daboyz1

A few things.

Marriage visa This visa will require that you are married before sending the petition to USCIS.

1. K-3 and and K-4 visas are for all intents and purposes not available any longer. K-3/K-4 requires that you file an I-130 and an I-129F. They are both still valid visas, but when the I-130 and I129F are approved at the same time and sent to NVC (State Dept.) they close the I-129F and you have to follow the I-130 route. The CR-1 visa is your option for your wife if you want to get married first.

2. The step-daughter. If you get married she would need a CR-2 visa and a separate I-130. There's been some odd things going on lately with the U.S. embassy in Bangkok and what they'll accept as proof of sole custody for the mother. They seem to have raised the bar recently. This means getting the biological father involved and having him sign some document, and in some cases unfortunately I have seen the biological father ask for some Baht for his signature.

3. U.S. domicile. You can use your mom's address as your U.S. domicile. All of the documentation after you file the I-130 (marriage) forms will go there. Receipt notices etc.

The marriage visa is the better route IMO if you're not in a hurry. It takes roughly 2-4 months longer than the fiancee visa (K-1), but it will result in a 2 year green card for your spouse and step-child about a month after their arrival in the U.S.

Fiancee Visa This visa will require a letter from your fiancee that states that she intends to marry you withing 90 days of her arrival to the U.S. The same documentation I mentioned about the step-daughter above will be required from the step-father for the step-daughter.

1. Fiancee visa requires that you file I-129F with USCIS in the U.S. You can list the step-daughter on the same form. Although this route is quicker, it will require to file an adjustment of status for both the wife and step-daughter after marriage that will cost an additional ~$1080 USD for each after arrival in the U.S. Also, the wife will not be able to work, and in some states not drive, until she gets her green card or EAD. This takes another 4-6 months.

2. The same domicile requirements apply with the Fiancee visa.

The quickest and easiest way of all is Direct Consular Filing (DCF) This will require to get married in Thailand and prove 6 months residency there with a valid Thai visa. (Not a tourist visa)

As far as the financial requirements, You'll need to show 125% of the poverty guidelines for this. Google form I-864P and it has the guidelines. I know that you can use certain liquid assets. I think for K visas you need to have liquid assets 3 times the 125% of the poverty level, and for CR-1 you will need 5 times the 125% of the poverty level. I don't believe that they will consider real estate as liquid assets. You can use bank accounts etc.

You need to go to visajourney and get an account there. It's free, and nothing beats that place for family based visas to the U.S. Just as nothing beats Thaivisa for visas to Thailand.

I'll keep my opinions of immigration lawyers to myself.

Good Luck! Feel free to PM me if you need anything.

Sometimes I think computers should be equipped with a breathalyzer. Either that, or you should be over 18 to post on TVF.

Aberdeen fees are not bad- but I note the interesting advice sent out by one of Goldman Sachs chief global investment advisors last week on his retirement . He noted that 75% of all mutual funds return less than low cost , tax friendly stock exchange index funds over any given period of time( index fees avg 0.2 % per year- 30 times less than Aberdeen ) with fees being one of the key factors of mutual funds under performing relative to index funds. He told all of his ex

Clients that if they want a good return just buy into various western and emerging market index funds and leave for a few years- historically that returns higher than mutual funds and individual stocks.

so what I am doing is parking a chuck of my cash ( currently earning zero taking into account inflation) ad buying into some emerging market indexes ( smaller emerging markets in Africa. Latin America south easy Asia plus USA ) and sum blue chip dividend stocks in USA-

Index funds seem to be the way to go. Earlier this year I went to an investment adviser on the recommendation of a friend and put some money with them and let them decide what to do with it. They put me in a few equity mutual funds. I noticed something curious. When the S&P 500 went up let's say .5% in a day, the funds that I owned would go up ~.3%. However, when the S&P 500 would go down .5%, the fund I owned would go down ~.8%. Of course this was over a few months time so there really wasn't a large enough sample to draw any conclusions. This did get me looking into these funds though. I went back and looked over past 1,3,5,10 years and none of these funds had ever come close to the performance of the S&P 500.

This got me looking a little deeper. There are all kinds of expense fees, 12-b1 fees, sales charges etc. with these funds. I watched a documentary on PBS here in the U.S. called Frontline. "The retirement gamble" was the name of the episode. That was the final straw. Turns out the funds that this "investment adviser" had me in had all kinds of associated 12b-1 fees, expense fees etc. etc. I called them and asked about this. The had no answer at all. I closed that account and moved my money into an S&P 500 index fund that has an annual expense fee of .06%. No other fees at all associated with it.

I think everyone that has money in a mutual fund or a 401k should watch that PBS documentary. I think you can watch it online for free. They went to few of these high priced fund managers and asked them why the vast majority of them could not even keep up with a simple index, and then on top of it charged these outrageous fees. The only answer they had was "We'll have to look at the numbers."

Here's the link to it. You can watch it online:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/retirement-gamble/the-retirement-gamble-facing-us-all/

Thaksin once again proving he cares little about the country. What's the Thai translation of "Let them eat cake?"

IS he the only one in history to lose bus US citizenship to become Thai ? I can't believe it !

It doesn't say he was. He is a "rare example" of an American making it big in Thailand, but he is amongst millions of foreigners, including other Americans, who have renounced their citizenship for other countries.

What's so special about US citizenship?

As far as I can tell it's the visa-free travel to alot of countries. Other than that, I can't think of anything.

Exactly.

I still have no idea what I signed.

Mm, that would be categorized as .....

>So I found myself asking again, "Why am I paying taxes?"

ockquote> If you never go back, why not just stop.

'Cause eventually, your passport will expire and then you're hooped.

I'm a U.S. citizen and I lived in Thailand for 3 years. You have to pay taxes to the U.S. govt. if you are citizen, no matter where you live. I found this odd. I kept asking myself "What am I paying taxes for?" I wasn't driving on any U.S. roads. I didn't have any children benefiting from education in the U.S. As far as I could tell, I was paying thousands of dollars a year in taxes simply for the privilege of carrying a U.S. passport.

I got stitched up at the Lad Phrao police station once, and was told to sign what I assumed was some sort of confession (It was all in Thai) When I refused, they showed me what jail looked like. I saw about 10 Thai guys in a cell that looked like it was made for 2. I kept calling the U.S. embassy ACS number over and over. No one answered. I ended up signing it and they let me go. I still have no idea what I signed. So I found myself asking again, "Why am I paying taxes?"

They prefer an election to a referendum, because they wouldn't get a majority "yes" vote for a single issue question. They probably wouldn't get a majority vote in an election, but that's easier to work around.

Bingo.

How many times did they jump up and down saying, "this is not about one man!" It always has been about one man.

Sometimes TVF really amazes me. I post on a U.S. immigration website daily, and sometimes here. The negativity here is off the charts. I wonder if some of these folks were this way before they came to Thailand, or that somehow living in Thailand made them this way?

I plan on moving back to Thailand in a few years. Sometimes spending time browsing here makes me hope I never run into another farang where I'll be living.

Please don't judge ALL Farangs on the evidence of Thai Visa postings.

Thereare some good guys on here - admittedly, I would not wish to be anywhete near breadbin!

I hear ya. I lived in BKK from 2004-2007 and met some pretty decent folks there. Seems like alot of angry people posting here. I guess I don't understand why people feel the need to come out and basically call people liars on a message board. What purpose does that serve? Better to not post at all.

Half truth - such as 'I am PM of Thailand'?

Now that's funny.

Anyone else noticed a drop in "red" supporters posting's here on TV?

Maybe Mr. T stopped paying for their internet access.

Assuming power given to you by coup takers

I see you still don't understand how things work in a constitutional monarchy. After the coup, there were elections. PPP (the predecessor to PTP) and their coalition partners won the elections in December 2007.

A coalition partner decided they didn't want to be part of that coalition any longer, and joined up with the democrats. The new coalition then had a majority of MPs, and Abhisit was made PM. No power was given to anyone by the coup makers. Last I checked one of the coup-makers is a member of the PTP now.

I'm starting to think they should post this at the beginning of every thread here related to the past 8 years of Thai politics. This is roughly the 100th time I've pointed this out here. I'm American and I get how it works.

We won't ask, the context and how it came about that some coalition partners jumped and who was involved in brokering the discussions.

From what I recall it had something to do with Newin Chidchob and the MPs lined up with him moving to the Democrats.

Thaksin probably didn't send a big enough wedding gift to his daughter's wedding or something minor like that. Who knows.

I just get tired of hearing how Abhisit was chosen PM by the folks who staged the coup. That's just factually inaccurate. But of course facts have never gotten in the way of Thaksin and his ilk playing the victim in the whole mess. I'm real curious to see what's going to happen now that big sis is an MP. Somehow I think Yingluck is going to have alot of time for shopping in the near future.

Is bush junior being president after dad has had a go an example of nepotism and cronyism? Or the fact that a brother is governor of a state. Or that dad was CIA?

Sure they all went through elections. Current Thai pm went through elections too, didn't she?

not supporting state of affairs in Thailand, where you actually need an article like this to state the bleeding obvious. But where and how do you draw the line?

Another example is Lee junior as Singapore pm. By all accounts, he is very smart and capable, but still a son of a ex pm.

Did the current Thai pm go through an election? Or is she a party list MP appointed to the top job by her brother?

I don't understand why people can't grasp how the political system works here. The current Thai PM (Yingluck) hasn't personally won any election. You are 100% right. She was a party list MP.

Assuming power given to you by coup takers

I see you still don't understand how things work in a constitutional monarchy. After the coup, there were elections. PPP (the predecessor to PTP) and their coalition partners won the elections in December 2007.

A coalition partner decided they didn't want to be part of that coalition any longer, and joined up with the democrats. The new coalition then had a majority of MPs, and Abhisit was made PM. No power was given to anyone by the coup makers. Last I checked one of the coup-makers is a member of the PTP now.

I'm starting to think they should post this at the beginning of every thread here related to the past 8 years of Thai politics. This is roughly the 100th time I've pointed this out here. I'm American and I get how it works.

Is bush junior being president after dad has had a go an example of nepotism and cronyism? Or the fact that a brother is governor of a state. Or that dad was CIA?

Sure they all went through elections. Current Thai pm went through elections too, didn't she?

not supporting state of affairs in Thailand, where you actually need an article like this to state the bleeding obvious. But where and how do you draw the line?

Another example is Lee junior as Singapore pm. By all accounts, he is very smart and capable, but still a son of a ex pm.

No, Yingluck didn't directly win any election. She was a party list candidate.

This post has the life expectancy of a housefly.

So, his alleged business representing Thailand in Iraq is not like seeking a position, but already having assumed one?

Yeah, why would you need to seek a position when you are already running the country?

Thanks UBON...

can anyone decipher for this for me....

I'm not sure if she's subject to

Two-Year Home-Country Physical Presence Requirement

outlined in this link:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1267.html#twoyear

Of the 3 points listed, I'm not sure if the Aupair program is government funded at all.

Or if she is subject to it, if she can get a waiver.

It is not only govt. funded, it is other careers as well. If she is subject to the 2 year HRR, Thailand is one of the countries where where a 2 year home residency requirement needs a waiver. She'll need a letter from the Thai govt. saying it's ok to waive the 2 year HRR. I think the letter required from the Thai govt. is called a "No objection letter"

I know someone that just went through this from Thailand that came to the U.S. on a marriage visa (CR-1) She was here in the U.S. on a J-1 for hotel management, so it's not just govt. funded. Granted she was was coming here on an immigrant visa, and not a non-immigrant visa. The good news is that you can apply for this waiver at the same time you are going through the process for an immigrant visa petition/application.

Here is an excerpt straight out of an email from the US Embassy in Bangkok:

Dear correspondent,

The 212(e) 2 year home residency requirement applies to all classes of immigrant visa including spouse visas.

Immigrant Visa Unit, US Embassy Bangkok

This email is UNCLASSIFIED.

You'll want to google 212( e )

A J-1 is an exchange visitor visa. Not quite sure why she would need a visitor visa, or any kind of visa for that matter if she is already in the U.S.? A visa simply allows a person the chance to enter the U.S.

I think what you mean is that her J-1 is about to expire and she wants to stay longer. Unfortunately, she can not legally stay longer than the date that is stamped on her I-94. It's not a good idea to overstay the length of the stamp on the I-94. Overstays of 0-6 months are usually forgiven. 180 days to 1 year overstay = 3 year ban. More than a year = 10 year ban.

I'm not asking about overstaying, though that information is welcome. Thanks for that.

What I mean is she wants to change from her current visa, to a standard visitor tourist visa. The purpose as you stated is so she can stay longer.

So what would the next step be to do that. Thanks for your reply.

No, she can't adjust status to a tourist visa while in the U.S. She would need to apply for one at a U.S. consulate in another country.

And what about transitioning from the J1 to a regular education visa. From what I understand, this isn't a problem assuming all the requirements are met... Is that correct?

I don't know too much about that. I'd look up form I-539. It looks like a J-1 can only change to a T or U visa. Here's the instruction link.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-539instr.pdf