My fiance (French) and I (American) lived in Saigon from September 2014 to June 2015. We are now applying for a K1 visa for the USA for her to immigrate to the US. In order to obtain the visa we need to show a police certificate from Vietnam for the time we lived there. Unfortunately the National Police of Vietnam require that you go in person to the police headquarters in Hanoi to obtain this certificate. Obviously that is not an option since both of us are working and can't take the time off to go to Vietnam.
We are looking for someone who is willing to help obtain this police certificate for us in Hanoi. We have documents from the Vietnam embassy in Paris allowing for a designated person to represent my fiance and obtain these records from the national police. We just need someone (preferably someone who can speak vietnamese) who is willing to help us go to the police headquarters and file for this document. The process should take ~2 weeks and probably can't start until the tet holidays end and the police headquarters reopens.
If you know of anyone who has done this sort of service in the past or if you are willing to help, please let us know immediately as our Visa appointment date at the US embassy in France is approaching and we need this document.
Thank you,
Need help obtaining police certificate N1
Sorry that all I can do is commiserate.
It's amazing that the Vietnamese embassy can't just order it up for you but then service is not what they are known for. It seems reflective of the attitude that documents are the responsibility of petty bureaucrats whose jobs must be preserved. The idea of an online PDF document is completely alien to Vietnam because how could it have the red stamp, and without the red stamp, how could it be real. Once a document has that red stamp it's veracity is never questioned, which of course lends itself to corruption on the part of those who have the stamps.
The US immigration takes a 180 opposite approach. Documents can even be photocopies and don't need to be notarized. They just tell you in the fine print that you will be prosecuted for a felony if you submit a false one.
Perhaps one of those real estate agents who are always lurking here will respond and offer to do it, for a fee of course. If not, I might suggest that you re-post with a headline something like "Need flat in ??? District, Hanoi" as that will surely get their attention.
Yes this certainly is a frustrating process, but most bureaucratic processes in Vietnam are equally frustrating. It is kind of our fault for not starting this process earlier but we were misinformed through the US immigration office as to whether or not we needed this specific document. We have some emails and calls out to old friends in Saigon who may be able to help. If not, I will follow your advice and post with a different headline. Maybe in the end we just end up taking a 2-week holiday back to Vietnam to sort out this paperwork and eat some great food!
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