Case Opinon/Recommendations

[CY & Evy 18]

Hello,

 

I'm currently working on the I-129F packet (applying for K-1) and wanted to run my case by some of the experienced people here to get your opinion on if I might run into any problems with anything/red flags.

 

I know the process in Vietnam is a little tougher so all the extra documents are necessary. Is it true that the consulate in Vietnam will more than likely make a decision about our case before the interview just by reviewing the 129F package?

 

Some basic background of the relationship

• Met online in April (Tinder)
• First visit from December 3rd- December 11th
• No official proposal with ring (taking care of that on my next trip in April), but we both decided we wanted to start on this process
• Next trip is planned for April and I will do everything I can to be at the interview which I assume will take place sometime after April.
• No engagement ceremony planned at the moment
• Both never married, no kids.
• She has some Aunts and Cousins here in the US ( Is this a red flag?)

 

 

Documents I have gathered for the I-129F packet to show relationship requirements

• Copy of Passport Stamps/Visa
• Copy of airline receipts/ticket stubs for my trip to Vietnam and also the trip we took to Da Nang
• Receipts for Hotels in Vietnam, jewelry that I gave her
• Receipts for flowers I have sent to her
• Chat Logs taken from each month since we met along with screenshots of some of the conversations and our original Tinder messages
• Pictures of our trip together that include picture of me with her and her family and friends
• Notarized relationship timeline (US version). I didn't plan to send the VN question version because it asks questions about proposal which I will not have done by the time the 129F is sent. I will plan to have this VN question version for the interview.

 

 

I feel like our case should be straightforward as long as the interview questions don't contradict anything in the packet. If you see anything I am missing or would recommend it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

 

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

Sounds fairly straight forward.

 

No need to worry about showing of proof of engagement/ring.. that is not part of it. Good also to show bits from each month of chat, shows a timeline. This could also be done for the "proof of ongoing relationship" during the interview phase.

 

Also is good you are going to have another trip during the processing plus even trying to be at the interview.

 

Her having relatives in the US is not a red flag. It maybe would raise some questions if her relatives were the ones who had introduced the two of you; but since that is not the case it shouldn't cause any issue. My partner has an aunt who lives in the US, it was never brought up at all.

 

If you do an 'engagement ceremony', depending on how this is viewed traditionally in Vietnam, it could be a good thing to have and show photos, or  it could be a bad idea as in the consulate sees it as more of an actual wedding than just a party; but that is something other Vietnam members here will have to assist you with.

 

As for the rest again it seems pretty straight forward. Good luck!

[EandH0904 1,184]

So are you calling her your fiancé and comfortable writing your declaration to marry her without actually asking her? 

[CY & Evy 18]

6 hours ago, Ben&Zian said:

Sounds fairly straight forward.

 

No need to worry about showing of proof of engagement/ring.. that is not part of it. Good also to show bits from each month of chat, shows a timeline. This could also be done for the "proof of ongoing relationship" during the interview phase.

 

Also is good you are going to have another trip during the processing plus even trying to be at the interview.

 

Her having relatives in the US is not a red flag. It maybe would raise some questions if her relatives were the ones who had introduced the two of you; but since that is not the case it shouldn't cause any issue. My partner has an aunt who lives in the US, it was never brought up at all.

 

If you do an 'engagement ceremony', depending on how this is viewed traditionally in Vietnam, it could be a good thing to have and show photos, or  it could be a bad idea as in the consulate sees it as more of an actual wedding than just a party; but that is something other Vietnam members here will have to assist you with.

 

As for the rest again it seems pretty straight forward. Good luck!

 

Thank you Ben&Zian for the response. She has talked with her family and I think we are just going to bypass the engagement party and save the money.

 

 

6 hours ago, EandH0904 said:

So are you calling her your fiancé and comfortable writing your declaration to marry her without actually asking her? 

 

It's funny you ask because we had not really thought about it that way until reading your post. While we will both have to adjust calling each other fiancé, we are comfortable with that and making the declaration without the official proposal.

[frontgear 194]

The US Consulate in Saigon knows the VN customs very well and since it is a high-fraud country, they pay close attention to details.  An engagement reception/ceremony with lots of pictures of you two with friends and relatives only strengthens your case. So does a receipt of the ring that you paid for.

Don't be discouraged by the speculation that an engagement party might hurt your case. The costumes that you wear at a wedding reception/ceremony is quite different from the ones that you would wear at an engagement reception/party/ceremony. There are other details that a CO when reviewing your case can tell one from the other.

Edited January 2, 2017 by frontgear

[Bryan and An 23]

Your case sounds very similar to ours in a lot of ways. I also had only 1 trip before the interview (although it was for 30 days); we didn't have an engagement party, and I hadn't even bought her a ring prior to sending in the I-129F. I officially proposed to her on the last day of my trip, and started compiling documents for the I-129F as soon as I got home. I really loaded up the I-129F packet, with everything you mention, as well as copies of the postcards/Christmas/birthday cards we had sent each other, and also signed statements from each of my parents, my brother, and one sister supporting our relationship and talking about how excited they are to welcome An into the family. I also typed up a brief 1-page description of our tentative wedding plans, with pictures of the two venues we are considering. And for the question about how we met in person within the past 2 years, I typed up a 1-page description of our month together.

 

Actually, one thing you have that we didn't include is the timeline; I created one for the interview and had it notarized, but they didn't even look at it. Probably helps your case to have it included with the I-129F packet. 

 

The two biggest things I was worried about were 1) no engagement party, and 2) none of our pictures included any of her family or friends - just us. I did meet her mom, sister, and brother on my first trip, but in a mental lapse, failed to get any pictures. For my second visit (just days before the interview), we had a big lunch at her parents' house with about 15 relatives there and got lots of pictures. We arranged these nicely in a 20 or so page Word document with descriptions, printed it, and had it bound with a plastic ring to bring to the interview. We also did this with the old pictures as well, and labeled each package "Pictures before engagement" and "Pictures after engagement." The CO did flip through them briefly. 

 

We had an explanation ready for not having an engagement party; An's father is a fisherman, and is almost always out at sea. He hasn't been able to come home yet when I've been there, so to this day, I haven't met him in person. However, I'm going back in April to bring An home, and we will have a formal engagement party then. However, they didn't ask about it at all. It never came up during her 5-minute interview. 

 

Forgot to mention, one other thing I did include in the I-129F packet was screenshots of us talking on Skype - including some with my parents and her parents. So even though I never met her dad in person, they could see that we've talked to each others' parents (and our parents to each other). 

 

By the way, it may be a long shot, but don't rule out the possibility that she could interview during your visit in April, depending on how soon you send in the I-129F. Our case moved very quickly - I mailed the I-129F on Oct. 3, we had NOA 2 on Nov. 8, and our case number from NVC before the end of November. When An checked the interview calendar, February was the first month with openings, but then openings in December popped up with surprising frequency until we were able to get the perfect date during my upcoming trip. So it can happen. I can't stress enough the importance of you being at the interview. I feel it was a big difference maker despite some weaknesses in our case. As I mentioned in another thread, I was thrilled with how easily we passed; it was obvious the decision was made before we stepped up to the interview window. I think this was due to the bulk of our I-129F packet and my presence at the interview. 

 

I emailed you the short video I mentioned showing our chat logs. If you want, I can also send you a link showing our entire I-129F packet. Just let me know. 

 

[jac_chappin 24]

On 1/3/2017 at 10:44 AM, Bryan and An said:

Your case sounds very similar to ours in a lot of ways. I also had only 1 trip before the interview (although it was for 30 days); we didn't have an engagement party, and I hadn't even bought her a ring prior to sending in the I-129F. I officially proposed to her on the last day of my trip, and started compiling documents for the I-129F as soon as I got home. I really loaded up the I-129F packet, with everything you mention, as well as copies of the postcards/Christmas/birthday cards we had sent each other, and also signed statements from each of my parents, my brother, and one sister supporting our relationship and talking about how excited they are to welcome An into the family. I also typed up a brief 1-page description of our tentative wedding plans, with pictures of the two venues we are considering. And for the question about how we met in person within the past 2 years, I typed up a 1-page description of our month together.

 

Actually, one thing you have that we didn't include is the timeline; I created one for the interview and had it notarized, but they didn't even look at it. Probably helps your case to have it included with the I-129F packet. 

 

The two biggest things I was worried about were 1) no engagement party, and 2) none of our pictures included any of her family or friends - just us. I did meet her mom, sister, and brother on my first trip, but in a mental lapse, failed to get any pictures. For my second visit (just days before the interview), we had a big lunch at her parents' house with about 15 relatives there and got lots of pictures. We arranged these nicely in a 20 or so page Word document with descriptions, printed it, and had it bound with a plastic ring to bring to the interview. We also did this with the old pictures as well, and labeled each package "Pictures before engagement" and "Pictures after engagement." The CO did flip through them briefly. 

 

We had an explanation ready for not having an engagement party; An's father is a fisherman, and is almost always out at sea. He hasn't been able to come home yet when I've been there, so to this day, I haven't met him in person. However, I'm going back in April to bring An home, and we will have a formal engagement party then. However, they didn't ask about it at all. It never came up during her 5-minute interview. 

 

Forgot to mention, one other thing I did include in the I-129F packet was screenshots of us talking on Skype - including some with my parents and her parents. So even though I never met her dad in person, they could see that we've talked to each others' parents (and our parents to each other). 

 

By the way, it may be a long shot, but don't rule out the possibility that she could interview during your visit in April, depending on how soon you send in the I-129F. Our case moved very quickly - I mailed the I-129F on Oct. 3, we had NOA 2 on Nov. 8, and our case number from NVC before the end of November. When An checked the interview calendar, February was the first month with openings, but then openings in December popped up with surprising frequency until we were able to get the perfect date during my upcoming trip. So it can happen. I can't stress enough the importance of you being at the interview. I feel it was a big difference maker despite some weaknesses in our case. As I mentioned in another thread, I was thrilled with how easily we passed; it was obvious the decision was made before we stepped up to the interview window. I think this was due to the bulk of our I-129F packet and my presence at the interview. 

 

I emailed you the short video I mentioned showing our chat logs. If you want, I can also send you a link showing our entire I-129F packet. Just let me know. 

 

Congrats Bryan! I was wondering how things went since I hadn't seen a post of the outcome. I'm glad everything went well. Really happy for you and your fiancee. 

[CY & Evy 18]

On 1/3/2017 at 0:44 PM, Bryan and An said:

I emailed you the short video I mentioned showing our chat logs. If you want, I can also send you a link showing our entire I-129F packet. Just let me know

 

Thanks Bryan for the video. You put a lot of work into the packet!

[b6543 25]

Engagement is big positive things for K1 in Vietnam interview. Since you are there in Apr, if you wanted to have engagement that would help your case.  

 

I also included in our i-129, photos lots - in different VN locations, with family and friends, engagement, ring proposal...Marriage plans, plans for children, Details of how we met, Chat logs, Relatives in US addresses on sheet,...

 

You should be fine...

[Will_and_Tu 46]

On 1/1/2017 at 4:33 PM, CY & Evy said:

Hello,

 

I'm currently working on the I-129F packet (applying for K-1) and wanted to run my case by some of the experienced people here to get your opinion on if I might run into any problems with anything/red flags.

 

I know the process in Vietnam is a little tougher so all the extra documents are necessary. Is it true that the consulate in Vietnam will more than likely make a decision about our case before the interview just by reviewing the 129F package?

 

Some basic background of the relationship

• Met online in April (Tinder)
• First visit from December 3rd- December 11th
• No official proposal with ring (taking care of that on my next trip in April), but we both decided we wanted to start on this process
• Next trip is planned for April and I will do everything I can to be at the interview which I assume will take place sometime after April.
• No engagement ceremony planned at the moment
• Both never married, no kids.
• She has some Aunts and Cousins here in the US ( Is this a red flag?)

 

 

Documents I have gathered for the I-129F packet to show relationship requirements

• Copy of Passport Stamps/Visa
• Copy of airline receipts/ticket stubs for my trip to Vietnam and also the trip we took to Da Nang
• Receipts for Hotels in Vietnam, jewelry that I gave her
• Receipts for flowers I have sent to her
• Chat Logs taken from each month since we met along with screenshots of some of the conversations and our original Tinder messages
• Pictures of our trip together that include picture of me with her and her family and friends
• Notarized relationship timeline (US version). I didn't plan to send the VN question version because it asks questions about proposal which I will not have done by the time the 129F is sent. I will plan to have this VN question version for the interview.

 

 

I feel like our case should be straightforward as long as the interview questions don't contradict anything in the packet. If you see anything I am missing or would recommend it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

 

I'm assuming that you also each have your own, signed, intent-to-marry letters. You'll want those. You should also write up an explanation of how you met that hits specific dates.

 

Everyone is correct that you don't need any engagement proof (ring receipt, ceremony pics, etc.), but the engagement ceremony is a big deal in Vietnamese culture and the CO will ask for those pictures. You certainly don't need to have them (or the ceremony--we certainly didn't), but be prepared to explain why there aren't any such pictures and to answer questions about why you've decided not to have the ceremony. The CO usually asks the fiancee about the marriage proposal and how he/she was asked, and while I'm not sure it's a red flag, not having any sort of "will you marry me" story is likely to strike the CO as odd. You should also realize that the CO is going to recognize that you filed the 129 before you actually proposed. Again, I don't think that's a huge deal, but you should prepare a response/explanation for the inevitable question that it is going to prompt.

 

The best advice I can give is twofold:

First, quadruple-check everything you send in, especially for any inconsistencies. Because Vietnam is a high-fraud country and there will be a lot of extra attention to the details of your case, you don't want some silly slip-up to be mistakenly construed as a failed attempt to pull a fast one.

Second, make every effort to attend the interview with your fiancee and to be seen at both windows, even if you're told to sit down.. Many of us remain convinced that the presence of the petitioner is a major influence on the decision. I also observed firsthand that many of the women who interviewed alone seemed to get a more demanding interview than those who were clearly accompanied.

 

Like a lot of others, I do have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the decision is made before the CO begins the interview, and that the interview is used to confirm or change the CO's impression after reviewing the materials, so having a spotless packet (both the 129 version and the one you prepare for the interview) is key.

[Will_and_Tu 46]

On 1/3/2017 at 1:44 PM, Bryan and An said:

Your case sounds very similar to ours in a lot of ways. I also had only 1 trip before the interview (although it was for 30 days); we didn't have an engagement party, and I hadn't even bought her a ring prior to sending in the I-129F. I officially proposed to her on the last day of my trip, and started compiling documents for the I-129F as soon as I got home. I really loaded up the I-129F packet, with everything you mention, as well as copies of the postcards/Christmas/birthday cards we had sent each other, and also signed statements from each of my parents, my brother, and one sister supporting our relationship and talking about how excited they are to welcome An into the family. I also typed up a brief 1-page description of our tentative wedding plans, with pictures of the two venues we are considering. And for the question about how we met in person within the past 2 years, I typed up a 1-page description of our month together.

 

Actually, one thing you have that we didn't include is the timeline; I created one for the interview and had it notarized, but they didn't even look at it. Probably helps your case to have it included with the I-129F packet. 

 

The two biggest things I was worried about were 1) no engagement party, and 2) none of our pictures included any of her family or friends - just us. I did meet her mom, sister, and brother on my first trip, but in a mental lapse, failed to get any pictures. For my second visit (just days before the interview), we had a big lunch at her parents' house with about 15 relatives there and got lots of pictures. We arranged these nicely in a 20 or so page Word document with descriptions, printed it, and had it bound with a plastic ring to bring to the interview. We also did this with the old pictures as well, and labeled each package "Pictures before engagement" and "Pictures after engagement." The CO did flip through them briefly. 

 

We had an explanation ready for not having an engagement party; An's father is a fisherman, and is almost always out at sea. He hasn't been able to come home yet when I've been there, so to this day, I haven't met him in person. However, I'm going back in April to bring An home, and we will have a formal engagement party then. However, they didn't ask about it at all. It never came up during her 5-minute interview. 

 

Forgot to mention, one other thing I did include in the I-129F packet was screenshots of us talking on Skype - including some with my parents and her parents. So even though I never met her dad in person, they could see that we've talked to each others' parents (and our parents to each other). 

 

By the way, it may be a long shot, but don't rule out the possibility that she could interview during your visit in April, depending on how soon you send in the I-129F. Our case moved very quickly - I mailed the I-129F on Oct. 3, we had NOA 2 on Nov. 8, and our case number from NVC before the end of November. When An checked the interview calendar, February was the first month with openings, but then openings in December popped up with surprising frequency until we were able to get the perfect date during my upcoming trip. So it can happen. I can't stress enough the importance of you being at the interview. I feel it was a big difference maker despite some weaknesses in our case. As I mentioned in another thread, I was thrilled with how easily we passed; it was obvious the decision was made before we stepped up to the interview window. I think this was due to the bulk of our I-129F packet and my presence at the interview. 

 

I emailed you the short video I mentioned showing our chat logs. If you want, I can also send you a link showing our entire I-129F packet. Just let me know. 

 

Glad to hear you got approved! We were curious about the outcome of your interview.