Us Tourist Visa Interview Approval / Rejection

[johndpoole]

So ... my GF had her appointment yesterday which they had to reschedule for today because the finger print machine was down. After the conclusion of the interview they told her to wait and then called her back to the window later and then told her to go home while they check and they would call her.

Being Thai, my GF didn't ask what they needed to check or when they would call. However, the did retain her passport. It appears that they have neither approved or disapproved her at this point but I am guessing it is a good sign they kept her paperwork and didn't give her a rejection letter as is the normal process from my understanding. I also believe that when approved they hold on to your passport and mail it to you.

Also interesting is the only thing they asked her for was the letter from her employer and a letter I wrote to them and of course the application. But kind of felt cheated after taking so much time putting together house deeds, copy of family ID and so on. The didn't even ask about money or want to see her bankbooks.

She said the interviewer was very nice and she answered all question 100% truthfully. Without getting to into it there are a couple issues including her being turned down for a fiance visa a number of years ago.

My guess is they will not call but instead either mail back the approved or rejected visa in the envelope they make you fill out. I also doubt there is any chance we will be able to call anyone there to get more info before we receive the mail from them.

Anyway ... anybody have any thoughts, experiences or heard of anything similar?

[Fred Sanford]

John, what documents did they keep exactly?

[johndpoole]

They kept everything they originally asked her for. Passport, letter from employer and letter from me. FYI, the letter from me was just stating I reside in Thailand and am already married but separated. I know they get concerned about people getting married in the US on a tourist visa and wanted to put their minds to rest. You actually just made me realize I put in my wife's name and DOB on the letter and jokingly said that I hoped they could verify this as I tried to get a copy of the marriage certificate online but the process takes months and since the wife and I haven't spoken in years -- wasn't going to see if she had a copy. I wonder if that is what they are going to verify.

But to your question ... when she went to the first window before the interview they looked at all the documents we put together and then she gave her everything back but my letter, her passport and the employment letter. They stated that is all the need. I wonder if they looked at the other stuff such as house deed, receipts, copies of my passport/visa and bank statements.

Hope that helps give some kind of insight. Obviously we will have an answer soon enough but we were expecting the answer yesterday only to be told to come back today and now being told to wait more and kind of sucks waiting ... though I should be used to waiting living in Thailand ;-)

[Fred Sanford]

John, thanks for that info. I will be trying for a tourist visa for my wife this year also. Our feeling is that you will get passport back with visa in 3 days.

My wife was wondering what questions they asked your gf in the interview. Thanks

[johndpoole]

John, thanks for that info. I will be trying for a tourist visa for my wife this year also. Our feeling is that you will get passport back with visa in 3 days.

My wife was wondering what questions they asked your gf in the interview. Thanks

From what she told me it was fairly simple. We were very curious too before hand. My understanding is there can be some tough interviewers who are not that nice. I was actually there once and heard an interviewer tell an applicant he thought she was lying and he said it numerous times and loud ... in English. This brings me to the suggestion that your wife indicate she prefers to speak Thai. There is an option for this on the application but I think my GF went to a Thai speaker because the first window asked what she preferred. My thoughts are if the embassy staff has taken the time to learn thai then they have more respect and appreciation of being here. Not that the others don't but I think you run less risk of getting some guy who was assigned here who doesn't want to be here.

As for the questions ... there was no interrogation but I do think some of the questions were verifying honesty on the form since he asked her a few basic questions from the form but in a slightly different manner ... but he didn't want any detailed. He asked things such as "when do you plan to go" and some basic stuff pertaining to her such as "were you turned down for a visa before" , "what do you do for work", "how much do you make" and "what is your boyfriends name" , "where is your bf now" ... mind you that all this info he had and he was not looking for more detailed info .. just kind of yes/no or simple one word responses. I am betting that your wife's questions will not be the same but will be similar in terms of verifying info.

I also strongly believe now the first window did look at all the documents we put together and possibly checked-off certain things such as her owning a home and bank info and that I do indeed live in BKK and have a visa to be here.

Oh ... and the first question he asked her was .. " why do you want to go" --- My GF was nervous and the first thing she said was she wanted to see snow. I think the guy appreciated this cause she said he laughed. It actually made her less nervous and then she explained the more telling info of the trip how I had not been back in the US a while and my daughter just had a baby and she wanted to accompany me to go visit and have us make a trip of it in terms of seeing different places in the USA. I just thought he snow answer was funny because in her mind it is a big thing she wants to see.

Before the interview ... I did do some asking on the board here and my understanding is if the Thai girl is over 30 (better 35+) then she has a shot of getting a tourist visa were under 30 is near impossible. I also think you should have no problems what-so-ever since it sounds like you were married here in Thailand. If you are married here then you cannot remarry her in the US to get her on track for citizenship. The US already recognizes your marriage here.

Remember this is for a tourist visa. Not sure about an immigration visa for a wife but know the fiance visa is very in depth because I looked at her paperwork from before. The bottom line on the Tourist Visa is they want to know she will not try to immigrate while their as a tourist and one way to show this is having ties here that would make her come back. So, be on the safe side and put together everything you got.

Good Luck (though I am guessing you won't need it) and thanks for the positive thoughts on our situation.

[johndpoole]

John, thanks for that info. I will be trying for a tourist visa for my wife this year also. Our feeling is that you will get passport back with visa in 3 days.

My wife was wondering what questions they asked your gf in the interview. Thanks

From what she told me it was fairly simple. We were very curious too before hand. My understanding is there can be some tough interviewers who are not that nice. I was actually there once and heard an interviewer tell an applicant he thought she was lying and he said it numerous times and loud ... in English. This brings me to the suggestion that your wife indicate she prefers to speak Thai. There is an option for this on the application but I think my GF went to a Thai speaker because the first window asked what she preferred. My thoughts are if the embassy staff has taken the time to learn thai then they have more respect and appreciation of being here. Not that the others don't but I think you run less risk of getting some guy who was assigned here who doesn't want to be here.

As for the questions ... there was no interrogation but I do think some of the questions were verifying honesty on the form since he asked her a few basic questions from the form but in a slightly different manner ... but he didn't want any detailed. He asked things such as "when do you plan to go" and some basic stuff pertaining to her such as "were you turned down for a visa before" , "what do you do for work", "how much do you make" and "what is your boyfriends name" , "where is your bf now" ... mind you that all this info he had and he was not looking for more detailed info .. just kind of yes/no or simple one word responses. I am betting that your wife's questions will not be the same but will be similar in terms of verifying info.

I also strongly believe now the first window did look at all the documents we put together and possibly checked-off certain things such as her owning a home and bank info and that I do indeed live in BKK and have a visa to be here.

Oh ... and the first question he asked her was .. " why do you want to go" --- My GF was nervous and the first thing she said was she wanted to see snow. I think the guy appreciated this cause she said he laughed. It actually made her less nervous and then she explained the more telling info of the trip how I had not been back in the US a while and my daughter just had a baby and she wanted to accompany me to go visit and have us make a trip of it in terms of seeing different places in the USA. I just thought he snow answer was funny because in her mind it is a big thing she wants to see.

Before the interview ... I did do some asking on the board here and my understanding is if the Thai girl is over 30 (better 35+) then she has a shot of getting a tourist visa were under 30 is near impossible. I also think you should have no problems what-so-ever since it sounds like you were married here in Thailand. If you are married here then you cannot remarry her in the US to get her on track for citizenship. The US already recognizes your marriage here.

Remember this is for a tourist visa. Not sure about an immigration visa for a wife but know the fiance visa is very in depth because I looked at her paperwork from before. The bottom line on the Tourist Visa is they want to know she will not try to immigrate while their as a tourist and one way to show this is having ties here that would make her come back. So, be on the safe side and put together everything you got.

Good Luck (though I am guessing you won't need it) and thanks for the positive thoughts on our situation.

PS. YOU will NOT be allowed into the embassy with your wife. I missed this part when I was reading through everything on the US/Thai Embassy Visa site. I knew I could not go to the interview but didn't know I could not even go inside at all with her.

[Fred Sanford]

Thanks a lot John. what you're saying makes a lot of sense. I've been here 8 years and have no desires to move back to USA and wife wishes to remain here and yes we were married here. We do have a 48-25 age diff so hopefully that wont matter.

[Fred Sanford]

Just a few more days for you Johnny. My wife is worried she will get denied. Ouch.

[johndpoole]

Just a few more days for you Johnny. My wife is worried she will get denied. Ouch.

I wish I didn't make the age comment because it really shouldn't apply to you. If there is a concern about this then put together paperwork, photos and so on proving your relationship is real. Even though it is a pain in the ass, get letters from neighbors stating you live together for x time if everything is in one or the others name.

One thing I did that I am not sure if made a difference is, I put together a numbered list of all the documents we had such as 1) House Deed, 2) Proof of residing in Thailand, 3) Letter from Employer .....

Although they will SURELY not look at the majority of paperwork, I think it helps it shows you are real and take the process serious.

I could be wrong but my understanding is few people, if married in Thailand, are refused a tourist visa. One big thing they look for is honesty. So, even if she had a minor arrest or something (they will find out), tell her to be honest on the application. And above all, I would suggest you make sure she is not nervous. It really will not be any kind of interrogation. It helped my GF to explain you can re-apply as many times as you like and as soon as you like. I told her if they turned her down to just ask why and what we can bring next time to fix any issue.

Still stressing over our situation but I am pretty confident you guys will be fine ... but not sure that helps since somebody telling me this right now would not help ;-)

[johndpoole]

Just a few more days for you Johnny. My wife is worried she will get denied. Ouch.

I wish I didn't make the age comment because it really shouldn't apply to you. If there is a concern about this then put together paperwork, photos and so on proving your relationship is real. Even though it is a pain in the ass, get letters from neighbors stating you live together for x time if everything is in one or the others name.

One thing I did that I am not sure if made a difference is, I put together a numbered list of all the documents we had such as 1) House Deed, 2) Proof of residing in Thailand, 3) Letter from Employer .....

Although they will SURELY not look at the majority of paperwork, I think it helps it shows you are real and take the process serious.

I could be wrong but my understanding is few people, if married in Thailand, are refused a tourist visa. One big thing they look for is honesty. So, even if she had a minor arrest or something (they will find out), tell her to be honest on the application. And above all, I would suggest you make sure she is not nervous. It really will not be any kind of interrogation. It helped my GF to explain you can re-apply as many times as you like and as soon as you like. I told her if they turned her down to just ask why and what we can bring next time to fix any issue.

Still stressing over our situation but I am pretty confident you guys will be fine ... but not sure that helps since somebody telling me this right now would not help ;-)

I would bet they also ask her if she has friends or relatives in the US. Because she is married here, her only choice for staying in the US would be illegally and if she has no means of support there then this would be hard to do.

I guess the other concern they could have to is you are bringing her to the US for some illegal purposes (to work in sex trade). Not sure how you could disprove this and not sure it is something you even want to show you have thought of previously, lol. But she definitely can do her best to look average and respectable at the interview ... no high heels, make-up, etc.

Remember that I am a novice at this too but did do a good chunk of asking and reading before. None of it amounted to helping much except for being as honest as possible, getting together as much paperwork as possible and just really laying out your plans to go and come back by listing where you intent to stay there (hotel name and address hopefully) and where you plan to vist. Obviously you cannot make bookings without an approval but she should have a good understanding of what the vacation will encompass.

[Fred Sanford]

thanks a lot john, that is helpful stuff. I think wife will present herself well as an intelligent, well dressed uni grad. some good pointers there and we both appreciate it. she was concerned that the embassy will think we are going after the wrong visa but i tell her that we have no desire to relocate to usa and we need to show that. another thing is that i have 2 condos here purchased by my brother. there are no names in the homebooks. dont know if this can help us prove anything. we live in one of these condos and rent out the other. cheers and thanks

[Arkady]

I think the prof is probably right about the lack of ties to make her return to Thailand or another country other than the US.

Re title deeds. It is not a surprise they didn't look at these. Owning property is not regarded by embassies as a reason to return home. When I went to apply one of the staff went down the line of applicants telling eveyone not to hand in their copies of title deeds. I am a bit surprised at the lack of interest in the bank book. They usually scrutinise the hel_l out of these looking monthly salary payments and evidence of savings. Maybe they thought there was nothing to look at, if there was no salary for them to look for coming in every month.