Thai grandparents visa

[CraigSchuler]

I've tried doing a search on this topic along with TRYING to contact USCIS regarding the needed requirements for my in laws. My wife is Thai and living in the States on a perm resident visa, we also have two young children whom are both US citizens.

Can anybody please provide any information regarding a family visit visa? we are wanting them to visit for a few weeks and I can't seem to find out what forms are needed or what the process actually is.

Thank you for any info.

[rsokolowski]

My mother in law tried to get a tourist VISA on her own (for a visit) and was denied. I had been married to her daughter for 15 years (or so) at that time and we live in Hawaii (USA). The next time we visited Thailand we spent a couple of days in Bangkok and I went to the US Embassy with her and we eventually got a multiple entry tourist visa.

The US Embassy basically wants some kind of assurance that the person they are granting the visa to will return home after a visit. Things such as money in the bank (no money in my case), property ownership, and family members (husband, other siblings, grandchildren, etc.) that remain in Thailand are all factors.

My mother in law was so nervous that she couldn't correctly answer how many children and grandchildren she had when asked by embassy staff (in perfect Thai). He finally looked at me and asked if she was just coming for a visit, I replied yes, and he stamped the visa approved. I don't think she would have gotten the visa if I had not been there.

I recommend researching the precise requirements for a tourist visa, make sure they get all their ducks in a row before you get there, and then visit the embassy with them when they apply for the visa. This worked for me. My MIL visited once for about a month, got homesick, and returned home. She has expressed zero desire to return, but she got to see how we live.

[Maestro]

It looks like this topic is about a visa for Thai nationals living in Thailand to travel to the USA and therefore I am moving it to the forum "Visas and migration to other countries"

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Craig

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

Unless things have changed, and it doesn't appear that they have, neither you nor anyone else will be allowed to accompany them to the actual consular interview at the window:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/niv_howtoapply.html#step 7

"Please note that only individuals applying for a visa are allowed to enter the Embassy. Visa applicants may not bring family members, colleagues, or friends with them, even if those individuals are American citizens. During the interview process, each applicant must present his or her case individually. Applicants should be prepared to talk about their ties and their travel plans without assistance from other family members or legal representation. The only applicants who may be accompanied are children under the age of 16 and applicants with disabilities, who may be accompanied under certain circumstances."

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Mac