Translations For Us Embassy, Tourist Visa Application

[meme]

We have everything all together for my husband's interview, but there are a couple things like a letter from his school, our marriage licence, a letter from the head of his village that are in Thai. We did not need to get any of this translated for his visa applications to go to Canada(has been granted 2 tourist visas to Canada) as all the people he delt with were Thai. But it is my understanding that he will be interviewed by an American at the US embassy. So do we need to have all of this translated?If he requests a translator at the interview could the translator not tell the interviewer what they say?

Also this brings me to my next question, my husband speaks English but his accent is very thick due to the fact that his Thai accent is a very heavy southern accent and can be very hard to understand by people who are not used to him. Should he ask for a translator just to be safe? Could they do the interview in English and then rely on the translator if they needed?

We are very prepared as we have done this already for his trips to Canada and he is only looking to stop in the US for 5 days en route to Canada.

[keg]

My Thai wife applied and received her US tourist visa last month. On your application for the visa you can request your interview be conducted in either english or Thai. My wife requested that it be conducted in Thai and even though the man conducting the interview was American he spoke Thai.

I can't answer you on the documents as evrything we had was translated.

Keg

[meme]

My Thai wife applied and received her US tourist visa last month. On your application for the visa you can request your interview be conducted in either english or Thai. My wife requested that it be conducted in Thai and even though the man conducting the interview was American he spoke Thai.

I can't answer you on the documents as evrything we had was translated.

Keg

Thanks so much Keg,

Did your wife want it in Thai b/c her English is not great or just to be safe? Do you think it mattered either way what language the interview was in?

Did you bring your bank book or did you bring a statement from the bank? For his Canadian visa we brought a statement from the bank that shows he has however many figures in his account. But it takes a week to get here and we dont have time, so was wondering if a bank book would be enough?

Were you allowed in the interview with her?

[shawndoc]

You don't need to have anything translated for the embassy. For the interview, the general consensus over at visajourney.com is that it is better to do the interview in English, as the Thai staff tend to be much more rude.

When my fiancee requested the interview in English, the lady at Window 5 said basically the same thing.

[meme]

You don't need to have anything translated for the embassy. For the interview, the general consensus over at visajourney.com is that it is better to do the interview in English, as the Thai staff tend to be much more rude.

When my fiancee requested the interview in English, the lady at Window 5 said basically the same thing.

Thank you shawndoc.

Were you allowed in the interview with your wife?

[shawndoc]

Thank you shawndoc.

Were you allowed in the interview with your wife?

I didn't attend. However all the accounts have been that starting in March of this year, the Bangkok embassy only allows the interviewee into the interview.

I only keep track of the K1/K3 visa forums, so the procedure may be different for the tourist visa.

Being a tourist visa, the main thing they are looking for is proof that your husband will return to Thailand. Just be sure he has lots of documentation of his ties to Thailand.

[thaihome]

[...Being a tourist visa, the main thing they are looking for is proof that your husband will return to Thailand. Just be sure he has lots of documentation of his ties to Thailand.

In this case it is much more important the the OP prove her ties to Thailand, her husband't ties to her are easy based on the marriage.

TH

[meme]

[...Being a tourist visa, the main thing they are looking for is proof that your husband will return to Thailand. Just be sure he has lots of documentation of his ties to Thailand.

In this case it is much more important the the OP prove her ties to Thailand, her husband't ties to her are easy based on the marriage.

TH

We can both prove our ties to Thailand as I work here and have letters from my employer stating that they are giving me a leave of absence as can he for his job, he also goes to school and has a letter from them plus we have a ton of other proof. Have been through this 2x with the Canadian embassy and we were successful both times(I have duel citizenship).

Just worried about the interview cause for the Canadian embassy he interviewed with a Thai. Want to make sure nothing will lost in translation if he interviews in English.

Also while I have your attention,

Can you get your passport back when you leave the embassy?

Cheers.

[shawndoc]

For the K1 Visa they held on to the passport for a few days before giving it back with the Visa stapled into it.

[keg]

meme,

I was in the room with my wife for the interview along with about hundred other people waiting for their interviews. They came around and asked that I not go up to the window with her as she will have to do the interview alone. She went to the window alone and I was close enough to hear some of the interview but due the noise, not all. I can assure you that the gentleman conducting the interview was an american as were the others at different windows, but they do speak Thai. My wife requested that the interview be conducted in Thai out of nervousness but after the man determined her English was adequate he spoke english. During other interviews I listened to that day, if the Thai person did not understand something in english they asked in thai.

We had copies of our Thai bank book pages and my US bank statements printed from the internet and did not reguire any letters from the banks. I also had a copy of the pension letter I had used for Immigration as well. Ours is a little bit different situation to yours as I am a US citizen, as is our son, but he seemed more concerned with my info and status as to that of my wife as mentioned by Thaihome in a post above. He wanted to see my visa status in Thailand and the rental paperwork where we lived, I believe to show that we do live in thailand and plan to return, and the proper marriage certificate. He asked very few questions, why are you going to the US, where do you live in Thailand, does your husband live here with you, and basically only looked at all of the documents

We only requested six weeks but they gave her the 10 year version of the tourist visa. We did not encounter any rude people, including the Thai staff doing the screening of the paperwork prior to getting into the interview room. It was crowded in the room and we had a 9:00 am appointment and got there about 7:45 am but the interview did not happen until 12:00pm.

We had to purchase an EMS envelope from the Thai Post kiosk and they mailed the passport back. We had it in two days. Not sure if you can pick it up at the embassy if you have an emergency, but don't think you can. You can have it mailed general delivery to a Bangkok post office as listed on the web site if that is needed.

Keg

Edited September 24, 2008 by keg

[andyc2006]

Thank you shawndoc.

Were you allowed in the interview with your wife?

I didn't attend. However all the accounts have been that starting in March of this year, the Bangkok embassy only allows the interviewee into the interview.

I only keep track of the K1/K3 visa forums, so the procedure may be different for the tourist visa.

Being a tourist visa, the main thing they are looking for is proof that your husband will return to Thailand. Just be sure he has lots of documentation of his ties to Thailand.

If there's a reason for the applicant to have a person join him/her at the tourist visa interview, indeed, it's allowed. Since I was listed as the person financing the trip of a person applying for a tourist visa to the US, I was allowed to show up and answer questions about that. I ended up being at the window with that person for the entire interview.

For the fiance visa, when my fiance had hers, I wasn't allowed to be there (at the window). However, I simply stood at the pillar and listened to her interview, just as I'd listened to all the interviews that were happening before hers.

And in my case (or technically, my fiance's case), it was a good thing that I was there. I'd forgotten to sign/notarize the form saying that I'd be financially responsible for her. Since I was there, with my passport, I was able to show that to the interviewer and sign it in front of him.