What Are My Options?

[JasonInAsia 1]

I'm a U.S. citizen living in Thailand with my Thai wife and our son, who's 3-weeks old. I'd like to return to the U.S. on October 1, 2012 with my wife and son. I don't work (am a full-time college student and will graduate in about 10 months), and I will have a co-petitioner for my wife's CR-1 visa in order to meet the monetary requirements.

I have a few questions I'm hoping some of you all with more experience in these matters can assist me with.

1. Is there enough time between now and October 1st to secure a CR-1 visa for my wife?

2. Is there any reason why a CR-1 visa would not be issued to my wife?

3. If the answer to #1 is "no," how long would it take to secure her a tourist visa so I can at least take her and my son back to the States so my family could meet them?

4. If the answer to #1 is "yes," is it possible for me to file for the visa being that I am not a resident of the United States? In other words, would I have to move back to the States before I can file for a CR-1 visa for my wife?

I'm sure I'll have more questions throughout my visa journey, but getting answers to the above questions would provide me with a place to start.

[Ryan H 3,812]

I'm a U.S. citizen living in Thailand with my Thai wife and our son, who's 3-weeks old. I'd like to return to the U.S. on October 1, 2012 with my wife and son. I don't work (am a full-time college student and will graduate in about 10 months), and I will have a co-petitioner for my wife's CR-1 visa in order to meet the monetary requirements.

There is no such thing as a "co-petitioner" there is only one petitioner and that's you. The term you are looking for to meet the monetary requirements for sponsorship is joint sponsor.

I have a few questions I'm hoping some of you all with more experience in these matters can assist me with.

1. Is there enough time between now and October 1st to secure a CR-1 visa for my wife?

2. Is there any reason why a CR-1 visa would not be issued to my wife?

3. If the answer to #1 is "no," how long would it take to secure her a tourist visa so I can at least take her and my son back to the States so my family could meet them?

4. If the answer to #1 is "yes," is it possible for me to file for the visa being that I am not a resident of the United States? In other words, would I have to move back to the States before I can file for a CR-1 visa for my wife?

I'm sure I'll have more questions throughout my visa journey, but getting answers to the above questions would provide me with a place to start.

Answers:

1. Have you been residing in Thailand for 6 months or more on a long-term stay visa (tourist visa extensions do not count)? If so, then you can file the petition at the USCIS field office in Bangkok. If you qualify to file in Bangkok, then it's possible the process will be complete by October 1 of next year. Keep in mind that the visa must be used before it expires.

2. Reasons include but are not limited to: CO doesn't believe your relationship is legitimate, beneficiary is likely to become a public charge (an issue you are addressing by having a joint sponsor), give dishonest information to government officials

3. Her chances of being granted a tourist visa are next to nil.

4. See my answer to #1

One more thing, you will need a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) for your son.

Edited November 16, 2011 by Ryan H

[JasonInAsia 1]

Thank you for the response Ryan.

While I've been traveling to Thailand for a long time with extended stays on tourist visas each time, I've only recently begun living here on a non-immigrant O visa. Based on what you wrote, I will have to wait 6 months from the start of my non-immigrant O visa start-date to be able to direct file with the consulate in Bangkok, correct?

Why would my wife being granted a tourist visa be "next to nil?" Not saying you're wrong...just curious why the government would deny a simple tourist visa to a spouse of a citizen.

I gather my best option is to direct file as soon as I'm eligible to do so and just wait, correct? Or should I forego the 5-month wait that would entail and file in the U.S., but while living here?

[Navyk 78]

I'm a U.S. citizen living in Thailand with my Thai wife and our son, who's 3-weeks old. I'd like to return to the U.S. on October 1, 2012 with my wife and son. I don't work (am a full-time college student and will graduate in about 10 months), and I will have a co-petitioner for my wife's CR-1 visa in order to meet the monetary requirements.

I have a few questions I'm hoping some of you all with more experience in these matters can assist me with.

1. Is there enough time between now and October 1st to secure a CR-1 visa for my wife?

2. Is there any reason why a CR-1 visa would not be issued to my wife?

3. If the answer to #1 is "no," how long would it take to secure her a tourist visa so I can at least take her and my son back to the States so my family could meet them?

4. If the answer to #1 is "yes," is it possible for me to file for the visa being that I am not a resident of the United States? In other words, would I have to move back to the States before I can file for a CR-1 visa for my wife?

I'm sure I'll have more questions throughout my visa journey, but getting answers to the above questions would provide me with a place to start.

1. Yes, you can get your CR1 process done based on the average normal time lines.

2. If your marraige is genuine then I don't see any reason why your wife should be denied a CR1 visa.

3. Not relevant. However visitor visa is pretty straight forward and if you start CR1 process now, then don't think about visitir visa.

4. IF you are a USC, then you can file CR1 for your wife. There is no reason to move back to US for filing - just mail your petition to Chicago Lockbox address.

You will need a co-sponsor from US after your petition is approved and moved to NVC for Visa application process.

[Ryan H 3,812]

I will have to wait 6 months from the start of my non-immigrant O visa start-date to be able to direct file with the consulate in Bangkok, correct?

Correct.

just curious why the government would deny a simple tourist visa to a spouse of a citizen.

The law specifically states that visa applicants are to be viewed as intending immigrants to the US unless they prove to the satisfaction of a Consular Official that they have significant ties to their country that will compel them to return. Having a US Citizen spouse does not help establish ties to her country.

I gather my best option is to direct file as soon as I'm eligible to do so and just wait, correct? Or should I forego the 5-month wait that would entail and file in the U.S., but while living here?

If you wish to send your petition to the lockbox in Chicago and start the process sooner even though you live in Thailand, you can do that.

[JasonInAsia 1]

Thanks again Ryan. I guess while filing directly is faster, filing via the Chicago lockbox would be faster in my case because of the 5-month wait before being able to direct file. However, if it takes some time to get the packet together, what should my cut-off time be? In other words, if it takes me 2 months to get everything needed, would it be best to wait another 3 months and file directly? Another way of asking that is how much faster is the direct file route?

[Ryan H 3,812]

Regardless of whether you wait and file directly in Thailand or file at the Chicago lockbox sooner, you will need to show that you have maintained a domicile in the US or that you are in the process of re-establishing a US domicile.

If you choose to file through the Chicago lockbox, you may want to consider having someone stateside receive correspondence from USCIS that they could then forward to you in Thailand.

To get the best answer to how much fast the direct file route is, start a thread in the Direct Consular Filing forum and ask people how long it took them from the time they filed to the time the interview took place. The best answers will come from people who have done it before.

[Ban Hammer 13,283]

duplicate topics have been merged.

[JasonInAsia 1]

Regardless of whether you wait and file directly in Thailand or file at the Chicago lockbox sooner, you will need to show that you have maintained a domicile in the US or that you are in the process of re-establishing a US domicile.

Ummm...that might be a problem.

I worked in Iraq (U.S. Department of State contractor), then in Afghanistan (U.S. Department of Defense contractor) since 2005, with a short break between those two jobs. So, for the past few years I used my parents address as my home of record (it's on my tax returns, driver's license, etc). Can I just use their address for this visa process?

Thanks for the tip about having the paperwork sent to someone in the U.S. and then have them forward the information to me in Thailand.

[Ryan H 3,812]

So, for the past few years I used my parents address as my home of record (it's on my tax returns, driver's license, etc). Can I just use their address for this visa process?

Yes

[JasonInAsia 1]

Great...thanks for all the help!

[Karee 4,190]

Thank you for the response Ryan.

While I've been traveling to Thailand for a long time with extended stays on tourist visas each time, I've only recently begun living here on a non-immigrant O visa. Based on what you wrote, I will have to wait 6 months from the start of my non-immigrant O visa start-date to be able to direct file with the consulate in Bangkok, correct?

Why would my wife being granted a tourist visa be "next to nil?" Not saying you're wrong...just curious why the government would deny a simple tourist visa to a spouse of a citizen.

I gather my best option is to direct file as soon as I'm eligible to do so and just wait, correct? Or should I forego the 5-month wait that would entail and file in the U.S., but while living here?

You're pretty much looking at the same timeframe. You can wait 5 months in Thailand and do DCF quickly, but any advantages to that would be lost due to the 6 month residency requirement. It's 6 of one, half dozen of the other. You also need a domicile in the U.S. to do DCF. Not sure if you have relative or friend here that can support that.

Personally, I would go for the DCF in Thailand and stick it out there if you can support yourself there. It seems to go very quickly. I made the mistake of not taking that route and it took me a year to get the wife here. The child is not an issue if you file CRBA at the embassy.

I know it sounds counter intuitive for them not grant your wife a tourist visa, but the fact is tourist visas are granted solely on on your wife's probability to return to Thailand. They don't like it when people use a tourist visa to immigrate. Since she is married to an American and has a child that is USC, they'll think that she has no reason to return to Thailand, and actually the are probably right about that. I know numerous people that came to the US on tourist visas with intent to immigrate. Almost all of them were able to adjust status be saying they had no intent to immigrate.

Sorry for the long ramble. If you keep residence until Thailand for 6 months you are good to go for DCF. Take care of the CRBA for the child and the son will get a U.S. passport if you already haven't done this. No visa required for the son.

[married2paisita 1]

If you are intending on getting a CR-1 for your wife, it would be very wise to get the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (as suggested above) ASAP. You can apply for a passport and social security # in the same appointment. It costs about $100-200 for everything, and well worth it. You'll have problems down the road if your child does not have citizenship, and it really helps your case for her CR-1 visa.

I married abroad and lived there for a little while with wife and baby, now we are coming here. It made my life at least 2000 times easier that I took care of that early on.

Of course, I am assuming you havent done it already

[JasonInAsia 1]

Karee - I've decided to DCF from here. In between now and then I will be getting all the required documents together and will fill out all the paperwork. Thanks for the advice!

Married2Pisita - No, I haven't done the CRBA yet. One of the requirements is for me to prove I've lived in the States for at least 3 years since the age of 14. Being I've lived outside the U.S. for over a decade, this isn't easy. But, I have some paperwork coming from the States, and when that arrives I'll make the appointment for the CRBA (hopefully December or January). Thank you for your input!