cedwards001

Hello everyone,

I have enjoyed participating on Visa Journey for the last year or so. However, it is with great regret that I must take an indefinite "leave" for health reasons. Without getting into too much detail, I am suffering from a serious health issue that requires 100% of my attention. I do hope to recover from this as quickly as possible and contribute once again to this great VJ nation sometime in the near future. Hope to be back soon. God speed!

Carl

Is their such a thing as front loading items during the interview when they ask for specific forms? Or is it only at the initial filing?

Front loading is done at the petition stage. I have never heard of anybody front loading at the interview stage because the CO's typically refuse any documentation you try to give them. Some people have gotten away with putting a timeline in the same stack of required papers and getting the CO's to accept it so I suppose if you count THAT as front loading, then yes it would work.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110529/od_afp/vietnampolicebanoffbeat

This is so funny. A month before my fiance got her K1 approved, she was stopped on her motorbike by a police officer. The moron wanted a bribe so she could get out of the ticket. The guy was wearing you guessed it: sunglasses.....and he was smoking. I guess he can't do these anymore. Now if only the VN government would do something about this bribing nonsense

No problem Jerry. You will never feel alone on VJ. We are with you through this entire process because I know how difficult it was for me as well. Trust me, once she gets the visa in hand you will party even harder!

We finally got the pink. So happy now. Will pick up visa next Friday June 3rd.

I knew you guys could do it. Congrats man!!!

Come on police report! Come on pink!

How much longer until you have the police report?

How long will it take you to submit the CRBA paperwork to the Consulate?

So lucky for us, ah?

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. Good news about your police paper being sent to your fiance. You guys are good. Get that pink!

That's great new Jerry. I think this is it. Submit the police paper and the Pink is yours! Congrats buddy!!

I hear ya! Anticipation growing. 4 days 5 hours 24 minutes to go for us.

I am nervous for you guys. Good luck and I am hopeful that your fiance will get Pink

After my wife picked up her visa, she gave one of the girls the "stink eye" as she was walking away. She claims to have done it because the VN girls were rude to her and she wanted to rub her displeasure in their faces. I never advised her to do such, but she was lucky the girls didn't chase her down and take the visa back!

My girl told me this morning that I forgot to sign page two of the I-134. I can spend another $30 to express ship one page printed and signed or consider doing like you say. (DOH! homer simpson)

If she needs a page with your signature on it, I think this is a bad idea. Just spend the money and mail her the paper with your original signature. I believe they require original signatures, not copies for I-134.

Has anybody been able to get away with a copy of the signature instead of original for I-134??

I only use Priority Mail International (6-10 days) or Express Mail International (3-5 days) using the USPS. I sent dozens of packages to VN and every single one of them made it to my fiance's home.

The USPS offers pretty much the same delivery in terms of speed compared to UPS of FedEx but for a much lower price. Don't pay the UPS or FedEx price. USPS will get your package safely to your fiance/wife, provided you do NOT use First Class. Only use Priority or Express since these make your package undergo more rigorous USPS checkpoints during shipping.

FWIW, you can also use USPS Global Express Guaranteed which gets your package to VN in about 1-3 days but that will cost you close to $50. Interestingly, this actually uses FedEx at it's final checkpoint to do the final delivery of the package.

A non issue.. unless she has one on her neck that says USA Sux

I want to thank everyone here who ever helped me (you know who you are!) My wife's I-130 is approved!!!! I am so ###### happy right now. As I said earlier, I will be here to give back for the forseeing future and give back to our small community. On other note, I miss my wife so much and cannot wait to a lot of sex with her!

I remember feeling that way after my then fiance got the pink slip

Anyway, congrats!!

Hello VJ family! I hope everyone is doing well.

I have a question and hope someone can help me out.

For proof of ongoing relationship, are we supposed to submit proof from day one or only new evidence after filling k-1?

I submitted lots of documents during my initial filing but not sure if my fiancee should bring a copy of what I sent or just bring new info.

Any information would be help!

Thanks much!

I am just curious. Has your fiance had her interview yet? If not, now would be a great time to prepare proof of an ongoing relationship. Gather evidence from day one up until the present day. In other words, get evidence from the first time you communicated with each other until as close to the interview date as possible. This should include all the evidence you already submitted with the I-129F petition. If you made a copy of the entire I-129F package, airmail it to your fiance. Evidence of an ongoing relationship includes but is not limited to pictures, emails, chat logs, phone bills, evidence of engagement ceremony, etc.

Others have already suggested a Time Line which should be a detailed description of your entire relationship from the day you met until as close to the interview date as possible. Please have this notarized by your bank for example. Most banks provide this service for free if you have an account with them. I would also prepare a list of your residency addresses for the last 10 years. Recently, it has been noted on many blue slips for evidence. Neither of the aforementioned documents are required by the Consulate, but they have issued blue slips requesting either/both at a later date.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to post them. Good luck!

Hi guys,

My fiance did something very stupid. She withdrew VN dong from our account and cannot find any place to exchange it to US dollars. She needs $ for her medical and the $350 visa fee. Instead of me sending her money using Western Union, she wants to find a place in Ho Chi Minh that can exchange VN Dong into $. Do you guys know any places in Ho Chi Minh City where you can change Dong to $??

Check your PM.

hi carl,

thanks for the suggestion. that's exactly what i'm doing...calling DoS about twice a week and not waiting for the mail. DoS did tell me HCM only received my DS2001/230i on 3/24. i'd sent the packet 3 as an email attachment on 3/07...heard nothing for a couple weeks, had my vietnam uncle sent the physical forms and it went into the system 3/24. honestly i don't trust the HCM email at all, you never hear anything and it's my belief they processed the physical mail forms and not the email.

If your DS2001/DS230 paperwork went into the Consulate's computer system on 3/24, then you will have to wait a bit longer for an interview date to be scheduled. It took my fiance 1 month from the date she submitted the paperwork until she got the interview date scheduled. Check with the Consulate in a couple of weeks or so and you should be fine.

no fair i sent in my packet 3 same day and still haven't gotten p.4

quann, I suggest you start calling Department of State (202.663.1225) every week to find out if your interview date has been scheduled. Don't wait for the poor mail service in VN to deliver the P4 to your fiance. Take the initiative. Call first thing Monday morning. I was fortunate enough that my fiance lived about a 60 minute bus ride away from the Consulate so she went to the Consulate every week or so.

If you call and your interview is scheduled, just wait for the P4.

If, however, time is running out and the interview is only a few weeks away I would have your fiance go to the Consulate and pick up the paperwork herself because she NEEDS it for her medical exam. Cho Ray has been known to be a nightmare to schedule medical exams, but IOM may be better but in any case, get the P4 paperwork as soon as possible to get the medical out of the way. Good luck,

Carl

Keep this foolishness tucked away in your memory when the next elections come around for your rep and US Senators. No matter the party, they are all guilty of letting things get to this point.

I couldn't agree more. Thousands and thousands of visa applicants will get hosed because of this. In the end, the people will suffer because of their actions.

People seem to keep forgetting that USCIS is only one step in the process...........

NVC and Consulate are under state department. SHOULD the government shut down, BOTH of those services would be rendered staffless.

Meaning everyone past USCIS would be in limbo.

Least we not forgot the 1995/1996 shutdown delayed 80,000 visas.

People need to pay close attention to this because it could become a reality.

As for the OP, you have every right to be concerned about this. Don't let others tell you to stop "fear mongering" because this is a reality that could cause a serious disruption to those waiting at the NVC/Embassy level. Blob18 makes a great point about how the 1995/1996 shutdown delayed thousands of visas, some of which NEVER got processed. There is nothing wrong with being worried about something that could keep you and your loved one apart for a longer time. For now all you can do is wait a few more days until April 8 to see if it does happen.

Why do I always miss the good battles that happen around here? Sigh...

A friend of mine who refuses to join VJ wanted to know how to put his income on the I-134 for Item # 7. He makes $15.50/h for 40 hours a week full-time which equates to $32,240 per year. He works and gets paid over-time so his annual earnings differed for 2009 and 2010. Should he put his regular annual $32,240 or what he last made in 2010 as shown on the Tax Transcript?

Roger,

Are you sure about that? I re-read P4 from the Consulate's website and it states "Passport valid for at least eight months past the date of issuance" I don't see it mention anything about 8 months before it expires. Did the Consulate update P4 recently on their website? I have a copy from Jan 2011. Is there a more recent version?

It doesn't look like it's going to be created on time then, since the interview is less than 1 month away. Also, does anyone know why they require the passport to be valid for at least 8 months from the date it was issued?

In any case, it looks like we have to reschedule our interview, even with the reschedule interview, the passport that would be issued to my fiance would still not be valid for at least 8 months though...I feel very helpless in this situation.

Has anyone's beneficiary gone to the interview with a newly issued passport and was not given a hard time? Please let me know your experience!

Like I said, if you do end up getting a passport before the interview, I don't know how strictly the Consulate will enforce the 8 month validity issue. For all we know, they could just accept the new passport the way it is. I don't know. I am hoping that somebody with more experience will give a better answer.