Marriage Before Or After Visa To U.s.

[kyb789]

I would like to marry my Thai gf next year but I am nervous about the VISA applications to settle her into the U.S. with me. I have lived and worked in Thailand for 2 yrs but now would like to marry and move back home.

Can anyone give me advise on whether or not it is better to marry in Thailand and then submit her VISA application as a spouse or if it is just as easy to submit a fiance VISA application? I would prefer to fiance VISA application because I sometimes think it would be better to give her a chance to live in the U.S. for a few months before she makes that great commitment for the rest of her life. I have met ladies who have tried it, then didn't like it.

However, I would like to know the path of least resistence for residency, and to legally work in the U.S. Thanks for the help.

[thaihome]

You will probably get a lot of opinions on this; mine is to get married in Bangkok and apply for spousal visa here,which as you can prove residency, you are allowed to do. You can submit the I-130 petition to the BCIS office in Bangkok and have interview within a couple of weeks. Apparently longest wait is for FBI background check.

As I recently posted of a friend who applied in August and received the visa the first week of December.

There are several forums dedicated to getting spousal visas to the USA.

Good luck either way.

TH