Unbelieveable K1 decision at Thailand US Embassy!!!!

[mrrobj 20]

VJ Community,

I just witnessed first hand an unbelieveable decision by a consular at the Bangkok US Embassy.

First, let me you give you a brief history of the case.

I was working with a friend of mine in obtaining a Fiance visa. He is an US Citizen and his fiance is from Thailand. He has been seriously involved with his fiance for about (7) years. He definitely has enough evidence to establish a bona fida relationship, with photos, emails, chats, etc. They also have (2) children together, that were born in Thailand.

Last year, I assisted him in getting US Passports for both of his children. He was totally lost in trying to apply on his own and he was impressed in how I helped him prepare the paperwork and obtained an approval. He tthen asked me to assist him in obtaining a Visa for his fiance. I recommended to him to apply for a Fiance Visa, instead of getting married in Thailand. He wanted to pay me to assist him but I told him I'll help him for free, as he is a good friend of mine and helped me a lot when I used to visit Thailand in the past.

Initially, I advised him to take care of some issues he had in the US with his ex-girlfriend and other financial issues.

He had a federal tax lien placed against him for $17,000 for failing to pay for (3) years of taxes and the lien was several years old. In addition, he also had $75,000 child support judgment placed against him. (That's correct $75K). Moreover, his US Passport was recently revoked, after it expired due to the past child support.

I told him, from my experience, that it would probably be impossible to get a fiance visa approved under these conditions and that he should definitely take care of his financial situation before applying. He agreed and stated it was going to get it all resolved in less than a year and then we were going to work together and apply for the fiance visa.

The child support judgement was recently placed against him after he failed to attend a child support hearing. A couple of years ago, he was spending a lot of time in Thailand and even took a leave of absence from his work to spend time in Thailand with his children and fiance. Given all the time he spent in Thailand, he created a bunch of fiancial issues with his ex-girlfriend in the US. Moreover, she didn't like the fact that he was spending time in Thailand and this only created additional issues for him.

His situation in US was complicated. He had two children with his ex-girlfriend. Apparently, they had joint legal custody for a few years.....whereas the children would spend 1/2 of the year with him and the other half with their mother. They got into a dispute about paying for a variety of things for the children, which also included an expensive tuituion to private schools for the children

Well, he missed the court date and in his absence, the Judge entered a default judgment against for cost of the private schools, which they are now disputing in court. He indicated that he was not aware of the court date and was not properly served.....but that's a whole separate story. He is currently working with a lawyer to resolve the judgment and confident he would get his reversed.

Long story short, he declined my advice and hired an Immigration attorney out of Bangkok to obtain his fiance visa. We went back and forth with this but he believed what the lawyer told him. He paid a huge retainer for his services and was confident he was going to get his fiance Visa without taking care of the above mentioned issues first.

I told him that I was not experienced enough in his situation to advise him but reiterated to him that if he applied for a fiance visa, a determination is going to be made by the consular at the embassy regarding if he could honestly take care of (4) children and his fiance, and further avoid them becoming a public charge. I mentioned to him that the tax lien, revoked passport and child support judgment was HUGE red flags and would play into the decision of his fiance become a public charge.

Nonetheless, he missed his fiance and children in Thailand and did not want to wait another day. He was used to traveling frequently to Thailand, that is...until his passport was not renewed and revoked. I understood how he felt, but I just thought he was wasting money to hire a lawyer for an impossible siutation.....but who am I to judge, I am not a lawyer, right?

Moreover, the Thailand lawyer asked him to submit his last year tax return only (not transcripts), a letter from the bank of the last 12 months of deposits, and a letter from his employer (no pay stubs).

Against the advise of his attorney, I told him that he should submit his last (3) years of tax transcripts and NOT just copies of his tax returns. In addition, I told him that he should also submit a few months of his pay stubs. I told him under his current situation, he should go above and beyond to prove he could support his family. Nonetheless, the lawyer advised him that he didn't need the pay stubs or tax transcripts!!!!

Well....guess what just happened??????

Their fiance visa was just APPROVED a few days ago!!!!

I couldn't believe it and he even emailed me a photo copy of the Visa stamp.......because he knew I wasn't going to believe it.

Now, trust me, I wanted the best for him and wasn't looking to prove him wrong......BUT how is this possible???

I had reviewed this site extensively and thought I diligently researched these matters to honestly believe he was wasting his money on an attorney, but I was obviously proven wrong! Again, I am happy for his family but I am literally shocked at the outcome.

He indicated that the attorney had a working relationship with the Embassy and was confident he could get him approved. The lawyer did advise him that he had reservations about the "expired and revoked" US Passport, as he never submitted a case to the Embassy with similar circumstances, but still advised that the revoked passport was not a deal breaker.

Now, I'm wondering if the Embassy took into consideration they had (2) children with US passports OR did the Immigration lawyer actually pull strings???? Is it something about the local procedures or criteria at the Bangkok embassy that are somewhat more lenient than others???

Again, he submitted NO tax transcripts, NO pay stubs, had a $17,000 federal tax lien, $75,000 past child support judgment, revoked and expired US Passport!!!.....and still got APPROVED!!

I just spoke with him and he has already purchased plane tickets and invited me a huge celebration party he's having on the 4th of July.

I guest in the end, I"m glad he proved me wrong and honestly happy for him....but still scratching my head on this one!!!

[dwheels76 5,468]

VJ Community,

I just witnessed first hand an unbelieveable decision by a consular at the Bangkok US Embassy.

First, let me you give you a brief history of the case.

I was working with a friend of mine in obtaining a Fiance visa. He is an US Citizen and his fiance is from Thailand. He has been seriously involved with his fiance for about (7) years. He definitely has enough evidence to establish a bona fida relationship, with photos, emails, chats, etc. They also have (2) children together, that were born in Thailand.

Last year, I assisted him in getting US Passports for both of his children. He was totally lost in trying to apply on his own and he was impressed in how I helped him prepare the paperwork and obtained an approval. He tthen asked me to assist him in obtaining a Visa for his fiance. I recommended to him to apply for a Fiance Visa, instead of getting married in Thailand. He wanted to pay me to assist him but I told him I'll help him for free, as he is a good friend of mine and helped me a lot when I used to visit Thailand in the past.

Initially, I advised him to take care of some issues he had in the US with his ex-girlfriend and other financial issues.

He had a federal tax lien placed against him for $17,000 for failing to pay for (3) years of taxes and the lien was several years old. In addition, he also had $75,000 child support judgment placed against him. (That's correct $75K). Moreover, his US Passport was recently revoked, after it expired due to the past child support.

I told him, from my experience, that it would probably be impossible to get a fiance visa approved under these conditions and that he should definitely take care of his financial situation before applying. He agreed and stated it was going to get it all resolved in less than a year and then we were going to work together and apply for the fiance visa.

The child support judgement was recently placed against him after he failed to attend a child support hearing. A couple of years ago, he was spending a lot of time in Thailand and even took a leave of absence from his work to spend time in Thailand with his children and fiance. Given all the time he spent in Thailand, he created a bunch of fiancial issues with his ex-girlfriend in the US. Moreover, she didn't like the fact that he was spending time in Thailand and this only created additional issues for him.

His situation in US was complicated. He had two children with his ex-girlfriend. Apparently, they had joint legal custody for a few years.....whereas the children would spend 1/2 of the year with him and the other half with their mother. They got into a dispute about paying for a variety of things for the children, which also included an expensive tuituion to private schools for the children

Well, he missed the court date and in his absence, the Judge entered a default judgment against for cost of the private schools, which they are now disputing in court. He indicated that he was not aware of the court date and was not properly served.....but that's a whole separate story. He is currently working with a lawyer to resolve the judgment and confident he would get his reversed.

Long story short, he declined my advice and hired an Immigration attorney out of Bangkok to obtain his fiance visa. We went back and forth with this but he believed what the lawyer told him. He paid a huge retainer for his services and was confident he was going to get his fiance Visa without taking care of the above mentioned issues first.

I told him that I was not experienced enough in his situation to advise him but reiterated to him that if he applied for a fiance visa, a determination is going to be made by the consular at the embassy regarding if he could honestly take care of (4) children and his fiance, and further avoid them becoming a public charge. I mentioned to him that the tax lien, revoked passport and child support judgment was HUGE red flags and would play into the decision of his fiance become a public charge.

Nonetheless, he missed his fiance and children in Thailand and did not want to wait another day. He was used to traveling frequently to Thailand, that is...until his passport was not renewed and revoked. I understood how he felt, but I just thought he was wasting money to hire a lawyer for an impossible siutation.....but who am I to judge, I am not a lawyer, right?

Moreover, the Thailand lawyer asked him to submit his last year tax return only (not transcripts), a letter from the bank of the last 12 months of deposits, and a letter from his employer (no pay stubs).

Against the advise of his attorney, I told him that he should submit his last (3) years of tax transcripts and NOT just copies of his tax returns. In addition, I told him that he should also submit a few months of his pay stubs. I told him under his current situation, he should go above and beyond to prove he could support his family. Nonetheless, the lawyer advised him that he didn't need the pay stubs or tax transcripts!!!!

Well....guess what just happened??????

Their fiance visa was just APPROVED a few days ago!!!!

I couldn't believe it and he even emailed me a photo copy of the Visa stamp.......because he knew I wasn't going to believe it.

Now, trust me, I wanted the best for him and wasn't looking to prove him wrong......BUT how is this possible???

I had reviewed this site extensively and thought I diligently researched these matters to honestly believe he was wasting his money on an attorney, but I was obviously proven wrong! Again, I am happy for his family but I am literally shocked at the outcome.

He indicated that the attorney had a working relationship with the Embassy and was confident he could get him approved. The lawyer did advise him that he had reservations about the "expired and revoked" US Passport, as he never submitted a case to the Embassy with similar circumstances, but still advised that the revoked passport was not a deal breaker.

Now, I'm wondering if the Embassy took into consideration they had (2) children with US passports OR did the Immigration lawyer actually pull strings???? Is it something about the local procedures or criteria at the Bangkok embassy that are somewhat more lenient than others???

Again, he submitted NO tax transcripts, NO pay stubs, had a $17,000 federal tax lien, $75,000 past child support judgment, revoked and expired US Passport!!!.....and still got APPROVED!!

I just spoke with him and he has already purchased plane tickets and invited me a huge celebration party he's having on the 4th of July.

I guest in the end, I"m glad he proved me wrong and honestly happy for him....but still scratching my head on this one!!!

Whats so impossible about this?

.

The only way the embassy is going to know about a tax lien is call IRS its not stamped on your form. So submitting the tax forms he shows his income and thats it. I-134 for fiance visa isn't even binding.

He's the petitioner his passport is of no issue at all. remember you show birth certificate or passport to show citizenship.

Approved he has lived with her all these years has 2 kids. To me it was a slam dunk. I see nothing weird.

Noe the ex-girlfriend if she had known could have called and really messed him up but oh well.

[Peter_Pan 661]

Oh, the power of bribe!

I wonder how she will adjust though, cause I dont think it is so easy to pull strings with the affidavit of support here.

[stevie b 141]

the affidavit again is about earnings, not liens, so it does not appear to be an issue other than the dependents

[The Mean Lady 604]

You have the option of supplying copies of transcripts OR copies of the tax returns themselves with the W2s

[mrrobj 20]

Whats so impossible about this?

.

The only way the embassy is going to know about a tax lien is call IRS its not stamped on your form. So submitting the tax forms he shows his income and thats it. I-134 for fiance visa isn't even binding.

He's the petitioner his passport is of no issue at all. remember you show birth certificate or passport to show citizenship.

Approved he has lived with her all these years has 2 kids. To me it was a slam dunk. I see nothing weird.

Noe the ex-girlfriend if she had known could have called and really messed him up but oh well.

Actually, Consulars are able to see federal tax liens in cases. There is even several cases on this board that reported having issues with the tax liens. From my understanding, they deduct the tax lien from your income.

His income was sufficient and therefore it was not an issue. Nonetheless, I just thought all the issues combined would raise red flags.

I do believe the children's passport added more validity to his application, but I believe if he didn't have a lawyer pushing his paperwork, I don't think he would have been approved. I could be wrong, but if a consular is given discretion to determine if an individual could become a public charge, how can you not take into consideration all these issues???

I guess we agree to disagree, but I didn't see this as a slam dunk case. But then again, I'm no expert on these matters.

If a consular sees a passport is expired due to $75K past due child support, how can you this be overlooked and not be seen as a train wreck about to happen?

I will NO longer advise anyone about their Visa, trust me......cuz if this Fiance Visa could be approved, then I believe these consulars have a LOT of discretion, no matter what is submitted!!

Edited June 16, 2013 by mrrobj

[Ning 619]

Oh, the power of bribe!

I wonder how she will adjust though, cause I dont think it is so easy to pull strings with the affidavit of support here.

To suggest anyone should offer a bribe to any U S govt official is terrible and I am sure against the TOS of V J. Additionally I very much doubt anyone did so at the embassy in BKK. If that were to happen it would be taken very seriously and the person probably charged with a crime and or jailed.

Even the Thais that work outside the embassy gates don't directly solicit bribes. They send people across the street where other Thais meet them at the walking bridge to offer services for money but they never offer any type of help with people employed by the U S embassy.

[Peter_Pan 661]

Guess someone doesnt know about Vietnam. Google it, it is recent.

In a nutshell, a US employee at the Embassy in Vietnam got a shitload of bribe for giving out visas that should not have been issued. They caught him this March, but no one knows how long he had been doing so.

[The Mean Lady 604]

Actually, Consulars are able to see federal tax liens in cases. There is even several cases on this board that reported having issues with the tax liens. From my understanding, they deduct the tax lien from your income.

His income was sufficient and therefore it was not an issue. Nonetheless, I just thought all the issues combined would raise red flags.

I do believe the children's passport added more validity to his application, but I believe if he didn't have a lawyer pushing his paperwork, I don't think he would have been approved. I could be wrong, but if a consular is given discretion to determine if an individual could become a public charge, how can you not take into consideration all these issues???

I guess we agree to disagree, but I didn't see this as a slam dunk case. But then again, I'm no expert on these matters.

If a consular sees a passport is expired due to $75K past due child support, how can you this be overlooked and not be seen as a train wreck about to happen?

I will NO longer advise anyone about their Visa, trust me......cuz if this Fiance Visa could be approved, then I believe these consulars have a LOT of discretion, no matter what is submitted!!

You see passport revoked due to $75k child support past due

Maybe they see passport revoked, dude isn't going anywhere, DOMICILE PROVEN! lol

Every case is different.

Your advice wasn't bad, this guy just got lucky.

I won't say he SHOULD have been denied, but yes, with lots of issues like this, it was a possibility in my opinion.

Do you know how much this guy makes?

As long as he makes enough to support the kids, then it's fine.

I don't know why you think his children's passport have any bearing on the case.

They are citizens of the US.

But you just keep bringing up their passports for some reason.

[Jawaree 717]

So my question is who will get short-changed now ...which household? well the 4 US kids

I guess is entitled to food-stamps, and hopefully she will get work as soon as she can,

the old baby momma will be back in court for the back money and an increase, I hope dude

did not bite off more than he can chew...glad he was able to bring his 2nd family home

for real....all those kids needs to know each other.

[The Mean Lady 604]

So my question is who will get short-changed now ...which household? well the 4 US kids

I guess is entitled to food-stamps, and hopefully she will get work as soon as she can,

the old baby momma will be back in court for the back money and an increase, I hope dude

did not bite off more than he can chew...glad he was able to bring his 2nd family home

for real....all those kids needs to know each other.

It's awful presumptuous of you to assume he doesn't make enough money to support his family and they will end up on food stamp.

The back pay on child support was because of a chunk settlement due to private schooling, not because he's a deadbeat that wasn't working and not paying monthly support.

[mrrobj 20]

I do not think it is an issue as to whether or not he is taking care of his children, as he even brought them to Thailand to stay on extended summers. I could attest he is a good provider and father. Both parents made 6-7 figures incomes.

I think he was involved in a very bitter break up with his ex. From my understanding, he assisted his ex in running a successful family business. However, the family business was from her side of the family. All of his money is tied up in court regarding this matter and his ex (and her family) is not making life easy for him.

My whole point is.....the consular reviewing his application, does not see all of these mitigating factors, but see facts that show he owes a substantial amount of past due child support and is not paying federal taxes.

[TBoneTX 45,291]

*** Thread moved from K-1 Process forum to General Immigration Discussion -- topic discusses a presumed area of qualification for a visa, rather than a specific process issue itself.. ***

[speedwell 224]

Folks, my impression here is we deal with possible problems, not impossible successes. Mistakes can be made in both your favor and your disfavor. Maybe he shouldn't have been approved, maybe it was a borderline case, maybe the adjudicator said "well they tick the boxes so OK". I know some cases are iffy, but shouldn't we be glad they are sometimes lenient instead of throwing the book at everyone all of the time?

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

It's awful presumptuous of you to assume he doesn't make enough money to support his family and they will end up on food stamp.

The back pay on child support was because of a chunk settlement due to private schooling, not because he's a deadbeat that wasn't working and not paying monthly support.

Thanks for being understanding. Most people that are not directly involved in family court do not understand the kind of nonsense that goes down.