SAWASDEE 3 (2009 Thai thread restarted)

[*Robert* 2]

I think Danny brings up an excellent point. As long as it is a bonafide relationship, all the required proof has been provided, and everyone has been 100% truthful, this whole process is nothing more than jumping through hoops, and spending a lot of money.

Ray, I can fully appreciate that fact that you are a worrier, because so am I, but trust me, you guys will be just fine. Listen to your girl and quit worrying so much, because all you’re going to do is stress her out!!!

Robert

[Alan D. 0]

On's birthday is Sunday. I've got no way to send her anything

Yaay for e-cards! and phones!

You could consider next-day flower delivery service. I've done those for Birthday, Valentines, etc.

There are several in the country. I've used http://www.forever-florist-thailand.com/ and was pleased.

If you order now, you can still have delivery on Sunday I think. Especially if she lives in a major city or town.

Thank you uscandual. butt. saved.

[wasabi 4]

Wasabi, what did you do for the I-134 Affidavit of Support, since you were in Thailand for over a year?

I work for a major US University and have for over 5 years. However I'm lucky that all my work can performed remotely. As long as I have an internet connection I can live anywhere in the world so obviously I wanted to be with my Fiance and chose Thailand. I still have my job but now that she is about to come back I'd actually like to embark on a new career and am simultaneously pursuing that.

It's weird being back I keep wanting to tell check-out clerks, Kob Khun Krap.

[*Robert* 2]

It's weird being back I keep wanting to tell check-out clerks, Kob Khun Krap.

Yeah, I hear ya. At restaurants I keep wanting to say, "Nong, check been"

[ThaitoUSA 15]

Yeah, I hear ya. At restaurants I keep wanting to say, "Nong, check been"

I actually do. I make the gesture of extended index finger pointing down at the table circling around as I say it. It will be good to have my fiancée here to practice Thai. As we all know, if you don't use it you lose it. I wish to increase my ability in Thai. We've already discussed when we have children, during the first few years she'll speak entirely in Thai to them and I shall speak entirely in English. As they get older, I wish to communicate with them in Thai as well, as I would wish for her to speak with them in English. With both parents being teachers, these kids aren't going to have a chance: we've already worked with every type of child imaginable and we got their number.

Edited June 16, 2009 by ThaitoUSA

[*Robert* 2]

Yeah, I hear ya. At restaurants I keep wanting to say, "Nong, check been"

I actually do. I make the gesture of extended index finger pointing down at the table circling around as I say it. It will be good to have my fiancée here to practice Thai. As we all know, if you don't use it you lose it. I wish to increase my ability in Thai. We've already discussed when we have children, during the first few years she'll speak entirely in Thai to them and I shall speak entirely in English. As they get older, I wish to communicate with them in Thai as well, as I would wish for her to speak with them in English. With both parents being teachers, these kids aren't going to have a chance: we've already worked with every type of child imaginable and we got their number.

Poor kids!!!

Good luck with keeping kids fluent in Thai. My best friend has three girls, born and raised in Thailand, and left when they were 3, 5, and 10 years old, and didn’t speak a lick of English. They are now 9, 11, and 16. They make very good grades in school, but the two youngest girls can’t speak a lick of Thai anymore, and the oldest girl can only remember bits and pieces, though she tells me if she goes back to Thailand she’ll pick it back up. When it comes to going to Thailand for vacation, the middle girl pleads to be left behind, because she doesn’t like “how dirty” it is there!

Kids!

Edited June 16, 2009 by roi_aggie

[Danno2 0]

My fiancée does not believe they'll let her in until around 12 to 12:30 for her 1 pm interview. Anyone else know whether she'll be allowed in earlier than that?

Chada had the 1:00PM appointment and they did not. When she came back at 12:45 they were the last in line. If she wants to be in the front of the line I would say wait. If not tell her to go across the street and relax till 12:30. I would certainly have her in the vicinity at 12:00. Don't be late or rushing.

[AaronLV 12]

My fiancée does not believe they'll let her in until around 12 to 12:30 for her 1 pm interview. Anyone else know whether she'll be allowed in earlier than that?

Chada had the 1:00PM appointment and they did not. When she came back at 12:45 they were the last in line. If she wants to be in the front of the line I would say wait. If not tell her to go across the street and relax till 12:30. I would certainly have her in the vicinity at 12:00. Don't be late or rushing.

When we went back to hand in our evidence on the 2nd trip we got there at 11:45, by 12:15 there was a line of about 20 people behind us, by the time they opened the doors and let her in at about 12:45 there was a good 40 or 50 people in line. I suggest get there early and wait.

[scandal 951]

On's birthday is Sunday. I've got no way to send her anything

Yaay for e-cards! and phones!

You could consider next-day flower delivery service. I've done those for Birthday, Valentines, etc.

There are several in the country. I've used http://www.forever-florist-thailand.com/ and was pleased.

If you order now, you can still have delivery on Sunday I think. Especially if she lives in a major city or town.

Thank you uscandual. butt. saved.

Glad it worked out Alan

[shawndoc 0]

Just on the flower front, I've always had good luck with: http://www.flowers2thailand.com/

Always delivered something as good if not better than pictured on the site, and I always found them to have really good prices.

[rsn 135]

Just on the flower front, I've always had good luck with: http://www.flowers2thailand.com/

Always delivered something as good if not better than pictured on the site, and I always found them to have really good prices.

I second that. Used them bunches of times myself, no problems and always an above average experience. They do seem to add a delivery charge for flowers sent to more remote areas of Isan though, but it still seems relatively reasonable and that charge doesn't apply to non-flower gifts.

[Alan D. 0]

Just on the flower front, I've always had good luck with: http://www.flowers2thailand.com/

Always delivered something as good if not better than pictured on the site, and I always found them to have really good prices.

I second that. Used them bunches of times myself, no problems and always an above average experience. They do seem to add a delivery charge for flowers sent to more remote areas of Isan though, but it still seems relatively reasonable and that charge doesn't apply to non-flower gifts.

the link uscan gave me was good, they delivered pretty much on time as promised ... and price was about what i'd pay in usa but that's ok.

delivery wasn't a problem to HuaHin ... and she took my flowers to her birthday party last night

[Rinda and Chris 0]

Hi All-

We are new to the forum. I've been reviewing the information here and found it very useful so far. Here are a couple of questions on issues we have encountered with document preparation....

I've been effectively living in Thailand this year and met a fantastic woman. We met online but while I was travelling around Thailand, so we were able to meet in person right away. We hit it off and have been inseparable since. She is everything I was looking for and more. Rinda and I were engaged on April 19th and filed for the K-1 a week later. I'm returning to the USA this week to spend the summer with my children and look for a new job (been working in Australia). I know it is going to be difficult to be apart from her for these coming months but I miss my kids and need to prepare for our life together.

For the most part, the visa application process has been straight-forward so far. We've been dealing with two primary issues: no birth certificate for my fiancee and the single certificate.

Rinda did not have a birth certificate and since both of her parents are deceased, no one even remembers exactly where she was born. She does have a passport already. We were able to go to the district office with the village leader, family members, and other friends with their documents (id and house) and get an official letter saying no birth certificate exists. We haven't had it translated yet, but everything appears to be in order for this now. That letter is gold and I know we will need it for future AOS filings. It took about 3 hours for the entire process.

One curious item to note is that her passport lists her place of birth as Udon Thani. I wondered about the discrepancy between her birth certificate document saying Nong Bua Lam Phu and the passport as being Udon Thani. However it was explained to me that Udon Thani used to be the name of the whole province that included Nong Bua Lam Phu until it was split and became associated with just the city. So as far as I can tell, the passport reflects the province name not the city name at the time of her birth. Should I be concerned with this?

The single certification should be easy since she has never been married and has no children. We were given a form by our lawyer with exact wording specified by the embassy. They did the document but would certify only not married in "this district" not "all of Thailand" as apparently is expected by the embassy. When we reviewed the documents, the lawyer's staff picked this up immediately and said that might cause a problem. It seems every amphur uses different forms but the embassy wants the information standardized. We have since been trying to get the document re-issued with correct wording. The district amphur only wants to certify its own jurisdiction, but the computer system apparently holds national records. This document can only be produced at the district office in the home town, so there is no alternative location to get one. We've been working with Rinda's sister to get this re-done (trying to avoid a trip back to Nong Bua Lam Phu), but each time they produce the document they mess up some other part. Has anyone else had a problem with similar wording issues? If we don't have luck with this, then we will just use the document we have and hope for the best.

Thanks.

[daboyz 36]

Hi All-

We are new to the forum. I've been reviewing the information here and found it very useful so far. Here are a couple of questions on issues we have encountered with document preparation....

I've been effectively living in Thailand this year and met a fantastic woman. We met online but while I was travelling around Thailand, so we were able to meet in person right away. We hit it off and have been inseparable since. She is everything I was looking for and more. Rinda and I were engaged on April 19th and filed for the K-1 a week later. I'm returning to the USA this week to spend the summer with my children and look for a new job (been working in Australia). I know it is going to be difficult to be apart from her for these coming months but I miss my kids and need to prepare for our life together.

For the most part, the visa application process has been straight-forward so far. We've been dealing with two primary issues: no birth certificate for my fiancee and the single certificate.

Rinda did not have a birth certificate and since both of her parents are deceased, no one even remembers exactly where she was born. She does have a passport already. We were able to go to the district office with the village leader, family members, and other friends with their documents (id and house) and get an official letter saying no birth certificate exists. We haven't had it translated yet, but everything appears to be in order for this now. That letter is gold and I know we will need it for future AOS filings. It took about 3 hours for the entire process.

One curious item to note is that her passport lists her place of birth as Udon Thani. I wondered about the discrepancy between her birth certificate document saying Nong Bua Lam Phu and the passport as being Udon Thani. However it was explained to me that Udon Thani used to be the name of the whole province that included Nong Bua Lam Phu until it was split and became associated with just the city. So as far as I can tell, the passport reflects the province name not the city name at the time of her birth. Should I be concerned with this?

The single certification should be easy since she has never been married and has no children. We were given a form by our lawyer with exact wording specified by the embassy. They did the document but would certify only not married in "this district" not "all of Thailand" as apparently is expected by the embassy. When we reviewed the documents, the lawyer's staff picked this up immediately and said that might cause a problem. It seems every amphur uses different forms but the embassy wants the information standardized. We have since been trying to get the document re-issued with correct wording. The district amphur only wants to certify its own jurisdiction, but the computer system apparently holds national records. This document can only be produced at the district office in the home town, so there is no alternative location to get one. We've been working with Rinda's sister to get this re-done (trying to avoid a trip back to Nong Bua Lam Phu), but each time they produce the document they mess up some other part. Has anyone else had a problem with similar wording issues? If we don't have luck with this, then we will just use the document we have and hope for the best.

Thanks.

Just a guess, but I think Nong Bua Lam Phu is probably an Amphur of Chaengwat Udon Thani. In American terms, that would mean something similar to Nong Bua Lam Phu being a county, and Udon Thani being the state. I know the embassy will take that letter from the Amphur as being proof of birth, but I have seen people run in to issues when trying to file the AOS here in the states. You can PM me and I'll send you both the English and Thai copies of what I have.

This is from the Dept. of State website. Keep in mind USCIS and DOS are two totally different agencies.

The issuance of birth certificates in Thailand began in Bangkok in 1917. Records of birth are often lacking for people born in Bangkok before World War II and for those born in other areas of the country up until the 1970s. Birth Certificates are issued by "Amphur," (geographic subdivision roughly equivalent to a county in the U.S.) district authorities having jurisdiction over the place of birth. There may be a fee for this service.

A Thai citizen older than 15 and born in Thailand, whose birth was not registered, must present in its stead a household registration, together with a Thai national identity card ("bat prachachon"), and may also be required to submit additional proof of the claimed relationship.

[Alan D. 0]

honey and flowers