SAWASDEE 2

[EVOLUTION` 0]

Man I'm just glad that I sent in the packet 3, funny story is we finally got our Packet 3 only after my wife been here in the state for almost a month If I waited for the packet 3 right now this funny story wouldn't be so funny at all.

[dvddvd 0]

i looked at my timeline (it doesn't look right to me), but i seem to remember it taking 10 - 14 days, after mailing the packet 3 documents, to get packet 4 in the mail. i wrote the embassy a few times, after day 10 or so, to see if they ever received our packet 3 documents and i never heard from them.

a friend of mine mailed his packet 3 doucuments about 1 week earlier than i did and his fiance did not get her packet four until about 1 week after we received ours.

so i'd say 2-4 weeks.

i just remember it being a relief to get packet 4 in the mail.

good luck

dvd

Alright...the Thailand thread!

My fiancee resent packet 3 around March 18th (returned because she didn't include one of the forms). As of April 16 we haven't received packet 4! Does anyone know *about* how long it takes?

Thanks!

[e_b_d 0]

Dear all,

My fiance got his K-1 approved today and will pick it up tomorrow! Thanks to everyone for your help along the way.

In case anyone is interested I'll tell what questions he was asked. There were more questions than we expected from what I had read, but none of them were difficult.

How long have you known each other?

Where did you meet your fiance?

What was your fiance doing there (where you met)?

What does your fiance do for a living? (This was the wording he used, glad my fiance knew that this means "What kind of work does your fiance do?")

What are you doing now? (that is, work or study, etc)

Where is your fiance now?

So you've met her parents? (The interviewer knew this from the pictures.)

When are you getting married?

He also was asked one question that I won't quote directly in order to guard his privacy, it was about a "yes" answer to one of the questions in number 38 of the DS-156. We had attached a signed statement to explain the "yes" answer, and the consular officer probably just asked him about it in order to confirm that his answer matched the written statement.

Then he was asked to raise his hand and swear that the information in his documents was true. Then he was told to come back for the visa at 3pm tomorrow!

thank you george/matt, that was helpful!!! it is very stressful. the i-797 indicated that i will here from them w/in 30 days, is that from the notice of approval? separately does it matter if he was denied a tourist visa before? (he has had visas to the the u.s. before but his last was denied, any bearing on the k-1?)

thanks again for being so helpful.

Kang Lang,

My fiance who just got his K-1 approved also had a denied tourist visa from about one year ago. He saw at the K-1 interview today that they had his whole packet of papers from his denied tourist visa attached to his K-1 papers, so they definitely look that stuff up. Whether it has any impact on the K-1 would depend on why he got denied the tourist visa, but if your fiance is like my fiance and most Thai tourist visa applicants, he got denied because he did not have sufficient proof that he would come back to Thailand. If that is indeed the case, the tourist visa denial will not hurt him on the K-1, since the K-1 visa holder has permission to stay in the US and apply for a green card, thus the K-1 applicant is not required to prove that he will come back to Thailand. In fact, the consular officer who interviewed my fiance for the K-1 today told him right out, "This is the correct way", meaning that the K-1 is the correct way to get into the US for someone who is dating/planning to marry an American, instead of the tourist visa. (When he applied for the tourist visa before, we were not planning to get married on that trip, but I now realize that him having an American girlfriend was less than helpful for getting a tourist visa, since some people might try to get married on a tourist visa.)

Good luck to you!

[SanFrancisco-BKK 0]

congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Dear all,

My fiance got his K-1 approved today and will pick it up tomorrow! Thanks to everyone for your help along the way.

In case anyone is interested I'll tell what questions he was asked. There were more questions than we expected from what I had read, but none of them were difficult.

How long have you known each other?

Where did you meet your fiance?

What was your fiance doing there (where you met)?

What does your fiance do for a living? (This was the wording he used, glad my fiance knew that this means "What kind of work does your fiance do?")

What are you doing now? (that is, work or study, etc)

Where is your fiance now?

So you've met her parents? (The interviewer knew this from the pictures.)

When are you getting married?

He also was asked one question that I won't quote directly in order to guard his privacy, it was about a "yes" answer to one of the questions in number 38 of the DS-156. We had attached a signed statement to explain the "yes" answer, and the consular officer probably just asked him about it in order to confirm that his answer matched the written statement.

Then he was asked to raise his hand and swear that the information in his documents was true. Then he was told to come back for the visa at 3pm tomorrow!

thank you george/matt, that was helpful!!! it is very stressful. the i-797 indicated that i will here from them w/in 30 days, is that from the notice of approval? separately does it matter if he was denied a tourist visa before? (he has had visas to the the u.s. before but his last was denied, any bearing on the k-1?)

thanks again for being so helpful.

Kang Lang,

My fiance who just got his K-1 approved also had a denied tourist visa from about one year ago. He saw at the K-1 interview today that they had his whole packet of papers from his denied tourist visa attached to his K-1 papers, so they definitely look that stuff up. Whether it has any impact on the K-1 would depend on why he got denied the tourist visa, but if your fiance is like my fiance and most Thai tourist visa applicants, he got denied because he did not have sufficient proof that he would come back to Thailand. If that is indeed the case, the tourist visa denial will not hurt him on the K-1, since the K-1 visa holder has permission to stay in the US and apply for a green card, thus the K-1 applicant is not required to prove that he will come back to Thailand. In fact, the consular officer who interviewed my fiance for the K-1 today told him right out, "This is the correct way", meaning that the K-1 is the correct way to get into the US for someone who is dating/planning to marry an American, instead of the tourist visa. (When he applied for the tourist visa before, we were not planning to get married on that trip, but I now realize that him having an American girlfriend was less than helpful for getting a tourist visa, since some people might try to get married on a tourist visa.)

Good luck to you!

[Kang Lang 7]

i have another (probably stupid) question. on the tax return info (i-864 doc) i originally thought that they required 3 years tax returns but have been told that it's only "1 or 2" does anyone have a definitive answer on that? i cannot find my 2004 tax return and am worried that i will have to try and deal with the irs to get a copy of what i filed? if i cannot get it all in time does that automatically exclude us from approval? my 2005/2006 are available and my current employment are no issue in terms of income etc. just wondering if we'll get dinged for no '04 return.

[Yodrak 7]

Knag Lang,

The I-864 instructions are quite definitive on this issue - have you read them?

In any event this question would be better posted in the adjustment of status forum - I-864 is not applicable to the K visas.

Yodrak

i have another (probably stupid) question. on the tax return info (i-864 doc) i originally thought that they required 3 years tax returns but have been told that it's only "1 or 2" does anyone have a definitive answer on that? i cannot find my 2004 tax return and am worried that i will have to try and deal with the irs to get a copy of what i filed? if i cannot get it all in time does that automatically exclude us from approval? my 2005/2006 are available and my current employment are no issue in terms of income etc. just wondering if we'll get dinged for no '04 return.

Edited April 19, 2007 by Yodrak

[Kang Lang 7]

thanks yodrak, that was the point of my question that i didn't understand. i was getting conflicting information. i guess you are indicating it's irrelevant although i was relatively sure i needed to have tax return information.

[Yodrak 7]

Kang Lang.

The consulate in Bangkok does ask for the 1 most recent tax return. People who submit the 3 most recent usually have 2 handed back to them.

Yodrak

thanks yodrak, that was the point of my question that i didn't understand. i was getting conflicting information. i guess you are indicating it's irrelevant although i was relatively sure i needed to have tax return information.

[aitian 0]

I was just wondering if the time to an interview in Bangkok is any shorter now that the Cambodian interviews are no longer in Bangkok. I looked at the schedule and the latest one for today is on 5/23 which is just a month and a week. Is the wait truly shorter now?

[goontar 0]

Does every translated document need to go to the Legalization department. ?

[Yodrak 7]

goontar,

Translations to be submitted to what government?

"Legalization department" refers to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

Yodrak

Does every translated document need to go to the Legalization department. ?

[goontar 0]

I don't know. My fiance told me that the translation "lady" told her the documents needed to be stamped. She does have a foriegn police certificate from Germany. Would that be it? Thanks.

[Yodrak 7]

goontar,

You don't know what government the documents are going to be submitted to? Are the translations from English to Thai or from Thai to English?

If the documents are translations from Thai to English, to be submitted to the US government, they do not have to be 'legalized'. Translation services often tell people that they do, and they also offer to have that done for you, for a fee, for your convenience. They're just trying to pad the bill.

If the documents are translations from English to Thai, to be submitted to the Thai government - for example if you're planning to marry your fiancee in Thailand - then they do need to be 'legalized' by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Yodrak

I don't know. My fiance told me that the translation "lady" told her the documents needed to be stamped. She does have a foriegn police certificate from Germany. Would that be it? Thanks.

[goontar 0]

goontar,

You don't know what government the documents are going to be submitted to? Are the translations from English to Thai or from Thai to English?

If the documents are translations from Thai to English, to be submitted to the US government, they do not have to be 'legalized'. Translation services often tell people that they do, and they also offer to have that done for you, for a fee, for your convenience. They're just trying to pad the bill.

If the documents are translations from English to Thai, to be submitted to the Thai government - for example if you're planning to marry your fiancee in Thailand - then they do need to be 'legalized' by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Yodrak

I don't know. My fiance told me that the translation "lady" told her the documents needed to be stamped. She does have a foriegn police certificate from Germany. Would that be it? Thanks.

Ok. I understand. I think they padded the bill for me. Thanks.

[dvddvd 0]

well....

my fiance has lost her main visa appointment letter from packet 4. (the one that must be presented to the office on the appointment date ... the one that has the date/time/case#/applicants on it....)

i have a copy of it here in the states and i'm sending it to her tomorrow. you don't know how lucky i am to even have it. it's like pulling teeth to get her to make copies of anything.

anyway ..

she thinks that the original was actually printed on pink or green paper, but she cannot remember. does anybody know what color it was on and how important the color may be?

she's also freaking out that she won't have the original. i told her that it's no big deal to have a copy and that the paper is probably just used to quickly gather her information on the day of the interview. do you think i'm correct about this?

thanks for any thoughts

dvd