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| Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |  Review on February 25, 2011: |
Jimen & Kenly
Rating:  | Review Topic: Other Experience
Kenly and I returned to the consulate to submit the documents requested by the blue slip. The blue slip told us to submit the documents from 1PM-2PM, entry starts at 12:30PM.
We arrived at about 12:15PM. People were beginning to stand in line outside the consulate, but not at the entry gate. They lined up at a door to the right of the entry gate. At 12:25PM, we were allowed to enter. One of the guards ran a metal detector wand over everyone's bodies. Once in the building, we stood in line at the immigrant visa sign. The room was empty of everything except signs telling you to line up in the immigrant or non-immigrant visa section.
At about 12:45PM, we were herded out the consulate building and to the "real" entry gate. Here, the procedure was the same; show your letter (blue slip) or passport to enter. Then place your belongings on a table to be x-rayed, and give your cell phones to the counter guy. Finally enter the consulate build proper.
I don't get the point of entering the first door. What was the point of that? All we did after entering the door was to stand in another line, waiting to exit so we can walk in the "real" entry gate. It was a complete waste of time. I felt like sheep.
Once in the consulate building, we walked to the immigrant visa section and exchanged our blue slip for a number. Then we waited our turn to go to the windows (see my previous review) to submit our documents. When called, my fiancee just walked to the window, handed over the documents and walked back. It didn't take more than 2 minutes for us. Other people took longer, I guess it depends on what is being submitted.
We continued to wait for the case to be processed. The ticket with our number on it says it was printed at 1PM. We waited until 5PM before one of the Vietnamese CO's called my fiancee up to window 13 and gave her a blue slip saying our case requires Additional Processing. That CO just tells my fiancee to go home and wait for a notice from them.
I read the blue slip, and luckily for us, the CO who interviewed my fiancee came out to a window. When she finished processing another applicant, I talked to this CO and asked her for clarification. It turns out, she is also the one who is supposed to process our case. Thus, she checked her computer and told me that she did not have time to get to our case file yet. She promised me she'll review it that night or the following few days. It was Thursday and most departments of the consulate aren't open on Friday. So we're told we'll have to wait until the following week before a mail notice can be sent out.
So now, my fiancee and I continue the waiting game. I rated this experience a rating of 3 because I think the whole process needs improvement. First, eliminate that first stage of waiting in another area. Second, don't schedule so many people to submit documents. I could've gave a lower rating, but the CO was kind enough to answer my questions, so 3 was the highest score I can give.
--jc
Note 1: Everyone in line at the consulate at 12:30PM seems to be there to submit documents for their blue slip. There were about 100 people scheduled that day to submit documents. Many people were there to submit medical exams, as they were carrying their medical exam package. Ultimately, a few of these people received their pink slips.
Note 2: While waiting for our case to be reviewed, at about 3:00PM, a large group of people with pink slips walked into the waiting area. It seems these people were scheduled to pickup their visa package that day.
Note 3: We were not the only ones who didn't get our case file reviewed that day. At least 3-4 others were in the same boat. We did witness that a bunch of case files were reviewed, but the people left without waiting for the result. This is frustrating. We waited until 5PM but our case didn't get processed. Yet they processed these cases where the people didn't even bother to wait for the result.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #7199