Spousal Visa to the USA

I did the entire process myself and I can testify that it is difficult.  You can find all the necessary forms online but you need to take real care in filling them out.  Among other things, you will need a copy of your US birth certificate (or naturalization certificate.)  You will also have to have documents like your rental agreements in Vietnam and marriage license translated in order to prove the bona fides of the marriage.    This should be unnecessary for anyone living together in Vietnam, especially over multiple years, but these "proofs" are still needed.   Right up to the interview at the Consulate, I had to stay on top of things as the Vietnamese employee there wanted my wife to produce her hộ khẩu book even though it was not on the document list provided on the Consulate website.  It was only when I demanded to speak to a US employee that she backed off.  Personally I feel strongly that anyone who is living together while legally married for over two years should receive the benefit of the doubt but that is not the case.

You are also correct that the process does take about 1-2 years.  Even if you are very timely in submitting documents, each step seems to send a form into another black hole for a few months.  Our initial application went to Phoenix and then after about six months was transferred to Vermont because the backlog in Phoenix was too great.  You can't just submit everything at once.  Some documents may be submitted only after the prior item is approved.  From submission of the initial application (I-130) to getting on the plane together, our process took 560 days which is almost exactly 1 1/2 years.

Another thing to consider is that if you are reliant on an ESL income while in Vietnam, that actually could make your I-864 Affidavit of Support more difficult.  Even if your salary is more than adequate in Vietnam, it will be well below the income requirements.   If you have assets in the US, such as a paid-for home, you can substitute these for income but that may or may not be the case.  Land and a home in Vietnam may be discounted as overseas assets need to be liquid.  Another alternative is if you have adult children who are willing, they can co-sponsor.  We ended up not needing it but I had my son's affidavit in reserve.  The system is set up on the assumption that the US sponsor is living in the US and the spouse is overseas.  You could have a lifetime of gainful employment in the US but the system assumes the worst possible scenario.

I am sorry that I can't recommend a lawyer as I did it the other way, but I would say go with a lawyer if you can afford it.  It is a lot of work.

Edit:  After you arrive in the US, if you have been married for two years it takes an additional three years after she arrives, before your wife may apply for citizenship.  Then it takes about another year to get that done, so four more years total.  My wife was sworn in last week.  Giving her the option of dual US-Viet citizenship, assuming I will leave her a widow  , was the primary reason we came to the US.  We now hope to return to Vietnam in one or two years time.

Thanks for the detailed reply THIGV.

1. Regarding my birth certificate and rental agreements, do I need originals?  Notarized copies?  If I translate the rental agreement does that need notarization?  I bring these to the interview at the US consulate in HCMC, or I need to submit these first somewhere?

2.  Regarding income, I think my sister and my mother would be willing to co-sponsor for the financial aspects, and they should have income and assets that meet the requirements.  I think this is allowed, but maybe this is why I should get an attorney in my case.  I definitely don't have the asset or income requirement alone.

"A joint sponsor is someone who is willing to accept legal responsibility for supporting your family member with you. A joint sponsor must meet all the same requirements as you, except the joint sponsor does not need to be related to the immigrant. The joint sponsor (or the joint sponsor and his or her household) must reach the 125% income requirement alone. You cannot combine your income with that of a joint sponsor to meet the income requirement."

3.  Did they give you a hard time in the interview?  You can go in together?  It surprises me to hear the Vietnamese employees are meaner than the US employees.

4.  What do they want for bona fide marriage?  My mother and sister flew out here and we had a wedding on video with upwards of 100 people, do they look at stuff like this on top of the paperwork legalizing our marriage in Vietnam?

Also, maybe something has changed since you filed yours?  I think I have to start by applying through mail to Chicago.  There is no USCIS counter service in Vietnam.  I read this:

"I-130 Petitions

Petitioners residing outside the United States are no longer able to routinely file Forms I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with U.S. Embassies and Consulates. Petitioners residing overseas in countries where USCIS does not have a public counter presence are required to file their Forms I-130 by mail with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox. U.S. embassies and consulates can only accept and process Forms I-130 in exceptional circumstances, as explained below.
Filing Routine Form I-130 Petitions

If you reside in a country without a USCIS public office, petitioners must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, by mail to the USCIS Chicago Lockbox at one of the addresses below.

Regular mail:

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

It looks like I have to go through the mail.  I'd like to use a US address, or better yet email, to get messages about what they want or when we meet.  I've had a hell of a time getting even the simplest mail delivered to me here from the USA, sometimes stuff just gets lost or is sitting at some random post office somewhere in Vietnam and nobody notifies me.

Edit:  Do you suppose it would be better to go through a lawyer here in Vietnam or a lawyer in the US?  I'm worried about mail notifications actually reaching us or the lawyer in particular.

THIGV wrote:

After you arrive in the US, if you have been married for two years it takes an additional three years after she arrives, before your wife may apply for citizenship.  Then it takes about another year to get that done, so four more years total.  My wife was sworn in last week.  Giving her the option of dual US-Viet citizenship, assuming I will leave her a widow  , was the primary reason we came to the US.  We now hope to return to Vietnam in one or two years time.

HUGE Congratulations to her and you and the entire family!

mtgmike wrote:

1. Regarding my birth certificate and rental agreements, do I need originals?  Notarized copies?  If I translate the rental agreement does that need notarization?  I bring these to the interview at the US consulate in HCMC, or I need to submit these first somewhere?

Unlike Vietnam, the US doesn't need any notarization.  They simply remind you that submitting fakes is a felony.    You submit all the basic documents with the I-130 and the financial documents with the I-864.  Documents in Vietnamese need to be translated but don't need the famous red stamps.  There is wording for the translator statement in the instructions, however It may be just as economical to have an "official" translation from a Viet government office as their fees are modest.

mtgmike wrote:

2.  Regarding income, I think my sister and my mother would be willing to co-sponsor for the financial aspects, and they should have income and assets that meet the requirements.

Sounds like it should work.  One thing to watch though is that if you submit, the family size is two.  If your sister submits, it is three and a higher dollar amount or even more if she has a mess of children. 

mtgmike wrote:

3.  Did they give you a hard time in the interview?  You can go in together?  It surprises me to hear the Vietnamese employees are meaner than the US employees.

I feel the interview was needlessly intrusive but that's just my opinion.  There may be some of what I would call "trick" questions.  My wife was asked the names of my adult children even though when I went back and checked, they were not listed anywhere on the application.  I doubt that the interviewer knew the real answer but my wife had heard about the question through some sort of Viet grapevine.  As I told my wife, the interview is a "human lie detector test."  I told her that if she didn't know an answer, just say so and don't be making anything up  Fortunately that circumstance didn't happen.  Yes, you can go in together. and it's a good thing we did.  See my comment about the hộ khẩu book earlier.  If she had been alone, they would have sent her home and we would have had another 30 day wait.  I expect that the Vietnamese employees feel that they have something to prove.   The US employees do the actual interview but the Vietnamese do prescreening. 

mtgmike wrote:

4.  What do they want for bona fide marriage?  My mother and sister flew out here and we had a wedding on video with upwards of 100 people, do they look at stuff like this on top of the paperwork legalizing our marriage in Vietnam?

That is exactly what they want but I don't think you can submit a video so you will need to extract stills.  If you have joint travel within Vietnam, or even better to other ASEAN countries like Thailand, keep photos and plane boarding pass stubs.  It sounds like you may be living with your in-laws but if you have rent receipts keep them.  You also can submit the temporary residence permit (Form N-12, I think) that you need to have from the local police.  Your wife should register you regardless of where you live.

mtgmike wrote:

I think I have to start by applying through mail to Chicago.  There is no USCIS counter service in Vietnam.

Where you mail to is determined by your US residence location.  I sent my documents in by FEDEX but USCIS will send you notifications by email.   It's all in the instructions.

mtgmike wrote:

Do you suppose it would be better to go through a lawyer here in Vietnam or a lawyer in the US?

There are US lawyers operating in HCM.  As I said, I have no names as I did not use one.  There is a form you use to designate a lawyer.  They can come to the interview too and probably have coaching experience that way. 

You can do it yourself.  It's just tough.  If anything it may be tougher now than then.  Without getting political, I think it is reasonable to say that the immigration climate in the US is rather hostile right now.

Thanks again for all the detailed answers, I really appreciate it, and congrats on your success.

I've always registered with the police, so we should have documents placing us at the same residence.

I did see that part about household size as well, there are so many details hidden away in each step.

Good to hear they can mail things to the US address.

I watched a video of questions they may ask immigrant spouses in interviews, and I couldn't even answer some of them about myself.

If anyone else is looking, here is the most comprehensive but concise rundown I've found in one place:

https://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

The processing times seem to spike, but given the details in the priority system, I think it's best to get on this before any major changes in immigration law happen in the US.

Please go here
It will give you all the answers, checklists and time lines you need:

https://www.visajourney.com

Good luck

Oh I just see you found it.
It has all the answers, plus you get get an accurate idea of the time line.

Also, do not use a lawyer to file, as it seems to increase expense and time, for no benefit.

I used a site called immihelp.com but I think the site you guys found is better.  I especially like the timeline feature as you can see how long other peoples applications are taking.  Otherwise, like I said, it sometimes feels like your documents went into a black hole.  With the timelines, you can see if things are moving at a normal rate, no matter how slow it may seem. 

I concur with Wxx3.  You can do it without a lawyer especially as your marriage is valid and what I would call "normal" with respect to residence.  A lot of the remote marriages are Viet Kieu male/local female.  I spoke to some of these men at our interview and they were having a hard time, with multiple rejections.  These couples are the ones who really need a lawyer.  Just bring in a lawyer if you get really stuck. 

mtgmike:  Try downloading and filling in the pdf files for the I-130 now and start the work.  If you use Adobe Acrobat instead of whatever your generic pdf viewer is, you can fill in the blanks with the computer and save copies with the information on top.  (I use a Mac and the built in Preview.app will not save changes.)  I forgot to mention that you are going to need a decent printer and a lot of paper for drafts as well as final copies.  A surprising number of Vietnamese families do not have printers at home, even if they could easily afford one.   They just print things out by bringing a thumb drive to the copy shops.  This way could get old fast, plus you are bringing out some of your personal identifying information to a public setting.  If I recall correctly, paper is rather inexpensive in Vietnam, but the ink jet cartridges are about the same as they are in the west.

Hello THIGV,
It looks like i am following a similar path as you, but i am trying to find an attorney to do. I know you stated you dont know of one, but perhaps that has changed?
My situation is as follows: getting married in VN in 3 weeks. Must say getting the necessary forms (and stamped) was rough. In the end the guy at the District office reviewing our request, spotted several errors, a stamp missing here or there. We we able to work it out and now it appears we will be married soon.
Now, i go back to America to care for elderly father. Mean time i want to get the Spouse Visa process going. You did it all yourself but i sensed pain in your efforts!
No real question for you just looking for any advice, attorney perhaps in Hanoi or US, or black holes to watch out for. Thanks in advance!

What you need first is a good immigration lawyer, not in Vietnam, but wherever you live or the nearest major city.  They will have more experience with petitions that are based on "long distance" marriage.  My experience was completely different as I lived in Vietnam for the entire time between our marriage and her immigration.  I think your US based lawyer will tell you that you need to start documenting evidence related to the bona fides of your marriage.  Keep a photo album, not only of romantic scenes but times with your in-laws as well.  Keep all boarding pass stubs for visits to Vietnam.  Long distance phone records are not too common these days with Skype and Viber, but keep whatever records you can.  The other thing you may need some help with is coaching (but not over-coaching) your wife for the pre-immigration interview.   Lastly and most important, if my advice contradicts what your lawyer says, follow the lawyer.

THIGV wrote:

I did the entire process myself and I can testify that it is difficult.  You can find all the necessary forms online but you need to take real care in filling them out.  Among other things, you will need a copy of your US birth certificate (or naturalization certificate.)  You will also have to have documents like your rental agreements in Vietnam and marriage license translated in order to prove the bona fides of the marriage.    This should be unnecessary for anyone living together in Vietnam, especially over multiple years, but these "proofs" are still needed.   Right up to the interview at the Consulate, I had to stay on top of things as the Vietnamese employee there wanted my wife to produce her hộ khẩu book even though it was not on the document list provided on the Consulate website.  It was only when I demanded to speak to a US employee that she backed off.  Personally I feel strongly that anyone who is living together while legally married for over two years should receive the benefit of the doubt but that is not the case.

You are also correct that the process does take about 1-2 years.  Even if you are very timely in submitting documents, each step seems to send a form into another black hole for a few months.  Our initial application went to Phoenix and then after about six months was transferred to Vermont because the backlog in Phoenix was too great.  You can't just submit everything at once.  Some documents may be submitted only after the prior item is approved.  From submission of the initial application (I-130) to getting on the plane together, our process took 560 days which is almost exactly 1 1/2 years.

Another thing to consider is that if you are reliant on an ESL income while in Vietnam, that actually could make your I-864 Affidavit of Support more difficult.  Even if your salary is more than adequate in Vietnam, it will be well below the income requirements.   If you have assets in the US, such as a paid-for home, you can substitute these for income but that may or may not be the case.  Land and a home in Vietnam may be discounted as overseas assets need to be liquid.  Another alternative is if you have adult children who are willing, they can co-sponsor.  We ended up not needing it but I had my son's affidavit in reserve.  The system is set up on the assumption that the US sponsor is living in the US and the spouse is overseas.  You could have a lifetime of gainful employment in the US but the system assumes the worst possible scenario.

I am sorry that I can't recommend a lawyer as I did it the other way, but I would say go with a lawyer if you can afford it.  It is a lot of work.

Edit:  After you arrive in the US, if you have been married for two years it takes an additional three years after she arrives, before your wife may apply for citizenship.  Then it takes about another year to get that done, so four more years total.  My wife was sworn in last week.  Giving her the option of dual US-Viet citizenship, assuming I will leave her a widow  , was the primary reason we came to the US.  We now hope to return to Vietnam in one or two years time.

Did you ever sponsor your wife to the US before marriage... on a tourist visa?

My GF has been to the UK twice, we just about managed to get a Schengen visa because she had already been issued a UK visa as part of her itenary on the application.

Now, I got a family wedding in California coming up, we’d both like to go as I have air miles and companion vouchers that are about to expire. The issue is, i’m not a US citizen so It complicates the application as I’ll be down as financially sponsoring her. We’re also not married. I feel the UK being in the EU but not Schengen helped us secure a visa to europe but the same won’t help with a US visa.

*sorry to jump on ops thread

So i tried to get my gỉrlfriend a tourist visa to USA this past June. Request denied. I was warned of the frequency of tourist visas denials by many here on this site.

Now, I am getting married this  Monday, Aug 26 and leave to the USA on Aug 30.

My question is:
What type of visa can i now get being married to a VNese national?
Can i somehow get this visa in the brief (4) day period before i head back to USA? Or, should i wait till back in USA to get visa. I am not in any hurry to come back to VN, so i have time to do this in USA. Just wondering if there is something i could/should do before i depart for USA.

I appreciate your feed back.

Having a 5 year Visa Exemption Certificate will mean that you can make trips to Vietnam on short notice without having to wait for a visa each time.

First of all, you say you will marry on 26 August.  Is this the date you will submit the papers or is it the date they told you to sign them and pick them up?  I think the time has been cut but there is a time lag between submitting the paperwork and actually having the license.

You can apply for a VEC from the US side.  You will need copies of your marriage certificate.  When you are married you will get two copies of the "original" certificate (BẢN CHÍNH.)  DON'T use these.  Get the official copies (BẢN SAO) as you will not get them back when you apply for the VEC.  The BẢN SAO is an official copy complete with the magic circular red stamps.  Your spouse should know how to get these.  Note that there may be a further time lag between your marriage and when the official copies are available.  I hope your 30 August departure date is not set in stone.

Once you are in the US and have your marriage documents in hand, I recommend using the San Francisco consulate regardless of where you live.  https://vietnamconsulate-sf.org/en/2017 … y-members/ See item II, 2 on this page which is for "holders of foreign passports being wives, husbands, and children of a Vietnamese citizen."   Note that the link to the fill in application is above in Section II, 1a.  As your marriage documents are official Vietnamese documents, you will not need to have them translated or further certified.  You will need translations later when you apply for your wife to immigrate to the US, so she might just want to go ahead and get certified translations done in Vietnam as it is less expensive there than doing it in the US.

phikachu wrote:

Did you ever sponsor your wife to the US before marriage... on a tourist visa?

No.  As I understand it, the application is fairly straightforward but the chances of approval are very slim. 

phikachu wrote:

My GF has been to the UK twice, we just about managed to get a Schengen visa because she had already been issued a UK visa as part of her itenary on the application.

Now, I got a family wedding in California coming up, we’d both like to go as I have air miles and companion vouchers that are about to expire. The issue is, i’m not a US citizen so It complicates the application as I’ll be down as financially sponsoring her. We’re also not married. I feel the UK being in the EU but not Schengen helped us secure a visa to europe but the same won’t help with a US visa.

Actually, her application may be seen more favorably than it would be if you were a US citizen.  The concern of the US immigration service is that people will marry once in the US and "jump the line" so to speak.  That would not apply in your case.  All that I can say is good luck.   

Thank you THIGV for the info. Things are starting to make more sense with your help (and multi trips to the embassy and hours of paperwork).

As for our 26Aug wedding, we sign the actual papers and my fiancee feels confident they will give us Ban Sao and Ban Chinh the same day.

Then back in the USA, i will contact the San Fransisco office to try for the 5 year VEC. ........but.....let’s say while i am waiting for the 5 year Visa, couldnt i still go to VN on my current business visa which is good til 14Dec.......or after the business visa expires on 14Dec couldnt i just get a 30 day tourist visa?

Seems like i have some options to return to VN rather quickly, right?

Also, thanks for the info on the need to have marriage certificate translated to English for her to apply to immigrate to the USA. That is our plan and i am going to hire a US attorney to do that..all indications are my soon-to-be wife wont be eligible to come to the US for over a year. Multiple sources say 12-14 months.

schleger wrote:

As for our 26Aug wedding, we sign the actual papers and my fiancee feels confident they will give us Ban Sao and Ban Chinh the same day.

Great.   

schleger wrote:

Then back in the USA, i will contact the San Fransisco office to try for the 5 year VEC. ........but.....let’s say while i am waiting for the 5 year Visa, couldnt i still go to VN on my current business visa which is good til 14Dec.......or after the business visa expires on 14Dec couldnt i just get a 30 day tourist visa?

Unless you have an unexpected emergency you should just get going and apply for the VEC,  One thing about the VEC is that you need a full 5 years remaining on your passport and ample pages if you are planning to travel frequently.  Depending on when your current passport expires, as soon as you get back may be a good time to apply for a new passport and be sure to check the box to take the extra pages book.  There is no longer an extra cost.  The SF consulate seemed to have an amazing 3 day turnaround time both times I have dealt with them so I wouldn't worry about the time needed to get the VEC.  It means you have to send them a return envelope but you should feel safe sending them your passport so that the VEC will be glued in.  The cost is $70US which is more than the VEC in Vietnam but you obviously don't have time for that.

schleger wrote:

Also, thanks for the info on the need to have marriage certificate translated to English for her to apply to immigrate to the USA. That is our plan and i am going to hire a US attorney to do that..all indications are my soon-to-be wife wont be eligible to come to the US for over a year. Multiple sources say 12-14 months.

Don't let your US lawyer do the translations.  He will just farm it out and charge you $200/hour or more for the service.    Have the lawyer let you know what official Vietnamese documents he will need and have your wife do all the needed translations in Vietnam.  The USCIS will accept them.  If they are non-official papers like plane tickets or rent receipts, there is a simple translator's statement that you can take from the USCIS instructions.

Thanks for the info.

Sometimes i wonder if maybe I should do the I-130 form. But then i heard any paperwork error on my part extends the whole process by a couple of months.

Something i will mull over.

Thanks again!

So the Link to fill in application for the VEC at section II, 1a looks like this:

Mienthithucvk.mofa.gov.vn (CLICK HERE)

But it is in Vietnamese and i cant see an option to click for English version. Am i not on the correct site?

Thanks in advance

schleger wrote:

So the Link to fill in application for the VEC at section II, 1a looks like this:

Mienthithucvk.mofa.gov.vn (CLICK HERE)

But it is in Vietnamese and i cant see an option to click for English version. Am i not on the correct site?

Thanks in advance

I am assuming you are on the SF consulate site that I recommended.  This does seem a breakdown of the site's otherwise improved design over the embassy site.  Just go ahead and click on the CLICK HERE link.  Sorry but the next page is worse.     I never bothered to copy/paste it in to Google but I guess you can if you want.  Or just go to the bottom and hit the button labeled "Khai Trực Tuyến," literally "Claim Online" (per Google).  Hit that button and the form comes up.

Unlike the previous two steps, the form is bilingual and reasonably self explanatory.  When you are done hit the "Complete" button at the bottom.  If you skip any required fields, the page will make you go back.  You will need to list a Vietnamese address and a local phone number but hopefully your spouse can supply these.  Don't forget that the dates are DD/MM/YYYY.  (Like not using the metric system the US seems to be the outlier from the rest of the world with date order.)  When you are done, you will get a link to print out a PDF of the form.

Hope this does it for you.

schleger wrote:

Sometimes i wonder if maybe I should do the I-130 form. But then i heard any paperwork error on my part extends the whole process by a couple of months.

I didn't mean to imply that there is anything in the I-130 that really requires a lawyer.  It is just a time consuming slog.  You may find yourself, as I did, printing it out and proofing it multiple times before submitting.

Thank you very much!!!

A pain in the ass, somewhat redundant, not clear instructions, but you can nd should do it yourself. An immigration lawyer will not speed the process and in many cases, slows it down. It will be wasted money.
https://www.visajourney.com/forums/foru … rocedures/

For already married:
https://www.visajourney.com/forums/foru … rocedures/

K-1 currently take 9 to 10 months.
CR 1 12 to 13 months.

If you (US Cit) is living in Vietnam, you will need to prove income when you return to US with spouse.  Probably you will need someone (relative or anyone) to "sponsor" you.
It happens a lot, it's not a show stopper, unless you have no income and no sponsor.

Every bit of information, sample forms and clarifications is on the Visa Journey site.

Good luck

Thanks for the info. I do live in US and care for my dad age 91, 24 hours / 7 days a week. No job now. Do you think $250,000 /401K  will satisfy the proof of income requirement?

schleger wrote:

Thanks for the info. I do live in US and care for my dad age 91, 24 hours / 7 days a week. No job now. Do you think $250,000 /401K  will satisfy the proof of income requirement?

You can use assets in place of income but they must be considered reasonably liquid.  I am not sure but a 401K may qualify, particularly if you are over the 59 1/2 no penalty age.  If you have full equity in your home it should be more than enough as well.  Your required income level will be $26,662 for three, as your father counts too.  You need three times that in assets for a spouse or $79986.   Here is the link to the I-864:  https://www.uscis.gov/i-864  The bottom item, Related Links, will take you to the income guidelines.

Wow, i just turned 59 years old and i imagine by the time the paperwork gets processed i will be 59 1/2 (no penalty).

Next, I’ve discussed with family and can have a quit claim deed and have my name as owner of a house. No mortgage / valued at about $140,000. I’d rather do the quit claim to show me as owner of the house than having my brother, for example, sponsor me. It’s less of a hassle, I think. I dont want to burden a family member to be a sponsor. Does that make sense?

You mentioned my father as being factored in as a family member in the equation for required income. My wife and I will most likely not be living with him. It is my feeling that my father wont live another year. If he does, he will certainly be moved into a nursing home by then. So, it would just be me and my spouse i would need to prove the 125% above poverty assets, right?? So it seems to me, $250,000 / 401K / and $140,000 / real estate / = $390,000. I should be ok?

Incidentally, and i know “ability to get a job” in the future does not count, I will get a decent full time job once my father either passes or goes into a nursing home.

One last question, i can collect my monthly pension of about $1,000 if necessary. I would prefer not to do that and hope the $390,000 mentioned above will satisfy the authority.

Thanks for the advice!

schleger wrote:

I’ve discussed with family and can have a quit claim deed and have my name as owner of a house. No mortgage / valued at about $140,000.....

You mentioned my father as being factored in as a family member in the equation for required income. My wife and I will most likely not be living with him. It is my feeling that my father wont live another year. If he does, he will certainly be moved into a nursing home by then.

The home equity should be more than enough.  I do think they may interpret your father as part of the package as long as he is dependent on you for management of affairs or if you hold his power of attorney.  To them the household is an economic more than a physical unit.  One thing about US immigration forms is that they take your word for a lot of things.  They just remind you that willfully lying on the forms is a felony.   

Edit:  You should go ahead and list the 401K as well.  I looked back and saw that I listed a similar type of fixed asset pension account at TIAA-CREF.

Thank you for the valuable feedback......again!

THIGV wrote:

schleger wrote:

Thanks for the info. I do live in US and care for my dad age 91, 24 hours / 7 days a week. No job now. Do you think $250,000 /401K  will satisfy the proof of income requirement?

You can use assets in place of income but they must be considered reasonably liquid.  I am not sure but a 401K may qualify, particularly if you are over the 59 1/2 no penalty age.  If you have full equity in your home it should be more than enough as well.  Your required income level will be $26,662 for three, as your father counts too.  You need three times that in assets for a spouse or $79986.   Here is the link to the I-864:  https://www.uscis.gov/i-864  The bottom item, Related Links, will take you to the income guidelines.

Not too dissimilar from the UK.

£18,600 a year and £3500 extra for a first child and another £2400 thereafter.

Or

At least £62,500 in savings + some for children. Some sites say your house as an asset can be used to demonstrate this but others are suggesting it's only cash from the sale of such assets that counts.

Doing some research myself 

Oh god.

DO NOT TRANSFER THE HOUSE TO YOURSELF.  Have you considered the gift tax implications?  Have you considered the Medicaid implications if the house is in your father's name?  Furthermore, if you have only one house and it's your primary home, then you can't count it on the I-864.

It's relatively easy to have your brother be the Joint Sponsor on the I-864.  Much easier than transferring legal title to the house.

You can count your 401(k) if you can immediately have access to the money.

Your father is NOT counted as part of your household for the I-864 unless you list him as a dependent on your taxes.

Vietnamkid wrote:

DO NOT TRANSFER THE HOUSE TO YOURSELF.  Have you considered the gift tax implications?

I stand corrected.  I had forgotten about gift taxes as my mother had already converted her home to cash before she died.

Spouse Visa / my status update;

Thanks to all above for feedback.
I am working with a US Immigration attorney.  I shopped around, one in California, Des Moines and settled for one in Wisconsin one hour away from my home. All attorney prices were similar...but after asking them a few questions it becomes clear which ones know their work.
* one piece of info i learned is a new law probably going into effect in Oct? where the spouse (beneficiary) must posses certain traits like: speak English, education , and a usable skill that can most likely guarantee her getting employment in the US.
We are good on 2 out of the three. First, my spouse is an English teacher.  Ive met some Vietnamese “English” teachers who could barely speak it. Mine is skilled.  Two - she has a college degree.  Three - We are working on her becoming a CNA Certified Nurses Assistant.  She can take the course on line. Clinical portion of the course she will have to do in US but i think if we have a document stating she is 1/2 way to becoming a CNA, we should be fine.  Gees, the aging US population is in dire need of CNA’s. 
Anyway, the I-130 initial application is going in the mail tomorrow, then i guess comes the long waiting period. Like a year!
I think i am “good” on the Affidavit of spousal support” which seems to be a potential problem.
Then there is the interview. How, after submitting all those stamped, translated, certified documents complete with annotated photos of all family members smiling can an interviewer say, “denied”?
Or, would they say denied but you need to provide this or that document and you will get visa???

schleger wrote:

* one piece of info i learned is a new law probably going into effect in Oct? where the spouse (beneficiary) must posses certain traits like: speak English, education , and a usable skill that can most likely guarantee her getting employment in the US.

I doubt this is truly a law but more likely a change in administrative rules.  US immigration law affords the administration a fair bit of leeway in interpreting immigration criteria and the current administration has a publicly stated objective of cutting legal immigration in half.   Previously the support affidavit meant they really didn't care about the spouses skills as long as you paid the bills.  Of course for work visas like the EB-3 both English and employment skills have always been assumed. 

schleger wrote:

, the I-130 initial application is going in the mail tomorrow, then i guess comes the long waiting period. Like a year!

I know that I and others have told you a year but it looks like given the current political situation you could be waiting even longer.

schleger wrote:

Then there is the interview. How, after submitting all those stamped, translated, certified documents complete with annotated photos of all family members smiling can an interviewer say, “denied”?

When my wife was being interviewed in the HCMC consulate, I sat with a young Viet Kieu from Houston.  His wife was turned down for the third time.  From what he said, much to his frustration, they did not believe that the marriage was real.  Actually as a non-Vietnamese, you as a couple may be more likely to be believed than they were.

I don't believe they are required to give any justifications, but if the problem is the I-864 they will likely tell you.  In our case they asked for more time to study the I-864 and called us back in about a week.  That was a fingernail biting time.

Note to admin:  Some of the things I have stated regarding the US administration are not my opinions but based on public statements available on open US news sources.

I don't think this is off topic, and it's certainly not meant to be negative commentary.

Also not a reply to any one particular post.

I'm just wondering out loud if the standards for determining what's a real marriage have changed, in light of fairly recent Court decisions giving same-sex marriage equal footing in most federal programs in the United States.

Since people in a same-sex marriage can now get Social Security benefits and Veterans Benefits, I'm wondering if same-sex marriage has equal footing under US immigration law now?

If so, one would think that the standard for a "real marriage" might have changed?

I am not trying to open up a discussion as to whether same-sex marriage is good or bad.

I'm saying it's now a matter of codified US law under many federal programs, and I'm just wondering how it might be changing the spousal Visa requirements.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

I'm saying it's now a matter of codified US law under many federal programs, and I'm just wondering how it might be changing the spousal Visa requirements.

Since for now at least, Vietnam does not sanction same-sex marriage, it is sort of a moot point on this particular forum.  The US consular officers can't recognize a union that is not recognized by the home country.  As to how it is treated by US immigration authorities overall, it would probably be more fruitful to ask on the forum of a country that sanctions such marriage.  I would expect that you would find that US immigration treats it as any other marriage.

schleger wrote:

Spouse Visa / my status update;

* one piece of info i learned is a new law probably going into effect in Oct? where the spouse (beneficiary) must posses certain traits like: speak English, education , and a usable skill that can most likely guarantee her getting employment in the US.

Sorry but where did you get this information? Did you get this information from your lawyer or immigration web site? Can you provide more detail of exactly where you got this infomation from? I am very curioius of your fact finding.... As far as I know it is based on how much money you are making per year and if it is enough to provide and support the person that you are intending to bring over per guildline and not to depend on the welfare.

schleger wrote:

Spouse Visa / my status update;

Then there is the interview. How, after submitting all those stamped, translated, certified documents complete with annotated photos of all family members smiling can an interviewer say, “denied”?
Or, would they say denied but you need to provide this or that document and you will get visa???

Unfortunately, it happens every day, but I do not know their reasoning, but I watched many the day we were at the U.S. Embassy.  What i can tell you, 1 couple I was right in front of the window and was able to hear some of the conversation.  The couple walked up to the window and within 5 minutes, the agent told them that she wanted to interview them separately.  When he (the U.S. citizen petitioner) started his interview, I could see he was frustrated.  I heard the U.S. agent say "my job is to interview and determine the legitimacy of the relationship."  Then she was talking about certain documents and he became frustrated because there was an issue and he did not know how to resolve it.  What i got from the back and forth was that there was an issue with his background and that he needed to go back to the States and clear it with the police department/courts. 

Yes, it is frustrating because all of us are submitting tons of documents and jumping through hoops to get to the interview so it is no guarantee.  Even though I did everything I could to make it difficult for them to say no, I was still nervous because I know how this works.  Yes, they can say no, but they need to have a reason.  Why?  You, the U.S. citizen is the petitioner and you have rights and thus, if you feel you were denied without proper cause, you can bring a lawsuit and appeal the decision, but it is a real pain in the arse and nobody really wants to do that.  My back up plan, I have friends in high places at the State Department and had already talked to the right people, just to make sure that if we got rejected, I only needed to make a few phone calls.

Lucky for us, we were approved and yes, I literally cried I was so happy and the agent had to close the window because she did not want to see a grown man cry, but she smiled. 

Rahj_Devon wrote:

schleger wrote:

Spouse Visa / my status update;

* one piece of info i learned is a new law probably going into effect in Oct? where the spouse (beneficiary) must posses certain traits like: speak English, education , and a usable skill that can most likely guarantee her getting employment in the US.

Sorry but where did you get this information?

These proposed rule changes were widely discussed by administration figures (up to the guy at the top) earlier this year and in the US press.  I believe any public hearing phase is closed but I don't know about the implementation date, which is critical if you have a current petition in the works.  The objective, as described by some, is to shift family based immigration from about 2/3 of green cards to about 1/3.

This link is to a May article in Forbes, which should be considered a credible source, but it describes the proposed changes at that time, not the present:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartande … 5195ca71f0  This article also discusses the proposal to drop those presently in the waiting list and giving them some number of "points" in the new system as compensation.

It seems to me that the impact on applications for Vietnamese spouses could be significant.

THIGV wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

I'm saying it's now a matter of codified US law under many federal programs, and I'm just wondering how it might be changing the spousal Visa requirements.

Since for now at least, Vietnam does not sanction same-sex marriage, it is sort of a moot point on this particular forum.  The US consular officers can't recognize a union that is not recognized by the home country.  As to how it is treated by US immigration authorities overall, it would probably be more fruitful to ask on the forum of a country that sanctions such marriage.  I would expect that you would find that US immigration treats it as any other marriage.

I'll elaborate on my point:

As you mentioned in at least one previous post, interviewers at the Consulate/Embassy are tasked with determining if a marriage is "real", or genuine.

Historically, a central key issue to consider has been the consummation of the marriage (first penile penetration of the vagina) as well as a regular pattern of sexual intimacy within the marriage.

In the case of same sex marriages, this standard would necessarily need to be adjusted.

Which would then beg a legal question of equal treatment under the law: If a same sex couple is not required to certify that their marriage has been consummated through penile/vaginal intercourse, then why should this continue to be a requirement for certification by a heterosexual couple?

I'm saying that logically, in fairness, interviewers should be relaxing their standards as to what constitutes a genuine or "real" marriage.

So the appropriate question within this forum and this thread is, how will the codification of same sex marriages within multiple US government programs effect the interviewing process in ALL countries?

I may be wrong but I don't think anyone, except perhaps those who have been married by proxy, have been questioned about actual consummation.  What of the marriages of widowers and widows in their 80's.  Such things do happen.  Most of the questioning revolves around the economic and, to an extent, the romantic aspects of marriage.  My wife wanted me to pad up our application with photos but I resisted and gave them the lease agreement and electric bills instead.  For separated couples, there may be more emphasis on the interpersonal, such as records of Skype or Viber.   Here is the USCIS page:  https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/vol … -chapter-2  Same sex marriage is covered.  No polygamy however.   

THIGV wrote:

INo polygamy however.   

I am just waiting for the federal case of a polygamy marriage because once the SCOTUS  opened the pandora box and granted same sex couples a fundamental right to marry, there is no reasonable or legal basis to deny other types of relationships between humans from having the same fundamental right.  It is a clear violation of U.S. Constitutional law.  Don't even go to the "2 people" limitation because we all know where that standard came from and nobody wants to admit it in a court of law.