01
The fork in the road
Two doors. Pick early.
Everything downstream — which forms, which fees, whether your spouse can work the week she lands — is decided by one choice you make before you file anything.
Door 1 · Marry in Vietnam, then CR‑1
I-130 → NVC → Consulate, HCMCYou register the marriage at her District People's Committee, walk out with a Vietnamese marriage certificate, and petition for her as your spouse. She arrives in the U.S. already a permanent resident. She can work on day one. No second application.
Roughly 12–20 months from filing Form I‑130 to her stepping off the plane with a green card.
Door 2 · K‑1 fiancée visa, marry in the U.S.
I-129F → Consulate → wedding → I-485She enters on a 90‑day fiancée visa, you marry inside those 90 days, and then you start over: Form I‑485 to adjust status, another medical, another set of fees, and a wait for work authorization. USCIS is running 8–14 months on the I‑129F alone in 2026, and Ho Chi Minh City is one of the slower posts for interview scheduling.
12–18 months to arrival, then another 8–14 months before the green card shows up.
Tap a door — red opens left, green opens right
Where this guide lands
For Vietnam, Door 1 usually wins.
Same ballpark wait, fewer government fees, no dead months where your wife is legally in the country but can't work or leave it. The K‑1 earns its keep in one situation: she has kids who need to come, or you cannot get to Vietnam long enough to sit through a district registration. Otherwise you are paying more for a longer road to the same card.
The rest of this guide walks Door 1 in detail, with the K‑1 deck available in Steps if that's your case.
Married under two years on the day of her consular interview? She gets a CR‑1: a conditional two‑year green card, and you file Form I‑751 together before it expires. Over two years married, and it's an IR‑1 — a ten‑year card, no conditions. That's a decent reason not to rush the interview if you're close to the line.
Tap right to advance · left to go back
The steps
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End to end
What the wait looks like
Ranges, not promises. Every number here moves month to month, and a single Request for Evidence can add a quarter to your life.
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Month −3 to 0
Assembling the Vietnam dossier
Your single‑status affidavit, no‑marriage‑record certificate, and mental‑health certificate all expire six months after issue, so they cannot be gathered too early. Authentication is the slow part.
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Month 0 · about 15 days
District registration
From a complete, valid dossier, the Justice Division has 15 days to register the marriage. Add weeks if they send it to the police for verification. Both of you appear in person to sign.
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Month 0–1
File Form I‑130
File online the week you have the certificate. Filing fee $675. This is the stage where couples lose months for no reason.
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Month 1–13
USCIS chews on it
As of early 2026 the median for a spouse of a U.S. citizen was running around 8–9 months, with 80% of petitions done by twelve. No premium processing exists. There is no line to call.
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Month 13–16
National Visa Center
NVC opens the case a few weeks after approval, then it's on you: $325 visa fee, $120 Affidavit of Support fee, the DS‑260, the I‑864, her civil documents. Couples who upload everything in one clean batch clear this in weeks. Piecemeal uploads restart the review clock.
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Month 16–19
Interview · Ho Chi Minh City
Medical exam with a panel physician first, then the interview at the Consulate General. She goes; you don't have to. Expect questions about how you met, who was at the wedding, and who your in‑laws are.
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Month 17–20
Visa in hand, then entry
Passport comes back with the visa and a sealed packet you do not open. She has six months to travel. She becomes a permanent resident at the port of entry — work, drive, leave and return.
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Two years on
Form I‑751, if it was a CR‑1
File jointly in the 90 days before the conditional card expires. It's a long adjudication in its own right; her status stays valid while it's pending.
Door 1 gets her a green card at the airport. Door 2 gets her to the airport at about the same time, then adds a second application on U.S. soil before she is a resident.
Tick as you go
The paper
This is the part that sinks people. Requirements shift by district, so call — or have her call — the exact District People's Committee where she is registered before you spend a dollar on authentication.
Yours, from the U.S.
Hers, in Vietnam
Later, for the visa
The apostille change. Until 11 September 2026, a U.S. document bound for a Vietnamese district office runs the old chain: notary, then your Secretary of State, then legalization at a Vietnamese consulate in the U.S. Vietnam's accession to the Hague Apostille Convention takes effect that day, and a single apostille should replace the chain. Local offices will take a while to catch up. Ask before you assume.
Government fees, 2026
What it costs
Filing fees are public and fixed. Everything else — translation, authentication, courier, the wedding itself — is where the number actually grows.
| Door 1 · CR‑1 | Fee |
|---|---|
| Form I‑130 petition | $675 |
| NVC immigrant visa fee | $325 |
| Affidavit of Support review | $120 |
| Medical exam, panel physician | ~$200–500 |
| Notarial act at the Embassy or Consulate | $50 / document |
| Door 2 · K‑1 | Fee |
|---|---|
| Form I‑129F (online filing is cheaper) | $625–675 |
| DS‑160 visa application | $265 |
| Medical exam | ~$200–350 |
| Form I‑485, after the wedding | separate, and not small |
The income test
Form I-864, Affidavit of SupportYou must show income at 125% of the federal poverty guideline for your household size — for a household of two in 2026, somewhere around $25,550 a year. Short of it? A joint sponsor can carry the petition, but they sign a contract the government can enforce against them. Bring tax transcripts, not photocopies of your 1040.
One honest warning
Nobody's timeline is your timeline.
Consular processing in 2025–26 has been reshaped by staffing cuts, country restrictions, and a rule that interviews happen in the applicant's country of residence. Vietnam has stayed a working post through it, but check the State Department's scheduling tool before you book anything with a deposit on it.