U.S.Visa

[Blue bruce]

Today is a good day to celebrate,  my Thai wife has been approved for her U.S. visa to fly to America for the Thanksgiving & Christmas holidays.

This was her 2 nd attempt in 60 days. Thank you American Embassy, we are both very happy

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Bruce

 

well, congrats on the success!

 

Does raise a Q, tho, what happened with her 1st try for a U.S. visa?  What did you do different this time?  A fuller explanation might help someone else out in the future.

 

Mac

[Blue bruce]

Prior to the 1 st visit we had rehearsed 10-12 questions that US immigration might ask   Of course she was nervous, her 1 st time in front of a US official . They chit chatted for a moment in Thai then the officer asked my wife how long she had known me, her husband. My wife took it as how long we were married not how long we had been together and replied 8 months. That was the end of the interview. The officer said my did not know me long enough.

On the 2nd interview 45 days later my wife was not nervous.  We had gone over MY personal history extensively. My middle name, my birthday,  kids names, what I did for a living  before I retired.  Whatever I could tell her about myself.

So she goes into the interview very confident. The officer asked again how long have you known your husband.  This time she says I know my husband long time and we have  been married almost 1 year. The agent continued to ask questions about me and she had the answers.

What they are trying to determine is if this is a true relationship or a scam. If your wife knows your personal history she has a good chance of getting the U S visa.

Just my personal experience 

 

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Bruce

 

Thanks, and good on her, your wife for being confident.

 

Another couple of Qs:

 

--  Did the interviewing officer ask what your visa status is here in Thailand, eg, retired, working, etc?

 

--  Did your wife take along your passport to show your status here?  I usually advise this and to pull it out right at the beginning of the interview.

 

Have a good trip!

 

Mac

[Blue bruce]

Good question, no to both because she brought with  her a stack of documents about 1 1/2 inches thick pertaining to everything about me that he kept thumbing thru as they spoke. The officer also had his computer open and kept checking on what info my wife was giving him. Not that he was indifferent  because my wife said he was very pleasant to her. Just doing his job I guess. She said they spoke in Thai thru out the interview 

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Bruce

 

Thanks for the follow up.

 

I'm a bit surprised, tho, as quite often the interviewing officer wants to know the status of the husband/boyfriend as, if he is well established here by retirement, job, etc, then odds are he will becoming back, and the presumption then is that the wife/GF will return with him.

 

Oh, well, glad your wife got the visa.

 

Mac

[Shot]

Great information Bruce, thanks much, and congratulations on your wife’s US Visa.

 

Have a wonderful trip.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I had a comparable experience to the OP's a couple years back with an ex who applied for a tourist visa with my support.

 

I thought going in that during the interview they would be asking her about her. But according to her account afterward, most of the conversation was about me and my status.

 

And, when the officer couldn't find the copies of my Thai visa/extensions history that the GF at the time had in her binder, and she for reasons I can't fathom couldn't manage to pull them out herself, that basically was the end.

 

Afterward, after not finding the copies, the officer asked her for my original passport, which she didn't have (companions/spouses aren't allowed in, and I didn't think she needed the original since she already had the copies). So, she was dead.

 

In retrospect, now that I'm headed toward doing another try with my current wife quite a few years later, I'm going to make sure she knows where the Thai visa/extension copies are, all the details of my history, and I'll give her my original passport to take to the interview, just in case.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, one question I've been wrestling with is, for a mixed couple visitor visa application, whether or not one's Thai marriage certificate needs to be translated into English, and if so, certified by the Thai MFA?

 

I couldn't find any official guidance on that on the Consulate's website, so I wrote an email lately to the visa service desk at the BKK Consulate. They replied by email that an English translation is NOT required for a Thai marriage certificate.

 

But I'm still a bit nervous on that subject, especially since some of the past email exchanges I've had with Consulate "staff" have been pretty pathetic.

 

[Blue bruce]

I had everything I had in Thai translated into English,  just in case. You never know what the officer is going to look for and I would rather be on the cautious side.

[Blue bruce]

In reply to Thanyaburi's post yes the officer did ask my wife my visa status and also how low I had been in Thailand .She had copies of my retirement extensions along with a copy of my lease on our home in Buriram plus my certified bank statements proving I had money in my Thai bank account.

 

[Blue bruce]

The good news now is we went to the post to p/u her passport today and we're notified that she was issued a 10 year U.S visa. No more trips to the embassy for a visa. Thank you U.S. Embassy 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Blue bruce said:

I had everything I had in Thai translated into English,  just in case. You never know what the officer is going to look for and I would rather be on the cautious side.

 

I share your concerns. FWIW, I wrote an email to the designated email support address for non-immigrant visa applications called U.S. Travel Docs. Below is the question I asked and the response I received earlier this month, with the pertinent part of their answer underlined. Clearly, I'm going to have my wife take a printout of their answer with her to her interview.

 

 

[teatree]

Does anyone know if there is a limit on how early you can apply for a visa?  We are going in April, can my wife apply now?

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Might be too early.

 

If she gets only a 6-month validity visa, that'd expire in March.  If a 10-year, would be fine.

 

Mac

[JAFO]

Congrats,

Just as a point of reference for others, when my now wife got her 10 year Visa we were just dating so you do not have to be married. I really believe preparation is key to the process being successful. At the time I asked her if she wanted to go back and visit with me she said yes, then she researched many Thai based websites to find out information. When we went to the consulate she was well prepared. She was in and out and done with an approval. 

 

We got married in the US a month or so after we arrived as a business opportunity arose. That was an interesting ordeal as she was  visiting with me on a Tourist Visa. 

Edited September 19, 2016 by JAFO

[Blue bruce]

Again as I stated preparation for the interview is the key. If the officer feels the Thai woman really  knows her husband or partner that is probably 80% of the process 

[MrJ]

Hi all,

 

I am German and my wife is Filipino, I am holding a work permit and we are living in Thailand for 8 years - we are planing to visit the US for the 1st time for vacation. Is it difficult to obtain the visa? What documents we have to provide - my wife doesn't have any connection to here native country anymore.

 

We have been to Germany more then 10 times already.

 

Thanks Mr. J

Edited September 20, 2016 by MrJ

[Blue bruce]

You can start by going to U.S. visa website all the info you will need as far as documents are listed. Good luck

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

http://www.ustraveldocs.com/th/th-niv-typeb1b2.asp

 

https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/

 

http://www.ustraveldocs.com/th/th-niv-ds160info.asp

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/forms/ds-160--online-nonimmigrant-visa-application/frequently-asked-questions.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blue bruce]

Very good tall guy john

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 9/15/2016 at 9:10 PM, Blue bruce said:

Good question, no to both because she brought with  her a stack of documents about 1 1/2 inches thick pertaining to everything about me that he kept thumbing thru as they spoke. The officer also had his computer open and kept checking on what info my wife was giving him. Not that he was indifferent  because my wife said he was very pleasant to her. Just doing his job I guess. She said they spoke in Thai thru out the interview 

 

Bruce, how did that go in terms of the supporting documents info?  Did she get to hand in the documents prior to her interview so someone/the officer could begin looking thru them ahead of time, or, just walk up and hand them to the officer right at the start of her interview?

 

Also, how did you/she have all the various documents arranged/organized?  As you'll see in the post below, the Consulate seems pretty fussy about just what kinds of things they'll allow the applicant to bring inside. I was planning to put ours in a tabbed 3 ring binder, but now after reading their advisory, I'm not sure they'll allow that.

Edited September 21, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So, we paid our $160 / 5600b application fee the other day via direct cash payment to our local Krungsri bank branch, Krungsri being the only place the U.S. will accept cash payments for the tourist visa application fee. (The other option is an Electronic Funds Transfer from a Thai bank account).

 

As promised, the day after doing the cash payment, we were able to log-in at the designated website where my wife's account/visa application is/was stored -- https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/ -- and proceed to schedule the interview time/date for her upcoming visit to the U.S. Consulate in BKK. (If you do the ETF payment, the system says there is a 2-day processing period vs. just 1-day for cash payments).

 

I was pleased to find that even though the CM Consulate is closed right now, the interview schedule for tourist visa applicants at BKK is not backed up/delayed, at least not right now. In going online tonight to schedule the wife's appointment, the Consulate had available interview slots starting next Monday and continuing throughout the week. I've heard, it gets much busier at other times of the year such as due to school schedules when the wait times for interviews are longer.

 

Anyway, printed out the interview confirmation slip and found there was another set of instructions about what to do and not do, including some new elements that I'd not seen advised anywhere in prior instructions, such as the applicant being told to bring prior passports in addition to their current, valid one. There also are a lot of restrictions about what kinds of belongings and even things like briefcases that cannot be brought inside the Consulate.

 

Here's the screen cap of the instructions in the interview confirmation document:

 

 

 

 

[Blue bruce]

The U.S. Embassy is a well secured compound. No cell phones, no brief cases.only the P/W that one needs fir the interview along with her passport. 

It might be a good idea to give her your passport to show the agent you have been in Thailand x amount of years.

Good Luck

On 9/20/2016 at 4:36 PM, Angry Beaver said:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2016 by Blue bruce
2 different topics

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Hey Bruce, can you provide an answer to the questions below???

 

23 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Bruce, how did that go in terms of the supporting documents info?  Did she get to hand in the documents prior to her interview so someone/the officer could begin looking thru them ahead of time, or, just walk up and hand them to the officer right at the start of her interview?

 

Also, how did you/she have all the various documents arranged/organized?  As you'll see in the post below, the Consulate seems pretty fussy about just what kinds of things they'll allow the applicant to bring inside. I was planning to put ours in a tabbed 3 ring binder, but now after reading their advisory, I'm not sure they'll allow that.

 

[Blue bruce]

The U.S. Embassy is a well secured compound. No cell phones, no brief cases.only the P/W that one needs fir the interview along with her passport. 

It might be a good idea to give her your passport to show the agent you have been in Thailand x amount of years.

Good Luck

On 9/20/2016 at 4:36 PM, Angry Beaver said:

Great joke. 555.

By the way, I wasn't "angry" or "worked up" about it. I guess it's difficult to tell someone's tone or attitude over the internet through text, huh?

 

This ASUS has decent specs for the price, but no OS. You can always find some shop to install a copy of Windows 10 or whatever you like.

http://www.invadeit.co.th/product/notebooks-laptops/asus/k455la-wx736d-blue-intel-core-i3-5005u-4gb-ddr3-500gb-14inch-led-intel-hd-no-os-p027643/

 

 

As o stated above the U.S. Embassy is well secured . Only the documents that your wife is bringing to the interview is allowed . Just organize the documents in groups.   Marrriage certificates and related marriage together. Support  documents together.  Any documents you have group together.

No you do not send the p/w ahead of the interview.  Your wife will carry the documents with her into the interview .it may be a good idea to give her your passport also in case the officer wants to see how long you have been in Thailand.  The office will thumb thru her p/w as he is going thru the interview while also glancing at his computer. 

Not necessary to put in binders . Make it simple.