CxP

My parent who resides in Vietnam, previously received a B2 tourist visa less than 48 months ago and came to visit us in the United States. We are now renewing the visa so they can visit again. At the time of the first application they had to go interview but since they were over 79 they did not have to get fingerprinted/ten printed. Now as we're filling out the ustraveldocs website, there is a series of questions toward the end of the application to determine whether you can mail in your renewal application which would not require another interview, or submit it online which would require scheduling an interview. Part of the series of questions asks: "Did you provide fingerprints?" during the previous application. If you say "No" then the website determines that you're not eligible for mail-in application and thus have to interview again. I find the website process ridiculous (not to mention the constant amount of times they temporarily "ban" you if you are on the site too long or just doing normal things on it). Shouldn't there be a question that first asks: "Were you older than 79 years old at the time of the first application?" and then if you answer yes, it won't prompt you to ask if you provided fingerprints? I feel like embassy should have just taken fingerprints during my parent's previous interview if it was going to be a headache for a future renewal. Also I see that for other countries such as Philippines or Barbados, their ustraveldocs FAQs specifically say that you can get an interview waiver if you were over 79 when you initially received your visa. But I don't see any such language for Vietnamese applicants. I don't know if it's because the rules are different in Vietnam or if they simply overlooked this situation. I called and submitted inquiries with the embassy but they could not or would not advise us. Anyone else have similar experience and how you proceeded?

Yeah honestly I should have researched more about NYC ceremonies but some of the stories I read were during or right after peak COVID which I assumed were different from how things are done now. Hopefully my anecdote will be a good barometer/data point to whoever will go through this in the near future. Thank you!

I posted this in the US Citizenship tracking forum but figured this might be a good place for people to read about the experience: Here is our experience with the U.S. citizenship application (N400). Our local office is in New York City. We filed online on 9/26/2023, about 3 months before the 3 year anniversary date of entry to US. Interview was scheduled for 1/5/2024. Interview was fine but the person handling the case had zero experience with people who have multiple names as their first name and could not give much practical advice as we wanted to fix my wife's name format. For example in Vietnam, a woman's name may be formatted as such: LastName, 1stFirstName 2ndFirstName 3rdFirstName. We wanted to make sure that the format would match how it should be in Vietnam. Unfortunately, USCIS/State Dept/whoever, in their infinite wisdom only used my wife's 1stFirstName for her First Name, and assigned 2ndFirstName and 3rdFirstName as her middle name when she was given her green card. This is the typical experience if you're Vietnamese unfortunately. The interviewer suggested a name correction, but a name correction has no paper trail to show that the name was corrected. Our main concern with this option is that my wife has several accounts and documents that may contain the wrong formatted name, and it would be nice to have paper documentation that the name format was corrected. Option 2 was to opt to change her name to a more "western" name, which she already uses for work. Unfortunately, we heard that name changes requires an oath ceremony with a judge and appointments with judge may take longer than an oath with a USCIS officer. The interviewer said that's not necessarily true but did not tell us how long it would usually take get scheduled an oath ceremony with a judge. So we opted not to legally change her name, as weren't sure how long it would take and we also wanted to travel in the Spring. Well lo and behold, we were scheduled for an oath ceremony at the Brooklyn Federal District Court with a judge on 1/30/2024, less than 30 days, even though my wife opted to not change anything with her name... so some advice for NYC residents, if you do want to legally change your name, you should consider doing it because you might have to wait for a court oath ceremony anyway. Ceremony day/morning was kind of long. They take your phones before you enter. They tell you to arrive at 8 AM but people were still strolling in at 9-9:30 AM. Family had to wait in the third floor cafeteria while my wife and other soon to be US citizens were in the courtroom making sure their paperwork were correct. No possibility to request name to be changed at this point unfortunately. Family was then permitted to sit in the courtroom to watch the ceremony at around 10:30-11 AM. Judge arrived and made a speech and we left at around 11:30 AM-12 PM. Regarding the name correction/change. My wife my opt to change her name legally via a court proceeding in the future when we have time. But it obviously will cost money to do so.

Here is our experience. Our local office is in New York City. We filed online on 9/26/2023, about 3 months before the 3 year anniversary date of entry to US. Interview was scheduled for 1/5/2024. Interview was fine but the person handling the case had zero experience with people who have multiple names as their first name and could not give much practical advice as we wanted to fix my wife's name format. For example in Vietnam, a woman's name may be formatted as such: LastName, 1stFirstName 2ndFirstName 3rdFirstName. We wanted to make sure that the format would match how it should be in Vietnam. Unfortunately, USCIS/State Dept/whoever, in their infinite wisdom only used my wife's 1stFirstName for her First Name, and assigned 2ndFirstName and 3rdFirstName as her middle name when she was given her green card. This is the typical experience if you're Vietnamese unfortunately. The interviewer suggested a name correction, but a name correction has no paper trail to show that the name was corrected. Our main concern with this option is that my wife has several accounts and documents that may contain the wrong formatted name, and it would be nice to have paper documentation that the name format was corrected. Option 2 was to opt to change her name to a more "western" name, which she already uses for work. Unfortunately, we heard that name changes requires an oath ceremony with a judge and appointments with judge may take longer than an oath with a USCIS officer. The interviewer said that's not necessarily true but did not tell us how long it would usually take get scheduled an oath ceremony with a judge. So we opted not to legally change her name, as weren't sure how long it would take and we also wanted to travel in the Spring. Well lo and behold, we were scheduled for an oath ceremony at the Brooklyn Federal District Court with a judge on 1/30/2024, less than 30 days, even though my wife opted to not change anything with her name... so some advice for NYC residents, if you do want to legally change your name, you should consider doing it because you might have to wait for a court oath ceremony anyway. Ceremony day/morning was kind of long. They take your phones before you enter. They tell you to arrive at 8 AM but people were still strolling in at 9-9:30 AM. Family had to wait in the third floor cafeteria while my wife and other soon to be US citizens were in the courtroom making sure their paperwork were correct. No possibility to request name to be changed at this point unfortunately. Family was then permitted to sit in the courtroom to watch the ceremony at around 10:30-11 AM. Judge arrived and made a speech and we left at around 11:30 AM-12 PM.