Thailand K-1 Visa & political demonstrations

[ryankh 0]

Hi all,

New member of VisaJourney here. Me and my fiancee are currently going through the K-1 visa process. She lives in Thailand. But I'm wondering what impact the political demonstrations will have on the Visa process? I've been waiting almost 60 days for the petition approval. And so far, my case hasn't even had a touch (except when first created). I know this can take awhile, but after looking at the stats on VisaJourney, it seems that the average petition approval time is about 50 days, so just starting to get a bit concerned.

I know that the for the petition, the US government does background checks on both me and her. But I don't know where they get the background information from? Is it possible that the US government is asking for information from the Thai government, and the Thai government is so busy with the political crisis, that they aren't sending the required information over?

Thanks for reading,

-Ryan

[TheBears 9]

Hi Ryan!

The impact is more waiting. Whether it be for background checks, police certificates, or interview scheduling, all we can do is wait. And pray.

To be honest, an NOA2 today wouldn't help much. I don't know if NVC is sending anything to Bangkok, and many couriers have stopped delivery for the time being. Plus there is no one at the embassy in Bangkok to start coordinating her file for the interview.

Has she filled out the forms? Have you? Where are you on document preparation? Was she fortunate enough to get the police certificate before this mess? Are you sure your relationship evidence is solid? Either way, what can you do to improve it?

Think about that instead, and join the wait in Sawasdee.

[ryankh 0]

Hi TheBears,

Thanks for your response. Thanks also for sending me the link to others that are waiting. It's nice to know, at least, I'm not the only one.

I visited Thailand in March/April, and we hired an American attorney who specializes in K1 Visas. So, he has been handling all the document preparation. We have over 1000 pages of chat logs and emails. Also, we have 100+ photos together, so I think we're in pretty good shape as far as that is concerned. I'm not sure if my lawyer has obtained the police report yet. But I suspect that he has not. I believe he was waiting until after we received confirmation of NOA2. But I sent him an email to ask about that.

I'm hoping that the US government at least got what they needed for approval of the petition, before all this craziness happened. I understand your point about it not being much good if the embassy isn't open to schedule appointments. But it sure would at least be a nice feeling knowing that we got one thing accomplished. It's been 2 months, and all I've received so far is a letter from the US government stating that they received my paperwork. Pretty demoralizing...

Do you (or anybody else) have any insight into how the process flow works at the CSC/VSC? I'm wondering, if it goes into holding until they receive the necessary information, and then they touch it and process it? Or is it not triggered by receiving information? Is it instead just handled in a first in, first out methodology? For example, US government receives my petition, sends requests for information, and then files the petition. Then they don't even look at it, until they have gone through all the previous petitions first? Not sure if that makes sense. But I'm just wondering what initiates the US government to take a pending petition, and take the next step?

Thanks all for your help, with a VisaJourney newbie.

-Ryan

[daboyz 36]

Not much you can do at this point except wait. Sounds like you have all your proof of relationship lined up. You can see processing times here:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1historical

[dreidcs2 0]

My fiance is also Thai, and i know how inpatient they are, lol

Anyway, i received my NoA1 in 2/22/10

and just got approved for my NoA2 in 05/18/10, so you should be around that time...good luck

[thongd4me 69]

Hi all,

New member of VisaJourney here. Me and my fiancee are currently going through the K-1 visa process. She lives in Thailand. But I'm wondering what impact the political demonstrations will have on the Visa process? I've been waiting almost 60 days for the petition approval. And so far, my case hasn't even had a touch (except when first created). I know this can take awhile, but after looking at the stats on VisaJourney, it seems that the average petition approval time is about 50 days, so just starting to get a bit concerned.

I know that the for the petition, the US government does background checks on both me and her. But I don't know where they get the background information from? Is it possible that the US government is asking for information from the Thai government, and the Thai government is so busy with the political crisis, that they aren't sending the required information over?

Thanks for reading,

-Ryan

The US won't ask anything of the Thai government, with the exception of expecting them to issue a

valid passport to the beneficiary when applied for and presenting the Police Check documents regarding

the beneficiary within reasonable time. You as the petitioner are subject to a full security chek on the

US side if they decide to do that. The whole concept of "reasonable time" is now officially out the window.

Given the unrest, how much time may be added to your case over and above established averages is

anyone's guess. I could say anything from 3 weeks to 6 months but nobody knows for sure.

The violence is unprescedented in the last 60 years or more of Thailand's history.

I would see reports of killing & burning in the streets in other countries and

think to myself "never in Thailand."

Boy was I wrong.

I just thought of one more thing - The US government would NOT

be likely to speed up K-1 visas from Thailand at this time:

1) because of the increased likelihood of fraud by desparate Thais

wishing to avoid the obvious danger.

2) because of the increased likelihood of US citizens becoming at risk

if they travel to Thailand and unwittingly put themselves in danger.

3) I would expect all visa activity to slow down for these reasons,

even after the smoke appears to have "cleared."

Edited May 20, 2010 by thongd4me

[ThaitoUSA 15]

Even in recent history Thailand has experienced bloodshed during protests.

These are the two most famous incidents that come to mind; the 1973 student massacre and the 1992 coup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_May_(1992)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/14/newsid_2534000/2534347.stm

One significant difference was that previious demonstrations were largely the people vs the government i.e. the military while this is Thaksin vs the government. A bit ironic that many in the media paint it as a class struggle between the downtrodden and the elite when the poor were being manipulated by the richest citizen of the country.

[Audy_Rob 26]

Hi Ryan,

I am also a K-1 Thailand. I sent my petition to CSC same as you did. Is your listing correct that the I-129F petition was sent to the California Service Center. If that is correct, then you should be do to hear something very soon. CSC has been averaging about 55 days from NOA 1 to NOA 2.

I am going to post the link to the US Embassy Bangkok, Packet 3. If you want to keep busy to help pass time, you can look through the papers and documents at this link. This has a list of everything you and your fiancee need to do when your I-129F has been approved.

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/k_instructions_package_may09.pdf

Stop by the Sawasdee 4 thread in this forum that TheBears mentioned also posted the link.

Good luck.

[daboyz 36]

Even in recent history Thailand has experienced bloodshed during protests.

These are the two most famous incidents that come to mind; the 1973 student massacre and the 1992 coup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_May_(1992)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/14/newsid_2534000/2534347.stm

One significant difference was that previious demonstrations were largely the people vs the government i.e. the military while this is Thaksin vs the government. A bit ironic that many in the media paint it as a class struggle between the downtrodden and the elite when the poor were being manipulated by the richest citizen of the country.

That's exactly what makes my blood boil about this mess. The media (especially Dan Rivers) doesn't have a clue. These people are common criminals paid by their master in Dubai. There's no class struggle. When they burn Bangkok, they are making sure that more people will not have jobs.