SAWASDEE 3 (2009 Thai thread restarted)

[birch- phuk_beer 0]

well, the wife went to the Embassy today at 12:40pm. came out at 2pm. They took all 6 documents and said #6 was not correct. This is the form to prove she has sole custody of the kid. So, they gave her an example of what they want from her.

The sister says its no problem to do. They will do it tomorrow. Apparently the Embassy is closed Wed., so she needs to wait to go back to BKK next Monday. Niiiiice.

Rin had to have a similar document (didn't need the document at the embassy; needed it to get the children's passports). She had to go to the local amphur along with two witnesses (her sister and cousin, in her case) and sign an affidavit stating that she was solely responsible for taking care of the children. The only other alternative was a similar document from the local amphur signed by her ex-husband. I believe the document was like 20 baht, but it was about 3:15 when she went, office closes at 4:00 pm, so the guy was going to miss his bus home if he did it, have to take a taxi, she'd have to come back in morning, long lines in morning, blah, blah, blah. But for an "extra" 400 baht he could stay and do it and take a taxi home. OK, you can cross Bangkok twice for 400 baht, but whatever. Took him 15 minutes; she was out of there by 3:30.

John

yea, we've given these documents to them twice now. Apparently they want it one specific way.

They gave her an example paper to have it done in the same manner. WHAT FUGGING BS!!!!

[birch- phuk_beer 0]

yea, we've given these documents to them twice now. Apparently they want it one specific way.

They gave her an example paper to have it done in the same manner. WHAT FUGGING BS!!!!

found out just now, after speaking with my wifes sister, that there are 5 workds that are

different on the sample form.

well, at least they gave a sample to take to the Amphur......JFFC!!

[rin and john 71]

yea, we've given these documents to them twice now. Apparently they want it one specific way.

They gave her an example paper to have it done in the same manner. WHAT FUGGING BS!!!!

found out just now, after speaking with my wifes sister, that there are 5 workds that are

different on the sample form.

well, at least they gave a sample to take to the Amphur......JFFC!!

Is the sample they provided in English or Thai? Guessing the Amphur provides the document in Thai. Maybe the difference was in translation?

[birch- phuk_beer 0]

yea, we've given these documents to them twice now. Apparently they want it one specific way.

They gave her an example paper to have it done in the same manner. WHAT FUGGING BS!!!!

found out just now, after speaking with my wifes sister, that there are 5 workds that are

different on the sample form.

well, at least they gave a sample to take to the Amphur......JFFC!!

Is the sample they provided in English or Thai? Guessing the Amphur provides the document in Thai. Maybe the difference was in translation?

yea, there may be something to what you say.....

I'll have to check into that idea more.

The receiving officer, who took the papers, did tell my wife that if she returns with the

document, she'll get the visas.

[eric_f 0]

Hey all, just dropping in to see where this has gone and to give an update. I'm still in AP, over three months now; super fun time to say the least. I'm sure I've miffed the embassy because I send them a message once a week and now they're not responding anymore I keep asking for specific info on whether it's there or kicked back to USCIS and all they'll say is that it's in AP and will be in contact when a decision is reached and that it has neither been approved nor denied. My fiancee didn't get a 221g, so I don't know what the reason for refusal is. I'm temped to just nix this K-1 and go for a K-3 instead. I might be waiting that long in AP anyway. It's turned into a straight garbage experience for both of us.

Eric.

Edited May 5, 2009 by eric_f

[afisher 0]

Hey all, just dropping in to see where this has gone and to give an update. I'm still in AP, over three months now; super fun time to say the least. I'm sure I've miffed the embassy because I send them a message once a week and now they're not responding anymore I keep asking for specific info on whether it's there or kicked back to USCIS and all they'll say is that it's in AP and will be in contact when a decision is reached and that it has neither been approved nor denied. My fiancee didn't get a 221g, so I don't know what the reason for refusal is. I'm temped to just nix this K-1 and go for a K-3 instead. I might be waiting that long in AP anyway. It's turned into a straight garbage experience for both of us.

Eric.

Wow, that sucks!

[*Robert* 2]

I'm still in AP, over three months now; super fun time to say the least. I'm sure I've miffed the embassy because I send them a message once a week and now they're not responding anymore I keep asking for specific info on whether it's there or kicked back to USCIS and all they'll say is that it's in AP and will be in contact when a decision is reached and that it has neither been approved nor denied. My fiancee didn't get a 221g, so I don't know what the reason for refusal is. I'm temped to just nix this K-1 and go for a K-3 instead. I might be waiting that long in AP anyway. It's turned into a straight garbage experience for both of us.

Eric.

Agree with afisher that this sucks.

If anyone should contact their Congressman or Senator, it should be you, Eric. Though being a military member doesn't help speed up your case, it will help get the attention of your elected officials. I have never recommended someone do this before, but in your case I really think you should.

I would not recommend going for a K-3, as you don't know what the reason for the AP is. It could be an issue for any other type of visa for all you know.

Robert

[scandal 951]

I'm still in AP, over three months now; super fun time to say the least. I'm sure I've miffed the embassy because I send them a message once a week and now they're not responding anymore I keep asking for specific info on whether it's there or kicked back to USCIS and all they'll say is that it's in AP and will be in contact when a decision is reached and that it has neither been approved nor denied. My fiancee didn't get a 221g, so I don't know what the reason for refusal is. I'm temped to just nix this K-1 and go for a K-3 instead. I might be waiting that long in AP anyway. It's turned into a straight garbage experience for both of us.

Eric.

Agree with afisher that this sucks.

If anyone should contact their Congressman or Senator, it should be you, Eric. Though being a military member doesn't help speed up your case, it will help get the attention of your elected officials. I have never recommended someone do this before, but in your case I really think you should.

I would not recommend going for a K-3, as you don't know what the reason for the AP is. It could be an issue for any other type of visa for all you know.

Robert

Robert the wise

Good luck Eric. Keep us posted on your progress.....

[ThaitoUSA 15]

Until recently, people were waiting about 10 days from sending back Packet 3 and receiving Packet 4. Now there are several people waiting over a month; we've been waiting about 3 weeks already. Our original plan has been for my fiancée to travel to America in the beginning of July to be wed at the end of the month. We're a bit concerned whether we can still accomplish this.

[daboyz 36]

Probably still hungover from Songkran.

[Danno2 0]

A conspiracy theory??

Yes it seems things have changed with the embassy. Chada indicated people on the Thai websites reporting visa interviews and approvals are almost at a standstill. I’m not sure if its related to the economy or just a fluke. I heard that Obama gave a speech about protecting the jobs of existing Americans but have never found anything online to substantiate and conspiracy in that regard. With that said it would seem simple to slow down visa process. Just change certain stages of the approval percentages or make people jump through new hoops. Just thinking through it there does not seem to be a “net gain” to the US for allowing this type of immigration during a recession. It just increases the risk to the welfare system if the petitioner becomes unemployed or the additional burden of supporting the petitioner drives them into poverty.

Chada and I are factoring 8 weeks from sending packet 3 to the interview. Then 2 weeks from Visa to POE due to airfare costs. That would be July 17th for us. I had some great 4th of July hopes for us but it is what it is...

Does anyone have any information on buying 1 way fares from Thailand in less than 7 days?

[AaronLV 12]

A conspiracy theory??

Yes it seems things have changed with the embassy. Chada indicated people on the Thai websites reporting visa interviews and approvals are almost at a standstill. I’m not sure if its related to the economy or just a fluke. I heard that Obama gave a speech about protecting the jobs of existing Americans but have never found anything online to substantiate and conspiracy in that regard. With that said it would seem simple to slow down visa process. Just change certain stages of the approval percentages or make people jump through new hoops. Just thinking through it there does not seem to be a “net gain” to the US for allowing this type of immigration during a recession. It just increases the risk to the welfare system if the petitioner becomes unemployed or the additional burden of supporting the petitioner drives them into poverty.

Chada and I are factoring 8 weeks from sending packet 3 to the interview. Then 2 weeks from Visa to POE due to airfare costs. That would be July 17th for us. I had some great 4th of July hopes for us but it is what it is...

Does anyone have any information on buying 1 way fares from Thailand in less than 7 days?

There is no conspiracy, also the economy has nothing to do with the immigration process. I actually read an article recently stating that there are droves of illegal immigrants headed back to their countries for work, because they work has dried up in the US.

I think it is the time of year, there are certain months that take longer to process paperwork. If you look at the historical timelines the months of April thru June are the longest waiting times for the embassy to process paperwork. There could be many reasons for this, one the week of Songkran doesn't help, might be people at the embassy taking time off, especially since they get close to a week off at Songkran, why not piggy back another few days of vacation on that time, I do that with my work during the holidays. Also there could just be an influx of people applying for Visa's at this time. Summer is coming up, so it would make sense people are wanting to travel, also you have the next school year coming up, so probably an increase in student visa's to process. I am not sure what takes priority at the embassy, but my guess would be they handle the tourist, student, and work visas ahead of the immigrant visas.

The guy that directed me to this site, last year, had sent his paperwork into the embassy in the beginning of April (2008) and his fiancee was in the US with him on June 26th (Going thru Bangkok), of course his fiancee was from India and not Thai.

Buying tickets in Asia going to the US with less then 7 days is no big deal. The price is what it is. Not like the US, where they jack it up just because it is short notice. I was looking at tickets 3 days to a month and they prices were the same when there was availability, some days closer in were more money, but it was just because they had fewer seats on certain days.

[daboyz 36]

A conspiracy theory??

Yes it seems things have changed with the embassy. Chada indicated people on the Thai websites reporting visa interviews and approvals are almost at a standstill. I’m not sure if its related to the economy or just a fluke. I heard that Obama gave a speech about protecting the jobs of existing Americans but have never found anything online to substantiate and conspiracy in that regard. With that said it would seem simple to slow down visa process. Just change certain stages of the approval percentages or make people jump through new hoops. Just thinking through it there does not seem to be a “net gain” to the US for allowing this type of immigration during a recession. It just increases the risk to the welfare system if the petitioner becomes unemployed or the additional burden of supporting the petitioner drives them into poverty.

Chada and I are factoring 8 weeks from sending packet 3 to the interview. Then 2 weeks from Visa to POE due to airfare costs. That would be July 17th for us. I had some great 4th of July hopes for us but it is what it is...

Does anyone have any information on buying 1 way fares from Thailand in less than 7 days?

Mommy hooked me up with these folks. They were cheaper than anything I could find on the net.

Travex Travel Agency

86 Soi Langsuan

Ploenchit Road,

Pathumwan,

Bangkok 10330

Thailand

Phone

(662) 638-1600 Ext. 114

Fax

(662) 652-1033

E-mail

airticket@travexnet.com

Website

http://www.travexnet.com

[Alphazul 0]

In my K1 application I provided a table based timeline summary as the cover page for my "Proof of Relationship Section" Within the summary page I used a MS Word table that showed the relationship progressing and the type of interaction. Additionally one of the cells provided a reference to the subsection within my "Proof of relationship section" These subsections were broken down into email, chat, phone logs, pictures, passport stamps, tickets, receipts. I will just update this section after my March trip and again when we get the NOA2 (April / May). Sorry if my description is difficult to understand. I can send the MS word document to anyone who wants to see it...

I didn’t think about providing this before but based upon what you are saying I'm going to add to the summary page with totals of our chat logs and phone conversations. We talk about 20 ~ 90 minutes a day and I could not imagine anyone making a case for that being marriage fraud.

My fiance and I are trying to gather all the info for our K1 application so we will love to see your MS word document to have an idea of how can we organize our information(pictures, e-mails, travels, tickets,....)

[rin and john 71]

A conspiracy theory??

Yes it seems things have changed with the embassy. Chada indicated people on the Thai websites reporting visa interviews and approvals are almost at a standstill. I'm not sure if its related to the economy or just a fluke. I heard that Obama gave a speech about protecting the jobs of existing Americans but have never found anything online to substantiate and conspiracy in that regard. With that said it would seem simple to slow down visa process. Just change certain stages of the approval percentages or make people jump through new hoops. Just thinking through it there does not seem to be a "net gain" to the US for allowing this type of immigration during a recession. It just increases the risk to the welfare system if the petitioner becomes unemployed or the additional burden of supporting the petitioner drives them into poverty.

Chada and I are factoring 8 weeks from sending packet 3 to the interview. Then 2 weeks from Visa to POE due to airfare costs. That would be July 17th for us. I had some great 4th of July hopes for us but it is what it is...

Does anyone have any information on buying 1 way fares from Thailand in less than 7 days?

You may be OK to start looking now as change rules, advance purchase discounts, etc are different overseas than in the USA. We actually bought Rin's ticket before her interview (about three weeks - I was in Bangkok and we bought the ticket at the Thai Airways ticket office). Got a one way ticket, could not change routing but could change date without penalty for up to a year. It was Thai Airways (direct at that time from BKK to LAX - about $600 back in 2007). Did the LAX to MEM on FF miles.