SAWASDEE 2

[Kang Lang 7]

devkpaik, (haven't seen u around much lately hope you are spending time with your fiancee)

as promised my latest update...got the CRIS email today that EAD approved/card production ordered and AP approved as well, so things are moving along nicely! (yes i did the happy dance)

good luck all.

Edited December 6, 2008 by Kang Lang

[Kang Lang 7]

devkpaik,

more updates, no change in status or email but got interview notice in the mail today.

rin and john,

you guys are ahead of us in the process, was wondering if it was a big deal if you the USC didn't have your birth cert...i have my passport which shows u.s. birth will that be sufficient?

thank you!

[rin and john 71]

devkpaik,

more updates, no change in status or email but got interview notice in the mail today.

rin and john,

you guys are ahead of us in the process, was wondering if it was a big deal if you the USC didn't have your birth cert...i have my passport which shows u.s. birth will that be sufficient?

thank you!

Kang Lang - I had a certified copy of my BC. The officer looked at it during the interview, but I am not sure if he actually asked for it or not. I also showed him my passport. He wanted to see the official BC's and marriage certificate (he took a few minutes comparing them to the photocopies previously submitted). Oh, and having a US passport does not prove US birth, only citizenship (Rin will have a US passport in a little over three years). But petitioning is a US citizen privilege, not a natural born citizen privilege, so you might be OK without it.

That said, it is always a good idea to have your BC. You can look here for how to obtain one:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm

Our recent news - Green cards arrived in the mail on Friday!

[toma1 10]

devkpaik,

more updates, no change in status or email but got interview notice in the mail today.

rin and john,

you guys are ahead of us in the process, was wondering if it was a big deal if you the USC didn't have your birth cert...i have my passport which shows u.s. birth will that be sufficient?

thank you!

Kang Lang - I had a certified copy of my BC. The officer looked at it during the interview, but I am not sure if he actually asked for it or not. I also showed him my passport. He wanted to see the official BC's and marriage certificate (he took a few minutes comparing them to the photocopies previously submitted). Oh, and having a US passport does not prove US birth, only citizenship (Rin will have a US passport in a little over three years). But petitioning is a US citizen privilege, not a natural born citizen privilege, so you might be OK without it.

That said, it is always a good idea to have your BC. You can look here for how to obtain one:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm

Our recent news - Green cards arrived in the mail on Friday!

Correct me if I am wrong, but I've reasonably sure that the ONLY additional natural born citizen privilege (vs. naturalized citizen) is that only a natural born citizen can be President. (And frankly, I'm not interested in the position of "First Dude" anyway...)

Edited December 7, 2008 by toma1

[eric_f 0]

Hey Tom,

Let us know how your fiancee's interview goes today!

~Eric

[daboyz 36]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin

Good read. I wonder if he was an American president how it would've gone over?

[toma1 10]

ANNA WAS TOLD TO PICK UP HER VISA ON DECEMBER 11 (The 10th is a holiday.)

Anna CLEARLY had a LOT of fun at her interview. Apparently she and the interviewer had a lot of laughs... she said it felt more like a conversation than an interview. Everyone was very friendly. (I should point out that Anna is EXTREMELY self confident and outgoing and was not nervous at all...)

They had problems getting her fingerprints and told her that she might need to come back for that... not sure if the situation was resolved yet because we could only talk for a minute and she had to hang up. I remember that the Thai police also said that it was hard to fingerprint her when she picked up her police report. The CO said, "Don't worry about it, some people are good in fingerprints and some people are good in smiles... you are good in smiles...

Some of the questions asked were:

What is your name?

(She answered)

Your English is very good, where did you learn?

(She learned English and German on her own.)

How many times have you met?

(This led to a conversation about me spending the entire summer in BKK. He asked how that was possible, and she told him that I was a professor and could therefore spend the summer doing whatever I wished. He joked about that being a nice job... and she said "do you know he can even take the entire year off at half pay and go to work elsewhere? We are hoping to go to London." He said "when?" And she said maybe 2010. [i winced at this honest reply...could this have caused a problem?? I wasn't sure...])

How did you meet?

(She told him that we met online and that I spent so much time chatting with her that at first she didn't really believe that I was a professor because a professor wouldn't have that much time to spend online... this conversation went on for a while....)

What was the reason for his divorce?

(She explained my ex's very conservative religious beliefs.)

What do you do for a living?

(She is a Key Account Manager for the largest stem cell banking company in Asia. The CO seemed surprised by this. He laughed and said that he did not know that Thailand had that technology. This led to a conversation about the different kinds of stem cell banking and the cost structures. The CO seemed interested and she gave him her card and told him to call her company... hahaha... she never misses an opportunity...)

That's all I know so far... more debriefing later. I have a lot of work to finish up tonight!

Edited December 8, 2008 by toma1

[afisher 0]

ANNA WAS TOLD TO PICK UP HER VISA ON DECEMBER 11 (The 10th is a holiday.)

Anna CLEARLY had a LOT of fun at her interview. Apparently she and the interviewer had a lot of laughs... she said it felt more like a conversation than an interview. Everyone was very friendly. (I should point out that Anna is EXTREMELY self confident and outgoing and was not nervous at all...)

They had problems getting her fingerprints and told her that she might need to come back for that... not sure if the situation was resolved yet because we could only talk for a minute and she had to hang up. I remember that the Thai police also said that it was hard to fingerprint her when she picked up her police report. The CO said, "Don't worry about it, some people are good in fingerprints and some people are good in smiles... you are good in smiles...

Some of the questions asked were:

What is your name?

(She answered)

Your English is very good, where did you learn?

(She learned English and German on her own.)

How many times have you met?

(This led to a conversation about me spending the entire summer in BKK. He asked how that was possible, and she told him that I was a professor and could therefore spend the summer doing whatever I wished. He joked about that being a nice job... and she said "do you know he can even take the entire year off at half pay and go to work elsewhere? We are hoping to go to London." He said "when?" And she said maybe 2010. [i winced at this honest reply...could this have caused a problem?? I wasn't sure...])

How did you meet?

(She told him that we met online and that I spent so much time chatting with her that at first she didn't really believe that I was a professor because a professor wouldn't have that much time to spend online... this conversation went on for a while....)

What was the reason for his divorce?

(She explained my ex's very conservative religious beliefs.)

What do you do for a living?

(She is a Key Account Manager for the largest stem cell banking company in Asia. The CO seemed surprised by this. He laughed and said that he did not know that Thailand had that technology. This led to a conversation about the different kinds of stem cell banking and the cost structures. The CO seemed interested and she gave him her card and told him to call her company... hahaha... she never misses an opportunity...)

That's all I know so far... more debriefing later. I have a lot of work to finish up tonight!

Nice!!

[Thai family 0]

ANNA WAS TOLD TO PICK UP HER VISA ON DECEMBER 11 (The 10th is a holiday.)

Anna CLEARLY had a LOT of fun at her interview. Apparently she and the interviewer had a lot of laughs... she said it felt more like a conversation than an interview. Everyone was very friendly. (I should point out that Anna is EXTREMELY self confident and outgoing and was not nervous at all...)

They had problems getting her fingerprints and told her that she might need to come back for that... not sure if the situation was resolved yet because we could only talk for a minute and she had to hang up. I remember that the Thai police also said that it was hard to fingerprint her when she picked up her police report. The CO said, "Don't worry about it, some people are good in fingerprints and some people are good in smiles... you are good in smiles...

Some of the questions asked were:

What is your name?

(She answered)

Your English is very good, where did you learn?

(She learned English and German on her own.)

How many times have you met?

(This led to a conversation about me spending the entire summer in BKK. He asked how that was possible, and she told him that I was a professor and could therefore spend the summer doing whatever I wished. He joked about that being a nice job... and she said "do you know he can even take the entire year off at half pay and go to work elsewhere? We are hoping to go to London." He said "when?" And she said maybe 2010. [i winced at this honest reply...could this have caused a problem?? I wasn't sure...])

How did you meet?

(She told him that we met online and that I spent so much time chatting with her that at first she didn't really believe that I was a professor because a professor wouldn't have that much time to spend online... this conversation went on for a while....)

What was the reason for his divorce?

(She explained my ex's very conservative religious beliefs.)

What do you do for a living?

(She is a Key Account Manager for the largest stem cell banking company in Asia. The CO seemed surprised by this. He laughed and said that he did not know that Thailand had that technology. This led to a conversation about the different kinds of stem cell banking and the cost structures. The CO seemed interested and she gave him her card and told him to call her company... hahaha... she never misses an opportunity...)

That's all I know so far... more debriefing later. I have a lot of work to finish up tonight!

Nice!!

Congratulations to Anna , and to you, too.

Thai Mom

[eric_f 0]

I think you'd be the first to say a visa interview was 'fun' Congrats, I hope mine goes as smoothly. Still waiting for NOA2...

~Eric

[symbiosis 0]

The good news is the embassy sent us an email with the interview date today. The bad news is less than 2 weeks from now! (Dec. 19), so there's NO WAY I can be there!!

Oh well, at least the waiting is over!

[toma1 10]

I think you'd be the first to say a visa interview was 'fun' Congrats, I hope mine goes as smoothly. Still waiting for NOA2...

~Eric

I know... I wasn't really expecting that either. But she was laughing and said that everyone was so nice. She told me about all of the embassy workers teasing her and I said, "It sounds like you had fun!" And she said, "Soooo much! It was like we had a conversation, not like he 'interviewed' me."

Still waiting... that's too bad. I think it shouldn't be long. I'm seeing a lot of people in that timeframe being approved now.

[toma1 10]

The good news is the embassy sent us an email with the interview date today. The bad news is less than 2 weeks from now! (Dec. 19), so there's NO WAY I can be there!!

Oh well, at least the waiting is over!

I wouldn't worry too much... the current staff seems to be very nice. Are you not going for work or for flight reasons? I think some cheap flights are still available.

Or... how about using the money you save to take a quick vacation with her at the POE instead?

[symbiosis 0]

The good news is the embassy sent us an email with the interview date today. The bad news is less than 2 weeks from now! (Dec. 19), so there's NO WAY I can be there!!

Oh well, at least the waiting is over!

I wouldn't worry too much... the current staff seems to be very nice. Are you not going for work or for flight reasons? I think some cheap flights are still available.

Or... how about using the money you save to take a quick vacation with her at the POE instead?

Yeah, I'm thinking about that. I live near Baltimore. Kuwait to NYC is cheap, but there's a connection in Kuwait City. We could take a week in a (cold) NYC (where I lived for 4 years) or else opt for a more expensive Thai Airways direct flight to L.A., then we could meet there, do L.A., SF and maybe Grand Canyon. She doesn't know the U.S., so is leaving it to me.

[toma1 10]

Yeah, I'm thinking about that. I live near Baltimore. Kuwait to NYC is cheap, but there's a connection in Kuwait City. We could take a week in a (cold) NYC (where I lived for 4 years) or else opt for a more expensive Thai Airways direct flight to L.A., then we could meet there, do L.A., SF and maybe Grand Canyon. She doesn't know the U.S., so is leaving it to me.

Anna's on the Kuwait flight. I don't think it's a big deal, the US Army is still in the area and they aren't going to let these girls leave the security area anyway.

I live in Florida, so I don't really care to go to SoCal...haha... and we're already going to Vegas in February. Anyway, she's very excited to see NYC and there is no better time of year to be there IMHO. It should be gorgeous! You can get the Hyatt Regency in NJ that is right across from Manhattan (only one stop and a few minutes by the PATH train) for only $71 per night and the EWR Airport Hilton for $55. I prefer it to staying in Manhattan anyway, because anything less than a high room in a 5* is going to be noisy. Plus the views are AWESOME from there.

http://jerseycity.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp

I plan to take her to the Statue of Liberty, skating at Rockefeller Center, walking in Central Park (hope it snows) and to a Broadway show.... and ALL of this will be cheaper than flying to BKK... though technically I got all of the flights for free with mileage. (But I still account for mileage as real money, because in a way, it IS...)