Us Immigrant Visa (ir1) Approved

[gorshar]

Today my wife was approved for an immigrant visa (IR1 class) to the USA.

It was not difficult nor particularly time consuming.

Here’s how things went…

Well, first let’s back up to 2006 when she received her non-immigrant visa – a 10-year multi-entry. At the time I assumed the worst, heard all the horror stories and expected nothing but aggravation with the added consequence of putting my wife off to the process and prospect of even a simple visit to the US, never mind any thoughts to living there which at the time we had none.

Did the on-line application, made the interview appointment, paid the $100 fee at the post office, assembled the documents and showed up at the embassy at the appointed time. Three hours later she was called to her interview – this was back when spouses could still accompany the applicants in the waiting room – and after about 45 seconds she was approved and received a 10-year, multi-entry non-immigrant visa. Huh? Too easy.

About a month later I ran into an on-line acquaintance who at the time was finishing a stint at the US consulate in Vientiane. I asked him the hows and whys of how and why it was so easy…

How long you two known each other?

Eight years.

Married?

Two years.

Children?

One.

Educational background?

University degree.

Work? Well-known international corporation.

Slam dunk. Interview was so short as she was already approved. All the interviewer wanted to see was that the person at the window resembled the person described in the application. And by the way, if and when you ever go for an immigrant visa, she’ll be a slam dunk as well.

…She was.

Fast forward to January 2009. We decide to start the immigrant visa process. Step one is the I-130 to be filed at the USCIS/Dept of Homeland Security Office across the street from the US consulate. Probably the biggest initial hassle were the touts who hang around the lobby of the building accosting any western male/Thai female couple who might be starting the immigrant visa process – need assistance? An agent? Help? Good rates, guaranteed visa, yadda, yadda, yadda. Please shut up and go away.

There was one initial stumble. Once in the office, the lady (Thai woman, 50ish) behind the window said she couldn’t accept the I-130 application here on account of the fact we worked and more or less lived in Cambodia and we should submit the application to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh (we live in Siem Reap, 315 kms away) and they would forward the application.

Wrong, I said. My wife is a Thai citizen and the US Embassy in Phnom Penh only accepts applications for Cambodian citizens.

I can’t authorize this, she said again, you’ll have to get authorization from someone in authority, I can’t do it.

So we returned to the in-laws house in Thonburi and I called the USCIS office in Chicago and was greeted by an extremely pleasant woman who did everything she could to be helpful which unfortunately despite her best efforts (hearing her try to pronounce “Guangzhou” was worth the cost of the call alone), amounted to nothing more than reading an information sheet that was exactly as I had in front of me from their website. But she did go so far as to then give me the names of the director and deputy director at the office in Bangkok and suggested we call them.

The next morning I did and was told in a matter of seconds that of course the office would accept the application and to bring it straight down.

So we arrived with our application, money, and supporting docs and met the same woman who well, had that look of “oops” on her face. She proceeded to examine every single pen mark on the application, documents, and translations and found a handful of instances that essentially amounted to dotted t’s and crossed i’s and we had to fix them all. So it was back to fix all the t’s and i’s and back to the office a third time, again encountering agency touts and the like (don’t they have soliciting rules in Bangkok office buildings? Apparently not. But I digress…). This time the application was accepted and she said we could expect an answer in about four weeks.

While we were waiting another man (US) and his Thai wife presented themselves at the window with their application. He asks right away how long this will take. She said about four weeks. The man immediately slammed his fist on the counter, declared this an outrage, said as an American citizen he deserved better, and would be in touch with his congressman to sort out this outrage. The woman behind the window had this look like, oh great, here’s another one, go ahead buddy, call your congressman, call your senator, hey, you can even call the President for all we care. I thought to myself, probably going to post on Thaivisa tonight about how awful the system is, blah, blah, blah. For ****’s sake, buddy, give the system a chance. Your applying for an immigrant visa, not a member card at MK.

Anyway, the outrageous wait for approval, in our case, was not four weeks but about four days. Well done. The next packet of materials arrived – application form, form 864 (sponsor’s income statement), and all the instructions of what to do, where to do it, and what supporting documents to bring.

Now, this whole process, from initial submission of the I-130 to the issuance of the immigrant visa could have been in as little as three months… but there was one snafu. As her sponsor I had to submit a copy of my latest US tax return. Umm, ohh, umm….

Anyway… seven months later I was in good standing with the IRS and we resumed the immigrant visa process. Assembled all the documents, mailed in the application and got our appointment date. We did however request to postpone it on account of the fact that child number two’s birth was imminent and ultimately he was born two days before the original interview date.

A few days before the (new) appointment date (third week of November) we did the medical exam. Easy. Do it at BNH or Bumrungrad.

So we arrive for the appointment, and everything was okay except they needed US passports and CRBAs (Consular Report of Birth Abroad) for both children. Well child number two we don’t have yet as we just put the application in a few days ago.

Okay, no problem, come back when you have them.

As a matter of procedure we were handed the ugly “denial” letter even though we weren’t really denied, only delayed.

I would add, the marital evidence, i.e. photographs, letters, e-mails, names on bank accounts, etc we brought them and none was ever looked at or even asked for.

As an aside... as we had the newborn with us I was permitted to accompany my wife in the waiting room. During our two hours or so waiting, I witnessed dozens and dozens of non-immigrant visa interviews. I would make a rough guess that about 90% were approved. I’ve heard from other sources that this about right. The ones that were having the most difficulties were the ones using the boyfriend line. Students, professionals, families, etc seemed to encounter little trouble in getting visas. As for the dozen or so immigrant visa interviews we couldn’t hear them so well but judging by the looks on the faces… maybe half? But I could be wrong.

Anyway we returned to the embassy today to pick up child #2's docs and walked over to the visa section with them. We were told we’d have to wait a week as the consular officer was on vacation. I complained we needed to get back to our business in Cambodia as soon as possible, and what can be done. Wait a moment, she said and ten minutes later we were told, no problem, you’re approved for the visa.

We did however request a deferral as the visas are good for only six months from issuance and we don’t expect to leave until July. But as we will be in Cambodia for the foreseeable future we wanted to get this process of the way and have the security of an approved application so we can start making moving plans. Again, no problem from the embassy. We were given a letter that stated we had one year to return to the embassy and receive the visa. Come back with the letter and passport and you're good to go. And her non-immigrant visa was canceled with a thoroughly hideous big black ‘CANCELED WITHOUT PREJUDICE” stamp over it.

Overall, it was about three months of actual time in the system (I don't count the time needed to get my own tax situation sorted out), three trips to the USCIS/DHS office and two trips to the embassy (and one more to go for the visa), and $735. And as it’s an IR1 visa she gets a green card on arrival in the US and not a conditional one.

Now compare that to the procedure (AND COST!) and benefit(???) to perm residence in Thailand…. Hmmm..... Both non-immigrant and immigrant visa processes were cheaper and easier than anything we’ve gone through for my visas to Thailand.

So why do we hear so many times about how awful the procedure, non-imm or imm is when at least our own personal experiences with both were anything but? Is it because the successful applications which apparently outnumber the unsuccessful ones nobody bothers to post here about it and instead we hear only about the bad ones, which I do believe, in a lot of cases the posters might not be telling the whole story? I.E. “US immigration sucks they wouldn’t give my wife a visa!!!!!”, which is followed by fifteen “amens” when the poster might have wrote “US immigration sucks they wouldn’t give my wife, who I met last week in Nana Plaza, a visa!!!!!” I don’t know. I can speak only for myself.

No lawyers.

No agents.

No congressmen.

No lost tempers.

No rants and raves.

A few minor frustrations and inconveniences (some of which I've left out from above as they really weren't important and hardly worth losing one's temper over).

Two successful visas…

If anyone has any questions or want of advice, I’ll be happy to answer.

We're done.

[ericthai]

Good post, thanks.. I applied for the K1 visa in Sept, received approval from Department of Homeland Security on Oct 16th, then received a letter on Oct 24th with the case number and that everything has been forwarded to Bangkok. My Girlfriend received call from the Embassy about 2 weeks later and then sent out a pack that she received Nov 28th. So all of this went pretty fast.

Her and I have only been together for 3 years, but I have been living in Thailand for 10 years and own a company there which she works for my company. I included a letter i the documents that I was returning to live in the US to take care of my mom since she is now 76 and not able to do everything for herself. Right now Im working on getting together the other docs they want, which ons is the financial, and same case need to get this fixed, I was worried this might be a problem, but glad to hear it did not affect you.

I'm in the US now but will be back in Thailand the end of this month. I'm getting my account to do the yearly tax form for my salary and then will hire an account in the US to straighten everything out and bring me up to date, once that is all completed which I'm hoping will be by the end of January then we will submit everything else. Also glad to year you can postpone her departure as when I return I have meetings set up, hiring in a manager and want to spend time with him get things settled etc and expect this will take about 6 months. I hired my niece to come stay with my mom during this time. I really hope it goes as easy for me, as I have been a little concerned due to all the horror stories you hear.

Again, thanks for the post an congrads!!!!

[SaigonDaze]

Sounds just like how my process went, but through the US Consulate in HCMC. Biggest hassle is all the paperwork/translation that you have to do.

The conditional status is for her Visa, not her green card. She'll get the green card a few weeks after you arrive.

[boldfj]

Very informative OP. The process you followed is a vast improvement over what my Thai wife and I (US Citizen) went through several years ago. We started with the K3 visa application in 2002, after we were married here in Thailand. My wife finally received her Green Card after living and waiting several years in the USA. She never had any problems with any of the applications. The overall delay was solely due to the extremely long waiting times between each step in the process. So kudos to the USCIS and Dept. of Homeland Security for greatly improving the process.