SAWASDEE 2

[chivasgeo 0]

I know I asked this before, but I need to be refreshed on the subject.

My wife wants to bring her mother over for a visit from Phnom Penh. At the interview what will they ask for as proof she is returning. She is 66 so I don't think she will be looking for a boyfriend. she has birth cert and deed to her property but that is about all. She has no money so we will be paying her way. Is she doomed for failure?

Sam,

My Mother in Law just arrived here for a 4 months stay. During her "interview" they did not ask for any documents from her regarding proof of land, house ownership, etc. What I did (that I think helped out) was write a formal letter to the Embassy explaining the reason of her trip (to visit her daughter and grandson and to tour sites around CA) . I explained that I will be paying for her trip to and from Thailand and during her stay here (all expenses paid). Also what I think helped out (and this was an option I did not have to do - but what the heck , did it anyways!) was turn in an I-134 affidavit of support with last 3 paystubs. She was granted a 10 year multiple entry B2 Visitors Visa. Upon entry at SFO Intl, the US Immigration gave her 6 months to stay.

Mother in law is 61 and never worked her entire life (was a homemaker, housewife). As always your situation may be different. If interested, Send me PM and I can foward you the letter I wrote to Embassy

regards,

George

[BishopMnA 0]

aitian,

Interesting, and it confirms what I wrote in my post.

So you're saying - indirectly - that your fiancee was previously 'married Thai-style' to some guy?

Yodrak

Attached is the 3rd page of the checklist I received in my packet 3 that mentions "verification of unmarried status." It can be found under the "other" section.

I think we may have to head up to her hometown to get one of those letters real quick. Maybe they will let her mother get it for her and save us the trip up there.

Okay, I get what your saying. With the use of 'register', the embassy probably only wants this from people who have had marriages that have not registered them or have kids which would make the embassy think that the person may have been married before.

Nok has never been married either way but I think we may get the paper from her hometown just in case it is needed. Since this is a new form of the checklist, maybe they plan on requiring this now. I just want to be safe when it comes to any documents the interviewer may want.

AAm/I didn't have that in our packet 3 documentation, and it wasn't listed in the Packet 4 documentation either. So, that seems new. Its good that it is in there. IMHO, the packet 3 and 4 that we received from the IVU were really 'junk'. They sent us forms with expired dates, it wasn't arranged at all, half of it seemed to have been typed on a manual typewriter, and all the papers were completed bent/folded. I ended up not using any of packet 3...and did everything from forms off the embassy website...which, is quite good!

[aitian 0]

I tried searching this on the forum but can't find an answer.

Do we need to pay the visa fee before they schedule our interview or do we just have to pay it before we go to the interview? We just don't want to be sitting on our butts waiting for weeks for our interview time to find out we had to pay it at the post before being schedule.

[rin and john 71]

I tried searching this on the forum but can't find an answer.

Do we need to pay the visa fee before they schedule our interview or do we just have to pay it before we go to the interview? We just don't want to be sitting on our butts waiting for weeks for our interview time to find out we had to pay it at the post before being schedule.

You just need to pay it before you go to the interview, not before it's scheduled. We got Rin's a week before (don't wait until the last day!). Make sure you have the receipt when you go to window 5.

John

[CJ&Jum 0]

Hi everyone, I'm back to reading the Sawasdee thread again, I have so much to catch up on. Jum and I are well and enjoying our lives together in the U.S. I'm glad to see so many new faces and to see the progresss of everyone's visa journey.

C.J.

[aitian 0]

Our interview date was posted on the website today. Wasn't as soon as we had hoped, but it sure is nice to be able to know when we will be going back to the US.

[aitian 0]

How often do people not get to pick up their visas the next day? The problem is that Nok's interview is on a Thursday right after July 4th, so if it isn't ready the next day on Friday we will have to wait until the following weekend since she wants to leave on a weekend so her whole family can see her off at the airport. Do they have people pick up their visas on Saturdays at the embassy?

[Yodrak 7]

aitan,

Check the schedule for when the consular section is open for regular business on the embassy web site. I don't think it is open on Saturdays.

Yodrak

How often do people not get to pick up their visas the next day? The problem is that Nok's interview is on a Thursday right after July 4th, so if it isn't ready the next day on Friday we will have to wait until the following weekend since she wants to leave on a weekend so her whole family can see her off at the airport. Do they have people pick up their visas on Saturdays at the embassy?

[rin and john 71]

How often do people not get to pick up their visas the next day? The problem is that Nok's interview is on a Thursday right after July 4th, so if it isn't ready the next day on Friday we will have to wait until the following weekend since she wants to leave on a weekend so her whole family can see her off at the airport. Do they have people pick up their visas on Saturdays at the embassy?

Aitan,

They are not open on Saturday. If you look at "immigration timelines" in VJ, choose "View all visas (advanced view)" under "visa display options", you will get a list of timelines. Go to the bottom of the page, choose "Thailand" as the country and change the "# of rows" to a larger number (50 to 100), then go back to the top and click the down arrow next to "interview" in the header column, you will have a list sorted by interview date. Visa in hand date is in the column next to that. A quick scan shows about 80 to 90% get their visa the next day. Based on those stats, I booked Rin's flight for the day after her interview. Got her visa at 3pm the next day (their standard pickup time now), and headed straight to the airport! I did, however, make sure the flight could be changed if there would have been any problems. Thai Airways allowed changes on the date, but we could not have switched airlines (ticket only valid on Thai).

Goodluck on the interview!

John

[Kang Lang 7]

we got an interview date!!!!!

6 July at 7:30am

[aitian 0]

How often do people not get to pick up their visas the next day? The problem is that Nok's interview is on a Thursday right after July 4th, so if it isn't ready the next day on Friday we will have to wait until the following weekend since she wants to leave on a weekend so her whole family can see her off at the airport. Do they have people pick up their visas on Saturdays at the embassy?

Aitan,

They are not open on Saturday. If you look at "immigration timelines" in VJ, choose "View all visas (advanced view)" under "visa display options", you will get a list of timelines. Go to the bottom of the page, choose "Thailand" as the country and change the "# of rows" to a larger number (50 to 100), then go back to the top and click the down arrow next to "interview" in the header column, you will have a list sorted by interview date. Visa in hand date is in the column next to that. A quick scan shows about 80 to 90% get their visa the next day. Based on those stats, I booked Rin's flight for the day after her interview. Got her visa at 3pm the next day (their standard pickup time now), and headed straight to the airport! I did, however, make sure the flight could be changed if there would have been any problems. Thai Airways allowed changes on the date, but we could not have switched airlines (ticket only valid on Thai).

Goodluck on the interview!

John

Thanks so much for the detailed answer. We are planning on flying Thai anyway since they allow us to bring our little yorkies with us in cabin. I didn't know about them letting us change on the day of the flight. I think we'll try that then.

Thanks so much!!!

[samsbs 0]

George

Thank for the info. I passed it on to MIL to ease her fears of failure. We will start the process of getting her passport. I don't know how long that will take, it depends on who you bribe.

She has never traveled out of Cambodia or been on a plane, so we have to convince her that "yes" even people who do not speak english can fly.

Will let you know how it turns out.

Sam

[aitian 0]

I went to add some pages to my passport a couple months ago at the American Citizens Services section in Bangkok. Outside the entrance there was a really long line of people waiting to get inside for which I was allowed to walk around since I was just going to the ACS part. When my fiance and I go to our interview next month, are we going to have to wait outside in this long line? If so, how early should we get there for a 1pm appointment time?

Thanks

[rin and john 71]

I went to add some pages to my passport a couple months ago at the American Citizens Services section in Bangkok. Outside the entrance there was a really long line of people waiting to get inside for which I was allowed to walk around since I was just going to the ACS part. When my fiance and I go to our interview next month, are we going to have to wait outside in this long line? If so, how early should we get there for a 1pm appointment time?

Thanks

Aitan,

No, that is a different line (perhaps visitor visas). Go inside (can either go through the ACS entry or doors to the left of the long line) and go to window 5. If anyone is at 4 or 6, can go there also. They will sort through you paperwork, give you back anything they don't need, then tell you to have a seat. We waited almost two hours for them to call Rin's name. Don't be alarmed if people who arrive after you (or even have appointments after you) get called before you do. This happened to us. Review of the paperwork takes different amounts of time. The few that got called up quickly (less than 30 minutes) had obvious deficiencies which were explained to them (loud enough for us to hear sitting in the waiting area).

Goodluck!

John

[chivasgeo 0]

George

Thank for the info. I passed it on to MIL to ease her fears of failure. We will start the process of getting her passport. I don't know how long that will take, it depends on who you bribe.

She has never traveled out of Cambodia or been on a plane, so we have to convince her that "yes" even people who do not speak english can fly.

Will let you know how it turns out.

Sam

Sam,

Good idea to get Passport first! Good luck with it all.....oh and my MIL with be flying solo when she goes back to Thailand in a couple of months...she is flying EVA....she is also scared since it will be her first time to fly ALONE! (she flew here with my mom) We called EVA and asked for assistance when she transfers in Taipei - they gaurantee she will get to the transfer gate for the trip from Taipei to Bangkok!

regards,

George