daboyz1

I just had an ugly mental picture of Jatuporn serving drinks in a short skirt,

This is what happens when one side of the political divide decides not to play by the rules. Thank Suthep for any violence

Jatuporn himself (among many others) set the precedent for this in 2010. They didn't follow the rules then and they got what they wanted. WHat's good for the goose is... well you know the rest.

yes therewill be tax, but not much.

5 rai will cost less than 20k total.

same day will require a bribe, 2-3k extra.

next day, no bribe.

Um ... I'm not sure where you get this figure from. As I understand it can be considerable more. So I suggest you take somewhat more money than that. It depends on a few factors as to how much/Rai you will need to pay ... where the land is will effect the price/Rai also.

Special rules for gift from parent to child, transfer costs a lot less.

That's what I had heard. That the transfer fee wouldn't be much since it's a gift from her mother.

Okay, but I guess that raises the issue that I'm currently only on a tourist visa.

I don't think you're eligible for DCF with a tourist visa. I'd shoot them an email and ask.

Step 1: The Department of Homeland Security

The process of applying for all categories of immigrant visas begins with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In most cases, this consists of filing a petition with the USCIS office having jurisdiction over the petitioner's place of residence in the United States. The petitioner should contact the appropriate USCIS office using the Government Pages of the local telephone directory or by going to the USCIS website. If the petitioner resides in the United States, the processing time varies depending on the service center where the petition is pending. 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]. To access USCIS forms, click here

Source:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/immigrant_visas.html

Do they ever make exceptions? I thought I read somewhere that they did. Would u say then this would all have to be done stateside then or do I need to marry first?

There's a multitude of reasons getting married first would be better. If you marry first, you can do it all while staying in Thailand.

1. The co-sponsor issue

2. Your spouse would get a green card after arrival in the U.S. without having to file more paperwork and pay $1000+ in filing fees. Also, she wouldn't be able to work, and in some states drive, if arriving on a K-1. Would have to wait for the adjustment of status to be approved.

3. You can do DCF in Thailand with a K-1.

The DCF thing is huge. It knocks the timeframe down to about 2-3 months versus 8 months or more if you go the K-1 route. That said, you need to show them 6+ months residence in Thailand with a valid visa. Not a tourist visa.

Alright I've posted over there. The main thing is that I'm in Thailand for the foreseeable future till we figure this out. I need to be able to file Direct to Consulate for that to work as I don't see how I can efficiently work this out stateside.

Can't do Direct to Consulate (Usually called Direct Consular Filing. DCF for short) for a K-1, only a CR-1 which means you would have to get married first. Also, on a CR-1 you CAN use a co-sponsor for the affidavit of support.

It's the timing Daboyz was commenting on. Abhisit wasn't elected immediately "after the coup".

Yes, exactly. The reason that's important, is because some of the Thaksin lovers like to run around here claiming that the military simply handed power to Abhisit after they stepped down. That wasn't the case at all.

Abhisit was chosen to take care after the coup, he wasn't trying to hold on to power I see it that he was doing his best during a bad time, aand during that we had you know who and red army trying to get their way through force the same one that is totally disrupting and destroying Thailand with want for greed and power.

Abhisit wasn't chosen after the coup. The PPP won 233 seats and the Democrats won 165 in the elections after the coup. Neither had a majority. PPP got together with Chart Thai and some other parties to form a majority and Samak was chosen as the PM. He got in trouble over his cooking show thing, and then Thaksin's brother in law Somchai was voted in by the MPs as PM. PPP and two other parties were disbanded due to electoral fraud in 2008. Chart Thai then decided to form a coalition with the Democrats and that gave them the majority in parliament and the MPs voted Abhisit as PM.

Democrats had the majority in parliament and the MPs CHOSE/voted---same same- Abhisit in, I said he was chosen you said not.

I wasn't disputing that. I was disputing that it was right after the coup. The PPP and their partners won the election after the coup. Samak (handpicked by Thaksin) was then elected PM by the MPs.

Abhisit was chosen to take care after the coup, he wasn't trying to hold on to power I see it that he was doing his best during a bad time, aand during that we had you know who and red army trying to get their way through force the same one that is totally disrupting and destroying Thailand with want for greed and power.

Abhisit wasn't chosen after the coup. The PPP won 233 seats and the Democrats won 165 in the elections after the coup. Neither had a majority. PPP got together with Chart Thai and some other parties to form a majority and Samak was chosen as the PM. He got in trouble over his cooking show thing, and then Thaksin's brother in law Somchai was voted in by the MPs as PM. PPP and two other parties were disbanded due to electoral fraud in 2008. Chart Thai then decided to form a coalition with the Democrats and that gave them the majority in parliament and the MPs voted Abhisit as PM.

The way I remember it, the PPP (Thaksin's party) won the most seats in the election after the military stepped aside, but not enough for a majority in parliament. They got together with a few other parties and formed a government. Those other parties then bailed out for whatever reason and joined the democrats to form a majority and they elected Abhisit PM. The Army didn't hand anyone anything. PPP couldn't hold the coalition together.

Really, TRT/PPP/PTP have done the same exact thing. That's how Samak and Somchai etc. were elected PM. By other MPs.

ETA:

Thaksin and the reds didn't like democracy, so they went ape$hit and held Bangkok hostage for 2 months and set a bunch of fires. Kinda like Suthep is doing now minus the fires. I wonder where he got the idea?

No not at all, 1 the law wasnt upheld and enforced and 2 the violence was a direct result of the unelected trying to hold onto power.

Who was unelected?

PAD, they havnt been elected since 1992 just appointed, not the same thing at all.

PAD? That's the yellow shirts. They're a protest movement like UDD/red shirts etc. They're not a political party that I'm aware of. Maybe you're confusing them with the Democrats.

In case you don't know how it works, the people elect MPs. The MPs then get together and form a majority unless their party outright wins a majority in parliament. That majority then elects the PM. That's how Abhisit ended up being PM. He was elected PM by a majority of the MPs in parliament. Same way Yingluck was elected PM. Same way Thaksin was elected PM etc. etc.

Roscco , I don't know exactly how long it will tale for a K-1 visa to process,

It all depends on many variables, It depends on where you file. which depend on where in the states you live, and the work load they have at the time,

once it is processed in the states, it will be send to the embassy in BKK, now it depends on the work load they have there, ,

once the package arrives in BKK your Fiance will be instructed to gather a number of necessary document and send them in,Then she will be scheduled an interview, If all the required document are not to their satisfaction they might request additional document, or they might do as they did to as, and place the case in administrative process and kick it back to the states for further clarification..

The time estimate they have in their website is just that,an estimate, they really don't know what the situation will be 6 months from now, it could be more, but it also could be less.

In addition to this forum, this is a good forum dedicated specifically to people getting a visa to the US,there you can talk to people who are going thorough the process right now and get better up to date info. you can also download all the necessary forms from there

http://www.visajourney.com/

This is a forum in Thai for Thai people, it will be good for your GF to talk to other Thai ladies in her language who are going through the same process.

http://www.usvisa4thai.com/

Post above pretty much sums it up.

One thing to add would be the I-134 (Affidavit of Support). The U.S. embassy in Bangkok doesn't allow co-sponsors for K visas except in rare cases. In one case I've seen it allowed, both parties had just finished university. Sounds like that's the case in the OPs situation.

Definitely need to check out visajourney. There's actually a Thai forum there for country specific questions as well.

No not at all, 1 the law wasnt upheld and enforced and 2 the violence was a direct result of the unelected trying to hold onto power.

Who was unelected?

My wife has dual U.S. and Thai citizenship. She has some land that was given to her and her siblings as a child from her parents. However, over the years my sister in law has conned my mother in law into getting loans against some of this land. I want to make sure this doesn't happen to my wife's part of the land. I'd like to get the land title transferred in to my wife's name while we're there on a 2 week visit for Songkran this coming April. Couple questions:

1. Will my wife being a dual citizen cause any issues? She did have her named legally changed to my last name in the Thai blue book, Thai ID card, Thai passport etc.

2. Will she have to pay any taxes or fees for a mother to daughter transfer?

3. Will two weeks be enough time to get this done, especially since it is during the Songkran holiday?

4. Is there some special document or procedure that needs to take place to guarantee that the family members can't borrow against or take control of the land once we are back in the U.S.?

Thanks in advance for the responses.

Why would the police do anything? They didn't do anything in 2010. They just stood around while Bangkok was held hostage for 2 months and then set on fire.

Argh, I lost a bet - I thought it was going to be Yingluck's son.

If you have a good time line on the bet, keep doubling down until you win.

LOL. Has to happen at some point.

They have to be running out of family members. Soon the family dog will be running in an election.

please explain.

who is providing the money and how much.

ps here's a hint, all foreign aid budgets have been slashed and there havn't really been any new programs announced for Thailand. Thailand dioesn't get much in aid anyway.

The majority of foreign aid in the world comes from the USA, EU, Japan, Canada &Australia. None of the aforementioned countries except Japan can be shown to have ever bribed in the past 25 years. It is a serious illegal act and the law is enforced.

Foreign aid by it's very nature IS a bribe. Look at the all the foreign aid the U.S. gives to countries like Pakistan, Egypt, etc. It's to get them to do what they want,

Possibly it suits everyone's purpose that he remains out of the country. Might explain the ease with which he fled the country.

He didn't flee, he was ousted in a military coup while holding a lecture about democracy at the U.N. Then he was convicted on trumped up charges and never extradited. And now you claim this was due to it being best for everyone. I want what you are smoking.

He fled while his proxies the PPP were in power. I guess the box of donuts didn't have quite enough cash in it.

Why didn't they mention that 82 protestors are in hospital? Three protestors are in critical condition from shot wounds (incl one to the head).

Why? Anybody? Rich teacher?

Thai Police vow to return peace after clashes this morning................

Maybe because the RTP want to keep the murders quiet

rtp.jpg

Where were these gung-ho cops in 2010 when Bangkok was held hostage for 2 months? As I recall it took the military to dislodge them, and that wasn't pretty.

you used red shirts and clever in the same sentence.

ETA: Weird how in 2010 Thaksin was paying the protesters, yet in 2013 the protesters are giving Suthep cash. Just an observation.

I'm embarrased for posters - like you - who resort to calling red shirts ignorant, stupid or buffalos. This is why the red shirts won't ever vote for the Democrats/ yellow shirts and this is why they despise Suthep and his cronies. Thaksin doesn't need to pay people to vote - people like you are doing the job for him.

Perhaps when you've lived in Thailand for some time you'll realise it's not a case of them versus us. It's much more complicated than that. I would suggest you try to learn more about all the parties involved in this issue.

I lived in Thailand for a few years and my wife is from Si Saket. I plan on moving up there in a year or two. Neither of those things make me any more or less qualified than anyone else to comment on this subject. Anyone who spends an hour looking at this objectively can tell you that Thaksin doesn't care one bit about the red shirts or the people in Isaan. He only cares about Thaksin. Yet these red shirts allow themselves to be used over and over again as a tool for one man's power and greed. I suspect after this rice bribe blows up in YL's face, which it seems likely to do, the reds will still vote for their fugitive hero in Dubai.

It's posters like you that need to learn the lesson. It's not complicated at all. It's one man simply buying power from poor voters with extravagant promises like "All Thais will be rich in 6 months" Sorry, anyone that buys that line IS ignorant and stupid. Perhaps you forgot about the 500 THB per day paid to the protesters in 2010. Or the confiscating of ID cards during those protests. Maybe you forgot about the calls to burn down Bangkok from the red stage. You must have also forgotten about the bill that was pushed through at 4 AM to absolve the meglomaniac in Dubai of all his crimes. None this would be happening right now if it wasn't for that. I suspect for whatever reason YOU can't look at the facts.

I'm no Suthep fan. but I was merely pointing out the oddity of protesters paying their protest leader, rather than the protest leader paying the protesters. I think that's very telling. If you can't see the difference there, I can't help you.

I would not be surprised if Suthep and his thugs end up preventing people from going to the polling stations.

don`t you mean the red shirts

No I think he means Suthep and his brainless thugs. The reds have never mentioned they will disrupt the elections. The reds have hardly been heard of during this and are acting maturely going about their day to day business. They already know they will win the election so no need to carry on like spoilt little rich kids who didn't get the new Ferrari for xmas

I believe it was Suthep who has vowed to disrupt the elections and polling booths not the redshirts. There will be a lot of polling booths north of Bangkok so that is going to take a lot of sheep to cover them all and extremely brave ones to venture north into red territory and use their standover and threatening tactics. I wonder what the life expectancy would be.

.

Absolutely right. The restraint and self control of the red shirts so far has been very impressive. They understand that the yellow shirts want to lure them onto the streets to engage in violence, which would give the army the excuse they need to stage a coup to "restore order". The red shirts are too clever to take the bait. All they have to do is sit tight until 2nd February.

Some of the posts on this topic are getting quite delusional. After all, the Thai people have already elected TS twice. Then they elected his brother in law. Then they elected his sister. Whatever his faults, there's no doubt who the Thai people want as their prime minister. That's why the so-called 'Democrats' aren't even going to bother lining out for this election.

you used red shirts and clever in the same sentence.

ETA: Weird how in 2010 Thaksin was paying the protesters, yet in 2013 the protesters are giving Suthep cash. Just an observation.

Isn't it amazing that border clashes seem to happen just before elections (in Thailand). Almost as if someone's eternal friend was asked to stir the pot a little.

Wag the dog.