daboyz1

And, now I'm wondering if we should just go for a non immigrant visa and apply for their citizenship there?? Wife can apply for green card upon arrival??

Any suggestions for that tactic?? or should we proceed with the immigrant visa??

The only non-immigrant visa you would be eligible for is a K-3 since you're married. Unfortunately, K-3 is no longer an option. IR-1 is the visa you need for your wife, and IR-2 for the step-child.

You should dig around on visajourney.com and ask questions there. You will get all the answers you need there concerning IR-1/IR-2.

Just returned from the Adoption office in the CM city hall and, yes, you were correct Mac in that we all would have to go down to the main office in BKK with a financial statement from my consulate/embassy to apply, then long wait [unless we greased some palms?] and no guarantees.

Luckily the passport office was in the same building and altho a super long queue, we wiggled our way up to the front [Thai style] and found out that the passport would be a simple matter after getting a form signed by our local amphor for the boy [who has the absentee deadbeat father]...........heard from the info girl that CM and other provincial offices are overloaded because that idiot Suthep is still occupying the offices in BKK.

I haven't found any reference on the immigration website to the kids having 'derivative status'.................it's a long winded website that is not easy to navigate, so if anyone has a link to that, please share.

And, now I'm wondering if we should just go for a non immigrant visa and apply for their citizenship there?? Wife can apply for green card upon arrival??

Any suggestions for that tactic?? or should we proceed with the immigrant visa??

They HAVE derivative status. They will be applying for IR-2 visas based on their relationship to the mother who will be applying for an IR-1 visa. There;s information all of the net concerning this. Here's one of many examples. http://lebanon.usembassy.gov/immigrant_visas/visa-categories/ir2/cr2-visas-children.html The adoption thing comes into play for citizenship later on.

As far as the adoption, I looked into this to adopt my niece. Thailand has some weird laws concerning this, and you're going down a road that you don't need to go down. If you want to adopt for some other reason other than immigration, then adopt them once you get the to the U.S.

Meaning that I have to go to BKK embassy?? or do I have to drag the whole family down?? and that's just for the initial application. Then, there is the interview as the last step, where the wife gets 'grilled' ..................another trip??

Good to hear about the derivative status from the mother.

Thanks.

But, they will face being deported when they are 18

Absolutely false. They will not face being deported when they are 18. Please post a source for this information.

Meaning that I have to go to BKK embassy?? or do I have to drag the whole family down?? and that's just for the initial application. Then, there is the interview as the last step, where the wife gets 'grilled' ..................another trip??

Good to hear about the derivative status from the mother.

Thanks.

For the initial application no one needs to go to BKK. However everyone will need to go for the interview. You can read a bit about it here:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/immigrant_visas/immigrant-visa-process.html

In a limited number of cases, if the petitioner can demonstrate current residence in Thailand for at least six months, the petition may be filed with the USCIS office in Bangkok. The general inquiry email box for USCIS Bangkok is [email protected].

If you have any questions, shoot them an email. I hear they're pretty good about responding.

Thanks Mac..................I was hoping to go the DCF route and I think that I can start the process at our Chiang Mai US Consulate. Will check more on the adoption issue. Wife says that both adoption and passport can be done at the CM city hall. sure would be a lot easier for us as we are just outside CM and BKK is a long way.

There's no need to adopt the kids in order to get visas for them. They get derivative status from the mother. I doubt you'll be able to do anything at the consulate in Chiang Mai either. They don't do anything with immigrant visas. Those are all taken care of in Bangkok.

Went to the PAO with half the village this morning and got everything ALMOST done. Turns out they redrew the boundaries for the Moobans and the pooyai baan we took no longer has anything to do with the land in question. Drove back from Si Saket and went to about 5 different houses until we found the right guy. Took him back to the PAO and got everything finished. My MIL has to go back in a month or so to pick up the new SPG(s) in my wife's name. Seems half the people up here have houses built on SPG land, so doesn't seem like it will be an issue down the road as long as the pooyai baan approves it.

A little advice. If you need to deal with this, get to the PAO as early as possible. They open at 8:30 but you want to get there early to get a number so that you're called early.

Not working well on my phone. Her hometown is Rasi Salai.

just dropped by to say hi to a fellow TV at Sisaket.

am now at Big C, waiting for my 3.40 movie.

Rasi Salai

where is your wife's hometown btw?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

just dropped by to say hi to a fellow TV at Sisaket.

am now at Big C, waiting for my 3.40 movie.

where is your wife's hometown btw?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

The land can be transferred to family. We went to the agricultural land office in si saket Friday. There were about 30 families doing just that. Unfortunately you need to bring the entire family as well as the poo yai ban. They ask some questions about how many kilos of rice are being produced each season etc. I talked to another faring in the village that built his house on sor por kor land and it wasn't a problem as long as the poo yai ban is cool with it. His wife has applied for a proper chanote. Apparently that takes a couple years. I'll post again tomorrow after the trip to the PAO.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation. I'm an American looking to build a house here in SiSaket.My wife has been in the U.S. for 5+ years and isn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of moving back to Thailand, especially Isaan. I'm in SiSaket now visiting for 3 weeks and laying the preliminary groundwork for moving here in a few years. I lived in Bangkok for 3 years about 8 years ago so I'm familiar with living in Thailand. Since you're American, I'm sure you're familiar with an American TV show called Green Acres. Keep that in mind. That's the difference between Bangkok and Isaan.

I went and talked to an Australian guy that's been living here in the village for a few years yesterday. Nice guy. Seems you can get decent internet access and there's a few TV options etc. out here. It seems one of the big things is making sure the Poo Yai Baan is cool with everything. They can make things easy, or really difficult. In our situation, the land my wife has is Sor Por Gor, which is land that doesn't have a proper chanote/title. So that raises some issues where we'll need the help of the poo yai baan as well.

Hmmm. I'm worried about the tourist visa.. we've applied for that for a visit and it didn't work. If we were already married, would that make it easier?

If you're going for a K1 or K3 visa, you're going to need to show that you can support your spouse in the US. If you have sponsors, that might work. But whatever you do, don't misrepresent that you want a K1 or K3 when you only intend to visit. Have solid plans for moving to the U.S., or you'll be denied.

K-3 visas are almost impossible to obtain, and have been since roughly 2009. The right marriage visa is a CR-1/IR-1.

'Chanote' is a title to the land. You've stated the land to be "so pa kor". It cant be both. I think that you're under the belief that 'Chanote' means 'the and papers'.

I found my answer here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/495031-whether-to-risk-buying-10-rai-of-land-with-sor-por-gor/

I found my answer here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/495031-whether-to-risk-buying-10-rai-of-land-with-sor-por-gor/

Getting some more info from the wife, apparently there is no chanote for the land right now. In 2-3 years the govt. will issue a chanote. This is very confusing.

I'm up here in Si Saket trying to figure out this land thing. My wife's mother in law is going to give her 4 rai in the village. My wife is saying that she can build a house on the land, but for some reason she can't sell it. She has the Chanote, but keeps yakking about something called so pa kor or SPA. Anyone have an idea what this means?

I'm up here in Si Saket trying to figure out this land thing. My wife's mother in law is going to give her 4 rai in the village. My wife is saying that she can build a house on the land, but for some reason she can't sell it. She has the Chanote, but keeps yakking about something called so pa kor or SPA. Anyone have an idea what this means?

Who is Samak Sunthonvej? Do they mean Samak Sundaravej?

Ah, the spelling police are on the job - but just remember it's only a transliteration, so does it make any really truly important difference?

Who is Samak Sunthonvej? Do they mean Samak Sundaravej?

Strange.................. I'm American and I walked into a Kasikorn Bank branch in BKK and opened my first Thai account just like I was in the states. Not a single problem and the officer spoke relatively good English. I'm with Krungthai Bank now and I'm very satisfied with them. We're going through them for our house mortgage.

Can you do an ACH transfer in the U.S. to your accounts at Kasikorn or Krungthai?

Nope, as far as I know only the Bangkok Bank New York branch has an ACH number which permits this low cost transfer service to in-Thailand Bangkok Bank branches for folks with U.S. bank accounts. Basically, a pricey wire/SWIFT transfer must be used for all other Thai banks.

That's what I thought. I don't want to pay the $35 per transfer.

Strange.................. I'm American and I walked into a Kasikorn Bank branch in BKK and opened my first Thai account just like I was in the states. Not a single problem and the officer spoke relatively good English. I'm with Krungthai Bank now and I'm very satisfied with them. We're going through them for our house mortgage.

Can you do an ACH transfer in the U.S. to your accounts at Kasikorn or Krungthai?

Thanks for the great advice!

I called the local USCIS office in Bangkok to see if I qualify for the Direct Consular Filing. That is, am I considered to be a Thailand resident for at least six months? The response I received was that because much of my time here has been on a tourist visa, it would be hard to demonstrate residency. They would not give me a specific set of requirements or criteria to meet. They only said residency qualification is determined on a case by case basis, and I would have to come down to their office. I could bring my bank book, passport, condo lease.

The deal is this... I lived in Thailand for five years. Then I went back to States for a year to take care of family business. Been back in Thailand for seven months now. Married for four of those months. Stayed in a monthly apartment for first the months. Now in a condo with six month lease. I have a TH drivers license. I only got my Non-O a couple of weeks ago. I've been with my wife for six years.

Any advice on what I can do to demonstrate residency?

I'd take what you have down there and see what they say. It sounds like they're not outright telling you no. What type of Thai visa did you have for the previous 5 years?