Green Card says "North Vietnam", but...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I got the same problem. On Green Card, it says "North Vietnam" while it is supposed to be "Vietnam" rite????

I dont know what I should do now! My husband and I are going to Vietnam next month and everything is a mess now.

I called USCIS but they said they can't tell if it is an error and that I have to go to the USCIS local office in person for an infopass.

They said if I want to replace the GC, I have to file the form I-90 and prove that it was their mistake, if not then I have to pay about $5OO.

I believe it is definitely their mistake.

Now i have no idea what to do. Should I just use it to go to VN and replace it when I get back; or shouldn't I replace it at all???

Anyone please help?!

Thank you,

I wouldn't risk trying to get a replacement now. You might not get it before your trip, and you won't get back into the country without it. The card should be valid, even if the country of origin is incorrect.

It's definitely a USCIS error. There is no such country as "North Vietnam", and there never has been. The division of the country into north and south was the result of their civil war. The official position of the current government is that the country was reunited after the war to become one Vietnam, and not that the former south was annexed by the former north to become a larger North Vietnam.

The same thing happened during the US civil war, but nobody living today would even remotely consider referring to the modern US as "North United States". Well, the Sons of the Confederacy might, but nobody else would.

[Thuy Du 0]

To JimvaPhuong,

Thank you for your advice

Yeah, whatever USCIS will say when I go to see them next week, I will still get ready to go to Vietnam, and do anything I can do when I go back Haven't seen my family since I came here therefore I don't wanna cancel it. Hope everything will go well

[quann 26]

To JimvaPhuong,

Thank you for your advice

Yeah, whatever USCIS will say when I go to see them next week, I will still get ready to go to Vietnam, and do anything I can do when I go back Haven't seen my family since I came here therefore I don't wanna cancel it. Hope everything will go well

how long have you been in the usa? how do you speak/write english so well? you even know the "lol" and "wanna" etc...i'm impressed. my wife hardly uses the internet and she's been pretty much non-involved in this whole process. just do whatever i say.

[hniHnitsuJ 8]

Shhhhh !! I am setting out bait ....

Its DQ Season, and thems good eating....... Tastes like VK

What DQ got to do with VK?????

[Thuy Du 0]

To quann,

I have been here for almost 4 years as an international student. So basiclly i was on F1 visa, not K1. Even though I came here for studying, I couldnt barely understand what people said when I first came to the US. The community college that I went to has 90% Asian and Vietnamese. So I decided to run away, went to a new college in a different city by myself. There was no Vietnamese at all in that school so I had a chance to practice English and got better. I met my husband there 2 yrs ago. We dated for 1.5 year and then got married. We filed the app at the end of Dec, 2011 and got approved on March.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

To quann,

I have been here for almost 4 years as an international student. So basiclly i was on F1 visa, not K1. Even though I came here for studying, I couldnt barely understand what people said when I first came to the US. The community college that I went to has 90% Asian and Vietnamese. So I decided to run away, went to a new college in a different city by myself. There was no Vietnamese at all in that school so I had a chance to practice English and got better. I met my husband there 2 yrs ago. We dated for 1.5 year and then got married. We filed the app at the end of Dec, 2011 and got approved on March.

That's English immersion the hard way! Sink or swim!

Your writing is as good as most American kids - maybe better than many. How is your pronunciation? My wife's English has improved tremendously in the two years she's been here, but many people (other than me) have difficulty understanding her.

[Thuy Du 0]

^^ I practiced speaking English a lot since I was a kid in Vietnam. I would say my speaking 80% sounds like American hehe

[quann 26]

yes your writing is very good for only 4 years. i know a few viet who've been here 4-5 years and you can still sense a strong "fob-ism" in their writing (facebook updates... )...probably harder to get rid of that the older you are. tbh i went from rolling my eyes at your panicky first posts to being thoroughly impressed at how determined and quick you picked up english. hopefully you still remember enough viet for your upcoming trip

[long&kieu 1]

My SO finally got her 2 year "conditionally permanent" residence (2 yr green) card today. It was a net total of about 15months from the initial K-1 filing. Its a pretty good day, to say the least, even tho its all been relatively easy since the POE. I thank again those who helped us along the way.

One thing was goofy on her GC... somehow the card says she is from North Vietnam, when in fact, she is squarely from South Vietnam. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this. Not sure it really matters, and she doesn't seem to care, but still... Come to think of it.. there really is no North & South anymore.. shouldn't it just say "VietNam"?

How long did it take you to recieve this since she arrived in the states?? I heard it was suppose to take 3 weeks?? Thanks, Long.

[Dan_P 5]

How long did it take you to recieve this since she arrived in the states?? I heard it was suppose to take 3 weeks?? Thanks, Long.

I think mine took less than 3 weeks. Maybe about 10 days, but it really depends. 3 weeks seems reasonable.

[BieBong 0]

I got the same problem with my card. I received the card in Feb, so maybe this is a system's mistake (or one person's fault) in this period of time.

I called USCIS as well (twice, actually) and talked to different people but they had no idea whether it's wrong or not. They also did mention about I90, I asked them how long it would take; and the answer is 5-6 months *_*

Then I made an info-pass appointment and got to talk to a local immigrant officer (Baltimore). She said the card will be fine with traveling. The number is important, not the country of origin. It's now up to me if I want to correct it or not. My friend who works in an immigration office said I should change it for a citizenship application later. That isn't happening for me until 3 years later so I decided to keep it as is for now. I will be going to Vietnam in June too and feel a little bit nervous about it, but... I would bring the notification letter (the one says you are approved for application) with you when you come back though. Might as well the whole package.

Please do tell what happen.

To JimvaPhuong,

Thank you for your advice

Yeah, whatever USCIS will say when I go to see them next week, I will still get ready to go to Vietnam, and do anything I can do when I go back Haven't seen my family since I came here therefore I don't wanna cancel it. Hope everything will go well

Edited April 4, 2012 by BieBong

[Thuy Du 0]

Seems like more and more ppl get the same problem. I think there is no Problem to travel with it. I will let you know after I see them tmr. Hope they will say the same as yours. The only thing Im worried about is the people at Vietnam airport. They might be tricky about it. I wonder if we need the GC when we arrive at Vietnam airport

Edited April 4, 2012 by Thuy Du

[BieBong 0]

I would use your Vietnamese passport at Vietnam airport ( if yours isn't expired).

Whenever entering any country, you just need a valid visa document issued by their government; so why would you need to show the US permanent resident card to get in Vietnam.

Also, for us, Vietnam's still the motherland. We are not US citizens (yet?)

Seems like more and more ppl get the same problem. I think there is no Problem to travel with it. I will let you know after I see them tmr. Hope they will say the same as yours. The only thing Im worried about is the people at Vietnam airport. They might be tricky about it. I wonder if we need the GC when we arrive at Vietnam airport

Edited April 4, 2012 by BieBong

[Dan_P 5]

You will always be considered a citizen of vietnam unless you renounce your citizenship in Vietnam. Renouncing your vietnamese citizenship in the US when you become a us citizen only counts for the USA and other countries, but excluding vietnam.

I would use your Vietnamese passport at Vietnam airport ( if yours isn't expired).

Whenever entering any country, you just need a valid visa document issued by their government; so why would you need to show the US permanent resident card to get in Vietnam.

Also, for us, Vietnam's still the motherland. We are not US citizens (yet?)

[Thuy Du 0]

Can I use this card to get my SSN? I didn't do it yet since I got the card cuz of the mistype

Edited April 4, 2012 by Thuy Du