Few Questions....

[Dan_P 5]

Hey guys where exactly do I go to get the papers signed by the state secretary? My attorney wants $300 to do it but I'd rather do it myself to save $300 since it's a lot easier to do than the CR-1 itself.. Thanks!!

If you are in CA, you can go here:

http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/authentication.htm

Your location says Texas, so you can go here:

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/authinfo.shtml

[Hoang_Phuong 2]

Wow Dan! You saved me $300... Thanks!

One last thing.. Is there a expiration date on the signatures? I kinda wanna do it super early and get it out of the way so I'll have it ready way before I go backto Vietnam..

Thanks!!

[Dan_P 5]

I believe that it is good for 6 months.

[Hoang_Phuong 2]

Sweet.. thanks.. I'll confirm it early next year.

[Hoang_Phuong 2]

Hey guys...

Came up with an idea but I don't know if it's gonna work...

This is regards to how long I'm able to take off to travel to vietnam. Which is max 3 weeks without my employment being terminated. (as of right now until I'm able to get more days/weeks off approved)

November 30th, 2011 is my next flight to Vietnam to visit my girl and my family. So I had this idea, which my girl did ask me about, to stay ahead of journey. We don't have the exact marriage date, but it will be somewhere in May or June. This is also depending on how many weeks I get to take off, but we will start with 3 weeks. With the Ket Hon paper work on her side. She is telling me that it's going to take at least 2 weeks for the process. So that's 1 week left for Marriage and all before I go back home. This is if we do everything in May/June time. Now that I already have my plane ticket read for this Nov. 30th, I'm wondering if I can get the Ken Hon paperwork done and have it ready for marriage in May/June. (since my visit time is going to be 3 weeks minimum)That will help cut down the processing time while I'm in vietnam in May/June. So we basically want to get married within the first week, and have the rest of the 2 weeks out of the 3 to travel vietnam.

Otherwise, I would have to take at least 5-6 weeks off to do everything at once. Again, this is only because my employment. They're finicky about taking too many days off and it doesn't matter if you're going overseas or not. I've only been at my job for a little over a year and a half. The people who have been working there for many years do get to take more time off. Oh BTW this is paid and unpaid time off together.

Thanks guys!

[Hoang_Phuong 2]

oh another thing is.. I don't know if this will work because the person who is helping me said that my first visit with my girl was this year in May, so it's still way too early to do any kind of paperwork. They suggested that I do another visit or two before even think about doing paperwork for getting married. Which my 2nd visit will be this Nov.30th...

[Dan_P 5]

My wife told me that the marriage paperwork in Vietnam must be done within 6 months, if you can work it out time wise, you can start the marriage paperwork in December, then say April, you can come back to finish it in case it isn't finished in December. Some provinces allow power of attorney, that could speed things up. You can get a medical here, to save time, but I believe that it has to be done at a hospital or they might not accept it. I had mine done in Vietnam at a psychiatric hospital, and got my results within the same day, but depends on the hospital, it could take longer.

If time is the major concern, i would suggest that you go to a good lawyer or immigration office to have the paperwork done, they should know better, it's not just about giving them the correct paperwork, but giving them everything they want in the format they want, otherwise, they might find a way to delay you.

Also, rules change all the time and vary from province to province, for example, when I did mine, the province where my wife was would not take power of attorney. Your wife could find out the requirements of her province.

Finally, the date that they put on the paper about when your interview will be and when the results will be done are not fixed, both of mine changed. Also, we went to stp on the date they gave, and they said, oh it's not done, yet they never called us. It took about a week longer than the date they promised.

I noticed that you mentioned that your wife is Catholic, does her priest require a civil marriage license before performing the Catholic wedding? If so, then you need to consider a plan b for in case the marriage paperwork is not done in time.

[hieumin 2]

To speed up marriage paperwork process in Vn, have power of attorney papers done first here then send all marriage paperwork including power of attorney for your SO to submit.

The psychiatry paper you can submit after having your exam done at hospital in Vn.

It very hard for you to have this marriage paperwork done within 3 weeks without bribing the Vn officials.

[Hoang_Phuong 2]

I thought we do the medical exam here in the U.S.? If it's for sure done there. Then my best bet is to take care of this when I go back this December.

As for the priest. Yes he is gonna need the marriage certificate before we get married officially. This is why I'm trying to see if I can do the paperwork 5-6 months prior, since I will be returning to VN around the middle or end of May 2012. Since I'll be leaving the states on Nov. 30th, going back to VN in April is a little early. But we will see what goes on at that time. I'm still in the early stages and plans could change.

I did talk to a attorney. He explained to me about the Ket Hon paperwork. He says he is able to take care of everything here. Even will give me a check list for when I'm in VN. That way I will have everything I need when I come back after my marriage. But I have not gone back to ask him about this December. At the time I was talking to him, he explained that the more visits, the better. After I walked out of his office, I went and bought a plane ticket.. Not just because he said I should have more than one visit. I wanted to go back again since it's been over 14 years since I've gone. So this will benefit me both ways. Im gonna go back next month to ask him about doing the paperwork for marriage earlier than planned because of my situation. Hopefully it'll be good news. I planned on saving $300 and doing it myself. But my mother kept telling me to have the attorney do it since they've done a lot of them, so it's simple to just pay them to do it. I guess I'll have to agree with that now. Saves me a little headache!

Thanks for the reply guys...

[Tuanv 2]

I am not sure if anyone have tell you this but things are more difficult in Vietnam. I don't think 3 weeks is enough to get your marriage certificate in Vietnam bc it tooks me almost a month to get it--in fact, I got mine on my departure day. Then, agin, it is all about connection in Vietnam. If you know someone from the inside, things will move much faster and smoother.

Edited August 14, 2011 by Tuanv

[Hoang_Phuong 2]

Thanks tuan. I do have a person who lives locally who can do it around a week or two. But I'm still skeptical. So this is the reason why I want to do this a few months ahead, before I go back and get married officially.

[Dan_P 5]

I thought we do the medical exam here in the U.S.? If it's for sure done there. Then my best bet is to take care of this when I go back this December.

As for the priest. Yes he is gonna need the marriage certificate before we get married officially. This is why I'm trying to see if I can do the paperwork 5-6 months prior, since I will be returning to VN around the middle or end of May 2012. Since I'll be leaving the states on Nov. 30th, going back to VN in April is a little early. But we will see what goes on at that time. I'm still in the early stages and plans could change.

I did talk to a attorney. He explained to me about the Ket Hon paperwork. He says he is able to take care of everything here. Even will give me a check list for when I'm in VN. That way I will have everything I need when I come back after my marriage. But I have not gone back to ask him about this December. At the time I was talking to him, he explained that the more visits, the better. After I walked out of his office, I went and bought a plane ticket.. Not just because he said I should have more than one visit. I wanted to go back again since it's been over 14 years since I've gone. So this will benefit me both ways. Im gonna go back next month to ask him about doing the paperwork for marriage earlier than planned because of my situation. Hopefully it'll be good news. I planned on saving $300 and doing it myself. But my mother kept telling me to have the attorney do it since they've done a lot of them, so it's simple to just pay them to do it. I guess I'll have to agree with that now. Saves me a little headache!

Thanks for the reply guys...

you can do medical in US or Vietnam. Vietnam is cheaper, i think it was $600,000 VND(about $30 USD) for both my wife and I. but, if time is a major constraint, you can have it done in the US, it will have to be translated into Vietnamese too and will cost way more. Also, make sure to get it done at the right place, if done in the states, otherwise, some have had to redo it in VN anyways.

Even if an attorney does it (usually it's his/her helper, not the attorney themselves anyways), make sure to check EVERYTHING is correct. Always remember the attorney is your helper, you are still the main person.

With regards to the trip, yes, more is better. I think it's better to wait until after the wedding in May or June or whatever to file the cr-1.

3 weeks is doable with the right connections if you did power of attorney, but make sure to give yourself more time. I was told a month was enough time, it ended up taking 5.5 weeks. of course, i could've done it faster, but it would've cost more.

[David-Hien 11]

I thought we do the medical exam here in the U.S.? If it's for sure done there. Then my best bet is to take care of this when I go back this December.

As for the priest. Yes he is gonna need the marriage certificate before we get married officially. This is why I'm trying to see if I can do the paperwork 5-6 months prior, since I will be returning to VN around the middle or end of May 2012. Since I'll be leaving the states on Nov. 30th, going back to VN in April is a little early. But we will see what goes on at that time. I'm still in the early stages and plans could change.

I did talk to a attorney. He explained to me about the Ket Hon paperwork. He says he is able to take care of everything here. Even will give me a check list for when I'm in VN. That way I will have everything I need when I come back after my marriage. But I have not gone back to ask him about this December. At the time I was talking to him, he explained that the more visits, the better. After I walked out of his office, I went and bought a plane ticket.. Not just because he said I should have more than one visit. I wanted to go back again since it's been over 14 years since I've gone. So this will benefit me both ways. Im gonna go back next month to ask him about doing the paperwork for marriage earlier than planned because of my situation. Hopefully it'll be good news. I planned on saving $300 and doing it myself. But my mother kept telling me to have the attorney do it since they've done a lot of them, so it's simple to just pay them to do it. I guess I'll have to agree with that now. Saves me a little headache!

Thanks for the reply guys...

The process of Kethon that is long or short is up to your wife. She should come to So Tu Phap of the Province or the City and talk to the responsible person there. She should try and could find out the way to speed it up. Even if she has to bribe them, you should let her do it to save time. One more trip may cost your job or something else that you never know how long and how much it will be complicated.

Some girls told me that they only need to bribe the officers there to make the process faster.

[Hoang_Phuong 2]

Dan, you cleared things up for me. Thanks a bunch. I'm filing CR-1 after I get married. That's the last I'm worried about.

Here's the deal. I bought a ticket to fly back in December. Just for more visits and photos. But of course to see her =). After a few weeks after I bought the ticket, I thought about doing the Ket hon paper work while I'm there for two weeks. So I'll have that taken care of before I go back again to get married in may/June. My wife kept telling me it's cheaper to do the medical part of the paperwork in VN. I agree with her but if I'm gonna get my attorney to do my Ket hon paperwork, I thought I'd have everything done here. I'm gonna see if prefers doing the medical here or over there in VN. Sounds easier if I and my wife do it the same time there in VN. Otherwise, I'm aware that all te other paperwork has to be notarized here in the states by the Viet embassy in Washington. Another thing was, I didn't know if I could do all of this 6 months ahead of time before I get married. Usually paper work is only good for less than 6 months. I still yet to go talk to my attorney about it.

Lastly, when you went for the medical checkup, what did they do?

Thanks!

[Dan_P 5]

I was told that it would be a little quicker to do the medical exam here, but if you have enough time, do it in Vietnam, it is cheaper. The exam in Vietnam is pretty simple, at least when I took it, they just asked me a few questions about myself, my wife, and some questions to see if you can reason. Very basic stuff. They also made me take a exam that was basically matching patterns. It looked to be a test from the United States. I didn't give them any coffee money, and did not have any problems. The interview was in vietnamese of course.

If you can schedule your trip within 6 months of each other, then you can save a little money. I think 2 weeks is pushing it, but possible with the right connection.

Dan, you cleared things up for me. Thanks a bunch. I'm filing CR-1 after I get married. That's the last I'm worried about.

Here's the deal. I bought a ticket to fly back in December. Just for more visits and photos. But of course to see her =). After a few weeks after I bought the ticket, I thought about doing the Ket hon paper work while I'm there for two weeks. So I'll have that taken care of before I go back again to get married in may/June. My wife kept telling me it's cheaper to do the medical part of the paperwork in VN. I agree with her but if I'm gonna get my attorney to do my Ket hon paperwork, I thought I'd have everything done here. I'm gonna see if prefers doing the medical here or over there in VN. Sounds easier if I and my wife do it the same time there in VN. Otherwise, I'm aware that all te other paperwork has to be notarized here in the states by the Viet embassy in Washington. Another thing was, I didn't know if I could do all of this 6 months ahead of time before I get married. Usually paper work is only good for less than 6 months. I still yet to go talk to my attorney about it.

Lastly, when you went for the medical checkup, what did they do?

Thanks!