Thai Wife To Usa

[perhamus]

I am married in New York State. I am unable to get a divorce from my wife in the USA. I have an O-A Visa and Thai wife (unregistered). I want to bring her to the USA. If we do not have a registered marriage, I do not think it is bigamy. Any tricks?

[thaihome]

She is only eligible for an immigration visa if she is your legal wife. The only other options that come to mind would be a tourist or student visa.

TH

Edited June 26, 2009 by thaihome

[submaniac]

She is only eligible for an immigration visa if she is your legal wife. The only other options that come to mind would be a tourist or student visa.

TH

+1. You two need to be legally married. But you are not. You are actually a bigamist, which will be a problem if a check is done to see whether you have been married before.

[DirectorIntegrityLegal]

Bigamy is defined as a legal marriage (or an attempt to execute an otherwise legal marriage) to two or more people at once. If you are not legally married to your significant other in Thailand, then you are not a bigamist (although if adultery is a crime in your jurisdiction then you could be in violation of that law).

If you have been in Thailand for a long period and can prove strong ties to the Kingdom, you may be able to get a tourist visa for your Thai significant other. Unless the Consular officer believes that you may be getting her a tourist visa in order to return to the USA to divorce your previous wife, marry your significant other, and then adjust her status. In that case, they may deny on 214b grounds (immigrant intent). Further, if this actually is your intention then a tourist visa is the wrong category to use and if she used it for the specific purpose of getting married and adjusting status, then you both could be liable for immigration fraud (fraud prevention is being conducted more zealously these days).

If you intend to marry her in the USA, then your best bet is to return to the United States, get a "quickie divorce" (prevalent in Nevada) from your current wife and then file a petition for a K-1 fiancee visa which is currently processing faster than the marriage visa categories.

I hope this was helpful.

Ben Hart

US Immigration Attorney

Integrity Legal

Edited June 28, 2009 by DirectorIntegrityLegal