Engagement or Wedding???

[cavoi xanh1 0]

Doan and I had the full blown picture day (before sun up to after sun down). We also had a ceremony and reception. However this was all before we submitted our original K-1 petition. I clearly definde and stated in the original document submittal that we are engaged and plan to marry when she arrives to the US. We received no RFE's and nothing was questioned. This provides background and evidence that would conflict with an alternate determination at the consulate.

Again, in my time line and all our documents and proofs, we never use the words marriage, married, spouse etc...always refer to engamenment and engagement party even though it was the other. We will have to see what happens when we have Doan's interview (just sending DS-230 and DS-2001 now). We can only hope that all will be well. If it comes down to legality of the issue, there is no factual and objective evidence that supports a claim that we are married within the lawful jurisdiction of either country. If it causes us AP then so be it. We cannot recall the package we already submitted to the USICS as our original petition. Its in the books and approved. I have a number of valid and factual points to defend our position.

Now if these activities took place more recently there may be more burden to prove your status, but as we already submitted this up front for petition approval we have already estabished our case to be factual.

Anyway, I'll let everyone know when we get our interview scheduled and how we make out!

We are the exact same as you. We both wrote sworn statements that say we are legally able to marry, and we are going to do this within 90 days of her arrival. Yes we had the wedding ceremony, the full blown thing, this was for her family, we do not call each other husband and wife, this was all done BEFORE we filed for a K1 visa. We had a Vietnamese wedding without the paperwork. Many people have been fine doing this and I am sure that some have had problems because of this. Everyone that is going through this process is not made of money or lottery winners, some people can not get back to take their fiancé or fiancée home with them once they get the visa. Most people can not afford to take off more than 2 weeks a year. I knew all this before I filed for our K1 visa, and we discussed the possibility that I might not be able to come back this year, so we went all out for her family's sake. I did not want to rob them of the joy of seeing their loved one having a wedding. Most people I have talked with that have had strictly a engagement party all say their family still consider them to be married, and this is without any type of ceremony. To answer Linda's question, yes she had the white dress after. I am sure you already knew this by viewing our photos in our profile. If it comes back to haunt us, so be it. I did what I felt was right for Binh AND her family, and I am more than prepared to deal with that later. I will also post as soon as we hear something, either negative or positive. From the day that our journey started, I have never second guessed any of my decisions and I will not start to do it now. What is done is done, would I have done things differently? NO and I can say that truthfully. I worry about the future and not the past. If I worry to much about something then I will miss the important things that are happening in the now moment. I think it is so sad that people would rob their loved ones family of such a moment, and that people are worried about getting a fiancée home in time for a tax break, joking or not, this is just wrong. I worry about getting Binh home for different reasons, I want her with me because I love her and I get tired of having a chat on a web cam, I want to be able to hug her and instead of cooking on the stove with my laptop behind me I want her behind me to sample as I cook. I know that if a person gets denied for photo evidence (not many different photos in different clothes) then they must have had a weak case, if a person gets denied solely because they had a wedding ceremony and are filing for a K1 then I think they did something else wrong, they did not have a police statement saying that they were able to marry, or did not address the letter clearly that they understood and knew they were going to get married within 90 days of her arrival to the united states, or the fiancée truly thought she was his wife already and told the CO that. If she is smart and if he is smart, they should be able to have a Dam Hoi without any problems. I am sure that the CO is looking for fraud, and he might try to nit pick something in a photo, but if your case is presented correctly then theory should be no problem at all. Point blank, this is not a perfect world, if it were then we would all go to visit our loved ones each weekend and then come home in time for work next week. We are not all made of money, and just making enough to meet the poverty level does not mean people can come back and forth 2 or 3 times during this process. When people say that they should go back for the interview, then go back for a Dam Hoi after they get a visa to take them home, I think is just unrealistic for most of us. Some people are lucky, I never thought I would EVER be able to come back for 3 trips in the same year. I got lucky due to my work situation, most people are not this lucky. Jerome

Why didn't you file for CR-1 Visa Jerome if you had a full blown wedding in Vietnam. It would have been easier and you could bypass the AOS and EAD stuff and get the green card and social security card when she enters the US.

It looks like he was only back for two weeks or so during the wedding. It would have been very tight to get the interview and paper work I was there for a month and sent to submit our marriage application the next day. They PROMISED that everything would be ready for signing two days before I left (i.e. come back in 3 1/2 weeks). When we showed up it supposedly would take another 1 week. I naively said ok and walked out about to get on the phone to call my company and preparing a sob story about how I am stuck and would be late returning to work... as I was crossing the street the 'dich vu' lady that was supposed our friend makes a few calls and suddenly $250 would get the papers ready in 6 hours... while on principle i hated giving in the $250- extending my leave of absence from work and rescheduling plane ticket would have cost much more....

Edited October 23, 2009 by cavoi xanh1

[cavoi xanh1 0]

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Edited October 23, 2009 by cavoi xanh1

[BinhJerome 14]

Doan and I had the full blown picture day (before sun up to after sun down). We also had a ceremony and reception. However this was all before we submitted our original K-1 petition. I clearly definde and stated in the original document submittal that we are engaged and plan to marry when she arrives to the US. We received no RFE's and nothing was questioned. This provides background and evidence that would conflict with an alternate determination at the consulate.

Again, in my time line and all our documents and proofs, we never use the words marriage, married, spouse etc...always refer to engamenment and engagement party even though it was the other. We will have to see what happens when we have Doan's interview (just sending DS-230 and DS-2001 now). We can only hope that all will be well. If it comes down to legality of the issue, there is no factual and objective evidence that supports a claim that we are married within the lawful jurisdiction of either country. If it causes us AP then so be it. We cannot recall the package we already submitted to the USICS as our original petition. Its in the books and approved. I have a number of valid and factual points to defend our position.

Now if these activities took place more recently there may be more burden to prove your status, but as we already submitted this up front for petition approval we have already estabished our case to be factual.

Anyway, I'll let everyone know when we get our interview scheduled and how we make out!

We are the exact same as you. We both wrote sworn statements that say we are legally able to marry, and we are going to do this within 90 days of her arrival. Yes we had the wedding ceremony, the full blown thing, this was for her family, we do not call each other husband and wife, this was all done BEFORE we filed for a K1 visa. We had a Vietnamese wedding without the paperwork. Many people have been fine doing this and I am sure that some have had problems because of this. Everyone that is going through this process is not made of money or lottery winners, some people can not get back to take their fiancé or fiancée home with them once they get the visa. Most people can not afford to take off more than 2 weeks a year. I knew all this before I filed for our K1 visa, and we discussed the possibility that I might not be able to come back this year, so we went all out for her family's sake. I did not want to rob them of the joy of seeing their loved one having a wedding. Most people I have talked with that have had strictly a engagement party all say their family still consider them to be married, and this is without any type of ceremony. To answer Linda's question, yes she had the white dress after. I am sure you already knew this by viewing our photos in our profile. If it comes back to haunt us, so be it. I did what I felt was right for Binh AND her family, and I am more than prepared to deal with that later. I will also post as soon as we hear something, either negative or positive. From the day that our journey started, I have never second guessed any of my decisions and I will not start to do it now. What is done is done, would I have done things differently? NO and I can say that truthfully. I worry about the future and not the past. If I worry to much about something then I will miss the important things that are happening in the now moment. I think it is so sad that people would rob their loved ones family of such a moment, and that people are worried about getting a fiancée home in time for a tax break, joking or not, this is just wrong. I worry about getting Binh home for different reasons, I want her with me because I love her and I get tired of having a chat on a web cam, I want to be able to hug her and instead of cooking on the stove with my laptop behind me I want her behind me to sample as I cook. I know that if a person gets denied for photo evidence (not many different photos in different clothes) then they must have had a weak case, if a person gets denied solely because they had a wedding ceremony and are filing for a K1 then I think they did something else wrong, they did not have a police statement saying that they were able to marry, or did not address the letter clearly that they understood and knew they were going to get married within 90 days of her arrival to the united states, or the fiancée truly thought she was his wife already and told the CO that. If she is smart and if he is smart, they should be able to have a Dam Hoi without any problems. I am sure that the CO is looking for fraud, and he might try to nit pick something in a photo, but if your case is presented correctly then theory should be no problem at all. Point blank, this is not a perfect world, if it were then we would all go to visit our loved ones each weekend and then come home in time for work next week. We are not all made of money, and just making enough to meet the poverty level does not mean people can come back and forth 2 or 3 times during this process. When people say that they should go back for the interview, then go back for a Dam Hoi after they get a visa to take them home, I think is just unrealistic for most of us. Some people are lucky, I never thought I would EVER be able to come back for 3 trips in the same year. I got lucky due to my work situation, most people are not this lucky. Jerome

Why didn't you file for CR-1 Visa Jerome if you had a full blown wedding in Vietnam. It would have been easier and you could bypass the AOS and EAD stuff and get the green card and social security card when she enters the US.

Because i did not have enough time to get all the paperwork done. My first trip was only 15 days, and this one 20 there is not enough time unless you pay someone off, and that would have not been right and that in it self would have been a very big red flag. My first trip was over Christmas and new year. So the K1 is the only way we could file. I do not believe in paying someone off to get things done quicker, any CO can see that if you are there for 15 days and get a wedding done in that time that you had to pay someone off, and if they see that they would wonder why we did not wait?? Paying someone off to hurry and get married instead of taking the correct route??? To me this is wrong. I know that I am not 100% moral on everything I do, but everything I do or say I can sleep with a clean conscience over, and to pay off some official in Vietnam so that we could hurry and get a wedding on my first trip was something that I would never feel right about. Jerome

[lindal24 1]

Why didn't you file for CR-1 Visa Jerome if you had a full blown wedding in Vietnam. It would have been easier and you could bypass the AOS and EAD stuff and get the green card and social security card when she enters the US.

My thoughts exactly..

It looks like he was only back for two weeks or so during the wedding. It would have been very tight to get the interview and paper work I was there for a month and sent to submit our marriage application the next day. They PROMISED that everything would be ready for signing two days before I left (i.e. come back in 3 1/2 weeks). When we showed up it supposedly would take another 1 week. I naively said ok and walked out about to get on the phone to call my company and preparing a sob story about how I am stuck and would be late returning to work... as I was crossing the street the 'dich vu' lady that was supposed our friend makes a few calls and suddenly $250 would get the papers ready in 6 hours... while on principle i hated giving in the $250- extending my leave of absence from work and rescheduling plane ticket would have cost much more....

You know you could have registered for the certificate in advance right?? I mean, before you scheduled your flight to go back to VN and everything...I completed all of my paperwork and marriage in 2 weeks - mental exam and interview. I did all the paperwork myself and sent it fedex over there before I flew back...

[lindal24 1]

Because i did not have enough time to get all the paperwork done. My first trip was only 15 days, and this one 20 there is not enough time unless you pay someone off, and that would have not been right and that in it self would have been a very big red flag. My first trip was over Christmas and new year. So the K1 is the only way we could file. I do not believe in paying someone off to get things done quicker, any CO can see that if you are there for 15 days and get a wedding done in that time that you had to pay someone off, and if they see that they would wonder why we did not wait?? Paying someone off to hurry and get married instead of taking the correct route??? To me this is wrong. I know that I am not 100% moral on everything I do, but everything I do or say I can sleep with a clean conscience over, and to pay off some official in Vietnam so that we could hurry and get a wedding on my first trip was something that I would never feel right about. Jerome

I wouldn't recommend to anyone to get married on the first trip...much less rush through things, but Vietnam is all about paying off officials to get things done quicker...it's the norm.

[cavoi xanh1 0]

Because i did not have enough time to get all the paperwork done. My first trip was only 15 days, and this one 20 there is not enough time unless you pay someone off, and that would have not been right and that in it self would have been a very big red flag. My first trip was over Christmas and new year. So the K1 is the only way we could file. I do not believe in paying someone off to get things done quicker, any CO can see that if you are there for 15 days and get a wedding done in that time that you had to pay someone off, and if they see that they would wonder why we did not wait?? Paying someone off to hurry and get married instead of taking the correct route??? To me this is wrong. I know that I am not 100% moral on everything I do, but everything I do or say I can sleep with a clean conscience over, and to pay off some official in Vietnam so that we could hurry and get a wedding on my first trip was something that I would never feel right about. Jerome

I loose a twenty dollars before even leaving the airport everytime but i think the extra 'import fee is only for viet kieu

[Bernie C 24]

I agree whole heartedly with you Jerome. Everything you say is true and I also feel the same.

Some times we are asked why we didn't marry there and file as spouse. Well its not that easy either. Depending on the province and processing it can take multiple trips to obtain a marriage certificate. Some provinces do not allow power of attorney so it would take multiple trips to get this unless you can stay for an extended period of time. There are so many things to consider and we tried to pick the method that would work best for us. We considered these things and chose to go the route we did (K-1). Like you mentioned, it is not a perfect world. All we can do is our best, be strong and supportive, and more than anything, love each other endlessly.

We wanted to apply after we met the first time but we knew that the burden is on us to provide solid foundation of proof. So we have done our best to be patient. I have made three trips this year and will be going for the interview also. During that trip I am planning on going for a month. I have a good job but by no means is this anything normal. I work for a small family owned manufacturing company and my employer has been wonderful. He asctually paid for my plane tickets for my trip last January. He also is allowing me to take the time off to go for the interview. Without the support of the people around me our dreams to be together would be unlikely. Those who can withstand the tests will be rewarded with a lifetime of love and happiness.

I have exhausted my funds but continue to scrap and save. I want to be there with Doan for her interview to support her. I know it is a stressful time and thing and if I am there i think she will have much more confidence. She is a very intelligent and wonderful person and when I see her smile it makes my knees weak. In all my life I have never know such a feeling. although our lives our filled with many colors there is only one I wish to see now. PINK PINK PINK

Hand in there everyone and keep your chins up! Be positive, strong and PINK.

[BinhJerome 14]

I agree whole heartedly with you Jerome. Everything you say is true and I also feel the same.

Some times we are asked why we didn't marry there and file as spouse. Well its not that easy either. Depending on the province and processing it can take multiple trips to obtain a marriage certificate. Some provinces do not allow power of attorney so it would take multiple trips to get this unless you can stay for an extended period of time. There are so many things to consider and we tried to pick the method that would work best for us. We considered these things and chose to go the route we did (K-1). Like you mentioned, it is not a perfect world. All we can do is our best, be strong and supportive, and more than anything, love each other endlessly.

We wanted to apply after we met the first time but we knew that the burden is on us to provide solid foundation of proof. So we have done our best to be patient. I have made three trips this year and will be going for the interview also. During that trip I am planning on going for a month. I have a good job but by no means is this anything normal. I work for a small family owned manufacturing company and my employer has been wonderful. He asctually paid for my plane tickets for my trip last January. He also is allowing me to take the time off to go for the interview. Without the support of the people around me our dreams to be together would be unlikely. Those who can withstand the tests will be rewarded with a lifetime of love and happiness.

I have exhausted my funds but continue to scrap and save. I want to be there with Doan for her interview to support her. I know it is a stressful time and thing and if I am there i think she will have much more confidence. She is a very intelligent and wonderful person and when I see her smile it makes my knees weak. In all my life I have never know such a feeling. although our lives our filled with many colors there is only one I wish to see now. PINK PINK PINK

Hand in there everyone and keep your chins up! Be positive, strong and PINK.

When you go, there is a way for you to get in and wait with her. Ask FredDaoHoney he can get you info so that you can sit inside instead of waiting outside. If you pm me I will send you a sheet you can fill in and with this sheet you should be able to get in. Just make sure that you have the taxi driver park up the street and don't walk together before you get there. I am happy for you and wish you the best. It is really lucky that you have such a great boss. Good luck with your visa!! Jerome and Binh

By the way did you have a wedding ceremony?? I truly believe that this is nothing to worry about, and that some people seem to preach the worst instead of posting hope. A wedding ceremony without paperwork and then to have supporting evidence that you are NOT married is all the proof anyone should ever need even at HCMC

[ScottThuy 140]

Doan and I had the full blown picture day (before sun up to after sun down). We also had a ceremony and reception. However this was all before we submitted our original K-1 petition. I clearly definde and stated in the original document submittal that we are engaged and plan to marry when she arrives to the US. We received no RFE's and nothing was questioned. This provides background and evidence that would conflict with an alternate determination at the consulate.

Again, in my time line and all our documents and proofs, we never use the words marriage, married, spouse etc...always refer to engamenment and engagement party even though it was the other. We will have to see what happens when we have Doan's interview (just sending DS-230 and DS-2001 now). We can only hope that all will be well. If it comes down to legality of the issue, there is no factual and objective evidence that supports a claim that we are married within the lawful jurisdiction of either country. If it causes us AP then so be it. We cannot recall the package we already submitted to the USICS as our original petition. Its in the books and approved. I have a number of valid and factual points to defend our position.

Now if these activities took place more recently there may be more burden to prove your status, but as we already submitted this up front for petition approval we have already estabished our case to be factual.

Anyway, I'll let everyone know when we get our interview scheduled and how we make out!

We are the exact same as you. We both wrote sworn statements that say we are legally able to marry, and we are going to do this within 90 days of her arrival. Yes we had the wedding ceremony, the full blown thing, this was for her family, we do not call each other husband and wife, this was all done BEFORE we filed for a K1 visa. We had a Vietnamese wedding without the paperwork. Many people have been fine doing this and I am sure that some have had problems because of this. Everyone that is going through this process is not made of money or lottery winners, some people can not get back to take their fiancé or fiancée home with them once they get the visa. Most people can not afford to take off more than 2 weeks a year. I knew all this before I filed for our K1 visa, and we discussed the possibility that I might not be able to come back this year, so we went all out for her family's sake. I did not want to rob them of the joy of seeing their loved one having a wedding. Most people I have talked with that have had strictly a engagement party all say their family still consider them to be married, and this is without any type of ceremony. To answer Linda's question, yes she had the white dress after. I am sure you already knew this by viewing our photos in our profile. If it comes back to haunt us, so be it. I did what I felt was right for Binh AND her family, and I am more than prepared to deal with that later. I will also post as soon as we hear something, either negative or positive. From the day that our journey started, I have never second guessed any of my decisions and I will not start to do it now. What is done is done, would I have done things differently? NO and I can say that truthfully. I worry about the future and not the past. If I worry to much about something then I will miss the important things that are happening in the now moment. I think it is so sad that people would rob their loved ones family of such a moment (Rob them of what moment? We plan to get married at JoP to satisfy the visa requirement and have a huge wedding ceremony in VN next year after she can return to VN this is a common practice ..... the difference of her being on my taxes this year is several thousand dollars difference on my tax liability, looking at about 50k in tax liability this year already so I would rather spend some of that on my family than on taxes.... That money will pay for our trip next year as well as the wedding ceremony in VN)... , and that people are worried about getting a fiancée home in time for a tax break, joking or not, this is just wrong. I worry about getting Binh home for different reasons, I want her with me because I love her and I get tired of having a chat on a web cam, I want to be able to hug her and instead of cooking on the stove with my laptop behind me I want her behind me to sample as I cook. I know that if a person gets denied for photo evidence (not many different photos in different clothes) then they must have had a weak case, if a person gets denied solely because they had a wedding ceremony and are filing for a K1 then I think they did something else wrong, they did not have a police statement saying that they were able to marry, or did not address the letter clearly that they understood and knew they were going to get married within 90 days of her arrival to the united states, or the fiancée truly thought she was his wife already and told the CO that. If she is smart and if he is smart, they should be able to have a Dam Hoi without any problems. I am sure that the CO is looking for fraud, and he might try to nit pick something in a photo, but if your case is presented correctly then theory should be no problem at all. Point blank, this is not a perfect world, if it were then we would all go to visit our loved ones each weekend and then come home in time for work next week. We are not all made of money, and just making enough to meet the poverty level does not mean people can come back and forth 2 or 3 times during this process. When people say that they should go back for the interview, then go back for a Dam Hoi after they get a visa to take them home, I think is just unrealistic for most of us. Some people are lucky, I never thought I would EVER be able to come back for 3 trips in the same year. I got lucky due to my work situation, most people are not this lucky. Jerome

Why didn't you file for CR-1 Visa Jerome if you had a full blown wedding in Vietnam. It would have been easier and you could bypass the AOS and EAD stuff and get the green card and social security card when she enters the US.

It looks like he was only back for two weeks or so during the wedding. It would have been very tight to get the interview and paper work I was there for a month and sent to submit our marriage application the next day. They PROMISED that everything would be ready for signing two days before I left (i.e. come back in 3 1/2 weeks). When we showed up it supposedly would take another 1 week. I naively said ok and walked out about to get on the phone to call my company and preparing a sob story about how I am stuck and would be late returning to work... as I was crossing the street the 'dich vu' lady that was supposed our friend makes a few calls and suddenly $250 would get the papers ready in 6 hours... while on principle i hated giving in the $250- extending my leave of absence from work and rescheduling plane ticket would have cost much more....

cavoi xanh1, Having to pay people off in VN is the just way things are done.. is not that much $ in the scheme of things... I can't remember how many times we have had to give someone a little money to "grease the wheels".... Getting paperwork processed in VN can take several months... A Divorce in VN usually takes a long time.. but with some $ as incentive, it can be done in a few weeks...

Carrick does not have enough time away from work this year to get married there without throwing up additional red flags.. The $ could get it done fast but the CO will know how it was done and it would likely end up in AP.... When things move too fast they tend to ask why and take closer look....

If he goes now with the holiday time remaining this year and has a Dam Hoi and takes many pictures etc. and files after he returns, then he can return next year again when the prices are low and his vacation time has built up again to strengthen his case with more time together.

If they get married now having not spent that much time together it could cause a delay.. like AP at the consulate

[BinhJerome 14]

cavoi xanh1, Having to pay people off in VN is the just way things are done.. is not that much $ in the scheme of things... I can't remember how many times we have had to give someone a little money to "grease the wheels".... Getting paperwork processed in VN can take several months... A Divorce in VN usually takes a long time.. but with some $ as incentive, it can be done in a few weeks...

Carrick does not have enough time away from work this year to get married there without throwing up additional red flags.. The $ could get it done fast but the CO will know how it was done and it would likely end up in AP.... When things move too fast they tend to ask why and take closer look....

If he goes now with the holiday time remaining this year and has a Dam Hoi and takes many pictures etc. and files after he returns, then he can return next year again when the prices are low and his vacation time has built up again to strengthen his case with more time together.

If they get married now having not spent that much time together it could cause a delay.. like AP at the consulate

It is not about the money involved in "paying" someone off, it is about the moral grounds. Some things it is different on when paying someone off. If we needed a document and they were giving us the run around fine give them some green get the document. Something serious like a wedding or a divorce, this one would make me wonder what was going on. Why could you not wait to get married the right way??? Why did you have to pay someone off for a divorce?? As a CO these would be serious red flags. All of this is off topic though, and really does not add anything to this thread.

If Carrick wants to have a Dam Hoi to make his fiancée happy, he will have plenty of supporting evidence and sworn statements that proves he is not married. This is what the topic is about. Remember when you file you have to have proof that you can be legally married, proof that she can be legally married, proof of any divorces that you have, you also have to sign a statement that you are both legal and able to be married, and you have to tell them that you will be married within 90 days, then throw in the fact that the fiancée has to get documentation that proves she is not married already. This is proof on top of proof on top of more proof. SO why all this talk about red flags???????????????? It should be plain and simple it is just a ceremony, nothing legal, just for the family in Vietnam. But this is just my opinion. Jerome

[lindal24 1]

When you go, there is a way for you to get in and wait with her. Ask FredDaoHoney he can get you info so that you can sit inside instead of waiting outside. If you pm me I will send you a sheet you can fill in and with this sheet you should be able to get in. Just make sure that you have the taxi driver park up the street and don't walk together before you get there.

This is easy...if you want to go in to the interview with her, just tell the officer at the door that you have an "American" issue you need to take care of with a Consulate Officer (registering with the consulate/embassy; notarizing something, etc.). Once you get through the doors, you're supposed to go straight, but no one is on the other side of the gates so you can just go right and sit in the waiting area with her...You'll have to act like you aren't together when you go there though...

[Việt Kiều 2]

It's the way of life in Vietnam to pay everyone off if you want to get things done. They tell you 3 weeks but 3 weeks turns into a month then a month turns into two. When my uncle went to the doctor for an operation in Vietnam his family had to pay under the table money to the doctor so that they would be careful with him. It's just the norm in that corrupt country. Communism is awesome isn't it.

Edited October 25, 2009 by Canh Sat

[lindal24 1]

I heard about paying the doctor a little extra under the table too...My cousin's a nurse and the patient's families sometimes tries to "tip" her, but my aunt doesn't let her accept. She just says you help everyone the same...what if you were in their shoes?!

This is definitely a must sometimes though no matter how ethical you may be. If you want something done, money talks! Or you can play stupid and just wait it out...who knows it might be your lucky day.

[ScottThuy 140]

I had 1 lucky day in VN when I met Thuy... I am not counting on many more that lucky so I am willing to pay when needed to avoid getting set aside or lost in the shuffle.

[SuperDuper! 230]

Do the CR-1 and when she gets to the United States she gets her Green Card and her Social Security Card right away. Only think you need to file is Adjustment of Status which is 2 years when the green card expires.

Go for CR1 is much better, cause K1 is pain in the (0-0). hihihi.. CR1 is much cheaper, and less headache when she in US.

What is good for you, is not necessarily good for everyone else. OP should not rush into things, and should make 4 or 5 trips to visit her. A K1 is a good option for many people who do not want to be locked into a situation before its time is do.

Peace.