Thai fiance rejected for US Tourist visa

[Mudcrab]

When I went through this, in 2004, I was told to go the fiance visa route. But from what I hear, the marriage visa is faster now. Official marriage here.

What they are worried about is she'll go there as a tourist, get married and stay. That, in reality, is her immigrating to the US. Not going as a tourist, then going back in a few months. They don't like that. And from what I've read, if you do get married in the US and try to convert her visa, it's really hard. Because you lied to them.

This site is all you need. It's got everything to help you through the process. A lot of work on your end, but it's a great site.

http://www.visajourney.com/

A little off topic but may be relevant.

I asked the visa agent in Oz if it would be easier and faster if we got married and then applied for a partner visa to Oz. His reply was no go for the fiancee vise. The explanation was that for the marriage visa you had to show a continuous and ongoing relationship which could be difficult with her in Thai and me in Oz even though we were pretty much living together continuously on tourist visas. The fiancee visa is much easier but involved, a real lot, a lot of paperwork and took ten months to be granted.

[landslide]

It continually amazes me the hoops the US government requires individuals to go through for a tourist visa, fiance visa or marriage visa, when thousands of illegal migrants flood across our southern borders every week. The border patrol have been ordered to stand down and do nothing about it. Yet individuals who follow the rules are denied entry on a continual basis. I brought my fiance to the US in 2010. The fiance visa took 10 months to approve. We decided we were not ready to be married at that time, so at the end of her 3 months, she return to Bangkok. Flash forward 2 years, and we did get married in Thailand. It took 17 months and the intercession of my congresswoman's office to get her marriage visa and CR-1 status This after already receiving the fiance visa two years prior and abiding by the terms of the visa. As an aside, last year her best friend gave birth to her first child in Britain, We applied by mail for a tourist visa to Britain so my wife could help with the newborn and spend a few weeks with her friend, without me. The one year visa was approved in less than two weeks.

[Konaboy1]

Stupid really as they will let her in for 2 and half years but not six months.

Not really. You have said yourself that for six months you can't show a good reason to return. With a settlement visa you don't need one.

i have processed several visas for friends. Over the last years I have found the US to be arbitrary and frivolous

in granting any visas. It is now a crap shoot.

[MauiSteveBKK]

Aloha,

I just went through the entire process, to bring my Thai GF to the USA (Hawaii).

I did not try anything crazy ... or try and go around the rules and laws. No tour companies, no "educational" tours, none of the Stupid Stuff I see others try to save time or money. Every time -- the USA will reject the application. The USA Embassy is looking specifically, for reasons to say "NO".

In case you're not aware -- and don't read anything from the USA -- IMMIGRATION and the legality of it, is one of the hottest (if not The hottest) topic in politics. It's in the news every day. So, take into account what is happeing in the USA.

We did a K1 VISA. Period.

Simple. Follow the instructions and stay within the lines -- and you'll get it. First Time!!

We then traveled to the USA some and decided to get married. You don't have to get married, but she now loves Hawaii, has easily traveled back and forth to Thailand. It's the best way to do it -- she has Social Security number, work permit, change of status, travel documents, etc.

If it's a GF, Thai wife, fiancee' --- do the K1 VISA. The end result is better.

Best wishes to you and to all of you wanting to bring your Thai woman to the USA.

[Shot]

Aloha,

I just went through the entire process, to bring my Thai GF to the USA (Hawaii).

I did not try anything crazy ... or try and go around the rules and laws. No tour companies, no "educational" tours, none of the Stupid Stuff I see others try to save time or money. Every time -- the USA will reject the application. The USA Embassy is looking specifically, for reasons to say "NO".

In case you're not aware -- and don't read anything from the USA -- IMMIGRATION and the legality of it, is one of the hottest (if not The hottest) topic in politics. It's in the news every day. So, take into account what is happeing in the USA.

We did a K1 VISA. Period.

Simple. Follow the instructions and stay within the lines -- and you'll get it. First Time!!

We then traveled to the USA some and decided to get married. You don't have to get married, but she now loves Hawaii, has easily traveled back and forth to Thailand. It's the best way to do it -- she has Social Security number, work permit, change of status, travel documents, etc.

If it's a GF, Thai wife, fiancee' --- do the K1 VISA. The end result is better.

Best wishes to you and to all of you wanting to bring your Thai woman to the USA.

Excellent post. Very wise words in paragraph 2 and 5.

I have done 3 tourist visas. All successful and stamped for 10 years.

A few posts back someone claimed the denied rate for first time applications is 80%. This is a true figure but it also contains applications with clerical errors which makes up the bulk of that figure.

[aronp1]

My sister in-law is married to an American and it took her 1yr to get her visa. So I won't expect anything to happen quickly.

[gk10002000]

That bank balance thing is a bit suspect. I am quite well off and I don't quite keep $ 10,000 in cash. I am pretty fully invested. I can see $10,000 in fairly liquid assets, ATT stock, etc., things that one can sell and settle out for cash in 3 days. But your average Thai, even above average Thai is not going to have 10,000 USD >300,000 Thai Baht in cash in their account for any significant amount of time. Boy, I can't even imagine having the patience to put up with the USA bureaucracy to try to bring Thai friend to the USA for a tourist visit, and I have met one or two Thai ladies that I would have gladly helped sponsor.

[Taffyfromflint]

Yes, fiancé was listed in the sponsor letter. I thought this might raise a red-flag, but I thought with our business and other ties back in TH that this would not be as big an issue. I guess I will read the posts here on how to get a fiancé visa now. My fiancé is still crying. What a disappointment, but I am not completely surprised from reading previous experiences posted here.

Thank you for the advice.

You stated the on your fiance's police report there was a DUI. In the States (as with many countries) this is classified as a criminal offence. I had a friend travelling as a member of a sports team to the States and was rejected on entry owing to his previous conviction in Australia for DUI. I would look into this. My wife didn't need to get a police report for her U.S. visa. Worth exploring further maybe but be advised if the question on the application asks if there are any convictions for criminal offences then you have to state it. That's the keystone in this matter.

[jeepsterman]

Thanks everyone for your exeriences and your advice. It turns out the reason given is a 214 (, which is mainly they do not trust her to return to Thailand. Even though she has a DUI on her police report, I do not think that was a consideration as they immediately jumped on her with questions only about me.

I've been to the Visajourney.com site and will need to dig into it deep once I am on holiday. I had not read anywhere there or here of anyone using a Visa processing/consulting company. It seems to be the exception. It turns out my fiance used a Tour guide lady we had used for her visa processing to Angola. I told her not to use this lady again, but she insisted. She is now insisting on using anohter company named "Knight Consultant Worldwide Limited", whom she has been in contact with. We have a meeting with them on Monday, but what she is telling me that they can 'guarantee' a visa or your money back. Also she mentioned something about the company can have some kind of 'guarantee' that she will come back to Thailand. It all sounds very dodgy to me and a scam to get those desperate to fork over an unending amount of cash. They want 20,000THB to start. I've been telling my fiancé this issue of scams, but she won't hear any of it saying she has used visa companies to get to 5 other countries for business purposes.

Yes, at this point, a K1 sounds like the only way to go, which I was avoiding to the long delay. I leave Angola today for BKK and was hoping to go on holiday with her in the US on my repatriation. I guess that isn't going to happen now, so her and I will need to wait.

Thanks again for all your advice

Mike

[Shot]

Thanks everyone for your exeriences and your advice. It turns out the reason given is a 214 (, which is mainly they do not trust her to return to Thailand. Even though she has a DUI on her police report, I do not think that was a consideration as they immediately jumped on her with questions only about me.

I've been to the Visajourney.com site and will need to dig into it deep once I am on holiday. I had not read anywhere there or here of anyone using a Visa processing/consulting company. It seems to be the exception. It turns out my fiance used a Tour guide lady we had used for her visa processing to Angola. I told her not to use this lady again, but she insisted. She is now insisting on using anohter company named "Knight Consultant Worldwide Limited", whom she has been in contact with. We have a meeting with them on Monday, but what she is telling me that they can 'guarantee' a visa or your money back. Also she mentioned something about the company can have some kind of 'guarantee' that she will come back to Thailand. It all sounds very dodgy to me and a scam to get those desperate to fork over an unending amount of cash. They want 20,000THB to start. I've been telling my fiancé this issue of scams, but she won't hear any of it saying she has used visa companies to get to 5 other countries for business purposes.

Yes, at this point, a K1 sounds like the only way to go, which I was avoiding to the long delay. I leave Angola today for BKK and was hoping to go on holiday with her in the US on my repatriation. I guess that isn't going to happen now, so her and I will need to wait.

Thanks again for all your advice

Mike

I read through their website http://www.knightconsultantworldwide.com/index.html and some of the information was incorrect such as needing a sponsor (maybe that is for a k1/2) letter and a few other things. I also may have missed the "guarantee" part as my Thai reading skills are that of a 2nd 1st grader. I think you're throwing 20k down the drain, but you seem aware of that.

Best of luck, and let us know how it goes.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Shot

[mikiea]

Seems you got scammed by the 'visa company' with poor advice. Renting a few places and peanuts in the bank wont cut it.

for most of Asian women wanting to enter the us as g/f 's or engaged is usually not a big problem unless she has a history with immigration , previous attempts maybe with other man or children .

[doctorthaivisa]

you need to know the lady for 2 years at least and show she is not a bar lady.

many ladies denied. especially with the USA.

if she dress too nice, it will be suspicious. it means she tries to look good because she hides something.

if you go casual with flip flop and t shirt you have more chance than dressing like a princess and high heel, and don't show you are very happy to go to the USA. just say you are forced to go and you want go back home ASAP.

personally I always write a letter to the USA embassy saying I don't like their country , the food is bad, and I don't enjoy their life style.... never been denied a tourist visa . [emoji1]

Edited May 13, 2016 by doctorthaivisa

[1BADDAT]

you need to know the lady for 2 years at least and show she is not a bar lady.

many ladies denied. especially with the USA.

if she dress too nice, it will be suspicious. it means she try to look good.

if you go casual with flip flop and t shirt you have more chance than dressing like a princess and high heel.

and where exactly did you get this information from? And is this recent? Because the political climate related to immigration is changing day to day.

[Rhys]

Don't feel too bad, my wife was rejected the first time we applied. We had all the paperwork and had been married approx 15 years. I went with her thinking it would smooth things out, got a female clerk and I knew within about a minute my wife wouldn't get it. She applied about a year later on her own without me and got the visa. Not sure what criteria they use as both times she presented the same paperwork. Only difference was she got a male clerk the second time around. Ever since then I've never liked going to the US embassy in Bangkok; I've had many issues with them.

Sometimes those Embassy people and associated workers are a hoot. Give someone a shinning star and the APE...

Go to your plan b

[jeepsterman]

UPDATE:

My fiancée and I decided to visit the visa consulting company that I mentioned before ("Knight Consultant Worldwide Limited") and it was a learning experience. The one-hour consult was free and the lady (Thai) has gone through the process herself twice for her two US visas. We found out that they do not offer any 'guarantee', which was nice to hear as my gf was insisting it was true. They offer you two attempts for the same fee. She looked over our previous application and found the likely reason why we were denied. The previous 'travel consulting' company submitted her application online with incorrect information, saying that I was her Spouse and we were in a common law marriage already, which of course does not match the sponsor letter or her answers. She also looked at her passport photo and said we submitted a 'fake' passport photo because the store was too keen to please by photo-shopping her to make her look more younger and pretty. I also learned that my fiancée's police report had her DUI actually translated into English as a 3 month jail sentence, a 8,000THB fine and 2 year probation. Hmmm... no wonder she was rejected. We were also told that we need to submit at least six more documents and they will review her application and my sponsor letter before submitting. We made a lot of mistakes at the first attempt. We definitely were given bad advice from the previous business and wasted money and time with her. The second company seems to be way above board and trustworthy. I sat in the consult and was pretty impressed by what they knew, but we'll see.

[bunnydrops]

My wife rejected two times for a tourist visa. I got her a IR-1 residence visa in less than 3 months. I heard tell ( maybe on this forum)

of a guy who got so fed up with his wife getting refused tourist visas, that he got his wife a residence visa, re applied for a tourist visa

at which she handed over the the visa and got a 10 year tourist visa.