Anyone help with this one.

My wife and I are planning to visit the US in late August, but before that we are going to take a trip to Europe.

In order to fit both these trips in my wife will have to apply for a US Visitor Visa before she departs first to the UK sometime around the middle of June.

So her US Visa shall need to be issued 2 months before her planned arrival in the good old US of A.

Anyone done this before, or are US visas only issued imediately before departure?

She may enter the US at anytime before her visa expires. The immigration officer will determine her duration of stay.

The Expiration Date for the visa should not be confused with the authorized length of your stay in the U.S., given to you by the U.S. immigration inspector at port-of-entry, on the Arrival-Departure Record, Form I-94, or I-94W for the Visa Waiver Program. The visa expiration date has nothing to do with the authorized length of your stay in the U.S. for any given visit.

See also Reciprocity by Country (Thailand).

There is a very good chance that with you and your wife's background she will be given 10 year multi entry visa. At a minimum, I would expect it to be a 3 month single entry.

Note that the waiting time for an interview can be several weeks, so be sure to apply in time.

Remember that it is just as important to show you will return from visit and she will return with you.

TH