SAWASDEE 3 (2009 Thai thread restarted)

[bigcasino75 0]

Hi all. I am new hear and have just been reading to get info before I apply for a K1. My girl is in school now and will not be finished till May of next year I am trying to time this so that she will get her visa in June. All of the websites give a wait time of about 6 months maybe 7 but from reading hear it looks a lot longer I was going to apply in December of 09 maybe Nov but do you think that I should apply earlier? I dont want her to get this too early because as I said she will be in school. I am trying to time it so that her school will end I can fly over to BKK for a few weeks we can have a wedding party for her family and then leave together any advice.

Welcome to VJ! Depending on the service center you file with (Vermont is taking about 45 days longer,) you are probably looking at 6 months. Look here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...ge=k1historical

I am in California so it looks like they are a little faster now. I was just worrired because I see a lot of people on here that have taken 1 yr or more and I would hate to wait now and have to wait on the back side too knowing that I could have done it earlyer. maybe I will apply a little earlier and then we can take our time turning in the packets if need be.

[rsn 135]

Hi all. I am new hear and have just been reading to get info before I apply for a K1. My girl is in school now and will not be finished till May of next year I am trying to time this so that she will get her visa in June. All of the websites give a wait time of about 6 months maybe 7 but from reading hear it looks a lot longer I was going to apply in December of 09 maybe Nov but do you think that I should apply earlier? I dont want her to get this too early because as I said she will be in school. I am trying to time it so that her school will end I can fly over to BKK for a few weeks we can have a wedding party for her family and then leave together any advice.

Welcome to VJ! Depending on the service center you file with (Vermont is taking about 45 days longer,) you are probably looking at 6 months. Look here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...ge=k1historical

I am in California so it looks like they are a little faster now. I was just worrired because I see a lot of people on here that have taken 1 yr or more and I would hate to wait now and have to wait on the back side too knowing that I could have done it earlyer. maybe I will apply a little earlier and then we can take our time turning in the packets if need be.

It only took us about 5 months from submission to visa reception as well, but really it's a crapshoot. Maybe it'll take 5 months, maybe 2 years. Who knows.

Edited July 31, 2009 by rsn

[sinkling 0]

I have a question, I hope this is the right place to post this. My fiancee lives in Thailand, she just went back about 3 weeks ago. She came here with the work and travel program, we ended up falling in love, and might have a baby on the way. I was wondering what is the quickest way to get her over here to the USA so we can get married? She has been looking into programs but they cost $4,000+ which we won't have for a few months, and then she will have to wait 7-8 months to be approved. I'm looking for the fastest way to get her here, we really really miss eachother, and these long-distance calls are draining my wallet. Right now we have a combined amount of $2,000 that we could drop down on visa applications, and we can quickly save up for the plane ticket. I'd do anything for this girl, please help me! Thank you.

[rsn 135]

I have a question, I hope this is the right place to post this. My fiancee lives in Thailand, she just went back about 3 weeks ago. She came here with the work and travel program, we ended up falling in love, and might have a baby on the way. I was wondering what is the quickest way to get her over here to the USA so we can get married? She has been looking into programs but they cost $4,000+ which we won't have for a few months, and then she will have to wait 7-8 months to be approved. I'm looking for the fastest way to get her here, we really really miss eachother, and these long-distance calls are draining my wallet. Right now we have a combined amount of $2,000 that we could drop down on visa applications, and we can quickly save up for the plane ticket. I'd do anything for this girl, please help me! Thank you.

Your options are stay engaged and go for a K1, or get married and go for a CR1. I believe K1 may be a bit faster, but I don't know that for sure, just a hunch. I'd say if your process takes only 5 months from submission to visa in hand, consider yourself lucky.

[bigcasino75 0]

I have a question, I hope this is the right place to post this. My fiancee lives in Thailand, she just went back about 3 weeks ago. She came here with the work and travel program, we ended up falling in love, and might have a baby on the way. I was wondering what is the quickest way to get her over here to the USA so we can get married? She has been looking into programs but they cost $4,000+ which we won't have for a few months, and then she will have to wait 7-8 months to be approved. I'm looking for the fastest way to get her here, we really really miss eachother, and these long-distance calls are draining my wallet. Right now we have a combined amount of $2,000 that we could drop down on visa applications, and we can quickly save up for the plane ticket. I'd do anything for this girl, please help me! Thank you.

Your options are stay engaged and go for a K1, or get married and go for a CR1. I believe K1 may be a bit faster, but I don't know that for sure, just a hunch. I'd say if your process takes only 5 months from submission to visa in hand, consider yourself lucky.

I can help you with the phone call thing. get vonage it cost 24.99 a month for unlimited US calls and you can add on Thailand and other asian countrys for $10 more a month unlimited. I use about 2000 international min a month to call my fiancee in Thailand

[DaveTX 2]

Skype Subscription for Thailand is $5.99 a month for unlimited calls....

[*Robert* 2]

Hi all. I am new hear and have just been reading to get info before I apply for a K1. My girl is in school now and will not be finished till May of next year I am trying to time this so that she will get her visa in June. All of the websites give a wait time of about 6 months maybe 7 but from reading hear it looks a lot longer I was going to apply in December of 09 maybe Nov but do you think that I should apply earlier? I dont want her to get this too early because as I said she will be in school. I am trying to time it so that her school will end I can fly over to BKK for a few weeks we can have a wedding party for her family and then leave together any advice.

There is no reason to wait. You should begin now, because you never know what will happen. Once a K-1 visa is issued, you have 6 months to use it, which gives you plenty of time.

[Bonobo 0]

Hi all. I am new hear and have just been reading to get info before I apply for a K1. My girl is in school now and will not be finished till May of next year I am trying to time this so that she will get her visa in June. All of the websites give a wait time of about 6 months maybe 7 but from reading hear it looks a lot longer I was going to apply in December of 09 maybe Nov but do you think that I should apply earlier? I dont want her to get this too early because as I said she will be in school. I am trying to time it so that her school will end I can fly over to BKK for a few weeks we can have a wedding party for her family and then leave together any advice.

Welcome to VJ! Depending on the service center you file with (Vermont is taking about 45 days longer,) you are probably looking at 6 months. Look here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...ge=k1historical

I am in California so it looks like they are a little faster now. I was just worrired because I see a lot of people on here that have taken 1 yr or more and I would hate to wait now and have to wait on the back side too knowing that I could have done it earlyer. maybe I will apply a little earlier and then we can take our time turning in the packets if need be.

I would say you should apply pretty soon (in a month or two). If for some reason your visa process goes very quickly, you can always slow it down by waiting a bit between when your fiance receives the Packet 3 info from Bangkok and when she replies that she is ready for an interview. And then once she has the visa in hand, she has 6 months until it expires. I don't know about everybody else on here, but once I decided to prepare my materials for the I-129f, it took me about a month until I had everything prepared, collated, and copied and ready to be sent out. Including that time, it was ~7 months from the beginning until we had a visa, going through Vermont SC.

[rsn 135]

Skype Subscription for Thailand is $5.99 a month for unlimited calls....

Correct. And you can also you "Skype-To-Go" for no extra charge to make unlimited calls to Thailand as part of your $5.95/month subscription directly from your cell phone. This is particularly useful since it isn't that fun to sit in front of a computer talking and the devices you can use with Skype are limited in number and expensive.

Edited July 31, 2009 by rsn

[Bonobo 0]

I have a question, I hope this is the right place to post this. My fiancee lives in Thailand, she just went back about 3 weeks ago. She came here with the work and travel program, we ended up falling in love, and might have a baby on the way. I was wondering what is the quickest way to get her over here to the USA so we can get married? She has been looking into programs but they cost $4,000+ which we won't have for a few months, and then she will have to wait 7-8 months to be approved. I'm looking for the fastest way to get her here, we really really miss eachother, and these long-distance calls are draining my wallet. Right now we have a combined amount of $2,000 that we could drop down on visa applications, and we can quickly save up for the plane ticket. I'd do anything for this girl, please help me! Thank you.

I'm sorry that you feel the urgency to get her over here, but most options will take some time. Perhaps she can do the "Work and travel program" again??

But what option are you referring to that costs $4,000? Off the top of my head, I think the visa process has cost me a little over $1000 so far (various paperwork fees, medical examination, travel expenses), not counting a plane ticket.

I use MSN chat and we both have web cameras. It's free and works good enough. For phone calls nobelcom.com isn't bad (8 1/2 cents per minute).

[rsn 135]

I have a question, I hope this is the right place to post this. My fiancee lives in Thailand, she just went back about 3 weeks ago. She came here with the work and travel program, we ended up falling in love, and might have a baby on the way. I was wondering what is the quickest way to get her over here to the USA so we can get married? She has been looking into programs but they cost $4,000+ which we won't have for a few months, and then she will have to wait 7-8 months to be approved. I'm looking for the fastest way to get her here, we really really miss eachother, and these long-distance calls are draining my wallet. Right now we have a combined amount of $2,000 that we could drop down on visa applications, and we can quickly save up for the plane ticket. I'd do anything for this girl, please help me! Thank you.

I'm sorry that you feel the urgency to get her over here, but most options will take some time. Perhaps she can do the "Work and travel program" again??

But what option are you referring to that costs $4,000? Off the top of my head, I think the visa process has cost me a little over $1000 so far (various paperwork fees, medical examination, travel expenses), not counting a plane ticket.

I use MSN chat and we both have web cameras. It's free and works good enough. For phone calls nobelcom.com isn't bad (8 1/2 cents per minute).

Be careful using calling cards like Nobelcom if you have visions of using that as proof of communication. Nobel will not release phone records without a court order, at least they wouldn't do it for me when I asked them about 3 months ago.

EDIT: Also the last packet 4 from the embassy clearly states that calling cards are not valid forms of proof of communication.

Edited July 31, 2009 by rsn

[DaveTX 2]

Skype Subscription for Thailand is $5.99 a month for unlimited calls....

Correct. And you can also you "Skype-To-Go" for no extra charge to make unlimited calls to Thailand as part of your $5.95/month subscription directly from your cell phone. This is particularly useful since it isn't that fun to sit in front of a computer talking and the devices you can use with Skype are limited in number and expensive.

Wow Ray... you got NOA1 to NOA2 in one month? I just sent in my paperwork to VSC on Wednesday. Did you just get really lucky? (Or am I stupid and missing something)

[rsn 135]

Skype Subscription for Thailand is $5.99 a month for unlimited calls....

Correct. And you can also you "Skype-To-Go" for no extra charge to make unlimited calls to Thailand as part of your $5.95/month subscription directly from your cell phone. This is particularly useful since it isn't that fun to sit in front of a computer talking and the devices you can use with Skype are limited in number and expensive.

Wow Ray... you got NOA1 to NOA2 in one month? I just sent in my paperwork to VSC on Wednesday. Did you just get really lucky? (Or am I stupid and missing something)

Well, sort of. It was actually closer to 2 months. If you look at my timeline and/or signature, you'll see that it is unclear when my NOA1 was initially sent out. I sent in the app from Thailand, and at the time I had my mail forwarded at my address in the U.S.. Apprently this is a no-no and the NOA1 was not delivered to the forwarded address and was returned to USCIS. They didn't get around to sending out a new NOA1 until February and that one had a more recent date stamp on it. Still, 2 months is pretty good. I think I did get lucky, but our case was pretty straightforward, neither of us have common names which seem to sometimes result in AP if someone else with your name has a sketchy background (or so I've heard), etc, etc. I don't have any concrete evidence that anything specific made it a shorter run for us, so I'm going with: a lot of luck and a little planning.

Edited July 31, 2009 by rsn

[DaveTX 2]

Well, sort of. It was actually closer to 2 months. If you look at my timeline and/or signature, you'll see that it is unclear when my NOA1 was initially sent out. I sent in the app from Thailand, and at the time I had my mail forwarded at my address in the U.S.. Apprently this is a no-no and the NOA1 was not delivered to the forwarded address and was returned to USCIS. They didn't get around to sending out a new NOA1 until February and that one had a more recent date stamp on it. Still, 2 months is pretty good. I think I did get lucky, but our case was pretty straightforward, neither of us have common names which seem to sometimes result in AP if someone else with your name has a sketchy background (or so I've heard), etc, etc. I don't have any concrete evidence that anything specific made it a shorter run for us, so I'm going with: a lot of luck and a little planning.

I see. No common name for us either, no previous marriages, and no kids so I'm hoping to get lucky =p

I've found skype-to-go with the subscription for Thailand calls to have better sound quality most of the time than calling direct did for what it's worth. Webcam is kind of nice too... 100hours of internet on a cell phone in thailand with AIS is only 370 baht. She can tether the cell phone to a laptop and you can do video calls.

[sinkling 0]

She cannot do the work and travel program again because she has already graduated college, and you are required to be in school for the program. It will cost around $2,500 for an agency in Thailand to set up an internship visa, which apparently only takes 2 months to get. She can then stay for 1 year and 1/2, which is plenty of time to marry and get an American nationality. It is then another $1,500 for the plane ticket. This is our plan unless there is a better, cheaper, and quicker way around this. I am curious if there is a way I can set up the internship visa myself to make it much cheaper, but I highly doubt that.