billrussell

WOW!!

The U.S. Web site says they are now processing applications filed February 23! https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/NBCprocesstimes.jsp

I got my receipt dated August 11 so hopefully, in about a month, I will get my approval for my TW.

I don't understand your logic at all. As of August 28th, they were processing I-129F petitions from Feb 23rd. That's about seven months. Your's was received on August 11th. So August 11th plus seven months is about February 2007.

Each processing center has a different length queue. I used California (because I live there) and was quite distraught when I saw how long the wait was. However, I was pleasantly surprised in October 2004 when they went through two months of processing in a matter of two weeks.

I received my approval letter from Homeland Security on October 6, even though their web site states that they are working on applications received in March!

I also received notice from the State Department on October 23 that hey had transferred everything to Bangkok for final processing.

Hopefully not too long now.

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.

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?

Sunny,

As he's in Udon I assume he's close to the border and can do visa runs easily and cheaply.

Why not just get a second passport and do 90 days on one passport and 90 days on the other?

UK citizens can have a second passport if they travel to one country where the immigration stamp excludes them from another (eg an Israel stamp means you will be excluded from Saudi Arabia) or there is a business need as in one passport is always in an embassy for visa stamps. You just need to fill in a few forms, nobody every checks the details.

Hope that helps.

I doubt that will work.

How do you get stamped into the country when you have not been stamped out ?

Naka.

Easy - Exit the country using the passport that you checked in with, and then upon re-entering, use the new one.

Not endorsing this, but easy done. I would also suspect that the Thai immigration computers might catch this.

Not a problem for me either - Just the paperwork getting a certificate from your embassy stating that you are legally able to marry - A bit of a hassle.

Is there any issues about a Thai getting married overseas?

They would have to meet the local requirements.

You are right - There seems to be no impediments from the Thai Government regarding Thai's marrying abroad, just the local requirements.

I just recieved approval of the 129F petition yesterday so it has taken just under a month from the time they recieved it. (july5) the next step as I understand it is the visa application to the embassy in BKK. I'm estimating the whole process to take 3 months but it is actually looking like it may be less. After the visa is approved by BKK you have a 4 month window to use it.

WOW!!

The U.S. Web site says they are now processing applications filed February 23! https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/NBCprocesstimes.jsp

I got my receipt dated August 11 so hopefully, in about a month, I will get my approval for my TW.

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.

Why a laptop?

When I moved to near Ubon with my TW, I took my desktop PC (less monitor) in my luggage from the U.S., and bought a monitor here.

It's a lot easer to use and upgrade than a laptop.

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...

All the links in the last couple of pages for speed tests elsewhere, will give you the upload speed.

ie: www.speedtest.net

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

Voip test http://myspeed.visualware.com/voip/

Thanx - The speakeasy is just what I am looking for.

I need to find a site where I can test both the up link and downland speed. The thread that I found only tests the downland.

I am trying to install a Internet phone, and the up link speed is as important as the download speed.

Thanx

I wonder why wind and rain affect a signal down a copper wire.

If it were satellite I would understand..........

the old UBC excuse.

It reminds me of an old wives tale in Bangkok.

The bank telephone connections to the ATM's were reputed to get worse when the birds arrived in winter,

as they all sat on the wire and it stretched, so the signal had further to go...............

It is my understanding that the signal is just like a microwave oven - When the wave hits a water molecule, it transfers it's energy into heat in the water, thus reducing the overall signal strength - Just like a microwave oven heats up a liquid.

Can anybody tell me how much it costs (Startup and Monthly)? I am living in Issan, and have a hard time getting DSL, due to the distance from the Substation.

Not a problem for me either - Just the paperwork getting a certificate from your embassy stating that you are legally able to marry - A bit of a hassle.

I have made an appointment for my new wife for a Visitors Visa with the U.S. Embassy for March 22.

I have the following information for them:

Both of our Passports.

Record of our wedding

Lease of a Condo in Jomtien Beach

Copy of her Farm land

Copy of the paperwork of her child in the University

Here is some background on us:

Her: She is a 48 year old Widow from Ubon. She has a child in the University and a younger daughter in High School. She inherited a farm from her deceased Husband 8 years ago, and still owns it. She also has never worked in a bar.

Me: I am a 65 year male, drawing pension benefits from the U.S. here, and plan to stay here.

Us: I met her on the Internet last year, and after lengthily correspondence, we met the first of the year, and moved in together to Jomtien Beach. The lease is in both of our names.

We have had a Buddhist wedding her in Jomtien Beach the end of February, and plan to have a legal wedding in Ubon on March 15. We have completed all of the paperwork for this as of today.

It would be nice to have my new wife visit my family in the States, for a short time, and we have no plans to immigrate there.

Does anybody have any information for us on other than the above documentation, what else would be helpful to us?

Thanx.

Hello everybody - My Thai wife (47) and myself (65 & U.S. Passport) are living in Jomtien Beach and are happy as a clam... except that our apartment has a long wait for DSL and I am limited to dial up - Bummer...

While I plan to stay here indefinitely, I would like to get her a visitors Visa to the U.S. for the usual reasons - Funerals, weddings etc. and also just to visit Friends. She was a widow, and has never been a bar girl and has always lived in Ubon and owns a farm there. She also has a son in College here.

I have tried to look up the information on this forum, but the Dial up simply is too slow to find anything! -

Can anybody tell me how to go about this? DO I need a service, etc.

Thanx,

Bill

Also remember that wireless has very limited range, especially through walls

No I have never been to Thailand before been researching it and learning some of the language for a year or 2 now. My apartment got broken into and all my stuff was stolen it was due to negligence on the apartment so I am getting a settlement check. My wife and I both decided this would be the best time to do the move. Most of our stuff was stolen so we do not have to worry about storing or giving away needless property, and we are going to get a hopefully 10-15k settlement check plus she gets 603 a month for a hearing disability. we are looking at about a 1,000 a month budget plus she would like to teach english since she minored in it in college. We are tired of mass sprawl so maybe somewhere with 30-50k people near water and kinda close 1-2 hours away from a airport.

Please help us out

Sounds like Pattaya/Jomtien fits this.

I use direct deposit for my U.S. pension check, and then use my ATM to withdraw cash. I have found that using a ATM card gives you the best rate, and lowest fees. You might want to check with several U.S. banks to find out how much they charge for overseas ATM transactions. Mine charges $1.50 per transaction.

A few recommendations. First, try booking on a foreign carrier. I have noticed they do not charge for flight changes...at least some don't. All US carriers do!

Second, I have been seeing incredible deals lately. EVA and China Air especially. But also JAL. I am in Las Vegas now and have been watching this closely as I am almost ready to buy tickets for my return to LOS. The best deals I have seen are around $625 without taxes and surcharges.

Here are some links to Bangkok based travel agencies. They have prices listed...but I have not checked the validity. They both list prices for one way tickets back to the USA.

Good luck!

http://www.travelconnecxion.com

http://www.travexnet.com

Thanx for the sites - I'll check them out.

I am presently in Hawaii (Big Island) and JAL is the only carrier that flies direct to Bangkok. They charge a $150 fee to change your return date. Their prices are O.K. about $850 with all of the taxes.

In my ongoing journey to move to Thailand, I asked my travel agent to buy me a round trip ticket, from Hawaii, with a return date several months in the future. The problem is that the airlines charge a penalty of $150-$200 to rebook my return, as I do not know when, (or if) I will return.

I remember reading on some board, that round trip tickets from Thailand to the U.S. were significantly less than the same ticket from the U.S. to Thailand.

She suggested that I purchase a one way ticket Hawaii – Bangkok – Singapore ticket, with the last portion fully refundable, to show Thai immigration that I had a outbound ticket, and then refund the last leg.

When I am ready to return, I would then buy a round ticket from Bangkok to the U.S. at a lower price than I would have paid.

Does anybody know if this is a viable option for me?

Not sure where the calculations are coming from?

I would guess that "1953" wouln't have paid any more than half a Million for these

properties, and his price would be based on what he has in them?

A 4 Million baht basic house generally rents for around 30k.

Pattaya not on that much of a roll

I would have thought 8k quite reasonable.

Cheers

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I think you could be right. 8K a month is 100K a year and if he paid 5-600K for a unit then that's a real fat return. If he paid 1 million its a 9.6% return and close to net as the tenant will pay utils etc.

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I don't care what he paid for my unit. That is his business. All I car about is that the place is as advertised, any problems fixed promptly, and If I decide to buy the unit from him, is the price fair compared tot he current market?

What he paid does not enter into the equation.

I just rented one from Eric sight unseen. Seems like a O.K. guy, and my Tilac and me are looking forward to moving in the first of February.

He has been very helpful in arranging a telephone line, DSL etc. and so far I am very pleased with him. He has offered to introduce my Tilac to other Thai ladies which will be a big help, as she does not know anybody there.

Thanks Eric

We really need a scorecard for your change of plans over the last three weeks:

12/10  Get US visa for Pattaya GF

12/11  Plan to move to Pattaya

12/26  Plan to move to Amnat Charoen

12/27  Plan to move to Ubon Ratenathani

Then you give totally false information about the marriage process (it takes less than 24 hours if you use a service and not more than three or four days without).

 

At the very least you do not seem to be on the save wavelength as the wife to be.

It is the commitment to each other and the partnership of being one is what I am attracted to also.

From the track record provided it is only with a full replacement guarantee.

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You missed this one Lop: From the Hua Hin Forum.

We are in the fresh fish business in Hawaii, and sell a lot of fresh fish to the hotels and restraints here.

We buy fish from the local fisherman (Tuna, Red snapper, MahiMahi, Marlin etc. but the supply is never steady enough.

I was told in another board that Hua Hin has a lot of fish processors.

Can anybody give me the URL or web sites for any?

I plan to visit there with my Thai bride-to-be at the end of January, and any

help would be appreciated.

No comment at this stage...just

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O.K. guys heres the story.

Fell for a Pattaya girl hard, but quickly realized that it would not work out, but still intend to move to Thailand.

As for the Fish business, I worked for a Fish company in the U.S., and they have asked me to find them a supplier. While the income from this would not be enough to sustain me, it would help a lot.

In the meantime, I met a sweet thing from Issan, and thought about moving to Ubon where she is living, but decided that this simply was to far to travel for the Fish, so we have rented a apartment in Jmptien beach starting the first of February.

Sty tuned for the outcome....

Bill

I remember Bangkok a couple of decades ago when half of the new buildings were "See through". They simply finished the outside, and left the inside empty because they could not give them away. What goes around comes around.