Marriage in Singapore

[Dai. 7]

Oh yeah, the reason why Direct Consular Filing is so much faster is because since you don't submit to USCIS or NVC, the US consulate in Ho Chi Minh Handles the I-130 approvals there and all the NVC process at the consulate. Since there aren't to many doing Direct Consular Filing they can get to your case quick.

[BurningFinger 5]

The possibility of living in singapore is about 50/50. We have no plans to live together in Vietnam. The most likely scenario is for us to live in the US, but Trang still wants us both to attain the permanent residency in singapore just as a second option. I really do not want the headaches of dealing with the HCMC Consulate in Vietnam in getting a visa approved for Trang. That is why we just want to get our permanent residency in singapore and deal with singapore consulate when we are ready to file for the CR-1 or K3 to live in the US. Is it a good idea for me to do this??

-Travis & Trang

Edited October 29, 2009 by BurningFinger

[Dai. 7]

The possibility of living in singapore is about 50/50. We have no plans to live together in Vietnam. The most likely scenario is for us to live in the US, but Trang still wants us both to attain the permanent residency in singapore just as a second option. I really do not want the headaches of dealing with the HCMC Consulate in Vietnam in getting a visa approved for Trang. That is why we just want to get our permanent residency in singapore and deal with singapore consulate when we are ready to file for the CR-1 or K3 to live in the US.

-Travis & Trang

Of Course I know the Most Likely Scenario is for you to live in the US with your wife, that is everyone's goal on this website is to get their spouse to live in the United States with them, But to do that you must get her a Visa to get into the US first. I only suggested staying in Vietnam temporarily until she gets her Visa to come to the US. Personally I think it would be more difficult getting the Permanent residence status in Singapore and then convincing the US consulate in Singapore that a US citizen and a Vietnamese National are trying to prove they are not fraudulent and prove that their relationship is bonifide. I think it just looks bad that you or her, that recently you get this permanent residence status and then right after that you are applying for a Visa to come to the US. There might be questions on why you switch Permanent residence status recently and then apply for a visa soon after, how would you answer them? I don't think "We don't want to deal with the US consulate in HCMC" , would be a good answer to them. As people have said on this website several times, ?Put yourself in the Consulate Officer's shoes", if you don't think they will approve you then most likely they won't. Every consulate is trying to do the same Job, which is keeping fraudulent cases from getting the visa and avoid illegal immigration from happening in the US.

[Anh map 2,098]

Link to Singapore government perm resident information site -->> http://app3.ica.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=151&secid=150

[WeatherEmperor 21]

dai tx could be on to something. I am new to all of this as well so I may be wrong on this, but if both you and your wife apply for and get approved for the singapore permanent residency, it would look bad if you then try the CR-1 inside singapore right away. Granted, the singapore consulate may not be a bad as the HCMC consulate, but it is safe to assume that they will ask the tough questions if they have to. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable, but I have to admit that this seems like an odd way to get your visa approved.

Guys, you know what would be funny? If he really finds a way to pull this off, everybody will start doing this in order to bypass HCMC consulate

<CARRICK>

Edited October 29, 2009 by WeatherEmperor

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The possibility of living in singapore is about 50/50. We have no plans to live together in Vietnam. The most likely scenario is for us to live in the US, but Trang still wants us both to attain the permanent residency in singapore just as a second option. I really do not want the headaches of dealing with the HCMC Consulate in Vietnam in getting a visa approved for Trang. That is why we just want to get our permanent residency in singapore and deal with singapore consulate when we are ready to file for the CR-1 or K3 to live in the US.

-Travis & Trang

Of Course I know the Most Likely Scenario is for you to live in the US with your wife, that is everyone's goal on this website is to get their spouse to live in the United States with them, But to do that you must get her a Visa to get into the US first. I only suggested staying in Vietnam temporarily until she gets her Visa to come to the US. Personally I think it would be more difficult getting the Permanent residence status in Singapore and then convincing the US consulate in Singapore that a US citizen and a Vietnamese National are trying to prove they are not fraudulent and prove that their relationship is bonifide. I think it just looks bad that you or her, that recently you get this permanent residence status and then right after that you are applying for a Visa to come to the US. There might be questions on why you switch Permanent residence status recently and then apply for a visa soon after, how would you answer them? I don't think "We don't want to deal with the US consulate in HCMC" , would be a good answer to them. As people have said on this website several times, ?Put yourself in the Consulate Officer's shoes", if you don't think they will approve you then most likely they won't. Every consulate is trying to do the same Job, which is keeping fraudulent cases from getting the visa and avoid illegal immigration from happening in the US.

Agreed. "Consulate shopping" can be a huge red flag, especially if the beneficiary is originally from a high fraud country. If they expect this to work then they'd better have a darn good reason for both of them residing in Singapore, and that reason should be something other than their relationship together. I've read about people having problems with the relatively easy consulate in London when the beneficiary was from a "tough consulate" country like Pakistan, and that was when the beneficiary had a valid reason for being in the UK, like attending school.

DCF under these conditions would be especially difficult. This has to do with the separation of authority for visa petitions. The law allows a consulate to adjudicate a petition on behalf of USCIS as a courtesy to US citizens residing in that country, but USCIS doesn't not cede all authority to the consulate. The consulate has the authority to APPROVE the petition, but they do not have the authority to DENY the petition. This puts them in a quandary when a petition is "clearly not approvable" - they have to send the petition to the appropriate USCIS office in the US for adjudication, with a recommendation that the petition be denied before it's even been adjudicated! This is one case where DCF can take dramatically longer than filing in the US.

[Dai. 7]

Link to Singapore government perm resident information site -->> http://app3.ica.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=151&secid=150

Looks like becoming a resident in singapore requires alot of eligibility factors.

[Anh map 2,098]

Link to Singapore government perm resident information site -->> http://app3.ica.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=151&secid=150

Looks like becoming a resident in singapore requires alot of eligibility factors.

That's the impression that I got too

[konton 0]

Sorry. I don't write here much. My wife and I came to the United States just two weeks ago! I am a United States citizen and she is a Vietnamese citizen. Us getting married in Singapore was a non issue. No one cared, but I worried quite a bit about it. However the fact is the United States recognizes any marriage validated by a legit government as legal. And so Singapore marriages are pretty legal. Now Vietnam may not recognize the marriage, but you don't have to prove your marriage to them.

Since I have been living in Vietnam for over 6 months (and could prove I would be there for 6 more), we applied for a CR-1 at the local USCIS office in Diamond Plaza. The wait took a month. Then another two months for the consulate to review the paperwork and set a date. Then a couple weeks and we did the interview. My tax returns were the main issue. Filing at the local USCIS office is something you probably cannot do. issue. You must live in Vietnam to do that.

I don't suggest moving to another country so you can move to another country. Just start the CR-1 process and please please please keep the job you have. They care more that you can support your wife than anything else. If you want to send me a message please do, but I'm busy looking for a job now that I'm back in the States, so I don't look at this board much. But thanks to everyone who helped me and my wife get where we are!

Justin

Arrived in San Francisco 10/17/09. Don't pack any fruit!

[BurningFinger 5]

I posted this over in the K-3 forum, but I just wanted to know that since we married in Singapore do we have to file our petition and do the interview with the consulate in Singapore or must it go through the consulate in Vietnam? I want to know if this is true for the K-3 and/or CR-1. Like I said in the K-3 forum, I really do not care because I just want to have a happy life with Trang here in the States.

-Travis & Trang

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I posted this over in the K-3 forum, but I just wanted to know that since we married in Singapore do we have to file our petition and do the interview with the consulate in Singapore or must it go through the consulate in Vietnam? I want to know if this is true for the K-3 and/or CR-1. Like I said in the K-3 forum, I really do not care because I just want to have a happy life with Trang here in the States.

-Travis & Trang

Generally, you have to file the petition in the US, but if you live outside the US then you may have the option of filing in the country where you live. US Consulates in both Singapore and Vietnam require that you be a resident of that country in order to use DCF filing. In both cases, proof of permission to reside in the country and proof of six month residency is required. If you reside in the US, then you must file the petition in the US.

Your wife will usually have to interview in the country where she is a legal resident, except in cases where the US does not have an embassy or consulate in that country, or does not have diplomatic relations with that country. If your wife is a resident of Vietnam, then she'll have to interview in Vietnam.

The country where you were married has no bearing on where you file the petition, or where your wife will interview.