Re: Ga(.p Ngu+o+`i ...)

[Nguyen Toan <toan2000@yahoo.com>]

Hi ba'c Frank Nguyen 

Ma(.c du` ca'c ba'c tre^n VNSA dda~ vie^'t nhie^`u, to^i cu~ng xin tra?
lo+i ba'c nhu+ sau:

1. It doesn't matter whether you have scholarship or not, or have a job or
not, as a student, you are always permitted to bring you dependents with
you to USA. The only condition is that you have to show that you are able
to support your dependent (in this case my wife). Well, it is very hard in
my case since I brought my wife together when I first came to USA (while
Mr. An Hai has already lived in USA for a while) since I just didn't have
enough money to show to the US Embassy in VN (the minimum is 7,800/year for
dependent-beside my scholarship). So what I did is to ask my friends all
over the world and borrow up to that amount to put in a bank account and
show the embassy my balance account. Once the embassy sees that amount they
will let my wife have the visa. Getting a visa once you have that extra
amount of money is a very fast process (less than 1 day)

2. However, the worst thing does not come from the US government but from
the Vietnamese side. It was a really painful process to get my wife a
Vietnamese pasport. If your dependent works in the government sector it is
even worse (I have many friends experiencing this problem). It is so
lengthy and complicated that sometimes I got fed up. I had to write an
inivation letter to my wife (not joking), promising her that I'll be able
to take care of her in the US. I got to write my summarized CV (so+ ye^'u
ly' li.ch), my wife had to get the local police approval, got So^' Ho^.
Kha^?u, etc.... And submit all these documents to the Vietnamese
government. (Ne^'u ca'c ba'c quen thi` co' the^' de^~ va` nhanh ho+n
dda^'y). Normally it took 1-2 months to get the pasport if everything went
OK (but not usually so)

3. About living in USA with that 1000USD (after tax), well, it is
relatively hard for both of us, especially in New York, the nightmare city
of any poor foreign student, The cost of living here is so high. So before
I came to NY, I had to email many of my friends to ask about the tips of
living in NY (including vo+. cho^`ng ba'c An Ha?i). And we tried to rent
further with the help of our friends.  In my case, I was not allowed to
work out of campus in the first year. My wife is not allowed to work also.
So we have to make ends meet with just $1000 left. But you see we are still
alive, quite OK. And the best of this is that I still can save some money
to pay for my wife's tuition in English language. While I must admit that
we don't have many left for leisure such as cinema, video or eating out.

Hy vo.ng tra? lo+`i ddu+o+.c tha('c ma('c cu?a ca'c ba'c.

Toan Nguyen


At 02:23 PM 10/22/99 -0400, you wrote:

>
>Theo dda^`u o'c no^ng ca.n cu?a to^i, chi? bie^'t ra(`ng muo^'n ddem vo+.
>con qua ca'c ba'c pha?i co' vie^.c la`m, co' thu nha^.p o^?n ddi.nh va`
>co' tie^`n trong nha` bank\.  Co`n nhu+ chi? thua^`n ddi ho.c nho+` ho.c
>bo^?ng cu?a chi'nh phu? My~ ma` ba'c mang ddu+o+.c vo+. con qua thi` qua?
>tha^.t to^i mo+'i nghe la^`n dda^`u, va` nu+o+'c My~ tha^.t la` nha^n
>dda.o, ha`o hie^.p\.
>
>Ba'c AnHai thi` la`m RA (Researcher Aid?) co`n ba'c Toan thi` la`m TA
>(Teacher Aid?)\.  Ne^'u kho^ng co' hai vie^.c na`y ba'c co' mang vo+. qua
>ddu+o+.c kho^ng?  Ca'c ba'c vu+`a ddu+o+.c ddi ho.c vu+`a ddu+o+.c ddi
>la`m\.  Va^.y sao khi ngu+o+`i kha'c ho?i chi? no'i la` ddi ho.c la.i
>ddu+o+.c tie^`n cho tie^`n, co`n ddu+o+.c mang vo+. con qua?   Ba?n tha^n
>ngu+o+`i ddi ho.c theo ho.c bo^?ng la` depend, so^'ng nho+` va`o ngu+o+`i
>kha'c, o+? dda^y la` chi'nh phu? My~, va^.y thi` co`n lo the^m cho ai
>ddu+o+.c nu+~a\.  Nhu+ng khi co' vie^.c la`m du` chi? la` lu+o+ng to^'i
>thie^?u thi` la.i la` chuye^.n kha'c\.  Ba'c AnHai va` ba'c Toan ne^n
>tha(?ng tha('n la`m cho ro~ chuye^.n na`y\.



>Ba'c AnHai, to^i <<la(ng ma.>> ba'c ho^`i na`o\.  To^i chi? no'i ba'c
><<hu+ ca^'u>> ca^u truye^.n tho^i :-)\.  No'i no^m na mo^.t chu't la`
>ba'c <<bi.a>>, na^ng ca^'p le^n thi` la` <<la'o>>\.  Kho^ng le~ ba'c
>nghi~ to^i no'i ba'c theo chie^`u hu+o+'ng na`y?  To^i ra^'t sa(~n lo`ng
>xin lo^~i ba'c ne^'u ba'c tra? lo+`i tho?a dda'ng ddie^`u tha('c ma('c
>cu?a to^i o+? tre^n\.   Ba'c ba(`ng lo`ng chu+'!?
>
>Ba'c Minh Xuan,
>
>Ba'c cho phe'p to^i ho?i Visa F1 va` F2 kha'c nhau cho^? na`o?  Co' pha?i
>la` mo^.t ca'i kho^ng ddu+o+.c ddi la`m co`n ca'i kia thi` ddu+o+.c,
>pha?i kho^ng?  Hi`nh nhu+ nu+o+'c My~ kho^ng co' loa.i visa na`o cho ke'o
>the^m ba^`u ddoa`n the^ tu+? ca? :-) 
>
>Cheers,
>Frank
>
>
>___________________________________________________________________
>Get the Internet just the way you want it.
>Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
>Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
>
>