K1 visa for Vietnam

[sealedkiss 1]

Sorry this is a repost from the general forum. I didn't know there existed region-specific forums.

My girlfriend and I first knew each other 4 years ago, but only met in person the first time in Vietnam last year. This summer, she is here in the US for 4 months (July - October 2006) on a J1 visa (without the 2-year rule). She works in a different state than mine, but we will manage to meet about 3 times in the US.

I am a US citizen and want to file for her K1 visa soon, but got worried over a few things:

1. There was a fiance visa fraud scheme for Vietnamese people discovered (I am very mad at these people). According to this article (Jun 30, 2006), http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/st...p-7811897c.html , during the investigation the US stopped issuing K1 visas from Vietnam, which resulted in a three-year backlog of applications? Any first-hand experience on this? Did anyone get their K1 visas from VN recently? How responsive are they in resolving backlogs?

2. Our other option is to get married in the US and file for adjustment of status. That will run the risk of her being accused of having dual intent when applying for her J1. We did not intend to do that, but this article forced us to consider this option. We are not quite ready to get married yet, but it can be done if it saves us a lot of headache down the road.

3. If K1 visa process for Vietnam is still going smoothly, we will do this option. Then, is it possible to file for her K1 (I-129F?) while she's still here in the US? She will return home, of course, before her interview takes place.

Thank you very much for any experience or advice you could share.

[dalegg 143]

All you have to do is read a few of the posts in this forum to realize that rumour is false. We are still getting our visas every week, although it is no picnic of a process.

But since your girlfriend is in the US, consider this: My wife's good friend met an American man online. She was actually fortunate enough get a tourist visa also and she visited him first. A few months later he went to Vietnam for the engagement ceremony. Then, as her tourist visa had not yet expired, she came back to the U.S. a second time, and on this visit they got married. Being married already, she merely filed for and was granted her green card.

During the green card interview they did not question the validity of their relationship because of the multiple visits before the marriage and the Engagement Ceremony, but they asked her several times questions to try to get her to admit she used her tourist visa to get married, to which to continued to say she fell in love after she met him and it was not planned. If she had said otherwise, it would have been a misuse of the visa, but it is not illegal to get married while on a travel visa per say.

I wouldn't consider the Visa process to be running "smoothly" in Vietnam. I think most people rather avoid it if possible. I mean if you have a toothache and you must get your tooth pulled, you will go to the dentist, but if the tooth was to just happen to fall out on it's own while you are sleeping and your pain is relieved that way, you'd probably be happier, right?

If you aren't ready to get married, then you shouldn't!! Treat any marriage seriously. If you feel you still want more time, the K1 Visa process is perfect for you, because it is definitely going to award you that time.

Any case where the beneficiary has already met the petitioner in the U.S is already very strong so I think you would be in the top percentile for success. We have Landy here to prove that one.

[justin728jn 0]

well done dalegg, good advise....

[STL_HCMC 0]

sealedkiss,

Welcome to VisaJourney and we're glad you found the Vietnam side of VisaJourney through the regional forum. You've probably already noticed the wealth of information and invaluable tips in all of the Vietnam related posts. Read it all and read it all again. That will certainly give you a good grip on the entire process through the US Consulate in HCMC. Then after that, don't hesitate to ask questions, there are many, many experienced and other newbie Vietnam members here to share and help with questions.

I won't add anything else, because dalegg summed it perfect!

Best of luck to you both in whatever route you take!

STL_HCMC

[sealedkiss 1]

Dalegg, thank you so much for your advice. I love this forum. People are so "together." As you might have guessed, I searched high and low on Google - it's only this site that I found incredibly active and informative.

To think about it, the facts support that we didn't plan to get marry. She bought a round-trip ticket, and here in the US I bought her a pay-as-you-go cell phone, not 1- or 2-year contract (thinking she's here for only 4 months). Does it mean anything to the immigration officer? Can your wife's friend share how to best present the facts that she didn't intend to misuse her visa?

By all means we are emotionally ready to get married. We've talked a lot over the last few years. It's just that financially it's a little bit tight. That means no honeymoon in Europe just yet, but in 1-2 years there will be.

Thanks again. Oh, as I wrote this STL_HCMC posted a warm welcome message. I appreciate that a lot, too.

[STL_HCMC 0]

Hi sealedkiss,

I noticed this "financial situation" you described in your reply to dalegg. Just make sure you've got this all in order before you decide to do anything. Being able to show the US Consulate in HCMC, or CIS in the United States, that you can adequately financially support your fiancee or wife is very important for this process. You will need to show that your "financial situation" is such that your fiancee or wife, whichever you choose, will not become a public charge to the United States government.

There are many posts on the board talking about the I-134 Affidavit of Support for the K-1 route, and also the I-864 Affidavit of Support if you were to get married in the USA. You will see posts talking about income requirements, 2006 poverty level guidelines, etc. Important thing is to make sure you have a good job and/or can show the US Government that your income is sufficient to support yourself, any claimed dependents that you may already have, plus the new addition of your fiancee or wife!

STL_HCMC

It's just that financially it's a little bit tight. That means no honeymoon in Europe just yet, but in 1-2 years there will be.

Edited July 16, 2006 by STL_HCMC

[sealedkiss 1]

Thanks for the warning about income. I do have a few concerns.

I am a graduate student, so I don't have a full-time job. But I do work at internship jobs and make good salary some years. In 2004 and 2006, my incomes are ~$30k. In 2005 it was less than $10k (I only worked summer of that year). I heard the new rule is that they only require the most recent year tax return, right? So if in 2007 I filed the affidavit of support, I should have a nice 2006 tax return to enclose. And I do have a couple of bank accounts that carry a nice balance now and then.

What do you think about my situation? Anything I should really be careful about? If the situation calls for it, I can find a co-sponsor, but is it a good thing to have a co-sponsor anyway, whether or not my income qualifies?

Thank you.

[STL_HCMC 0]

sealedkiss,

Every Consulate/Embassy is different in their support evidence requests. The US Consulate in HCMC officially only lists 1 year of tax returns as enough, but it is common knowledge to all of us on here that they like to see the past 3 years of tax returns, W2's and 3 to 5 recent paystubs. A letter from your bank and bank statements will be good too.

Co-sponsors through HCMC is a story in itself too. There is nothing official that states they don't accept co-sponsors, but there have been reports that they are very selective when allowing them to be used. The Consulate has a lot of discretion as to when to accept/reject a co-sponsor because the I-134 Affidavit of Support is non-legally binding. Therefore the credibility, relationship and location of the co-sponsor is heavily considered when presented.

You are a graduate student, which is great evidence to show your future earning potential with a graduate degree, so I would definitely include some evidence of your enrollment and or graduation whichever is the case when you decide to file a petition. I was an undergrad student before my job here in Vietnam and have included a copy of my degree to show with my I-134 paperwork. I also wrote a statement to include with my I-134 explaining my status as a full-time undergrad student for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 tax earning years. We've lined up a credible co-sponsor as well if it will be needed.

Seeing your income that you stated, it looks as though you would be good, and like I said being a grad student shows good future earning potential.

Spend some time reading up on this. There is a lot of info on the board about the I-134 and income, etc.

Hope this helps!

STL_HCMC

I heard the new rule is that they only require the most recent year tax return, right?

[dalegg 143]

Dalegg, thank you so much for your advice. I love this forum. People are so "together." As you might have guessed, I searched high and low on Google - it's only this site that I found incredibly active and informative.

To think about it, the facts support that we didn't plan to get marry. She bought a round-trip ticket, and here in the US I bought her a pay-as-you-go cell phone, not 1- or 2-year contract (thinking she's here for only 4 months). Does it mean anything to the immigration officer? Can your wife's friend share how to best present the facts that she didn't intend to misuse her visa?

By all means we are emotionally ready to get married. We've talked a lot over the last few years. It's just that financially it's a little bit tight. That means no honeymoon in Europe just yet, but in 1-2 years there will be.

Thanks again. Oh, as I wrote this STL_HCMC posted a warm welcome message. I appreciate that a lot, too.

It seems like you've made up your mind on the direction to go. The choice seems appropriate for your situation in my opinion too. In this case you don't have to worry too much about what to say or what not to say to an immigration officer about how you met while she was on her J1. In the end her interview will be in Vietnam, so the truth and whole truth of your story will be what she will wants to tell them and what you will want to put in your intent statement. She would only need to be extra careful if she was adjusting status directly from J1 to Permanant Resident.

Looking at the sequence of events, nothing looks suspicous to me. Afterall, you met her in Vietnam first after years of correspondance (hopefully you have kept records of some of that), so they couldn't really accuse her of using the J1 Visa just to meet American men. On top of that, she is going back, so clearly she wasn't trying to use it just to get to the US. Try to get bank statements that show your average balance and if you cannot do that, just try to obtain as many monthly statements as possible to prove it. I think you'll be fine. Once you have begun to file your K1 paperwork, I would make it a point to get back over there within a couple months to have a formal engagement ceremony too (before the interview). You'll need at least a couple of thousand dollars for this, but it will be well worth it all the way around.

[sealedkiss 1]

It seems like you've made up your mind on the direction to go.

Actually, I'm still thinking long and hard on which direction to go. The K1 visa process, despite the fact we do have a good case, is an arduous process that, like you said, most people would avoid if possible. And even after all the paperwork, there's still a little bit of uneasiness until you get the visa in hand.

On the other hand, I don't know how to best present our case if we want to marry and adjust her status from J1 directly to green card. Timing: she just got here at the end of June and is scheduled to leave the US in mid-October. We only see each other three times: start of July, end of August, and start of October. I don't know when we should get married and when to file for adjustment of status. According to guides on this site, we shouldn't file for AOS until at least 60 days after entry in the US. What about marriage? And how to disprove visa misuse? Also, if we get married, it'll just be with the judge at the courthouse. We have no family/friends near her place of work. There won't be a ceremony or anything, that'll have to be planned later in the future. Is this a plus/minus/doesn't-matter?

Hmm, I'm really losing sleep over this, because she's here for only a short period of time. We need to make a decision very soon. I'll spend more time reading the posts on this site, but sometimes it never seems enough.

Thanks a lot.

[chuckandkim 0]

sealedkiss,

Welcome to VJ, Dale said it clearly, there are the pros and cons for either choice you are going to make. I could go as far as having a 30 mins consultation with an experience Immigration laywer to sort out any legality options and issues you may have.

I don't know if i vote right now: stay and file for adjustment of status. The truth will win even when you think it's going to lose. Good luck and we are looking forward to hear your final decision.

[chuckandkim 0]

On a second thought, please read up on this: Filing AOS for your spouse while in the US

[justin728jn 0]

srry sealedkiss, this is off topic, but STL_HCMC brought up something interesting which i think might be useful to my case.

STL_HCMC, you mentioned the I-134 Affidavit of Support is non-legally binding. So, are there alternative legal-binding Affidavid of supports? or are there ways to make I-134 a legal-binding? Since my financial situation is weak, will it help my case in anyway if i voluntarily use the legal-binding affidavid of support?

thnx..

[STL_HCMC 0]

justin728jn,

The I-134 Affidavit of Support is non-legally binding. This is the reason that the consular officers have more discretion in accepting/rejecting, and also the determinants used to decide which to accept/reject (i.e. relationship, credibility and/or location). I received this word direct from the US Consulate in HCMC through email.

For example, using your brother-in-law as a co-sponsor for your case is not as likely to be as credible as using your own mother/father as your co-sponsor. Why? Because your brother-in-law could easily split from your sister and is then "out of the picture".

The legally binding Affidavit of Support is the I-864, and that will be used if/when your K-1 visa is approved and you are going through AOS in the United States. There is plenty of information on VisaJourney about the legalities of the I-864, how stuck you really are as a sponsor when you sign on the dotted line and also how stuck you are if things go wrong in the relationship and you signed on the dotted line. Give it a search on here and you'll find a wealth of information.

Here are two excellent links, if you've got the time, to read through. They should explain this clearly to you.

http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/09fam/0940041N.pdf

http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/09fam/0941081PN.pdf

I hope this helps!

STL_HCMC

srry sealedkiss, this is off topic, but STL_HCMC brought up something interesting which i think might be useful to my case.

STL_HCMC, you mentioned the I-134 Affidavit of Support is non-legally binding. So, are there alternative legal-binding Affidavid of supports? or are there ways to make I-134 a legal-binding? Since my financial situation is weak, will it help my case in anyway if i voluntarily use the legal-binding affidavid of support?

thnx..

[scy 0]

Why don't you seek the advice of an immigration attorney. Visajourney is a good resource, but no one here is a lawyer. Only a lawyer who is trained and experienced in immigration laws can advise you about the various nuances of the law and your chance of success in your course of action. Your case is not straight forward. The cost of a lawyer consultation will worth the money spent.