SAWASDEE 3 (2009 Thai thread restarted)

[rsn 135]

Sent the K1 packet last week, checked the tracking number and it got delivered on Friday. Hoping it all goes well and looking forward to visiting BKK in January.

Anyone know if having a B2 helps at all for going through interview? Is there some sort of background checks they might have already done?

They will perform background checks on you and your fiancee during the K1 process. I would assume at least a simple check is done before issuing a tourist visa as well. Not sure if receiving a tourist visa in itself has any effect on your K1 since they are different types of visas, but B2s are not easy to obtain for Thai citizens, so it seems like all should be well for you. My wife was unable to obtain a tourist visa and still received a K1 so... Just speculation though.

Yeah I was just curious if it might speed up the process. I'm not too worried about her receiving a K1, she's a professional and speaks perfect english.

I'm sure all will be fine, but her level of education and ability to speak English may not be as critical to obtaining a K1 visa as you might think. During the first stage (I-129F), the USCIS is mainly concerned with you and proof that you two have met w/in the last two years. At the interview, they will, for the most part, be interested in being convinced that the relationship is genuine. It's not necessarily a cakewalk. During the first half of this year, getting a visa was apparently a trying process at the Bangkok embassy.

Edited September 22, 2009 by rsn

[JD63 4]

Sent the K1 packet last week, checked the tracking number and it got delivered on Friday. Hoping it all goes well and looking forward to visiting BKK in January.

Anyone know if having a B2 helps at all for going through interview? Is there some sort of background checks they might have already done?

They will perform background checks on you and your fiancee during the K1 process. I would assume at least a simple check is done before issuing a tourist visa as well. Not sure if receiving a tourist visa in itself has any effect on your K1 since they are different types of visas, but B2s are not easy to obtain for Thai citizens, so it seems like all should be well for you. My wife was unable to obtain a tourist visa and still received a K1 so... Just speculation though.

Yeah I was just curious if it might speed up the process. I'm not too worried about her receiving a K1, she's a professional and speaks perfect english.

I'm sure all will be fine, but her level of education and ability to speak English may not be as critical to obtaining a K1 visa as you might think. During the first stage (I-129F), the USCIS is mainly concerned with you and proof that you two have met w/in the last two years. At the interview, they will, for the most part, be interested in being convinced that the relationship is genuine. It's not necessarily a cakewalk. During the first half of this year, getting a visa was apparently a trying process at the Bangkok embassy.

Thanks for the info, I understand it's not a cakewalk, and I'm sure I'll need this boards advice when it gets to that.

[HYENA 4]

hi all,

i need some help please. my husband's best friend has a predicament. he had a child with a girl in thailand, prior to meeting his wife and getting married. i will try to just use bullets so you can see it all quickly rather than a long drawn out story.

the knowns:

child is his, through dna testing

wants to bring child here

child not mentioned at all on any immigration documents

the unknowns:

whether or not the father is on the birth certificate (hope to know that today)

if it is possible to petition for the child (now six)

any insight is greatly appreciated apparently the mother has married an moved to singapore and left the child behind with an ailing grandparent so he would like to move rather quickly.

thank you!

please don't use bullets next time. I really freak out!

Have you logged onto the embassy sites? Most the information is quite sensible and searchable (just checking since I wouldn't want you to get any misinfo).

[HYENA 4]

I guess I'll stop posting after my 12th beer from now on

Twelve is the minimum requirement for posting!

If your font begins to vary and your lines merge or slant, it becomes reckless and that's against the law; could get people killed!

Last group I knew who did that got pushed out to sea by the Thai navy.

[JD63 4]

hi all,

i need some help please. my husband's best friend has a predicament. he had a child with a girl in thailand, prior to meeting his wife and getting married. i will try to just use bullets so you can see it all quickly rather than a long drawn out story.

the knowns:

child is his, through dna testing

wants to bring child here

child not mentioned at all on any immigration documents

the unknowns:

whether or not the father is on the birth certificate (hope to know that today)

if it is possible to petition for the child (now six)

any insight is greatly appreciated apparently the mother has married an moved to singapore and left the child behind with an ailing grandparent so he would like to move rather quickly.

thank you!

please don't use bullets next time. I really freak out!

Have you logged onto the embassy sites? Most the information is quite sensible and searchable (just checking since I wouldn't want you to get any misinfo).

I think the child would fall under jurisdiction of the Child Citizen Act and you'd file N-600K, as long as they're under 18, but I'm not an expert.

[AaronLV 12]

Yeah I was just curious if it might speed up the process. I'm not too worried about her receiving a K1, she's a professional and speaks perfect english.

I would actually guess as a professional and being a woman, they would most likely scrutinize more so. Main reason being there will most likely be more opportunities for a professional (depending on the profession) woman in the US then in Thailand, and if she is earning more money, it would be more likely she could buy her way into a fake marriage, to get a visa a make more money in the states. Just a thought.

But for the most part being able to speak perfect english does nothing except make it easier for her to answer the CO's at the interview, of course this may lead to the CO asking more questions then they normally would cause they don't need a translator.

[ThaitoUSA 15]

My wife was a teacher in Thailand and previously had come to America on an F-1 student visa. During her interview in Bangkok the officer asked, "I see that you had visited America on an F-1. How come you only stayed for three weeks?" My wife explained that her stay was paid for by the Thai government on a scholarship she had received. She didn't have any problems.

Edited September 22, 2009 by ThaitoUSA

[louisthani 0]

Well this week my fiancee lost her phone while eating dinner at Kao San Road awww so does that make all my saved phone logs invalid now? she has to get a new number now. She can just explain to the officer at embassy that phone was lost? her original number is on the I-129F and bio forms. and I will end up having to put the new cell number in her packet 3 items when they come.

anything I should worry about?

[rsn 135]

Well this week my fiancee lost her phone while eating dinner at Kao San Road awww so does that make all my saved phone logs invalid now? she has to get a new number now. She can just explain to the officer at embassy that phone was lost? her original number is on the I-129F and bio forms. and I will end up having to put the new cell number in her packet 3 items when they come.

anything I should worry about?

I don't think this will be a big issue at this stage, and possibly never. However, there have been cases in the past where the embassy has called the beneficiary to schedule an interview after packet 3 has been returned, so you might want to make sure the embassy has her current cell number at that point. No worries though, you can update her cell number on the forms you submit w/ packet 3. You can also notify the embassy via email if anything changes after that.

As far as evidence is concerned, as long as you have lots of other types of evidence such as phone logs (from your end), emails, IMs, etc, you will probably be ok.

[daboyz 36]

Don't forget photos. They gave me hell for only having 6 photos. I personally don't think they care about the phone logs. They ignored them in our case.

[rsn 135]

Don't forget photos. They gave me hell for only having 6 photos. I personally don't think they care about the phone logs. They ignored them in our case.

How in the hell did I forget to mention photos? Yes, definitely photos. Lots of photos.

[eric_f 0]

Hi all, just dropping in to say that we got the visa on 9 September. 7 1/2 months in AP :'( We're planning on going to the states when I finish my deployment to Japan in January.

Later,

~Eric

[rsn 135]

Hi all, just dropping in to say that we got the visa on 9 September. 7 1/2 months in AP :'( We're planning on going to the states when I finish my deployment to Japan in January.

Later,

~Eric

Hey, I remember you from June. Congrats!

[AaronLV 12]

Hi all, just dropping in to say that we got the visa on 9 September. 7 1/2 months in AP :'( We're planning on going to the states when I finish my deployment to Japan in January.

Congrats. I was just wondering the other day what had happened to your AP.

[ladywhite 0]

Hi all, just dropping in to say that we got the visa on 9 September. 7 1/2 months in AP :'( We're planning on going to the states when I finish my deployment to Japan in January.

Later,

~Eric

Congrats, Eric. I'm so happy for you both.

Stay safe and have a safe trip back home with your beloved !!!