I-130 To Bkk Or U.s.

[gbt71fa]

I want to take Thaihome for some good info from another post. I just called the immigration service in BKK (U.S.) and the thai lady (spoke great English) said that A. I can send my I-130 to USICS to the U.S. or I could wait a full year from the time that we were married and then do an immigration visa and forgo the who K3 issue. Does anybody out there have anymore info on that? Thaihome explained that I could just take my I-130 to the USICS (probably wrong abb.) across the street from the consulate which seems a lot more reasonable and much less time consuming and it compares to information that I have gotten from others. It is a bit confusing...why didn't the Thai lady at the immigration office say the same thing? If this is the case then I plan to go down to BKK and turn in my I-130 and set up an appointment for my wife. I'm guessing that this whole process still takes about a year is that right?

[thaihome]

I have never heard that you must be married for a year in order to submit the I-130 (if that is what you were told). I have heard that you must have lived in Thailand for a year and must be able to prove it with visa extension and such in order to submit it to Bangkok USICS.

My understanding of the process is the Bangkok USICS office performs the same function as a US office and when that is complete and the petition is approved the paperwork is forwarded to the consulate for interview and issuing of the visa. From reports, that may be somewhat dated, the USICS takes a couple of weeks and the interview is scheduled 2-4 months in advance. I have been told of people going through the entire process in as little as 3 months, most of that waiting for interview.

I suggest you send an e-mail to the Bangkok USCIS office and confirm the process with them. It will probably be difficult to get past the receptionist and actually speak to a USICS officer on the phone

Good luck, I hope you keep us informed of your progress.

TH

[gbt71fa]

I have never heard that you must be married for a year in order to submit the I-130 (if that is what you were told). I have heard that you must have lived in Thailand for a year and must be able to prove it with visa extension and such in order to submit it to Bangkok USICS.

My understanding of the process is the Bangkok USICS office performs the same function as a US office and when that is complete and the petition is approved the paperwork is forwarded to the consulate for interview and issuing of the visa. From reports, that may be somewhat dated, the USICS takes a couple of weeks and the interview is scheduled 2-4 months in advance. I have been told of people going through the entire process in as little as 3 months, most of that waiting for interview.

I suggest you send an e-mail to the Bangkok USCIS office and confirm the process with them. It will probably be difficult to get past the receptionist and actually speak to a USICS officer on the phone

Good luck, I hope you keep us informed of your progress.

TH

We have only been married since 18 December 2006. I sure as heck don't want to be living in Thailand a year from now and then wait the ensuing months for her visa to come through. I just emailed the office and will be in Bangkok on Monday to bug them a bit. If I do have to send the paperwork back to the states then I want to get going with that...but it does scare me to send anything overseas using Thai Postal system...I am at a %50 success rate (or failure rate, depending on how you look at it). I shall keep you informed.

[thaihome]

I never use Post. It is worth extra money to send DHL or FEDEX. If you live in thailand, I dont' see any need to send anything to US.

You could go ahead and complete the I-130 form and take it down there and see what happens. Be sure to take proof you live in Thailand.

TH