Taking Vietnamese Girlfriend to the UK

How easy is it to get a visa for Vietnamese friend to come stay with me in the UK. I guess a tourist visa would be required?

- @Bill2014

How easy is it to get a visa for Vietnamese friend to come stay with me in the UK. I guess a tourist visa would be required?

- @Bill2014

How easy is it to get a visa for Vietnamese friend to come stay with me in the UK. I guess a tourist visa would be required?

- @Bill2014

I'm not sure about the restrictions in the UK, but in the United States it's imperative that she proved that she has every reason to return to Vietnam, based upon her financial well-being.

in the US, the immigration officer must be convinced that she is not a risk to overstay her tourist visa

- @OceanBeach92107

How easy is it to get a visa for Vietnamese friend to come stay with me in the UK. I guess a tourist visa would be required?

- @Bill2014

I'm not sure about the restrictions in the UK, but in the United States it's imperative that she proved that she has every reason to return to Vietnam, based upon her financial well-being.

in the US, the immigration officer must be convinced that she is not a risk to overstay her tourist visa

- @OceanBeach92107

Like having a return flight, also proof that the couple is in a relationship.

- @SimCityAT

With a new Vietnamese wife, who has Taiwanese citizenship and passport, I can say that a Vietnamese passport holder has next to no chance of getting a holiday visa to anywhere. Sad, but true. Seek the advice of a good agency here in Vietnam and they can try their best. All previous comments are very valid. Good luck.

- @findgw

US consulate really has to hate US citizens, to make their foreign national spouses not welcome.

With a new Vietnamese wife, who has Taiwanese citizenship and passport, I can say that a Vietnamese passport holder has next to no chance of getting a holiday visa to anywhere. Sad, but true. Seek the advice of a good agency here in Vietnam and they can try their best. All previous comments are very valid. Good luck.

- @findgw

First  World countries (Fourth World discriminators) are all the same. The part that angers me the most is that even if you offer a $20,000 to $50,000 surety, as friends of mine have done, their partner's visitor visa is still refused. Even with my Vietnamese wife's Taiwanese citizenship,  there has been no action on an Australian Marriage Visa application filed in January with an $8,000 non refundable fee. Similarly an Australian Tourist Visa Application filed February  has not moved an inch. And yet, for my wife "Welcome to America , UK and all of Schengen Europe"  not a problem... just *&^$$# bizarre...

- @findgw

@colinoscapee Good Morning from Trang Bang. Oh yes, waiting, waiting, waiting... yaaawwwwnnn... we are exploring Vietnam until September then back to Europe for 3 months... yawwwnnn, but fun!

@colinoscapee Good Morning from Trang Bang. Oh yes, waiting, waiting, waiting... yaaawwwwnnn... we are exploring Vietnam until September then back to Europe for 3 months... yawwwnnn, but fun!

- @findgw

US consulate really has to hate US citizens, to make their foreign national spouses not welcome.

- @gobot

US consulate really has to hate US citizens, to make their foreign national spouses not welcome.

- @gobot

At first glance it does seem that way but the problem stems from one of the ways that regular immigration works.   The "normal" way is to apply while the spouse is in his/her home country.   As you may have heard or read, there is a huge amount of paperwork, which I will not detail here, and months of waiting, climaxing in the interview where many are rejected.  Alternatively if the spouse or would be spouse was already in the US, under whatever authority legal or even illegal, it is possible to immediately get married and submit Form-I845 Adjustment of Status Application.   A period of interviews and even home visits will follow but most applications are approved.   Most denials are for working while awaiting a decision.  Most approvals are made in 8-14 months which is certainly less than the time needed for applications through the Hanoi Embassy or HCMC Consulate.   As you can see, this is unfortunately a way to jump the line so to speak.  The US basically keeps this down by rejecting tourist visas from countries with a history of visa overstays.

- @THIGV

With a new Vietnamese wife, who has Taiwanese citizenship and passport, I can say that a Vietnamese passport holder has next to no chance of getting a holiday visa to anywhere. Sad, but true. Seek the advice of a good agency here in Vietnam and they can try their best. All previous comments are very valid. Good luck.
- @findgw

I feel very lucky that my wife was allowed in 2019, but we were: married 3 years in Vietnam, she owns property, has a VN bank account with a year's salary, a 2-year full-time professional job. The bar doesn't have to be that high. I claim a US citizen should be allowed to bring a spouse on vacation to the US with minimum hassle.  We seriously worry that next year, if she quits her job, her application will be rejected and not allowed to visit my family again.

@gobot It's racism and it sucks

@gobot It's racism and it sucks

- @findgw

@gobot It's racism and it sucks

- @findgw

@gobot It's racism and it sucks

- @findgw

Oh god  not another one pulling the race card.

- @goodolboy

@gobot It's racism and it sucks

- @findgw

Oh god  not another one pulling the race card.

- @goodolboy

Of course it's racism, penalising regular tourists from certain countries just because some people from those countries have overstayed their visas. I can't think of a more appropriate word.

- @Malcolmleitrim

Not racism but definitely painting all Vietnamese with the same brush. My wife lived in Australia for 3 years while doing her Masters, has been in and out multiple times with no issue, been in and out of several other "more developed" countries before/since then yet they claim every application is case by case. Gimme a break would yas.

- @SteveMiike

@gobot It's racism and it sucks

- @findgw

Oh god  not another one pulling the race card.

- @goodolboy

Of course it's racism, penalising regular tourists from certain countries just because some people from those countries have overstayed their visas. I can't think of a more appropriate word.

- @Malcolmleitrim

@gobot It's racism and it sucks

- @findgw

Oh god  not another one pulling the race card.

- @goodolboy

Of course it's racism, penalising regular tourists from certain countries just because some people from those countries have overstayed their visas. I can't think of a more appropriate word.

- @Malcolmleitrim

oh god, another WOKE liberal, lets have no borders & a free for all. Could it be that you are just sulking because of your own experience?

My experience for what its worth about Vietnamese getting visa's to visit other countries.................My GF Ms My has been to Japan once, Korea 3 times, Taiwan twice & came on holiday with me to Hong Kong once.

My previous land lady has toured Europe & UK on vacation. One of my Vietnamese friends (male) has been to Europe & Scandinavia countless times on business. My ex wife's daughter went on a training Visa for 2 years to USA & every day I see posts on FB from tour companies advertising & showing Vietnamese on tour in Europe & Middle East  so its pretty obvious to me that for some Vietnamese there is no problems getting visas & certainly no issue on "race" as far as getting Visa's. A friend of mine & brother of a regular forum poster has his Vietnamese  GF over to Australia on holiday right now  so she must have a tourist visa to go there. Which beggars the difficult question for you. if some Vietnamese can get a visa to visit countries outside ASEAN why can your GF not??

- @goodolboy

The Vietnamese staff give their opinion whether a visa should be given, then the person responsible for issuing takes their advice and issues it. Same with a decline. Its obvious your gf didnt meet the requirements

- @colinoscapee

"Regarding the staff in the embassy  being vietnamese, of course they are and they are doing the paperwork, but they are not responsible for approving applications."

The Vietnamese staff give their opinion whether a visa should be given, then the person responsible for issuing takes their advice and issues it. Same with a decline. Its obvious your gf didnt meet the requirements.

- @colinoscapee

"Regarding the staff in the embassy  being vietnamese, of course they are and they are doing the paperwork, but they are not responsible for approving applications."

The Vietnamese staff give their opinion whether a visa should be given, then the person responsible for issuing takes their advice and issues it. Same with a decline. Its obvious your gf didnt meet the requirements.

- @colinoscapee

The same basically holds true at the US Consulate.  With apologies to those who saw my post from over a year ago, allow me to relate out story.  My wife had the Vietnamese employee at the window demand a copy or original of her sổ hộ khẩu (housebook).   At that time the hộ khẩu was not in the online checklist of required documents on the Consulate website, although apparently it is now.   My wife called me to the window and I demanded that I see a US employee.   One came to the window and I showed him a printout of the web page, which I had fortunately brought with us.   He conceded that the document was not needed and I also asked that he conduct the remainder of the interview.   I was sure that the Vietnamese employee had already lost face and would be hostile.   The rest of the interview went relatively smoothly despite his asking what I considered a chicken**** question about the ages and names of my adult children.   There is no doubt in my mind that if I had not been present, she would have been rejected by the Viet employee without any recourse.   

There are likely financial reasons that local employees are used by Consulates, and there may be legitimate applicants with very limited English who need translation, but giving those local employees the power that they have remains a problem.  I can imagine a country based employee overruling the local employee and turning down an applicant, but I can hardly imagine the opposite scenario where the local rejects and the country employee approves.    They may have, as you suggest, only an advisory authority on approvals but they certainly seem to have the power of rejection.

- @THIGV

People keep going on about the discrimination, it happens in VN also. Years ago a company in Binh Duong had a sign out front that they wouldn't employ people from Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa. Its obvious they had problems with people from those regions. Was there a big issue mad of it....NO.

- @colinoscapee

People keep going on about the discrimination, it happens in VN also. Years ago a company in Binh Duong had a sign out front that they wouldn't employ people from Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa. Its obvious they had problems with people from those regions. Was there a big issue mad of it....NO.

- @colinoscapee

Maybe there should have been. I am old enough to remember signs in London saying "no blacks, no dogs, no Irish,"  this behaviour has no place in the modern world.

At least in Vietnam they are upfront about it, what really annoys me is the hypocrisy of  western governments, my particular example being Ireland. They like to portray an image of generosity and welcome, but the reality is different.

- @Malcolmleitrim

My wife's Australian Residence visa was done in Vietnam. My govt pays local wages but charges us Aussie prices. We paid 7700 aud for the application, the cost of a Vietnamese to do the application in Viet Nam is about  one tenth the cost to be done in Australia. Nice little profit for my beloved govt. - @colinoscapee

My wife's Australian Residence visa was done in Vietnam. My govt pays local wages but charges us Aussie prices. We paid 7700 aud for the application, the cost of a Vietnamese to do the application in Viet Nam is about  one tenth the cost to be done in Australia. Nice little profit for my beloved govt. - @colinoscapee

J.H.Christ!

$7,700 AUD (120 million+ VND), just to apply!!? Un-ff'ing-believable! 

- @Aidan in HCMC

People keep going on about the discrimination, it happens in VN also. Years ago a company in Binh Duong had a sign out front that they wouldn't employ people from Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa. Its obvious they had problems with people from those regions. Was there a big issue mad of it....NO.

- @colinoscapee

Maybe there should have been. I am old enough to remember signs in London saying "no blacks, no dogs, no Irish,"  this behaviour has no place in the modern world.

At least in Vietnam they are upfront about it, what really annoys me is the hypocrisy of  western governments, my particular example being Ireland. They like to portray an image of generosity and welcome, but the reality is different.

- @Malcolmleitrim

Wheres the hypocrisy?

Your gf didnt meet the criteria, take it up with the VN who put forth that she shouldn't get the visa.

To enlighten yourself, read Thigv's post.

- @colinoscapee

People keep going on about the discrimination, it happens in VN also. Years ago a company in Binh Duong had a sign out front that they wouldn't employ people from Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa. Its obvious they had problems with people from those regions. Was there a big issue mad of it....NO.

- @colinoscapee

Maybe there should have been. I am old enough to remember signs in London saying "no blacks, no dogs, no Irish,"  this behaviour has no place in the modern world.

At least in Vietnam they are upfront about it, what really annoys me is the hypocrisy of  western governments, my particular example being Ireland. They like to portray an image of generosity and welcome, but the reality is different.

- @Malcolmleitrim

Wheres the hypocrisy?

Your gf didnt meet the criteria, take it up with the VN who put forth that she shouldn't get the visa.

To enlighten yourself, read Thigv's post.

- @colinoscapee

People keep going on about the discrimination, it happens in VN also. Years ago a company in Binh Duong had a sign out front that they wouldn't employ people from Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa. Its obvious they had problems with people from those regions. Was there a big issue mad of it....NO.

- @colinoscapee

Maybe there should have been. I am old enough to remember signs in London saying "no blacks, no dogs, no Irish,"  this behaviour has no place in the modern world.

At least in Vietnam they are upfront about it, what really annoys me is the hypocrisy of  western governments, my particular example being Ireland. They like to portray an image of generosity and welcome, but the reality is different.

- @Malcolmleitrim

Wheres the hypocrisy?

Your gf didnt meet the criteria, take it up with the VN who put forth that she shouldn't get the visa.

To enlighten yourself, read Thigv's post.

- @colinoscapee

You keep insisting that this issue is the responsibility of the vietnamese, this is not the case. The visa was refused by the Irish embassy on behalf of the Irish state, the nationality of the people they employ is irrelevant.

The hypocrisy I was referring to has nothing to do with my girlfriend at all, I was simply stating that a lot of western countries like to portray themselves as liberal and welcoming when in fact they are not.

Anyway I'm not interested in arguing about it, I have other things to do, I just wanted to share my experience with the OP because I understand the situation is similar for the UK.

- @Malcolmleitrim