Interview passed

[sealedkiss 1]

Oh my goodness, my fianceé got PINK today. I am so happy and grateful for everything in life that happened to me, to us... A big THANK-YOU to those who offered your help, support, wishes, and prayers. I'm much obliged.

To keep up our tradition, I will now write down a few things to hopefully help those who haven't interviewed.

1. SENDING THE PETITION:

Now I fully agree that you should send more than the minimum. In our case my fianceé was in the US before, which is very rare for VN, so the CO started asking questions about her time in the US. This proves that they review the initial packet before the interview. I think parts of the reason for asking the questions were to verify that she actually went to the US, and didn't just fake somebody else's paperwork.

In our case I sent a big packet with ample evidence: trips, letters, phone, email, chat, photos. Each section has a cover page that tells what comes next.

2. AFTER GETTING NOA2:

Start gathering the financial papers. Have several types of documents. In my case besides I-134, I had employer's letter, bank letters, W2's, last year's tax return and tax transcript, and also tax transcripts from two years before last year just in case.

Of course, all along you have been dutifully keeping and organizing your evidence.

3. AFTER GETTING PACKET 3:

Get your police certificate now. Fill out and turn in the required forms. Proceed promptly, but don't rush - do it right. Probably time to send your fiancee's the financial stuff. By now you should have had everything ready to send. Please label things for her, because she has a lot of papers to swim in and little knowledge of US personal finance.

4. AFTER GETTING PACKET 4:

Of course, promtly fill out the required forms, and take the vaccination and medical exam. Gather and organize your evidence.

- Trips: every boarding pass saved glued on white sheets of papers, one sheet per trip.

- Photos: group them, bring many (if not all) pictures, don't forget your engagement ceremony pictures, don't forget pictures of you guys and your friends, your family.

- Letters: all letters sent by both parties.

- Phone: print the call logs, use a phone card that has call logs for you. STL_HCMC once recommended Pingo.com. I second that.

- Email: depending on the amount, print all, or print at least a few every month, regularly.

- Chat: if you're like us, you chat a lot. If you use Yahoo IM, turn on message archive option. Our chat logs were enormous, so we couldn't simply print them all. I printed the first page of every chat log, and include one or two full logs for each month. I also had like 10-15 screenshots of us chatting spread out over the years.

Then you'll want to review the interview questions posted by other members here.

5. OUR INTERVIEW:

She was asked about 10 questions. Half was on her life in the US, when she came here last year. The other half goes something like this:

- When and how did we get to know each other?

- How many times did I visit her? Dates? For how long?

- Did we meet while she was in the US?

- When was our engagement ceremony?

- What is my occupation in the US?

- When did I immigrate to the US? Under what program?

That was about it. Then the CO asked for "all" the evidence. She showed the pictures from our trips and our engagement. Then she was about to show the letters, but the CO said, "okay you are approved." Phone, email, chat, letters, ... were unseen.

IMHO, have a well-rounded and ample package of evidence. 95% won't ever be looked at. But have it there. If you ever study for examination in Vietnam, you know. You memorize the whole book, only to be tested 1-2 pages out of it. But you have to study the whole book. Likewise, you have to have the whole package of evidence.

Also, my fiancee said she saw people make mistakes by not answering the questions directly. They try to beat around the bush. Never do that. The questions are straightforward, about your life, your SO's life, your shared life. They are not trick questions. Just simple, straight answers, please.

Okay, that's all I have. Moving on to the next stage. Good luck to those who have yet to interview. They say it's hard to fake effort. If you two put your honest effort into this process, it will show. Also, have knowledge of the process. VJ is a GREAT resource.

So... thank you guys. I'm happy. I'll be around. I'm not going anywhere.

Best,

Sealedkiss.

[simple_male 1]

Oh my goodness, my fianceé got PINK today. I am so happy and grateful for everything in life that happened to me, to us... A big THANK-YOU to those who offered your help, support, wishes, and prayers. I'm much obliged.

To keep up our tradition, I will now write down a few things to hopefully help those who haven't interviewed.

1. SENDING THE PETITION:

Now I fully agree that you should send more than the minimum. In our case my fianceé was in the US before, which is very rare for VN, so the CO started asking questions about her time in the US. This proves that they review the initial packet before the interview. I think parts of the reason for asking the questions were to verify that she actually went to the US, and didn't just fake somebody else's paperwork.

In our case I sent a big packet with ample evidence: trips, letters, phone, email, chat, photos. Each section has a cover page that tells what comes next.

2. AFTER GETTING NOA2:

Start gathering the financial papers. Have several types of documents. In my case besides I-134, I had employer's letter, bank letters, W2's, last year's tax return and tax transcript, and also tax transcripts from two years before last year just in case.

Of course, all along you have been dutifully keeping and organizing your evidence.

3. AFTER GETTING PACKET 3:

Get your police certificate now. Fill out and turn in the required forms. Proceed promptly, but don't rush - do it right. Probably time to send your fiancee's the financial stuff. By now you should have had everything ready to send. Please label things for her, because she has a lot of papers to swim in and little knowledge of US personal finance.

4. AFTER GETTING PACKET 4:

Of course, promtly fill out the required forms, and take the vaccination and medical exam. Gather and organize your evidence.

- Trips: every boarding pass saved glued on white sheets of papers, one sheet per trip.

- Photos: group them, bring many (if not all) pictures, don't forget your engagement ceremony pictures, don't forget pictures of you guys and your friends, your family.

- Letters: all letters sent by both parties.

- Phone: print the call logs, use a phone card that has call logs for you. STL_HCMC once recommended Pingo.com. I second that.

- Email: depending on the amount, print all, or print at least a few every month, regularly.

- Chat: if you're like us, you chat a lot. If you use Yahoo IM, turn on message archive option. Our chat logs were enormous, so we couldn't simply print them all. I printed the first page of every chat log, and include one or two full logs for each month. I also had like 10-15 screenshots of us chatting spread out over the years.

Then you'll want to review the interview questions posted by other members here.

5. OUR INTERVIEW:

She was asked about 10 questions. Half was on her life in the US, when she came here last year. The other half goes something like this:

- When and how did we get to know each other?

- How many times did I visit her? Dates? For how long?

- Did we meet while she was in the US?

- When was our engagement ceremony?

- What is my occupation in the US?

- When did I immigrate to the US? Under what program?

That was about it. Then the CO asked for "all" the evidence. She showed the pictures from our trips and our engagement. Then she was about to show the letters, but the CO said, "okay you are approved." Phone, email, chat, letters, ... were unseen.

IMHO, have a well-rounded and ample package of evidence. 95% won't ever be looked at. But have it there. If you ever study for examination in Vietnam, you know. You memorize the whole book, only to be tested 1-2 pages out of it. But you have to study the whole book. Likewise, you have to have the whole package of evidence.

Also, my fiancee said she saw people make mistakes by not answering the questions directly. They try to beat around the bush. Never do that. The questions are straightforward, about your life, your SO's life, your shared life. They are not trick questions. Just simple, straight answers, please.

Okay, that's all I have. Moving on to the next stage. Good luck to those who have yet to interview. They say it's hard to fake effort. If you two put your honest effort into this process, it will show. Also, have knowledge of the process. VJ is a GREAT resource.

So... thank you guys. I'm happy. I'll be around. I'm not going anywhere.

Best,

Sealedkiss.

Great News! Congratulations!

[Tom99 0]

Congrats, that was a quick interview... thanks for the heads up.

[Dan J 277]

congratz

[Kevin and 10]

Congratulation!!

[Jasman0717 9]

Congratulations

[poppscc 0]

Congrats and great review!

[Dave_Thao 0]

Congratulations!!!! Thanks for the review!!!

[dalegg 143]

Great news!

[Thai Pham 0]

wowow.. perfecto . I wish my fiancee will get the pink like your girl did .

[chuckandkim 0]

Thanks for sharing the story Sealedkiss! Good luck and get packing!

[Milka 0]

Congratulations and good luck on your further journey!

[T&T 0]

Congratulations! What a great news.

[CK&Tydi 0]

Congratulations man!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, get her here fast.. and try to submit the Application for Green card before July 30, 2007. After July 30, 2007, price will jump from $395 to $1010. Good luck.

If you love her then buy a Deluxe Ticket from Evaair, it will cost you like $100 or $200 more. Bigger seat and it is more comfortable then the Economy one. for those 16 hours flight or more, it is well worth it

[Lan&Mike 0]

Hey, it's great. Congrats!

Lan&Mike