Our Singapore timeline Vietnamese wife

[thanh245]

Any new updates on the Passport submissions instructions for Vietnam?

 

[thanh245]

My wife mailed required documents to SVO using the One george street address. She mailed it thru registered mail at Post Office in her town. Would of used DHL or other courier services but she lives far from HCMC. Lady at post office said it might take 2 weeks to get to SVO. Was it okay to deliver the documents thru Vietnam Post? My wife lives in Ben Tre.

 

[alex1234p]

hi, my name is alex and i have a few questions.

i am currently in vietnam and will be getting married in a week and then flying back to canada the following week. i will be getting my marriage certificate after my marriage ceremony. i am planning when i get back to start the permanent resident process. is there anything besides the marriage certificate i need to bring back for the sponsorship process? like my wife's medical, police check, etc. do i need to go to IOM vietnam?
any help would be gratefully appreciated...cause i'm a little lost when comes to this kinda stuff.

 

[mikeymyke]

hi, my name is alex and i have a few questions.

i am currently in vietnam and will be getting married in a week and then flying back to canada the following week. i will be getting my marriage certificate after my marriage ceremony. i am planning when i get back to start the permanent resident process. is there anything besides the marriage certificate i need to bring back for the sponsorship process? like my wife's medical, police check, etc. do i need to go to IOM vietnam?
any help would be gratefully appreciated...cause i'm a little lost when comes to this kinda stuff.

Hey, I got married in Saigon last Dec. Already sent PR application, it was a very comprehensive package, and I made sure I got everything I need. You should get notarized/translated copies of her birth certificate, passport, So Ho Khau (household registry), ID card, marriage certificate, letters of support from your wife's family, friends, relatives, etc, criminal record (Version #2, NOT #1, because CIC specifically requests Version #2), and the medical exam from IOM. She also needs 5 pics of her, 35mmx45mm (instructions in CIC application)

You should have planned it so that you gather all these things before you leave Vietnam, so you don't have to waste time having her prepare all it, pay lots of $ to send, waiting for it, etc. Also note that the criminal record check took 4 weeks to complete, I think we were unlucky cuz we ordered it before Tet, so our criminal record had to be mailed to me, but that was the only one. And lastly, the passport does not have to be translated, because her passport should have English in it. Good luck.

 

[thanh245]

hi, my name is alex and i have a few questions.

i am currently in vietnam and will be getting married in a week and then flying back to canada the following week. i will be getting my marriage certificate after my marriage ceremony. i am planning when i get back to start the permanent resident process. is there anything besides the marriage certificate i need to bring back for the sponsorship process? like my wife's medical, police check, etc. do i need to go to IOM vietnam?
any help would be gratefully appreciated...cause i'm a little lost when comes to this kinda stuff.

Your wife needs medical done at IOM. bring four 4x6 photos to IOM, white background. Chung minh nhan dan. Ly lich tu Phap 2. Every document that is not in english or french must be translated by a certified translator. We had every document translated in Vietnam, it is sooo much cheaper than in Canada. You can translate documents at Uy Ban nhan dan. You must include medical examination in your application. So yes you need to take your wife to IOM, get it done. Every photocopy also must be certified copy. mikeymyke has good suggestions.

 

[mikeymyke]

Yes, if you cannot get the docs translated in Vietnam, which are WAY cheaper, get your wife to do it for you and mail them to you. Even with express shipping, still way cheaper than in Canada.

 

[thanh245]

If you Mail to Canada from Vietnam use registered mail. Canada Post lost a few of our letters. Dont trust canada post with important documents through regular mail. Registered mail in Vietnam costs really cheap.

 

[alex1234p]

thank you so much mikeymike and thanh245.

i will only be in saigon 3-4 days before i have to fly back to canada so i am worried. should i extend my stay to get the paperwork done or can my wife get it done without me being in vietnam?
also, how long does the medical take to get the document? do i go into the hospital IOM says, get examined and on the same day receive the medical document? can her criminal record check be done in her hometown or does it have to be done in saigon? and how long does it take to get? i hope not 4 weeks.

also my dad says that i have to get a medical exam too, is this true?

so get all the documents, then translate, then notorized and bring them back to canada. right?

 

[mikeymyke]

In that case, yes you should just get your wife do all the translations/notarizations for you, and make sure she has all the docs and send them all at once to you. Don't need to extend your stay, its a waste of money. You don't need to be in VN for her to translate/notarize. You will get the medical document from IOM on the same day she goes in for the medical (the medical only takes like 1.5 hours, you will get the document right after she's done). Don't lose it, it's your only copy. According to CIC, the criminal checks have to be done at the Provincial Justice Department where their permanent residence is, I would guess that means where she is currently living. For me it took 4 weeks to get it, but I think it was because they dont work on Tet holiday, and we applied for it before Tet. I'm not sure how long it will take for your wife, depending on where her permanent residence is.

Your dad is wrong, you the sponsor, do not need a medical exam. You only needed it when you were trying to apply for a marriage certificate to marry your wife in Vietnam.

I think with only 3-4 days left, you dont really have time to gather the documents yourself, she will have to mail them to you. Make sure she pays for the fastest shipping possible, because you don't want your documents to be in limbo during transit. One thing I highly recommend you do now that you're in Vietnam, is ask her parents, siblings, friends (not all of them), to write you letters of support in vietnamese, then get your wife to translate and notarize them. They are good in strengthening your wife's PR application.

 

[thanh245]

I (sponsor) had to do medical exam before i was given marriage certificate in Vietnam ( did the exam in Vietnam. Funny exam, asks you a bunch of lame questions to see if you are a retard or not..lol..more like riddles and trick questions). They do this exam to all foreigners who want to marry a vietnamese citizen. they want to see if you are a sane person with no mental issues. also vietnam needed I show proof that was a single person,eg. Not Married. Affidavit of Single Status. I think thats what it was called. Maybe you need to do these before you apply for marriage certificate? CHeck ASAP! If you need to get Affidavit of Single Status, come back here and I might be able to show you how to get it in Vietnam.To do the medical exam for your wife at IOM, I think you need to print out a medical examination form. You get it in one of the pages of the PR application. I forgot which page it was.The process may of changed. I know the IOM pics are 4x6 because my wife recently did hers. I dont think you can just show up at IOM with no form and ask for medical exam. i could be wrong. Just go through the Spousal Sponsorship Application...the page should be somewhere in there. I also had a few support letters from my family and friends to strengthen application. My mother and younger brother both wrote me support letter here in Canada, and we got it notarized at Notary Public. Depends on where you live, it costs me about $25 to notarized one letter. Ly lich ty phap 2 (remember 2!!!) took my wife about 3 weeks to get. Get it at So Tu Phap. I think the most important thing for you to do before you leave vietnam is take your wife to IOM. the rest your wife can do and mail ( registered mail! ),DHL, UPS, whatever, dont go normal mail. We never lost a registered mail. it might take 2 weeks to get to Canada though. Get some close friends/relatives in Canada to write in english support letter, really helps. Think of everything you can do to strengthen your application so that the VO has no doubts about your relationship. Keep all your plane ticket stubs, hotel receipts, phone records, letters..etc...send birthday cards, xmas cards,i miss you cards....to each other often.keep the stamped envelope, cuz anyone can have plenty of cards with no envelopes with dated stamps. Our sponsorship application wasn't solid because I had married my wife on my first trip ever to Vietnam, and married on the first trip. I had to put up a really solid application. My wife did not get interview, she just did her re-medical and sent in updated required documents, we are just waiting for the passport request. I ordered GCMS notes 3 times. So I was able to track our progression through the whole process. I wish you good luck.

 

[alex1234p]

We just called IOM and the lady on the phone said to book an appointment first and then we can go in for the medical exam. The cost is $90us for medical document and $110us for the examination. Sounds a little high. Also, when we asked about the police check she said do the medical first.
We will go into the province (binh thuan) justice department today and ask for the criminal record version 2.

 

[mikeymyke]

Yeah that sounds about the same what I paid. I remember my wife said I had to bring $200 in US dollars. She is wrong, you dont need to do medical before police, it doesn't matter. Go get the criminal record done as soon as you can. It will be around 200,000 VND. And yes you're right, get Version 2, NOT #1.

 

[thanh245]

About $110 cad. Sounds right

 

[Ontario2014]

Have they sent passport request yet, thanh?

Hello Dragoon ... any news on your wife Visa yet? My wife send in her passport 5 weeks ago at IOM ... I email them because the Online status still In Progress ... They reply that they are waiting for Medical Assessment ... Still waiting ...

 

[Dragoon]

No news yet. Even the e-mail I sent to Singapore has not been answered.