THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL-MAY 2025 43 THROUGH THE VISA WINDOW Those Who Leave, Those We Left, Those Who Stay ON THE U.S.-VIETNAM RELATIONSHIP The faces on both sides of the visa window in Ho Chi Minh City Consulate General reflect a complex history of war, partnership, and the American Dream. BY GREG NAARDEN AND CHARLES HELMS Greg Naarden is the consular chief in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He joined the Foreign Service in 2004, and in addition to several tours in Washington, D.C., he has served in Europe, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. Charles Helms is a first-tour political-coned Foreign Service officer in Ho Chi Minh City’s Immigrant Visa Unit. Prior to joining the State Department, he worked in local government and regional economic development in Louisville, Kentucky. Ho Chi Minh City ’s (HCMC) Immigrant Visa (IV) Unit is a gold mine for amateur historians. Amid the mounds of documents and notes from daily interviews lies a microcosm of our relationship with Vietnam. The basic facts and figures show an extraordinary trajectory of population flows. Fifty years ago, the fall of South Vietnam started a massive outflow of refugees to the United States. Forty-five years ago, the United States established a main office in Bangkok as part of the orderly departure program (ODP) to support the continued flow of Vietnamese, and 25 years ago, that office was closed as the HCMC Consulate General opened. Since opening in 1999, HCMC’s IV Unit has supported the lawful immigration of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese to the United States, and today, it is one of the five largest and busiest in the world, interviewing more than 30,000 people annually. U.S. census data indicates that with the continued flow of Vietnamese people, they are now the sixth-largest immigrant population in the United States. Perceptions of America Over 50 years, the nature of Vietnamese immigration has changed significantly. While those who left in the 1970s and 1980s did so generally as refugees, those who seek IVs today are largely hoping to reunite with family members. There are a few important recurring themes in our IV interviews. Applicants from rural communities near Ho Chi Minh City or Da Nang in central Vietnam certainly view the United States FOCUS
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