So my wife doesn't like it here

[thaifoo 0]

By here I mean the USA. I'm a USC and got my then fiancé here on k1 about a year and 8 months ago. Since then we've married, adjusted status, and had a child. We have a great relationship but I can see she's just not happy here. Here latelty we've been discussing options because quite frankly I'm not happy with my work situation. The 2 years before she came here I traveled to Thailand, her home country, 10 times to visit her. Since she's moved to the states I've changed my job and that doesn't allow me to travel like before. We're discussing the option of her moving back to Thailand and me going back to the job that that allowed me to travel back and forth to Thailand. The only problem is she's come love my family in the states and would like the option of coming back to visit them. Her parents are giving her land but it's not in her name yet. She had a good job at a bank and is educated but obviously left that job when she came here. She has no large sum of money in the bank either. The question I have is could she realistically get a tourist visa? I would think it would be obvious she wants to go back to Thailand by forfeiting her permanent residence status to move back to her country. Any info or advise would be appreciated.

[HeatDeath 430]

I think her chances of getting a tourist visa are fairly remote, even more so since she has a USC spouse, even if she does own some land, sorry to say. If she can stick it out another year and a half or so she can get her US citizenship. Then she'll be able to come and go as she pleases. That would be by far the best bet, in the long term.

Edited January 5, 2011 by HeatDeath

[George & Gina 29]

I think her chances of getting a tourist visa are fairly remote, even more so since she has a USC spouse, even if she does own some land, sorry to say. If she can stick it out another year and a half or so she can get her US citizenship. Then she'll be able to come and go as she pleases. That would be by far the best bet, in the long term.

+1

[HeatDeath 430]

I think her chances of getting a tourist visa are fairly remote, even more so since she has a USC spouse, even if she does own some land, sorry to say. If she can stick it out another year and a half or so she can get her US citizenship. Then she'll be able to come and go as she pleases. That would be by far the best bet, in the long term.

On reflection, the only possible problem with this would be Thailand's attitude towards dual citizenship. If getting US citizenship would cost her her Thai citizenship, than obviously this would be a bad idea. I have no idea if Thailand is like Canada, who are perfectly fine with and don't legally acknowledge dual citizenship, or if they are more like China and India, where your citizenship is automatically voided if you acquire American naturalization. Check in the regional sub-forum here and/or see if you can find out online.

If this isn't an option than I'm out of ideas. The tourist-visa plan will virtually certainly not work, sorry to say.

Edit:

According to this: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/31508-dual-citizenship/ , Thailand is much like Canada - their laws don't acknowledge dual citizenship either way, so it should be fine. I'd do some more digging though.

Edited January 5, 2011 by HeatDeath

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

This is not my field of "expertise" but I remember that members on this board have been advised in such cases that somebody who holds a valid Green Card can exchange it for a B2.

There were members on this board who had family members who just wanted to visit a few times a year but had difficulties getting a B2. The advice was to get them a Green Card and then have them exchange it for a B2. The reasoning behind this is clear: somebody who has a Green Card has basically immigrated to the US. If this person voluntarily gives this privilege up, it means that the immigration intent ceases to exist. Therefore, there's no risk in issuing a B2.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I will chime in soon.

Edited January 5, 2011 by Just Bob

[thaifoo 0]

Thanks for the quick responses. After talking to my wife she said she would just tough it out until she's a able to apply for citizenship. But "just bob" brings up a interesting point for sure. Does anybody have any info on that? I'll do some more looking around. Thanks again!

Jody

[HeatDeath 430]

In her shoes, I would prefer the citizenship option, if only for it's certainty and permanence. A tourist visa can be revoked, or it's renewal denied. Citizenship is much more solid and permanent. Only downside is she would have to keep paying US taxes, depending on whether or not there is a tax treaty with Thailand.

The "I gave up a GC, so clearly I have no immigrant intent, so gimme a tourist visa" argument may be subject to the approval of the consular officer adjudicating the tourist visa application, rather than a matter of DoS policy. As such you may not be able to find any documentary proof of it's efficacity, just anecdotal evidence from people who've used it. As an argument, it's compelling, and may very well appear so to the CO, but I would expect them to reserve the final word on approvals, and that would feel a little risky to me.

Edited January 6, 2011 by HeatDeath

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

My wife is from the Philippines and it took her the better part of a year to really adjust and then there are still times when she really misses "home".

Now that she has her Green Card let her visit home for a couple of months (if possible), she'll be missing you and glad to return. It will also ease her adjustment pains here as she'll feel re-connected to her family back in Thailand.

[thaifoo 0]

Thanks for the all great responses. I actually just found she can apply for citizenship after 3 years of getting her green card bc she's married to a USC. I discussed it with her and she's terrified of going through the visa process again so we've decided to just wait it out and take the for sure route. We're actually all going to Thailand this April for 23 days and we can't wait. Hopefully after the baby gets a little older she can go on her own and stay for a few months. Right now she's scared to go alone because the baby's got some bad colic and it's a 2 person job taking care of him. Again thanks for all the insight and advice!

[Kang Lang 7]

she might be very homesick! is there a wat within driving distance of your home? maybe she will feel more connected to home if she has a chance to speak thai etc. are you able to get ingredients for thai food? as i'm sure you know food is so important and that might help. also you can get plenty more advice from folks with thai s.o.'s in the sawasdee 4 thread in the regional forums.

good luck!

[ThaiStyleUSA 1]

Another suggestion is to join Facebook. You wouldn't believe how many Thais registered. My wife loves it. She has more friends than me!!! It's a great social network. My wife speak little English but I set her keyboard to Thai and English. She can switch between the two. I also installed translation program on her computer as well. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are many resources out there and Facebook is a start. There is also another social network that is popular in Thailand called Hi5. Good luck.

[rsn 135]

usvisa4thai.com - an amazingly large community of thai who have immigrated to this country