Interview time frame for VN spouse @ HCM Consulate

Solo1 wrote:

I live in VN and will marry a VN national in VN. We are now in the process of getting all paperwork for VN ie Single status form from HCM and doctor visit both done.Turning in paperwork to VN government office we have yet to do. Then we can get married here in VN.

Then I send all paperwork to Chicago Embassy Consulate to process that takes 6 months according to their website. Then they forward the information to HCM for them to review, set up an interview with my wife (and me?) and then expedite her visa to enter the U.S. Again all this according to their website.

Questions

1)   How long does it take to schedule the interview with my then wife in HCM?

2)   After the interview then how long before they issue her a visa?

Actual knowledge of this process is welcomed.

I'm not married but I know that the entire process takes between 6 months and "up to two years".   The "up to two years" is a quote from a consulate officer.  But with the recent visa fraud scandal, it might take a little longer.

What is the Chicago Embassy Consulate?  Are you referring to the Obama Administration coming from the Chicago political machine?

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Solo1 wrote:

I live in VN and will marry a VN national in VN. We are now in the process of getting all paperwork for VN ie Single status form from HCM and doctor visit both done.Turning in paperwork to VN government office we have yet to do. Then we can get married here in VN.

Then I send all paperwork to Chicago Embassy Consulate to process that takes 6 months according to their website. Then they forward the information to HCM for them to review, set up an interview with my wife (and me?) and then expedite her visa to enter the U.S. Again all this according to their website.

Questions

1)   How long does it take to schedule the interview with my then wife in HCM?

2)   After the interview then how long before they issue her a visa?

Actual knowledge of this process is welcomed.

I'm not married but I know that the entire process takes between 6 months and "up to two years".   The "up to two years" is a quote from a consulate officer.  But with the recent visa fraud scandal, it might take a little longer.


What is the Chicago Embassy Consulate?  Are you referring to the Obama Administration coming from the Chicago political machine?

Actually to be specific:

United States Citizenship and Immigration Service
Form I-130
Petition for Alien Relative


USCIS Chicago Lockbox

For U.S. Postal Service:

USCIS
P.O. Box 804625
Chicago, IL 60680-4107

For Express mail and courier deliveries:

USCIS
Attn: I-130
131 South Dearborn-3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60603-5517

Solo1 wrote:

...
Actually to be specific:

United States Citizenship and Immigration Service
Form I-130
Petition for Alien Relative


USCIS Chicago Lockbox

For U.S. Postal Service:

USCIS
P.O. Box 804625
Chicago, IL 60680-4107

For Express mail and courier deliveries:

USCIS
Attn: I-130
131 South Dearborn-3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60603-5517

Interesting....I just thought everything would be done in Hà Nội or Hồ Chí Minh City since they do this stuff every day and would be experts.

Yes me too but my thinking is contrary to what I am reading. I am in hope that someone can prove me wrong.

To further elaborate they need a certified copy from my county office of vital statistics where I  reside concerning verification that I am legally single. However where I reside and where I was divorced are not only  two separate counties but different cities in two separate states.

Canada is somewhat similar although they have to fly in the Visa officers that do the approval from Singapore into Vietnam to do the interview.

Timeline is 6 months to 26 months so that's why I'm quitting my job to be with my fiance. Read too many heartbreaking stories of married couples being separated for long periods of time.

You and I are lucky we get to be with the person we love so it doesn't matter at least to me how long the process will be.  So just take your sweet time.

khanh44 wrote:

Canada is somewhat similar although they have to fly in the Visa officers that do the approval from Singapore into Vietnam to do the interview.

Timeline is 6 months to 26 months so that's why I'm quitting my job to be with my fiance. Read too many heartbreaking stories of married couples being separated for long periods of time.

You and I are lucky we get to be with the person we love so it doesn't matter at least to me how long the process will be.  So just take your sweet time.

My fiancé is worried about the interview that they might say no to her Visa as she has semi limited english skills. To my knowledge those instances are few and far in between. I was hoping that since I already live here that the process would be quicker.

I believe they allow your fiance a translator otherwise my fiance is going to fail the interview. She knows absolutely not a single English word.

In Canada we have a choice of applying inbound(domestic) and outbound(foreign). The inbound is always faster but you don't get to appeal the decision if it goes unfavorably against you. So most choose outbound.

One advantage the U.S have over Canada is you guys have fiance visa. If they had that for Canada I wouldn't have had to quit my awesome job. I could bring my fiance over to Canada and get married in Canada with all my family and relatives here. And than do the inbound application for her Canadian Residency.

khanh44 wrote:

I believe they allow your fiance a translator otherwise my fiance is going to fail the interview. She knows absolutely not a single English word.

In Canada we have a choice of applying inbound(domestic) and outbound(foreign). The inbound is always faster but you don't get to appeal the decision if it goes unfavorably against you. So most choose outbound.

One advantage the U.S have over Canada is you guys have fiance visa. If they had that for Canada I wouldn't have had to quit my awesome job. I could bring my fiance over to Canada and get married in Canada with all my family and relatives here. And than do the inbound application for her Canadian Residency.

Yes, there is a fiancé visa that permits her entry and then marriage within 90 days but the initial time constraints are the same.

I found this interesting:

"When Will a Visa Become Available?
When a petition is approved for the spouse, parent, or unmarried minor child of a United States citizen, these persons are classified as immediate relatives. They do not have to wait for a visa number because immediate relatives are not subject to the immigrant visa limit."

But it still does not answer my 2 original questions.

Solo1 wrote:

To further elaborate they need a certified copy from my county office of vital statistics where I  reside concerning verification that I am legally single. However where I reside and where I was divorced are not only  two separate counties but different cities in two separate states.

This is an EASY one.  There's a form at the US Consulate in HCMC that is a verification of single status.  The USA will take your word for it (since if you lie to the US Government and they find out later, you get fined up to $10,000).  There's a "I swear I am single and eligible to marry" form that you can fill out, swear an oath in front of an consulate officer, and they'll stamp the form for you. 

You take this form to the Foreign Services Office (Vietnamese Government Agency) and they'll authenticate that the seal/stamp is true and from the US government. 

You come back a week later and voilà, you're free to marry.

You'll need your divorce papers when you submit a divorce dossier to the Provincial Authorities of your fiancé, along with your paper that says I swear I am single and eligible to marry document from the US Consulate.

Try to get your fiancé to relocate to Lâm Đồng province.  They have a one stop shop for marrying a foreigner. 

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/societ … gners.html

This is a message from a friend.

Married and got my marriage cert in Oct/Nov 2011.
Filed the paperwork to immigration in Dec 27th 2011.
Got approved by immigration June 2012.
Filed with the National Visa center July 19th.
Got approved by the NVC on Aug 3rd but I had to wait forever for an interview date.
I then bought a ticket back to VN for Oct 18th-Nov20th to celebrate our 1st anniversary.
The interview finally came on Oct 3 and it just happened to be on the 19th right before I was returning.
I paid people to do all the paperwork for me or else this day would never come.

Solo1 wrote:

My fiancé is worried about the interview that they might say no to her Visa as she has semi limited english skills. To my knowledge those instances are few and far in between. I was hoping that since I already live here that the process would be quicker.

Her concerns are warranted.  From the US Government's point of view ,they do not want another mouth to feed.  Husbands who marry for the wrong reasons (maybe a fake wedding) kick their wives out on the streets and the wife becomes a welfare recipient.  Multiply that by millions and the US is bankrupted (maybe more bankrupted).

You being on site helps a lot.  Too many foreigners come to Việt Nam, marry a local, then run back to their home country for "work".  Then their wife fails the VISA process and it's "well, guess we'll do the 2 country thing...you live in Việt Nam and I'll send you money".  What's really going on is they already have a family in their country and the wife just becomes a mistress/2nd wife.

I hate guys like that.  After you say I do, the two are always together.  The man needs to be by his wife's side, care and protect her.  Money is secondary.

Overall it looks like it took right at about 1 year

Solo1 wrote:

khanh44 wrote:

I believe they allow your fiance a translator otherwise my fiance is going to fail the interview. She knows absolutely not a single English word.

In Canada we have a choice of applying inbound(domestic) and outbound(foreign). The inbound is always faster but you don't get to appeal the decision if it goes unfavorably against you. So most choose outbound.

One advantage the U.S have over Canada is you guys have fiance visa. If they had that for Canada I wouldn't have had to quit my awesome job. I could bring my fiance over to Canada and get married in Canada with all my family and relatives here. And than do the inbound application for her Canadian Residency.

Yes, there is a fiancé visa that permits her entry and then marriage within 90 days but the initial time constraints are the same.

I did read about the fiancé visa but I don't they they're granted alot...due to the ease of abuse.  A guy can make a ton of money just ferrying girls over to the US on this.

They'd probably give it out to NATO countries (like a US Citizen marries a Canadian).

Solo1 wrote:

To further elaborate they need a certified copy from my county office of vital statistics where I  reside concerning verification that I am legally single. However where I reside and where I was divorced are not only  two separate counties but different cities in two separate states.

You can get that done at the consulate in HCMC. They have a form you fill out and they will certify it. They don't even check it. I got mine there 3.5 years ago

VungTauDon wrote:

Solo1 wrote:

To further elaborate they need a certified copy from my county office of vital statistics where I  reside concerning verification that I am legally single. However where I reside and where I was divorced are not only  two separate counties but different cities in two separate states.

You can get that done at the consulate in HCMC. They have a form you fill out and they will certify it. They don't even check it. I got mine there 3.5 years ago

Yes, been there done that for the VN government in my fiancés district. The certified copy of which I speak is for the USCIS in Chicago.

I didn't know they asked for that. I would have thought they would be more concerned with your current, new, marriage.

Sorry, i thought you were already married.

VungTauDon wrote:

Sorry, i thought you were already married.

No problem, Your actual experience gives me a lot to go on so THANKS!

My wife (Chinese, but got US visa at HCM consulate) has been to the States with me 3 different times, on US tourist visas. All 3 times, she was just my girlfriend, until the last time, when we got married at the county courthouse near my hometown. So now, we are legally married in the US. Anyone here know what's going to happen the next time she applies for a US visa, and they find out she's now my wife? My plan is for her to just get another tourist visa, because we only want to visit my family - we have no intention of moving there anytime soon. My career is in Vietnam - I have nothing but retirement options in the USA. Anyone else done it this way?

Solo1: I apologize if I seem to be hijacking your thread. I just hadn't thought about this yet until I read your question.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

You come back a week later and wholla, you're free to marry.

THD: I really enjoy reading most of your posts, and appreciate that you seem to be a stickler for details. With that, I must tell you, it's not "wholla" but "voila". (There's an accent on the a, but I don't know how to make my keyboard do it.)

I have wondered the same thing as my wife has never visited the US and we would like to go after my daughters first birthday next year. I think it is possible but you really have to show strong ties to her home country. Your wife being Chinese and not Vietnamese might be an issue. I'm hoping that our savings in the bank, her job and family will be enough to prove we plan to return to Vietnam after our visit.

Don, If our marital status had not changed, she would have no problem getting another US visa, because she's already had 2, with the second one expiring just last year. If she applied for another within 3 years, she wouldn't even need to do the interview. But I'm concerned the change of marital status on the application will raise a flag.

Since she is not Vietnamese you may consider not even bringing up the fact that you are married. Since it has not been an issue in the past I don't think you would have any problem.

What is it with Vietnamese males with the exception of me. I guess I have to be thankful to them because my fiance says she turned down every local Vietnamese male that wants to ask her out due to the fact they beat their wives. She thinks I won't beat her muahhahaha.

I told her I'm more afraid she's going to beat me up and I gave her full permission for beating me up too.

But I told her I won't tolerate her beating our future kids though. Beating someone basically means you've admitted to self defeat.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Her concerns are warranted.  From the US Government's point of view ,they do not want another mouth to feed.  Husbands who marry for the wrong reasons (maybe a fake wedding) kick their wives out on the streets and the wife becomes a welfare recipient.  Multiply that by millions and the US is bankrupted (maybe more bankrupted).

You being on site helps a lot.  Too many foreigners come to Việt Nam, marry a local, then run back to their home country for "work".  Then their wife fails the VISA process and it's "well, guess we'll do the 2 country thing...you live in Việt Nam and I'll send you money".  What's really going on is they already have a family in their country and the wife just becomes a mistress/2nd wife.

I hate guys like that.  After you say I do, the two are always together.  The man needs to be by his wife's side, care and protect her.  Money is secondary.

saigonmonkey wrote:

My wife (Chinese, but got US visa at HCM consulate) has been to the States with me 3 different times, on US tourist visas. All 3 times, she was just my girlfriend, until the last time, when we got married at the county courthouse near my hometown. So now, we are legally married in the US. Anyone here know what's going to happen the next time she applies for a US visa, and they find out she's now my wife? My plan is for her to just get another tourist visa, because we only want to visit my family - we have no intention of moving there anytime soon. My career is in Vietnam - I have nothing but retirement options in the USA. Anyone else done it this way?

Solo1: I apologize if I seem to be hijacking your thread. I just hadn't thought about this yet until I read your question.

No worries mate it is what I live for, to ask questions that others fail to ask so that others may chime in!! My life now has meaning!!

khanh44 wrote:

What is it with Vietnamese males with the exception of me. I guess I have to be thankful to them because my fiance says she turned down every local Vietnamese male that wants to ask her out due to the fact they beat their wives. She thinks I won't beat her muahhahaha.

I told her I'm more afraid she's going to beat me up and I gave her full permission for beating me up too.

But I told her I won't tolerate her beating our future kids though. Beating someone basically means you've admitted to self defeat.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Her concerns are warranted.  From the US Government's point of view ,they do not want another mouth to feed.  Husbands who marry for the wrong reasons (maybe a fake wedding) kick their wives out on the streets and the wife becomes a welfare recipient.  Multiply that by millions and the US is bankrupted (maybe more bankrupted).

You being on site helps a lot.  Too many foreigners come to Việt Nam, marry a local, then run back to their home country for "work".  Then their wife fails the VISA process and it's "well, guess we'll do the 2 country thing...you live in Việt Nam and I'll send you money".  What's really going on is they already have a family in their country and the wife just becomes a mistress/2nd wife.

I hate guys like that.  After you say I do, the two are always together.  The man needs to be by his wife's side, care and protect her.  Money is secondary.

Hey Khanh, other than his next-to-last sentence, what does THD's post have to do with beating one's wife?

VungTauDon wrote:

Since she is not Vietnamese you may consider not even bringing up the fact that you are married. Since it has not been an issue in the past I don't think you would have any problem.

Don, I want to agree with you on that. However, the visa application does ask about marital status, and we both know it's not a good idea to lie on documents submitted to the US government. It may not be an issue at all. I just don't want someone at the consulate to come back and say, "Oh, you're married now, so with your change in status, she'll have to go through the interview process again, and must get a spouse (or whatever it's called) visa, instead of a tourist visa."

His post is alluding to Vietnamese males overseas and mines alluding to Vietnamese males local. I'm making the comparison Vietnamese males are just the same local or overseas.

I could have gone further and brought up other known issues such as gambling and alcoholism. But I chose the beating one just as Tran chose adultery.

saigonmonkey wrote:

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

You come back a week later and wholla, you're free to marry.

THD: I really enjoy reading most of your posts, and appreciate that you seem to be a stickler for details. With that, I must tell you, it's not "wholla" but "voila". (There's an accent on the a, but I don't know how to make my keyboard do it.)

Oh I do admire another person who is detail oriented!  Post edited and fixed.  It is the exact word I was thinking of but wrote it as it sounded.  Thank you.

Voilà - used to call attention, to express satisfaction or approval, or to suggest an appearance as if by magic

The French (and Vietnamese) accenting marks can be done by Googling the word, copy and pasting the word in original form without using the keyboard.  I prefer using the accenting marks where possible since it more accurate to the meaning.

saigonmonkey wrote:

... So now, we are legally married in the US. Anyone here know what's going to happen the next time she applies for a US visa, and they find out she's now my wife? ...

I don't see any difference if you're just concerned about a tourist visa.  You'd go through the same procedure as you would when she was your girlfriend.

You (American Citizen) + Girlfriend (Chinese Citizen) = Tourist Visa

You (American Citizen) + Wife (Chinese Citizen) = Tourist Visa

I think the status of her as your wife kicks into effect if you want to live in the United States and apply for a green card/permanent residency for her.

saigonmonkey wrote:

VungTauDon wrote:

Since she is not Vietnamese you may consider not even bringing up the fact that you are married. Since it has not been an issue in the past I don't think you would have any problem.

Don, I want to agree with you on that. However, the visa application does ask about marital status, and we both know it's not a good idea to lie on documents submitted to the US government. It may not be an issue at all. I just don't want someone at the consulate to come back and say, "Oh, you're married now, so with your change in status, she'll have to go through the interview process again, and must get a spouse (or whatever it's called) visa, instead of a tourist visa."

Here, I found the Department of State's website for visitor visas.  I don't think being a spouse who doesn't want to immigrate to the US excludes eligibility (if they ask, how come you didn't get a green card, you can just tell them because we don't want to live in the US)

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1262.html

The site also says contact the nearest US embassy for questions.

The problem, THD, is that the US government already works on the assumption that everyone who wants to visit the US is going to want to stay. So they want to see proof of strong ties to your home country showing that you have no reason to stay and in fact have a compelling reason to return home. Now you add to that the person is your spouse and they really think you will want to stay.
I don't believe it is impossible to travel on a tourist visa, but I do think it would be difficult in my position.

VungTauDon wrote:

The problem, THD, is that the US government already works on the assumption that everyone who wants to visit the US is going to want to stay. So they want to see proof of strong ties to your home country showing that you have no reason to stay and in fact have a compelling reason to return home. Now you add to that the person is your spouse and they really think you will want to stay.
I don't believe it is impossible to travel on a tourist visa, but I do think it would be difficult in my position.

I see your point.  In this case, however, saigonmonkey's Chinese wife already has been approved twice and she did leave the country in accordance with the visa requirements the first two times.  But I could foresee them asking why are they asking for a nonimmigrant visa this time instead of a immigrant visa due to the spouse status.

Solo1 wrote:

I live in VN and will marry a VN national in VN. We are now in the process of getting all paperwork for VN ie Single status form from HCM and doctor visit both done.Turning in paperwork to VN government office we have yet to do. Then we can get married here in VN.

Then I send all paperwork to Chicago Embassy Consulate to process that takes 6 months according to their website. Then they forward the information to HCM for them to review, set up an interview with my wife (and me?) and then expedite her visa to enter the U.S. Again all this according to their website.

Questions

1)   How long does it take to schedule the interview with my then wife in HCM?

2)   After the interview then how long before they issue her a visa?

Actual knowledge of this process is welcomed.

Here's the official answer from the US Consulate

8. How long does the visa process take?

The length of time varies from case to case depending on the circumstances of each individual case. The time it takes each USCIS office and each consular office to process a case varies. Some cases are delayed because the applicants do not follow instructions carefully or they supply incomplete information. (It is important to give us correct postal addresses and telephone numbers.) Some visa applications require further administrative processing, which takes additional time after the visa applicant is interviewed by a Consular Officer.

Don't you just love a long-winded answer for "it depends".  Here's the FAQ page

A Temporary Residence (travel) visa is near impossible for a spouse in Canada.

They will ask you what reason you're coming to Canada, how long and plans on returning back to Vietnam.

If your Vietnamese citizen spouse have letters from work showing x days of work for vacation and stating when she'll return it can strengthen his/her case for a tourist visa. As well they will need a bank statement showing they have enough money to pay for everything while in Canada and enough to pay for the plane ticket back to Vietnam.

But with all those documents it's still an uphill battle to get a tourist visa because of the strong family tie (spouse being citizen or permanent resident of the country wanting to visit).

khanh44 wrote:

Canada is somewhat similar although they have to fly in the Visa officers that do the approval from Singapore into Vietnam to do the interview.

Timeline is 6 months to 26 months so that's why I'm quitting my job to be with my fiance. Read too many heartbreaking stories of married couples being separated for long periods of time.

You and I are lucky we get to be with the person we love so it doesn't matter at least to me how long the process will be.  So just take your sweet time.

You get a long timeline only if you're called for an interview, or your application has lots of red flags.

mikeymyke wrote:

You get a long timeline only if you're called for an interview, or your application has lots of red flags.

The Visa officer's 5 month strike is over just yesterday. Hopefully the backlog is not bad.