USA / Mexico Border Patrol: Man tried to smuggle Thai woman in suitcase

[mrowe1973]

I wanted to do this every trip! Darn I guess they will be checking now!

[LUCKYDOG123]

Obviously not his wife.

As I understand it US visas are actually relatively easy to get; just marry an American.

They don't treat your foreign spouse like an adversary in my country.

Pro Tip:

That wasn't a news article. That was a verbose headline. Articles actually have follow up inormation in them.

Not sure where you heard easy to get that visa if they marry a yank. Really depends, can be fairly easy or really hard. Marriage in no way guarantees a visa to the USA.

doable , but by no means easy ! its a major hassle and takes 8-12 months depending . they will make the person feel like dirt as they interview them . in there eyes ; everyone is a prostitute , little sad .

[sawadeeken]

I haven't seen anybody mention that they were reported to the Border Patrol for a tip (or reward). This is how the Border Patrol and Customs catch many offenders. He may have stopped just down the street to pack her in the suitcase and somebody saw it and ran to give his license # and make of car, for a reward..

Presuming he was in love with her, people go to strange extremes and I really do have compassion for them if that be the case....

[wym]

Obviously not his wife.

As I understand it US visas are actually relatively easy to get; just marry an American.

They don't treat your foreign spouse like an adversary in my country.

Pro Tip:

That wasn't a news article. That was a verbose headline. Articles actually have follow up inormation in them.

May well have been.

Marriage doesn't make it quick or easy - if your job status, income/assets etc aren't enough you have to find someone else to sign the financial guarantees.

Can take many years, especially if newly married.

I was already married for four years and had US citizen children together before we applied, still took months.

48? Must be true love then.

Another cheap charlie - just pay the coyotes dude.[/quote

Lucky he didn't' love a Nigerian!

No idea what you're talking about?

[Bakeman]

TRUE LOVE!!!!!

[silent]

One of the most protected borders in the world, an extremely foolish idea, he still had a number of border Patrol check points to pass on the 60 mile trip to Tucson!

Cheers

well this must be a stupid question then ,................why are there millions of illegal mexicans in the US ?

You're right.

[Long tang]

I was thinking about vacuum packing mine and passing it off as a garden ornament .

[landslide]

Obviously not his wife.

As I understand it US visas are actually relatively easy to get; just marry an American.

They don't treat your foreign spouse like an adversary in my country.

Pro Tip:

That wasn't a news article. That was a verbose headline. Articles actually have follow up inormation in them.

They may be relatively easy to get but of the 4 friends that I have that married foreigners none were able to get there

spouse a visa in under 3.5 years.

It is not as easy as many think. Hearing about an immigrant visa taking 3.5 years makes me think my wife's 1.5 year wait was not so bad, though it seemed like forever while waiting. It would have taken longer, but I got pissed and called my congresswoman's office. With their help, the road blocks disappeared, and the visa was finally granted. It is sad that Obama is granting amnesty to so many illegals in the country, and yet, when you follow the rules, the government makes it as hard as possible to get the visa.

[alfalfa19]

That's nothing. I saw a photo taken at the california/mexico border, where the smugglers had actually built a guy into the dashboard on the passenger side, he was all crouched down, and they installed putty and plastic trim all around his face and shoulders.

[nakhonandy]

Obviously not his wife.

As I understand it US visas are actually relatively easy to get; just marry an American.

They don't treat your foreign spouse like an adversary in my country.

Pro Tip:

That wasn't a news article. That was a verbose headline. Articles actually have follow up inormation in them.

Not sure where you heard easy to get that visa if they marry a yank. Really depends, can be fairly easy or really hard. Marriage in no way guarantees a visa to the USA.

doable , but by no means easy ! its a major hassle and takes 8-12 months depending . they will make the person feel like dirt as they interview them . in there eyes ; everyone is a prostitute , little sad .

Same in Europe. Gets up my nose.

Not all Thai women are on the game.

[dontoearth]

When the old INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) ran the marriage visa program it was cumbersome and problematic and you could wait a full-lifetime for a spouse visa in the USA. Several years was the average. Anyone saying they heard it was relatively easy to get a marriage visa was talking to someone that had never tried it and had never talked to anyone that tried it! They might have seen a romantic comedy from hollywood that showed it to be fun and easy! Now that INS was absorbed by homeland security it is almost impossible. You would need to wait more than one lifetime. Good to be buddhist I guess. I would assume that anyone that got the visas in 3 1/2 short years had a lawyer on it from day one.

[leosuntime]

We r living in a sick police state

Sent from my GT-N7105T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[jacko45k]

The things people do for a decent Laab-moo at home!

[willyumiii]

When the old INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) ran the marriage visa program it was cumbersome and problematic and you could wait a full-lifetime for a spouse visa in the USA. Several years was the average. Anyone saying they heard it was relatively easy to get a marriage visa was talking to someone that had never tried it and had never talked to anyone that tried it! They might have seen a romantic comedy from hollywood that showed it to be fun and easy! Now that INS was absorbed by homeland security it is almost impossible. You would need to wait more than one lifetime. Good to be buddhist I guess. I would assume that anyone that got the visas in 3 1/2 short years had a lawyer on it from day one.

I agree, it is anything but easy!

It's a little long, but here is my story of my nightmare obtaining a visa for my Thai wife.

I mentioned in an earlier post that it took almost 3 years to get my wife's visa. It actually took 34 months.

Since 911 you now deal with three agencies, INS, The State Dept., and The Dept of Homeland Security.

All three agencies require the same exact documents to be filed separately with each charging their own fee for each document or form filed.

Each agency lost documents ( even though sent certified ) and required refiling of same and fees paid again.

Each form or document took 3 months or more before it was approved, then you are told the what the next form or document required will be.

If you attempted to phone any of the agencies with a question or trying to confirm receipt of, a required document or form you would get a recording and be put on hold.

They are not a toll free numbers.

My first call I waited over an hour and was still on hold!

Others I spoke to going through the process at the same time had the same problems, even the same documents were "lost".

I believe it is all intentional and designed to frustrate you to the point of giving up if you are not truly serious about your relationship .

We never had a lawyer's assistance.

I wrote to President G.W. Bush and received a reply from an assistant " If the President were to assist you, he would have to help all who needed help."

( I still have that letter and will have it framed some day!)

I also wrote my Congressional representatives and Senators.

All but one replied that they knew it was difficult, but could not help me, and they wished me luck.

Senator Mike Thomson of California replied that he understood my frustration and promised to do all he could to help us!

He put me in touch with his assistant who from then on worked as a go between between myself and the three agencies.

She had a special number to call any of the agencies and received a response immediately.

Whenever I had a question or problem, I would phone her and she would call me back within minutes with the answer I needed!

Within two months of Senator Thomson's reply, the visa was approved!

If you find yourself seeking a visa for a Thai spouse, try contacting your representatives and senators early in the process.

You may be lucky and have a good one like mine!

A long post, I know.

But I needed to explain why anyone who says it is easy to get a visa to the U.S. from Thailand knows nothing...NOTHING about it!

P.S. I will forever be grateful to Mike Thomson and he has my full support in any endeavor If he runs for the office of GOD, he gets my vote!

He is the type of representative we need in the U.S. government.

One who represents the people who elected him.

[Scott]

I once worked in a State Department program that processed various types of visa applications. I worked overseas and most of the work was with refugees, however, some members of a refugee family might not be eligible to go as a refugee, but could as an immigrant, so they were processed under a visa application.

At that time, when a sponsor wrote to their congressperson, we were legally required to answer within a specific time frame. I don't remember exactly how long it was, but it was something like 7 working days. We seldom met the deadline.

First, don't write to your congressperson unless you have a problem, if it is moving along normally, albeit slowly, just keep plodding along. There are certain processes that have to be gone through and they won't be speeded up for you. If you have hit a snag and you can't get an answer, then write.

If you come from one of the bigger states, such as California, where a lot of immigrants are headed, then the congressperson likely has a designated aide whose primary job will be to deal with these situations. Once the congressman receives the letter, they send it to the aide, the aide then sends it to the relevant agency -- INS, for example. They then answer and the aide writes a letter back to you that the congressman usually signs.

In the bigger states, the aide knows the ins-and-outs of the system and where the snags happen and can be immensely helpful. In some of the states where the congressman doesn't have a designated person, the process does not proceed so well.

Even if they have lost your paperwork, you will have to re-submit it.

[bangkokpoppys]

An open and shut case?

[Patron]

Paid bt86,000 to an American lawyer in Bangkok in 2007, 6 months later the wife was in America. 1 year later she got a 10 year green card. Last year she became a American citizen. She's doing really good. Award winning Thai chef and she made around Bt 1,500,000 last year.

[smotherb]

Obviously not his wife.

As I understand it US visas are actually relatively easy to get; just marry an American.

They don't treat your foreign spouse like an adversary in my country.

Pro Tip:

That wasn't a news article. That was a verbose headline. Articles actually have follow up inormation in them.

Not sure where you heard easy to get that visa if they marry a yank. Really depends, can be fairly easy or really hard. Marriage in no way guarantees a visa to the USA.

Not difficult if the legitimate spouse and US citizen do not have a previous entry restriction or a detrimental criminal, health, or political record.

[daboyz1]

Currently a spouse visa is taking roughly 460 days start to finish. That number has risen significantly in the past year for some reason. The norm since ~2008 has been about 10 months. The reason it took years prior to 2008 was the bottleneck at NVC (National Visa Center) in the U.S. They then came out with the K-3 visa to get around the NVC bottleneck. Since that has been resolved, the K-3 is not an option in 99+% of the cases nowadays. That said, if the NVC processing times keep rising the way they are, K-3 may be an option again in the near future.