vfxguy

This is indeed a terrible tragedy. I would like to report that when I feel ill in Bangkok, I went to Phyyathai hospital and was immediately sent to emergency room without question of my financial situation. Hopefully Matt's incident is isolated and my condolences to friends and family.

Hi;

I have worked in Thailand for 10 years, and have decided to return to the states for a USA wedding ceremony (already had Thai ceremony, unregistered), and live there for a while before I retire. The papers to apply for a fiancee visa were mailed to the states today (my mom and sister will forward them to homeland security).

HOWEVER, this means I will be getting a fiancee visa to bring my wife to my mom's place in the states (81 years old and living alone in a big house since my dad died), and I have no job in the states. I will look for one when we get there.

Will this be a problem for my fiancee visa, being unemployed? I don't want to go first and break up our family here, and I would really want to be here for the interview (strong recommendation from others that have been thru the process).

As I have been gone for 10 years I would hope this would be ok, but I don't know. Anyone know the policy here?

Hi,

I brought my wife to the US in 2000 on a fiance visa (K-1) and had to provide paperwork demonstrating my ability to be her financial "sponsor." At that time, the main stipulation for the K-1 was that the couple wasn't already married and using the K-1 as a ruse for a marriage that had already taken place. Since your marriage is unregistered in Thailand, I don't think it's possible to get caught on that technicality. I don't know whether or not it would be advisable to go along to her interview or not—if the US authorities suspect you might already be married, they may care or not, I really don't know. In my case, my fiance got through the interview (without my presence) with no trouble and felt that the American embassy staff were friendly and helpful.

You will need to provide paperwork (in my case tax returns) to show that you make a minimum of 125% above the poverty line for your family size (family of 2 approx. $16,000) and submit that information on form I-134 Affidavit of Support. If you don't meet these requirements, you can have a co-sponsor for your fiance to meet the requirements for the Affidavit of Support.

A minimum list of documents needed:

Affidavit of Support (Form I-134/I-864)

Financial statements

One color photo of you and your spouse that meet all the USCIS requirements

Completed and singed Forms G-325A for you and your Fiancee

Passports

Divorce decrees (if applicable)

If you or your Faincee are using a name other than on the relevant document, you must submit any documents showing your legal name change (such as: marriage certificate, adoption decree or court order)

If you have all needed documentation and you meet the requirements the process is pretty straightforward and all you need is a little patience. The length of time it takes to process your application depends on the regional center that handles the application. When I applied, my fiance was here within 6 months and that was applying on the West Coast which handles a very large volume of visa applications. Finallly, at that time, the INS (now the USCIS) mandated that the fiancee was not in the US when the application was submitted.

Hope this helps,

Mark