Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Asia: East and Pacific	Wedding Ceremony and Fiancee Visa	I talked to my fiancee this morning. I asked her if there would be a problem with the police and a marriage ceremony without the paperwork. She said, "No, the police here aren't difficult." She lives south of HCM city. Austin John, wow! thanks for looking into this. Lucas	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-05-21 22:44:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Wedding Ceremony and Fiancee Visa	Call it an Engagement Ceremony "Dam Hoi" and definitely do it. Believe it or not, it may actually complicate your case if you don't] do it. And on your timeline-- you will not be going through the Armenian Consulate, you will be going through Ho Chi Minh City. Why not call it a L? ?ính Hôn? We plan on having a Dam Hoi in September, but many of my friends and family will be coming in December for the "other" event... whichever we choose to call it. Do you see any issue with that? Thanks and appreciate your help!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-05-17 23:12:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Wedding Ceremony and Fiancee Visa	Sorry to hi-jack your thread a bit, I heard that if you have a wedding in the countryside (que^) without marriage certificate before the wedding ...... police (Cong an phuong) will fine, $500 US dollars or something, is that true? No worries Thanh, I am curious about this as well. I think I heard this before. Does anyone have a definitive answer?	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-05-17 12:24:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Wedding Ceremony and Fiancee Visa	About the sister's american husband, for one, he didn't have the support of the whole Visa Journey community as you do right now plus inexperience who does not know HCMC exclusively as one lawyer we have here on the Vietnam side of the board, will get your case in trouble for sure. I do not believe the sister's case will impact yours. Why would it? Unless you and the american guys are introduced to both sisters by a marriage broker in the US, and the sisters have families here in the US as well. That could raise some red flags are marriage frauds and prompt for delay, deny of k visa by the Consulate Officer. BUT, that's not here nor there, you just take sometime, read up on VJ and post a lot of questions. No one person can know all the answers and no one case is exact the same as others. Keep those questions coming! love, chuck and kim Thanks for the solid advise! I've been looking everywhere for a resource like this and I'm very glad I found it. 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?	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-05-17 08:19:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Wedding Ceremony and Fiancee Visa	I have just returned from Vietnam (my 6th trip) and my girlfriend and I our now engaged! I'm beginning to tackle all the paperwork for the I-129F (and associated documents.) When I asked her father for permission, the only requirement he had was that we have the wedding ceremony in Vietnam. We're pretty sure the Date will be December 24, about 7 months away. This is my question: if we have a wedding ceremony before she gets her K1 Visa, will this complicate the interview process? Could this help the process? We won't file any marriage paperwork in Vietnam, so legally, we won't be married. However, is this the way the US Consulate sees it? Thanks! Lucas PS: You might enjoy some of my photos from Vietnam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vsf/ If the marriage isnt registered in Vietnam, are you sure you are not still married? Great pictures by the way! If the marriage isn't registered in Vietnam, are we still not married? That's the key question, and from the sound of it, the answer is yes, we are still not married. We have not had an engagement party yet. I made a surprise visit to propose to her and we only had a limited time together. On the plus side, my parents did visit and meet with her family in February. And when I return in September, we plan on having an engagement party, minus my parents. The only other thing I am worried about is her sister's situation. Her older sister also met an American. I attended their wedding in November. Unfortunately, they received bad advice from their lawyer. They started with a K-1 and then after their wedding, they legally married in Vietnam. This was a big mistake because it made the K-1 application invalid. Now they have to start over with a K-3 application. 1) I obviously don't want to repeat the mistake. 2) I hope the fact that her sister is also marrying an American doesn't adversely influence the interview, should it come up.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-05-17 00:53:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Wedding Ceremony and Fiancee Visa	Hien, thank you very much for your fast answer. I will sleep a little easier tonight!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-05-16 23:31:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Wedding Ceremony and Fiancee Visa	I have just returned from Vietnam (my 6th trip) and my girlfriend and I our now engaged! I'm beginning to tackle all the paperwork for the I-129F (and associated documents.) When I asked her father for permission, the only requirement he had was that we have the wedding ceremony in Vietnam. We're pretty sure the Date will be December 24, about 7 months away. This is my question: if we have a wedding ceremony before she gets her K1 Visa, will this complicate the interview process? Could this help the process? We won't file any marriage paperwork in Vietnam, so legally, we won't be married. However, is this the way the US Consulate sees it? Thanks! Lucas PS: You might enjoy some of my photos from Vietnam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vsf/	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-05-16 21:42:00
Asia: East and Pacific	My I-129F is in the mail	Lucas, Do you plan to get married "on paper" officially on December 24th also (In addition to ceremony for her father)? That official paper will change your status in the minds of the USA Consulate folks, FYI....... Good Luck The wedding will only be ceremonial, so, my Fiancee and I should be in the clear.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-05-25 21:41:00
Asia: East and Pacific	My I-129F is in the mail	I put my I-129F in the mail today. Thanks for everyone's help here. Even though you may have not answered my previous post, I've read through many of the old messages in this forum, about your successes and failures, and I now have a very good understanding of the process. I am feeling confident about what lies ahead. Now I just have to wait!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-05-25 11:57:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Visa Finally Issued	What a harrowing ordeal you've had to endure. Conquering this challenge is a testament to you and your wife's relationship. Congratulations! Wow.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-08-13 13:26:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Best way to communicate with your love one in VietNam	Since no one mentioned it... I use Pingo. It's very straightforward, unlike PennyTalk and others I've used. 99/cent a month maintenance fee. No connection fees. Local numbers available. Rates to VN are 8 cents and 10 cents for landlines and mobiles, respectively. They offer complete billing history and call history that stays on the site for at least a year. Best of all, using caller id, you can program it to automatically recognize your account.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-09-20 00:55:00
Asia: East and Pacific	possible receipting delays and cell phone, travel to vietnam info	I'm also curious what the Consulate thinks about not having ticket stubs and having an itinerary instead. Has anyone had experience with this? My other issue is that my Passport doesn't have any stamps (been to Viet Nam 7 times) because I've always had a loose Visa that the Vietnamese Customs keep upon exit.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-10-02 12:50:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Noa2	Congratulations! I received my NOA1 on June 12th, near yours, so I hope my NOA2 is coming soon!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-10-17 22:19:00
Asia: East and Pacific	NOA2 on USCIS website	Congrats! I just got my NOA2 as well. :-)	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-11-06 17:26:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Tram called the consulate and...	GossipSaigon is referring to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's flag showing up on your profile. Perhaphs, he's insinuating that the consulate officers in Saigon only approve Visa for those who denounce SRV. There may be some truth to that, but I wouldn't worry abou the flag showing up here. Edited by Lucas, 24 November 2007 - 03:56 PM.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-11-24 15:56:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Tram called the consulate and...	That's great news! Just curious, when did Tram receive a packet 3 from the consulate?	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-11-08 00:41:00
Asia: East and Pacific	SGN Airport	I made it through the new airport the first day they opened, September 1, granted it was one of the last flights of the day (United's 10:00 PM flight.) The experience was the smoothest ever, a thousand times faster than going through customs at San Francisco. The entire process took no more than ten minutes and I was the first one on my flight to leave the airport... Nope... no "grease money" either. Attached Files  airport.jpg   129.78KB   11 downloads	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-05 11:48:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Interviews early in the new tax year	Thanks! That link was very helpful.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-05 01:17:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Interviews early in the new tax year	QUOTE (hawaiiandreams @ Dec 4 2007, 03:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi guys.. I have a question about the AOS for the interview.. My hubby received a letter in the mail today saying our case was complete at the NVC and has now been transferred to the embassy in Oz. Although we have already submitted the AOS reflecting tax years 2004, 2005, 2006, there was a statement on the letter saying that the i-864 Affidavit of Support for the most recent tax year should be available at the interview. It's looking like our interview is going to fall early on in the year but my husband says he won't get his tax return back from 2007 until mid to late February. What do we do if my interview is in early 2008 but the most recent tax information (from 2007) is not yet available? Any ideas? Thanks :-) I'm in a similar situation with my fiance likely to have an interview in early 2007. However, after filing for extensions because of my complicated taxes, I usually don't have them completed until August. What is the Consulate's expectations and how can I satisfy them if I've filed for an extension (paying the estimate) but haven't completed the forms.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-04 18:15:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Regarding Work Visa!! Pls Help !!	QUOTE (amlan70 @ Dec 9 2007, 11:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi , I am from India and presently in USA in a B1/B2 visa .I am here for my client to attend some fairs and designing and making the illustrations and covers of her book.Now I am also making her website , taking to the press on her behalf as her entire technical person.Now she wants to hire me as her assistant cum technical man as i wd design her DVD for the books ,record her voice, as well plan the promotions for her in USA. Now she wants to have a contract with me , and the contract period being 1-2 years.Now after going back to India what visa shd I apply for ....and what all I have to show to the consulate In Kolkata . Can someone please advice me ??? Thanks so much Amlan I think the South Asia forum or a work related visa forum might get more responses. Good luck!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-09 17:12:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Bring on the butterflies!	Keep the good attitude Neverseen. Like you said, no matter what happens, she will get here. Get pink!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-09 17:17:00
Asia: East and Pacific	4 weeks now and NVC haven't receive my case	Ok... just talked to a nice woman at the consulate. She said the status of my file was still "in transit" -- they've received the electronic file but not the physical file. I asked her if she was concerned that the file hasn't been received yet. She answered that she wasn't concerned, and that because many people at the consulate are on vacation (travelling to visit family, I would imagine) that the file was likely already in the office just waiting to be opened. That explains the delays, as far as I am concerned. I bet it's slow going until the first week of January. Happy Holidays!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-11 21:37:00
Asia: East and Pacific	4 weeks now and NVC haven't receive my case	QUOTE (MR2nice @ Dec 7 2007, 03:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Mine took 5 weeks. They are having mail contactor problems so they only send out the NOA2 once a crate is filled up. I'm waiting for mine to arrive as well. Approved on 10/31, I called the NVC and the HCMC Consulate and its still in transit.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-08 20:56:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Better to mail or return packet 3 in person?	Wrong post... Edited by Lucas, 11 December 2007 - 09:36 PM.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-11 21:36:00
Asia: East and Pacific	cool down guys. I am an abiding citizen	QUOTE (tungchau @ Dec 14 2007, 11:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks for all advices even though my message was not clear which make me look like a tax criminal. especially thanks to GUY&HOA. you guys think it right: when I got that job, i was living with my girl friend in her family ( she have 2 kids with her ex, and her parent weren't working ), therefore I put married and claimed exemption was 9 on W-4 for the sole reason to have a lesser burden on my take home pay. That is it. At the end of each year when i file tax return my status is still single, no dependent so i have to pay back my tax for IRS. Some time they return me some money said that I overpaided. I think they don't care about what you put down on W-4 but what you file for tax return at the end of year. However, like I state before those thing are showing on my W2 and my pay stubs. I never married, i have 3 kids with my girlfriend, we broke up 3 years ago and the kids are living with me. Later on, when I have them ,I file tax return as " head of house hold". I hope the COs will understand the matter as GUY&HOA, also if they take a look at tax transcript to see how you file tax return. If you are Tax criminal, probally your case wasn't approved. Tell me if I am wrong. Thanks guys. Obviously I was confused by your first message, sorry for the criminal insinuation! I would assume that the CO will look at your tax return and ask the obvious question, if you weren't married why did you mark this off? I would attach a letter stating the situation, perhaps a photo of the 5 of you together and you may as well add a single status paper. You want to eliminate anything that might delay your visa. Good luck to you!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-15 13:12:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Why background check BEFOR NVC???	For what it's worth, I heard a report on NPR last night that the government is being sued by an individual going through immigration who's papers are being held up for background checks. The court ruled in his favor and they are required to completed the check within 45 days. You've waited a VERY long time! Check out the link.... http://www.npr.org/t...storyId=9958267	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-05 20:55:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Dear guys :some questions	Your going to have MAJOR issues with #3. Essentially, you've committed tax fraud. Your going to have to resolve that issue before you can bring your fiancee over here. I wouldn't even file any financial paperwork with the consulate until it's cleared up. When they catch wind of this, they will likely notify the IRS. Your best bet is to start start with a tax attorney. You have a little leverage right now becuase you haven't been caught yet. You'll probably have a lot of back taxes and fines to pay. Call an attorney, fix this fast! Hope you saved some of that extra cash cause you're going to need it and more!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-12-14 10:58:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Vietnam Visa Expiration Question	Hello all, I have a question that maybe someone here can answer from experience. I am travelling to Vietnam on February 28 and I land before March 1st. My Vietnamese re-entry Visa expires on March 1st. Will I be able to enter Vietnam on this Visa and extend it when I am there? Or do I need to apply for a new visa. (I just hate applying for a new visa this close to the trip, in case my passport gets lost or delayed.)	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2008-02-16 12:41:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Help! Birth Certificate Required?	QUOTE (Haonie @ Feb 26 2008, 07:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Lucas @ Feb 26 2008, 10:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My Fiancee's interview is in a few days and I'm in the airport catching a flight to Vietnam. She just called me, frantic, and curious if I have my original birth certificate with me. I left it at home. The consulate already has a copy of my birth certificate. Do they need to see my original, as well? Or is it not important? Thanks! Yes, you must have the orginal with you. They asked my friend's wife at the interview. Take it with you. Good luck on the interview. I have a taxi driving from 180 miles away to bring me my birth certificate now. I'll rest easy once I have it!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2008-02-26 23:12:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Help! Birth Certificate Required?	My Fiancee's interview is in a few days and I'm in the airport catching a flight to Vietnam. She just called me, frantic, and curious if I have my original birth certificate with me. I left it at home. The consulate already has a copy of my birth certificate. Do they need to see my original, as well? Or is it not important? Thanks!	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2008-02-26 22:04:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Prenuptial agreement - anyone else do one?	"Oriental People" is also considered a derogatory term. Regardless, it is disturbing that it is the common belief that Asian women marry American men simply to become American. I can't speak for Ding's wife, but I hope that is not the case. Look into yourself and see how you may be spreading this belief. No one should ever feel ashamed of their heritage.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-08-30 17:56:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Prenuptial agreement - anyone else do one?	QUOTE (HappyOne @ Aug 29 2007, 09:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> This is a real hot topic!! I personally do not understand how a person can get marry to someone that he does not trust. Of course he say that he loves her but is this the only thing?? Think about that deeper. Why would a man go to the 3rd countries to find a wife?? It is just because modern women are not as easy to control. So the question here is should the woman not be more worried than the man? The woman is giving up her entire life to be with the man she loves and sorry for this expression but it sounds like she is treated like a piece of #######. She does not give up her life to be someones slave!!! Most of the cases I have read about where the "Thai" women are using their husband to get to the US....I have to say that the man is stupid enough to fall for that because if you would take your time to get to know the person better (and not decide to get marry so fast) than you do not have to worry that she is using you! Of course the man got a reason to worry about this issue because reality is that there are that kind of person out there that uses the man but the man can control the situation!! No offens to anybody....just my 2 cents! But your 2 cents are offensive. Are you implying that everyone in this forum is going to a 3rd world country (already a derogatory word) to find submissive women whom will obey our every command? Whether or not you meant it, your smugness is offensive to us and to the people of South East Asia. My fiancee would be hurt to know that many Americans, like yourself, hold these elitist stereotypes. How does a country's development status translate to the quality of a person? As far as I am concerned, it's not that simple. Perhaps you shouldn't apply your Western thinking to the rest of the world.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-08-29 22:57:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Prenuptial agreement - anyone else do one?	Can we jump back to the original thread: has anyone else considered or gone with a pre-nuptial? If so, what was your experience? If not, why did you decide against it?	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-08-26 10:45:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	What a joke	QUOTE (Jamie76 @ Nov 7 2007, 04:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Tanjay @ Nov 7 2007, 07:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (jasman0717 @ Nov 7 2007, 04:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ah, the misinformation line strikes again ????? This misinformation line is USCIS customer service. Call them a few times...each time you will be told something totally different. I'm thinking of axe'ing the K1 and going there to marry her. Have to start over, but at this rate, what's the difference. If you have a strong case don't think about axe'ing the fiancee visa. You've already waited 140+ days for this and it won't be any faster with a marriage visa. Starting over with a marriage visa will mean you're waiting another 10-12 months, starting AFTER you get all your marriage paperwork completed in Thailand. In 35-40 days you'll get your RFE information. (Can they tell you why they RFE'd over the phone?) Maybe it's something really simple (I've read about really simple things missing to cause RFEs, such as signatures or typos on names) and you'll turn it around in a couple days. RFEs get processed very fast (as a former adjudicator explained on this site) because it looks bad for the adjudicator to have a file on his/her desk for a long time. Things will get moving along and you're fiancee will be could be here in April or May of next year. (The one major advantage to filing with a marriage visa is if your case isn't strong. [For example, an engagement on the first visit to her country.] Even then, a red flag doesn't mean much in itself, but is measured with the rest of your evidence. ) As frustrating as this may be, hang in there and make the right decisions so your fiancee can join you stateside ASAP. Best of luck to you. Edited by Lucas, 08 November 2007 - 12:36 AM.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-11-08 00:34:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Waiting for a NOA2 from CSC for your I-129F?	Add one more approval for last week: Chan and I are received our NOA2 online (still waiting for mail and email.) Good luck everyone.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-11-05 20:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	ATTENTION : MAY FILERS ... lets keep in touch!	Gives me a Headache ... Could you post this as an XLS file? I can't read Microsoft Documents for the Web. I think others here are having trouble too.	Lucas	Not Telling	Vietnam	2007-08-03 09:16:00