random musings from chicago, and a question.

[steve n songsang 45]

songsang has adapted quite well it seems, we have already been to several events and locations in Chicago, 100`s of pictures taken and sent back to Thailand. Have tested several thai restaurants, she has her favorite now. She loves the thai grocery store about 1/2 mile from our home. She is reluctant to go out alone here still, I hope this will gradually change but the Chicago "rep" is hard to overcome.We have had our "moments" but after a short cooling off period,(sometimes 24 hrs)all is good again. !!!She has her crocheting,we will need a separate suitcase when we return to Thailand,her thai tv,and calls and emails to friends and family.

Dinner is a nightly event, we both love to cook, weight gain for us both might begin to be a problem...haha. The thai embassy in Chicago held a 3 day festival downtown, I took off on a Wednesday and we went from 11am-6pm...music,dancing, food...had my fill of Singha...shopping stalls....one thing I noticed, although it did not seem to bother Songsang,and we returned on Friday when I got off work, she wanted to go again was that while all the people at the various booths were very nice, not ONE thai person in the 100`s that attended ever acknowledged her or spoke to her and I also caught what I believed to be some not so pleasant stares. It did not seem like the dark skinned thai woman from Chaiyaphum and her farang husband we very welcome at this "elite" festival. Anyway, we had a great time. I pulled the trigger on our return trip, aug20, $1000.00 each round trip, I paid $2000.00 last august just for myself, we have a early morning departure back to Chicago sep.19 so we booked a 5star hotel in bkk for our last 2 nights for only $60.00 per night(Landmark Bangkok)

l so it seems the recent events in Thailand have affected prices. Took a chance with the AOS,I-765 and I-131 pending but our departure date is 94 days after filing so I hope we are good. Do I,the USC need to bring anything as we are going to be "legally" married in Chaiyaphum this trip? We are going to have the "big" wedding in Jan2015 when its nice and cool for me...haha.

s,

[Karee 4,190]

!!!She has her crocheting,we will need a separate suitcase when we return to Thailand,her thai tv,and calls and emails to friends and family.

Dinner is a nightly event, we both love to cook, weight gain for us both might begin to be a problem...haha. The thai embassy in Chicago held a 3 day festival downtown, I took off on a Wednesday and we went from 11am-6pm...music,dancing, food...had my fill of Singha...shopping stalls....one thing I noticed, although it did not seem to bother Songsang,and we returned on Friday when I got off work, she wanted to go again was that while all the people at the various booths were very nice, not ONE thai person in the 100`s that attended ever acknowledged her or spoke to her and I also caught what I believed to be some not so pleasant stares. It did not seem like the dark skinned thai woman from Chaiyaphum and her farang husband we very welcome at this "elite" festival. Anyway, we had a great time.

My wife is in to the cross stitch deal, not sure if that's the same. We have things hanging on the walls all over the place that she has done.

As to the other Thais not being friendly, Some said some pretty rotten things to my wife when she first got here. She was actually in tears once. I kinda took as a "we were here first" kinda thing versus a her being from Isaan thing, but I could be wrong. She doesn't let that kind of thing bother her any longer. She actually just sent a care package to a girl in Wisconsin that is having a tough time.

We went to a road show the Thai MFA is doing to renew Thai passports at the local temple a couple weeks ago and spent all day there. Pretty uneventful and boring as hell. For me anyway.

[Ning 619]

songsang has adapted quite well it seems, we have already been to several events and locations in Chicago, 100`s of pictures taken and sent back to Thailand. Have tested several thai restaurants, she has her favorite now. She loves the thai grocery store about 1/2 mile from our home. She is reluctant to go out alone here still, I hope this will gradually change but the Chicago "rep" is hard to overcome.We have had our "moments" but after a short cooling off period,(sometimes 24 hrs)all is good again. !!!She has her crocheting,we will need a separate suitcase when we return to Thailand,her thai tv,and calls and emails to friends and family.

Dinner is a nightly event, we both love to cook, weight gain for us both might begin to be a problem...haha. The thai embassy in Chicago held a 3 day festival downtown, I took off on a Wednesday and we went from 11am-6pm...music,dancing, food...had my fill of Singha...shopping stalls....one thing I noticed, although it did not seem to bother Songsang,and we returned on Friday when I got off work, she wanted to go again was that while all the people at the various booths were very nice, not ONE thai person in the 100`s that attended ever acknowledged her or spoke to her and I also caught what I believed to be some not so pleasant stares. It did not seem like the dark skinned thai woman from Chaiyaphum and her farang husband we very welcome at this "elite" festival. Anyway, we had a great time. I pulled the trigger on our return trip, aug20, $1000.00 each round trip, I paid $2000.00 last august just for myself, we have a early morning departure back to Chicago sep.19 so we booked a 5star hotel in bkk for our last 2 nights for only $60.00 per night(Landmark Bangkok)

l so it seems the recent events in Thailand have affected prices. Took a chance with the AOS,I-765 and I-131 pending but our departure date is 94 days after filing so I hope we are good. Do I,the USC need to bring anything as we are going to be "legally" married in Chaiyaphum this trip? We are going to have the "big" wedding in Jan2015 when its nice and cool for me...haha.

s,

Sounds like things are pretty good in Chicago !

My husband has lost weight over time. He says its my cooking! Could be but I have gained weight and I do my share of the cooking. I understand the need for 24 hours at times. He can go hungry.

It is odd isn't it to find the reception from Thais in America. I have found this same thing to be true. We went to an event at a local Temple where this strange atmosphere seemed to surround us. My husband complemented a women on her traditional clothes; she walked away.

Here in the USA people are happy to pay for a tan. Get it from the sun, spray it on or by weird lights in a room. But if we have a natural tone to our skin we are shunned by our own.

For the " wedding " you probably will need divorce docs if you where ever married, birth cet and passport. You must be aware of sin sod by now so be prepared.

[Karee 4,190]

For the " wedding " you probably will need divorce docs if you where ever married, birth cet and passport. You must be aware of sin sod by now so be prepared.

I've always been pretty proud of the fact that I escaped the sin sod thing. However, on this last trip I took in April, I had to shell out 150k THB to get the family land out of hock thanks to my now deceased sister in law. Looks like they got me eventually so no one is immune.

[Ning 619]

I've always been pretty proud of the fact that I escaped the sin sod thing. However, on this last trip I took in April, I had to shell out 150k THB to get the family land out of hock thanks to my now deceased sister in law. Looks like they got me eventually so no one is immune.

True Karee. My husband didn't exactly try to escape because he had paid 150 K THB to remodel our Thai mothers house but that was totally his decision. Later when the actual sin sod moment came he felt he had invested earlier ! We continue to provide support for mom.

[Tango777 3]

Hey Steve,

Glad to hear all is well. I remember we traded some info last summer. My wifes's Bio date is July 7. We were going back and forth IL/FL but now we're down in FL. She likes it here, having a tough time with the written driving test, just studying now.

She says that most of the Thai's she met are OK but it seems they don't speak Thai much to her, funny.

Hey, I should know this by now and I'll try and find the info, but after the Bio, is that the 3 - 6 months wait (hopefully) for the EaD and/or AoS? And how soon possibly for the 131 in case she had to go back for emergency? I seem to think I read it's 6 weeks for the 131/Adv Parole and 3 - 6 months in most cases for EaD and AoS.

[AaronLV 12]

Do I,the USC need to bring anything as we are going to be "legally" married in Chaiyaphum this trip? We are going to have the "big" wedding in Jan2015 when its nice and cool for me...haha.

s,

You will need to make a trip to the embassy to a notarized affidavit. Need to have that and your marriage certificate translated to Thai, then you need to bring it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have it stamped. Then you can take all that to the local Amphur to register it. Make sure to bring an original certified marriage certificate, and not a copy of it.

You will also need any divorce papers if you or her were previously married.

We had no plans on registering the marriage here in Thailand, until we needed to get my son's birth certificate. They required we have our marriage registered here. I needed it fast and ended up paying a service about 3K baht to handle all the translations and MFA stamp. Which I think is normally about 800 baht for the stamp, and takes a couple of days. I dropped off paper work in the morning at the service and had it all back at the end of the day. The next day we went to the Amphur and registered it. That part was painless.

Unless you have a good reason to register it here, as you want an extension of stay or are having kids in Thailand, I would say just have a nice vacation and don't worry about it. You can still get a Non-O visa from the Thai embassy without having the marriage registered in Thailand. Deal with it if you plan on spending an extended period of time in country, otherwise there is no advantage.

[steve n songsang 45]

hey Tango....happy to hear all is well. You should receive EAD and I-131 combo card around 70-90 days from the AOS,EAD and I-131 NOA-1`s providing you have no RFE`s.

If she needs to go back for an emergency you would have to go to Chicago office with an INFO-PASS appointment to expedite the I-131, provide evidence.... hope it will not be necessary.

[steve n songsang 45]

or florida office if that`s where you are now. Hard to get a handle on AOS, some people get quick interview, others get a letter stating they may not need interview, time lines vary greatly. As long as she has the EAD-I-131 combo card there is no need to stress about the AOS, it happens when it happens, begin to acquire and meet evidence requirements for the potential interview....take care

[steve n songsang 45]

thx for the info Aaron, we have a house in Thailand and plan to live there in the future, seems time consuming to have to go to bkk this trip so we will hold off to a later date...we are staying bkk our last 2 nights tho, if we try to take care of getting the documents you spoke of will they still be good Jan/Fed 2015? regards....stevie n songsang

[Karee 4,190]

thx for the info Aaron, we have a house in Thailand and plan to live there in the future, seems time consuming to have to go to bkk this trip so we will hold off to a later date...we are staying bkk our last 2 nights tho, if we try to take care of getting the documents you spoke of will they still be good Jan/Fed 2015? regards....stevie n songsang

They're good forever. There is no expiration date.

[Thane 8]

Glad to hear that things are going well for you and your wife in America.

I was married, albeit short, in Thailand previously, basically you just need to get an affidavit from the US Embassy stating that you are free to marry. I do not know if this requires you to show any previous divorce certs as it was my first marriage at the time. You will then need to get this translated somewhere as well. I'm sure if you did some digging you could find a template somewhere and just fill in the names and have someone sign it as a certified translation. Then just take it to the MFA for their stamp and take it off to whatever Amphur you get married at. It's a fairly simple process, and if you could do the translation yourself you'd save quite a bit of money since you'll get hit with the Farang tax.

[AaronLV 12]

They're good forever. There is no expiration date.

I don't think the letter from the embassy. If you get the documents translated and stamped at the MFA they will be, but unless you pay a service for the MFA stamp, I think it takes a day or two to get done. All the offices here seem to be very finicky about dates on letters, especially from the embassy. Especially Thai immigration, if you think dealing with the embassy or USCIS was bad, wait until you have to deal with Thai Immigration...

[aquadude2 0]

songsang has adapted quite well it seems, we have already been to several events and locations in Chicago, 100`s of pictures taken and sent back to Thailand. Have tested several thai restaurants, she has her favorite now. She loves the thai grocery store about 1/2 mile from our home. She is reluctant to go out alone here still, I hope this will gradually change but the Chicago "rep" is hard to overcome.We have had our "moments" but after a short cooling off period,(sometimes 24 hrs)all is good again. !!!She has her crocheting,we will need a separate suitcase when we return to Thailand,her thai tv,and calls and emails to friends and family.

Dinner is a nightly event, we both love to cook, weight gain for us both might begin to be a problem...haha. The thai embassy in Chicago held a 3 day festival downtown, I took off on a Wednesday and we went from 11am-6pm...music,dancing, food...had my fill of Singha...shopping stalls....one thing I noticed, although it did not seem to bother Songsang,and we returned on Friday when I got off work, she wanted to go again was that while all the people at the various booths were very nice, not ONE thai person in the 100`s that attended ever acknowledged her or spoke to her and I also caught what I believed to be some not so pleasant stares. It did not seem like the dark skinned thai woman from Chaiyaphum and her farang husband we very welcome at this "elite" festival. Anyway, we had a great time. I pulled the trigger on our return trip, aug20, $1000.00 each round trip, I paid $2000.00 last august just for myself, we have a early morning departure back to Chicago sep.19 so we booked a 5star hotel in bkk for our last 2 nights for only $60.00 per night(Landmark Bangkok)

l so it seems the recent events in Thailand have affected prices. Took a chance with the AOS,I-765 and I-131 pending but our departure date is 94 days after filing so I hope we are good. Do I,the USC need to bring anything as we are going to be "legally" married in Chaiyaphum this trip? We are going to have the "big" wedding in Jan2015 when its nice and cool for me...haha.

s,

Wow, you are lucky to live near Thai Town on the northside. Used to live near there myself many years ago. Now I live way out in the hinterlands of Northern Illinois and my biggest worries for her is being able to keep her stomach happy. Her being an Issan girl, food is #1 for her happiness.

[steve n songsang 45]

ken....looks like things are moving fast for you as they did for us, stay ahead of the game, if you haven't already, download packet 3 instructions from the embassy site, get your financials prepared to send over to her. Any questions, feel free to ask, if I cant answer there are many knowledgable and helpful people here. The wife left for Thailand last night, I cant leave until early January...good luck....