Anyone know % of interviews passes in HCMC for 2008?

[Rodney n. 0]

Just wondering if anyone knows what the pass/fail % is for k-1 visa interviews this year?

Rodney

Edited July 16, 2008 by Rodney n.

[mimhnhut 0]

From my lawyer, 20% pass if fiance were non-native American (Vietnamese ) and 80% pass if fiance were native American.

[Rodney n. 0]

seems like pretty good odds as long as everything is in order, paperwork and fiancee knows basic info at interview.

Rodney

[FormerConOff 0]

I don't see how your lawyer would have access to that information. It must be referring to only the cases that he/she is working on. The Consulate does not release overall approval/refusal numbers to the public or to attorneys.

[PeterFB 0]

The last figures I saw was from 2004 from the Embassy and Consulate performance report that someone get thru the Freedom of Information Act. It didn't brake them into categories, just said it was a high fraud Consulate with a denial rate of 55% for Non Immigrantion Visas with 7480 K1 visas being processed in that year.

Unless someone can get the figures from the State department, I think anyone else is just making up numbers. I watched about twenty women come out of the HCMC Consulate with blue slips and one with a green slip. There was about 5 pinks slips I saw but there were many other women who I didn't see any slips so I don't know any exact numbers for the day of Thi's interview.

Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26

I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11

I-129F RFE(s) :

RFE Reply(s) :

I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26

Touched: 2007-11-02

NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16

Consulate recieved ??????

Packet 3 sent 2007-12-11

Packet 3 received 2007-12-24

Packet 3 returned 2007-12-28

Packet 4 sent 2008-1-14

Email Reply with Interview Date 2008-1-23

Interview Date 2008-2-27

Passed Interview 2008-02-27

Visa Pick Up Date 2008-3-05

Received Visa 2008-2-29 (called to pick up earlier)

POE 2008-3-05 Los Angeles

Wedding 2008-4-26

[FormerConOff 0]

I am a former HCMC consular officer and I have just stumbled on this site, and I am amazed at the obsession with "blue/green" and "pink" slips that I see here. Just because someone gets a blue or green slip does not mean his/her visa was denied; it means it was delayed. While yes, it is true that a certain portion of those cases will eventually be returned to USCIS, in my experience that number is relatively small. For example, a substantial percentage of applicants who interview for immigrant visas in HCMC have not had their medical exams completed at the time of the interview (often because Cho Ray Hospital is backlogged) -- that's an automatic blue/green sheet (or whatever color they use nowadays). So if you're sitting in the waiting room taking a tally of pinks versus blues, you're going to draw some erroneous conclusions about visa issuance rates at the consulate because the majority of people with blue/green slips will get their visas after submitting routine documentation.

The last figures I saw was from 2004 from the Embassy and Consulate performance report that someone get thru the Freedom of Information Act. It didn't brake them into categories, just said it was a high fraud Consulate with a denial rate of 55% for Non Immigrantion Visas with 7480 K1 visas being processed in that year.

Unless someone can get the figures from the State department, I think anyone else is just making up numbers. I watched about twenty women come out of the HCMC Consulate with blue slips and one with a green slip. There was about 5 pinks slips I saw but there were many other women who I didn't see any slips so I don't know any exact numbers for the day of Thi's interview.

Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26

I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11

I-129F RFE(s) :

RFE Reply(s) :

I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26

Touched: 2007-11-02

NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16

Consulate recieved ??????

Packet 3 sent 2007-12-11

Packet 3 received 2007-12-24

Packet 3 returned 2007-12-28

Packet 4 sent 2008-1-14

Email Reply with Interview Date 2008-1-23

Interview Date 2008-2-27

Passed Interview 2008-02-27

Visa Pick Up Date 2008-3-05

Received Visa 2008-2-29 (called to pick up earlier)

POE 2008-3-05 Los Angeles

Wedding 2008-4-26

[don2008 0]

I am a former HCMC consular officer and I have just stumbled on this site, and I am amazed at the obsession with "blue/green" and "pink" slips that I see here. Just because someone gets a blue or green slip does not mean his/her visa was denied; it means it was delayed. While yes, it is true that a certain portion of those cases will eventually be returned to USCIS, in my experience that number is relatively small. For example, a substantial percentage of applicants who interview for immigrant visas in HCMC have not had their medical exams completed at the time of the interview (often because Cho Ray Hospital is backlogged) -- that's an automatic blue/green sheet (or whatever color they use nowadays). So if you're sitting in the waiting room taking a tally of pinks versus blues, you're going to draw some erroneous conclusions about visa issuance rates at the consulate because the majority of people with blue/green slips will get their visas after submitting routine documentation.

The last figures I saw was from 2004 from the Embassy and Consulate performance report that someone get thru the Freedom of Information Act. It didn't brake them into categories, just said it was a high fraud Consulate with a denial rate of 55% for Non Immigrantion Visas with 7480 K1 visas being processed in that year.

Unless someone can get the figures from the State department, I think anyone else is just making up numbers. I watched about twenty women come out of the HCMC Consulate with blue slips and one with a green slip. There was about 5 pinks slips I saw but there were many other women who I didn't see any slips so I don't know any exact numbers for the day of Thi's interview.

Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26

I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11

I-129F RFE(s) :

RFE Reply(s) :

I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26

Touched: 2007-11-02

NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16

Consulate recieved ??????

Packet 3 sent 2007-12-11

Packet 3 received 2007-12-24

Packet 3 returned 2007-12-28

Packet 4 sent 2008-1-14

Email Reply with Interview Date 2008-1-23

Interview Date 2008-2-27

Passed Interview 2008-02-27

Visa Pick Up Date 2008-3-05

Received Visa 2008-2-29 (called to pick up earlier)

POE 2008-3-05 Los Angeles

Wedding 2008-4-26

its not the pink green and blue slips that people are upset about. its fine if someone needs to submit more documents or something like that. its the ones thats are denied just because of something lost in translation. i remember someones case that got denied becasue one thing said her uncle introuduced them and the translator told the CO her cousin introduced them. from what i remember what i read about the case they seemed to have all there ducks in a row before the interview.

[Matt_Stevens 5]

If this guy is who he says he is then he needs to understand that he is off the wall in what he is saying. Too many times people are denied for no reason at all and then the delays can last not only months, but over a year and in some cases, even two. That is inhumane treatment. It's a disgrace.

[pai_sova 0]

Hello!

I am a filipino who filed in Ho chi minh consulate for my visa.

The interview went ok , I was just requested to submit the IRS tax return transcript of my fiance coz I only have the e-file copy.

When I returned the following week to submit, I got the pink slip already the same day.

I think there is no problem filing k1 visa as long as your docs are complete.

God bless to all filers in ho chi minh!!!

i missed vietnam..

Pai

[FormerConOff 0]

If this guy is who he says he is then he needs to understand that he is off the wall in what he is saying. Too many times people are denied for no reason at all and then the delays can last not only months, but over a year and in some cases, even two. That is inhumane treatment. It's a disgrace.

I guess I can't speak to your personal experience. It is obvious from the posts on this site that there are good cases that get handled poorly in HCMC. Nobody disputes that. What I was talking about is the many posts in the Vietnam section of Visa Journey where applicants and petitioners talk about how many blue sheets versus pink sheets they saw on any given interview day while sitting in the waiting room and then trying to draw conclusions about who is a "good" consular officer and who is a "tough" officer, and whether HCMC has "cracked down" that particular month on K1s. All I'm trying to say is that it doesn't help anyone on this site to post comments about your "experiences" based only on how many pinks versus blues you saw in a waiting room on any given day. I think these sorts of posts just excite and agitate other members unnecessarily, especially those who haven't yet interviewed.

One of the issues with which I have unique experience is the staggering amount of marriage fraud at the HCMC consulate. From reading visa journey posts you'd think that consular officers are just paranoid. This is mostly because visa journey members are (as far as I can tell) involved in real relationships, so when talking amongst yourselves, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that HCMC consists of just a bunch of bitter, idiotic officers who think they see fraud in every spousal relationship. But remember, the fraudulent cases do not generally post on Visa Journey. And the fraudulent cases make up a larger percentage of the K1 and CR1 interviews each day than the good cases. And it can make a consular officer's job a difficult one to do. And that means, unfortunately, that sometimes good cases get jammed up because they "look like" fraudulent ones, evey though they aren't.

I think the only way this is going to change (in addition to getting more officers to that consulate, because it is woefully understaffed...that's why everything takes so long) is if the US Attorney offices in the US gets serious about prosecuting visa fraud cases. The main reason why so many Vietnamese people looking to get to the US quickly use the fraudulent K1 and CR1 route is because there is virtually no penalty for doing so. Sure, a few local US Attorney offices have prosecuted "major" fraud rings involving cases that passed through the HCMC consulate, but by and large, most of them go unnoticed and unpunished. Even when the consulate has alerted the DOJ to cases that are obviously fraudulent, the DOJ has pretty much said, "that's small potatoes, we don't care."

All of this is not an excuse for poor treatment of applicants and petitioners by the consulate staff. There is no excuse for that. But it is an explanation. Everyone here knows that fraud is rampant in HCMC, but I really don't think anyone on this board knows how prevalent it really is. The amount of cousins marrying each other, the number of spouses in the US getting divorced and then directly turning around and marrying two VN citizens who are also related to each other (though of course meeting "by chance on the beach at Vung Tau"), is just staggering, and it happens every day in HCMC. Until these people actually pay a price for what they are doing, life is not going to get any easier for anyone going through HCMC. And that's just sad.

[chuckandkim 0]

If this guy is who he says he is then he needs to understand that he is off the wall in what he is saying. Too many times people are denied for no reason at all and then the delays can last not only months, but over a year and in some cases, even two. That is inhumane treatment. It's a disgrace.

Matt_Steven,

If anyone who should talk about the poor treatment of HCMC to its petitioners, it wouldn't be you!

Your case was handled with GREAT care and speed that most of us can only DREAM from HCMC. Don't make it sounds like you understand the waits and agony that most of us have endured. Your commend is off the wall, IMHO!

[Matt_Stevens 5]

That is an unfair attack. I greatly sympathize with people here. We know some people who were denied for no valid reason. We've seen how hard it is. Should I just say "piss off" to all of you just because Anh and I were lucky and had great treatment? Perhaps I should just not participate here in any way shape or form from now on if that is how you feel.

This reminds me of when I was attacked for pointing out how the majority of cases ARE complete BS, as the former CO is saying. I kept off the forum for months before coming back. Guess I should never have.

Edited July 22, 2008 by Matt_Stevens

[LuckyDucky 0]

I don't have much direct knowledge about statistics of pass/fail rates in Ho Chi Minh City. I can only speak from my personal experience, which was a relatively painless process (except for the waiting) and a mild bump in the road when we were intially issued a green slip. The second interview we were given a pink slip. You could even say that we had some "odds" stacked against us, since her aunt introduced us. (Apparently a red flag.) But we were patient and laid out our entire story and they could see our relationship as true.

It's tough to draw conclusions when people on here talk about the unfairness of their treatment at the HCM consulate. To be fair, I have no idea of the state of their I-129F packet, what evidence they have, how well-written their letter is, what happened at the interview, etc. So while I do believe that these people are truly in love, there is something that occured that caused an already-suspicious CO to delay/deny them. Is it unfair that we're already under so much scrutiny? Sure, but that's the situation we're in and we have to make best of it.

I think FormerConOff hits the nail on the head. There is very little penalty for trying to illegally immigrate to the US. I have a friend who worked in Customs (specifically Immigration enforcement) and she's had to escort numerous people back across the border. And she's seen taken them back again and again ... until they either give up or (most likely) have successfully evaded the law.

[PeterFB 0]

I agree with formerConOff, until fraud is really dealt with, fraud will be a problem for the honest couples. I don't think the DOJ, State Department, USCIS, Homeland Security, etc have any plans to deal with this problem. That leaves the honest couples to do their best to present a clear, complete case that dispells any hint of fraud in those cases where there is a red flag.

It is in the petitioner's and beneficary's best interest to supply the correct paperwork and evidence for their I-129f. It is this that the Consulate has the most time to review, not the documents brought to the interview. Being a lot of evidence is important because you don't know what the Consulate wlll ask to see at the interview in the form of evidence of your relationship.

In my case, I spent lots of time researching what to do about my I-129f and supporting evidence. I wrote and rewrote my #18 statement many times to make sure it was as direct, clear and dealt with any possible issuses the Consulate/USCIS would think of about our case. That's why I also included timelines of our relationship up to our meeting in person and after I returned to the US til I submitted our I-129f. I also submitted emails, chats, pictures, receipts, explainations of any differences of evidence (ie arriving at 3am when the flight was scheduled to arrive at 10pm).

For the interview, I went to Vietnam to be onhand if needed and of course to bring Thi to the US. Thi had about 12lbs of evidence of our relationship, including emails, chats with family members of both sides, a second trip, etc. At the interview, they looked at only one month's of chats/emails, asked a few questions then gave Thi her pink slip.

My point is, if you do everything correctly, the Consulate will give you a pink slip on the first try. If you don't, you will get a blue slip, and depending on the circumstances, wait for the process to complete. However, you will be successful if you have a real relationship.

As to counting blues, greens and pinks. Most people want a way to quantify what is going on. They don't have anything to do but worry and wait. This in a way helps. It's not accurate but to see more people getting pinks gives one more hope.

Matt don't let anyone keep you off, your opinion is welcomed by most, and those who don't agree have their right too. I won't let it bother you.

Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26

I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11

I-129F RFE(s) :

RFE Reply(s) :

I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26

Touched: 2007-11-02

NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16

Consulate recieved ??????

Packet 3 sent 2007-12-11

Packet 3 received 2007-12-24

Packet 3 returned 2007-12-28

Packet 4 sent 2008-1-14

Email Reply with Interview Date 2008-1-23

Interview Date 2008-2-27

Passed Interview 2008-02-27

Visa Pick Up Date 2008-3-05

Received Visa 2008-2-29 (called to pick up earlier)

POE 2008-3-05 Los Angeles

Wedding 2008-4-26

Edited July 23, 2008 by PeterFB

[Icarus 0]

That is an unfair attack. I greatly sympathize with people here. We know some people who were denied for no valid reason. We've seen how hard it is. Should I just say "piss off" to all of you just because Anh and I were lucky and had great treatment? Perhaps I should just not participate here in any way shape or form from now on if that is how you feel.

This reminds me of when I was attacked for pointing out how the majority of cases ARE complete BS, as the former CO is saying. I kept off the forum for months before coming back. Guess I should never have.

Hi Matt-

I believe that wasn't so much an unfair attack as it was a different way of telling you to stick to what you know, and try not to advise on what you don't. Yes, you and Anh did get off easy, but you don't need to be so quick to get your feelings hurt and threaten to leave. Your viewpoint does matter to this board, in fact, every single poster's view does.... but we all would rather hear from your perspective, not from the info you gathered from other posts on VJ. You and Anh had a very different courtship and experience then most, but you really can't speak to the mental anguish and torture that goes with not knowing whats next when your fiance receives a vague blue/green rejection. My case sat in limbo for 7 months, I know of which I speak and can better assist those in a similar position. Even if ChuckandKim beat me to it almost every time!! (Dont ya work, Chuck?? )

As to the attacks you mention from before...I believe I was the instigator for that as well. And as memory serves, it wasn't because you called bs on the majority of cases being faked (anyone that can google vietnam, visa, and fraud will see this isn't anything new). It was that you spoke with authority that you knew why several of us weren't to receive a pink....I believe you said that we needed to meet our fiances in another country like you did (Paris, France wasn't it?). And my response then was to tell we weren't all as lucky as you, my fiance couldn't even afford to cross the duong! It was my sarcasm that ran you off....sorry bout that...I was a bit stressed at the time!

Please don't get indignant and run away again, honestly, there is room for everyone here and I enjoy many of the different points of view on VJ! But I do also believe its important that we don't foster paranoia or fear about the process and that those who've survived the system best assist those who have gone before.

Xin Loi Matt doi khi toi viet bay ba nhung ma ban bao gio cung lam toi cuoi

Ban Toi

Greg