HI,

My name is George. I am from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I am new here and not sure where to post this topic yet.

I visited Thailand a couple of years ago and met a very nice girl. We have been talking over internet and by phone for the last couple of years. It is our intention to marry next year, but there are so many stories and information out there about how to go about this.

I guess my first concern is what will happen after the official marriage date, which will be in June 2010. After that, how will I be able to bring her and her 8 yr. old son back to the States quickly? I fear leaving them for the number of months I am hearing about just to get the visa paperwork approved for them in order to leave the country.

If we marry in June, will I be able to bring her back within the 3 or 4 weeks that I will be in Thailand?

Any direction and advice is welcome.

Thank you.

HI,

My name is George. I am from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I am new here and not sure where to post this topic yet.

I visited Thailand a couple of years ago and met a very nice girl. We have been talking over internet and by phone for the last couple of years. It is our intention to marry next year, but there are so many stories and information out there about how to go about this.

I guess my first concern is what will happen after the official marriage date, which will be in June 2010. After that, how will I be able to bring her and her 8 yr. old son back to the States quickly? I fear leaving them for the number of months I am hearing about just to get the visa paperwork approved for them in order to leave the country.

If we marry in June, will I be able to bring her back within the 3 or 4 weeks that I will be in Thailand?

Any direction and advice is welcome.

Thank you.

I would start now by getting her a Fiance' K1- or K3 Visa which you can start doing now. If you do, unless things have changed from when I did it in 2004, you don't necessarily have to marry her in Thailand before she comes back. They are sort of a hybrid visa, meaning they are technically non-immigrant visa's, but they are specifically for someone who wishes to come to America to marry an American, and then stay. Once married, there are steps you can take to "switch" the visa to an immigrant one. This visa was created some years ago so that people wanting to come to America to marry weren't forced to lie on the tourist visa application when asked if they plan to try to stay permenently. You will need to show evidence of you having been to Thailand within the last two years, and any other supporting documents of your relationship will help. Emails, phone records, pictures of you two together, engagement ring reciept, etc. Once she comes to America you have 90 days to marry her or else she has to go back to Thailand. No extensions are available. I believe the child can be added to her visa.

A Google of Fiance'- K1 and K3 Visa yeilds many results:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/KN...Visa_081401.pdf

http://www.fianceevisas.com/k3-visa-marriage-visa.html

http://www.immihelp.com/visas/kvisa/

Here is Thai based company that I know many use there and is considered reliable.

http://www.siam-legal.com/US_Visa/k1-visa-thailand.php

Good luck.

SB

The short answer to your question is the K1 fiancee visa. You will want to apply soon as the process can take up to 9 months or even longer depending on exact circumstances. After she gets the visa, you can go to Thailand and have a Buddhist ceremony and reception, but don't sign any papers. You do NOT want to marry her legally in Thailand. This will slow down the process as brining a spouse to the US takes longer than a getting a fiancee there. After your trip she (and I believe her sone) can return with you to the US. In the US you will then have 90 days to get married and file for adjustment of status (basically this is the green card application).

This kind of question is better answered in the "Visas and migration to other countries" forum.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Visas-migrat...ntries-f25.html

Another website that I think is really good deals specifically with migration to the US. http://www.visajourney.com . There you can find people in your exact situation and determine how long the steps have taken in the past.

Welcome to Thai Visa Georgehn, and good luck.

I am moving this topic from “General topics” to the forum “Visas and migration to other countries”

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Maestro