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Wild_1 wrote:

CT,

Did your wife's parents registered her birth?  I ask because, during those warring years, most Vietnamese parents did not register the birth of their children, especially boys.  At any rate, I would go back to the place where she was born and track down her birth certificate first.  It is the cheapest and fastest route.  You don't want to hit the Vietnamese embassy or immigration office without it, regardless of who you might know there. 

Where was she born, anyway?

Howie,

Some small town near Vung Tau

I don't think her birth was registered, but we are going to talk
to her sister and if we can go there or possibly get her sister
to go.

CT

Wild_1 wrote:

CT,

A house in Vietnam to be put under whose name now???  Without Vietnamese citizenship, you can't even put one of those little motorbikes under your wife's name, let alone a house.  This is the People's Republic of Vietnam, not Disneyland.  Then, if you are going to buy a house and put it under her sister's name, man, call it what you will, but I have heard so many horror stories already.  Your contacts in Vietnam are limited as they are, already.  Don't create situations where they can be strained.

I have your same concerns as does my wife (having a house in her sister's name), so no money has been spent.

Her sister is looking into the background of a few houses near her to her to get the history on taxes, roads being widened, etc.

Depending on the dual citizenship path will determine if we actually try to retire there.

Otherwise, we will just rent her 3rd floor... lol
CT

Anatta wrote:

CT,
Joking aside. Here is the link you give to your wife to read
csdl.thutuchanhchinh.vn/ho_so_tthc/tp_ho_chi_minh/t_hcm_002036_tt

if she does not have any official doc (birth certificate, domicile registration,...) from the time she lived here.

Anatta,
Thanks for the link, and I like jokes..

CT

CT,

What joke?  I was being serious, man!!! 

Yeah, I would go there as well.  If all fail, tell your wife and sister-in-law to be "good" to the officials there, and get them to hook you guys up.  You do it right, they will get you on your way for much cheaper and faster than those at the Vietnamese embassy or immigration.  Anyhow, ultimately, your wife's paperwork will be sent to the same guys (in her place of birth), so be "nice" to those guys.  Just remember, you need them; they don't need you.  They already have Uncle Ho and the People's Party looking over their backs.

Wild_1 wrote:

CT,

What joke?  I was being serious, man!!! 

Yeah, I would go there as well.  If all fail, tell your wife and sister-in-law to be "good" to the officials there, and get them to hook you guys up.  You do it right, they will get you on your way for much cheaper and faster than those at the Vietnamese embassy or immigration.  Anyhow, ultimately, your wife's paperwork will be sent to the same guys (in her place of birth), so be "nice" to those guys.  Just remember, you need them; they don't need you.  They already have Uncle Ho and the People's Party looking over their backs.

Howie.. was responding to Anatta.. not you..

I understand the 'respect' thing with Viet officials ran into it a bit on my trip over there.  We had a bit of an issue with a plan ticket not matching the her name exactly as it was on her passport.  I pulled out the paperwork and apologized saying the mistake was mine.  He nodded and waved us through.
As my wife says, it doesn't hurt to be polite.

Thanks again for all the advice from you and Anatta.. seriously.

Edit:
Visited with my wife, she says she knows about how much "nice" costs...such a smart woman..


CT

thekat wrote:

Howie.. was responding to Anatta.. not you..

Easy, CT. Just be patient with Howie. According to Budman's last update a couple of months ago, he had done great progress (able to count to ten), but apparently, things have slided back a bit since then .

Anatta wrote:

Easy, CT. Just be patient with Howie. According to Budman's last update a couple of months ago, he had done great progress (able to count to ten), but apparently, things have slided back a bit since then .

Well that is better than me... I can only count to 4 currently..

CT

but Howie is the only kid from the hood to go a big school back in South CA. I forgot the name, but it sounds like Android or the brand name of a very popular product which I don't remember, so I expect that he should be able to count at least to 20.

CT,

I was just kidding.  With Anatta getting old and senile, I must do that, going back and forth, just to keep the guy engaged.

Young man. Learn to count to 20 properly to earn the right to address your elders in this forum.

Would I be able to apply for a five year exemption visa? I would born in HCMC but moved to the U.S. 44yrs ago and am a naturalized
U.S. citizen.


Lan

Lan,

You sure can.  It is called the Visa Exemption Certificate.  Typically, your Vietnamese-American travel agent can get it done best.  If you can't find one, let me know.  Also, it helps make the process a lot faster and cheaper, if you have a copy of your Vietnamese birth certificate.

Best,
Howie

Nick or Howie, Can you give me a number for the agent you used to do this. I have a copy of my vn birth certificate, hope this is enough. I plan to retire in Vietnam in about 6 yrs.

Carl

Carl,

The agency I usually use is LA Travel, located right across the street from Phuoc Loc Tho, in Orange County.  The owner's name is Anh.  Used to cost me $80, with ticket purchase and a copy of my birth certificate.

Howie,

I don't have a Vietnamese-American agent. My mom did all the tickets through someone in Raleigh, N.C. but I am a big girl now (45 yrs old) so I think I will have a try at it on my own. I don't have a Vietnamese birth certificate,  I have a foreign birth certificate. My father was a service member during the Vietnam  War. Is that a problem?


Lan

Lan,

This is an interesting one, the first of its kind on me.  Well...  Where does it say you were born?  What about your name, is it still all in Vietnamese?

Carl,

6 years???  Man, talk about getting ahead... 

Since you have the papers and time to burn, you should look into Vietnamese citizenship more.  Dude, it is a heck a lot better than the VEC, if you want to stay long-term and get involved, socially or economically.  Just a suggestion.

[Moderated: No free ad on the forum pls]

phucarl wrote:

Nick or Howie, Can you give me a number for the agent you used to do this. I have a copy of my vn birth certificate, hope this is enough. I plan to retire in Vietnam in about 6 yrs.

Carl

Carl if your really serious about retiring here that 6 years might seem like a long time off to Howie but it'll go by quicker than you think. We planned our retirement here for 10 years and it was well worth the time.

Rick

I have a Certificate of Identification For Child Of Foreign Birth. It was issued by the North Carolina Department of Human Resources Vital Records. This was in 1975 when my father was a service member. On the certificate, my place of birth is Vietnam, but I was told by my mom I was born in Saigon. My surname is the same as my father but my first and middle name is Vietnamese on the certificate. My mom never told me why we don't have my original birth certificate. I wonder if it would even be possible when in Vietnam, I could request for a copy of my original birth certificate?

Budman,

10 years???  What did you do?  Don't tell me...  You planned to grow your own food and make your own water? 

Seriously, I planned my move too.  However, I found that Vietnam was just too dynamic.  There were just too many variables.  Ultimately, I just kept my heart open and my head on a swivel, then "just rolled with the punches."

Anatta, you stupid man, I finally got the emoticon to work!!!  And of all people, it had to work on your amigo, Budman!!! 

Lan,

The important thing is whether your mom filed your birth, or not.  To me, it worths a shot, going down to the So Tu Phap, where you were born, and find out.  That is a whole lot easier and cheaper than to get Vietnamese immigrations to work around your foreign birth certificate and last name. 

Hey, so your birth certificate has your mom's full name on it, right?  What about her Vietnamese birth certificate, do you have a copy of it?

Howie,
Yeah, I was asking about finding an agent to do the dual citizenship.

Bud,

Yes, I'm serious, my dad is there and I visit him often.

Wild_1 wrote:

Lan,

This is an interesting one, the first of its kind on me.  Well...  Where does it say you were born?  What about your name, is it still all in Vietnamese?

Carl,

6 years???  Man, talk about getting ahead... 

Since you have the papers and time to burn, you should look into Vietnamese citizenship more.  Dude, it is a heck a lot better than the VEC, if you want to stay long-term and get involved, socially or economically.  Just a suggestion.

Carl,

I can't really help you there.  I got mine done in Vietnam, by myself, back in the day.  But hey, Dtcali got his done at the Vietnamese Consulate, in SF, by himself.  You should look him up.  He goes in and out of Vegas often as well.

Just as an update, I just spoke to an official at 161 Nguyen Du.
Apparantly the process to get the citizenship in Vietnam can be fairly lenghthy, requiring family sponsors and various time for police to check the information, even if you still have your birth certificate.  It would take about 4 months to do.

The easier and quicker way I was told is to go through the embassy in Australia...A bit of an inconvenient since I'm already here in Vietnam.

Khoa,

Don't get discouraged.  That is just the guy's polite way of saying, "Show me the money."  Yes, you will need a Vietnamese sponsor, just like every where else.  there is no way around that.  But the rest...  You can overcome.  I did mine in Can Tho, back in the days (4 years ago); and it only took 20+ days.  So, it can be done.  You will just have to "get it right."  Of course, I was told that it was going to take 6 - 9 months to complete.

Thanks Howie.  I'll go back and have another chat.

Not discouraged at all, just surprised. The official was actively telling me to go apply through the Australian Embassy, and didn't sound like she was fishing for business.  Perhaps she's one of the by the book type, but I need the normal official!

Khoa,

Ask your Vietnamese friends for intros.  That will make things much easier.  Good luck.

Will do Howie.

What did you end up getting to show your citizenship? Just a passport or do they give you the citizen card as well? Was looking on the Australian embassy site just to see what the procedure was like and they seem to have a couple of things: (1) application for nationality and (2) application for repatriation.

I got the complete package:  CMNN, Ho Khau (reason you need a sponsor) and passport.

Lan,

I just talked to a couple of people about your situation, and they said that "it might work."  Just find a good Vietnamese-American travel agent and make getting a Visa Exemption Certificate a condition for buying your ticket.  Please don't go to any other travel agent, though; they will not be familiar with "the process" and can end up making things more difficult for you, than they should be.

Once in Vietnam, with VEC in hand, a good family member or Vietnamese friend can help get you started with your citizenship stuffs.  If you can't find one, let me know:  if I am free, I will help.  If not, I will point you to someone who can help.  But, don't just go over there without the VEC, alright?

Thank you Howie. I appreciate your advice and offer.

Tiedo,

Yes you can, I did it with agent. it's cost me $500 (everything included until I have my ID/CMND - passport not included but very easy 2 weeks for passport do it myself)  4 months total.


left VN in 1968 and have my vietnamese birth cert (that's all you need)

They did an interview of my sponsord, and void my visa waiver once I got the ok from VN immigration so I have to do my VN passport to be able to get out of VN.


In the process you are allow to brink a car/motorcycle etc.. without paying import taxes, some guy try to offer me $5K for this paper. ( Don't do it.)

The deadline for dual citiz is july 2014.

I don't know if the program will be extended.

I don't have my original Vietnamese birth certificate.

From what they told me. you can go back to the city where you was born and they can search the records and issue new one.

Don't know how my travel agent did it but I just said yes to doing a 5 year exemption. Never provided any birth certificate or anything as all my documents are in Toronto, some 3500 kms from where I am.

5 yrs Visa exemption is easy. I did it last year Nov 2012 before my dual citiz.

All you need is some one to sponsord you, no other paper than 2 photos. It cost me at that time $100 and 2 weeks.

Just sign and they do the form for you, no need to learn vietnamese.

I did thru Viet Kieu organization on vo thi sau street, HCMC/Saigon D3.

Yes, you can back-track your birth certificate, if it is on file... 

As for the VEC, in southern California, it is $100 with a copy of your birth certificate, and $120 without.

However, when it comes to Lan, there might be some problems, because of her American last name.  I would tell people that it was through marriage and pay them a little more, just to get it over with. 

But, it is imperative that you get these things done through a Vietnamese-American.  Otherwise, things can get real complicated, when people start fumbling items that they should have held on to.  Just like with sending stuffs to Vietnam:  I sent a $300-dollar bicycle, through a Vietnamese-American freight service, it cost me $125, to my doors in Can Tho.  A buddy sent a bike of similar value to Saigon, through UPS.  Not only the thing cost him $400 big ones, but he had to go to the TSN airport to pick it up, and paid an additional $500+ in duties.  So, know who you are pitted against, when it comes to getting things done in and around Vietnam.

thanks Wild_1 for the advice! I'll hit you up for a beer if we ever get the chance.

Yeah, I will have some beers with Howie too. I will pay.