Case Complete to Interview July 2017

[PP_2016 246]

On 6/23/2017 at 10:21 AM, chamma said:

I personally do not know anybody. But I have read many on VJ who had submitted their AOS  with 2015's returns to the NVC (i.e. even before filing the APR 2016 return) But when they had interviews in May they had filed in 2016 returns and had an updated AOS. So I have read responses where they carried an updated i864. I am sorry that I do not know anybody.

Well if you have submitted the original 1864 to NVC and you have no modifications you can carry the scanned copy. That's as per the new rule.

 

But if you have modifications, It needs to be the original( with inked signature) as the NVC also hasn't verified the same.

Hope I am not confusing.

@chammaIt would be really helpful for all of us if you can send the link where it says you have to carry the original AOS. I haven't seen it anywhere. Though I have the original AOS (wet ink) with me which my husband sent me along with the 2016 tax return. I am keeping it as an additional document in case embassy asks for it. But for the benefit of others in the group please share the link/article/document. Sooner or later i am sure lots of people are going to have this question. Please share.

[chamma 382]

7 minutes ago, PP_2016 said:

@chammaIt would be really helpful for all of us if you can send the link where it says you have to carry the original AOS. I haven't seen it anywhere. Though I have the original AOS (wet ink) with me which my husband sent me along with the 2016 tax return. I am keeping it as an additional document in case embassy asks for it. But for the benefit of others in the group please share the link/article/document. Sooner or later i am sure lots of people are going to have this question. Please share.

Well, there is no document as such or URL as such. 

as @NewComer had his latest tax return filed(2016) and had a modification in his AOS - it makes it a new AOS. And since the NVC hasn't reviewed it yet - I would always prefer to carry the new AOS with a wet ink. Being on a safer side is always better.

 

So if I file my 2016 return now, I shall also carry my AOS with wet ink!!

Edited June 24, 2017 by chamma

[PP_2016 246]

4 minutes ago, chamma said:

Well, there is no document as such or URL as such. 

as @NewComer had his latest tax return filed(2016) and had a modification in his AOS - it makes it a new AOS. And since the NVC hasn't reviewed it yet - I would always prefer to carry the new AOS with a wet ink. Being on a safer side is always better.

 

So if I file my 2016 return now, I shall also carry my AOS with wet ink!!

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[chamma 382]

VJ has been a truly amazing forum. I had not known about this when I filed my i130 with USCIS. It was somewhere nearing my i130 approval that I got to know about this. From then to now - there has been immense flow of information  has helped me subside my anxiety  through out this stressfull process. I have learnt so much about the entire process and few people have been extremely helpful to the community.

 

Glad I am here and even more glad that people are always there to share information.
 

[PP_2016 246]

On behalf of all of us who are there on the spreadsheet I would like you say BIG THANKS to @JBMG who made it so do sooooo easy for us to track the progress on others cases and anticipate our own file's pace. Though the entire VJ family is very helpful but I would like to make an honest confession that I am still here only because of @JBMG. I have always followed the VJ forums silently but only after sending the documents to NVC and getting the scan date I became active in different forums. Kept seeing different people posting different questions and some getting answers some still unanswered. However I noticed one thing that is really commendable is how @JBMG kept on liaising with different individuals and tagging the right person to ensure the questions get answered. Even though JBMG's own scan date was much later still he went beyond his comfort level to create the spreadsheet for all of us rather than just worrying and questioning about his own case like most of us. @JBMGas you say what we would have done without the VJ family, I would say what would I (we rather) have done without you on this forum. Whatever I say about you would be still less. I thank you on behalf of all of us!! Your dedication and selflessness truly deserves it. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! You are a STAR!!

[chamma 382]

3 minutes ago, PP_2016 said:

On behalf of all of us who are there on the spreadsheet I would like you say BIG THANKS to @JBMG who made it so do sooooo easy for us to track the progress on others cases and anticipate our own file's pace. Though the entire VJ family is very helpful but I would like to make an honest confession that I am still here only because of @JBMG. I have always followed the VJ forums silently but only after sending the documents to NVC and getting the scan date I became active in different forums. Kept seeing different people posting different questions and some getting answers some still unanswered. However I noticed one thing that is really commendable is how @JBMG kept on liaising with different individuals and tagging the right person to ensure the questions get answered. Even though JBMG's own scan date was much later still he went beyond his comfort level to create the spreadsheet for all of us rather than just worrying and questioning about his own case like most of us. @JBMGas you say what we would have done without the VJ family, I would say what would I (we rather) have done without you on this forum. Whatever I say about you would be still less. I thank you on behalf of all of us!! Your dedication and selflessness truly deserves it. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! You are a STAR!!

Yes @JBMG 's inquisitiveness to follow-up on every case & probably @JessieABC's  too (I think @JBMG drew some inspiration from her) has been commendable. THANK YOU is just not enough. 

[PP_2016 246]

1 minute ago, chamma said:

Yes @JBMG 's inquisitiveness to follow-up on every case & probably @JessieABC's  too (I think @JBMG drew some inspiration from her) has been commendable. THANK YOU is just not enough. 

Lol. I was expecting this from you. 😜😜

[JBMG 890]

16 minutes ago, PP_2016 said:

On behalf of all of us who are there on the spreadsheet I would like you say BIG THANKS to @JBMG who made it so do sooooo easy for us to track the progress on others cases and anticipate our own file's pace. Though the entire VJ family is very helpful but I would like to make an honest confession that I am still here only because of @JBMG. I have always followed the VJ forums silently but only after sending the documents to NVC and getting the scan date I became active in different forums. Kept seeing different people posting different questions and some getting answers some still unanswered. However I noticed one thing that is really commendable is how @JBMG kept on liaising with different individuals and tagging the right person to ensure the questions get answered. Even though JBMG's own scan date was much later still he went beyond his comfort level to create the spreadsheet for all of us rather than just worrying and questioning about his own case like most of us. @JBMGas you say what we would have done without the VJ family, I would say what would I (we rather) have done without you on this forum. Whatever I say about you would be still less. I thank you on behalf of all of us!! Your dedication and selflessness truly deserves it. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! You are a STAR!!

AWWWW Thank you so much for your VERY KIND message PP!! (I like to say PP).  Really touches me. You and everyone else have helped me through this process. And I have to admit, the more everyone contributed, the less stressed I got.. i feel bad when I see our community get stressed or anxious or when they get the misfortunate checklist.. It's really unfortunate that the NVC or our embassies aren't more organized/proactive in making sure they're helping us to ease this process... I noticed some embassies are more proactive and explain in detail on their site what is needed whereas some just direct to the NVC site.... So don't hesitate to share your frustrations with your embassy to provide more precise information on their website..  Thank you again for your kind words.. And again thank you for all of your efforts.. TOGETHER we have built a great spreadsheet, a great source which I hope we can help future NVC filers..  JBMG!!

Edited June 24, 2017 by JBMG

[JBMG 890]

5 minutes ago, chamma said:

Yes @JBMG 's inquisitiveness to follow-up on every case & probably @JessieABC's  too (I think @JBMG drew some inspiration from her) has been commendable. THANK YOU is just not enough. 

YEs I'm very proud of @JessieABC , wish I would have found her a long time ago. She is well organized with her guides. Wish I would have found her a long time ago. Also, she was awesome in fixing our spreadsheet, getting rid of all those "invalid" cells.. That was her doing, not mine. Thanks again JessieABC!!

[PP_2016 246]

Just now, JBMG said:

AWWWW Thank you so much for your VERY KIND message PP!! (I like say PP).  Really touches me. You and everyone else have helped me through this process. And I have to admit, the more everyone contributed, the less stressed I got.. i feel bad when I see our community get stressed or anxious or when they get the misfortunate checklist.. It's really unfortunate that the NVC or our embassies aren't more organized/proactive in making sure they're helping us to ease this process... I noticed some embassies are more proactive and explain in detail on their site what is needed whereas some just direct to the NVC site.... So don't hesitate to share your frustrations with your embassy to provide more precise information on their website..  Thank you again for your kind words.. And again thank you for all of your efforts.. TOGETHER we have built a great spreadsheet, a great source which I hope we can help future NVC filers..  JBMG!!

That's really sweet of you. PP..is Pooja and Prashant. Me and my husband. We are going to be friends as most of our friends call me PP 👍🏻🤘

[PP_2016 246]

2 hours ago, chamma said:

Well, there is no document as such or URL as such. 

as @NewComer had his latest tax return filed(2016) and had a modification in his AOS - it makes it a new AOS. And since the NVC hasn't reviewed it yet - I would always prefer to carry the new AOS with a wet ink. Being on a safer side is always better.

 

So if I file my 2016 return now, I shall also carry my AOS with wet ink!!

So in a nutshell, now everybody who's interview is scheduled for July or after that would have to carry the original AOS (wet ink), which means modified AOS with 2016 details to the interview coz now the tax filing time has arrived and embassy will ask for the most recent tax return. Right @chamma??

[MLK2016 201]

 

       This review outlines our experience from our case complete through our interview with the United States Consulate  in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.   
       Following the submission of our documents to NVC we requested an expedite.   Our expedite request was based upon the desire of my wife to visit an elderly, ill relative of mine in the United States who was celebrating an important birthday. Included with our request were a physician’s letter and photographs    The expedite request was submitted to the consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.  Several days after submitting the request they agreed that they would expedite our case for the interview after our case was completed by NVC. 
      Once  we received our case complete from NVC, it took them 13 long days for them to send the file to the consulate.  During that period of time we wondered if having an expedite would be any faster than not having one as others with case completes similar to ours were receiving interview dates.  I spoke to a supervisor at NVC who explained that although we had been granted an expedited interview, there were thousands of cases with expedites.  She said it therefore was not instantaneous from a case complete that our file would be sent to the consulate. We also learned that the NVC files are not physically mailed to the consulates.   They are electronically sent by NVC to the consulates.
      Once our file was sent electronically to the consulate, our status on the NVC website changed to “completed”. When I learned that the file had been sent to the Ho Chi Minh consulate, I filled out an inquiry form on their website asking how we would receive our interview date. Two days later we received an email from the consulate on a Thursday morning stating our interview to our amazement had been scheduled for 8 days later on a Friday morning at 9:30AM. 
      The next 8 days became frantic for my wife and me.   I had to book last minute airline tickets and rearrange my work schedule as I wanted to be present for the interview.  My wife had to schedule her medical examination and vaccinations. She was lucky to obtain last minute appointments for that Monday morning explaining that her interview had just been scheduled.  After completing her medical examinations and vaccinations, she received her medical reports in a sealed envelope on Wednesday to bring to the interview that Friday.  
        On Wednesday I left the United States on a 22 hour trip, 
arriving in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday morning, one day prior to the interview.  Even though my wife and I had not seen each other for 4 long months there was no time to celebrate or for me to adjust my jet lag.   That evening we had scheduled an appointment with an English language teacher who had been helping my wife with her English pronunciations.   The purpose of this meeting was to review answers to possible questions of the consulate. We obtained sample questions from visa journey.  Even though my wife could speak English and there would be an interpreter at the interview, we felt it best at the interview for her to answer the questions in English.  This we thought would show the interviewer we were able to communicate with each other. In addition we were deeply concerned that we could be denied at the interview as my wife in a previous tourist visa application at the bad advice of an agent in Vietnam indicated she was married when she was in fact single.    Her desire had been to visit her sister who was dying from cancer and the agent told her the best way to obtain the tourist visa was to say she was married.  By saying she was married the agent explained it would show her ties to return to Vietnam.  That tourist visa was denied. We disclosed this information on the DS-260.  We felt it best to indicate this rather than possibly be confronted at the interview as to why we did not detail the prior application    We were extremely worried that she would be asked at the interview as to why she lied on the tourist visa application.  We were concerned as to whether the consulate would approve our application.  
      After limited, restless sleep on Thursday night, we woke on Friday morning for the interview.   My wife was extremely nervous.  We arrived at the Ho Chi Minh Consulate at 8:30 for our 9:30 appointment.  To our surprise there were only about 8 people ahead of us waiting to enter the building.  After showing our interview appointment letter, we entered the building, went through a metal detector and left our cell phones with security who held them for us.
We were greeted by a host who immediately directed us to a window.   With us, we had a 3 ring binder with approximately 100 photographs on plastic pages.   We also had a plastic binder with removable plastic and labeled folders. In the labeled folders were our original and copies of the required documents, our paid receipts, copies of all of our documents filed through USCIS and NVC, copies of the supporting documents showing our bonafide relationship and additional documentation since our filings demonstrating our relationship. 
      The woman at the window asked for our documents.  I took out the folders which contained original and copies of documents, the folder containing the relationship proof submitted to USCIS and the additional proof.   She picked through the original documents taking them all.   She did not take the copies of the documents.   She did not take anything from the proof of our relationship submitted to USCIS.   The only document she kept from our additional proof of our relationship was our joint 2016 US Tax Return which I decided to bring.  (At the time of our filing with NVC the 2016 tax return was not due and was not needed). She asked me if we had a financial sponsor and I answered no.  She asked for the paid NVC receipt which I provided. We were given a number and told to wait to be called at a different window for the interview.  
        In the waiting area, we were again surprised to see only about 20 people waiting.  We thought that as our interview was expedited, perhaps Friday was not a regular business day for interviews.  
During our wait we observed that all the other couples with spouses present were being approved.  We noticed two women who were not present with their spouses (or fiancées) received blue denial slips.  For one we heard the questions.  Evidently she was in a relationship with a man since 2008. She was asked why he had not seen her for more than one year.  She said he was working.   Her application was denied.
         There were approximately 4 windows open.  Behind each window was an interviewer and an interpreter.  After about 30 minutes an interviewer pointed to us and instead of calling our number.  We went to the window.   However, he had called us by mistake.  He meant to call another person’s case.   He apologized to us and asked us to sit back down.   He then called the other case.  After he finished that case, he asked us for our number and he called us up again within a few minutes.  He told me to sit down saying he would call me up if I was needed.   I sat down and was close enough to observe and hear everything. First, they took biometric fingerprints of my wife at a pad in front of the interview window.   She was sworn in.   He then asked her the following questions:
1.     How did you meet?
2.     Where did you first meet him in person?
3.     Was he married before?
4.      When and where were you married?
5.      In the past you applied for a B2 tourist visa. Why were you denied?   Here it was I started to think.  Was he setting her for a question about lying on that application?  My wife answered him in English explaining about wanting to visit her sister in the United States who was dying from cancer and how through bad advice which she was sorry about an agent said to say she was married.  The agent then replied, “I am sorry about your sister”

      Then immediately after,  he said the visa was approved.  We were extremely happy and relieved.   We were never asked to show our photographs. Except for the police report, all of our original documents were returned to us.  I thanked the interviewer and we left the consulate all within about 1.5 hours.   
       Later that day we booked an airplane ticket for my wife to join me in the US in about 3 weeks.   For now we are  enjoying our holiday together for another week and can finally relax.
       The visa process for us was shorter than most, but still a very anxious and at times, a very frustrating process.    I definitely recommend that spouses and fiancées from the United States attend the interview.   Utilizing the resources of visajourney was a tremendous help and following others’ journeys on the boards made the waiting less anxious.  We hope you all achieve the positive result that we did.  
 

 

[MLK2016 201]

On 6/23/2017 at 1:04 PM, PP_2016 said:

Fantastic!! So so so happy for you. Many congratulations to both of you. Have a great life together. Will be waiting to read your interview experience in detail. Cheers friend!!

Thank you and good luck.  I'm just posted a detailed description of the interview 

[MLK2016 201]

On 6/23/2017 at 1:13 PM, JBMG said:

YAY!!!!!!! Congrats!! When are you heading back to the US? Enjoy your time in Vietnam. Take special care of your wife in this time. Not so easy to leave home, family, and friend even though it's exciting to have a new home elsewhere.  

Best of luck to you.  Your spreadsheet was sooo helpful. 

[MLK2016 201]

On 6/23/2017 at 1:17 PM, chamma said:

Many Many Congratulations!!  Sooo Happy for you guys!! Can't wait to read the complete review...

 

Have a nice time together and best wishes for your new life ahead! You might be the only person who had the shortest IR1/CR1 wait time  . Congratulations again!

We followed the NVC journey together.  You will do great with interview.   I posted the review. Good luck my friend.