Length of visiting each other?

[cdrrck24 0]

My fiance and I met online in september of 08. I met her in thailand for 3 weeks in Nov of 08. We filled for our fiances visa feb 25th (NOA1). We had many pictures documenting this and plane tickets.

We talk on the phone/webcam/msn about 5 hours a day. I have about 40 hours of talked time on my skype account and I support her every month by paying her bills, which we have logs for that all too, i.e bank xfers and whatever.

We have gone over our pasts quite abit. My past is very complex, living in 8 U.S. states and 4 countries, I dont even really know the right order of everything. We are 2 years apart in age.

I have plans to visit her in the end of july for 2 weeks to meet her family and do the whole dowry thing.

Do you guys see any faults in this plan?

What sprung this question was reading the forums for Thailand's region and seeing all the rejections, almost all were in Vietnam but do you guys see in outstanding flaws?

[Hell0W0rld 10]

red flag at this point is you paying her bills. if i were you i would not include money in this process.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

They require a dowry for Thailand?

Edited April 20, 2009 by Bobby_Umit

[cdrrck24 0]

They require a dowry for Thailand?

Well family does. You get it back after wedding anyways.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

They require a dowry for Thailand?

Well family does. You get it back after wedding anyways.

Interesting - i didn't know that - would paying her bills count toward that?

[ThaitoUSA 15]

I second the suggestion to avoid showing your financial support; it could be misunderstood. I certainly encourage at least one more visit prior to your fiancée coming to America. Be sure the evidence is not just one-sided: it should show communication from both directions. Having phone bills from your fiancée showing that she calls you too, as well as having her send you emails and regular cards/letters in the mail is supporting evdience of a bona fide relationship. The more evidence you can collect, the better.

[ThaitoUSA 15]

Paying her bills would not count, nor would buying her parents gifts, as I have done both already. The dowry is called 'sin-sot' in Thai. The parents want cash and gold at the very least. The amount depends on the girl's socio-economic class, as well as the 'farang' (foreigner) factor: Generally Thai view westerners as very wealthy, so they expect more from them.

A typical asking price might be 10 Baht in gold (currently around $1,400 worth of gold), as well as 100,000-200,000 Baht ($2,800-5,600) in cash. Among the social elite in Thailand, gifts of BMW's, townhouses, etc. is not uncommon. Generally if a girl has already been married or has children, the man is not expected to pay anything, though as cdrrck24 mentioned, the family usually returns some if not all of it anyway.

Edit: sin-sot is generally negotiated by the parents or close relatives of the to-be groom with the bride's parents. This is another reason why foreigners pay more, as they may find it difficult to negotiate, and often leave it up to their fiancée's to help.

Edited April 20, 2009 by ThaitoUSA

[lovica_l 0]

yeah i also think that you shouldnt show them that you are finacially supporting thing , it can be misunderstood easily, everything else looks good in your case

[beans 7]

Agreed mentioning that you pay for her living expenses can look sketchy

[TBoneTX 45,284]

Fascinating about the dowry. Make at least one more visit, and definitely be on the consular premises (at minimum) while she is in her visa interview. Being there can pay off in many ways.

[SAVM 0]

My fiance and I met online in september of 08. I met her in thailand for 3 weeks in Nov of 08. We filled for our fiances visa feb 25th (NOA1). We had many pictures documenting this and plane tickets.

We talk on the phone/webcam/msn about 5 hours a day. I have about 40 hours of talked time on my skype account and I support her every month by paying her bills, which we have logs for that all too, i.e bank xfers and whatever.

We have gone over our pasts quite abit. My past is very complex, living in 8 U.S. states and 4 countries, I dont even really know the right order of everything. We are 2 years apart in age.

I have plans to visit her in the end of july for 2 weeks to meet her family and do the whole dowry thing.

Do you guys see any faults in this plan?

Faults in the plan? I mean you say you spent 3 weeks together. I'm not judging one way or another, but does that count as something - in your mind - that might be a problem one day considering you're talking about spending the rest of your lives together? What's the rush?