buck99

I am an American citizen on a Non Immigration "O" retirement visa that will expire on Sept 25, 2015, I am going to return back to the States, but I want to remain in Thailand through Oct or Nov. I did not top my bank account up to 800,000 Baht so a Non Immigratin "O" renewal is not an option. (I also don't want to go through the process of a letter of income from the U.S. embassy). What are my options now to remain another 60 days? Can I apply for a 30 day travel visa and the reapply again?

Thank you for your assistance.

No it wasn't necessary to prove it, but I plan to buy her travel health insurance while in the US. She now has health insurance for everywhere in the world except the USA through AXA. The premium including the USA was way high and I thought the chances of taking her to the U.S. were very slim.

My GF just got her passport back from the US Embassy 15 minutes ago. She applied on Tuesday and had the passport returned on Thursday. She got a 10 yr multi entry visa! That will allow her to stay up to 6 months at a time. I didn't expect that and am very happy with the outcome.

The whole point of the interview is for the applicant to prove his/her intention to return to their native country. It states in the US State Dept website that the interviewer assumes the position that the applicant will not return to his/her country and it is up to the applicant to convince the interviewer otherwise. Job, money, land, family,stability and obligations are what the interviewers are looking for.

Last Friday I was driving my car at the South end of Pattaya and a cop held up his hand for me to stop. I rolled down the window and the cop stuck his head in the car saying "New Car?" ( I have red plates) he then said "license?" And I reached in my wallet and handed him my license. He inspected it and handed it back to me smiling saying "new car? I nodded my head yes, took back the license, set it on the passenger seat and drove off. At the next stop light I picked up the license to put it back in my wallet and realized I had accidentally handed him my expired Phillippine motorcycle license. <deleted>???

So the new for today is they are going to "crack down" on minivans and "warn the jet ski mob. Would someone please wake me if there is some real news?

I am a U.S. citizen and in the process of obtaining a visitor visa for my GF. In the past few days I have been gathering documentation and filling out the forms. After completion, the GF will go through a mock interview process with a visa facilitator. We intend to apply at the end of November with a Dec/ Jan interview. I will post the results here whether successful or not.

It is not a "mock interview"... it is a real interview which she can easily fail. USA Embassy personnel are trained to look for fraud in the papers and the interview. Even a timid Thai girl may fail. The main point is to prove she will come back to Thailand on time. Try actually PROVING that and you understand the large job

you have at hand. American speaking, been there.

You need to learn to read more carefully. I will send her to a Visa Facilitator (a person who is experienced with obtaining visas for Thai) they will sit down with her and review the questions the "real" interviewer might ask her. It is not a real interview it is a "mock" (practice) interview. Is that clear to you now?

last time I looked the Application fee was $500 US dollars for Visa for USA . kinda spendy and it is nonrefundable if she fails interview

A tourist visa is $160 usd non refundable

Run! I know that is cynical,but what is her fascination with the USA?

You bring her to OZ and not good enough. Wow.

Rhodie do you really think once you've seen OZ you've seen it all??? Your a man of little curiosity!

Girlfriend/now wife had no problem applying for visa's for many countries. We never used any agencies just did as instructed by the web sites (it was very straight forward, though a pain collating info)

Buck 99 -what exactly is a mock interview process? Is this done in Thailand?

I plan to send her to a Visa facilitator who will sit down with her and prepare her for the interview. The Embassy interview is on your feet and only a few minutes. I think it will give the GF confidence in front of the interviewer and prevent her from saying the wrong thing. The Embassy fee is about 3,000 baht so if she can nail it the first time we will be ahead both time and money.

I am a U.S. citizen and in the process of obtaining a visitor visa for my GF. In the past few days I have been gathering documentation and filling out the forms. After completion, the GF will go through a mock interview process with a visa facilitator. We intend to apply at the end of November with a Dec/ Jan interview. I will post the results here whether successful or not.

I go to the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I bicycle on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Although I exercise each day, I don't like doing it.

Although I love bread, I don't eat much to watch my weight. The strangest sandwich I saw in Thailand was 2 scoops of ice cream on a hot dog bun.

I had money taken from my room safe in Mexico. I was at a 5 star resort and they took about 1/2 the $300 USD I had in the safe. That being said I think your pretty safe in higher end hotels that use a card readers on the door. They know who went in your room and at what time. At the better hotels they will have CCTV on every floor. That's a big deterrent. At the cheaper hotel are a different story and it's more of a risk.

I just returned from a well known Visa service here in Pattaya run by Brit. His reply was unless she owns land in Thailand and works for a well known company the chances of her obtaining a travel visa are zero. However, I have found that experts are often wrong and it sounds like getting a travel visa is a bit of a crap shoot. I will proceed with this quest and keep you informed. Thank you all for your input and suggestions. It's been a great help.

I have gone through the process a number of years ago and it took me 3 times and finally with some help. As you can see the opinions all varies but people chiming in Bullshit and stuff is misleading at least to me! Each case is very different and from your post reading each sentence there are plus and minus whether a visa can be obtained but none of the comments I would consider B.S.

The workers all have been given a specific guideline to go by and are noted in the comments I suggest you take your time and get all your ducks in order with proof. There are often request like your's but seldom do we ever get the final results? I for one would like and appreciate if you can post again as to the result of your request this would be hopeful to others in the future? As noted you do not want to get a refusal stamp it is basically a black mark and as noted to me recently ONLY THE VISA APPLICANT IS NOW ALLOW IN THE INTERVIEW?

Good luck

I have decided to get some professional help prior to starting the process as I am concerned that saying the wrong thing or not having the proper documentation could cause the travel visa to be denied. Misunderstandings, wrong answers and blank stares will not sit well with interviewers. There is an American owned agency in BKK that specializes in US visas and we are going to sit down with him and discuss the battle plan. As with most interviews, a short amount of time to get your point across and she needs to be prepared prior to walking in. I hope there will be some coaching and a mock interview to give her an idea what to expect.

There have been some conflicting information here as to how much I should be involved and I want that clarified. After the meeting with the Visa Service I will report back and hopefully be able to shed new light on the process.

I just returned from a well known Visa service here in Pattaya run by Brit. His reply was unless she owns land in Thailand and works for a well known company the chances of her obtaining a travel visa are zero. However, I have found that experts are often wrong and it sounds like getting a travel visa is a bit of a crap shoot. I will proceed with this quest and keep you informed. Thank you all for your input and suggestions. It's been a great help.

I was riding my Honda shadow 600 in the south of Cebu Island when a coconut fell from a tree and hit the top of my helmet. I was doing about 60 KM at the time and if it had hit just a few inches forward, I'm sure it would have killed me.

Another time I was riding near Vientaine Laos when a dog standing in the oncoming lane watched my approach. I was doing about 40 KM and at the last moment the dog leaped in front of me. I was pealed like a grape from the road rash but otherwise not badly hurt. It taught me all about protective clothing. When I tell that story, people always ask "what about the dog?". Unfortunately the dog trotted off unharmed.

Don't

Clever!

More to the point,

How will she get the time off work?

She works for a small firm and they have a slow period from September through October.

I have been with my Thai GF for 2 years and would love to take her for a tour of America in a motor home next year. She is 45 years, has a job as an accountant, money in the bank, has a 19 year old daughter in college. She has not traveled with the exception of a short visit to Cambodia.

I am a 67 year old man living in Thailand for 2 1/2 years on a retirement visa. I own a condo in Thailand, have money in the bank and substantial assets in the USA.

My questions are: what is the best approach to secure a travel visa for her? Do we do it on our own or go through a visa service? Are there any recommended Visa companies? What are the chances of her getting a travel visa? What is the estimated time required to go through the process? How long would she be able to stay in the USA? Are there any "do's or don'ts" that might facilitate the visa.

Thank you for any assistance.

They should follow the Tour de France in Thailand with the Macy Day parade.

Last month my GF had that same operation at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya. In addition to nasal polyps, her sinuses were infected and they also opened her septum to facilitate her breathing. She spent 2 nights in a private room and received excellent care. Within a few days she was feeling great. The total hospital and doctor bill was 180,000 baht.

Many years ago I had a U.S. dollar account in Thailand through the then Chase Manhattan Bank of New York branch here in Bangkok..

Don't think that is possible now with any bank.

Anyhow, there were and probably still would be restrictions on withdrawing funds in Thailand in dollars.

As I recall (it was a long time ago) I could deposit funds in dollars but only withdraw funds in Thailand in Thai baht.

And any funds I wanted to transfer out of country needed a tax form from the Thai government to transfer out of country.

That was a long time back though, 1990 or 1991.

The rules have been liberalized since then, it's now quite straight forward to move currency in and out and exchange at will, the only question is the cost. But actually, it's quite cost effective and very efficient for an American say to transfer USD from the US via Bangkok Bank New York using ACH and have those funds deposited in Thailand in a USD account, as long as they don't plan to transfer USD back out again.

My thoughts were to transfer dollars in and take dollars out. But after reading the BKK Bank web site and the replays here, it doesn't sound that it works that way. Do all withdraws need to be in Thai Baht?

I would like to open a U.S. Dollar account in Thailand. Is it possible? If so, where?