DS-156 question for wife's parents

[rsn 135]

Hello, we are in the process of filling out tourist visa forms for my wife's parents so they can visit her and attend our upcoming wedding reception. Her parents are "married". I have put married in quotes because they never became legally married. According to my wife, this is not uncommon for older couples in certain areas of Thailand. I'm not sure what to mark on the form, married or single, for each of her parents. I'm looking for answers from those who have filled out tourist visas for Thai parents in the same situation, or those who have direct knowledge of this situation. Thanks!

EDIT: I also noticed that if I mark "single" I can't reference the father in the mother's app and vice versa.

Edited July 26, 2009 by rsn

[thongd4me 69]

Hello, we are in the process of filling out tourist visa forms for my wife's parents so they can visit her and attend our upcoming wedding reception. Her parents are "married". I have put married in quotes because they never became legally married. According to my wife, this is not uncommon for older couples in certain areas of Thailand. I'm not sure what to mark on the form, married or single, for each of her parents. I'm looking for answers from those who have filled out tourist visas for Thai parents in the same situation, or those who have direct knowledge of this situation. Thanks!

EDIT: I also noticed that if I mark "single" I can't reference the father in the mother's app and vice versa.

I think the question to ask is are they married according to their Thai passports.

If the answer is yes (I'm guessing it is) you should have no problem.

No background check for the parents and I believe all will concur.

Have a wonderful wedding.

[rsn 135]

Hello, we are in the process of filling out tourist visa forms for my wife's parents so they can visit her and attend our upcoming wedding reception. Her parents are "married". I have put married in quotes because they never became legally married. According to my wife, this is not uncommon for older couples in certain areas of Thailand. I'm not sure what to mark on the form, married or single, for each of her parents. I'm looking for answers from those who have filled out tourist visas for Thai parents in the same situation, or those who have direct knowledge of this situation. Thanks!

EDIT: I also noticed that if I mark "single" I can't reference the father in the mother's app and vice versa.

I think the question to ask is are they married according to their Thai passports.

If the answer is yes (I'm guessing it is) you should have no problem.

No background check for the parents and I believe all will concur.

Have a wonderful wedding.

How can you tell if someone is married by looking at their passport? I've come up with two guesses, but none of them seem to be reliable indicators.

1.) The presence of Mrs. as opposed to Miss. This doesn't work for her dad's passport though.

2.) Both share the same last name (have the same last name on their passport.). This is not the case for my wife's parents.

They are in the unfortunate position of being non-legally married. I'm not sure how the U.S. embassy views this type of union.

[thongd4me 69]

Hello, we are in the process of filling out tourist visa forms for my wife's parents so they can visit her and attend our upcoming wedding reception. Her parents are "married". I have put married in quotes because they never became legally married. According to my wife, this is not uncommon for older couples in certain areas of Thailand. I'm not sure what to mark on the form, married or single, for each of her parents. I'm looking for answers from those who have filled out tourist visas for Thai parents in the same situation, or those who have direct knowledge of this situation. Thanks!

EDIT: I also noticed that if I mark "single" I can't reference the father in the mother's app and vice versa.

I think the question to ask is are they married according to their Thai passports.

If the answer is yes (I'm guessing it is) you should have no problem.

No background check for the parents and I believe all will concur.

Have a wonderful wedding.

How can you tell if someone is married by looking at their passport? I've come up with two guesses, but none of them seem to be reliable indicators.

1.) The presence of Mrs. as opposed to Miss. This doesn't work for her dad's passport though.

2.) Both share the same last name (have the same last name on their passport.). This is not the case for my wife's parents.

They are in the unfortunate position of being non-legally married. I'm not sure how the U.S. embassy views this type of union.

I just chatted with my fiancee on this subject and she said you might find the proof in the house/home registry.

Every prefecture has a registry of the people living in each house and you should find it there.

[thongd4me 69]

I just looked at my fiancee's newest passport (just got a copy in the mail last week)

and when they issued it they made a mistake calling her "Mrs."

It's a mistake actually because her name is not the married family name but

the maiden family name that she changed back to after her divorce.

Her divorce papers are all in order with official translations so that won't be a problem for us.

I haven't looked at the form you are filling out, but since it's only for a non-immigrant visa

I don't think they have to prove they are married. They could be divorced and still

be her parents.

Maybe someone with more experience should answer this, because with the

bureaucracy being as it is, they could trip you up on such a seemingly trivial

technicality. I don't think it's a big deal but you should get some confirmation.

[rsn 135]

I just looked at my fiancee's newest passport (just got a copy in the mail last week)

and when they issued it they made a mistake calling her "Mrs."

It's a mistake actually because her name is not the married family name but

the maiden family name that she changed back to after her divorce.

Her divorce papers are all in order with official translations so that won't be a problem for us.

I haven't looked at the form you are filling out, but since it's only for a non-immigrant visa

I don't think they have to prove they are married. They could be divorced and still

be her parents.

Maybe someone with more experience should answer this, because with the

bureaucracy being as it is, they could trip you up on such a seemingly trivial

technicality. I don't think it's a big deal but you should get some confirmation.

Agreed. I definitely don't want to make it any harder for my wife's parents to get tourist visas. Thanks for sharing some of this info though.

The forms are DS-156 & DS-157, by the way.

Maybe someone with more experience should answer this

Anyone?

Edited July 26, 2009 by rsn

[Ning 619]

I just looked at my fiancee's newest passport (just got a copy in the mail last week)

and when they issued it they made a mistake calling her "Mrs."

It's a mistake actually because her name is not the married family name but

the maiden family name that she changed back to after her divorce.

Her divorce papers are all in order with official translations so that won't be a problem for us.

I haven't looked at the form you are filling out, but since it's only for a non-immigrant visa

I don't think they have to prove they are married. They could be divorced and still

be her parents.

Maybe someone with more experience should answer this, because with the

bureaucracy being as it is, they could trip you up on such a seemingly trivial

technicality. I don't think it's a big deal but you should get some confirmation.

Agreed. I definitely don't want to make it any harder for my wife's parents to get tourist visas. Thanks for sharing some of this info though.

The forms are DS-156 & DS-157, by the way.

Maybe someone with more experience should answer this

Anyone?

The visas would be issued to each individual, married or not. The problem will be meeting the " strongest ties " rule. Its no different for any person trying to get this type of visa. They will have to convince the officer of their intent to return at the embassy & the POE.

The only way to know is spending the 262 bucks after preparing to meet the criteria.