Eric & Hang

Congratulations!! I was pointing out to my wife that they conduct the ceremonies at Faneuil Hall when we visited last month, so perhaps we'll end up there in a few years. They also held one at Fenway Park last year.

Thanks - I think we'll attempt to get this redone. I am curious though as to what their standards are for translations.

As we prepare our AOS application, we had one question about translation of documents. We've seen the recommended translator certification statement, but have people had experience with rejected translations? In our case, we currently only have a copy of the translated birth certificate and the translator's statement reads that "I have translated this document into English truly and exactly as my best knowledge". Any thoughts on whether that would be acceptable?

Thanks!

Congratulations - that's great!!

In our case, Hang received Package 4 on (Friday!) August 13th, and the interview was on September 27th, so that was about 6 1/2 weeks ahead of time. We did have a little concern about getting an appointment for the medical exam but were ultimately able to get in at Cho Ray with about two weeks notice.

Just to chime in on the OP's timeline question: Hang was able to turn in our notarized timeline with the main documents when she checked in (prior to the interview itself). She emphasized that it updated important information in our original petition and that her fiance wanted to make sure that they got it. I think it was useful because we could highlight what we saw as our strong points in a short, two-page overview and include the two additional trips to Vietnam after our I-129F filing.

I'm just back from traveling to Vietnam for Hang's successful K-1 interview on 9/27. She received the actual visa today, so we are excited to be moving ahead now with the next phase and to be starting our life together soon. We're very grateful to all the folks here who have posted useful information and responded to our questions - I'm doubtful that we would have achieved this result without that help. Thanks!!!

I'll plan to post a more detailed summary later in the reviews section, but she spent a little over two hours inside the consulate on the interview day while I waited anxiously across the street. She was the third person interviewed by her CO after blue slips for the first two (she also noticed one person interviewed by a different CO who also received pink). She was asked roughly 40 questions in all, and except for one that she asked to be repeated in Vietnamese, the interview was conducted entirely in English. Out of the variety of evidence we had compiled, the officer looked at some of the photos and envelopes/postcards but did not ask to see the emails, phone records, and other items (I'm glad that we had prepared them though!). Hang was also insistent about turning in our two-page, notarized relationship timeline along with the main documents, and it appears that they did look at that as well. She was finished by about 10:20, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the day in HCMC before flying to Da Nang to visit her family for the rest of the week.

Eric

Does this mean tax return transcripts and tax account transcripts? Or, does this mean copies of the tax return and tax account transcripts?

I'm just wondering why you would want to send tax account transcripts. Did you file an amended return?

Thanks for the response. No amended returns, but I wasn't sure exactly how to interpret "Complete Income Tax Return Transcript from the IRS (formerly IRS Form 1722)" in the Package 4 instructions. Since it's only one more page per year, I figured I'd just include the Account Transcripts for 'completeness'.

Thanks for the advice! We'll plan to include three years of tax transcripts.

As we finish preparing for our interview coming up on the 27th, I was hoping that someone could confirm that the "N/A (K-1 visa process for permanent residence)" answer to question 11 on the I-134 form is acceptable for the HCMC consulate. Otherwise, I think we've got the information we'll need for that form:

Tax return and account transcripts from the IRS for last year

Employment letter

Current paystub

Credit union letter

Current credit union statement

Thanks!

Excellent - congratulations! As someone with anxiety as our K-1 interview date is rapidly approaching on the 27th, I also appreciate your comments on the consulate.

I'm not sure that it is actually possible to camp up at Ba Na (perhaps bonfire is a better description than campfire). Sorry for any confusion.

I've also used the loose-leaf visa option which only requires that a copy of the passport be submitted. The embassy website refers to this in the context of "urgent cases", so perhaps they are now discouraging this. Note also that they retain the loose-leaf visas when you leave Vietnam, so be sure to make a copy if you need a record.

My fiancée is from Da Nang, so I've had the chance to visit there several times. I've enjoyed the more relaxed feeling compared to HCMC or Hanoi - the bank of the Han River is a pleasant place to stroll in the evenings (the bridge there is supposed to rotate at midnight if you're still out and about). The Cham sculpture museum is the main tourist attraction and does have a nice collection if you enjoy that kind of thing, and the Marble Mountains just south of town on the way to Hoi An are worth a stop. We had the same experience vising Ba Na last year while the construction was still going on, but the tram was impressive and the evening campfire was pretty enjoyable. Hope that helps!

Congratulations and best of luck going forward together!

I appreciate the help in clearing this up for us - we'll press on with preparing for our interview. I find the names in Vietnam to be pretty interesting. My fiancee's brother and his wife are expecting a baby girl within the month, so we'll see if they use "Thi" in her middle name!

Thanks for the replies & sorry if there was some confusion. The family name is Ngo, so we expected "Ngo Thi Thu Hang" to become "Ngo, Hang Thu Thi", but perhaps it depends on how we completed the original form? We had listed "Thu Thi" for the middle name on Part B of the I-129F (and the letter from the NVC showed it as "Hang Thu Thi Ngo").

Eric

Hello all,

We're both excited and anxious as our K1 case for HCMC is proceeding along (we've received the packet 3 letter), but a question has recently come up regarding the ordering of her name. If it is written in Vietnamese as "<Family> Thi Thu Hang", should it be shown shown on the letter as "<Family>, Hang Thu Thi" or "<Family>, Hang Thi Thu"? We want make sure it is right now to avoid any issues later.

Thanks,

Eric

Thanks for the replies! It's great that there is a community like this for sharing information.

It sounds like the best approach is to go ahead and put together a complete and current set of evidence now and then try our best to make sure that the CO is aware of important updates at the time of the interview.

Eric

Greetings to everyone on this forum from a first time poster! I find myself both nervous and excited as I begin the process that I hope will unite me with my fiancee here in the United States. I'm particularly appreciative for all of the good information posted here by "veterans" of the K-1 process.

I don't expect any major issues with our initial filing, but I gather that the big hurdle will be the determination by the consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. My primary question right now is whether and when we will have the opportunity to submit additional supporting material between the time of our initial I129-F filing and the actual interview.

I feel like this could be very important to our case. For example, we (actually her terrific family!) organized our Dinh Hon celebration on short notice after I proposed to her on my most recent visit to Vietnam in November, and none of my family could be in attendance. My parents are eager to meet her and her family but will not be able to travel until my father recovers from surgery scheduled for later this month. If they are able to go in the near future, I would hope to be able to get that evidence in front of the consular officer.

My current thought is to strive for a relatively short, well organized initial package, but this depends on whether we will indeed have a chance to provide a more complete and current set of evidence later that will be fully considered before she goes in for the interview.

Thanks much,

Eric