wait4ever

Many Asian Americans or Asians who have taken English names often have a name that can be pronounced within that culture. If you are trying to be culturally sensitive and not create a name that is a tounge twister for your wife and her family, avoid names that start with or have the letters F, R, or W in them.

Vincent is a common Vietnamese-American first name. Some others might be: Tony, Theresa, Susan, Vivian. All pretty standard English names but pronounceable by Asians.

It seems like your case is in the cycle of re-review. If they have not stated any other concerns on your blue slip and you have submitted the items they requested, then it is likely that your file is back in the stack for whenever they get around to it. Two weeks, four weeks, two months, who knows? If you don't get the pink slip right at the interview, they tend to put things on the back burner for a while. You're used to rough treatment by now, so sticking it out for what is hopefully a short time should not be so difficult for you. Welcome to the HCMC club dissapointment. Hang in there, Mike!

Praying for PINK!

Sweetiewynn,

You should probably deal with this matter discreetly by contacting the post security officer, or other DSS office in the US or Bangkok. They deal with the investigations. Don't bother dealing with anyone in the IV unit.

Please be careful in your endeavors.

Icarus,

It's great to hear that you are spending quality time with your SO. Keep building a positive relationship and enjoy your time together.

A month sounds about right for review of new documents (recently). The Consulate always has a backlog of cases, although I don't know how many is normal. Obviously they have not cancelled all interviews as they just issued Mike's fiancee an August 28 interview to make up for their previous blunder.

They can put off cases for a year or more. They did that to our case for all of 2004. I hope times have changed. Keep asking for information. If you don't hear anything in 30 days, it's time to contact your Congressman or Senator's office, which ever one will assist you. Their inquiries go directly to the US officers themselves, and must be answered in three days. I found the quality of answer coming through my Congressman to be superior to the answers I got when I tried contacting the Consulate directly.

When ever I would ask the Consulate about our case I would get the response " your casefile is pending review". I always bought that line, thinking that a review was just around the corner. Of course, every case not approved is a case "pending review". Well, that's a little white lie they tell. Your case could be in a stack on a conoff's desk, or it could be collecting dust in case file storage. You won't know from Adam if it's going to get reviewed. Don't delay, be the sqeeky wheel!

Sweetiewynn,

Your home address is in Utah, right? I wonder if the Consulate put your case on ice because of the Utah ring that was busted recently. Your case would have been going through HCMC just as they were conducting an investigation on all these other people. Hmmm... What do you think?

I've read the past posts about preparing for the dam hoi and attempting to keep the costs in line.

What I am interested in is any tips for how I can make this go well / not unintentionally give my future mother-in-law a heart attack. I've asked over and over what I should be prepared to do and am told it will be very simple.

The dam hoi will be in Viet Nam. From what I can gather we are going to be pretty traditional. No other of my family will be in attendance. My vocabulary is very limited.

Any tips on something to say or do to make it better? I'm looking forward to it. (it happens in just a couple of weeks) Should be a lot of fun and I can hear the excitement building in Linh's voice. So any experiences / suggestions would be appreciated.

Her family will pretty much lead you through it. Wear nice clothes, but something that breathes, especially if the event is outside or where there is no A/C. A wool tweed jacket would be a bad choice.

Costs depend where you have the Dam Hoi (restaurant or home) and how many guests. It's tradition to shake down the guests (they give packets of money) so that helps defray some of the cost. How much you, the groom, kick in varies wildly; I think there was a previous thread where we talked about this subject.

Be nice and smile a lot. Be patient and remember, it's really all about the bride and her family. Show a generous amount of respect for the elders. Don't drink too much rice wine and don't drink any beer with ice in it. Enjoy!

Hi Mike,

Everything happens for a reason!

STL_HCMC

Sometimes things happen for NO GOOD reason.

Mike,

I am very sorry to hear about this. I cannot say I am surprised in the least that they would drop the ball like this.

If I were to venture a guess at what they will do next, it would be that they will not issue another interview date until they can acknowledge that they have your file. It can be days before HCMC gets back to you with an answer to the current situation. If you can't get an answer immediately I would say hanging around in HCMC is not going to be productive.

Yes, it is a crime. Add it to their list. I really feel for you and understand your situation. STL is right, just deal with it in a diplomatic way. They don't deal with emotion there at the Consulate. Hang in there, man.

I ask 4 things

#1 Who is " That Lady??"

#2 I thought they were required to inform you the reason for denial??? is this not true???

#3 How does one now rapidly find out what is going on ??

and

#4 whatr is the best way to bring the most firepower to bear to resolve the situation???

#1-not sure who this is

#2 They got a blue/green slip, which is not a denial, but a temporary refusal or delay. If it was denied they would get a slip saying so, that the case was being sent back to the NVC. At that point HCMC will often state why, to a certain extent.

#3 I have found (lately) that it takes about a month for the Consulate to review new submitted evidence and make a decision. The wild card in Icarus' case is that they have not required any more evidence, so in their case it's hard to say.

#4 All you can do is contact your local Senator or Congressman's office. Sometimes they get a better answer from the Consulate.

Unless there is a miracle happens, there is pretty much nothing you can do with the Consulate people in VN anymore. Thus, spend the rest of your vacation in VN with your fiancee in peace and forget the headache for now. Comfort her as much as you can.

Icarus,

I am very sorry to see this happen to you. I know what you are feeling, as I have been through it several times.

As Kevin & Loan say, there is nothing you can do for now. If they wanted anything more they would have asked for it by now. Don't make yourself sick with worry trying to figure it out. It could be anything; another look at the case, random security checks, etc., who knows?? Strange things happen there.

Obviously they are in no hurry to approve the visa, and you can't answer the question they are not asking.

I have found that it is best to concentrate on your relationship with your fiancee. If you have time, take a trip to somewhere in Vietnam where you two can relax. Don't let the Consulate hi-jack your time in Vietnam with your sweeheart; make that time yours and turn it into something memorable in a positive way. You will need a resivour of shared experiences and deeper love to draw upon as you deal with this in the future.

I wish you the best of luck. We here at VJ are here to support you. Keep your chin up and keep us posted.

This is a really good question for Viet kieu immigrants, if you know any here. I am sure they would have some good advice.

I know one Viet kieu that sends home about $ 3,000 annually. It is distributed to about eight households within the family. For a medical emergency $ 500 should certainly cover most situations.

I usually give my in-laws $ 100 for Tet, or an equivalent gift.

Dam tang(funeral) and dam gio(annual ceremony) are important events for the Vietnamese, and sometimes one or two hundred dollars goes a long way, if the family is in need.

You are smart to set a budget and stick to it so it does not lead to future arguments about money. Good luck!

I am pretty sure it's line 37, adjusted gross income.

Awesome! Congratulations!

My lawyer has brought several clients with fiancee as former party members here on a k-1 visa. He says this is a moot point. He goes on to say that Vietnam doesn't have a totalitarian regime. He says that Saddam H. had a totalitarian Regime....(killing political opponents, killing uprisings...etc) That is the sort of totalitarian that is described in that INA law.

I hope for your sake that your lawyer is correct in his assumption.

My lawyer has brought several clients with fiancee as former party members here on a k-1 visa. He says this is a moot point. He goes on to say that Vietnam doesn't have a totalitarian regime. He says that Saddam H. had a totalitarian Regime....(killing political opponents, killing uprisings...etc) That is the sort of totalitarian that is described in that INA law.

I hope for your sake that your lawyer is correct in his assumption.

CharlieBox,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but membership in a totalitarian party is grounds for inadmissability (denial of a visa).

More specifically, here is what the INA law states:

212(a)(3)(D)(i): In general, any immigrant who is or has been a member of or affiliated with the communist party or any other totalitarian party domestic or foreign, is inadmissable.

The law goes on to list exceptions, like joining when underage, joining because of a job, or if the person is not deemed a threat to the US. You can read more about this at www.state.gov, follow the links to the visa section and the subsection called "inadmissabilities and waivers".

I do not know the HCMC Consuate's policy regarding communist party members, or of any cases where this came up. It came up in one of the threads here on VJ, but I'm not sure we know anything conclusive. Maybe some other VJ members know something about this. Check the HCMC website. To me, the law reads quite broadly between inadmissablity or exception, so it will be up to the Conoffs and who knows what they will say.

This will be something you will need to deal with before her interview. I wish you good luck with it.

Technically is part of it.

I wonder if Thanh being North Vietnamese and being a communist party member will affect her in her interview.

Uh oh, this is not good.

It's getting close to interview time! Wishing you the best of luck for pink!

DOS Changes Review Requirements for Visas

The new rule also provides that, unlike in the past, not all denials need to be reviewed.

This is an atrocious part of this policy. It just opens the door to more frivolous and speculative denials.

Menyoo-

Wishing you good luck for pink today!

I don't think this should be a problem, especially if she has a K-1 visa stamped in her passport. I think Vietnamese citizens must get a visa prior to arriving in Hong Kong, which would be obtained at the Chinese Consulate in HCMC.

Years ago there was a large group of Vietnamese refugees isolated in a refugee encampment in Hong Kong. It was a real problem took years for them to decide what to do with them. You might find that the Hong Kong residents might treat Vietnamese as second class people. Hopefully as tourists you would not experience any of this.

If you have not been there before, Hong Kong is a very interesting city. It's a very international city and a good way to introduce some of the west while still being comfortably asian.

Congratulations!!! Wahoo!!!

Matt,

I want to wish the best of luck for you and Anh. When you have done your best to prepare it is all you can do. Now comes the waiting. No, you won't be able to sleep tonight. What ever happens, you love each other and are committed to your relationship, and that is worth everything in the world.

The decision to reaffirm your case was probably made in Nebraska. It is being sent back to HCMC via the NVC with a recomendation that a visa be issued. Unless the Consulate makes a big fuss, it is likely that your sweetheart will get a visa, eventually.

I am not certain if your physical file would have been sent to Nebraska. I am guessing it would have, and what HCMC has at this time is an electronic file. At any rate, these are definately positive developments for you.

Mike,

When my sweetheart and I started on our visa journey she went to the local fortune teller to find out if she would get a visa. The fortune teller said she would get it in about six months. Yeah, right! Blew that one away. Go to Vietnam, just be extra careful when you step out into the street!

I have spent enough time in Vietnam and Asia in general to have an understanding of what Patrick and STL are talking about. The "smoke and mirrors" comment was a little vague, and I understand how a comment like that can get to you when you are most vulnerable. Asians sometimes hide things, sometimes because they believe it is to your benefit not to be direct, or to avoid confrontation. It may be something as innocent as the jitters about traveling abroad. If she has not done this before, it's can be sort of scarry thing for her. Most Vietnamese never get to see their own country, much less travel to others. Other factors might be that she is being taken out of the country by a foreigner, and perhaps her family or friends are a little concerned as well. Of course they would not want to confront you directly about this, so having someone like a fortune teller feel out the situation or front a hocus pocus excuse would be a convenient out. A face saving way to deal with uncertain feelings. It would not be seen as lying to you.

I know because I had to deal with a similar situation. We were meeting up in Hanoi for vacation,then traveled south to her home. I had to reassure her and her parents, smooth things over and do some convincing. We had a great vacation.

This year we met up in Bangkok and spent two weeks in Thailand. It was also a great vacation and a real eye opener for her. You will have an unforgettable experience there. So just go and have a great time.