My American brother lives in Chiang Mai with his girlfriend of two years. He bought her a house and they have a little business (don't know if it is legitimate or not) along with her brother. He has throat cancer and is undergoing treatments in Bangkok, which are going well. He has a retired person's visa. He would like to come home to visit as soon as he is strong enough, but will return to Thailand as he lives there.

We would like to have her come with him to visit. I can provide an affidavit of support for her.

Questions:

What is the best way for her to come with him?

Should they try to get married there? He said if they marry he would have to pay someone (is it her parents?) quite a bit of money. Is this true? She is late 30's and he is 50.

Should they try to get her a tourist visa (and can I help by providing an invitation and affidavit of support?)

I appreciate any input.

Thank you.

It's a tad strange that you are trying to pull together the details, rather than your brother and GF who live in Thailand. Since he lives with his GF in Thailand, he should be making the arrangements. He's the person who has assumed financial responsibility for her, not you.

He'd probably have more success traveling with his wife, rather than GF, but that a big step to take just so she can visit the folks. Some families insist on a dowry but, since he has already bought a home for her, that would seem to be sufficient. IMHO, if it was not, I'd drop her like a bad habit - but that's me.

I read thru your other posts and you have my sympathies in regard to your brothers situation.

In regard to getting his GF to the US – Since time is an issue they should not get married first. Sounds strange but getting a spouse into the US on a visa is actually more time consuming than getting a GF in on a fiancé visa.

You have two options depending upon the amount of time you would like his GF to enter the US. 1) Fiancé visa 2) Tourist visa. I suspect you all would like for her to stay in the US for more than a few weeks/months. So I think your best option is a fiancé visa.

This will allow her to enter the US. They then can get married in the US.

I would also recommend that you call/e-mail the US Embassy in Thailand. You do have some special circumstances and I think they will be more than helpful in getting the necessary things taken care of. Get in touch with the American Citizen Services section, explain the situation and see what they can do to help. They may actually be able to help in regard to other issues affecting your brother/family right now. I do not think they would consider this necessarily an emergency medical situation, but IMHO this is certainly worthy of some level of attention from the Embassy.

Embassy: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/