those......Thanks !

    Approved

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    Thank you to everyone for the well wishes. Its an awesome feeling. They will be here next Friday :dance:

    Scott thanks for keeping it under your hat until all the T's were crossed, appreciate it.

    Frank and Duyen

    Approved

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    Hello Visa Journey, Viet Nam forum.

    I pleased to say that after approx. 19 months in “Additional Processing” my wife and son got their pink slips and visas are in passports. It took 5 trips to VN and around 13 visits to the consulate to get them to believe our marriage is bona fide. On my last trip in Jan/Feb of 2011 I gave them an updated affidavit of support for my stepson and wife, current tax transcripts and a cover letter/Timeline summarizing our relationship, marriage and events of the last 3 years. 2 days later they called us both in for an interview, several days after that she received a letter asking for updated police cert, medical and passport pics. After those were turned in she got another blue slip for expired ds230. About 2 weeks later she received another letter from the consulate to turn in the ds230 and for another interview. Pink slip was given and visas were issued one week later.

    To those in AP, keep positive and continue to do everything in your power to get your case reviewed. I firmly believe they kept us in AP so long to test if our marriage was real. I have had my congressman, Jerry McNerney and Senator Barbra Boxer making inquires (thank you to them and their staff), every time I went to see my wife and son I made as many visits as time would allow to the consulate with additional supporting evidence. I emailed the consulate about 2 times a month, each time they replied, I replied. My wife also made several trip to “Window B” to turn in phone records, hers and mine and any other pertinent information to show proof of an ongoing relationship. I don’t know if it helped or hindered but we weren’t going to sit back and wait for whatever to unfold.

    Thank you to the VJ community for providing support and some interesting reading over the years. Special thanks to Scott and Curtis who kept in touch and always had positive thoughts. Scott, thanks for keeping the AP thread updated. We are no longer on the top of “Those currently in AP”. We are, “VJ Members who made it out of AP”……. IR1/IR2……APPROVED!!

    Frank and Duyen

    In LIMBO 9 months

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    Hello,

    I am petitioning for the I-29F Fiance Visa for my fiance from Vietnam. I am a U.S. Citizen in Oklahoma. After some time courting her in Vientam and accumulating evidence of a relationship, my wife was interviewed in July of 2010 in the notoriously inept US Consulate General in HCM City, VN. She was given an OF-194 at the conclusion of the interview which in and of itself is not surprising. However, the OF-194 that she recieved in particular did not detail further instructions for her or myself to complete.

    The bottom of the form says to AWAIT FURTHER ADMISITRATIVE PROCESSING from the US Consulate, and that there is no action necessary or possible for us to take!

    This was 9 months ago and after months of repeated emails/phone calls and in person pleas to the help window at the consulate, they still refuse to say one word about our case. Each time the response is:

    "As of today, the beneficiary’s case is still pending review by a consular officer. Please note that it is a normal process in our office. Due to the large number of cases to be reviewed by our office, we regret that we are unable to provide you with a time frame in which a consular officer will reach a final decision on the beneficiary’s case. "

    "We will notify the beneficiary when the case is reviewed."

    What the **** is that? Have they decided to put is in limbo forever hoping that we will drop the case? I've heard of this happening to a friend of mine once before and after 6 years the light finally came on and they terminated the case and repetitioned successfully after untold hardships and turmoil. thanks USA!

    D. in Oklahoma

    Face time with with a consular csr might help, I think it did for us. We are still in AP (17 months) but the ball is again rolling.

    Phone Card to call Vietnam

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    I use omely telecom service. 2.9 cents to Saigon/Hanoi.

    5 cents to cellphone/province. They have a promotion right now too.

    $20-50 : 10% off

    $50-300: 15% off.

    Excellent sound quality and you can get monthly calling records.

    Omelytelecom.com

    916-473-5142

    Omely325@yahoo.com.vn

    Emailing the HCMC consulate

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    I've been emailing the consulate monthly for 15 months, always got the auto-reply. After being in AP so long I get a little paranoid when the routine is changed.

    Ronnie, I did create a new message and change up the subject a little but still no auto-reply.

    Thanks for you input everyone.

    Happy New year

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    Just wanted to say a special Happy New year to all my brothers and sisters here in the VN forum. We have gone through a lot together these years and wanted to say thanks for all that have been there for the others. I will say that I have had a very good year and most of it is because my wife has been so awesome and makes me want to try to out awesome her but I know I fail but will try my best to make her even happier.

    Happy New years to all and may this next year be the best ever. I will pray even harder for the ones still not having their others with them. God bless us all.kicking.gifkicking.gifkicking.gif

    Happy New Year !!

    You are awesome Curtis

    K1 Paper work "stuck" at HCM Consulate after interview

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    US Vn, be sure you addressed everything they requested on the blue slip. Then you need to allow them time to process it all. Depending what was on your blue slip it could be soon or could be a while. As far as reviewing your case in the order it was recieved, well thats hard to believe, for me anyway. My wife and sons case have been sitting in AP for over a year, our turn must have got skipped. I've been to the consulate a dozen times in the last couple years. They cant, wont or are unable to provide anyone with any idea about when their case will be done or even reviewed. Do everything you can to prod them, email, get your congressional rep and your senator to make inquiries and continue to go to the consulate whenever you can. Some on this board think its good to continue to submit additional evidence and some dont think it a good idea, I've tried both and were still in AP so go figure.

    I'm pretty sure that getting married while applying for a K-1 visa is a big NO NO.

    Good luck, hang in there and keep us up to date on whats happening.

    Frank and Duyen

    Vietnamese women are bossy

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    Does it matter what I think? If you're married, you should know your thinking and/or opinion wouldn't matter much in the relationship. She's ALWAYS right! and if you can't adapt to accept that, you'll be heading into a divorce.

    Im involved in the decision making and my opinion does count but my wife is clearly the boss and I love it. She has her head on much straighter than me :wacko:

    Take your time

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    I can't speak for everyone else, but when I decided that I wanted to look outside the US for a REAL relationship, and not with a typical american valued girl, I did not think it would be cheap, I KNEW it would NOT be cheap. Price was not even in the picture, it never has been and never will be. I was tired of the one night stands, the american way of thinking that if there is a problem, to heck with it, i will just break up with him and go on or vice versa. I was tired of the "I never want to get married" mentality. I wanted a relationship built on knowledge, not built on sex, and the only way to be able to truly do that is with a long distance relationship. I never rushed to see Binh the first month or two from meeting, we actually waited 9 months before we met for the first time.

    When you say once they realize they have the power, I think you are thinking of this entire relationship thing the wrong way. "Once they realize" to me it sounds like you did not inform them of their rights, like you think once they come over here they need to be locked up in a deep dark basement with no contact to the outside world, well heck yes if you treat them as idiots and dont tell them what is really going on, and they eventually find out from other people what their rights are, then they will change. If you treat your woman with RESPECT and let her know what she can and cant do right away and I dont mean "you cant go here, you cant do this, and you have to dress like this" but actually tell her what her rights are and have an EQUAL partnership then when the bad people come whispering things in her ear she wont feel the need to listen to them. I met Fred when he was here this last time, and he told me some funny things that some Vietnamese women were telling his wife, on how to hide money from her and what not. She didnt listen because they have a REAL relationship, he treats her with respect, and she also does. If you keep a person in the dark long enough, anyone offering to show them light will be listened to, but if you show them the light from the start, they have no need to listen to them.

    In any relationship, you need to take time, make sure it is right, but if you go into this Vietnamese wife thing, you do need to realize that it is still a relationship, and as such you both need to be partners, and not go into this thinking you are getting a house wife that only says yes to what you say. You also do have to realize that she DOES have family back home, it might seem like they are expecting you to help all the time, and maybe some of them do, BUT..... their culture mandates that they help one another when they need it, this is an obligation that is instilled in them at a very early age, and one of the reasons I really like asian culture. Example, my mother is going through a divorce, she had a stroke 3 years back and is all but blind, and can barely get around, her husband is treating her like he used to treat me (and that aint good!) he cleaned out her bank accounts, so she didnt have money for a lawyer, well their assets combined are well over 300k since they used to own their own trucking company, well no lawyer will touch her case without a $2000 up front payment. To make a long story short, if I had an American wife, we would have argued over me sending her the money, but with Binh (my vietnamese wife) she said send it today. So...... sending money works both ways just like any relationship, if you look abroad, it doesnt matter if she is Soviet, Asian or African, chances are they will want to help family members back home when they can.

    Jerome

    Well said Jerome :thumbs:

    This is how you can Print your Call History Logs

    in K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures

    Posted

    Hello To All, I wanted to share with everyone how I was able to Print Yahoo Call Logs / Call History as a part of the evidence we need. I’m sure this would work on other messengers also. It’s a great capture program. For those of you that were wanting to do this, Here are my full instructions. I hope this is good for those in need of it

    :)

    To begin you will need to download !Quick Screen Capture Program - Version 3.0.2 (it’s a small program)

    After you have downloaded the program - Go to your Yahoo Call History Screen thats shows all calls you have made and received. Open it and make this page Full Screen and leave this page up.

    Now open the !Quick Screen Capture Program - At the top you will see the word Capture, Click on it, now Click the word Full Screen - You will hear a sound like a picture being taken, You will be ask to "save as" ( I saved mine as JPG - JPEG)

    This program takes a picture of your page, so you must " Save in Sections " You might get more or less to fit. (Example dates 10/22 - 11/20) then do ( 11/21 - 12/07 ) on a separate piece of paper. Just look at your call log to see where you stopped and started.

    After you have saved all your History you may want to use a picture program to crop what you don’t need to print of the screen. " But not necessary "

    After I finished all of mine they printed out PERFECTLY!!

    The sad part is I didn’t know how to do this when we filed our 129F in September, I used my home phone bill copies and we didnt talk much on them because it was so expensive. I’m glad to have these now to show our on going relationship.

    Good Luck to Everyone

    :)

    Why not just tap the print screen button on your keyboard , open ms word, right clck and select paste !

    consulate General in SF

    in Vietnam

    Posted

    The visa exemption of my husband was approved this morning. It took almost 4 business weeks. Finally its done pheeewwww. Maybe it takes that long for couples who get married in Vietnam coz my friends who get married in the US, it just takes them 7 business days to get visa exemption.

    Thanks for your relpy sweetapple. So I should receive mine soon. No more need to stress about now, I do appreciate it. And thanks for the phone number too :thumbs:

    Frank

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