I have been trying to read through the posts and do a search but there is a lot of info to sort through that really may not apply so I am starting a new thread.

I am an American 45, with a Thai girlfriend 25, we have a 2 year old daughter born in Thailand. I have been out of the US for 7 years travelling, I have been using my parents address in Nebraska to receive mail, but have not lived in the US for 7 years, I have shown no income in the US for 7 years, I have recently started in independent consultant job so I am showing payroll deposits to my Thai Bank account.

So the dilemma and question, I want to move back to live in the US but am looking for what obstacles I am up against for getting a Fiance Visa, or getting Married and getting a spousal Visa, which I have heard is NOT the route to take.

Has anyone been successful or not successful and why, in regards to getting a US Fiance Visa for a Thai woman? I have been trying to find info, but nothing regarding what may be the deal breaker, lack of recent income, no recent US living history, not much money in a Bank account etc.

I am not looking for responses and questions why I am in this life situation, just solid advice based on recent experience dealing with US Immigration, or applying or getting issued a US Fiance Visa, I am sure you all understand why!!

Thanks in advance!

Take a wander through this www site: http://www.visajourney.com/

I note that there's a section on Bangkok with a number of people with visas "in process" and emails you could check with.

Mac

You have lots of moving parts here. I'll try to address them one by one.

1. Your daughter. She should be U.S. citizen already since you're a U.S. citizen. If she's not, you need to look into filing a CRBA (Certified Record of Birth Abroad) with the embassy and get her a U.S. passport. That should fix her up as far as coming to the U.S.

2. Have you filed taxes for the 7 years you have had no income? Even if you have had no income, as a US Citizen you still need to file a tax return. So you'll probably need to get that sorted.

3. Fiance visa vs. marriage visa. Despite what you've heard, a marriage visa would be your best bet for a few reasons.

a. Living in Thailand on a Thai visa other than a tourist visa for 6 months or more makes you eligible for Direct Consular Filing (DCF) You can only obtain a marriage visa via DCF. You can not obtain a fiancee visa using DCF. DCF will reduce the processing time from roughly a year to roughly 3 months.

b. It seems you have income issues. You'll need to fill out an I-134 affidavit of support and submit it to the embassy when going the fiancee visa route. The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok does NOT allow for co-sponsors in K1 (fiancee) visa cases (except in rare cases such as the USC just finishing university.) You CAN use a co sponsor in CR-1 visa cases when filing an I-864 affidavit of support. Your case would be a CR-1 visa since you will be married less than 2 years when going through the process.

Take a wander through this www site: http://www.visajourney.com/

I note that there's a section on Bangkok with a number of people with visas "in process" and emails you could check with.

Mac

Agree 100%. Absolutely need to go to visa journey.

You need to get your daughter a Consular Report of Birth Abroad and a passport. This webpage on embassy website has all the info you need for this. http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/service/birth-of-a-u.s.-citizen-in-thailand.html

Thanks everyone, good stuff, it's not as bad as I thought, I have been reading through the Embassy and Consulate websites and most of the info and docs are there, so I will keep at it!

It will be good to be back in the US even with all the negatives and problems of living in the US!