Immigration Assistance

Name

Email

Phone

Address

City

State

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington DC West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Zip

Date of birth

010203040506070809101112 01020304050607080910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 1905 1904

Applicant relation

me spouse child relative friend

Marital status

single married divorced

Are you seeking assistance with:

Obtaining citizenship?

yes no

Obtaining a green_card?

yes no

Obtaining a visa?

yes no

Obtaining a passport?

yes no

Do you have an attorney?

yes no

Preferred language

Spanish English

I agree to the Terms & Conditions

By submitting your request, you grant permission for one of our premier partners to contact you using the phone number or email address that you have provided so we may assist you with your request. You agree that the matched advocate or law firm may use an automatic telephone dialing system even if the number you provided is a wireless phone number.

Please complete the math problem to prove you are not a robot: =

Immigration Attorneys for Vietnamese Immigrants | Vietnam & Vietnamese Visa Lawyer | Vietnamese Immigration Lawyer

History of Immigration from Vietnam

Vietnamese immigration to the United States is a fairly recent phenomenon. In fact, the first major wave of Vietnamese immigrants to the U.S. occurred as recent as 1975. Prior to 1975, most of the Vietnamese people living and residing in the United States were spouses and/or children of American servicemen in Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, the event known as "the fall of Saigon" ended the Vietnam War and the first wave of immigration from Vietnam commenced.
 

Vietnamese & Vietnam Immigration Lawyer

Many Vietnamese people, especially those that worked closely with Americans during the Vietnam War, feared that their lives were in danger. Thus, in order to escape reprisal form the Communist Party, 125,000 Vietnamese citizens departed Vietnam during the Spring of 1975. Most were either airlifted or fled on cargo ships, and were then transferred to U.S. government bases in Thailand, Wake Island, Hawaii, Guam, or the Philippines. This initiative was called "Operation New Life." After arriving in the United States, there were an additional four refugee centers in Camp Pendleton in California, Fort Chaffee in Arkansas, Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania

Not surprisingly, the Vietnamese population was not immediately welcomed by the rest of the U.S. population. In fact, a poll taken in 1975 showed that only 36% of Americans were in favor of Vietnamese migration to the United States. However, the Ford Administration adamantly supported the Vietnamese population and passed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Act of 1975, thereby establishing a program of domestic resettlement assistance for refugees of Vietnam and/or Cambodia.

The second wave of Vietnamese immigration to the United States came just two years later in 1977 and lasted until the mid 1980s. This wave commenced as the new communist government implemented a series of economic, political, and agricultural policies, which included the torture of former South Vietnamese military personnel and those in favor of the South Vietnamese cause. Many of these policies forced mass relocation of citizens from urban to rural areas that were previously uncultivated or ruined during the war. It was during this time that approximately two million Vietnamese fled to asylum camps in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, or Hong Kong while awaiting acceptance by foreign countries. At that time, Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980, which reduced barriers to entry into the United States. The Act also provided a definition of the term "refugee," created the Office of Refugee Resettlement, set the number of refugee admissions at 50,000 per year (except in cases of an emergency), and allowed a refugee to adjust his or her status after one year to become a permanent resident and, after four or more years, to become a United States citizen.

Present Day Vietnamese in the United States

Since almost all Vietnamese immigration has occurred relatively recently, most Vietnamese Americans are either first or second generation Americans. As many as one million people who are five years and older speak Vietnamese at home—making it the seventh-most spoken language in the United States. As refugees, Vietnamese Americans have some of the highest rates of naturalization. In the 2006 American Community Survey, 72% of foreign-born Vietnamese are naturalized US citizens; this combined with the 36% who are born in the United States makes a total of 82% of Vietnamese living in the country United States citizens. Of those born outside the United States, 46.5% entered before 1990, 38.8% between 1990 and 2000, and 14.6% entered after 2000.  

Vietnamese immigrants are spread throughout the entire United States, but have established strong ties in several specific areas. For example, the largest number of Vietnamese people found outside of Vietnam is in Orange County, California. Orange County Vietnamese total 135,548. Additionally, Vietnamese American businesses are thriving in areas throughout the country. States such as New York, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, Florida, Virginia, and Rhode Island have fast growing Vietnamese populations, while the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle metropolitan area, Dallas - Fort Worth metropolitan area, Northern Virginia, Los Angeles metropolitan area, and the Houston metropolitan area all have sizable Vietnamese communities. Recently, however, the Vietnamese immigration population has shifted to other states, including Oklahoma (Oklahoma City in particular) and Oregon.