SAWASDEE 3 (2009 Thai thread restarted)

[mommymeow 0]

Went to the Embassy 3pm yesterday and picked up her Passport w/Visa in it, along with the infamous brown sealed envelope.

Also got my plane tickets set for the return trip, we will be in the US on the 19th I fly Eva air all the time, and went to the Ticket counter here in BKK, to change my ticket, and make sure we get seats together on the plane. I was shocked at how difficult of a task that was... I was at the ticket counter for 1 1/2 hours. Turns out the 19th was the only day they could guarantee we would sit together until March 5th.

Congrats on the visa. Have a safe flight to the US.

[Thai family 0]

Went to the Embassy 3pm yesterday and picked up her Passport w/Visa in it, along with the infamous brown sealed envelope.

Also got my plane tickets set for the return trip, we will be in the US on the 19th I fly Eva air all the time, and went to the Ticket counter here in BKK, to change my ticket, and make sure we get seats together on the plane. I was shocked at how difficult of a task that was... I was at the ticket counter for 1 1/2 hours. Turns out the 19th was the only day they could guarantee we would sit together until March 5th.

I'm glad it's all worked out for you. Another Eva flier? My son flies with them even when they want to charge him more.

We flew with them once and got our seats changed after boarding.

Thai Mom

[AaronLV 12]

Went to the Embassy 3pm yesterday and picked up her Passport w/Visa in it, along with the infamous brown sealed envelope.

Also got my plane tickets set for the return trip, we will be in the US on the 19th I fly Eva air all the time, and went to the Ticket counter here in BKK, to change my ticket, and make sure we get seats together on the plane. I was shocked at how difficult of a task that was... I was at the ticket counter for 1 1/2 hours. Turns out the 19th was the only day they could guarantee we would sit together until March 5th.

I'm glad it's all worked out for you. Another Eva flier? My son flies with them even when they want to charge him more.

We flew with them once and got our seats changed after boarding.

Thai Mom

I have always had great service on the plabe when flying with them. The last time I flew into LAX, I had an economy ticket and I had less then an hour to catch my connecting flight to Vegas, and they let me off the plane first I made it with 5 minutes to spare.

I also love their lounge in Taipei, it is nice to take a shower after the 13 hour flight from LAX. This trip I have had to deal with their ticket counter to many times, and they need to really teach the agents how to help their customers, they have been less then accommodating.

[HYENA 4]

Went to the Embassy 3pm yesterday and picked up her Passport w/Visa in it, along with the infamous brown sealed envelope.

Also got my plane tickets set for the return trip, we will be in the US on the 19th I fly Eva air all the time, and went to the Ticket counter here in BKK, to change my ticket, and make sure we get seats together on the plane. I was shocked at how difficult of a task that was... I was at the ticket counter for 1 1/2 hours. Turns out the 19th was the only day they could guarantee we would sit together until March 5th.

That is awesome! I bet you're excited! I'm jealous, I admit. You put in paperwork a month later and somehow your file got sprinkled with good luck! Completely awesome!

If she's Isaan, secure some bacteria fish sauce! Is she jumping out of her skin? I can't imagine....My fiancee said she refuses to be excited about anything because as far as she's concerned, nothing has happened and she's going nowhere. (she's funny like that)...and she'll believe it when she sees a plane ticket with her name on it. She has had so many let downs in her life, I can fully understand her way of thinking.

THAT'S SO AWESOME, I am so happy for both of you!

[HYENA 4]

Hello friends, I have a TAX question:

How much would I need to make to be 125% above poverty? I've been trying to figure it out but my 2 kids...throws me off a little. SO I'd deduct 2 kids, fiancee and ? house then the total should be 125% above poverty?

I want to be sure I'm reporting enough since I've got tons of write offs, maybe I should leave some out but I don't want to leave too many out. I'll bring all the paperwork for a co-sponsor just in case though.

It's 8am and they haven't touched me. Now I'm sad. I think it will be another year or two till they finish our case.

Edited February 6, 2009 by HYENA

[HYENA 4]

Hello friends, I have a TAX question:

How much would I need to make to be 125% above poverty? I've been trying to figure it out but my 2 kids...throws me off a little. SO I'd deduct 2 kids, fiancee and ? house then the total should be 125% above poverty?

I want to be sure I'm reporting enough since I've got tons of write offs, maybe I should leave some out but I don't want to leave too many out. I'll bring all the paperwork for a co-sponsor just in case though.

It's 8am and they haven't touched me. Now I'm sad. I think it will be another year or two till they finish our case.

Now I'm talking to myself..... http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864P.pdf so to be safe I'll make sure I report $28k...wait..maybe it'll be better to report less and get a co-sponsor since this darn sin sod thing (I'm beginning to dislike the sin sod thing but I don't think they'll keep much)....pulling my hair out now!

Not sure if any of my parents would do for co-sponsors (they're both retired)....Ughh! I read they have to live with you (not not)?? this is all so confusing. I would call my lawyers office but I have been unsuccessful getting knowledgeable answers from the Thai staff (they field the questions and I've found their accuracy-when they decide to answer is about 60%; a completely different work ethic than US lawyer's offices). VERY FRUSTRATING...VERY VERY FRUSTRATING!

[HYENA 4]

OK new question.

My fiancee was in Roi Et and started pricing picture shops (2 Thai dresses, one outfit for me) and the lowest she could find ONLY TO TAKE PHOTOS was 8,000 BAHT!

I thought geez what a bunch of BS; that's more expensive than a photo shop in the US!!! and Roi Et is the poorest town, poorest province of all of Thailand and they're more expensive than the US?

the 8k includes 2 outfits, making up her hair and face and a run of pics for both of us. We're planning on buying our outfits for the real wedding in the US but for her family, we want to have a ceremony there but it's turning out to be a big PIA.

Anyway, if the purchased clothes were included, that would be a deal but this is a rental/photo shop and she checked 3.

I told her maybe BKK has better prices for this photo thing but then again someone would have to do the war paint on the day of our ceremony in Roi Et...I'm just out of cards here trying to figure out what I think is gouging.

What has everyone else done here? Any suggestions?

My dilemma also is I have to have x amount in my accounts for the interview but I wouldn't have it if we do the ceremony before the interview and my friend leaves 4/4/09. He is coming to Thailand Sunday. His original purpose was for our ceremony (best man) and I thought SURELY uscis would have had our case done since I applied back on August (actually July but our Lawyers delayed that 3 weeks, telling us only afterwards there was a Thai translation error---) ...as I said, any time your papers touch Thai hands, there's guaranteed to be some mix up, error or delay.

Feeling very frustrated.

Got touched 2/3, 2/4, 2/5, 2/6 but no NOA2 YET!

Edited February 6, 2009 by HYENA

[scandal 951]

OK new question.

My fiancee was in Roi Et and started pricing picture shops (2 Thai dresses, one outfit for me) and the lowest she could find ONLY TO TAKE PHOTOS was 8,000 BAHT!

.......

Feeling very frustrated.

Got touched 2/3, 2/4, 2/5, 2/6 but no NOA2 YET!

Hi hyena.

My suggestion: chill. Take a deep breath. relax. It's all gonna work out. In a few months when you're in the US with your fiance, you'll look back on this as just a case of bridegroom nerves

We had our "engagement ceremony" or "Buddhist wedding ceremony" or whatever you want to call it, in Bangkok in September. (My gal comes from BKK, not upcountry). We did NOT register at amphur, hence the K-1 approach is perfectly valid, we are NOT married. I'm assuming you are planning to do same. Nonetheless, I've been advised, and would suggest to you, do NOT bring this up as a topic of conversation at the interview. If asked, I'm instructing my honey to tell the truth. No lies. But no need to bring it up.

As to cost, our ceremony cost about 60,000 Baht. That included meal, service, etc. for ~80 guests, monks, including feeding of monks, and all ceremonial stuff. Dowry extra, photos extra. She had a makeup artist come to do her hair, makeup, etc. I think that was about 2-3000, as I recall. We went with traditional Thai silk clothes, a matching gold dress for her, and gold suit for me. It was custom tailored for us and we had the option to rent it and return it for about 5000B, or keep it for 7500B. She wanted to rent, I said for that price differential we should hang onto it as a keepsake. I hope to use them in our small civil marriage ceremony in the US.

So, I think based on that, 8000B to rent the clothes, esp. if they are off the rack and were not tailored for you - that sounds expensive. But since you refer to it as "picture shops", if it includes photos, maybe that's reasonable. (Why do you want photos in a shop? Aren't photos at the ceremony enough?)

About money, you write: "I have to have x amount in my accounts for the interview".

Why? You need to have bank statements for the interview. Not necessarily cash on hand. I'm buying a house. I sent my honey bank statements that include the funds I'm using for my downpayment. By next week when I close, those funds won't be in my account, they will be in my equity in the house. I don't see any problem with that. The statements are still recent and go to show my financial health. I think you can do the same - if you need the money for something (e.g. wedding ceremony), just make sure you have statements from before you make the withdrawal.

Good luck. And remember, deep breaths.

[bill13060 0]

OK new question.

My fiancee was in Roi Et and started pricing picture shops (2 Thai dresses, one outfit for me) and the lowest she could find ONLY TO TAKE PHOTOS was 8,000 BAHT!

I thought geez what a bunch of BS; that's more expensive than a photo shop in the US!!! and Roi Et is the poorest town, poorest province of all of Thailand and they're more expensive than the US?

the 8k includes 2 outfits, making up her hair and face and a run of pics for both of us. We're planning on buying our outfits for the real wedding in the US but for her family, we want to have a ceremony there but it's turning out to be a big PIA.

Anyway, if the purchased clothes were included, that would be a deal but this is a rental/photo shop and she checked 3.

I told her maybe BKK has better prices for this photo thing but then again someone would have to do the war paint on the day of our ceremony in Roi Et...I'm just out of cards here trying to figure out what I think is gouging.

What has everyone else done here? Any suggestions?

My dilemma also is I have to have x amount in my accounts for the interview but I wouldn't have it if we do the ceremony before the interview and my friend leaves 4/4/09. He is coming to Thailand Sunday. His original purpose was for our ceremony (best man) and I thought SURELY uscis would have had our case done since I applied back on August (actually July but our Lawyers delayed that 3 weeks, telling us only afterwards there was a Thai translation error---) ...as I said, any time your papers touch Thai hands, there's guaranteed to be some mix up, error or delay.

Feeling very frustrated.

Got touched 2/3, 2/4, 2/5, 2/6 but no NOA2 YET!

we had our thai wedding in the Chiang Kham area. I don't know how far that is from your girl. It was reasonably priced. we rented our clothes(didn't want to go through the hassle of having them made.) for 2000 baht. all in all i think for the ceremony i paid about 70,000 baht. But that was for about 250 people. most expensive thing was all the food bought from shops in town. i bought a pig for 3900 baht and a cow for 5000 baht. our booze bill was a little over 10,000 baht. then i had to pay for people helping to set up and the gas they used, which i don't know why. They had a good day of eating and drinking for free, then want money on top of it, BS. but it's past and we all had a good time. sin sod hmmm.. thats a tough one. i don't know what a reasonable one is. i gave her mom 100,000 baht for sin sod, i guess thats reasonable for me. my wife has told me of other people gettong 1 mil baht. but i told her if i had 1 mil baht we would build a house first and screw the sin sod. no way am i giving away 1 mil baht.

Anyway, when you get out of USCIS things will go fast but you need to keep on top of it. as soon as you get out of USCIS get your police report. That is whats holding me up right now. If i were you, i would fire that lawyer and do it myself. If you can read you can do it and if you have questions you can call USCIS or NVC until you get a consistant answer or people here can answer your questions. Hope you get approved soon

[Danno2 0]

My S.O. will be checking into the outfit wedding photo situation in bkk in a week or two. I will pass that along when i find out. I saw pictures of her friends on my last trip. She got wedding pictures in bkk (the big photo package) and I think it was about $700. We agreed to do something simple for about 300 ~ 400.

We have had SEVERAL discussions about money. I build a spreadsheet listing all the costs we were talking about (flights, hotels, visa fees, rings, photos, sin sod...) On another tab i listed my income, bills and cash-flow. After I emailed it over we went through the spreadsheet together and decided what we were going to do. Her idea was to get "engaged only" before coming to the US. Because of that we have no ring, Thai wedding, big party or Sin Sod costs. Just as important there is no shame on the family because we are not yet married so those things don't apply.

Since your much further along than me it might not be possible to reset expectations but you might try the spreadsheet idea and see what happens. All girls need a budget

[daboyz 36]

I've been using this website for quite awhile to translate English to Thai, and vise versa. They recently came out with a downloadable version that is really good. It has some lessons etc. You can download it, and use it for 15 days for free. To purchase the full version it is $40. The website itself is free. Check it out:

http://blog.thai2english.com/

[Bonobo 0]

Hi Everyone,

2 quick questions, if you don't mind answering them:

1) My Thai fiance did her own birth certificate translation for the I-129F... was this a bad idea? Who should we get to do translations in the future?

2) I am in the US and she is in Thailand... Do I ever need to go to Thailand throughout this process (I-129F fiance petition for a K-1 visa)? Can she go to her interview by herself with paperwork that I send to her, or should I actually be in Bangkok for the interview?

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

[daboyz 36]

Hi Everyone,

2 quick questions, if you don't mind answering them:

1) My Thai fiance did her own birth certificate translation for the I-129F... was this a bad idea? Who should we get to do translations in the future?

2) I am in the US and she is in Thailand... Do I ever need to go to Thailand throughout this process (I-129F fiance petition for a K-1 visa)? Can she go to her interview by herself with paperwork that I send to her, or should I actually be in Bangkok for the interview?

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

1. She will need to get it translated by a third party. They'll put an official looking stamp on it. Not sure where she is in Thailand but there are many places in Bangkok espicially.

2. K-1 has a requirement of meeting within the last 2 years. From what I've been hearing, they dont let the USC in to the interview, so I don't really see the point in going. I'm not going to my wife's.

[ladywhite 0]

Hi Everyone,

2 quick questions, if you don't mind answering them:

1) My Thai fiance did her own birth certificate translation for the I-129F... was this a bad idea? Who should we get to do translations in the future?

2) I am in the US and she is in Thailand... Do I ever need to go to Thailand throughout this process (I-129F fiance petition for a K-1 visa)? Can she go to her interview by herself with paperwork that I send to her, or should I actually be in Bangkok for the interview?

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

1. It is perfectly fine if she can do her own translation of any needed documents. I did my own translation of all the documents and there were no problems. You just have to make sure the translation is accurate and also has the USCIS-required statement in the bottom of the translation page with her signature (the translator). You can find that statement here on VJ website. If she wants to make sure of the accuracy of the translation, she can have her translation looked at and certified (with fees) for its accuracy at the Thai Consular Office in Nontaburi. Also have her check out this URL: http://www.consular.go.th/modules.php?name...page&pid=98 I don't think the certified true copy is required by USCIS but it'd be a good idea to have it done just in case.

2. You do not have to be there in Thailand at any time during this process. A lot of people, me included, went through this process alone (not even with help of an attorney -- a waste of money, truly) and everything went fine. You just have to make sure all required documents are complete and that you have a lot of proof for your relationship to show them.

Good luck

[daboyz 36]

Hi Everyone,

2 quick questions, if you don't mind answering them:

1) My Thai fiance did her own birth certificate translation for the I-129F... was this a bad idea? Who should we get to do translations in the future?

2) I am in the US and she is in Thailand... Do I ever need to go to Thailand throughout this process (I-129F fiance petition for a K-1 visa)? Can she go to her interview by herself with paperwork that I send to her, or should I actually be in Bangkok for the interview?

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

1. It is perfectly fine if she can do her own translation of any needed documents. I did my own translation of all the documents and there were no problems. You just have to make sure the translation is accurate and also has the USCIS-required statement in the bottom of the translation page with her signature (the translator). You can find that statement here on VJ website. If she wants to make sure of the accuracy of the translation, she can have her translation looked at and certified (with fees) for its accuracy at the Thai Consular Office in Nontaburi. Also have her check out this URL: http://www.consular.go.th/modules.php?name...page&pid=98 I don't think the certified true copy is required by USCIS but it'd be a good idea to have it done just in case.

2. You do not have to be there in Thailand at any time during this process. A lot of people, me included, went through this process alone (not even with help of an attorney -- a waste of money, truly) and everything went fine. You just have to make sure all required documents are complete and that you have a lot of proof for your relationship to show them.

Good luck

I personally think you got lucky. The USCIS website states:

A-20293676

Decided by Board January 16, 1976

(1) Petitioners and applicants for immigration benefits are required by 8 CFR 103.2(B) to provide certified English translations of any foreign language documents they submit; the Service should likewise provide certified English translations of relevant foreign documents it submits in evidence in such proceedings.

My point is, why take a chance? If you get them translated, you get a nice official looking stamp from the translation service which is "certified." It doesn't cost that much.