wait4ever

You get very hopeful and excited as the interview day approaches. And then the tension is HUGE right before the interview.

BAM! Your world is badly shaken. You have to do your best to pick each other up and not lose it (I didn't handle it very well, I must admit). It can get pretty dark right afterward, especially if you have been planning and waiting for a very long time.

Then there's the recovery phase, where you try to figure out what can be done. Hopefully, the rejection letter (whichever color it happens to be) gives you enough time. Our white paper said a year, for whatever it's worth.

Now, as we are getting everything ready for the second submission and the wait at "window B" or whatever and the long wait on the seat as they go through everything, we don't dare get hopeful at all. [We're taking our time and not rushing to make sure everything is the best that we can offer up, maybe in two weeks' time.]

Both of us have pretty much decided to not let their decision overwhelm us, not this time. It's potluck and anybody's guess as to how they will decide. What if the CO had a bad morning? What if the CO is overworked and doesn't care? Yeah, it's just a judgment call...

It's strange to have your life in a suspended mode as you approach the unknown.

Basically, we either are going to live in America or in Asia; we will NOT let the some dude and a visa keep us apart.

That's the spirit! Chin up and eyes toward the future. Don't let them get you down!

My VNs wife was sworn in today to become a USA citizen. Yes, the system does eventually work :-)

9/4/04 Submitted first form (CR1 petitioned directly from VN)

12/30/04 Interview

1/02/05 Visa issued

2/27/05 Relocated to America

SS number shortly afterward

2 year green card soon after

2007, 10 year green card

1/25/08 submitted paperwork for naturalization

Waited 8 months for citizenship interview

It's finally over, see ya............Chuc Mai Man :-)

Congratulations to you both! You must be very proud!

Well my fiancee went back to turn in the requested information per the blue slip last Thursday. Apparently the consulates office told her that they are not accepting blue slips and that she will have to come back on Monday. She went back yesterday with all of the information in hand and apparently they canceled the petition and are sending it back to the US. I really don't understand how they can do this after we have given everything and more of what they requested. I even had my congressman contact the consulate after the last incident. We both are so distraught right now and don't know what to do. She is supposed to be sending me the denial slip soon.

Has anyone else ever been through this or no of anyone who has? If so what did you/they do?

J&Q,

I am sorry to hear of your troubles with the Consulate. Although we were never denied, we faced four years of blue & green slips and all the awful bureaucracy that the HCMC Consulate could dish out. We were introduced by wife's aunt here in the US. After our blue slip, I was sure that part of the reason was the introduction by her aunt. As we approached my wife's third interview, we hired ME to make sure we had everything. He asked me " Can you provide a picture of you and your fiancee's aunt together?". My first though was, Marc, you're crazy. They hate relative introductions. But, I did have a picture and provided it. Fortunately our case was approved after that. In hindsight I think that perhaps the relative introduction is not always a count against you, but you must prove that your relationship stands up on its own separate from the association with the relative introducing the two of you. The fact that her aunt lives here has been a tremendous positive, easing her transition to the US, providing an extended family base of support. Her aunt is, in essence, her mother in the US.

Concerning your denial, it is terribly unfortunate and my heart goes out to you. I personally know of a couple who went through this. The denial was poorly supported by the Consular officer, as I suspect many are. It was immediately overturned by the USCIS, I think with minimal rebuttal on the part of the US citizen. The problem came in getting the paperwork back to the HCMC Consulate, and it took the actions of the Senator's office to get things back on track. After that the Consulate still gave them problems, but eventually they relented and issued a visa. It was an awful process for them, but they are a happy couple now and the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy.

My recommendation to you is to prepare to rebut your case with the USCIS for it's arrival stateside. Continue to build and document your relationship so that you are armed with even more evidence at her next interview. Don't let the pressure of the situation poison the relationship with your fiancee. Find strength in your ability to fight this together. Make sure your Congressman is following up on the progress of your case. It may be a long battle, but stick with it. I will be worth it in the end. Best of luck to you both.

I am wasting my time bringing this Coffee/Tea back? It's not expensive but I don't want to have it thrown away.

Coffee and tea are fine to bring back to the US. I often bring back coffee. The Trung Nguyen brand is avaliable at all the Vietnamese stores here, so bringing that home isn't so special. Some of the iced tea type coffees or fresh beans might be a more unique item to bring home.

I am putting together a VIETNAM EMBASSY GUIDE for K1 filers. I have collected much information from VJ, but need some more information.

If anyone has any information they would like to provide such as:

• Embassy Diagram

Timeline from Packet 3 to Interview

Tips (Interview, Organizing Evidence, Waiting Room)

Hotels close to Embassy

Medical Exam Info

Organizing Evidence for Interview

What to bring & Not to bring

About the many pnadlers outside embassy

Great Idea! I want to point out that if you are talking about the Ho Chi Minh City location, it is actually a US Consulate, not an Embassy. The US Embassy to Vietnam is located in Hanoi. Just want to avoid any confusion. Good luck!

Unfortunately the CO's don't seem to understand that communication between two people of different language is often unique to that couple. Communication can assume many forms and permutations. Couples become intimately familiar with each other's speaking pattern and accent, understanding each other where others would not. Familiar phrases and shared experiences are referenced in building a conversation between the couple. For times when couples are together, the visual expressions and non verbal communication can even transcend the verbal.

I know of a case where the American SO learned Vietnamese and communicated in that language with his fiancee. They pulled him in at his fiancee's interview and the translator gave him the thumbs down, saying he could not speak Vietnamese. Yet that is how they communicated. It took them a long time but eventually they got the visa.

CO's seem to make this assumption that in absence of total fluency in a shared language between the couple, the basis for communication does not exist at all. They should be looking at other information to get a broader view, like time spent together and written correspondence.

Don't let them hang you up on the communication thing. It's a weak point anyway for a denial, that's why you only got a blue slip. Make your case well and good luck.

My wife's new passport arrived today, making it exactly one month from mailing off the application to receiving it. It was not without a little hiccup along the way. On Friday, we had a message on our phone machine from some guy at the SFO Consulate, who stated that before they could finish processing her passport renewal they needed some info about her family and an ADDITIONAL $70. He was not very specific about the info needed, or why they wanted more money. He just said, send us the info and the money. We had already sent the $50 we were quoted by an earlier e-mail from the Consualte. So it was a little shocking to think that we would have to pay a total of $120 just to renew a Vietnam passport. A US passport doesn't cost that much to renew.

When you are dealing with the Vietnamese governement, and someone is asking for more money, you naturally jump to all kinds of conclusions. My wife was really steamed when I gave her the news , which suprised me as I thought she would be used to this having grown up in Vietnam. Of course the phone number the guy left on the message was a dead end message box which was not taking messages. We both stewed over this incident mostly in quiet, but occasionally it would boil up and we would vent. I think I had decided that we would just let them sit on the application until we got a decent answer. We didn't send any extra money or info.

Today the package containing the new and old passports showed up. The new one is good for ten years. There was no further correspondence from the Consulate, so I am hoping this matter is settled. My wife was jumping up and down happy when she saw her new passport. So, that was our little drama with the passport renewal thing. It's so frustrating trying to communicate with the Vietnam Consulate and Embassy. They don't post their fees on the internet, so it's hard to know if what you are being quoted is legit. Some of the prices for their services seem to differ wildly. I wish they would get their act together and provide more timely info, and maybe answer the phones once in a while. At least they processed the passport renewal fairly quickly, given that they are probably busy issuing visas for the Tet holiday.

Menyoo,

Congratulations! :dance: :dance: Way to stick with it. I can relate to your humiliating experience as a USC going into the HCMC Consulate. I was treated the same, on more than one occasion. AOS is, by comparison, a much easier and dignified process (so far). Good luck!

If there is a Vietnamese community near where you live, often they have a money transfer service. It can be a separate business sending faxes and transferring money, or it could be a Vietnamese video store or grocery store offering money transfer. I paid about $3 to $4 per $100 sent. It was a very fast and reliable service. My wife says they usually give the delivery person a tip(optional) when the money arrives, usually about 50,000 dong.

I mean no offense to anyone on this forum. I am so curious about many things, though. My sweetie makes a good living in Hanoi. She is an advertising executive there. I have never sent her any money. It is not necessary. I think she would be offended if I did so. She has nicer stuff than I do, even though of course I make a lot more money in absolute terms than she does.

But I know most people in VN are not well-off. I am curious. How many of you have sent money to your sweetie? Is it a lot of money? Do you think USCIS or the Consulate will take that into consideration? I believe love knows no boundaries, rich or poor. I am only curious.

I sent money to my sweetheart when she was living in Vietnam. It averaged about $50-$75 per month. I have seen some American SO's send considerably more, so I guess it depends on need or what you feed comfortable sending. Receipts for money you send can be used at your fiancee's interview as proof of an ongoing relationship. To the extent at how much money sent raises the eyebrows of the CO's, I have no idea. Maybe it doesn't matter. I would think that the fact that your fiancee has no need of your financial support in Vietnam would be a plus in your corner.

How does one get it renewed? We never received an answer to our emails and we sent many over the last year. My wife's passport is now expired.

Matt, you will be closer to the Vietnam Embassy in Washington,D.C. They have a Consular Section at the Embassy where you can renew your wife's passport. The forms and instructions for passport renewal can be downloaded at their website : www.vietnamembassy-usa.org . Follow the link to the Consular Section, where it says "Passports". From there on it's all in Vietnamese script so you will have to get Anh to help you navigate that part. The forms and instructions cover a variety of passport renewal types for Vietnam citizens.

We filled out the form for the parts that were pertinant to her renewal and sent along photocopies of passport pages (main), three passport type photos, copy of her I-94, copy of our marriage license, return priority mail envelope prepaid, her passport, and a money order for $50. We sent it to the Vietnam Consulate in San Francisco by certified mail.

The Vietnam Consulate wants to know the status of the Vietnam citizen in the US and requests some kind of proof like photocopy of the green card or I-94. They also ask why the Vietnam citizen is in the US and why they want to renew, which is why we included a photocopy of our marriage license.

It's really difficult dealing with the Vietnam Consulate and Embassy. It's a real cluster at those places, likely because of the run-up to the Tet holiday and who knows what else, the usual problems that plague our own Consulate in HCMC. The best you can do is just fill out the forms and send in what you can, short of trekking down to D.C. and making a personal visit to the Embassy.

I will try to update this thread with our progress on this matter.

My wife's Vietnamese passport is expiring soon and we need to renew it. AOS is still pending, so her Vietnamese passport is the only valid status document that she has. We have tried for two weeks now to contact the Vietnam Consulate in SF as well as the Vietnam Embassy with no answer. Phone calls end up in a dead end phone tree, and they won't answer e-mails either.

Does anyone know the renewal fee for a Vietnam passport? How long does it take to process?

Thank you and Happy Holidays to the Vietnam family.

Well, we received a nice little Christmas eve gift from the SF Consulate in that they finally replied to one of our e-mails. For those of you interested, the fee for renewal of a Vietnam passport is $50.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

My wife's Vietnamese passport is expiring soon and we need to renew it. AOS is still pending, so her Vietnamese passport is the only valid status document that she has. We have tried for two weeks now to contact the Vietnam Consulate in SF as well as the Vietnam Embassy with no answer. Phone calls end up in a dead end phone tree, and they won't answer e-mails either.

Does anyone know the renewal fee for a Vietnam passport? How long does it take to process?

Thank you and Happy Holidays to the Vietnam family.

I used phone cards extensively to call my (then) fiancee. I noted the date(s) they were used and included the receipts for their purchase. Just how much weight they carried in determining our case, I don't know, but I believe they are just a part of the overall picture. Your fiancee should have them with her should the CO wish to see them or consider them. Better to be safe than sorry.

It's just as the CO told you. They need more time to review the new evidence and come to a decision. That could happen tommorrow or in a month. I would not sit around waiting for their call if you have other things to do in Vietnam. When they do get around to your case, they will issue an information slip of some kind and mail it to your wife's address anyway, in addition to any phone call you might or might not receive. Hang in there and you will get an answer eventually. We found that in the past year they usually process additional evidence in a month or less. Hopefully your case will get a review soon. Good luck, and good to see you back on VJ again!

From the instructions for I-485 is this statement: "You may submit one check or money order for the application and biometric fees, for a total of $ 1010.00."

Back when my wife and I were engaged we traveled to many places in Vietnam. The only place where our not being married was an issue for the hotel was in Saigon. The nicer or more prominant tourist hotels had this requirement that you must have a copy of your marriage license to share the same room. One place actually made us purchase an extra room for her, although it was at a steep discount compared to the one we actually shared. Of course, when we rented the extra room no one cared that we were actually sharing the same room, and no one ever checked. Many of the less prominant mini-hotels in Saigon don't seem to have this problem, and could care less if you are married or not.

The zoo,botanical gardens, and History Museum are all located on the same grounds. We found it to be a wonderful retreat from the frantic pace of Saigon. There is a water puppet show at the Museum if you have not yet seen the one in Hanoi. A good place to spend a better part of a day.

Hi all,

? Also, DS230 why do they send to my wife in VN? I am her's agent, i think it should send to me, right? So, please tell me abit more about this, thanks alot.

The Consulate sends all forms to the applicant (beneficiary). It's up to the beneficiary to decide who fills out the forms. You can obtain some of them on your own and fill them out for your fiancee. Most communications are directed at the applicant first.

From our experience, the blue slip is only given post-interview when they want more info or have some delay. The green slip is given at all other times after that. For example, when you provide info required by a blue slip, but there is still some problem, then you get a green slip. It's always a green slip when you are in "overcome" status, until your SO gets another interview or gets the visa.

Dear Vietnam Family,

I am please to report that my fiancee has received her visa after a very long wait. The visa was issued two months ago. As we neared her 3rd interview, we hired the famous M.E. in HCMC to help us ensure that this time was a success. Given that the interview was almost a non-event, and the pink came quickly, it was obvious the decision was made well in advance. After our serial rejection from this Consulate over the years, I cannot help but think that M.E.'s help and advice was crucial to finally getting the pink slip. Thank you M.E.

As many of you know, our case has taken a very long time, much longer than others. We have endured horrible treatment from the HCMC Consulate over the years. Our case was shelved for all of 2004 and in 2005 our case file was lost. We have made numerous trips to the Consulate and suffered a lot of indignant treatment. I'm not philosophical about all this. We have lost time together that could have been spent building our lives here. I have expended extra resources in extra trips to Vietnam and the endless copies and FedEx packages that could have gone to establishing our lives here in the US. There has been an emotional toll as well on both my fiancee and I. In this time I have also lost a parent that my fiancee will never have the opportunity to meet in this lifetime. Where do I go to get that opportunity back? For those of you who count the days between action, try this one on for size: from NOA1 to visa issued, 4 years, 11 months.

My sweetheart is here now, and life is like a dream. It has taken so very long to get here. I cherish every day that I get to spend with her. It is so very nice to have the opportunity to realize our dream of family.

For those of you still on the journey or delayed, I want to send you my words of hope. Stick with your loved one. Maintain and grow your relationship. If the Consulate gives you trouble, seek out the solution. Knock down the barriers one by one. Never loose hope. If we can do it, you can do it.

For the Vietnam family, thank you for your words of support. I know I have not shared much about our case lately or sought help directly, but I have always culled VJ for the answers to my questions. It's a great site. I hope those starting out use it to the fullest and those of us with experience keep contributing.

Sincerely,

wait4ever

The month of June is also a high season for travel between the US and Asia. Try looking at flights in early July, if possible.

my girl got aproved and now she cant find a tickit to get here .Shes living in hcmc but the travel place says they are booked up .i can get a tickit here but at about 2 times more than she could . any one got any ideas on where to go for cheap tickit in vietnam?

Try getting her out through a hub, maybe using a discount airline to connect. Pacific Airlines connects to Bangkok and Taipei. Tiger Air connects to Singapore. China Southern connects to Guangzuo. Onward flights might be easier to book from there. Discount airfares within Asia are generally not avaliable to US agents. It's easier for your fiancee to book from Vietnam or you can also try booking on the internet directly with the airline. Cafe Sinh, Cafe Kim, or Saigon Tourist are all reputable agents in HCMC, but your fiancee will have to push for the budget airlines as they tend to want to book the more expensive airlines for foreigners coming through the backpacker's district.

[i'm also curious as to what qualifies as having Family in the US. I know she has a nephew on the east coast and some distant relatives in Texas, but other than that, she has no immediate family. They are not particularly close, and I haven't met any of them. Has anyone here had a similar situation?

Form DS-156, which is submitted prior to your fiancee's interview, asks the following question of the beneficiary:

#37. Are any of the following persons in the US or do they have US legal permanent residence or US citizenship? Mark YES or NO and indicate that person's status in the US (i.e., US legal permanent resident, US citizen, visiting, studying, working, etc.)

Husband/Wife,Fiance/Fiancee

Father/Mother,Son/Daughter,Brother/Sister