GinBoy2

Actually right now we're in Sweden for vacation then on to Thailand through March. As for my wife's overstay friends, not a one of them came with a bf in tow Regular tourist visas, overstayed then met a guy got married, then they apply for a change of status. One of our friends she was here close to 10 years overstay, before she married a guy from the local AFB. For her sins he got posted to Minot ND!

The CO's tread a difficult path. I won't deny I was totally pissed off when my then gf was denied a tourist visa after years of living together. But, my now wife is a legal resident, I look around her group of friends here in little 'ol Rapid City City South Dakota, with the exception of my wife and one other lady who like my wife came in as a resident, all of them came on tourist visas, overstayed, married a local guy the list goes on. The CO's have to navigate this minefield and I'm pretty sure it's not easy

Tourist visas are a real crap shoot. I understand the horrendous rate of single Thai women who come in and overstay, for various reasons and the obvious one is probably the one that occupies the CO most. But then there are the ones like my wife, who before we were married applied for a tourist visa and was denied. Brought up in Chicago as a teenager, US college educated, good job in Thailand, we owned our home, I thought it was a slam dunk, silly me. My only thought was that the CO 'thought' we would travel to the US get married and then apply for an adjustment of status, in order to bypass the normal immigration process. I also think by the time she gets to the interview the decision has already been made, and no matter what pile of documentation she has in her hand won't make a scrap of difference Ironically after we got legally married we applied for an immigrant visa, nothing in our life had changed except for that piece of paper, and it sailed though, and she's now a green card holder

The one thing I would add. For most of us reading this it sets off alarm bells. Imagine what it would do in a CO's mind processing a tourist visa. Tread very carefully, visas nowadays don't come cheap and just make sure you're not throwing money away at a hopeless cause

Language is tough. As I've said before my wife grew up in her teenage years in Chicago, then lived in Singapore where we met. When our son was young we did like almost all multilingual parents only spoke in one language at a time until he'd mastered them all. After that we generally always spoke English at home, except when my wife is really angry at me and it devolves into a Lao/Thai tirade, which since I speak both I understand. On the flip side, if I'm really pissed off with her I revert to Spanish, which she doesn't understand, but knows it's bad! But not sure I could live with someone where our mutual communication was severely limited. Not saying I need in depth conversation on particle physics, but just everyday chit chat on the weather, work, dinner, and my personal favorite politics which we argue about constantly. She loves Trump! Maybe it's the arguing thing I'd miss, rather than the default Thai female screaming

I must admit if she tells the OP she's a 'cashier' OMG the classic trap

Got to admit you're right, this sets off all the alarm bells. Two week holiday romance and we're talking about marriage!! It smacks of a middle man and middle aged angst, or madness you choose. The debt, being still married, elevate it to a four alarm fire. All that being said, maybe it is all real and doable, but for God's sake a long way from talking about bringing this woman to the UK. Tourist visas for Thai women to Western countries are notoriously hard, for very obvious reasons. My wife, who grew up as a teenager in the US when back in Thailand before we were married, good job still got denied a tourist visa and I'm pretty sure the same random stuff is true for UK tourist visas. But try that first, a lot of Thai women have a fantastical image of mythical magical farang land where the streets are paved with gold

The joys of journalism in Thailand is that you simply go back through your reports for 10+ years, copy and paste the same story and change the date! Jeez how many times to I have to read this fantasy

To reiterate what others have said. When my wife went back to Thailand last year, she realized upon entry her passport would expire in two months, right after she returned to the US. She went to the passport office in Khon Kaen, did the application, picked up the passport the next day. This isn't a problem you need to sweat about

Hmmm, I have a co-worker, she's early 50's married to a Jamaican 35 year old guy. He's already under a deportation order, I'd bet dollars to donuts I'd guarantee no matter how it turns out, either he gets a green card or he's deported it's over between them Cynical as I am sure he's sticking it out to get through immigration court

Well this thread turned out pretty toxic. Never quite got the real hatred some seem to feel towards homosexuality. Like I've said earlier my best friend in HS was gay. Somehow he he didn't seem to able to convert me to his 'team' even though back in the day we spent every waking hour together. I also find it perplexing that many of the zealots will decry male anal sex as a sin, whereas the biggest market for female anal porn is from men!

This was one of those moments I feel my age. I loved Starsky & Hutch, but every day we seem to lose another one of those icons of 70's TV. RIP David, a lot of us loved you

I've in several countries over my lifetime, but I never stopped reading, listening, watching US news outlets. And I might add something that still hangs on by a thread local newspapers for the home town news

Well thats a good point. I think for many of us as we age sex becomes less important, and just having someone to share life with becomes more important. Not saying me and MrsG don't go at it it like rabbits when we do, but it's most definitely not the defining aspect of our life together. Been together a long time, had our kids and now grandkids, so we're just kinda comfortable being around each other. Alone in the house as the kids are gone, happiness can be just hanging out, watching stupid Thai TV, laughing when someone farts, and just the familiarity of another human

Well I think all in all you have made the lives of three people better. Your stepdaughters have clearly thrived thanks to a good education, and you wife clearly has fully embraced her life in Europe Best any of us can say is that our life on earth was a plus to those around us

Yeah it actually worked out great for everyone. This year we all got together in Denver where my eldest daughter and Thai son live. Aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces. Added to the party this year, my youngest daughter and her new son, Thai son and his new daughter, then both my cousins adopted daughters both with twins, plus all the associated significant others. Life sometimes does actually work out for the best

Just for once as vile as Tate is, in this instance I actually agreed with him. I almost hate myself for saying that!

I watched a BBC documentary 10-15 years ago about the same thing. It's hardly new, but somehow it's less 'vile' than the story of men marrying much younger women in Thailand. As I recall in the documentary I watched, pretty much as soon as the guy was in the UK he was outta that relationship, if there ever really was one! Not uncommon with Thai women who marry a Western man, but I suspect much more common in the older woman younger man scenario

Anecdotally in a non scientific study, we've had a surge in COVID illness at work over the past month or two. I'd kinda forgotten about it than all of a sudden a bunch of folks started getting sick, all COVID. Nobody hospitalized, so that's good. I think we all just need to recognize that where we used to get an annual flu shot, you now get an annual flu+COVID shot. As for masks in hospitals. They are a seething hot mess of viruses and bacteria, wearing a mask won't kill you, catching one of those viruses just might!

My cousin actually did this. He'd been unlucky in love as we say, but he was in his late 40's had always wanted kids but at his age he didn't want to be the elderly dad taking kids to soccer games. He ended up meeting a woman in Mexico with kids, I think they were 10 and 11 at the time, and bingo he had his instant family. Obviously there are differences, we're hispanic everybody spoke Spanish and the cultures are the same, but it can work. 15 years have passed and they call him Dad and he is their Dad, don't think they have ever had any contact with their biological Dad or want to

Well support of family members is fairly common in asian cultures. My wife is a bit of an odd duck, after both her parents died young she and her siblings were farmed out to relatives. She considers herself the lucky one as she got to live with her aunt and uncle in Chicago and got educated in the US, with ultimately a great job and career. Her other four siblings, not so much. So unlike, I would suggest most Western societies she has always sent money, from even before I met her, to support brother sisters, and her Grandma who didn't have the breaks she had. Don't always knock the asian tradition of looking after family, if as they always say 'Im Lucky'

I was just thinking about that last sentence. Now all my kids both US and Thai are grown up and in their 20/30's. When we lived in Thailand I missed my girls terribly. When my Thai son told us he wasn't returning to Thailand after graduating college in the US, my wife cried for a week and it was the catalyst for our move to the US. Now with grandkids that all looks like a smart move. So don't write off those family ties they can be powerful emotions, especially as you get older

Thats slightly different. A K-1 is a single entry visa approved in the home country, the woman enters the US then marriage happens within 90 days, but then you still need to apply for immigrant status

On item 2, if you are applying for a US greencard, makes no difference to USCIS if you were married in the US or Thailand, so long as it's a legal marriage. One thing I would say, 'if' you think getting married in the US then apply for a change of status for your wife while in the US is a simple route, don't even think about it. USCIS views that very badly because they see it as trying to circumvent the normal immigration process

Really too many questions to give any practical advice. The age difference isn't terrible, so that's a plus. Is she looking to you as a way to get to the UK? Kids. Well how old are they? Speak any English? Little kids, well I've known a bunch of guys that have taken that on, and basically to all intents became their Dad Teenagers, especially boys can be a minefield, especially if their is no common language So go for your vacation, tread carefully but try to figure out at least the questions I would have, and don't just get overwhelmed by the situation, which for men can make us lose any common sense!