Job Discussion Forums

bigsandy · Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 6:54 pm Post subject: Teaching and marrying in Asia

I have a question concerning teaching and marrying in Asia. I have an email "girlfriend" in Vietnam. She says that if I come to Vietnam to teach, and we decide to get married, that I will have to go back to the States and work and pay taxes for 3 or 4 years before I can get her over here with me (back in the states that is). Does anyone know this to be a fact? If so, does the same rules/laws apply to other Asian countries?

Thanks,

Barry

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

I suspect she is exaggerating but US immigration does check against fraudulent marriages. Remember the movie 'Green Card'.

web fishing · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Posts: 95

In the Middle East forum someone was inquirying about marriage
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=28987&start=15

You will see a link to the US State Dept. they had something about fiancee visa...

bigsandy · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:20 am Post subject: Thanks

Thanks Steven and Web Fisher. I have ask my girlfriend to put me in touch with those that gave her the information. That help in clearing things up as well. Her father doesn't help any. He is a layer over there, and I fairly sure that they are pretty much the same every where.

Barry

tedkarma · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:16 am Post subject:

I would suggest going over to the Saudi or UAE forums and asking there. When I worked in Saudi many of my colleagues had foreign wives and were frequently going through the process.

But, I don't think the issue is that you have to pay taxes. It may be that she must live in the country for a few years - problemmatic if your profession is teaching overseas. But, my guess is pure conjecture.

Try the forums where there are many people with experience with the problem.

Mchristophermsw · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 228

US immigration can take up to 2 years for someone who is married to an American. It is our Immigration service that is the gate keeper.

I just went through this and if your married it is a pretty easy process, just time consuming.

Pm me if you want more information.

cujobytes · Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 6:15 am Post subject:

I don't recommend proposing/discussing marriage with an 'email' girlfriend from Vietnam.

Gregor · Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 842 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

As far as taxes are concerned, here's the deal:
If you have a wife you want to bring over, you need to get someone (preferably a family member there in the U.S.) to sponsor her. If they can show enough financial strength to do so, then you, as her husband, also need to sponsor her, but if you haven't been back in the States for a long time or whatever other reason you lack the tax forms, just write a letter saying why you don't have the necessary documents. This is what I'm doing (my mother has kindly volunteered to co-sponsor my wife), and it's no problem at all.

THAT SAID, I guess a lot of it has to do with what exactly you're doing and why.
Do you like living in Viet Nam (I assume that you aren't doing so now)? How much do you love this girl (I'm assuming that you haven't even met her face to face yet)?

I've been teaching abroad for about ten years, in various countries. I took a two-year contract in China, fully expecting to return to Jakarta afterwards, and ended up falling in love with and marrying a Chinese girl.
The thing with us, though, is that we are very much in love with one another, and we've now been married for two years (well, come this December). I have a job that I love. I didn't go into teaching just to be with some Internet crush. That's not a great reason to get married, or even to go abroad or change careers (well,...MAYBE it's an exciting reason to go abroad on a vacation or something, but I wouldn't make any committments beyond that just yet).

After my two years, I didn't go back to Jakarta, as much as I wanted to, because I had already made the choice to be with my wife. Remember, it may turn out to be very difficult for a Vietnamese woman to get visas in other countries that you can just merrily skip through. Do you want to be saddled with that committment? PLEASE don't get married until you are sure! I know of too many evil foreigners (mostly white native-English speakers) who marry a local girl to get laid and have some fun, but when it gets difficult, they just skip out on the woman.
Sure, the women need to know better as well, and perhaps it's just a chance they're willing to take (I mean, if they are ready to get married that quickly, then maybe they're the same type - there are evil foreigners marrying to get laid, but there are also evil Asians who get married for the Green Card).

Anyway, my wife and I have been in the process of trying to get her a Green Card to the U.S. for about a year now. It looks like we're coming to the home stretch, but they can still deny her the visa, if they want to.
If so, what then?? Well, then we settle in Shenyang, where I like it and she has family, and try again. If it never works out, that's fine, because she is my wife, and I would sooner dig ditches in a Chinese road crew for a living than I would leave my wife.

Hell, we're still not 100% sure that we'll even LIKE living in the U.S. We just want to try to get some sort of even footing so we can travel together more easily, and a U.S. Green Card is better for that than a Chinese Green Card (though I'm trying to get one of those as well).

Mchristophermsw · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 228

Gregor,

Great advice and I am happy for you! Smile

To the OP.

I agree that rushing into marriage is not a wise plan of action ( especially if you have never spent any quality time with the person ). It is hard enough for people that are in love to stay married nowadays.

I have had the fortune to have travelled in my younger days and have been with women from around the world, not as sport but in quality relationships.....But only one woman can be called your wife, so you need to make sure that she is the one before you make that critical decision
( that is often, atleast in the US, tooken lightly).

I wish you the best but be sure because you might hurt her or yourself in the long run. From the perspective immigration is your least problem.

Best wishes

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

chinwubachu · Joined: 02 Oct 2005 Posts: 32

Who is in for the deal?. what do u get out of it?.
be careful that when your `email` girlfriend gets to the USA she may drop u!!........I advise u NEVER marry someone u have never met....do u know how many scams are about. how do you know this `vietnam` girl is not a guy from somewhere else just wanting you to get them a visa to the usa?.

I(uk) am married to an African , we are both very much in love, but because of immigration laws we are having alot of problems at the moment trying to be together, (it annoys me that other poeple are into these scams and making it even more difficult for us who really are in love)

Marriage is very difficult between two people of the same origin, its even harder between two of different origins, think about that too. If you have never met how are u expecting it to work?