Need help to bring my wife to US

[ctophil]

Hi everyone,

I just want to start off by saying that this is a wonderful forum. I've been reading it for the past couple of weeks, and it has been very helpful in seeking advice and keeping up with the economic collapse. Anyways, I have a huge problem. My wife is in Vietnam. My lawyer just submitted the paperwork to get her over here (US). But he says it may take up to a year before she can get over here. I think this is just baloney. There's too much red tape in the gov't, and I'm tired of dealing with it. Yeah, the lawyer may say a year from now. But what guarantee do I have that she will be here next year? As far as I know, the US gov't might just deny the application for all they care. Especially with this economic collapse coming up and possibly wars or whatever, it's next to impossible to get her here the regular way.

My question is what in the world can I do about this? Do you guys have alternative ways to bring her here? Can she go to Canada and sneak her here somehow? My parents don't want to leave the US to follow me to Vietnam if I decide to move there. I'm in a rush. Because the world is not the way it used to be....please help me. I can't stay this far away from my wife when everything hits the fan. I love her so much! My gripe is this: What's the problem? I have a marriage license. So we are married!! Why does it take a year to get MY OWN WIFE to get over here!! Why??? Thanks for your help!

-ctophil

[arcora]

Pretty tough to cirumvent the INS.

Did you marry her in Vietnam? If you did it's going to be tough.

Even if she were to apply for a tourist visa they would know she is married to a US citizen and probably deny it because of the likelihood that she'll 'disappear'.

Into Canada first won't help either.

My advice is to wait it out in Vietnam with her.

[Antaletriangle]

What a predicament you're in there matey!When i went to the states they stopped me at Shannon airport in Ireland as homeland security is on irish soil-it has been since 9/11!Another one for the forum.They thought i was some sort of terrorist-took my bags from the plane and the flight was delayed for an hour whilst they interrogated me.I am clean;no crim. record,English i had a few thousand dollars on me-it was so humiliating.Anyhow i think your best bet is Vietnam and ask your parents to accompany you.Hope it works out for you.

[eugene_vn]

Phil - I would agree that it's best to ride things out in Vietnam. I'm a US citizen who married a Vietnamese citizen about a dozen years ago. It took us 18 months for my wife's US visa, and then after a couple years we realized how much better life was in VN! We now live happily in Hanoi.

Looking back, it was a great decision to leave the US. We have plans to bring my parents over if they wish to leave, but that is entirely up to them.

Certainly the politics and level of social awareness here in VN are not ideal (partly due to Commnist Party dumbing down of the population over the years, partly due more recently to slavish adherence in the local media to the CNN/Reuters gospel since VN's accession to the WTO), but in general the community spirit is strong and the people are accustomed to pulling together in times of crisis. Also, there's plenty of grain and a number of nice places to live in the middle elevations such as Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot, Kon Tum, etc.

Best of luck on your current immigration situation. These can be tough decisions indeed.

It takes the time that it takes if you go through proper channels.

I brought an Australian national over without benefit of
a lawyer. All the paperwork, proper documentation, and
patience are required. The system does work! You can
find everything you need on the internet and save yourself a ton of money in lawyers fees. It is a well traveled road.

We did go our separate ways eventually, but today she
is still in the U.S.A. and does have her green card.

[ctophil]

Well, it definitely sounds like the best option is to move to Vietnam. I wanted to do that anyways back in July of this year. But people around me were pretty much against me doing so. I guess the important thing is that my wife will support me either way, at least that's what she said. My parents will be alone in this upcoming crisis in America. Because they have already made up their minds of staying here. I hope they will change their minds. Does anybody know if it's difficult for a US citizen to get permanent residence or citizenship in Vietnam? What's a good web site for me to read up on that? I couldn't find anything about Vietnamese citizenship. Thanks again, friends!

-ctophil