Bring my wife of 6 years to USA via imegration process or try to convert a tuorist visa?

[jaiyen17]

I wish they were still issuing K3's. But in all my research it seems the CR1 is our only path. Our situation is an interesting one. Do we attempt to get a Tourist Visa or do we have no chance. We do not need a green card and will struggle to be there long enough to comply with it. I'm afraid it will be very difficult to get my husband a tourist visa. Backround below:

I call it a "grey area" in the U.S visa choices. No Visa seems right for us. Some backround ~

I've owned a succesful shop in California for 10 years that specializes in Thai Artisan products and I do most of my purchasing here.

My income comes from my retail store, wholesale orders & online sales and it runs without me being there during the shoulder seasons. (high tourst area)

I fly back and forth two times a year and spend about 5 months a year here in Thailand~

I've rented the same home yr. round now for 9 yrs in Nonthaburi.

I met my husband on a volunteer project on the Burmese border in 2010.

We were married last April, 2013.

Together we have grown my business by increasing the number of shipments into the U.S (him handling all the shipping, weekly DHL records as well as him handling all online sales and shipping from Thailand.

He registered a small business in his name here in Thailand to cover his online sales and has had a regular income of a solid amount for almost a year now running through his Thai paypal account and into Kasikorn bank and other large $ transfers coming in from my U.S business to him through Siam Commercial. Our business's are name extensions of eachother and we have a very regular history of cash exchanges between our accounts for purchasing and shipping.

He has a 13 yr old daughter here in Thailand of whom he has sole custody ~ she is in school in his hometown with his parents who he supports. She comes to visit on most Holidays.

I believe it would be easy to get the CR1 visa as I would qualify in the U.S. Problem with that is he can't stay there for 6 months at a time...we need him in Thailand or our business falls apart and he needs to be here for his daughter.

Maximum amount of time he would want to spend in the U.S would be 3 months July - Sept. I always come back in Oct. have for the past 10 yrs. for my holiday purchasing and then again in Jan for spring/summer purchasing. If I don't come back our business falls apart.

So, in a perfect world we would just get him a Tourist Visa. But it seems like we have a slim chance of getting that and almost a worse chance now that we're married.

I am here on a "O" marriage visa. I do not have a Thai work permit as I come here to buy and I don't believe that requires a permit. I spend money supporting Thai Artists then I go home and come back again a few months later. 30+ round trips in my passport now spanning 14 yrs. Mostly tourist visas.

We share a lease on a house that I've rented for 10 yrs. Only have the paper together for this year made recently. The owner is my neighbor and there wasn't any paper on the property for most of those years but I'm sure she would write a nice letter :.) We do not own a car or motorbike.

My father is 75 and unable to travel to Thailand. (My Mom has come and traveled with us 2 times) We really, really want my husband to meet my father, my friends and see the shop in the U.S.

I feel we need to at least try for the B2 visa before we start the CR1 as we'll have a very hard time trying to comply with the green card rules and really don't need one at this point.

I have been searching and searching for the last year for anyone who has a story similar to ours and haven't found anyone. It seems with the increasing ability to work online and the increased ease of running small international business's more people may start falling through these holes in the Visa system.

Any advice from anyone here on Thai Visa would be greatly appreciated. You've all helped me out over the years more times than I can count.

What should we do?

[jaiyen17]

Sorry to the poster for highjacking his thread with my info. Go for the IR1. The year will go fast and it's better than worrying they may stop her coming in at the airport. I've read that could happen. A tourist visa issued from Thailand is still no guarantee you're making through U.S immigration and having a husband who is a citizen of the U.S is not going to help her. Wish they didn't make things sooooo difficult for us.

[daboyz1]

I understand your frustration. There are a lot of people not happy with the new rules. Especially Canadians since many want to be able to spend a lot of time on both sides of the border. The trick would be getting USCIS to send the I-129F to NVC without the I-130. I'd post your questions on visajourney.com. I'd direct your questions to either pushbrk or darnell there. They are experts in this k3 problem.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[vision]

Sorry to the poster for highjacking his thread with my info. Go for the IR1. The year will go fast and it's better than worrying they may stop her coming in at the airport. I've read that could happen. A tourist visa issued from Thailand is still no guarantee you're making through U.S immigration and having a husband who is a citizen of the U.S is not going to help her. Wish they didn't make things sooooo difficult for us.

l

Not a problem at all. This is all new and interesting information for me and it's been quite informative even if not as definitive as I had hoped for. I can still visit her in Thailand so the processing time is not a huge deal for us.

[daboyz1]

Sorry to the poster for highjacking his thread with my info. Go for the IR1. The year will go fast and it's better than worrying they may stop her coming in at the airport. I've read that could happen. A tourist visa issued from Thailand is still no guarantee you're making through U.S immigration and having a husband who is a citizen of the U.S is not going to help her. Wish they didn't make things sooooo difficult for us.

l

Not a problem at all. This is all new and interesting information for me and it's been quite informative even if not as definitive as I had hoped for. I can still visit her in Thailand so the processing time is not a huge deal for us.

You can still try for the K-3. It wont cost you anything extra or hurt your chances for the IR-1. You just file the I-129F after you get the first I-797C from USCIS for the I-130. Maybe you'll get lucky and USCIS will approve the I-129F before the I-130 and forward it to NVC. As you can see by the stats I posted above, it's a slim chance, but doesn't hurt to try.