Usa Tourist Visa

[meme]

Hi again,

So once we interview (my thai husband) how long do we have to wait to find out the answer? Can we find out then and there or pick up the visa the next day or do we just wait until they mail us back the passport.

Also I never go an answer to this question so I will ask again in hopes...:

So I purchased a pin, and tried to book my husbands appointment.

We live in the South and I am a teacher so I can not go with him until Sept 22nd. However we are really worried that the price of our tickets are going to go up and up and up, so we would like to try for the visa ASAP(we cant buy the tickets until we have the visa cause we can not get our money back)Could he go alone to the interview or is this just a very bad idea?? for the Canadian embassy he interviewed once and I was not there, got the visa and then the second application he did not need a interview. If there is any chance that it will look bad if I am not there or that they may want to ask me questions then I will go. But it would be ideal if he could alone b/c then he could go sooner.

Just some more of his application:

we do not own anything except 2 motorbikes.

We both have jobs that we can prove that we have to return for

We only want to go to the US for 5 days on the way to Canada.

He has been to canada 2x on a tourist visa.

[Nordlys]

So once we interview (my thai husband) how long do we have to wait to find out the answer? Can we find out then and there or pick up the visa the next day or do we just wait until they mail us back the passport.

You'd find out immediately after the interview as you get your passport back on site if your application is denied. From what I remember having my Thai wife applied for U.S. tourist visa this March (which was granted) we were told it takes two working days till the post office delivers the passport to you. When we told them we only have three days left to travel to U.S. (during which time we also had to go apply for Mexican visa which would only be issued upon a valid U.S. visa on your passport) they put the passport on hold for delivery at Rong Muang Post Office (in the proximity of Banthadthong Road) where my wife went to pick up in person the day after the interview.

Could he go alone to the interview or is this just a very bad idea?? for the Canadian embassy he interviewed once and I was not there, got the visa and then the second application he did not need a interview. If there is any chance that it will look bad if I am not there or that they may want to ask me questions then I will go. But it would be ideal if he could alone b/c then he could go sooner.

When I went there with my wife they initially didn't even let me in the embassy compound when they found out I was simply accompanying my wife to the interview ('m not a US citizen and I don't need a visa as a tourist), until I told the security guards at the gate I wish to be interviewed together because my Thai wife is accompanying me to the U.S. for the business that concerns me. At the cocunter inside the embassy we were told whether or not I am allowed to be interviewed together depends upon the interviewer (farang). In the end we got the impression that it did help a great deal that I accompanied her when I answered most of the questions for wife in English (wife asked to be interviewed in Thai), even though most of them were simple questions like 'what's bringing you to U.S.?', 'how long are you staying there' and 'will you come back to Thailand?', etc. She might or might not have been granted a visa with the same interviewer if by herself, I don't know. We were lucky our interviewer was a nice friendly young lady and not a coercive type we saw on other counter desks.

Edited August 25, 2008 by Nordlys

[ProThaiExpat]

As teachers, you should be able to put together a brochure with all the relevent documents that address the issue "does your husband have a compelling reason to return to Thailand.

1. His ties to Thailand, ie. job, length, contract, post trip obligations in Thailand, etc. Letter from his headmaster, etc.

2.. Your relationship. Your ties to Thailand and length of stay in Thailand so far. Your visa status.

3. Anything you can think of to document, inclduing pictures, addressing the "compelling reasons" issue.

5. Prior foreign travel and return to Thailand is a biggie, photocopy of visa stamps and separte statement regarding this.

An index in the front of the brochure headed "Compelling Reasons to Return to Thailand" is a strong start. Thus under numbered headings you can cover the points above including a heading, "Prior foreign Travel"

When language breaks down under stress, the brochure will carry the day as it will give the interviewer somehting to look through.

If fingerprints are taken after the interview, you know the visa will be granted, as has been posted, delay in getting passport back is a good sign as well.

[ProThaiExpat]

P.S. my last: Make the reservations for the trip and include the travel agent itinerary in your brochure. They don't expect you to buy the ticket before you get the visa.

A detailed itinerary of your travel plans is a very good idea. Keep in mind that an intended itinerary is not the same thing as what you eventually intend to do, but it gives the interviewer and idea of what you will be doing in the U.S. and where you will be. Local contacts, phone numbers, places of stay, reservations, etc. all add to the "weight" of your application.

In a word, its a "sales pitch" on why they should let you in as he has "many compelling resons to return to Thailand"

Finances are not critical, but it helps if you include information on where travel funds are coming from. Copies of bank books, etc. help to verify you can afford the trip and he won't become a "public charge" while there. For five days, this is a small item.

[meme]

Thank you both for your comments very helpful!

He is not a teacher however but does have a job with an employer who will write him a letter, plus he goes to school and they have also written him letter for his past visas to Canada.

Thanks again

[TornedoX]

Thank you both for your comments very helpful!

He is not a teacher however but does have a job with an employer who will write him a letter, plus he goes to school and they have also written him letter for his past visas to Canada.

Thanks again

Hi Meme 2nd time your husband got canadian visa for how long? Is it still same 6 months valid or this time long term visa? I wonder Canada embassy only issues 6month visa or sometimes 2-5 years long time valid visa like USA?

Since you are canadian citizen, was it a problem for him to get Canadian visa? I guess he disclosed the truth in the visa application?

I hope since he went to Canada before and came back to Thailand, US officers will take it as a positive point to consider.

Thanks in advance if you have something to share.

[meme]

Thank you both for your comments very helpful!

He is not a teacher however but does have a job with an employer who will write him a letter, plus he goes to school and they have also written him letter for his past visas to Canada.

Thanks again

Hi Meme 2nd time your husband got canadian visa for how long? Is it still same 6 months valid or this time long term visa? I wonder Canada embassy only issues 6month visa or sometimes 2-5 years long time valid visa like USA?

Since you are canadian citizen, was it a problem for him to get Canadian visa? I guess he disclosed the truth in the visa application?

I hope since he went to Canada before and came back to Thailand, US officers will take it as a positive point to consider.

Thanks in advance if you have something to share.

Both times the Canadian embassy issued him a 3 month visa as we were only staying 6 weeks.

Yes he was honest during his visa application. For the first application, we were very prepared with a 30 page binder full of info on our relationship, our work, his family, police check..over and above what we were supposed to supply. While he does not own any land or property, he does go to school part time and work and we had letters from them, plus the head of his village wrote a letter on behalf of his mother saying that she was very dependent on him to physically be in Thailand. I also could show that I worked in Thailand(I do not own anything either), we lived together and that I had to return to my job after our holiday in Canada. Once he was in the interview, they spoke for an hour. The older Thai women who was interviewing him basically said all of our paper work could not guarantee that he would return. She asked a lot of questions about his family, his mother, if he thought he could live in Canada(which he does not want to do) and he answered her truthfully. She said she would belive him, grant him the visa and if he returned when he was supposed to it would be easier the next time. Sure enough the second application was handed in, no interview and visa was granted. Hope that helps

[meme]

Also:

Do I have to get our marriage certificate translated?

[Nordlys]

We brought untraslated original Thai marriage certificate but they never asked to see it.