Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Question on I-156	QUOTE (hargis @ Apr 15 2009, 10:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My wife will have her interview on May 27th praise God. On form I-156 #22. where it ask when she will arrive in the US What should she put there? Unknown? Put approximate date, in accordance with your current plans. And could you please update (create) your timeline? thanks	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-04-16 07:46:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Question re: I-134 and first fiancee packet from embassy (packet 3?)...	QUOTE (Arabella @ Mar 18 2009, 03:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> On the same topic, I sent the I-134 in with my initial I-129f packet. I had the letter from my employer and the income tax statement (I don't need the bank statements because my income is well over what they require.). Will I have to re-do the I-134 for the interview which won't be for at least a few months? It varies by embassy/consulate. Some will accept I-134 and supporting documentation dated within a year but I recommend that you check the embassy website where you will have the interview. At a minimum, you will need tax transcripts for tax year 2008.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-03-18 16:24:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Question re: I-134 and first fiancee packet from embassy (packet 3?)...	QUOTE (Joe McGillicuddy @ Mar 18 2009, 02:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> First...great site. I have stumbled across it trying to get a feel for the process. Thanks to all who contribute. Second....My fiancee received the packet from the embassy (Bogota, Colombia). I'm not sure of what constitutes packet 3 or 4, so I apologize if my terminology is wrong. This package contained the DS-2100, the DS-230, DS-156K, I-134, and various intruction pages. I have a couple of questions, mainly because I think I have seen or read conflicting things. 1) It seems to indicate that she should not return anything to the embassy until she has collected all documents requested; however, it seems to say also to immediately send these documents via fax (2100 & 230). What is the proper procedure? She has all document but the I-134 data and she needs the photos. 2) The I-134 was included in her packet because I did not send it with my original petition. I have my letter from my employer, pay stubs, bank statements, and tax return info. However, she needs originals, per the letter. Do I need to print/sign the I-134 and mail it to her, or is there a way to get her the necessary info? She has already gathered nearly all documents, as we started gathering everything for the initial submission. Thanks in advance for any assistance, and I apologize if this is posted elsewhere and I missed it. Joe 1. She has received Packet 3, the Information Packet. The DS-2001 form is an interview readiness form. They want her to collect the docs (which you have largely done) and then sign the document saying she is ready for her interview. But, they would like her to do that as soon as possible because they will not schedule an interview for her until she returns the DS-2001 along with DS-230 Part I. She should only be returning the DS-2001 and the DS-230 at this stage. Many embassies will allow the forms to be faxed or mailed. 2. The I-134 form is for you to fill out. You can download the latest version. You need to fill out the I-134, sign it, attach all required supporting documentation according to the instructions in Packet 3 and mail it to her. She will need to bring it with her to the interview.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-03-18 14:09:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	My fiancee got a white slip!	QUOTE (tup14ongtu @ Mar 16 2009, 06:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> By the way I always hear about the blue slip and pink! What is the difference between the blue and white?? Thanks What exactly does the letter say? I have not heard of them issuing a white slip in VN asking for more info. Always blue. Also, did your fiancee have the interview in English or Vietnamese?	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-03-17 07:48:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Do I need to translate all my documents into English?	QUOTE (Han & James @ Apr 13 2009, 07:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi guys, Pls help me to answer this question. After getting approval from USCIS, and then it will be transfered to NVC before comming to Consulate in Hochiminh - Vietnam, and then I will receive package 3 & 4 in order. And I have to submit my documents which Consulate requires in those packages, such as birthday certificate, police certificate, affidavit of single, ect. I want to know that will I need to translate them into english, so that I can prepare these things first? Thank you very much, Good luck to all of us Han & James 1. Just to clarify, you will not submit any of the documents that you listed to the consulate prior to your interview. All of those items will be presented in person when Han goes for the visa interview. 2. The instructions in Packet 3 say that "All documents not in English or Vietnamese must be accompanied by certified translation, which include a statement by the translator stating “Translation is accurate” and “Translator is competent to translate”.", so you do not need to translate Vietnamese documents into English for the consulate. HOWEVER, you will need many of them for AOS in the US and those will need to be in English only. A lot easier to get docs translated into English in HCM than here in the US, so I recommend that you get the translations done sometime before Han leaves Vietnam. And once you have them in English, might as well have them for the consulate, as well...just in case. 3. Affidavit of single is not specifically noted as a required document, but as Anh Map says, HCM is not about the basics. Best to be prepared with anything that could possibly be requested, regardless of whether it is specifically stated or not. Good luck.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-04-13 11:28:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Visa	QUOTE (BurningFinger @ Nov 2 2009, 10:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hey guys, This is kind of a dumb question but I wanted to know how to go about getting a loose-leaf visa for a single-visit one month stay in VN. I call and email them every day with no response. I always used to just mail my passport to the Embassy in D.C for the sticker visa, but I want a loose-leaf this time. There is no emergency here, so I dont know if I can get this. Has anybody every tried this? What would be the wait times? -Travis & Trang A word of caution on loose, single-entry visas: The entry stamp will be put on the visa (not in your passprt) and the visa will be retained by the Passport Control Officer when you leave the country. You will have NO record of your entry and exit of VN. If this is important to you for documentation purposes (it should be), you may want to consider getting a permanently affixed visa in your passport. That way, they HAVE to stamp your passport going in and coming out. Burning: you don't have a timeline so I don't know if you are already married to a VN citizen. If you are, you can get a visa exemption for 5 years for $20. Available in loose-leaf or permanently affixed.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-03 12:32:00
Asia: East and Pacific	we got ViSa	Congratulations, John and Kim Hai!!	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-10-29 09:30:00
Asia: East and Pacific	I129F Extension	Many of us have had our cases go past the validity period. It is a normal occurrence...no need to worry. This is an excerpt from the HCM Consulate website: "Although a K visa petition is valid for a period of four months, a consular officer can revalidate the petition provided the officer concludes that the American citizen sponsor and the applicant remain legally free to marry and that they continue to intend to marry each other within three months of the alien’s admission into the U.S."	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-03 12:21:00
Asia: East and Pacific	K-1 Visa - Submit now or later?	QUOTE (Hien @ Nov 5 2009, 02:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (toddandhien @ Nov 5 2009, 11:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Hien @ Nov 4 2009, 10:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (dnxt @ Oct 26 2009, 04:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hello all! My name is Long and I, like many of you, have fallen for a special lady that resides in VN. Her name is Diem and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her! I was preparing to submit the I-129F for the K-1 Fiance Visa, but after finding this forum and realizing that many cases are often delayed, I'm considering visiting VN at least one more time before filing the K-1. Any thoughts, comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! I was introduced to Diem by her sister Thi and we began talking over the phone in Nov 2008. TET 2009 - I decided to go to VN to meet Diem..Thi and her boyfriend John joined me in VN. I am Vietnamese and speak English and Vietnamese fluently..Diem has been studying English, but we currently communicate exclusively in Vietnamese. I proposed to Diem while in VN and we ended up having a small (50 people) engagement party before I returned to US. July 2009 - Spent 7 weeks with Diem traveling Vietnam and introduced her to a few of my family members still living in Vietnam. Weaknesses - Calling card used from Nov 2008 to TET did not have retrievable call records - Did not retain any hotel receipts while on first trip - Currently unemployed, but have some promising prospects and should be employed very soon - Had engagement party on first visit to Vietnam - Was introduced by her sister Strengths - Income is stable over past few years despite current unemployment - Have call records on Skype, SavingCall Calling Card and Yahoo Messenger - took many pictures while in VN - Have all hotel receipts for 2nd trip in July 2009 My questions are: Do any weaknesses stand out and are a cause for concern? Are my 2 visits to VN sufficient for K-1 Visa? Are there any other steps that should be taken prior to filing for K-1 Visa? I'm very anxious to get the paperwork submitted, but I just hope to be able to avoid the dreaded Additional Processing. Thank you in advance for reading my story! Long You arranged the weakness on the wrong order, I re-arrange according to important level: 1- Was introduced by her sister. 2- Had engagement party on first visit to Vietnam 3- Currently unemployed, but have some promising prospects and should be employed very soon Those three issues are enough for you to get blue or white sheet on the first time of interview. Your evidence will not be believed due to those reasons. You should ask for help from lawyer for your case from beginning. Disagree. The first two are things that neither he nor a lawyer can change. The third one HAS to be changed or he cannot get a visa approved. The key is in preparing this case from the beginning, starting with the filing of the petition. If his case is well-prepared and credible and he addresses those two red flags properly, he may get blue-slipped or AP'd but he will prevail. He can change the first and the second a little bit. If he has advice from lawyer, he would have idea how to do. That's why I said he should ask for help from lawyer, may be he just needs one to two hours to have general ideas to make his case better. He can ask the lowyer how to change the first and the second ones. The third, he can change completly. Well, the problem is that he has now posted his name, his fiancee's name and his case history on a public forum. Not sure how you can change the FACTS that he has presented here. I think he has to address them, not change them. A lawyer could offer advice on how to address them but I would not recommend that he try to change them now.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-06 09:52:00
Asia: East and Pacific	K-1 Visa - Submit now or later?	QUOTE (Hien @ Nov 4 2009, 10:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (dnxt @ Oct 26 2009, 04:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hello all! My name is Long and I, like many of you, have fallen for a special lady that resides in VN. Her name is Diem and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her! I was preparing to submit the I-129F for the K-1 Fiance Visa, but after finding this forum and realizing that many cases are often delayed, I'm considering visiting VN at least one more time before filing the K-1. Any thoughts, comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! I was introduced to Diem by her sister Thi and we began talking over the phone in Nov 2008. TET 2009 - I decided to go to VN to meet Diem..Thi and her boyfriend John joined me in VN. I am Vietnamese and speak English and Vietnamese fluently..Diem has been studying English, but we currently communicate exclusively in Vietnamese. I proposed to Diem while in VN and we ended up having a small (50 people) engagement party before I returned to US. July 2009 - Spent 7 weeks with Diem traveling Vietnam and introduced her to a few of my family members still living in Vietnam. Weaknesses - Calling card used from Nov 2008 to TET did not have retrievable call records - Did not retain any hotel receipts while on first trip - Currently unemployed, but have some promising prospects and should be employed very soon - Had engagement party on first visit to Vietnam - Was introduced by her sister Strengths - Income is stable over past few years despite current unemployment - Have call records on Skype, SavingCall Calling Card and Yahoo Messenger - took many pictures while in VN - Have all hotel receipts for 2nd trip in July 2009 My questions are: Do any weaknesses stand out and are a cause for concern? Are my 2 visits to VN sufficient for K-1 Visa? Are there any other steps that should be taken prior to filing for K-1 Visa? I'm very anxious to get the paperwork submitted, but I just hope to be able to avoid the dreaded Additional Processing. Thank you in advance for reading my story! Long You arranged the weakness on the wrong order, I re-arrange according to important level: 1- Was introduced by her sister. 2- Had engagement party on first visit to Vietnam 3- Currently unemployed, but have some promising prospects and should be employed very soon Those three issues are enough for you to get blue or white sheet on the first time of interview. Your evidence will not be believed due to those reasons. You should ask for help from lawyer for your case from beginning. Disagree. The first two are things that neither he nor a lawyer can change. The third one HAS to be changed or he cannot get a visa approved. The key is in preparing this case from the beginning, starting with the filing of the petition. If his case is well-prepared and credible and he addresses those two red flags properly, he may get blue-slipped or AP'd but he will prevail.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-05 12:52:00
Asia: East and Pacific	K-1 Visa - Submit now or later?	You summarized the weaknesses well. And there is not much you can do about what has happened in the past, how you met or when you had the dam hoi. Those are potential issues and you will have to be prepared to address them. But they are not going to get better with age. My advice would be: Document everything very well from here on Go to VN again for a visit and then again when she has her interview Frontload the petition with as much evidence as you have Develop a very good timeline that can be used at the interview Prepare her extremely well for the interview Good luck	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-10-26 19:30:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Translated Documents	For K visa applicants, there is no need to translate documents in Vietnamese into English for the HCM Consulate, so don't waste your money. However, you will eventually need her birth certificate in English when you file for AOS, so my advice is that you get that translated in VN where there are a lot of people who can do it for small money.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-06 08:47:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Phone Calls	QUOTE (JimVaPhuong @ Nov 6 2009, 09:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (toddandhien @ Nov 6 2009, 06:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (jeromebinh @ Nov 5 2009, 08:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (BurningFinger @ Nov 5 2009, 01:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Trang and I barely talked over the phone. In fact most of our communication is through Yahoo chats. We also use the Yahoo Messenger Phone Call feature which is kinda like Skype. We use this alot as well. So basically we make phone calls to each other over the internet. I made screen shots on the webcam of both of us wearing our headseats as well as the call durations for our conversations on the headsets. Will the CO think this is strange or will they want copies of actual phone bills instead? -Travis & Trang The CO will not look at them, I even said in our time line that is what we did, Binh also had screen shots as well with us both in the picture. They should, but what you will have to do is MAKE them take them, they will not do it on their own. I suggest doing what you are doing, and keep taking screen shots, and just stress to your fiancée that she try to give them to the CO at the interview over and over and over again, and to stress to them that you use Yahoo and Skype, not the phone. If this does not work, and they give you a blue slip, when you get what they want turn in all of those as well. At this point they will have them no matter what, and I do not know if it is possible to do this or not, but ask for some sort of paper that shows you submitted "blank number of pages" this way if the CO lies as they did in our case you can say "Hey where did all those papers go? DID you file them in the trash receptacle??" but as I said I am not sure they will give you any type of receipt, but if you turn it in they have to accept it. Good luck Jerome and Binh The issue at hand is not what we all feel that we want to do or what SHOULD be acceptable. The issue is that you have to convince a third party (the CO) who is highly skeptical at best. Think about it. Every day, they see fraudulent cases and people trying to rip them off with scams that are elaborate. How hard do you think it is to create a speadsheet that looks like the Skype Call Exporter? I used it, too, but only as one tiny piece of a mountain of evidence. The best proof is something that is irrefutable. You can fake chat call logs. You can fake the screenshots because you could change clothes 50 times on one session. With a green card at stake, these are small prices to pay. Consider this. We all know that cell phones in VN are pay as you go. Don't have the VN person do the calling. US petitioner, you make the calls. Call from a land line that gets a monthly bill or a cell phone that gets a monthly bill. Don't use pre-paid cell phones, unlimited services or calling cards as your PRIMARY call evidence because you will not have documentation. As I mentioned before, call with some verifiable method once or twice a week for 20-30 minutes. Now, you have irrefutable evidence because the bill you get from Verizon or ATT has your calls from YOUR number to the VN number (just be sure that the number you are calling in VN is the same number that the applicant will use on the DS-156 and other submitted forms). After you have established this PRIMARY evidence, build your SECONDARY evidence with chat logs, screenshots, etc, etc. That isn't practical for a lot of people. An 18 minute call from my land line phone to Phuong's cell phone costs $135. Also, creating an authentic-looking call transcript from AT&T would be just as easy as faking a transcript from Skype or Yahoo Messenger. Both are just pieces of paper printed on a computer. In the end, the CO is either going to believe the evidence or they're not. If they're going to believe the AT&T transcript before they'd believe a transcript for a calling card or Skype or Yahoo, then they're also going to believe that the petitioner is a bonehead that doesn't know how to manage his/her money since they prefer to spend $5 a minute on a phone call rather than calling for free using VoIP, or heavily discounted using a calling card. If anything, I would think the latter would smell more like a sham relationship since it might look like the petitioner is making irrational financial decisions in order to manufacture evidence. The bottom line is that ANY evidence you provide to them can be faked, whether it's photos or call logs, or chat sessions, or emails, or even letters and postcards. Before they would automatically assume that the beneficiary is submitting a pile of fake evidence, I think there would need to be some other alarm bells going off in the CO's mind. OK, I guess I was not that clear when I went back and read my post. You had to read both of my posts and put them together to understand what I meant. Here is the overview: Get a calling card that tracks every call you make and shows the number you called from and to and the duration. use this as your trackable evidence. Then, using a cell phone or land line that you get billed with (to show your name and number), make your calls to VN through the calling card at 3-10 cents per minute. This will give you a bill that shows you calling the calling card access number and also a call log that shows that your number was used to call the VN number, along with the date and the duration. Now you have two sets of matchable documents that show your voice communication and you will not spend a lot of money. This is what I did and then I explained that in my timeline and referenced where in my evidence package this material could be found. i also had my Skype Call Export logs along with 20 or so screenshots of our webcam sessions to go with it. However, as Jim pointed out, this is only one element of your evidence. And the need for this evidence will likely be driven by other aspects of your case. You have to look at your entire case and put together a package that would convince the average person that you have a bona fide relationship.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-06 12:34:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Phone Calls	QUOTE (wratran @ Nov 6 2009, 09:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> toddandhien... cellular or land line call log can also be faked..no different than skype or yahoo. It's depend on the interviewer. I am not talking about a call log. I am talking about a bill that comes in the mail.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-06 09:35:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Phone Calls	QUOTE (jeromebinh @ Nov 5 2009, 08:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (BurningFinger @ Nov 5 2009, 01:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Trang and I barely talked over the phone. In fact most of our communication is through Yahoo chats. We also use the Yahoo Messenger Phone Call feature which is kinda like Skype. We use this alot as well. So basically we make phone calls to each other over the internet. I made screen shots on the webcam of both of us wearing our headseats as well as the call durations for our conversations on the headsets. Will the CO think this is strange or will they want copies of actual phone bills instead? -Travis & Trang The CO will not look at them, I even said in our time line that is what we did, Binh also had screen shots as well with us both in the picture. They should, but what you will have to do is MAKE them take them, they will not do it on their own. I suggest doing what you are doing, and keep taking screen shots, and just stress to your fiancée that she try to give them to the CO at the interview over and over and over again, and to stress to them that you use Yahoo and Skype, not the phone. If this does not work, and they give you a blue slip, when you get what they want turn in all of those as well. At this point they will have them no matter what, and I do not know if it is possible to do this or not, but ask for some sort of paper that shows you submitted "blank number of pages" this way if the CO lies as they did in our case you can say "Hey where did all those papers go? DID you file them in the trash receptacle??" but as I said I am not sure they will give you any type of receipt, but if you turn it in they have to accept it. Good luck Jerome and Binh The issue at hand is not what we all feel that we want to do or what SHOULD be acceptable. The issue is that you have to convince a third party (the CO) who is highly skeptical at best. Think about it. Every day, they see fraudulent cases and people trying to rip them off with scams that are elaborate. How hard do you think it is to create a speadsheet that looks like the Skype Call Exporter? I used it, too, but only as one tiny piece of a mountain of evidence. The best proof is something that is irrefutable. You can fake chat call logs. You can fake the screenshots because you could change clothes 50 times on one session. With a green card at stake, these are small prices to pay. Consider this. We all know that cell phones in VN are pay as you go. Don't have the VN person do the calling. US petitioner, you make the calls. Call from a land line that gets a monthly bill or a cell phone that gets a monthly bill. Don't use pre-paid cell phones, unlimited services or calling cards as your PRIMARY call evidence because you will not have documentation. As I mentioned before, call with some verifiable method once or twice a week for 20-30 minutes. Now, you have irrefutable evidence because the bill you get from Verizon or ATT has your calls from YOUR number to the VN number (just be sure that the number you are calling in VN is the same number that the applicant will use on the DS-156 and other submitted forms). After you have established this PRIMARY evidence, build your SECONDARY evidence with chat logs, screenshots, etc, etc.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-06 09:10:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Phone Calls	QUOTE (JimVaPhuong @ Nov 5 2009, 08:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (BurningFinger @ Nov 4 2009, 09:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Trang and I barely talked over the phone. In fact most of our communication is through Yahoo chats. We also use the Yahoo Messenger Phone Call feature which is kinda like Skype. We use this alot as well. So basically we make phone calls to each other over the internet. I made screen shots on the webcam of both of us wearing our headseats as well as the call durations for our conversations on the headsets. Will the CO think this is strange or will they want copies of actual phone bills instead? -Travis & Trang This is the 21st century. I'm sure the consulate will forgive you if you don't use regular phone calls very much. Yahoo chat, Skype, and other VoIP services are virtually free, and someone would have to be practically insane not to take advantage of that. The downside is that you can get spoiled by having free voice communications available, and not be prepared on the occasion you might need conventional phone services. I called Phuong for a total of about 3 hours during Typhoon Ketsana, and I just got my phone bill yesterday - $522. I've got a calling card now, but I don't know if I'll need it before her interview. Have copies of your Yahoo call and chat logs available at the interview and you should be ok. I think webcam pics are also nice, but I haven't heard much about whether they were specifically helpful at the interview. I have more than 2000 webcam pics of Phuong. I collect more almost every day. This may be the 21st century but I would not expect that the Consulate will have adopted every modern way of thinking. Many of the things that they look for are conventional in nature. I would strongly recommend to anyone to get a calling card that tracks all of your call records and has them available to you on-line. The records need to show the phone number called from and to and the duration. Then you can show that the phone numbers called are yours and your SO's. Use this card to call at least once a week for 20-30 minutes or so. At 8 cents/min that's $10/month. Then make all of your other, longer calls on skype or other VOIP. Remember the onus is on YOU to prove the bona fides, not for the CO to interpret it. Make it easy for them. There is something very familiar in being able to look at a phone "bill" that lists numbers and durations and is from a credible source.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-05 12:44:00
Asia: East and Pacific	I485 Fees incorrect????????	when you filled out the I-485 for your wife, did you list her daughter on the form and did you check the box that says "applying with you?" And I trust you filed them together.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-08 14:55:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Asia-lish Spoken Here!	QUOTE (thongd4me @ Nov 5 2009, 02:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> This is for things we've seen in our travels, In storefronts, On billboards, At train stations, In restrooms, In newspaper ads or headlines, On product packaging, On TV or any other media, in other words, practically anywhere public. So far I've been exposed to Jap-lish and Thai-lish, but there are many more -lishes out there to be heard from. Extra points for a pic of the actual sign. It can be a creatively misspelled word or a word spelled correctly but misuesd in a sentence or phrase, or something entirely new and creative, literally translated from the home country language. I'll start things off with something I've seen more than once in Bangkok: Romance Serviced Apartments Here's one from China. This would actually keep a lot of people off the planes...  Alcoholics.jpg   45.49KB   30 downloads	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-06 09:43:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Bonafide Relationship	QUOTE (bryonm4 @ Nov 3 2009, 12:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My wife and I have had a joint bank account in Vietnam since Feb of 2009 we also have a connecting account between wellsfargo and vietnam income bank where I can transfer her money from my computer. She also has access to my credit cards and pin numbers I couldn't get her name on the title to my house yet until she moves here. I would not have done if for a K1 that looks really bad like you are trying to manufacture evedence because you have a weak case. For a K1 you only have to prove intent to marry not closeness of relationship. The consulate might not always follow that logic but as you can see here by case law you can appeal it very successfully. http://www.uscis.gov...errFrameset.jsp Section 214(d) of the Act states that CIS shall approve the Form I-129F when a petitioner submits evidence to establish that he/she and the beneficiary have met within the two-year period preceding the filing of the Form 1129F, have a bonafide intention to marry and are legally able and willing to marry within 90 days of the beneficiary's arrival in the United States. The Department of State's interview of the beneficiary raised questions regarding the level of intimacy between the petitioner and the beneficiary at the time of the latter's consular interview. However, the approval of a Form I-129F does not depend on the level of closeness between the two parties, and the AAO finds the director to have erred in imposing it. While § 214(d) of the Act requires the petitioner to establish that he and the beneficiary have a bonafide intention to marry, this language is not synonymous with a requirement that the petitioner establish the closeness of their relationship. The AAO has found nothing in the record to indicate the petitioner and beneficiary do not intend to marry within 90 days of the beneficiary's arrival in the United States. The difficulty is rarely in getting your petition approved by USCIS. It is getting the HCM Consulate to approve the visa. Two totally different hurdles. I believe that for the Consulate, you need to worry about both the real AND perceived closeness of the relationship.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-03 18:08:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Bonafide Relationship	QUOTE (ScottThuy @ Nov 2 2009, 08:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (JimVaPhuong @ Nov 2 2009, 12:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (VudoMenudo @ Nov 1 2009, 08:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hello, Thank you for your help. I am not sure if Wachovia will allow me to create a joint bank account with Thuy while she is still living in VN. Perhaps when I visit her again in a couple of months, I can ask her if she would like to create a joint bank account with me in VN. In any case, does anybody here who filed for K-1 have any experience with using joint bank accounts as evidence of bonafide relationship? I heard the HCMC consulate is tough to deal with and may look at this type of activity as fraudulent. You're going to get different opinions on this, so ultimately you're going to have to make up your own mind. In my opinion, the CO expects to see financial ties between the petitioner and the beneficiary if they are married, but not if they are engaged. It's possible it could even backfire, and the CO might presume the beneficiary is a gold digger. This is not so common in Vietnam, but it's a huge problem in the former Soviet states. Personally, I would leave the financial evidence out. Good point Jim.. or even worse they could assume the two are already married and thus ineligible for K-1... I agree. I would avoid the bank account thing on a K-1. You cannot get her added to an account here without an SSN as was stated earlier and I think creating an account in VN might look strange. For front-loading I would focus on the evidence of your relationship, not money (including the beneficiary of the life ins). Focus on time together, things you've done, hotel receipts, photos, boarding passes, a timeline. Make them feel your love story for the first 10 months.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-02 09:04:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Visa fee receipt	QUOTE (ScottThuy @ Nov 10 2009, 05:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> 2 weeks and i will be there again... I have come to accept the fact that nothing can be rushed and it will be some time next year that she will get the visa... It usually takes a day to get the Cho Ray results... med one day results the next... We were going to do the med when I am there but decided to plan for her to take a few extra days when she goes for the interview and get it done a few days prior to the day... that will give her some extra time shopping in Sai Gon Scott, I would encourage you to reconsider having her do it a few days before the interview. Anything can happen, including unforeseen delays and she cannot get the interview without the results. Once she has the date, get it done. When she goes to Saigon, she should be stress-free.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-10 19:42:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Slow to get an interview in HCM...	Jim, I believe that they do actually perform additional screening/checking/analysis in VN before scheduling your interview. So the rate at which you get notified is based upon the speed at which data is returned to them, the number of cases in the stack ahead of you, the number of people out sick (H1N1, etc) and the speed of the snail mail to your SO's home. My recollection is that it takes about 3-4 weeks after you turn in Packet 3 to get a date and that date is another 4-6 weeks in the future. You are just coming up on 3 weeks so you will likely hear in the next week or so. I would think your interview would be around the week before Christmas.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-09 09:33:00
Asia: East and Pacific	WE GOT PINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111	QUOTE (Mike n Huong @ Nov 17 2009, 10:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Congrats!!!! Click on My Assistant and then Edit Timeline. he means that he wants to put his written TIMELINE into a reply as an attachment. after you select reply and have the text window, look on the right side where it says browse and upload. browse to your timeline on your PC and select it, then upload. CONGRATS!!!	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-17 12:45:00
Asia: East and Pacific	visa pickup	QUOTE (Dai_Tx @ Nov 18 2009, 10:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> in dallas it was divided, permanent resident/USC and Non residents. You and your spouse can go in the USC line together to get processed at POE. or you can go in the new immigrant line together to be processed as in SFO. depends on the POE. But, regardless of which line you choose to be in, stay together.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-19 02:19:00
Asia: East and Pacific	visa pickup	The money issue is up to you. We did not offer money and they gave my wife a hard time, asking a lot of questions. She just kept answering them until the guy figured nothing was coming his way. She needs to bring the sealed envelope and the x-rays with her in hand. Do not pack them in checked luggage.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-18 19:01:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Blue Slip 11/18 HCM	Also, it is not the consulate's job to investigate. It is your responsibility to convince them that the relationship is bona fide. They are trained to believe it is a scam until proven otherwise. They don't care if she gets a visa or not. You do, so I would recommend complying with any requirements necessary.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-18 19:05:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Blue Slip 11/18 HCM	QUOTE (Anh map @ Nov 18 2009, 01:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Cabling and slugging are terms for how the embassies and other government offices communicate with each other. You wouldn't be sending a cable, you would be inquiring about a refugee file at whatever AIT-Taipei is. AIT is the American Institute in Taiwan. We do not have an embassy in Taiwan; rather we have a quasi-governmental organization that does everything that an embassy does, including consular services.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-18 16:16:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Frequent flyer miles	QUOTE (bryonm4 @ Nov 23 2009, 01:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Anh map @ Nov 23 2009, 08:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Get a Delta (now owns Northwest) Skymiles account. You cannot combine the Symiles with United or AA (unless they merge at some point in the future). Korean is in the Skymiles network, but as Scott says you need to check. At the very least give the agent your Skymiles number when you check in for Korean/NW. Since I new have a nw number can I just use that for my Korean ff miles or do I have to get delta and if I get delta? get a Delta skymiles account and then merge your NWA account into that one. You will then have all your old NWA miles, new NWA miles and new Delta miles. And hopefully the KA miles, too (go to the Delta website and read about KA miles eligibility).	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-23 15:14:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Conditions Removed	Chuc mung, Linh!	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-24 10:36:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Plane ticket	QUOTE (bryonm4 @ Nov 16 2009, 03:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well it was 1900$ for the ticket. I had an open date I could leave anytime from the 12th to the 20th and come back on the 30th of December but the price was over 3,500. So now I am leaving on the 14th and coming back on the 28th. I traveled United before but there tickets are around 7k right now so I had to use Northwest and go to Minniapolis then Chicago Then take Korean Airlines to Korea then to Ho Chi Minh I have never been on Northwest or Korean airlines but the food on the Unitied Planes doesnt agree with me so I hope if the other ones serve food its alot better. Thanks Bryon, here's why I asked before where you were flying from and when. I never use an agent. I find that the best rates can typically be found by buying the tix directly from the airline on the website. I almost invariably fly China Airlines through TPE to SGN because they tend to be the cheapest and have good connection times for me since I have to come from Boston. On my upcoming biz trip to Asia, my corporate agent was not able to buy some tickets for me as cheap as i could get them from the website so part of the trip was booked outside the travel agent system. But back to your flight. I assumed that you were flying from Omaha since your local office says nebraska. Right now, if you travel out on 12/14 and can return 12/29, you can fly SFO/SGN/SFO for $1304. Then buy a NWA ticket OMA/SFO/OMA for $224. Total cost $1528. Not bad for last minute and flying at Christmas.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-16 17:35:00
Asia: East and Pacific	Plane ticket	QUOTE (bryonm4 @ Nov 15 2009, 09:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I checked on Cheap tickets.com and they are very expensive. If anybody knows a place where I could purchase cheaper tickets could they please PM me? Thanks It depends. what dates are you trying to travel and from where? Are you trying to fly into SGN?	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-11-15 17:37:00
Asia: East and Pacific	traveling With X Rays ????	The x-ray will come in a big plastic bag with a handle. Everyone tends to just carry them that way (vs rolling and putting in a tube) because it is easy and it avoids bending or damaging the x-ray. They can just be tucked into an overhead bin inside the bag. They will likely not look at them at POE, but she can just bring them home and store them away.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-12-01 12:36:00
Asia: East and Pacific	how long can a US citizen stay in VN?	If you are a US citizen, you can come to the US any time you want. Staying in foreign countries is up to each country, but the doors to the US are ALWAYS open to a USC. 2 years, 10 years, 50 years. Validity of the passport will have to be managed, of course, while outside the US.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-07-15 09:24:00
Asia: East and Pacific	How to get Multiple Entry visa for Vietnam	QUOTE (Matt_Stevens @ Oct 25 2009, 08:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> OK, please forgive me, but this is still confusing. What proof of my wife's Vietnamese citizenship do I have to provide? I have read and re-read everything multiple times and am not clear at all. When I fill out that online form and hit Complete, does it then have me print the completed form, or is it submitting the form to them online? And same questions I asked before: Do they require an actual marriage cert for my wife and I? Or can we send them a photo copy? Or do I send an original, which they send back to me, plus a photocopy for their files? I just filled this out. The only thing that is not clear is whether or not you must submit proof that your wife is a VN citizen. After thinking about it, I am assuming that they do want proof because how else could they be sure that the person on your marriage cert is actually Vietnamese? You can choose from about 15 different methods of proving that she is VN. When you submit it, they will give you back the info filled out in a form that you must download (it is a PDF), print and sign. Send that to the embassy along with your passport, the proof of your wife's VN citizenship that you chose on the form, your marriage cert (a certified copy) along with photocopies of everything that you are sending, two passport photos and a check for $20. Mine's going out tomorrow. I will let you all know when I receive it back or if I get RFE'd. Edited by toddandhien, 27 October 2009 - 04:01 PM.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-10-27 16:00:00
Asia: East and Pacific	How to get Multiple Entry visa for Vietnam	yes, you should apply for it now, as long as you can part with your passport for a couple of weeks. I thought you said you were going in January? I would do it here. Do it there and it will be more confusing, I think. I'm doing it here. I will post once I finish the process and give a summary on how it worked.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-10-25 16:58:00
Asia: East and Pacific	How to get Multiple Entry visa for Vietnam	Oh, and about the hotel thing. If you want to stay in a big western hotel in HCM (Sheraton, Caravelle, etc), bring your marriage license. They will not let you and your wife in the same room after 9 PM without it. However, if you stay in a small hotel or away from the city, you won't have a problem either way. The rules are there because they are trying to prevent prostitution. This is a socialist country, remember? They don't care if you and your wife are inconvenienced.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-10-25 15:25:00
Asia: East and Pacific	How to get Multiple Entry visa for Vietnam	Matt, Anh Map was trying to help you out here. You want a visa? and you want to spend a lot of money? If you are married to a VN citizen you can apply for visa exemption for $20. You can't get a multiple entry visa for that money. If you want to know the costs, go to this site: http://www.travelvis...om/visa/vietnam A multiple entry, 3 month validity, normal processing time will cost you $150 from the embassy. I am married to a VN as well and will be going to VN in December. I have had 6 visas to VN over the last 2 years but I can assure you that I am going for the exemption now that we are married.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-10-25 15:19:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)	calling NVC	Their hold queue has only a fixed number of spots. If they are full with people on hold, they will bounce you out and you will have to call again later. You can expect to get this most of the time if you call in the middle part of the day. Early morning and late evening seem to work the best.	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-02-19 22:19:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)	NVC case completed in 1 week	Congrats!!!	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-03-21 17:59:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)	STUCK @ NVC for AP	QUOTE (scandal @ Jun 29 2009, 09:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Just dropping in to say hi.... I used to be a regular on this thread, was stuck 50 days in AP back in Jan/Feb/March. I see some of the old-timers are here: hi Lisa, cdneh, Talyss, and Badgerella! Sorry to see people still getting stuck in AP, but glad to see that the wait times really seem to be shorter than they were. Well, I just wanted to update folks of some good news.... we finally had our embassy interview, and we PASSED!!! My fiancee Thanti had a straightforward interview, after all the hassle we had at NVC and then getting Packet 3/4 at the embassy in Bangkok. She'll pick up her passport with the K-1 visa on Wed, board a flight on Thursday night, arrive in Chicago on Friday morning, and be here with me in time for fireworks on the 4th of July on Saturday. So, things do have a way of working out well in the end if you're patient. Need lots and lots of patience. Congrats, Ron and Thanti!	toddandhien	Male	Vietnam	2009-07-08 11:32:00