Marrage Visa To The States

[tracman]

Hi Folks, I will be getting married to a Thai lady in August. I need to know the process to bring her to the States. I have looked at the Gov. site and it confuses the hel_l out of me. Is it faster to say she is my fiance or wife to get her in the states? We will be getting married in Thailand, but if we don't registerit is not legal in the US. We could get married again in the states if it is easier to bring her in. I would apprecialte any input.

Thanks

[daveh]

Hi Folks, I will be getting married to a Thai lady in August. I need to know the process to bring her to the States. I have looked at the Gov. site and it confuses the hel_l out of me. Is it faster to say she is my fiance or wife to get her in the states? We will be getting married in Thailand, but if we don't registerit is not legal in the US. We could get married again in the states if it is easier to bring her in. I would apprecialte any input.

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congratulations!

I just finished this process. For me, it was 6 months from the time I filed a Petition for Alien Fiancee to the time she arrived in the States. Then it took another 7 months for the adjustment of status (green card) to go through.

In July, I proposed to her (lots of pictures) and moved to the US to take on a wonderful new job. In August, I filed the petition. In September, it was approved. We had a ceremony in Thailand in November (lots of pictures), but didn't register.

She filed her paperwork as soon as she could (I made it a point to send a copy of all the forms pre-filled out for her before she even got them. They were not always 100% the same, but she was always able to fill out the embassy forms from the forms I sent her). She originally had her interview scheduled in late January, then they moved it to early January, then back to late January following the psunami. She was approved, after a one day screw-up on their part, then she came to the states the following week.

After she got here, we got married on paper. I had to wait for some tax info to come in the mail before I could file my 2004 returns, which they needed for the adjustment of status. I filled that out in April or so (you have 90 days to get married and file the adjustment of status paperwork). We went for her greencard interview a couple weeks ago, and they sent her her green card last week.

The process was fairly painless for me, but I've read it could be very difficult for some. I know a guy that used an attorney who recommended that he use his parents ' address because "it would be faster" than in California. He got an outright rejection. I still don't know the details.

I didn't use a lawyer, but I did read up a great deal on the subject. There is a great book by Nolo press, Fiance & Marriage Visas: A Couple's Guide to U.S. Immigration. By reading this, I was well aware of every step of the process before going through it.

Typically, it takes a little longer to get a visa for an alien spouse if you are living in the states, and she in Thailand, than it is to get a fiance visa. When you go through this process remember one word, evidence. You should have lots and lots of evidence to show you have a bonafide relationship.

Your first step is filing the I-129F along with supporting documentation.

Good luck.

[tracman]

Hi Folks, I will be getting married to a Thai lady in August. I need to know the process to bring her to the States. I have looked at the Gov. site and it confuses the hel_l out of me. Is it faster to say she is my fiance or wife to get her in the states? We will be getting married in Thailand, but if we don't registerit is not legal in the US. We could get married again in the states if it is easier to bring her in. I would apprecialte any input.

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congratulations!

I just finished this process. For me, it was 6 months from the time I filed a Petition for Alien Fiancee to the time she arrived in the States. Then it took another 7 months for the adjustment of status (green card) to go through.

In July, I proposed to her (lots of pictures) and moved to the US to take on a wonderful new job. In August, I filed the petition. In September, it was approved. We had a ceremony in Thailand in November (lots of pictures), but didn't register.

She filed her paperwork as soon as she could (I made it a point to send a copy of all the forms pre-filled out for her before she even got them. They were not always 100% the same, but she was always able to fill out the embassy forms from the forms I sent her). She originally had her interview scheduled in late January, then they moved it to early January, then back to late January following the psunami. She was approved, after a one day screw-up on their part, then she came to the states the following week.

After she got here, we got married on paper. I had to wait for some tax info to come in the mail before I could file my 2004 returns, which they needed for the adjustment of status. I filled that out in April or so (you have 90 days to get married and file the adjustment of status paperwork). We went for her greencard interview a couple weeks ago, and they sent her her green card last week.

The process was fairly painless for me, but I've read it could be very difficult for some. I know a guy that used an attorney who recommended that he use his parents ' address because "it would be faster" than in California. He got an outright rejection. I still don't know the details.

I didn't use a lawyer, but I did read up a great deal on the subject. There is a great book by Nolo press, Fiance & Marriage Visas: A Couple's Guide to U.S. Immigration. By reading this, I was well aware of every step of the process before going through it.

Typically, it takes a little longer to get a visa for an alien spouse if you are living in the states, and she in Thailand, than it is to get a fiance visa. When you go through this process remember one word, evidence. You should have lots and lots of evidence to show you have a bonafide relationship.

Your first step is filing the I-129F along with supporting documentation.

Good luck.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[tracman]

Thank you DAVEH, you advise was a great help. I will apply for a fiance visa in a month or so. Hopefully when we marry in August we will have all of the paperwork done and she can come to the states with me. We will do a paper wedding in the states to make immigration happy.

Thanks again,