How To Get Non Immigrant Visa To Us For Thai Wife

[rjcampbe]

Looking for help figuring out the process for just getting a NON Immigrant visa to the US for my wife.

All the info on the embassy site is aimed at people looking for IMMIGRANT visas and only discuss the NON Immigrant visa in relationship to getting the Immigrant one.

We don't want to live there... I have lived and worked here for 3 years and I have no desire to go back. We just want to go for a couple of weeks to visit family in connection to a business trip.

I understood that there is a 10 year, non immigrant visa option for a foriegn spouse. Is that the case? Is that the K-3 visa?

What do I need to file to get it?

This should be simple, but it isn't.

Russ

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Not all that complicated. So start here and read through it all:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/non-immigrant_visas.html

It'll greatly enhance your wife's chance of success if YOU are working and have a current Work Permit.

No need to worry if your wife isn't working, doesn't have a large bank account, doesn't own a fine house with lots of land, etc. The important point will be your status in Thailand, the assumption being that if you're going to return, she will, too.

The 10-year multiple entry visa is sometimes issued to first time applicants, often not. But a one-time first visa is fine, works for the first visit, and after return, makes subsequent applications better.

Mac

[Shot]

What Mac said + Have your wife take copies of your WP and Visa to the interview. Have those following the DS-160. Should be no problem.

Good luck, and keep us updated.

Shot

[ubonjoe]

It will be a B-2 visitors visa that she applies for. You can get to this page Application Process by using to previous link posted.

Showing your ties to Thailand is very important when she applies. Copies of your extensions of stay will be more than enough to prove this.

[rjcampbe]

Hi all, appreciate the repsonses... and please understand that my frustration is directed at the US Dept of State, not the members of this forum.

I read all the info on the pages listed above before I posted this to the forum. The problem is that the info on the site is contradictory and doesn't make sense...

I started with the 129F and 130 forms but found that they are apparenly the steps to take if you are seeking an immigrant visa, which we are not. So I kept digging and found the DS-160, but...

If you look at the details on the DS-160 form, it specifically states here http://travel.state.gov/visa/forms/forms_4230.html and here http://travel.state.gov/visa/forms/forms_1342.html that it should NOT be used for the "Spouse of a US Citizen" for a K-3 visa. It says the DS-156 should be used instead.

So, I have completed the DS-156 form and it generated a PDF with all the content in it, which I have saved and printed. Then I tried to figure out what is next in the process and ran across this... http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/niv_visaforms_photoreq.html which says that the DS-160 electronic visa application replaces the DS-156, DS-157, and DS-158 application forms...

<deleted>? One place specifically says NOT to use the DS-160 for this type of visa and the the other place says the DS-160 replaces the forms the site tells you to use... The more I try to figure this out, the more contradictory the information on the website is...

Why do they make this so god-damned difficult? The info on the website is a convoluted pile of shit and there is no way to get a human being at the embassy to answer any questions.

[rjcampbe]

^{I started completing the DS-160 form online, and then got to the page where it asks for the Application Reciept / Petition Number which it claims the Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services "after I filed my petition".}

^{However, it does NOT say what petition I'm supposed to file. Is it the I-129F, Petition for Alien Finacee? If so, that makes no sense since we have been married for more than a year and that form is clearly for use in obtaining an IMMIGRANT visa which we DON'T WANT!}

^{And, to top it all off, if you try to get help from the Dept of State by clicking on the link for the "Visa Information and Appointment Website" the god-damned link is broken.}

^{A lot of people bitch and moan about all the things that are wrong with Thailand on this forum, but as messed up as it can be, at least if fuc_king works. When my wife changed her name on her passport after we got married, she went to the government office in Chaeng Wattana, paid about $20 and got a new passport back in about 3 days. I'm three days into trying to file a visa application for her to visit the states for a few weeks and I can't even find out the right fuc_king forms to use, or the process to follow, or find any support from the fuc_king Department of State, or "Homeland Security", or Immigration, or any of these worthless god-damned bureaucratic fuc_kwads.}

^{Even if I had the right paperwork figured out, the only way to process all this shit is to use that website to get an appointment and you can't even reach it.}

[Thanyaburi Mac]

You're NOT applying for a K-1/K-3 visa, just the normal Non-Immigrant tourist style visa, so forget the form 156, 129, etc.

Only use the DS-160.

More info here, including GUIDE and FAQs:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/non-immigrant_visas.html

Welcome to the Nonimmigrant Visa Homepage!

The process for a tourist visa: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/niv_howtoapply.html

It'll be a B-2 visa, or B-1/B-2.

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/niv_howtoapply.html#step 2

A number of resources are available to assist applicants in completing the DS-160 application. U.S. Embassy Bangkok’s detailed guide on completing the DS-160 application, the U.S. Department of State’s Frequently Asked Questions for the DS-160, and a video guide are all available.

Here's the "detailed guide:" http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/ds_160_step_by_step_guide.pdf

FAQs here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/forms/forms_4401.html

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Mac