confusedasheck

Take it up with them. As long as I have been here it was known that 6 months was needed. I found out when my travel agent told me. When I joined the site there was someone else that was denied because they didn't have 6 months left on the passport. That was a few years ago.

Were they denied at the airport by the airline or at POE when entering Vietnam? If at the airport, then maybe the airlines have their own policy?

Regardless of what you are interviewing for, it's usually standard to arrive a little bit early. He might have been paying you a compliment because the usual applicants for that job are late.

Vietnam always has been that a passport needs to have at least 6 months left to be able to enter the country.

I gotta disagree with you on this. The Vietnamese embassy states one month (with a notation for 6 months to meet the airlines requirements)

See here

http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/services/visa-application-process

"The applicant must submit:

1. Original PASSPORT (which requires at least 01 month validity prior the date of exit from Vietnam and/or 06 month validity to meet airlines’ requirements). You can request for a loose-leaf visa, then a copy of passport (photo and personal detail pages) may be submitted instead of the original passport."

If Vietnam only requires one month, I don't see why the airlines can force you to have a six month validity period if the country you are traveling to requires less time than that. The airlines are supposed to validate that you meet the countries' requirements so you won't be turned back and the airline forced to pay for your ticket. Somebody at the airline made a mistake.

I've used them too. The service is very reliable. All my orders have been delivered on time. The quality of the stuff that I have ordered is good. The prices are more inline with the Western prices though. I know the local stuff is not that expensive.

Wait. Vietnam only requires that your passport be valid for one month before you exit Vietnam. I would complain to the airline and try to get your money back.

are they paying you to marry their daughter? this is the second thread you've asked about taking >10k out of vietnam. i've never been detained upon entering/leaving vietnam or usa...but anything's possible. on the vn side you can probably bribe them in the back room (although 10k usd is alot different than a couple illegal dvds). i've helped carry 8k back for a friend in the usa, the family wanted to give more (15k) but i felt i could talk my way out of 8k if something happened, not so confident above the 10k threshold.

No, they are not paying me to marry her. I think you misread my first post in regards to moving money between countries, I first asked about taking more than $10,000 out of the USA, not Vietnam.

Since I'm staying there for over a month. I need money to pay for the wedding reception, the wedding itself, pictures, my hotel, stuff I asked my fiancee to buy for the wedding, side trips, food, stuff people want me to buy, my relatives' expenses, possible trips outside Vietnam, giving my future wife some money to live on, etc. This is easily going to cost USD $8,000 minimum plus any unplanned expenses. You should be able to see why I need to carry that much money.

Thanks for the advice guys, except for Dae Que, it was helpful.

I've read that USD $5,000 is the limit the Vietnamese government will let you take out of Vietnam? Any truth to that? Do they use money sniffing dogs like the US? I was planning to take extra cash, but I may have to adjust my methods if it's going to be seized by the VC.

Wow 11 months... glad your pain is nearly over!

I'm trying to make a budget for the future wifey while she's still living in Vietnam that's not going to make me broke.

Would appreciate some input on if the prices are too high or too low for living like a local in HCMC. Based on what I've gathered about prices, I think this is reasonable for one person.

Food (cooking at home, eating out a few times a week) - $75

Clothes - $25

Gas (motorbike)- $30

Utilities (house is shared by 6 people) - $10

Rent -$0. Her mom won't charge for this.

Hygiene : $10

Spending money : $50

Then why not make everything private on facebook? You don't need to make everything public. There is the option to not allow yourself to be found in the facebook configuration or found via google. If you are that worried, then disable them.

Unless they are gaining access by hacking or using some law that requires facebook to allow them access, then they shouldn't even be able to see beyond your profile picture.

Good luck! Buy some cheap hangers in the market when you arrive.

Yes in a larger system like immigration the task would be overwhelming, but it would not be ridiculous to think it couldn't happen. I don't know everyone who walks through my neighborhood. Your computer keeps track of your searches (ie. the ads you see later) and ip addresses are traceable. Is it possible? YES.

In order for them to get your IP, they need a search warrant. Not sure what leverage the patriot act gives them, but the COs are not police. How can they use the patriot act for that type of investigation? Useless you post something advocating terrorism (which is using deleted pretty quickly), how can they legally ask the ISP to give them your records?

I was thinking that if we got to the consulate in HCMC that that wedding party would not be a problem but from the latest comments I am suspecting that I am wrong about that. If we need to start over and file for a CR1 it would be better to start now than get all the way to the interview and then start over.

I'm not sure if you can file a K1 and a IR1/CR1 at the same time. I think you'd have to withdraw the K1, get the marriage cert, and then file for the IR1/CR1.

Another thing not particularly related to your legal problems, but if your wife makes major decisions on her own without consulting you, then expect the same in the future.

I was thinking the same thing, but after talking to her again, I realized I misunderstood what she did. After a little more questioning, she did not actually turn in the application. What she did was go to the information booth that is just outside the Justice Department in HCMC (where you get a lot of the forms) to ask the guy if our paperwork was OK before turning it in.

The part about the application form being out of date and the medical being invalid came from the information guy at the Justice Department, not anybody who actually received the application.

OK.... I think I am screwed either way. We had agreed to use a services guy to help with the forms. However, she ended up not liking the guy we hired and, without telling me, she went to try to submit the marriage application by herself without giving the Justice Department any coffee money. So that is probably why it got rejected.

The Justice department claims that the application form is not the 2010 version, so they won't accept it. They rejected the mental health form because the hospital is not a public hospital and is a private hospital. I'm not aware that we have public hospitals in the USA.

I know Viet women are stubborn, but this is beyond ridiculous.

I had my paperwork for marriage done at King Solomon Multi-services agency in Houston. I had the mental exam done by them as well. I sent everything to Vietnam and it arrived fine. However, how my fiancee is saying that the paperwork is not valid. She claims the form is old and the mental health is not accepted. I think this is garbage.

We hired a services guy to do the paperwork that is needed. I am not sure if she was told this by the services guy or the government. I don't think she went to the government yet and the services guy told her this. I won't know until I talk to her later to clarify this.

But assuming it is the government, I don't see why anything would be invalid considering this agency deals with the Vietnamese embassy all the time. Any suggestions about what to do if it is the government and the services guy didn't bribe them?

I have going to have to take over $10,000 out of the country when I go to Vietnam next time.

The form is simple

http://www.fincen.gov/forms/files/fin105_cmir.pdf

and the directions are simple

C. Travelers—Travelers carrying currency or other monetary instruments with

them shall file FinCEN Form 105 at the time of entry into the United States or at the

time of departure from the United States with the Customs officer in charge at any

Customs port of entry or departure.

However, I don't ever remember seeing a customs officer when I have left the USA. I don't want to have the US government seize my money, fine me, or arrest me for failing to file this form.

Does anybody know where you actually submit the form? I assume it's near when you check in or go to the gate for the first flight segment that leaves the USA, but I have flown many times and I cannot remember ever seeing a customs officer anywhere from check-in to the gate.

My fiance's mom got a tourist visa. She came to the US to visit some family and friends last year. She got some kind of documents to show the value of her houses in Vietnam and that she owned them. She also had a letter of sponsorship from her brother who lives in the US. She also had a bank statement.

She was denied a tourist visa about 10 years ago, but got the visa last year.

$200 sounds about right for a 6 month multiple entry visa.

What I paid for various visa types.

$80 - 1 month single entry

$110 - 1 month multiple entry

$160 - 3 month multiple entry

So $200 is about right.

But... How do you plan to enter Thailand if your passport is expiring in less than six months (I assume it's a US passport)?

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1040.html

ENTRY / EXIT REQUIREMENTS FOR U.S. CITIZENS: If you are a U.S. citizen tourist staying for fewer than 30 days, you do not require a visa, but your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond the date of your entry into Thailand.

Are Vietnamese Nationals allowed in the US Consulate at HCMC to have a document notarized if the USC accompanies them?

Basically I would like to have my fiancee sign a non-legal document with me and wondering if they will let her in to have both our signatures notarized?

Last time in Vietnam, the original magic jack worked OK to call back to the US. There was a buzzing noise during the whole call, but 80% of the conversation was understandable. This was from a cheap local hotel, which had a worse connection than my fiancee's house, which I never tried calling from. I'll have to experiment with that the next time I'm there.

I've also found that the quality of magic jack differs if the person you are calling is using a normal land line versus one that uses VOIP (like those that go through the cable company). The quality of VOIP is worse.

When filling out the forms like power of attorney that are downloaded from the Vietnamese embassy's Washington DC web site, do I fill them in in English and let the Vietnamese embassy translate it into Vietnamese?

Good luck! Hope for the pink!

Reading through the threads on getting married in the Vietnam and double checking here :

http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/basic-page/legalization-document-marriage-registration, I don't see a requirement for the non-Vietnamese party to bring a police clearance certificate in the application package.

Is it not required or did I miss something?