Fiancee Visa...united States

[orlandoiam]

Hi-- I'm from the U.S. and have been living in Thailand for about 3 years. In a year, I'd like to return to the States with my (Thai) boyfriend.

We want to do the Fiancee Visa, as once married he'll hopefully be able to work in the U.S. as soon as possible. But I'm terrible with paperwork and am confused already.

I'm sorry, I've tried researching this on Thai Visa for previous posts but either I'm performing stupid searches or I just can't find what I need.

Can you answer this question-- Do I need to return to the U.S. first to get paperwork for his Visa before I can do anything? From my understanding, I actually have to fly home and acquire this in person. But this seems inane, and terribly expensive.

Thank you for your help

[Gumballl]

No, you do not have to be in the US. There is plenty of information here: USCIS (US Citizen & Immigration Service)

Post your questions here (on TV) if you still have concerns about how to proceed. I'll give you a hint... look for the I-129F form. Everything (i.e. answers) you need are contained within that form. I believe you will also need the G-325A (one for yourself and one for your fiancee).

Consult with the US Embassy as to whether these forms need to be submitted to an office in the US (you can mail them if so), or if they can simply be submitted in BKK. There is an application fee; it used to be $170. I do not know what it is now.

Good luck.

Edited August 12, 2006 by Gumballl

[orlandoiam]

Thanks for your help Gumball.. I'm checking out the sites now!O

[thaihome]

You cannot apply for the Fiancée Visa at the USCIS in Thailand, this must be done at the district office in which you reside in the US. Problematic if you are living in Thailand and have not maintained an address in the US.

You might be better off getting married in Thailand and doing the spousal visa here before moving to US. There is another active thread on this process.

TH

[Schooner]

Hi Orlando. I am a month into the process of bringing my Thai Fiance to the states and your right to start with the uscis.gov site. All the forms are there and are fillable online.

As I understand the process (after careful study for about 15 hours) it is two fold.

First file the 129F partition to the district office for your home state. You have to do it by snail mail. When they recieve it they will mail you a reciept number which you can use to learn the status and sign up for e-mail nitification of changes.

After the district office approves it they send it along to the national processing center for more approvals and then will send it to BKK or CM emmbassy.

I'm estimating that it will take about 3 months.

I was extremely careful to dot all the i's and cross all the t's and included much more information than requested such as her school and work history.

The day I planned to mail it I rechecked the website and found they had updated the 129F form. I completed the new form and sent it. They still sent me a letter requesting the new information on the new form.

I seem to recall reading something about same-sex marrages being excluded but I looked over the stuff I have and cannot find it. You should check this out.

It might be complicated because as far as I know only MA recognises same-sex marrage and the other states do not recognise MA same-sex marrages. So does that mean that you would have to live in MA? I don't know. Check it out and good luck.

[Schooner]

orlandoiam, I just realized that I made an assumption that you are a guy wanting to bring your boyfriend to the states and I have a 50-50 chance of being wrong.

Please accept my humble apology if that is the case.

BTY, while the process is a pain I think it is worth doing it yourself if he does not have any skelatons in his closet. It does look pretty daunting at first but it is doable.

I have a friend who is 3 months into the process with a agent doing it for him at the tune of 180,000 baht and does not know it's status. the agent keeps asking for more money (org. quote 100,000)

good luck

[orlandoiam]

No problem Schooner-- I just read your replies.... I really ought to check in here more often... I had just assumed the topic had died.

Anyways, I hope your fiancee visa is doing well. Me, we're just beginning! Goodluck!

[vinny]

See also Spouse and Fiance(e) of an American Citizen.

[Schooner]

Hi Orlando,

I recieved the 129F petition approval today by e-mail. They will send the paperwork by snail mail which takes about three weeks. I think the next step is to recieve a packet from BKK with the actual visa application. I e-mailed them to see if the process can be sped up a little but I'm not counting on it. The petition part of it has taken just under a month.

good luck