Final Visa Interview

(PICTURE: Huyen with her medical bag. The consulate is across the street.)

To prepare for the final interview, Huyen and I had to collect over 500 pages of documents. Yes, over 500 pages. This doesn't include the emails, phone records, blog entries, photos, etc. that I printed to prove that our relationship was legitimate. Putting together this many documents naturally made me nervous that we were missing something. Huyen started to fear that we didn't have enough pictures and TWICE went to a photoshop in HCMC to print more. Then the night before our interview she went threw all 100 pictures and put post-it notes on them to help her remember where and when we took them (they were already in chronological order based on the governments requirement). Furthermore, the day before the interview, we spent the whole afternoon practicing about 100 potential questions we found on a website about immigration interviews. In short, we were very very prepared.


(PICTURE: Our notebook.)

We arrived at the consulate two hours before our scheduled time on the morning of the interview. When we arrived, there were already about forty people waiting by the entrance of the consulate. Huyen thought this was a lot of people but I was surprised it wasn't more. After parking our motorbike across the street, we walked over to the consulate. As soon as we got on the sidewalk, a guard waved us to come towards him. He was standing at a side entrance and told us that we had to go through there. We both got really excited thinking that we had gotten the red carpet treatment and got to go through a special entrance. Well it turns out we had to join a huge line inside a waiting area. Once we were at the front of this line, we went back outside to join the short line we had passed earlier that morning.

Eventually it was our turn to go into the consulate. We had to check all of our belongings and then get a ticket from a window. The ticket had a number on it -- like at the butcher's section of a grocery store -- indicating when it was our turn. I would estimate that there were three hundred people at the consulate that morning. It took us about an hour to have our number called. We then went to a glass window where the person told us to take everything out of our notebook and to pass it under the glass. If this sounds familiar, it's because I already wrote about this nonsensical process a few months ago. We did as we were told and passed about three hundred pages of stuff under the window. The girl quickly through the stuff into a brown folder and instructed us to pay the visa fee ($404) and to wait for our number to be called again.

While waiting for the actual interview, we got to observe dozens of people have their interviews. It was such a strange process. A few of the more notable things I saw were:
1. A family of seven people having their interview at the same time. A relative of theirs in America is sponsoring all of them which is a pretty hefty endeavor considering what it takes to sponsor just one person.
2. A white guy from Ohio was trying to get a visa for his Vietnamese son. The guy's wife wasn't there and weirdly the kid did not look the least bit mixed. My guess was that the kid was from his wife's first marriage but who knows. The funny part was that the kid ran away during the interview, eventually causing the man to run away to find him.
3. A Vietnamese-American, pregnant southern girl was trying to get her Vietnamese husband/boyfriend into the states. After the interview didn't result in a green light, the girl all of a sudden became extra pregnant, practically going into labor in front of the window. Eventually I think he passed his interview but watching this girl act more pregnant was quite enjoyable.
4. A girl who came with a giant suitcase full of evidence. Her interview lasted about 25 minutes.
5. There were three other white American guys at the consulate trying to get their wives into the states. I was the only one whose wife though was probably within twenty years of his age. There was this one guy who I felt quite bad for as I'm pretty sure he couldn't speak Vietnamese and his wife couldn't speak English. The guy was also clearly in not so great health. Their interview lasted about twenty minutes and resulted in a passing grade. It was after this guy that Huyen and I got the call...

Huyen and I got up to the window and I asked the officer if I could participate in the interview. His answer was, "Hey why not? The more the merrier." Immediately I liked this guy. He then asked us some very basic questions including where we would live in America. Huyen answered that we would live with my parents and proceeded to show him a letter my parents had written stating this. The guy looked at the letter and jokingly said, "Do you think it would be cool to call your parents right now and wake them up to ask them about this?" I told him that I thought my parents would love to be included in the interview. The guy then asked to see some pictures. Huyen took out three piles of pictures and was about to pass them under the window when he said, "Yeah, that's good. Those three are enough." Huyen and I both sort of laughed and I said, "Really? Can't we show you more? She worked really hard preparing them." The guy laughed and then said, "Okay, congratulations!" And that was it. Huyen and I immediately gave each other a big hug and collected all of our stuff. In total, our interview lasted about three minutes. I would say this was fifteen minutes shorter than the next shortest interview that day.

So why was our interview so short? I've got a few theories:
1. I had applied from within Vietnam whereas everyone else I think had someone apply for them from America.
2. We had been sitting in view of the officer who interviewed us. I'm pretty sure he had seen us clowning around with each other for two + hours.
3. Huyen speaks English and did all of the answering.
4. The guy wanted to go to lunch since it was nearly noon by that point and we were at the end of the line.

Overall the whole process took us about five months from start to finish (not including getting legally married in Vietnam first which was another 2-3 months). The process was a pain in the butt but heck, HUYEN CAN NOW COME TO AMERICA!!!!!!

Just a couple more things:
1. Thank you mom and dad for cosponsoring Huyen. We couldn't have done this without you.
2. As I wrote the other day, Huyen will have to fly back to HCMC to pick up her visa and to get her second round of vaccinations.
3. Thank you Steve for all the help along the way. We were the only people who did this without a lawyer. We owe you a big dinner for the help!
4. Although we're now legally allowed to come to America, we're still a few months away from that. We've still got to finish out our jobs, pack up our stuff, travel the country and backpack our way to New Jersey. It's gonna be a fun few months before the big arrival!

The Hosts With The Most

(PICTURE: Huyen with Hien and Leanne.)


(PICTURE: Linh, my old teacher.)


(PICTURE: Au and Hieu.)

Every time I go to HCMC I end up writing the same post -- I'm a lucky guy to have such amazing friends in HCMC. Hien, Linh, Leanne and Au were once again the hosts with the most. All of them brought us to amazing places to eat which is always my #1 priority when traveling. Hien, Linh and Au were my first friends in Vietnam and I couldn't be happier that we've stayed in touch over the last three years. Whenever we get back together it's like no time has passed which is always a great mark of friendship. The great thing is that Huyen and I will get to see them again in a couple of months when we arrive in HCMC from our motorcycle trip.

Once again, thank you Hien, Linh, Leanne and Au!

Would You Like Some Breast With That Chicken?

(PICTURE: Chicken and breasts.)

While waiting for Au and Hieu one night for dinner, Huyen and I parked on a small side street. We were already hungry but soon become starving because of the delicious BBQ smells blowing our way from a grill on the corner. The grill appeared to be connected to a small restaurant which Huyen and I decided we'd go back to the next night.


(PICTURE: Those two girls are about 2% of the waitresses wearing low cut shirts.)

The next night we rode up to the restaurant only to discover that it wasn't quite the small BBQ place that we had thought it was. In fact, it turned out to be the Vietnamese version of Hooters. As soon as we walked into the place it because obvious that there were no female customers. Equally obvious was that there were no male waiters; all the waiters were very good looking girls with quiet large/enhanced breasts.

Before sitting down, I went to use the toilet. After going to the bathroom I was shocked to see a bathroom attendant who proceeded to turn on the faucet for me, put soap in my hands and then towel them off. For this service I was obliged to tip him 5,000 VND. If there's one thing you should know about me it's that this goes against nearly everything I stand for. I HATE BATHROOM ATTENDANTS. There I said it. I f-ing hate some guy getting up in my business in the place that I do my business. As soon as I walked out I was shown to my table. Huyen had gone to the bathroom too which gave me a moment to access the situation. It also gave a whole bunch of girls a moment to come up to me and try and get me to buy a lot of overly priced imported beer; I said no to the Fosters.

When Huyen came back from the bathroom I asked her if she wanted to stay because I wanted to leave. However, Huyen thought the place was fine and that we should give it a shot. Here's a couple of memories I'll take away from night:

1. The cooks came out and killed a HUGE snake right next to our table.
2. Once the girls realized they shouldn't shove their boobs in my face, we basically got about 1/1000th of the service that every other table had.
3. The chicken was just decent...but was about five times the price of any chicken I've had in Vietnam.
4. Upon leaving, the motorbike parking lot attendant wouldn't get off my bike until I gave him a tip. This was only the second time I've ever had to tip a motorbike guy in Vietnam.

Overall, it was the worst and most expensive meal we had during our stay in HCMC. That said, it's also the only meal we look back on and laugh about.

Approved!

(PICTURE: Huyen with her sealed medical folder.)

Thirty one hours after taking her physical exam, Huyen was able to pick up her results. Thankfully there were no problems which meant we were officially good to go for the final visa interview.

One interesting thing, which in my opinion makes it blog worthy, is that the results were in a sealed envelope which we were not allowed to open. To me there is something pretty strange about not being able to see your own medical results especially since at this point you've already passed the exam. Put this on the list as thing #405 that I find weird about the immigration process.

Eating Giant Larva

(PICTURE: Lunch.)


(PICTURE: The sign in front of Phi's dad's shop.)

While still waiting for the results of Huyen's physical, we thought the best thing to do would be to eat giant rare "palm cocoon" larva things. Long story short, Sebastian befriended a girl named Phi whose father owns a restaurant in Saigon that serves this very rare treat. This food is so rare that their total stock for the year is about three hundred larva.


(PICTURE: One third of the harvest. That's Phi on the right.)

Furthermore, only three restaurants in HCMC serve this food and only one in Hanoi. Phi told us that they aren't even sure where the larvas come from because the people who harvest it in the jungle keep it a secret. Supposedly the larva was eaten by the king to "keep his many wives happy." Yeah, it's larva Viagra...except that Thuy told us many parents bring their children to eat it because it's very healthy for kids.


(PICTURE: My wife serving me giant larva. Delicious.)

The price for one larva was 45,000 VND, or about $2.50. It definitely tasted better than it looked which isn't saying much. Huyen and I both ate one which was probably about ten times braver than climbing the wall the day before.

Rock Climbing

(PICTURE: I only got chalk the second time I went. And please stop staring at my short, fat fingers!)

With Huyen's arm only slightly hurting from her vaccinations the day before, I thought it was a good idea to go rock climbing. I figured that her handicap would be a great opportunity for me to show my physical superiority. I mean I didn't tie Peter Cullen for senior athlete for nothing!

(PICTURE: Can you say wedgie?!)

I had heard about the rock climbing wall from my friend Sebastian's blog a week earlier. The wall ended up being right down the street from Hien's house so she took us over. The wall was sixteen meters high (52.5 feet) but seemed much higher. When I was much younger (I think thirteen) I had gone rock climbing a few times at summer camp. It had literally been about seventeen years since the last time I strapped on a harness but it felt like much more than that. I agreed to go first (when you're married "agree" means your wife tells you to go first) and quickly started to climb the wall. A few thoughts immediately went through my head:
1. There was a sign in the rock climbing office that said you had to take a safety course before climbing. Why hadn't I taken a safety course?

2. Why if I've been exercising for a year straight do my arms and legs feel like jelly?

3. Don't look down. I thought of this one after I looked down.

I made it to the top in about six minutes. Hien told me that it was quite fast so that gave me a boost of self-I'm-not-too-old-confidence for the day. After I went, it was Huyen's turn.


(PICTURE: Huyen putting on the harness while also harnessing the power of Livingston football from her t-shirt.)

Huyen strapped on the harness, put some powder on her hands (which the guy forgot to give me!) and started climbing the wall like Spiderwoman. Before I knew it, Huyen had reached the top:



I gotta say, I'm really proud of my wife. Climbing this wall is a pretty good metaphor for the whole visa process. At first it looked daunting but little by little it can be accomplished. On top of that, like going to America, Huyen was absolutely courageous.

Health Check

(PICTURE: Huyen after her medical test.)

I'm not scared of hospitals or medical centers...but I am scared of sitting next to people who are coughing up a lung especially when there is a large "Tuberculosis Test Room" sign about two feet from me. To make this hypochondriac even more paranoid, I kid you not, upon arriving home from the medical center, there was an article on the cover page of cnn.com about Tuberculosis being highly contagious and one of the largest killers of people in the world. Oh, the ends I go to to get my wife into America. Oh yeah, this post is about Huyen and not me....

Huyen needed to get her health check done before her visa interview. The Visa Medical Department was located in the back of a hospital in District 5 of Ho Chi Minh City. Upon entering the room, I had a slight case of deja vu from the day before -- the room was filled with people holding identical USA forms as us. Huyen had made a reservation for her check and was the sixth person to be seen that morning. The health check took about thirty minutes (I was counting the seconds as the person next to me kept coughing in my general direction). After Huyen finished her health check both of us became nervous because of two things all the other potential future American citizens told her. Those things were:

1. They were all taking their tests MONTHS ahead of their final interview. In fact, they were very surprised Huyen was doing hers just a few days before her final interview since they said if there's a problem she would need treatment before the interview. Although Huyen finished her health check, she was told that she wouldn't know if she passed until the next day. I'm not sure how these people were about to do this months before their interview since we were told just two weeks before ours about our date; I chalk this up to the Hanoi bias.

2. EVERY PERSON EXCEPT US had an immigration lawyer helping them. Huyen and I had gone through the whole process without a lawyer. However, this only made me slightly nervous since we had someone better than a lawyer advising us -- my friend Steve Song. As mentioned a couple of times on the blog, Steve had gone through this process with his wife Rushana the year before. Our situation was slightly different than Steve's but his advice was huge from start to finish.

Once we left the hospital we had twenty four hours to wait and see if Huyen was in tip top shape. We did what anyone in this situation would do, we went rock climbing...