Travel Visa To Us For Thai Gfriend

[traduttor]

Hey everybody,

First of all wow what a dynamite forum. Glad to locate this today. Very impressive and informative forum so cheers to all involved and many many thanks!

Bit about me --- I am a newb here but have lived and studied in Chiang Mai for about seven months. I am a 35-yo grad student, US native, here on a scholarship so if I may say so a fairly respectable standup guy........not looking to pull any scams hide any shady details etc!

Have been dating an equally standup Thai gal here since late October, she is a licensed professional tour guide and very responsible, colllege educated, gainfully employed, equal-part shareholder in a local trek/tour company.

Looking to secure tourist visa for her to visit me in the US, meet the parents, and so on. We were thinking about fiancee visa route but I think we are more at the bf/gf stage and not ready to commit to marriage just so fast. From what I've read we have maybe a 50-50 chance of getting her a pass on the tourist mark...........

In any case, I'd appreciate very much any advice on 'strategy' for securing this.

Again not looking to trick US govt. as I am sure they have seen all the tricks already and prefer to go with the truth above all.........that being said how can we improve the lovely lady's bureaucratic chances? Her details as they stand-------

She only has about 20,000 THB in her bank accounts but (from what I can tell) good official/registered/stamped documentation of her shareholdership in the tour firm, tax records, invoices to clients, Thai passport validity (from previous travel to Laos), letters from her tour firm and other firms she freelances for confirming her employment and good status to take vacation, rental records from her condo, email testimonials from past travel trip clients, fine medical clearance, tour guide license.........long story short she plans to travel to see me there in low season n see how things go b/t us on that side of the Pacific then return here to work in high season while I finish my degree.

Sorry to ramble on incessantly but I wanted to give as full a picture as possible for yr review and am thankful for any insights from the expert forum here.

One question......re- the $$$ to pay for the trip/air ticket.......I will be mostly footing the bill anyway and she will probably stay with me throughout the whole trip time, but should I deposit $1000-1500 USD in her account so she can "make the trip" or just say upfront that I am backing her trip 100%?

Also, she has Thai friend in Hawaii with legal /married status.........we were thinking it'd be good to make clear that she will visit that friend in Hawaii as well as me in California, in that multiple destinations (whether she makes that Hawaii trip or not) would appear as more of a true plan-to-return-home 'tour' as opposed to a one-way trip to live with me (only), which we are not planning anyway.

Finally, her company has not made much profit yet as they have only been in business nine months and are still investing...........we may or may not show the weak/low-level company bank account in the application process as we think this may look like she is fleeing a failing business operation, but then again she has not made her investment back yet at all and most fledgling companies take a year or two to turn a notable profit.......... how to approach this potential flaw in the appl and/or interview?

Thanks for all and any help kindly offered!

Best to you all from ChMai!

traduttor

[vinny]

For visitor visa information and suggestions, see USA Visitor visa and Visitor Visa to USA.

See also Coming to America - Getting Your Visitors Visa and U.S. Embassy Bangkok.

Application Form DS-156 in Thai.

If you are not married, the visa officer would think it fishy if money suddenly appeared out of nowhere. See details of a similar problem concerning insufficient of funds in Is There A Problem With Visa Company?, Visa given, 2 weeks later call and say come back.

For information on the Fiance visa route, see How Do I Bring My Fiancé(e) to the United States? and How Does My Fiance Adjust Status to Lawful Permanent Resident?.

If you marry and want to take your wife to the US, as a spouse, then see How Do I Become a K-Nonimmigrant as the Spouse or Child of a U.S. Citizen? (K-3 and K-4 Visa Classifications). See also Kvisa.

If you are not resident anywhere outside the US then it may be difficult for a wife to obtain a visitor visa to the US. See Help For U.s. Visitors Visa, Thai National Wife.