Thai wife to visit america

[skiedit1]

I now am married to a thai citizen. We would now like to visit my family in the statrs. We have already been denied a tourist visa last year. Did all required paperwork and even did a spinsor letter. My question is; should we apply fir a marriage visa? Get married again in states? 

[rasg]

Why would you need to get married in the US? Your marriage is recognised anywhere in the world.

 

 

[GinBoy2]

A lot to think about here.

 

@rasg is correct, your Thai marriage is recognized by the US and you could indeed already apply for a IR1 or CR1 to get your wife permanent residency in the US.

That's a fairly quick process if you live in Thailand, since you can file in BKK, 100 days in our case.

It's an objective process rather than subjective process as with tourist visas. 

However it's not cheap, and I'm assuming that your wife hasn't done anything 'naughty' in the past, drugs, prostitution, and been caught! Because that would mean she wouldn't be able to get a clean police clearance

However, it sounds like you don't actually want to move home. 

That poses a problem.

Green card holders if they then intend to spend more than 1 year outside of the US they need to apply for  reentry permit to keep the green card valid.

But anything after 2 years and it's likely the green card will be revoked and you'd be back to square one

 

One last thing, when you say 'married' I'm making the assumption that you mean legally married, not just a Buddhist wedding ceremony. If that was the case whole different ball of wax

Edited March 19, 2019 by GinBoy2

[Elkski]

To add to the great advice but ginboy, a CR1 Visa application can be taken directly to US consulate in BKK saving 2-3 months I've read.  Don't ask me why.  It is lower cost than a K1 Visa with is about 60,000 baht.   You don't qualify for a K1 since your married.    I am considering but K1 Visa and also a cr1 Visa. But I want to live in the USA for 5 to 10 years and if I get married in Thailand and she cannot get a cr1 Visa then what do I do ?dump her?  it seems like the safer way is to get a K1 visa and let immigration decide if she is a worthy woman.   

[GinBoy2]

25 minutes ago, Elkski said:

To add to the great advice but ginboy, a CR1 Visa application can be taken directly to US consulate in BKK saving 2-3 months I've read.  Don't ask me why.  It is lower cost than a K1 Visa with is about 60,000 baht.   You don't qualify for a K1 since your married.    I am considering but K1 Visa and also a cr1 Visa. But I want to live in the USA for 5 to 10 years and if I get married in Thailand and she cannot get a cr1 Visa then what do I do ?dump her?  it seems like the safer way is to get a K1 visa and let immigration decide if she is a worthy woman.   

Remember by law as a US citizen you are entitled to bring your spouse to the United States.

 

Whether or not you do a K1 or CR1 the processing is the same.

The downside of bringing a fiance into the US on a K1 is the time it takes to process the adjustment of status and get the green card, 6-9 months.

Thats a bummer in terms of work, drivers lic etc, since until that adjustment happens they are still essentially tourists

Going down the CR1 route, if you do a direct consular filing with USCIS, it'll take 100 days, then the green card and SSN will show up 2 weeks after you land.

 

If you can't show that you have lived in Thailand for >6 months you are doomed to have to file with USCIS in Chicago, then prepare yourself for 12 months

 

But if there is anything that would disqualify her, regardless of which route you go K1 or CR1, the result would be the same.

Immigrant visas are very objective, if the boxes all get ticked it's a done deal.

 

 

I'm trying to remember how much it all cost, but was less than $1K all told as I recall