billrussell

Made my child (4 months) a US Citizen last week. Drove the family to Bangkok - brought birth certificate and marriage certificate to the Embassy along with copies and supporting material - pictures etc ..

1 hour interview - citizenship and a passport.

Go to the embassy website, and follow the instructions.

Just a small technicality, but you did not make your child a citizen, you reported the birth of an American citizen abroad.

TH

A small, small technically, If you got your child a U.S. Passport, She/He is a U.S. Citizen, period.

I filed for both a K-1 and a K-3 visa on July 1 of last year.

My TW received her visa on January 20.

Six months and change - Not too bad.

Hey buddy, I was going to PM you on this but I think it is fine to be public with it. I have a simple solution to this problem and that is not to marry. I'm a believer in the long term relationship (live in) without signing a marriage contract. This is precisely what I do and I am very happy with my Thai gf. I have no ties this way or strings. Everything has gone fine for several years like this and I don't see any reason to risk it.

Why not marry? In Thailand there is no child support so when the man (or women) splits, she has the responsibly of the child. Granted, any property that is owned will be hers, but it sounds to me that there is no disadvantage to marry a Thai - I have,

Are there are Thai languge forums dealing with visas?

As far as I know, all of the U.S. forms are in English only.

A footnote -

My TW and her daughter had a small problem when they tried to fly to the U.S. from Thailand. The airline demanded that she give them our U.S. address, as this was required by Homeland Security. This tossed her for a loop, as she did not know the address, but luck ally, I happened to call her as she was checking in. I would suggest that you write this information on a paper for her to give the airlines.

Try thaifly.com or saveflights.com, they are advertised on this site and you can pay be credit card, cash or bank transfer if you like. They also offer very good rates...................

I just tried both of these sites, but they were about 20% higher than were quoted here in the U.S. I assume due to the strong Baht, the fares are higher.

That's silly, of course, but it's the kind of thing you get here when you try to deal with Thai travel agents.

May I recommend an American-owned agency instead? One actually run by intelligent people?

Email Will Herron at DTC travel. His address, strangely enough, is [email protected]. I've used him for the last couple of years and can recommend him without reservation (no pun intended).

I did try Will, but it seems that due to the exchange rates, he was not competitive with travel agents in the U.S. I ended up purchasing 2 seats on China Air via e-tickets and everybody arrived on time.

The biggest drama was the delay in immigration. U.S. immigration has a special line for first time immigrates, and it took her about 3 hours to clear, as their was a Philippine air flight that arrived shortly before her.

Congrats Bill! Did Brian Wright help you out okay? He seems very experienced. Did Brian get the online barcode for your TW for her interview?

A couple of weeks after I received the email stating that the application was approved and forwarded to Bangkok, He told me to call them and get the new number assigned to the case (They begin with BKK).

He then proceeded with the application, as he had all of the forms that they send to the Thai person (Assuming that the mail works) and scheduled an appointment - This alone probably saved us about a month.

He runs his office like an assembly line - You never hear from him until your case is about to come up, and then he goes in action.

I plan on using him to file our AOS petition shortly.

Congrats to all..and Bill, thank you for increasing the Thai population here in the 808 state!

My Thai wife and I are awaiting approval as i type. her in Thailand..me back in Hawaii (due to the new 90 day policy implemted by the Thais). I plan on heading back with or without an appointment March 1st...hopefully I can secure a marriage visa for myself while there.

I am unaware of any 90 day policy - Can you elaborate?

We hired an agency and they got us off to a bad start. They informed us that we did not have to send checks for both the 129F and the 130 (?). This was wrong and we were consequently... REJECTED. A sad day that was. I think we are now back on track...though we have lost 3 to 4 weeks.

As I remember, there is a fee for both. You submit the I130 with the fee, wait until you get a receipt number, and then file the I129 with their fee (I may have the numbers turned around). Brian was very specific about this procedure and both were accepted.

Bill, if you do not mind me asking, how much did you have to pay for the airfare for your wife and kids?

My wife is scheduled for her visa interview in a couple of months, and I was thinking of buying a ticket for her and my daughter about a month later, but I am concerned about the cost of booking travel only weeks in advance of the actual travel.

I ended up buying her and her daughter a one way ticket from Bangkok to Hawaii for $869, using my travel agent here in Hawaii. I tried a few travel agents in Bangkok, but he price was about 21000 Baht - Not a good deal.

I'm sure that if I were on the ground in Bangkok I could get a better one way ticket price, but I was not.

I've seen reference to both Fiancee and Thai wife in the posts and am confused about who is what? What do you think are the practical differences in the process between marrying here or going the fiancee route? I lean towards the Fiancee, I'd like to give her a chance to aee what she's in for before we make it permanent.

My TW ended up with a Fiancée visa even though she was approved for both. The reason for this is it takes a few months longer filing all the additional paperwork, but she arrives in the States with a green card and a SS card. With the Fiancée visa, all of this paperwork will be filed here, so she will at least be here while we file these. The downside is that she cannot work until the paperwork is completed.

I know, It does not make any sense, bringing your wife to the U.S. on a Fiancée visa, but who am I to know?

Sorry to hear about your problems with INS. I would not call them corrupt, just inept.

Fortunately I am in Hawaii, and there is a office in Honolulu, so travel is not that difficult.

I have deliberately not mentioned the firm that I used, but I would like to that now - I used Brian Wright in Bangkok -

http://www.mythaifiancee.com/

Disclaimer: I have no interest in his organization, and paid full price for his services rendered.

Every form that he filed (probably 500 pages) was accepted without any question, and he filed every document as soon as possible by law or regulation. Using his knowledge, he shortened the process by at least 2 months, not by deceit, but by knowing the process inside and out - Very professional, and I can recommend him unconditionally.

BTW, My wife and family will leave Bangkok on Sta. 1/27 for America.

Thanx for the quick replies - I'll give Majestic a call when they open.

I did check with majestic, but they only would accept Cash for payment, no Credit cards - A bummer when you are in the U.S.

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...

If the program closes, will they give refunds?

Back in some Western countries, if a private company goes bankrupt, 'card holders' such as these would be unsecured creditors, and probably get nothing. But if it's a government company, how can it go bankrupt unless the entire national treasury is emptied?

Not quite true, at least as far as the U.S. is concerned. There are many private U.S. company's that are owned by the government, either totally or partially.

If they are not backed by the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. then technically they can walk away, if they wanted to.

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.

Thanx for the quick replies - I'll give Majestic a call when they open.

After 6 months, and several thousand dollars, my Thia Wife has her final interview with the U.S. Embassy for her immigration visa for her and her daughter on January 16.

Now comes all of the details - Does anybody know where I can purchase a one way ticket for her and her daughter to the U.S.

The only problem, I want to make sure that, if for some reason, the visa is delayed, I can get my money back.

Thanx in advance.

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.

A quick update -

My Thai Wife received her appointment date of January 16.

Looks like the end of the line, as I expect her Visa the next day.

We filed the documents on the 4th of July, so it has taken us 6 months and 2 weeks.

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.

This could work just one time, depending on how Singapore Imm reacts.

After that one trip you are stuck with incongriences on Thailand stamps on both passports, should ring the alarm bells at Thai Imm in the (not that unlikely) case that they look closer into your stamps. Also the missing Singapore entry stamp in PP 2 might trigger the alarm!

I don't think so - A lot of people lose passports, they expire, and they get a new one from their Country in a foreign Country ( I used to re nu my U.S. passport in Hong Kong every 10 years). Any one of these reasons are valid ones for not having a entry stamp for Singapore.

How about flying to Singapore? Leave on your first passport, enter Singapore on same, and then leave on your new one.

If asked by Singapore, state that your passport was replaced by a new one, and show old one if necessary.

Upon arrival in Thailand, use your new one -

A bit convoluted, but it should work, IMHO of course.

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).

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...