Starting IR-1 Process

[TEX_715 6]

7am is when the line starts, they let your fiance (not you) in at 8 and you may not interview untill 2 in the afternoon

[Siam Sam 6]

No, my wife had a 7am appointment this morning, and they started letting people in at 6:45. She was finished by 9, maybe a little before that. Waited about 90 minutes to be called, then answered just a few questions spread out over 30 minutes due to intervals of the interviewer typing in her computer. (She's my wife, not fiancee. We've been married 22 years.)

The result was pretty much what we expected -- I have to go reestablish a domicile in the US. As for our assets, they liked them, and they didn't. They liked them just fine except my wife's assets were not entered on the correct form. I'd been led to believe if the applicant was the spouse, then her assets could be included in my I-864, but no, we still need to put them on the I-864A. The I-864 form and/or instructions does say the spouse's assets can be included on the I-864, and I am certain I e-mailed them to confirm, and they said yes, put them on the I-864. But apparently that is not the case. Good news is they do the three-times rule since she is my spouse and not the five-times rule, so we have more than enough.

The big surprise was they canceled my wife's Tourist Visa. We were not expecting that. Thought maybe she could at least fly over to help me look for an apartment, then return to Thailand, but no. The interviewer said that had to be done now that my wife was in the system for the Immigrant Visa. I guess that makes sense, but since others have told about how they went to visit their spouse or fiancee in the US while being considered for their Immigrant Visa, we had assumed she could keep that until approval. So be warned.

Overall, a positive experience. The personnel were nice, it was quick and efficient. Our being married 22 years and my wife being a retired Chulalongkorn University assistant professor may have helped smooth the process, but my wife had the impression that others there were being treated pretty much the same.