U.s. I129f Petition

[billrussell]

I have filed for my Thai Wife to emigrate to the U.S, have filed the I-129F petition, and received back that they received my petition on August 11.

When I checked the U.S. website that lists the length of time https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/NBCprocesstimes.jsp, it stated that as of August 3, they were processing applications from March 6 - A long time!

Now when I check this site, they state that as of August 25, they are processing applications dated February 25! They are going backward!

Does anybody have any recent experience in the time it takes for processing such a form?

I am a little fustrated...

[joeyswags]

Wow, thanks for that link. It sucks..but I do think that at least six months is going to be the norm. I am filing I-130 this week for my wife. I am also interested to hear any stories or experience related to bringing a Thai spouse to the US.

If you are living in Thailand...i would assume they are going to want to check that you would be able to support your family in the US? I am having a family member sign up to sponser us...is this harmful in anyway to our case?

On the forms are you stating your thailand address as where you live? What about the address where you intend to live at when you are granted the permission to enter your own country with your wife...terrible it is this time cosuming and difficult, but we will make it

Regards...

[billrussell]

Wow, thanks for that link. It sucks..but I do think that at least six months is going to be the norm. I am filing I-130 this week for my wife. I am also interested to hear any stories or experience related to bringing a Thai spouse to the US.

If you are living in Thailand...i would assume they are going to want to check that you would be able to support your family in the US? I am having a family member sign up to sponser us...is this harmful in anyway to our case?

On the forms are you stating your thailand address as where you live? What about the address where you intend to live at when you are granted the permission to enter your own country with your wife...terrible it is this time cosuming and difficult, but we will make it

Regards...

I filed mine via Fed Ex and listed Hawaii as my residence, as I have income there that is above the minimum, so no problem there - Just the 6 month delay.

[Schooner]

Just recieved (e-mail) approval of the 129F petition yesterday. This has taken just under a month from the time they recieved it (july 5) now waiting for the next step.

[ding]

Just recieved (e-mail) approval of the 129F petition yesterday. This has taken just under a month from the time they recieved it (july 5) now waiting for the next step.

I hope you guys keep us informed. I'm curious about the length of time too -no wife in mind- but wondering "just in case" the right bird flies my way.

[Schooner]

update, recieved the I-797 (notice of action) approval in the mail yesterday. I had learned of the approval thru e-mail on Sept 5 (mail 8 days) and it looks like they mailed the notification on the same day.

So, they've turned it over to the national visa center in NH and they're saying 2-4 weeks processing here before sending it along to BKK. Apparently they will also notify me at the same time. I'm not clear how this works. There is a packet 3 and and packet 4 mentioned on the BKK website that BKK sends out with forms to complete.

It's looking like the whole process will take longer than 3 months. This part alone has taken 2 and who knows what the rest will be.

[Gumballl]

update, recieved the I-797 (notice of action) approval in the mail yesterday. I had learned of the approval thru e-mail on Sept 5 (mail 8 days) and it looks like they mailed the notification on the same day.

So, they've turned it over to the national visa center in NH and they're saying 2-4 weeks processing here before sending it along to BKK. Apparently they will also notify me at the same time. I'm not clear how this works. There is a packet 3 and and packet 4 mentioned on the BKK website that BKK sends out with forms to complete.

It's looking like the whole process will take longer than 3 months. This part alone has taken 2 and who knows what the rest will be.

Btw, Packet 3 is a lot of forms (in English) that your thai partner has to complete. However, you can do it yourself and have her sign the forms. Then your partner has to get a medical examination (at Bumrungrad Hospital or another - I forgot which) and also a Thai police report. Once this is complete, she needs to notify the US Embassy in BKK (by mailing in one of the forms), and then they will schedule her for an appointment.

The appointment will cost $100 (approx 4000 baht) which must be paid at a BKK Post Office - in return you will get a money order type thingy which is given to the Embassy. I think she also has to bring a couple of US-style passport photos, and a slew of other things (birth certificate, thai passport, etc).

A lot of hassle, but all is easy to accomplish with patience.

Total time between submitting the I-129F and getting the appointment vary. At a minimum I would say 6 months. But if it takes a long time to complete the forms, and do all of the other things, then it could be longer. Also, make sure you do not forget something on the forms (ie. a signature).

Good luck.

[stang_01]

You can go to the USCIS website and setup an account where you will be able to check the status of your petition, all you need is the number they put on the receipt letter. I sent my fiancee's in on June 26 and had approval on Sept. 14.

[billrussell]

An update - I received this email from the U.S. -

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The following is the latest information on your case status

Receipt Number: XXXXX

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status:

This case has been approved. On October 6, 2006, an approval notice was mailed. If 30 days have passed and you have not received this notice, you may wish to verify or update your address

Pretty Cool - Filed on Aug 11 and approval on Oct 6! Interesting note, the web site still states that they are processing applications from March.

I assume that they will now transfer my file to Bangkok for an interview and final approval.

Does anybody know the procedure?

[Schooner]

Update,

We recieved the packet 3 on Sept 18 and your right it had many forms and requirements in it and not really clear on a couple of things like which forms need to be sent in immediatly, some signed and some unsigned and apparently a new requirement for 50mmx50mm photos.

We are doing this ourselves and so far so good, but I have spent hours and hours trying to be sure of every detail.

Today we mailed out the requested packet 3 stuff hopefully I have not made a mistake on this latest batch and we will get an interview in about a month. So we may have a shot at comming in around 4 months for the whole process.

I have a friend who is using a service and he has still not recieved the packet 3 and he has about 200,000 invested so far and he started about a month before us. I don't know the name of the service.

good luck out there

[jetjock]

Some info that might be helpful about the timetable and recent experience I had when bringing my fiance over to the US. I filed the I129F on August 19, 2005 and she received her green card on August 26,2006 so it took 1 year.

I handled all paperwork myself and took a leasurely pace going from one stage to the next. The length of time to process to I129F can vary depending on backlog and what office is handling it. My I129F was filed Aug 19, 2005 and approved on Dec 16, 2005. It was slowed down due to one thing I forgot to include in the paperwork . I flew to BKK on Feb 1, 2006 to help my fiance handle the BKK paperwork. She received her fiance visa on Feb 15. We flew to the US on March 1 and were married on April 6. We started the I-485 application on April 25, 2006 and received green card on Aug 26, 2006. I am sure I could have done it faster if I had been in a hurry. As for the process, it was very time consuming from a paperwork point of view but the process can be quite easy as long as you do the paperwork in a very exact fashion.

The interviews in BKK and the US were a lot of fun for us as I found that I had common interests with both interviewers so we spent the whole interview time just talking about travel and flying and they did not ask my fiance any questions. ( I have a feeling that the inteviewer looks at the file and pretty knows what he wants before the interview starts. In my case my fiance speaks fluent English, has a Masters Degree, and owns a house in Thailand so I think that helped make it a slam dunk )

My advice to anyone going through the process is to do paperwork very very carefully as any mistake in the paperwork will really slow down the process. Have fun and good luck.

[billrussell]

I have a friend who is using a service and he has still not recieved the packet 3 and he has about 200,000 invested so far and he started about a month before us. I don't know the name of the service.

good luck out there

It sounds to me that your Friend has been taken. I used a service and the total cost was about 60,000 Baht (Not including fees to the Government). I'm not ready to applaud them yet, but so far, every form that they have filed has been accepted without any errors and in a very timely fashion.

They have also advised me on ways to speed up the package 3 and I will post this if it works.

[Schooner]

Update: we now have an interview date Nov 29. Hopefully we will get the visa that day or the following. I can't imagine anything holding it up because I have gone over this stuff a hundred times and whenever I was unsure of something I gave them more information than I'm sure they needed. Also I e-mailed them with a couple of questions that I thought would be ignored but they replied with the answers. I asked for an earlier interview date - no, I asked if we could bring her notebook computer to the interview to show dated photos of our 8 months relationship - no, computers are not allowed. I asked if I should expect to be able to sign the support doc that the instructions say should be signed in the presence of a counsular officer the day of the interview and they said it does not have to be witnessed. Just sign it.

I agree with the advice to be very careful to not make mistakes. There is plenty of information available, but I had to read it very carefully. When we go to the interview we will have everything orgainized with extra copies of everything and more information than they want to know.

[billrussell]

Update: we now have an interview date Nov 29. Hopefully we will get the visa that day or the following. I can't imagine anything holding it up because I have gone over this stuff a hundred times and whenever I was unsure of something I gave them more information than I'm sure they needed. Also I e-mailed them with a couple of questions that I thought would be ignored but they replied with the answers. I asked for an earlier interview date - no, I asked if we could bring her notebook computer to the interview to show dated photos of our 8 months relationship - no, computers are not allowed. I asked if I should expect to be able to sign the support doc that the instructions say should be signed in the presence of a counsular officer the day of the interview and they said it does not have to be witnessed. Just sign it.

I agree with the advice to be very careful to not make mistakes. There is plenty of information available, but I had to read it very carefully. When we go to the interview we will have everything orgainized with extra copies of everything and more information than they want to know.

Sounds good to me - The way I read your posts, your time line the way that I read it is you submitted Package 3 on Oct 10 and you received your appointment on November 29 - 6-7 weeks or so.

We will submit our Package 3 on Tuesday, Oct 31, so maybe we wil get our interview before Christmas...

[Schooner]

Yes, 5-6 weeks I think from packet three to interview date. There is a interview schedule posted on the internet. We saw the date before we recieved the last packet. (packet 4)

I don't have it with me now but I'll get it for you if you can't find it at the BKK embassy site.

Some of the stuff in packet 4 seems to be ambigious. For example: the I-134 support affidavit says it's supposed to be signed and witnessed by a consular officer, but when I email them to ask if I should come in before the interview date they said just sign it.

Also now there saying that all thai documents have to translated by a "certified" translator and noterised. We translated the other documents ourselves and signed a certification.

Now everything comes down to the interview. Again, the devil is in the details

Good luck Bill

[Gumballl]

Update: we now have an interview date Nov 29. Hopefully we will get the visa that day or the following. I can't imagine anything holding it up because I have gone over this stuff a hundred times and whenever I was unsure of something I gave them more information than I'm sure they needed. Also I e-mailed them with a couple of questions that I thought would be ignored but they replied with the answers. I asked for an earlier interview date - no, I asked if we could bring her notebook computer to the interview to show dated photos of our 8 months relationship - no, computers are not allowed. I asked if I should expect to be able to sign the support doc that the instructions say should be signed in the presence of a counsular officer the day of the interview and they said it does not have to be witnessed. Just sign it.

I agree with the advice to be very careful to not make mistakes. There is plenty of information available, but I had to read it very carefully. When we go to the interview we will have everything orgainized with extra copies of everything and more information than they want to know.

Schooner, congratulations on the good news.

A little tidbit to bear in mind... just because your fiance has a slated interview time, this US Embassy (in BKK) does not guarantee that your fiance will be seen precisely at the time indicated on her appointment notice.

I definetely recommend that you and her (or just her alone) show up early to ensure that you get into the Embassy (there always seems to be a large queue of people waiting to get in), and also make yourselves comfortable in the waiting area. Delays in seeing interviewees happens all the time. Bring something to read because it will get awfully boring just waiting for one's name to be called.

Anyhow, please let us all know how everything turns out for your fiance. Good luck!!!

[thaisow]

Then your partner has to get a medical examination (at Bumrungrad Hospital or another - I forgot which) and also a Thai police report.

Hey, Schooner, do you know if your fiance got that police report in Bangkok? Also, on the list from the US Embassy, are all the doctors located in Bangkok? I am assuming my fiance and I will be required to take a trip to Bangkok to fulfill both the police report and the medical.

[billrussell]

Then your partner has to get a medical examination (at Bumrungrad Hospital or another - I forgot which) and also a Thai police report.

Hey, Schooner, do you know if your fiance got that police report in Bangkok? Also, on the list from the US Embassy, are all the doctors located in Bangkok? I am assuming my fiance and I will be required to take a trip to Bangkok to fulfill both the police report and the medical.

I can answer that. My TW, daughter, and son had to go to Bangkok for both the Police and Medical report. Police was free, but the Hospital was about 3,000 Baht each at Bumrungrad (The only one that the Embassy will accept).

[thaisow]

Thanks, billrussell. I figured that a trip to Bangkok would be necessary for preparing packet 3. Then another for the interview.

As not to hijack the thread, my I-129F was submitted in mid-October and was approved in two weeks, so it seems they are moving rather quickly now. Does the OP specify which service center he is dealing with? This is a big factor in the processing time of the application.

[Schooner]

sorry to take so long to get back.

Thanks gumball, her appointment is at 0700 and I will go with her. The paperwork they sent advised that we should plan to wait a long time. I think I'll bring "war and peace" I'm just so pleased to be getting this close that this part will be easy.

Yes she had to go the the royal thai police office in bkk for the certificate. I think it was free but not sure. Bumrungrad is the only place to go for the physical unless she is in Changmai, I think there was one there also. They will chest x-ray her and mine got some vacc shots (and had a sore arm for a week) They will give her the report of the physical and the x-ray to take with her. Do not open it. Ours was sealed for the Embassy to open (which raises the issue of how we get copies of it) I think they give it back to be carried to the states for US immigration.

I spent hours translating her birth certificate in photo shop and it was perfect. looked just like the origional except all in english with color and everything. Unfortunatly we cant use it and had to get it done at my lawyers for 900 baht.

You will also have to go to one of the post offices around bkk and pay the interview fee of $100 USD or 4,000 baht which is what they charged us. Be sure to keep the blue top copy to bring to the interview to show that you paid. All that will be in the packet they send which BTW is also in thai. The last packet is actually pretty clear about what they want and easy to follow. They warn about three times that everything must be in the exact order and every question on every form answered.

I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

bill

[gogreen]

Schooner and BillRussell,

Thanks for all the great information on the Thai fiance to the USA subject. I have some questions.

Do you know how long it took to get your Packet 3 from the time it left the US visa processing center?

Once you received your packet 3, how long did it take you to complete it send it back to the embassy? From a post of yours it looks like about 1 month.

How long did it take from when you submitted your packet 3 until you were able to schedule an interview?

How did the embassy notify you that your packet 3 was on the way?

Did they call you or just send it in the mail?

What is the process after you turn in packet 3 and have an interview appointment?

Would this be possible...

- you fill out all the papers available on the embassy web-site ahead of time.

- you get your police certificate, marriage certificate, bitrh certificate prepared ahead of time

- you receive your Packet 3 in the mail

- you go to the translator in the morning, then the hospital (physical evaluation), then the post office (pay the 4000 Baht visa fee), and finally back to the translators (to pick up your documents).

- you send Packet 3 back to the embassy in the mail the next day.

Am I missing anything?

[billrussell]

Schooner and BillRussell,

Thanks for all the great information on the Thai fiance to the USA subject. I have some questions.

Do you know how long it took to get your Packet 3 from the time it left the US visa processing center?

Once you received your packet 3, how long did it take you to complete it send it back to the embassy? From a post of yours it looks like about 1 month.

As a matter of fact, my Thai Wife received her packet 3 yesterday in the mail. I used a Company in Bangkok, and he did things differently. I was instructed to call the office 14 days after receiving the approval notice, which I did on October 24. (They operate early morning until late at night. The women was very helpful and quickly told me that it was forwarded to Bangkok on October 23 with the new number.

My guy in Bangkok had all of the packet 3 forms, and my wife went to Bangkok on November 1, got the hospital and police things done, as well as signing all of the forms, which were filed that day with the Embassy (saving 2-3 weeks)

Here is a web site that lists the appointment dates -

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/services/visa/IVschedule.htm

How long did it take from when you submitted your packet 3 until you were able to schedule an interview?

How did the embassy notify you that your packet 3 was on the way?

No

Did they call you or just send it in the mail?

Just mailed it.

What is the process after you turn in packet 3 and have an interview appointment?

We are waiting for the phone call from the Embassy for the appointment time.

Would this be possible...

- you fill out all the papers available on the embassy web-site ahead of time.

- you get your police certificate, marriage certificate, bitrh certificate prepared ahead of time

- you receive your Packet 3 in the mail

- you go to the translator in the morning, then the hospital (physical evaluation), then the post office (pay the 4000 Baht visa fee), and finally back to the translators (to pick up your documents).

- you send Packet 3 back to the embassy in the mail the next day.

Am I missing anything?

I don't know about he last part, but it took about 2 weeks to have the police report mailed to my Thai Wife. As for the 4,000 Baht, I believe that you pay that just before your interview, as you need the receipt showing you have paid it when arriving for your interview.

I hope that I have been of some help, but the final chapter has to be written in our case.

[Schooner]

hello gogreen,

I think my experence is similat to bill's.

The notice we recieved from National Visa center was dated Sept 3, it was sent in the mail and we recieved it on Sep 13 so 10 days. We did get nitification that it had been approved on there web site.

The packet 3 letter came on Sep18 and was dated Sept 15 from BKK Embassy. We mailed out our packet 3 stuff about 2 weeks later because I was in the states for a couple of weeks.

Our interview date came up on the Embassy website about a week after we sent in our stuff (packet 3)and then we got the interview letter with the final instructions on Oct 23.

We never got a call from the Embassy just saw the interview date online and then the letter on Oct 23.

I don't see a problem with sending in the packet 3 stuff and then doing the police and medical and I have seen somwhere that if you pay extra you can get it that day but I don't know how that works.

We were concerned that the interview might come up before we got all the stuff done so we waited longer than we had to. The interview seems to be schedule 5-6 weeks from the time they get the packet 3 so you should have plenty of time to do everything before the interview. So the answer is yes, complete the forms and have your photos ready. make sure they are 50mmx50mm with white background, get 4 because you need to send in two with packet 3 and save two more for the interview. you'll need a copy of the photo page of the thai passport. completed signed form 230-I, 2 copies of completed UNSIGNED form OF-156 and a completed form OF156K (we were unclear about the 156K so we sent it and have another copy for the interview. Sign the certification of preperation and request for interview and send it in. Like I said you should have plenty of time to go do the other things before your interview date.

As always read carefully and reread everything and pay attention to detail. The last packet (4) seems to have some ambiguities and so when in doubt we gave them more than they asked for. We emailed them to ask for a earilier interview but no-way, we also asked if we could bring her computer laptop to show photos documenting our relationship and the answer was no computers allow in the building. They did tell me not to worry about signing the I-134 in front of a notary. just sign it they said and I have a copy of the email. I think I will get it notarised anyway just to be sure.

good luck

bill

[Schooner]

Tomorrows the day. Got to get up at 3:30 to be sure to get to BKK at 7:00 wish us luck.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[ding]

Tomorrows the day. Got to get up at 3:30 to be sure to get to BKK at 7:00 wish us luck.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Luck to both of you. I'm following you guys' saga. I'm meeting someone special and wonder if there are things to do before arriving in LOS? My buddy says to take pics and put her on the register of the hotels and save the records. Anything else while I'm there?

As for your appointment time Schooner, it looks like most are set for 0700, a few for 0800 and 0830. Do the services have to wait too, if they acompany the fiance as part of their service?

[Schooner]

We got it!!

Got up a 3am to drive to BKK, got lost and sitting in traffic about a mile from the embassy at 6:45 she jumps out and catches a motorbike taxi. (Idrive around for another 2 hours trying to figure out how to get there (one ways)

They made her get a bar code that goes on the DS-156 at the embassy computer. everyone freaked out a little at this. There is a new requirement effective Nov 1, 2006

Here's the letter they gave us:

New nonimmigrant K visa requirements

Effective Nov 1, 2006 all nonimmigrant K visa applications are required to submit the electronic visa application form (EVAF) version of the DS-156.

Please enter your data directly in the DS-156 electronic form found online at http://evisaforms.state.gov and print it out when all the blocks are filled out. The completed printed form will include a unique barcode.

Pleas submit the barcoded DS-156 form with your other documents on your interview date.

The interviewer we got seemed like a nice guy but there was one there that seemed pretty short tempered. They asked her when I came to Thailand, What was the date we met, What I did for work, (I'm retired) when did I first come to Thailand. That was it and he gave us the visa. had to come back the following day (today) and pick up the visa (apparently everyone does now.)

They gave her a packet of papers for the immigration people when we land in the states and told us not to open it. He also told me that they will pull her out of the line to the secondary inspection when we arrive to check those documents.

That was it. Everyone seemed to have a 7am interview time but it took time for everyone to check in so I was overly worried about being there exactly at 7. We were out at noon. The return today for the visa took about an hour. Pretty smooth sailing actually. We stayed overnight in BKK last night to avoid another navigational headache.

Hope this helps you guys and good luck.

[billrussell]

I have been advised that our interview date is January 16, at 08:30 - We must be the last in line.

I also have been advised from you immigration Attorney that I should book her flight at least a week after the interview - Does anybody know why?

If it is denied, or refused for more details, then surly it will take longer than a week to resolve.

[Schooner]

hi bill,

I don't know about the 8:30 appointments. My guess is that if she showed up at 7:00 she would be put in line. It appears to be first come first serve. Don't forget to file the DS-156 online so she will have the barcode. That seems to be the most challanging part of the process.

I wanted to book the airline one week after but now I'm glad she talked me into the 11th. to give us more time to tie up loose ends. I booked with Thai air for the 11th because they don't charge to change the date and you can never be 100% sure you'll get it.

good luck,

bill

[billrussell]

hi bill,

I don't know about the 8:30 appointments. My guess is that if she showed up at 7:00 she would be put in line. It appears to be first come first serve. Don't forget to file the DS-156 online so she will have the barcode. That seems to be the most challanging part of the process.

I wanted to book the airline one week after but now I'm glad she talked me into the 11th. to give us more time to tie up loose ends. I booked with Thai air for the 11th because they don't charge to change the date and you can never be 100% sure you'll get it.

good luck,

bill

Thanx Schooner - I assume that the Immigration Attorney that I have given a lot of money to will take care of this, but I'll check.

I have made reservations for airlines 3 days after her interview, but without final payment until approval. The main reason for this is that she is leaving her home town, 700 kilometers away on January 10 for good, not wanting to go back for a few days.

Hopefully, things will work our, and I'll post the results as they happen.

[billrussell]

I have been advised that my TW can pick up her visa for her and her 2 children on Tuesday morning.

She went to her interview last Tuesday, but there was a question about her son - We paid a small bribe to keep him out the Military, and they needed a document that states that he was legally able to leave the country.

My TW had to fly to her home town (500 miles away) and went to the local Ampere (Sp) to get the applicable letter, which she received, after a small payment, of course...

She returned to the U.S. Embassy on Friday PM and visa were approved for all three.

Looks like it is over, but now we have to go through filing the AOS - it never stops...