Bringing wife's sister to America, for a visit

[medic5678 12]

My wife will be a citizen in another year-ish (assuming she passes the test).  The question is for a tourist visa from Thailand for her sister,   who has a squeaky clean life (40 years old), so there are no issues out of the ordinary.  

[Redro 4,611]

13 minutes ago, medic5678 said:

My wife will be a citizen in another year-ish (assuming she passes the test).  The question is for a tourist visa from Thailand for her sister,   who has a squeaky clean life (40 years old), so there are no issues out of the ordinary.  

Your wife's sister needs to qualify for the visa by herself. Tell her to fill out the DS-160 online, pay her fees and prepare to show strong ties to Thailand when she interviews at the embassy. You can ask questions in the tourist visa forum for more information. 

[Unlockable 7,314]

1 hour ago, medic5678 said:

My wife will be a citizen in another year-ish (assuming she passes the test).  The question is for a tourist visa from Thailand for her sister,   who has a squeaky clean life (40 years old), so there are no issues out of the ordinary.  

You nor your wife don't "bring" her sister here. Her sister must apply and obtain the visitor visa on her own. There is nothing you can do. There is no sponsorship for tourist visas to the US.

 

What her sister must do is show strong ties to Thailand. This mean things like having a good, well established job inn a profession, having a spouse and kids, owning property, having good economic standing or financial independence, and even having a good track record of traveling to other countries with no issues. If she has those things mentioned she has a high chance of getting approved. But if not, she will have a really tough time getting a visa.

[medic5678 12]

1 minute ago, Unlockable said:

You nor your wife don't "bring" her sister here. Her sister must apply and obtain the visitor visa on her own. There is nothing you can do. There is no sponsorship for tourist visas to the US.

 

What her sister must do is show strong ties to Thailand. This mean things like having a good, well established job inn a profession, having a spouse and kids, owning property, having good economic standing or financial independence, and even having a good track record of traveling to other countries with no issues. If she has those things mentioned she has a high chance of getting approved. But if not, she will have a really tough time getting a visa.

That makes it sound almost impossible, if not impossible for her to come visit with us.  Only goes to show that those who obey the laws are at the biggest disadvantage.

[Just Paul 4,595]

5 minutes ago, medic5678 said:

Only goes to show that those who obey the laws are at the biggest disadvantage.

The consulate will take into consideration her previous international travel and her ties back to Thailand.   Countries that have had large amounts of overstays and misused visa have lower approval rates.

[SteveInBostonI130 3,449]

17 minutes ago, medic5678 said:

That makes it sound almost impossible, if not impossible for her to come visit with us.  Only goes to show that those who obey the laws are at the biggest disadvantage.

Not really.

 

Countries whose citizens 'obey the laws" and therefore have a very low risk rate of overstay are less strick in determining qualifications for visas.

 

Countries whose citizens repeatedly abuse their visas causes the consulate/embassy to be more strick and evaluate the applicants more thoroughly.

 

In Ukraine, for example, my wife would have had a very low chance to get a tourist visa as a single female with no children and who rents.  Because of previous single females who overstayed.

 

On the flip side, she had no trouble getting a spouse visa because of the low risk of marriage fraud or non genuine relationships. 

[medic5678 12]

Her situation is that she's caretaker for my wife's family.  She lives in an extremely nice house that my wife owns (wish I could afford a house like that here in the states).  She's 40, 2 children of her own aged 14 and 12.  Speaks very little English.  I think she has a degree in Thailand as an accountant but job prospects are poor for Thai women of her generation.  No husband.  We send $1000 a month back to Thailand to take care of my wife's family and she basically runs the show.  We'd like to bring her over for a 3 month visit on a tourist visa.

 

I think the tourist visa from Thailand is extremely difficult to obtain.

 

[Redro 4,611]

25 minutes ago, medic5678 said:

Her situation is that she's caretaker for my wife's family.  She lives in an extremely nice house that my wife owns (wish I could afford a house like that here in the states).  She's 40, 2 children of her own aged 14 and 12.  Speaks very little English.  I think she has a degree in Thailand as an accountant but job prospects are poor for Thai women of her generation.  No husband.  We send $1000 a month back to Thailand to take care of my wife's family and she basically runs the show.  We'd like to bring her over for a 3 month visit on a tourist visa.

 

I think the tourist visa from Thailand is extremely difficult to obtain.

 

She can try to obtain the visa. But, your wife would not be "sponsoring her"  or "bringing her over" rather your sister-in-law is going to the States to visit her sister and will be staying with her sister while she is on vacation. I

have never stayed at a hotel for any of my trips to the States and when I went for my interview I was honest about staying at a friend's home for the duration of my stay. 

Good luck! But, be careful of the words you use... you do not "sponsor" a tourist visa. 

 

[medic5678 12]

1 minute ago, Kor2USA said:

She can try to obtain the visa. But, your wife would not be "sponsoring her"  or "bringing her over" rather your sister-in-law is going to the States to visit her sister and will be staying with her sister while she is on vacation. I

have never stayed at a hotel for any of my trips to the States and when I went for my interview I was honest about staying at a friend's home for the duration of my stay. 

Good luck! But, be careful of the words you use... you do not "sponsor" a tourist visa. 

 

Yes, I understand this clearly.  She must come of her own merit, independent of her relationship to us.

[Unlockable 7,314]

1 hour ago, medic5678 said:

Her situation is that she's caretaker for my wife's family.  She lives in an extremely nice house that my wife owns (wish I could afford a house like that here in the states).  She's 40, 2 children of her own aged 14 and 12.  Speaks very little English.  I think she has a degree in Thailand as an accountant but job prospects are poor for Thai women of her generation.  No husband.  We send $1000 a month back to Thailand to take care of my wife's family and she basically runs the show.  We'd like to bring her over for a 3 month visit on a tourist visa.

 

I think the tourist visa from Thailand is extremely difficult to obtain.

 

Also, I caution that your wife sending money to her family like that may backfire. It may potentially show that your sister in law is dependent of your wife and not on her own because she also does not have a job. An officer may see your SIL as a high risk of overstay because she has a sibling in the US to help her stay here and find work on a B2. 

 

This is simply looking at it through the eyes of an officer. Have your SIL give it a try to see. That is the least she can do. 

[medic5678 12]

1 minute ago, Unlockable said:

Also, I caution that your wife sending money to her family like that may backfire. It may potentially show that your sister in law is dependent of your wife and not on her own because she also does not have a job. An officer may see your SIL as a high risk of overstay because she has a sibling in the US to help her stay here and find work on a B2. 

 

This is simply looking at it through the eyes of an officer. Have your SIL give it a try to see. That is the least she can do. 

I imagine a lot of that is up to interpretation.  We are law abiding citizens who would never participate in any form of an overstay. Her children and family in Thailand depend on her.  She had a little business in Thailand that she had to give up in order to take care of the family.   I don't see how she'd qualify for a B2.  If she did come to the U.S. to try to stay, it would have to be a K-1.  Even then, it's not so simple to manufacture a suitable husband for her.  In truth, it would just be a visit with her sister.  

[carmel34 3,631]

10 minutes ago, medic5678 said:

If she did come to the U.S. to try to stay, it would have to be a K-1.  Even then, it's not so simple to manufacture a suitable husband for her. 

I do not recommend this.  If she cannot get a B2 tourist visa, it would be better for the sister in the US to go and visit Thailand so that they can see each other.  "Manufacturing" a suitable husband for her in the US is fraud and any involvement in this can have serious consequences.

[medic5678 12]

8 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

I do not recommend this.  If she cannot get a B2 tourist visa, it would be better for the sister in the US to go and visit Thailand so that they can see each other.  "Manufacturing" a suitable husband for her in the US is fraud and any involvement in this can have serious consequences.

I think you're misunderstanding this.  We're not doing anything of this sort.   It's just a visit.  And why not?  Is there anything inherently wrong with this?  Of course, we can go to Thailand any time we choose.  We'd just like to have her come here because we're family and would enjoy that.  She'd love it as well.  Funny that the government is so absolutely suspicious about this, while allowing MS-13 gang members to just waltz over the border at Texas.  

[Rocio0010 5,579]

23 minutes ago, medic5678 said:

We are law abiding citizens who would never participate in any form of an overstay. Her

Right. You and your family know this, but not USCIS or DHS.

So far you’ve been given great advice as to what she has to show to get a tourist visa. Like others have said, some countries have a history of people overstaying their tourist visas, or even lying to obtain one. So they make it harder even for law- abiding people. 
She has to show strong ties to Thailand, such as a work certificate, a lease, a family. And neither you nor your wife sponsor her. Also, don’t think of saying that she’s coming here to help your wife with whatever; that can be misconstrued as “work” and it is forbidden to work with a tourist visa.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

28 minutes ago, medic5678 said:

1.  Even then, it's not so simple to manufacture a suitable husband for her. 

That’s fraud.