How To Get Thai Wife To The Usa?

[craigt3365]

Be careful with this. You have to prove you had no intent of changing the visa before your trip. Which can be extremely hard to prove.

I highly recommend you visit the consulate here. I met them before starting the process with my wife and they gave me some excellent recommendations.

Also, spend some time on visajourney.com. A few attorneys monitor that forum.

[dighambara]

If she does make it there on a tourist visa, and you get married, it will change the status of the tourist visa. I don’t recall what happens exactly, but once the marriage is legal, I believe the tourist status is revoked. Definetly something you would want to check on.

We are already married legaly. Thanks.

Yes, but you are legaly married in Thailand, not the US. Big difference. Trust me on this, I had a long talk with the Thai consulate about this very same thing. It will change the status of the visa.

Thai marriages are legal (fully accepted) in the US, so this doesn't make any sense. Yes, I am old enough to understand that many things don't make sense, but LEGAL is LEGAL, or is it..??

[Shot]

If she does make it there on a tourist visa, and you get married, it will change the status of the tourist visa. I don’t recall what happens exactly, but once the marriage is legal, I believe the tourist status is revoked. Definetly something you would want to check on.

We are already married legaly. Thanks.

Yes, but you are legaly married in Thailand, not the US. Big difference. Trust me on this, I had a long talk with the Thai consulate about this very same thing. It will change the status of the visa.

Thai marriages are legal (fully accepted) in the US, so this doesn't make any sense. Yes, I am old enough to understand that many things don't make sense, but LEGAL is LEGAL, or is it..??

I believe you are correct. However the outcome is the same. Once your legal Thai marriage is registered in the US, it will alter your tourist visa status.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Shot

[KimoMax]

For a tourist Visa it does not matter if the marriage is Registered with the US or not.

I don't think registering the marriage with the US would make any change to a Tourist Visa.

As long as no attempt is made by the Visa user to alter their status as a Tourist, I doubt that Tourist Visa would be effected.

The Tourist Must leave the US at the end of the Entry allowed time.

For any questions if a marriage must be registered for a K Visa, contact your Embassy or Consulate.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Kimo

Quite agree, and I don't know how one would "register" a legal Thai marriage in the U.S. anyway. Hey, if you marry in Georgia, for example, you don't reregister the marriage if you move to Oregon.

My wife & I got married in Oregon some years back when we were visiting and she was on her first 10-year Tourist visa. Came back to Thailand on schedule. Later the visa expired so she got a new 10-year visa, this time after we'd been married. Not a problem with the Consulate here, the interviewing officer just looked at my string of "retirement" extensions and that was it.

Mac

[thaisail]

I met my wife who was working in Saipan in 2005 and we came to Thailand to visit her family after knowing each other only a few months. While in Bangkok in 2005, we dropped by the US embassy and requested a US visa so that my then Thai GF could sail on my boat from Siapan to Guam which at that time required a US visa. The US consulate told us to come back in 3 weeks for the interview. We paid $100 for the stamp and returned to the embassy for the interview. They requested a copy of my boat documents and I had to have them sent from Guam by fax. After looking over the boat papers, they asked me what her duties would be on the boat. I told him that she would cook wonderful Thai food and help me drive the boat. He asked me if there were any other duties! Wink, Wink Nod!!! I gave him a big smile winked back! The stamp came down and my GF got her 10 year tourist visa multiple entry! It was that easy! One year later the boat arrived in Thailand with a pregnant girlfriend and a quick marriage in the northeast. All the Thai documents had to be translated and recorded by the Thai MFA. It took about a month to do all the paperwork and I had a wonderful agent in Phuket who did all the leg work for me. If you contact me by email direct, I will give you my contact in Bangkok. She can help solve all your problems.

6 months later my daughter was born. It was easy to get the US passport for her since the marriage was recorded by US embassy already. We have been to the states three times with our longest visit for only 2 months. We prefer to live in Thailand and are quite happy with the situation as it is. We have been told by the US consul that there will be no problem getting our 10 year multiple entry tourist visa renewed. There is going to be a big change in how the US embassy will issue the tourist visas in the next year that will make it easier and we were warned that this time of year, the US consulate is overloaded with students and parents wanting visas because of the holidays in Thailand. He told us that in August or September the wait for getting the tourist visa renewed is only about one month. Under the new system that will start next year, it will be no longer necessary to make two trips from Phuket to Bangkok to complete the process. I think that you would be better off to follow the easy path and get the tourist visa and enjoy Thailand. The US is difficult place to work and live for the moment and things are good here in LOS!

[flying]

Quite agree, and I don't know how one would "register" a legal Thai marriage in the U.S. anyway. Hey, if you marry in Georgia, for example, you don't reregister the marriage if you move to Oregon.

You register a Thai marriage in the US the same way you register a US marriage in Thailand.

You take a copy of your marriage certificate/registration from the country you were married in....

Have it translated into the language of the country your registering it in & take it to the Department of Vital Records/Amphur etc.

We did the marry in US & later register it in Thailand version.

But know others who did the opposite version.

But I agree with others that it does not change your tourist status in the US until you file adjustment of status based on marriage.

Same as if you in Thailand changed your visa to a based on marriage visa..........

I would guess the only possible violation is if in Thailand you went to the US embassy & applied for a tourist visa without disclosing you were

married.

Edited April 17, 2012 by flying

[bangkokburning]

I have not read through all the posts and there seems to be much good information, still would direct you to vj for proper info.

I can tell you though...

If you were legally married here, you are MARRIED

If you are married you cannot file a K visa

She can apply for a B1-2 but highly unlikely if you were just married (forget it)

If you go on a B1-2 and marry, they will reject her for stay and perhaps boot her out not to return - fraud. No AOS!

If you file I130 then you will need residence (non TR visa) more than 6mos. BKK Emb/USCIS will not accept less or TR.

If you do not a job WAITING FOR YOU, you essentially have no job. So, you will need about 125KUS plus misc $$ for the app to be a slam dunk. If not, you must have a sponsor.

It is really complicated

Edited April 18, 2012 by bangkokburning

[bangkokburning]

PS: I looked heavily at the fiance' visa on Craig's advice but because the job situation is so poor and my parents live in a rural (coastal area), pretty much gave up on that route. We are looking at getting married and going with sponsorship. Would second Craig's and others re: VJ. GREAT HELP.

Best thing to do esp if you have not been together for years is stay here a few in Thailand, then apply for the non-immigrant. If you have been together two years, go ahead and apply. She will get a green card and be all good to go.

You are married so fiance' visa is moot.

PS: You did not state if you were legally married but I think at the embassy, they will not care, nor on the app. If you were in a marriage ceremony - you are married. They would not take kindly to....OH, we were not LEGALLY married ;-) ;-) - you will be finished.

[sirineou]

There is a visa service company my wife knows about offering to help for 20,000 baht for a tourist visa and 26,000 for a marriage visa. This seems low as a website said the costs for doing it directly at the Embassy myself will cost above $900. Is this a scam?

Thanks.

The 20,000 bth is the fee for the visa agency, it does not include the USCIS visa fee, and any other associated fess that might apply such as medical, police record, etc

[thaihome]

You register a Thai marriage in the US the same way you register a US marriage in Thailand.

You take a copy of your marriage certificate/registration from the country you were married in....

Have it translated into the language of the country your registering it in & take it to the Department of Vital Records/Amphur etc.

There is no requirement to register a Thai marriage in the US. In fact, there is no place to actually even try to do it.

If you were to walk into a county registrar office (even what that is called varies from state to state) and ask to register a foreign marriage certificate, they would likely laugh you out the door.

Let’s say you live in Orange County California and get married in Clark Country Nevada. Is there a requirement to register that marriage in Orange County? No, there is not, so why would you have to register a Thai marriage?

It’s a legal marriage, all you need is a translation.

TH

Edited April 19, 2012 by thaihome

[flying]

You register a Thai marriage in the US the same way you register a US marriage in Thailand.

You take a copy of your marriage certificate/registration from the country you were married in....

Have it translated into the language of the country your registering it in & take it to the Department of Vital Records/Amphur etc.

It’s a legal marriage, all you need is a translation.

TH

Yes that is basically what I said..............You translate it & take it to department of records/vital statistics.

I should not have used the word *registered*? Kor Tort

Perhaps *log*...*record* etc?

[USNret]

Like others have said, I was married in Thailand (amphur) & the marriage is recognized in the States. We took a translation of our marriage certificate to the Embassy and they gave us some letter to that effect. Then I took this to JUSMAGTHAI (military annex of the US Embassy) and got my wife a U.S. military dependent ID card, which give her privileges of a military retiree spouse (health care, commissary & exchange.) So there is no question that the marriage is recognized as long as it's not some tribal exchange for a pig or something like that.

After we were married she got a US tourist visa. The first was for 30 days, but upon arrival they upgraded it to 60 days. Note that the immigration officer at your port of entry has final say. They can extend the visa, or they can shorten it. Stay flexible and ABSOLUTELY conform to the terms of the tourist visa. Failure to do so will seriously jeopardize chances of any future visa of any type. I even refused to entertain the question of extending her stay; we stuck with our original 30-day limit.

She subsequently got a 5-year multiple entry visa which she has used twice.

The State Dept website says that while normally the US citizen filing the I-I30 should be residing in the States "there are limited provisions for filing certain types of petition forms outside the United States." I have lived the past 3 years in Japan as a contractor on a U.S. military base. The two years before that, I worked for a U.S. missionary organization in Thailand. We're ready to file for my wife's immigrant visa. Will there be any difficulty due to me not living in the States? There is no USCIS office in Japan, so I understand I will send my paperwork to the "lockbox" address in Chicago. Thanks!

[AaronLV]

The State Dept website says that while normally the US citizen filing the I-I30 should be residing in the States "there are limited provisions for filing certain types of petition forms outside the United States." I have lived the past 3 years in Japan as a contractor on a U.S. military base. The two years before that, I worked for a U.S. missionary organization in Thailand. We're ready to file for my wife's immigrant visa. Will there be any difficulty due to me not living in the States? There is no USCIS office in Japan, so I understand I will send my paperwork to the "lockbox" address in Chicago. Thanks!

Since you are not residing in the states you can file DCF (Direct Consular Filing) at the embassy of where you are residing.

Direct Consular Filing (DCF) is the unofficial term for filing an I-130 petition via a Consulate overseas, rather than through the US Service Center. While not everyone will qualify to do so, this process can expedite the speed in which a beneficiary can enter the United States and become a Green Card Holder (US Permanent Resident).

Took the above direct from VisaJourney. The time line to get it approved is a lot quicker than going the USCIS route. Take a look at the DCF guide and see if you qualify but based on what you put in the post above, it sounds very likely you will be able to use it.

[USNret]

Just came across this page (http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=c67c7f9ded54d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD)

"Petitioners residing in countries without USCIS offices file their Form I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) lockbox facility in Chicago." It is less ambiguous than other USCIS pages which suggested I could file here in Japan. Since there is no USCIS office in Japan, I"m stuck with going by mail which by all accounts will take longer. This was confirmed by our local expert, a lady in the legal office on base who says I must mail it to Chicago. Darn!

[AaronLV]

Just came across this page (http://www.uscis.gov...00045f3d6a1RCRD)

"Petitioners residing in countries without USCIS offices file their Form I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) lockbox facility in Chicago." It is less ambiguous than other USCIS pages which suggested I could file here in Japan. Since there is no USCIS office in Japan, I"m stuck with going by mail which by all accounts will take longer. This was confirmed by our local expert, a lady in the legal office on base who says I must mail it to Chicago. Darn!

That's a bummer, didn't know they changed the rules. Used to be about 1/2 the time to get a Immigrant visa going direct.

[thaihome]

You register a Thai marriage in the US the same way you register a US marriage in Thailand.

You take a copy of your marriage certificate/registration from the country you were married in....

Have it translated into the language of the country your registering it in & take it to the Department of Vital Records/Amphur etc.

It’s a legal marriage, all you need is a translation.

TH

Yes that is basically what I said..............You translate it & take it to department of records/vital statistics.

I should not have used the word *registered*? Kor Tort

Perhaps *log*...*record* etc?

No. There is no "department of records/vital statistics" in the US. Your marriage is legal. If the occasion arises that you need to prove you are married, i.e., applying for insurance, you simply show them the marriage certificate and the translation. It does not need to be "logged" or "recorded" in any government database, office, department, or agency. It simply exists. Just like a US marriage.

TH

Edited April 21, 2012 by thaihome

[thaihome]

Just came across this page (http://www.uscis.gov...00045f3d6a1RCRD)

"Petitioners residing in countries without USCIS offices file their Form I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) lockbox facility in Chicago." It is less ambiguous than other USCIS pages which suggested I could file here in Japan. Since there is no USCIS office in Japan, I"m stuck with going by mail which by all accounts will take longer. This was confirmed by our local expert, a lady in the legal office on base who says I must mail it to Chicago. Darn!

That's a bummer, didn't know they changed the rules. Used to be about 1/2 the time to get a Immigrant visa going direct.

From threads on visajourney specific to DCf in Japan, it appears the I-130 filed with the Chicago lockbox are processed very fast, like in 30 days.

TH