Thai Wife Going To Us

[jwales1980]

I recently married my Thai girlfriend of 2 & 1/2 years and are getting ready to apply for her visas to the USA. She is currently in Bangkok and I am in US right now. I could really use some advice on which visas to apply for. Here are my questions:

1. Even though we are already married, I had heard that we can still apply for the K-1 fiance visa which would allow her to wait out the permanent visa in the US. Is this true and does anyone have any experience with this?

2. I am will be relocating in the US (from California to Florida). Will it be better to apply for the visas once I am settled in the new location? As I understand it, where I will apply for the visa application will change. Any knowledge of this?

3. What parts of the visa application do I need to be present for in Bangkok? The earliest I can be back there is 6-7 months and am curious as to when I should submit the application and set up the consul interview.

4. I have been informed that she will need medical inspections by specifically approved doctors appointed by the consular. How do we know which doctor to go and see before the interview?

If anyone can help answer these questions and any other advice or tips you can give, I would so much appreciate it! Thank you in advance for you time and assistance!

[tripplejjj]

Hi,

You should really start here and do it right from the beginning. As I understand it, it is a lengthy process and it would be best that you settle in Florida first or set up a forwarding address from California to Florida. However, do get the paperwork and start filling in answers and getting all the supporting documentations ready.

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/immigrant_visas/immigrant-visa-process.html

[shawndoc]

I highly suggest you check out the site Visajourney.com which is a site dedicated to helping people navigate family visas into the US (K1/K3, etc). They have checklists, example forms (forms prefilled out with example info) and message boards dedicated to discussing the various types of visas and stages in the process. It got me through the process with my wife, no lawyers required.

1. No, you cannot apply for K1. If the interviewer gets any hint that you might already be married, they will deny your application and require you to apply again. People who have gotten non-legal wedding ceremonies and added those photos into their proof of relationship packets have gotten denied even though the wedding ceremony was not legally binding. You want to apply for a K3 visa.

2. It might be. East Coast vs West Coast use different service centers, and changing the address has the potential to slow things down. I've also seen numerous reports in the VJ forums from people whose change of address didn't properly get updated/changed despite sending in the proper paperwork when they moved.

3. None. There is absolutely no part of the process that requires you to be there. She is going to have to fill out a bunch of forms at some point and sign off on them. If her English skills aren't that great, you'll probably either want to help her fill them out in person, or fill out the forms for her and Fedex them to her to sign and return.

4. The embassy will provide her with the list of approved hospitals and the paperwork they need to fill out and submit. You can find a copy of the Packet 3 information on the Embassy website if you want to plan ahead:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/immigrant_vis...structions.html

Honestly, the hardest part of the whole process was the waiting (and wait times are much shorter now than they were when I went through). The next hardest thing was the submitting of photographs. We had a hel_l of a time finding a place that could figure out how to provide us photos to the US Embassy's specifications or who wouldn't retouch the photos before giving them to us. No matter how many times we told them not to touch up the photographs, and they promised they wouldn't, we'd get back photos with obvious Photoshopped makeup or editing or the sizes wouldn't match the embassy specs. I'm guessing places in Bangkok (especially those near the embassy) are more familiar with the requirements and would be easier to get the proper results from.

Edited February 6, 2010 by shawndoc

[jwales1980]

Thank you again for your insight. I know we are in for a time consuming process, but I want to make sure that we get it done right the first time to avoid any further delays. As far as the pictures, can you tell me more about the specifications? I was just planning on printing a lot of the photos that we have taken on my many visits to Thailand. Do you they have to be specific size? I was going to have them printed here in the US to avoid any editing.

Also about the hospitals, would you recommend she make a stop at the embassy now and get the necessary forms and locations. I will be following your suggestion about filling out the documents and sending them to her, but the hospital documents are not available online are they?

Again . . thank you!!

[shawndoc]

If you go to the link I included at the Embassy site, you'll see the medial forms are available for download. However, you won't be able to do anything with them yet. You'll need to submit your petition and have it approved and forwarded to the embassy in Bangkok first, as they'll need to assign her a case number for the Hospital to use. Also, it pays to get the medical exam as late as possible, that way when you adjust for status you can use the Bangkok hospital visit to satisfy the doctor's visit that's required for that part of the process. I think it has to be within 1 year to use it for adjustment of status as well as for Visa processing.

As for the photos, yes, you'll be submitting normal holiday type snaps to prove relationship. But you also have to submit "passport style" photos with a bunch of the forms (It was 6 or 8 of them) used during the process. I don't remember the specs off hand, but the photos needed to be something like 2" by 2" with the face being no smaller than a certain size and no larger than a certain size. All the instructions comes with the forms you'll be filling out.

One thing I'd suggest starting right away, is to get the current list of required vaccinations (I think its on the Embassy site somewhere, if not people in the Sawasdee thread at Visajourney will know where to find it) and start getting those done now. Several of them require multiple shots spread out over several months, so they can leave you in the lurch if you don't start early. And be sure she has the shots documented.

Otherwise there's no real gotchas. Its just a lot of paperwork (much of it redundant) that you need to fill out. Use the checklists at Visajourney to make sure you've done everything required, and double and triple check everything. One missed signature spot or missed field can delay your case by several months. If you aren't sure what exactly they are looking for, check out the sample forms at VJ or search the forums there. I guarantee you several other people have asked before you, and the answer is there.

And if really in doubt, hire a lawyer. I was tight on money, so did it all myself, using VJ to help me along when I got stuck or wasn't 100% sure what info they were looking for on the forms. I didn't run into any problems during the process, and never got hit with a Request for Information or anything else.

Hope that helps.

[Curt1591]

Whatever route you take, save copies of all your paperwork; YOU WILL NEED THEM!

The US government is into redundancy.

[DirectorIntegrityLegal]

I'm not trying to burn anyone here, but the original poster would be wise to not search for legal advice strictly from the internet as information on the net is often less than reliable. I will interlineate my responses for clarity:

1. Even though we are already married, I had heard that we can still apply for the K-1 fiance visa which would allow her to wait out the permanent visa in the US. Is this true and does anyone have any experience with this?

This depends upon if your marriage is registered or unregistered in Thailand (assuming that is where the two of you have had the ceremony). If you have simply had a ceremony and did not register the marriage, then the two of you are not legally married and, assuming you both are not legally married to other parties, you are legally free to marry each other in the US and thus meet this requirement for K-1 petition approval. I have represented many clients who have unregistered customary marriages. We disclose this at all phases of the process. Honesty is always the best policy when it comes to US Immigration.

2. I am will be relocating in the US (from California to Florida). Will it be better to apply for the visas once I am settled in the new location? As I understand it, where I will apply for the visa application will change. Any knowledge of this?

It may be wise to wait until you relocate to file the petition. As a pro se filer you may wind up losing documentation if you file while you are in transit. These two states are in different USCIS jurisdictions for purposes of I-129f petition submission. If you are filing an I-130 petition then all applications currently go to one location.

3. What parts of the visa application do I need to be present for in Bangkok? The earliest I can be back there is 6-7 months and am curious as to when I should submit the application and set up the consul interview.

As you may be aware the Consulate does not allow anyone (spouses and fiancees included) to be present at the time of the visa interview. Generally it takes 5 months for USCIS to process the application, another 2-3 weeks for NVC to run a security clearance and forward the petition to the Embassy, and the Embassy is getting the interviews scheduled quite quickly right now, but the Embassy appointment time will depend upon how fast you can get them the required documentation. The Embassy should notify you, your fiancee, or your licensed representative when they have opened a file and are prepared to receive your application.

4. I have been informed that she will need medical inspections by specifically approved doctors appointed by the consular. How do we know which doctor to go and see before the interview?

The type of doctor she needs to see is called a civil surgeon. The list of hospitals with civil surgeons is on the US Embassy's website.

I hope this was helpful.

All the Best,

Ben Hart

US Immigration Attorney

Integrity Legal

[jwales1980]

Thank you all so much for you insight. You really have made this process so much easier to understand already!!!