Anyone has experience marriage in VN Saigon?

Gday colinoscapee
we hail from the same country
I, ll hopefully be moving to VN in a couple of mnths, I've been talking with a local girl online and  I'd  like to find someone to give me good advice on how to successfully navigate the different culture of having a relationship with a vietnamese woman.
Any advice you might offer would be appreciated
also is learning vietnamese difficult for anglophones?
thanks in advance
toby

Hi
Well, the first thing to do is use common sense. Think with the big head and not the little head. If it seems too good to be true....it most probably is. Bar girls generally dont change, and the line " she has changed" is usually wrong.

As  far as the language goes, structure and grammar are fairly easy, but pronunciation is the tricky part. Im sure Ciambella will chime in with some good advice regarding this.

Vietnamese is one of the harder languages to learn, if you are a native English speaker. Apart from tones, there are umpteen pronouns to learn to use correctly (this took me decades); although normal sentence  word order is subject, verb, predicate, it is more flexible than in English; pronouns are omitted where ever possible; there is no tense; adjectives usually come after the noun; adverbs can come before or after and adjective or verb, depending on the adverb; like in Britain, every village has a different accent; vocabulary varies widely between parts of VN, as it does between Oz, USA and UK.

So, although basic Vietnamese can be easy to pick up, to learn it properly takes a long time.  And you can never stop learning new words as they enter the language, just like new words constantly come into English.

colinoscapee wrote:

As  far as the language goes, structure and grammar are fairly easy, but pronunciation is the tricky part. Im sure Ciambella will chime in with some good advice regarding this.

The only tip I have is what I tell my husband: repeat after TV adverts.  Doesn't matter what you hear, doesn't matter that you don't understand a thing, just repeat as many words as you can.  Repeat what you overheard on the street as well, but not loudly since it could be something you shouldn't say in public.  Repeat over and over everything you can hear.

The point of the exercise is to make your lips and tongue work the way they've never worked before in your language because as Colin said, the most difficult thing about learning Vietnamese is the pronunciation.

Use simple sentences as often as you can.  Do not attempt to say anything that contains even the slightest degree of complication such as "Can you help me?"  I can guarantee that you'll mispronounce most of the words and what you say may be something else altogether. 

For the few months, say nothing but these two short sentences:

- "chào (ông / bà / cô / anh / em / cháu / bạn)"  (Don't say "chào buổi sáng" , because no true Vietnamese would ever say "good morning" to one another.) 

- cảm ơn (ông / bà / cô / anh / em / cháu / bạn).  Notice that I add some personal pronouns at the end because that's how Vietnamese speak.  "Cảm ơn" alone is too impersonal, and impersonal is not a concept understood by Vietnamese.  Also, the more you use those pronouns, the quicker you'll become familiar to the second most difficult thing in the language: relationship terms.

Say them several times a day until they become natural to you before attempting anything else.

drutter wrote:

Hello, Welcome to Vietnam - it's a great place to settle down and raise a family!

1. Go to the Peoples Committee building in your district to get a list of information ̣̣̣̣̣̣̣-steps - you need
     to  take for marriage in your district. When you get there you'll need to ask for the department
     dealing with marriage to foreigners.

2. There are two places, I am aware of, where you can get the health checks that are acceptable for
     marriage. I have listed them below. The last I knew the health exams were 400k for each of you
     (800k total). 

     + Trung tâm sức khỏe tâm thần số 192 đường Bến Hàm Tử, phường 1, quận 5.

     + Trung tâm Giám định pháp y tâm thần thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, số 152-154 Hồng Bàng, phường 12,
         quận 5.

3. If you have been married and divorced before, you will need a certified copy of the divorce paper
    (or you can simply go to your local embasy and verbaly sware and confirm that you are currently
     single and eligable to marry - they just accept your word, I know because I did it!) 

4. You will need a resident permit from your local district.

5. You will need a notorized copy of your passport (this can be done at the Peoples Committee).

6. You will need a certified criminal background check - you can get this done right here in VN.

7. You will need (5) passport pictures of both you and your fiancee.

8. Next, all documents have to be translated into Vietnamese and notorized at the Consular for
     Legalization.

9. Finaly, after you have all of these things, you need to return to the Peoples Committee building and
     give them the papers along with 1 million VND.

                                                                          Congratulations!!!

Now you should be ready to "tie the knot." Vietnamees women make wonderful wives. They are dedicated, loyal, and very hard working. 

* Please note that the listed prices may have changed sinse my wife and I got married almost two
    years ago. Also, I have not listed the prices for everything because I simply don't remember what
    they were.

GREETINGS friend
there is a possiblity I might marry a Vietnamese woman and I would like to find someone who has knowledge and cultural understanding of the mindset of VN  woman to guide me to having a successful family with her.
Please let me know if you could help me out with this beers are of course on me
cheers

Bad sign, girl already has guy talking 'marriage'.

Vietnamese women are great, but beware getting too excited with possibilities as it will interfere with your normal cautious decision making. You will notice an abundance of women, and they will notice you. Avoid 'scarcity mindset' and oneitis (google).

You can actually learn a little Vietnamese before you go. On youtube look for "easy on the eyes" Donna. Play them over and over and practice a lot. Learn hello, goodbye (easy, just "bye"), how to ask for a price, and ask for the check. Numbers are actually easy and useful. I practiced numbers by reading license plates on cars.

Donna's episode with city names is a mind blower and might cause you to give up. In that words can sound completely different than they look.

This is good info
dunno if this is general info or a response to a post I put up,  I, m still working out the format
of how this site works, havent yet figured out how to reply to someone directly.
cheers

Alexander, " to reply to someone directly."
Click on the subscriber's name, then when his/her page opens click on "send a message".

I too appreciate all the advice and guidance written here. Many of yo spent a lot of time and effort to help us newcomers understand.
I'd like to add one caveat.
The bureaucracy varies from People's Committee to People's Committee to location to Province.
Even if you have everything perfect, the Vietnamese partner, must also have everything perfect and that can get complicated.
Their house paper, residence, taxes, work status, etc are all checked.
It can take months, just for them to get everything correct, before they can even apply. Now it's easier if they have lived in the same province their whole life, but if not...

So, a word to the wise. Please be patient with your intended. She/he did not make the system and what one office tells them, may be different than another. Even in the same office, the answers change depending on time of day, phase of the moon, etc.

Good luck

Please any of you already married Vietnamese great woman kindly help me, am from Canada.

Accurately let me know me please “ the requirements for marry Vietnamese “ .
Different people , different website even Vietnamese Embassy website are different too.
My girl NOT very smart to find out true informations and in cheaper way.
Suddenly decided to marry soon after return to home last July,2020.
I have relationship 8 years and lived together in her own house from 2018 until July,2020.
She changed her mind to move with me in Canada, which she was not agreeing to move out from her home and parents in Vietnam. Myself very hard to live in Vietnam.
She already registered to police station 2018 My address & living together in same address at her home in Saigon.
Please kindly help me accordingly.
Regards Salim

Its quite easy. Go to your local Peoples Committee (UBND) they will instruct you what to do. Its an easy process, but like everything here it takes time.

Thank for your suggestions .
Very confused in different websites even VN website mentioned many things.
Main items are for foreigners Men needs.

1) Passport
2) Single Status proof from Home country .
3) heath  & Mental Check ups ? Is it possible to do in HOCMC and accepted by UBND people's committee??
4) Do you think I must have divorce Letter with me ? I had pervious marriage. Suggest me please.,
5) How many days should I Stay for Marriage registration? My Girlfriend can submits all document to UBND ? When receive the marry & registration  date just before 2/3 days I would arrive in Ho Chi Minh City?
6) My last question pls. At present I am Canadian citizen but my last marriage was in India , I had divorce in India, should I get that Divorce letter ( English)  from India and legalisation in Ho Chi Minh City or Vnum Embassy in  India, Embassy FAR from my city or I can Legalisation in Ho Chi Minh City ?
Where in Ho Chi Minh please? 
Sorry for any inconvenience .
Thank very much for your kind helps.
Best Regards,
Salim
Toronto, Canada

Thanks for good suggestions.
Is it must to have Lawyer to marry in Ho Chi Minh City because my Girlfriend lives herself in her own house Binh Than Dist.,
You sure Health & Mental check ups could do in HOCMC?its accepted by  UBND?
If my required documents notarised[/u] from my home country India, at present am Canadian Citizen  ( Divorce docs. & Single status) still I can do the  Legalisation The documents in HOCMC ?

Thank you Sir for your great kindness, Very complicated county but Some VN are good for wife  but not all , already tested last 8 years relationship and almost 3 years lived together just last July back to Canada in this COVID situtions , person not grasshoppers or not crazy for western country. Taken care husband better than our Indian women.

The UBND can guide you as to what you need. If your gf family book is in Saigon you do it there or where she is registered.
Where she is registered will tell you where the health check can be done.
No you dont need a lawyer.
You will need to show you are divorced and a certificate of non- impediment.

Trust me, its not that difficult, get your gf to obtain the informatiin from the UBND.

The only snag I can see is based on where was the previous marriage and especially where was the divorce.  If Canada, you can likely bring the document to HCMC and have it translated and certified there.  If the divorce was in India, in what language is the paperwork?  I expect that there should be places where you can get it translated but whether the translation is accepted by the UBND is a potential problem.

THIGV wrote:

The only snag I can see is based on where was the previous marriage and especially where was the divorce.  If Canada, you can likely bring the document to HCMC and have it translated and certified there.  If the divorce was in India, in what language is the paperwork?  I expect that there should be places where you can get it translated but whether the translation is accepted by the UBND is a potential problem.

No problem as long as its done by a certified translation company.

colinoscapee wrote:

No problem as long as its done by a certified translation company.

Any specific suggestions?  Not challenging you;  just asking.   

THIGV wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

No problem as long as its done by a certified translation company.

Any specific suggestions?  Not challenging you;  just asking.   

Numerous companies. My wife just did a whole bunch of documents for her visa, all translations came with a stamp and the companies relevant documents to legally translate.

Since you are actually able to self-certify your own translations if you are fluent in both languages I don't think there will be much problem with any translation service that will stamp and chop the translation.

colinoscapee wrote:

Numerous companies.

I have seen those places but never used them.  My wife did all of our translations at the same government offices that did the notarizing or certifying.  However these were all Vietnamese to English which is surely more common.  As Mr Pacificsaigon told us that his fiance is "NOT very smart to find out true informations," (his words, not mine   ) that is why i was asking about Hindi (or other languages).

THIGV wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

Numerous companies.

I have seen those places but never used them.  My wife did all of our translations at the same government offices that did the notarizing or certifying.  However these were all Vietnamese to English which is surely more common.  As Mr Pacificsaigon told us that his fiance is "NOT very smart to find out true informations," (his words, not mine   ) that is why i was asking about Hindi (or other languages).

True, but there is a large population of Indiand in Saigon, so surely someone is able to translate. The OP hasnt said where his gf is registered.

colinoscapee wrote:

The OP hasnt said where his gf is registered.

He did say "my Girlfriend lives herself in her own house Binh Than Dist." so it may be reasonable to assume she has her own hộ khẩu book.

THIGV wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

The OP hasnt said where his gf is registered.

He did say "my Girlfriend lives herself in her own house Binh Than Dist." so it may be reasonable to assume she has her own hộ khẩu book.

If she was able to buy a house in her name and do all the paperwork, you have to wonder why she can't organise the marriage documents.

Yes Married and divorce in India 1993 , I am indian Canadian.
*** I will get Divorce certificate From India , I can do notarised by Notary,
Could I translate and legalisation in Ho Chi Minh? Where please? Accepted by UNDB?
Or suggest me pls.
I still have Validity until 4th September,2020 ( 3 days left) my Temporary Residence VISA In Vietnam on my business company as a investor, I was continue to  living with my GF in her own house from August,2018  until 16th, July ,2020 , I have arrived Canada on 17th July,2020. My GF registered me are Police station August 2018. If I want I could go back HOCMC and renew my investor Visa, already contacted VNum Embessy in Canada, they said we NOT issue any new visa NOW , once we start Visa you can have Visa to go Vietnam back Vnum and renew ur Investor Visa which I do not want to go back from Canada. Tried for different businesses not succeeded , language very hard, people good but most of people not friendly also feel not helpful , feel mostly are complicated , frustrated too much and suddenly decided and ask my gf to move myself , I have much sources in my country Canada even access to universal health care ,jobs etc in Canada. In past my gf does not wanted to move Canada or any country, she do not like to miss her small parents family and they have their own business , one brother is a lawyer , his wife same too well established , one sister she worked as a executive in a very well know multinational company, all are well established , my gf the youngest she is Law graduated but never practices, has a good job with IT company in their Legal department. She never ever wanted to move out from her country BUT I was absolutely NOT comfortable in Vietnam, it's very nice & good country. How you are lucky for a good Vnumise wife, hope me too. She is good lady and now she agreed to move and live. With me in Canada. She is preparing to move out from Vietnam, asked to learn driving , her house to rent fully absolutely NOT to sell, here no need money she needs for her future even she comes Canada in a year , need time to procedures and herself to fully ready . What you think my friend?
*** Could I do the health & Mental check ups in HOCMC ? Can you suggest . My wife feel shy to go to UNDB or other office, because other Vietnamese think ( it's true) she is marrying foreigner because of money or go to western country even she is not . I know her very well.
she sent me much informations but I got confused different on line informations.
I have read many comments in this website ( Expat.com), I got the idea that I ONLY NEED ( from India OR Canada) Divorce certificate and Single status ( Canada Government never issue  single status BUT Ontario Province in Canada ( I live Toronto, Ontario)  could issue Single Status , need bit  time & long procedures) .
https://www.idocscanada.ca/2020/06/sing … in-canada/ ( Government of Canada)  .

https://www.toronto.ca/311/knowledgebas … iment.html ( provincial ( state)/Government)

Check please this above website and suggest me accordingly kindly.
I like to confirm each of the items required to marry in HOCMC .
Already trying to get Divorce certificate from India .
Also ask my GF to have a police report or letter for me which could proof we lived together , also traveled other countries together ( might needs all in Canada too to proof we had  long term  relationships.
Sorry for my long message.
Thank you all very much for suggestions.,
God bless you all .
Thank you.
Regards to your family.

I respect your comment but absolutely NOT agree fully.
It's depends on you, whom you like?
Any where or any country even in your own country there are good / bad women or bad men too.
Thank you.

Yes she has her family book. I am not worry for her documents, worry for my documents which requires to marry Vietnamese. Ok Sir.
Regards .