Visa to get Thai girlfriend and our daughter to the US options?

[jmansilla]

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!

[Thanyaburi Mac]

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

[daboyz1]

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.

[daboyz1]

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.

[ubonjoe]

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

[jmansilla]

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!