Aug 25, 2006

Getting married : Vietnam Style II

So, we had the dossier of mindless red tape,otherwise known as the marrige application, all ready to hand in. Chi organised everything herself bless her and left me to simply drive around, pick things up, and smile when neccessary. She has been 'overly generous' (if you catch my drift) to certian members of officialdom. At the office where all types of registration takes place (births, deaths, marriages etc),located on Pasteur, we once again came face to face with our nemisis desk sucker, name unknown. We've been seperated by perspex with this man three times and not once has he made eye contact. He seemed very content with his level of malice which wasn't just reserved for us but other happy soon-to-be married couples. After shuffling through our well prepared paperwork he throws the folder back at us and writes a list of what we still need to do. I tell him he's not very helpful, he says "don't understand", at which Chi later quipped "doesn't understand without any money". Chi beavered for the rest of the day and furnished the folder with its required nonsense, we were then ready for a return to see Mr Happy. This time he had simply run out of things that were missing.....Chi had back-up copies of pretty much anything he could ask for all stamped and translated and notorized ready to shove down his throat if the chance arrived. Reluctantly he processed the application.

I've gotten distracted here - what I really wanted to talk about was the interview. As we're leaving the office Chi says we have an interview scheduled for next week. We both laugh. An interview? To get married! WHAT! OK, whatever, lets play along...then I came across this article today: Vietnam Tightens Regulations On International Marriges

Extract:

Under the decree, within 20 days of the date of the receipt of marriage registration dossiers and fees, the Judicial Department of a city or province must conduct a person-to-person interview with both applicants.
The interview is designed to check whether the two applicants agree to the marriage of their own accord and how much they can communicate


So, hopefully, like the mental health check, we can get through this one as well (ow! that was my tounge in my cheek).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jon, best of luck to you and Chi on your marriage. Keeping persevering to get through the procedures, and then you will be set for a long life together.
-- Mel

Jon Hoff said...

Thanks Mel.....I know it'll all be worth it in the end.

Anonymous said...

all the best!
I fully understand what you and Chi are going through to get married in VN.
The officials only understand one lanuage: USDOLLAR!!!

Jon Hoff said...

Cheers Nam.....the police like cigarettes as well....it's mad how things work here! It's the kind of stuff I've only ever read about in a book about some bizarre far away country, yet here I am participating in it.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the powers that be here are really not that dissimilar from Tony Soprano land. There are no laws, only "influence." Whaddya gonna do?

Anonymous said...

Chuc Mung Tram Nam Hanh Phuc!!!