Getting a tourist visa to US from Vietnam

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hey, finally I have a question to ask!

Ok, I'm going to back to VN in early August. I was hoping to spend a couple of weeks, which is about as long as I can be away from home and not tending to the bills 'n such. However, my employer threw me for a loop last week and told me I might have to go to Japan for a couple of days of meetings in August. I asked my boss to try, if at all possible, to coordinate the meeting dates with my expected vacation dates so that I could go directly from VN to Tokyo, and not have to go all the way back to San Francisco.

I told my fiancee about the possibility of my having to go to Tokyo, and she said she thought she could get a visitors visa to Japan without much trouble. Apparently, her son-in-law's brother goes to Tokyo pretty regularly. So, she thought it would be a good idea for her to come with me. Her reasoning was that going to Tokyo with me might help her get her K1 visa to the US. Well, this confused me, so I asked her to explain why she thought it would help.

Ok, whenever anyone posts the questions their SO's are asked in HCM, I always give the link to my fiancee so she can read the questions. She's keeping a log of them. She read in somebody's post (I think it was Dai_Tx's) about questioned asked about traveling together, and wanting to see photos of this. Her reasoning, therefore, is that taking a trip together is good evidence of an ongoing relationship.

Seriously, I think she just wants to go to Tokyo!

Anyway, a couple of days ago my boss informed me that I probably won't have to go to Tokyo, and that another group in our department will probably have to go. I told my fiancee about this, but she still wants to go to Tokyo for a holiday, presumably because she thinks it will help her K1 visa chances (but I think she just wants to have a holiday someplace other than HCM).

Now, I have no problem going to Tokyo for a few days, but I got to thinking today. If she could get a tourist visa to the US, it probably would help her chances of getting the K1 because it would demonstrate that she has complied with immigration law. It would also give her a chance to see where she'll be living, meet the members of my family she hasn't met in person yet, and spend some time with her family in the US.

Ok, so I realize getting a tourist visa to the US from Vietnam is nearly impossible, so I wanted to lay out the facts here and see what you folks thought her chances were. If she hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell then I won't even suggest it to her.

She owns her own home in Hue city, but it's a modest home (as are most in Vietnam). She works as a contract teacher for a pre-school, and has worked there for more than 5 years. Her income is low, but teaching is a highly respected vocation in Vietnam. She has three children; 17, 19, and 22 (the 22 year old is married with a new baby of her own). Aside from the home, the modest furnishings inside it, and her scooter, she has little other assets. I don't believe she has a bank account. What I know she could produce in the way of documentation are the papers for her home, the documentation for her kids (who would remain in Vietnam while she's in the US), a letter from her school principal confirming that she's expected back to work, and the NOA1 (possible we'll have NOA2 by then) to show she's following the laws to immigrate to the US legally.

So, what are her chances?

[Anh map 2,098]

Go for it, you only have the application fee to lose. It's a long shot with her in K visa process and having family here. If she's successful that would be great. If not, take a little trip to Tokyo or Phuket.

[Dai. 7]

My brother in law also goes to Tokyo Japan quite often as he is a Vietnamese national and he told me it was easy to get the tourist Visa in Japan. The way he tells me is all you need is an Invitation letter from someone you know there and provide the place where you are staying and let them know how many days you are going to stay there. I wanted my wife and I to spend a couple of days in Tokyo because we have a long layover over there. I can switch my plane tickets to spend 2-3 days in Tokyo no problem from American Airlines but my wife just wanted to get over to the United States in one trip and not make some huge layover, she wants to meet my family right away. I imagine the next trip I make to Vietnam she might want to stop over in Tokyo for a couple of days and visit her brother so then I would have to go through the process of getting her the Visa from America as she is still a Vietnamese national.

Anyways back to the subject, my wife and I do strong believe that taking trips to another country does help you case out a lot. You wife can go to certain ASEAN countries with out having to have a visa because Vietnam is a member of the organization. Countries such as Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand are the places she can go with out any visa at all if she plans to go less than 30 days. I am not sure about American Citizens and those other countries, but I was also able to get into Thailand (less than 30 days) with out a visa.

As far as getting a Tourist Visa going over to US I have not tried it myself but my older cousin, now a US citizen, filed paperwork for her 29 year old son in Vietnam. He is a highly paid engineer working in Vietnam making a salary of over $80k USD per year. He has a nice house in Saigon which is pretty big considering the limited land they have in the city, and he has a lot of expensive assets like his car. My cousin filed the paperwork about 2 years ago and the paperwork is still processing. He just recently tried to get a tourist visa to go to the US but they denied him because of the paperwork already filed for him to become an immigrant.

You may want to ask your wife to go to the consulate and inquire more about that from the source or you can email them directly and ask them because I am not an expert on this situation.

Edited June 18, 2009 by Dai_Tx

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thanks for the input, guys!

Yeah, I hear conflicting reports from people about whether having a K visa in process helps or hurts. It seems like it might help people from VWP countries. I've read quite a few posts from people who were held up by CBP on entry, but were released to enter promptly when they produced the NOA1 or NOA2. I guess the thinking was that they demonstrated they weren't going to stay illegaly because they already had a legal immigration in process.

Phuong has never been outiside Vietnam. In fact, until she went with me to HCM the first time, she'd never been on a plane. The VN government occasionally sends her to education conferences in HCM or Hanoi, but they always send her by train. I figured pretty much any destination would be exciting to her, and I suggested Thailand as a possibility, but she seemed lukewarm to the idea. Maybe that's because she was comparing it with Tokyo. I dunno. I haven't told her yet that I absolutely despise Japanese food!

Dai, does she need to have an invitation letter in order to get the visa to Japan? Would it be sufficient if I could get a letter from someone in the company I work for, or does it have to be a personal letter?

[Dai. 7]

I think it my brother in-law used a personal invitation letter. The Japanese consulate is on Nguyen Hue street in District 1 in Saigon close to the River. She would have to go in there to apply for the visa. They will probably have better information then me. Sorry I can't help more.

[Haonie 0]

Consulate absolutely denies the tourist visa since she’s already filed K-1 Visa. One of my friends have tried and got the denied letter. Liked Dai said, she can go to ASEAN countries. I’ll try Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. I spent one week in Japan, and it cost me 2 grants. Everything in Japan is very expensive. Anyway, wish you two have the best time together.

Haonie

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I think it my brother in-law used a personal invitation letter. The Japanese consulate is on Nguyen Hue street in District 1 in Saigon close to the River. She would have to go in there to apply for the visa. They will probably have better information then me. Sorry I can't help more.

Ok, if she has to physically go to the Japanese consulate in HCM then that might complicate things. She'd have to take a day off of work and fly down to HCM. I'd heard there were travel agencies for some other countries that would provide the letter of invitation and take care of the visa, and I was wondering if there was something similar for VN nationals wanting to travel to Japan. I have a personal friend in Osaka, but everyone I know in Tokyo are business associates. Obviously, they wouldn't be inviting her to Japan for business. Honestly, I just don't know how this stuff works, and we've only got 1.5 months before I'm going to VN.

Consulate absolutely denies the tourist visa since she’s already filed K-1 Visa. One of my friends have tried and got the denied letter. Liked Dai said, she can go to ASEAN countries. I’ll try Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. I spent one week in Japan, and it cost me 2 grants. Everything in Japan is very expensive. Anyway, wish you two have the best time together.

Haonie

Thanks. I could probably swing the $2K for a week in Tokyo without impacting my K1 visa budget, but I'll know better in a couple of weeks. If I'd been going on business then my airfare and the hotel would've been covered by my employer. I've never personally been to Tokyo, and I honestly have no real desire to go myself. I tend to avoid large cities because I don't like crowds. I've lived in the SF bay area for 16 years, but have actually been to San Francisco less than a dozen times. I'm thankful that I don't have to actually go to the city in order to go to SF airport. Compared to Tokyo, San Francisco is deserted! On top of that, neither of us speak any Japanese, and then there's the food problem I already mentioned...

I think I'm going to recommend Thailand again and see what she says.

[Dai. 7]

Now that I think about it, maybe you can book a tour with an agency and they can take care of the visa in Japan for you. If it was me and I know nothing about Japan, I would just go the tour and see what the tour guides have to offer highlighting the best in Tokyo. I heard there are some tours you can book and the take you with a bus from Narita airport and drop you off at Tokyo and you can do whatever for a certain amount of days. That might me ideal for you. Check out the tour agencies like you said.

Thailand, Highly recommended by me and my wife. We went there several times already for my work and we always have fun every trip. We plan to go there again when I make my work trip over to Asia in October, just non stop fun for us when we are there.

Edited June 18, 2009 by Dai_Tx

[toddandhien 2]

Jim, as Anh Map said, it will cost you $130 to see if she can get the tourist visa. However, my opinion is that, for two reasons, her chances are slim:

1. Her assets are modest.

2. She has already applied for K-1.

I believe the consulate is looking for significant assets from developing countries because the whole intent is that you must assure them that you intend to return. You have already told them, by filing for K-1, that she does not intend to live in VN in the future, as she is an intending immigrant.

I think traveling together anywhere that involves planning, effort and money is what the consulate is looking for. It is as easy for VN people to fly to Thailand as is is for them to fly to Da Lat or Hai Phong. Pick a place that you both like and go there and enjoy. We took 3 plane trips together and it was a great experience for Hien, as she also had never flown before. Great picture opportunities, too!!

But, let me offer the one benefit that I can see to applying for the tourist visa. Hien applied for one earlier in our relationship (prior to filing K-1). While we were disappointed in the outcome, what we later realized was that the experience of going into the consulate, seeing how it works and getting interviewed was great practice. Because she knew what it was like, she was very calm on K-1 interview day because she had a prior run under her belt.

Whatever, you choose to do, good luck and enjoy.