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| Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |  Review on June 19, 2008: |
Tyrobe
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
On Thursday, June 5, 2008 my wife and I left town at 6:30 am and arrived at the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City by 7:30 am. At first I didn't see any long line outside the gate so I thought we were really early. Wrong! Once we walked across the street to the gate, there was a long line of people already waiting inside.
I was carrying my passport and a 12-lbs bag of documents and with my wife on my side. Once I approached the guards outside and got ready to show him the interview letter, he immediately told me I can't go inside. Only my wife as an applicant can enter.
So we stepped aside and let another woman with a big box of documents to get in front. Then I gave my passport and a bag of documents to my wife and I told her that I'll wait for her for the good news. My wife quickly proceeded to the line inside after the guard has scanned her. Even though the appointment letter stated to not bring cell phone, my wife still kept the cell phone with her in the purse since she can check it in a locker.
After my wife entered, I walked back to the car and told my driver to drive around in order to find a good café to hang out. Eventually, my wife got through the long line to meet a staff there at window #7. She gave him the Official Documents folder that I have organized with all the required documents in order. The he asked my wife where's the photocopy of the passport. My wife forgot where exactly I put it so she just handed the whole Photocopy Documents folder to the staff. Then she was given a number 21. This number doesn't signify the order of the interview since there are people with higher numbers got calls first. Then the swearing ceremony took place together instead of individually during the interview. By the way, my wife said the Vietnamese staffs there is very rude. The discourteous staffs kept yelling at soon-to-be Americans and they even threw paperwork back after applicants handed to them.
Anyway, while waiting on the bench, my wife saw many people got blues. She sat with two other CR1 applicants. One of them is the woman carried a big box of documents with photo album. My wife was helping her earlier to get all those pictures out of the album. It's a no-no to bring album to interview. In the meanwhile they practiced asking questions with each other. The interview was taking place over a window instead of inside a room. The interviewee has to stand up throughout the interview and people behind waiting at the benches can overhear the questions being asked. It's full of anxious people in that room and it's nerve-wrenching in there.
Finally, my wife got a call for her interview around 10 am at window #9. The consular officer interviewed my wife is a small, young Asian man in his 30's. The interview lasted 5-10 minutes. Here are the questions that he asked during the interview:
- How do you meet your husband?
- When was the first time you meet him?
- Does your husband have any children?
- How many time your husband visit Vietnam? How long?
- Where do his parents live?
- Does he live by himself?
- Do you have any family members living in US?
- Which state does your older brother live?
- What does your older brother do for a living?
- Do you have any other relatives living in US?
While the consular officer asked my wife he's also filling out the pink slip. In fact, long before the interview when turning the documents, my wife noticed that a staff was filling out the pink slip with her name and case number in there. When he asked to see the pictures my wife handed him the picture of our wedding inside a Catholic church. We brought a lot of pictures but he only saw a few. When he asked how many times I visited Vietnam, my wife told the CO that I'm currently here with her but she forgot to show my passport as I've told her so. Then she just read the dates on the coversheet of the Airline Tickets folder that I have prepared. The interpreter asked for the folder so she handed the CO the whole folders of my five trips to Vietnam with boarding passes, itineraries, luggage receipts and credit card statements. Now it's almost a requirement to have proof of purchase for flight tickets for HCMC. My wife saw one applicant received a blue asking for this proof of purchase.
Well, we brought a lot of hand-written letters, phone bills and emails. We even brought our parents' birth certificates and wedding DVDs, etc. However, the CO didn't even attempt to see those. One thing that disappointed me the most is that my 60-pages Timeline of Relationship didn't receive any notice. I spent a lot of time to produce this timeline, almost a day-to-day diary. Anyway, I'm happy that we received PINK.
At the end, my wife received all the originals that I had submitted to NVC. She also got back all the paperwork that I submitted to USCIS. The funniest thing is that USCIS cut out the package box and pasted the mailing label and postage on a paper to send to NVC, then to HCMC, then to us.
Life is good! 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #3025