SAWASDEE 2

[EVOLUTION` 0]

well, since we're on the subject of money. I'm planning to go visit my fiance again this January if she doesn't have her interview done by then, but when I come back there won't be much money left in the bank. Does it matter how much I have in saving? I do have a stable job and makes pretty good money. All my saving was spent eversince I got back from cambodia earlier this year, so I had to start from scratch. Well there wasn't much to begin with

[dbirner 0]

well, since we're on the subject of money. I'm planning to go visit my fiance again this January if she doesn't have her interview done by then, but when I come back there won't be much money left in the bank. Does it matter how much I have in saving? I do have a stable job and makes pretty good money. All my saving was spent eversince I got back from cambodia earlier this year, so I had to start from scratch. Well there wasn't much to begin with

You don't need to have much in the bank. They just want to see that you have the income to support her when she arrives.

[ufkenmill 0]

Well we finally received notification of approval for her EAD today. Now we're just waiting on her AOS interview...ahh..

By the way, my wife has been working the entire time she's been here. She received a temp EAD at JFK upon arrival, we applied for her permanent before it expired but she got a job just as it expired. After talking with immigration in baltimore in person, we were told she could work since she had applied for AOS and a perm EAD. We just used her receipt from the EAD to show the firm where she works and I explained the situation over the phone to them and they were OK with it. I work for the federal govt now and they know it so that may have had an effect on them accepting my statements, but they were indeed factual anyway. I confirmed with the baltimore immigration office and over the phone with an imm. officer.

So now we should have the actual card soon so they'll be no more explaining to do. She's already looking for another job since we won't have to explain the situation again.

Immigration was almost laughing when I asked if we were doing something wrong by her working with an expired temp EAD. She said as long as we applied for the perm EAD and AOS we were fine. Seems like they have their hands full with other things to focus on...

[Yodrak 7]

ufkenmill,

By "immigration" I expect that you mean USCIS?

- ICE, not CIS, is the enforcement branch

- it's the employer that ICE will be after, for failing to fulfill their legally imposed obligation to confirm and document the employment authorization status of its' employees

- working without EA is not an issue for adjustment of status of the spouse of a USC

- government and its' employees are not responsible or accountable for the bad things that may happen to a person if they give that person bad advice or wrong information and the person follows that advice or relies on that information.

Yodrak

.....

Immigration was almost laughing when I asked if we were doing something wrong by her working with an expired temp EAD. She said as long as we applied for the perm EAD and AOS we were fine. Seems like they have their hands full with other things to focus on...

Edited October 27, 2006 by Yodrak

[ufkenmill 0]

ufkenmill,

By "immigration" I expect that you mean USCIS?

- ICE, not CIS, is the enforcement branch

- it's the employer that ICE will be after, for failing to fulfill their legally imposed obligation to confirm and document the employment authorization status of its' employees

- working without EA is not an issue for adjustment of status of the spouse of a USC

- government and its' employees are not responsible or accountable for the bad things that may happen to a person if they give that person bad advice or wrong information and the person follows that advice or relies on that information.

Yodrak

.....

Immigration was almost laughing when I asked if we were doing something wrong by her working with an expired temp EAD. She said as long as we applied for the perm EAD and AOS we were fine. Seems like they have their hands full with other things to focus on...

Yodrak, you must be a lawyer I tell you. Great to hear from you again, it's been while.

1) By immigration I meant the Baltimore Immigration Office Supervising Immigration Officer

2) I never said that EA is an issue for AOS

3) I know...

I heard the same thing from two different immigration officers so there must be some sort of internal policy regarding this. Like I said in my post, I work for the fed's now in DC and we have many many internal policies which summarize a position on a reg which may be slightly different than what the reg says. Meaning, we have procedures and policies that can address a particular situation that may seem in direct conflict of a Reg (or meaning non-enforcement of some reg's depending on the magnitude of the non-compliance).

anyway....everything's fine now and we never had any problems with firm's or immigration on the issue.

Thanks for the post though! great to hear from you..

[chivasgeo 0]

I know that this is probably not the forum to ask this question, but I will do it anyway.

My wifes aunt who raised her wants to come and visit, but says they will not grant her a visa because she does not have $20,000 in the bank to assure them she will return.

She is married with two children, owns a travel agency and a home. She will be coming alone. What are her chances of getting the visa? Should we even try.

My MIL applied for and received a visa about 5 months ago. She is a business owner, owns a home in BKK and had previously held a US tourist visa (which had expired quite a while ago). I can't tell you what she has for funds in the bank. About all the information I could get from my wife is that the interview was very fast, she was in and out in abot an hour.

I have previously heard rumors that a "sum of money" in the bank was something that is unofficially required. Perhaps an affidavid of support (I-134) would be helpfull??

Sam and ALL:

I don't think there is such a min amount of cash in the bank that is needed to show US Embassy. Showing consistent bank activity would be good, but a sudden deposit of a large amount of cash into a bank account before the intervew date would not be so good. My MIL know about 10 neighbors and friends that applied for B2 visas (not at the same time), 8 of them got it, but the other 2 deposited large amounts into the bank acct before the interview date and were denied the B2.

I'd like to add our experience for B2 Visa Application for any VJ posters that are interested:

My wife & I helped my MIL apply for the B2 Visa about a month ago. We had set up an appointment on-line (via the Bangkok US Embassy Website) for 400 baht ($10 plus). MIL only has a High School Education and has never worked, was always a homemaker/housewife (4 kids). She owns land and a house in her name and also has an active bank account or 2 (all of these I was her only ties to Thailand). I would consider her middle class citizen.

Anyways, in addition to the basic requirements for the B2 visa, my wife & I also opted to include a formal letter stating a brief history of how I applied for a I-129F petition for MIL's daughter, that the K-1 was approved and we are now married with a son and that my wife is a LPR of USA. We had written the purpose of MIL's visit (which was to visit her grandson and daughter). I emphasized I would be the one financially responsible for the expense for MIL's trip to & from the USA, of which I supported that statement with an I-134 affidavit of support. I included supporting documents such as Letter from my work,2005 W-2, my past 3 pay stubs, the recent property tax papers(almost the same papers/documents I sent in with the K-1 application for my then fiance). Also included copies of our marriage Certificate, my son's birth certificate, copy of wife'sGreen card and all of our passort data page.

Well, eventually MIL was granted a 10 year B2 Visa. (YAY!!) MIL mentioned the interviewing officer (falang female who spoke Thai) did not even ask her to show the "evidence of ties to Thailand", I am assuming that the formal letter and I-134 my wife & I submitted helped in that matter...

Well hope this info will help....good luck

regards,

George

[dbirner 0]

I believe what helped your MIL was that she interview with a farang as opposed to a Thai women.

[Yodrak 7]

dbirner,

USC consular officers make the decisions on visa applications. There may be a lot of Thai nationals doing most of the 'grunt' work in the consulate, but any person of Thai heritage making the decision on whether or not to approve a visa application is a USC.

Yodrak

I believe what helped your MIL was that she interview with a farang as opposed to a Thai women.

[anya-D 8]

it's always occur to me that the older the person applying for the visa is - the easier it gets..

my mom and dad also granted 10 years visa - they applied on their own coz i wouldnt be able to help and they just got it with no fuss too.. may be it's also becasue they are university professors (which i heard that govt employee' gets visa very easy)

Anyway...

I'm palning to go back to Thailand next year... dont have specific date but around mid Feb -march... does anybody have suggestions for cheap cheap flight? I tried 1800 USA ASIA and they said i should wait for the end of the year to get a promotion... hope to find ticket around $700-800 or Bram wont go with me

[samsbs 0]

Anya

I have researched fares to both Bangkok and Phnom Penh and the cheapest flight I could find was with eva. http://www.evaair.com Go directly to their website and just keep watching because the rates change from day to day. You are on the right coast and we are on the left coast so the price wiil probably be more. Our flight is out of Seattle. We got tickets for $983 RT and it wend down $30 since. Flying to Cambodia is always more the Thailand.

George: Thanks for the info I will have the aunt read this forum next week when we get to Phnom Penh.

[samsbs 0]

One more thing will we need the original of our marriage certificate or will a copy be okay when we go through the airport. I do not want to take the original with us.

[chivasgeo 0]

One more thing will we need the original of our marriage certificate or will a copy be okay when we go through the airport. I do not want to take the original with us.

I brought the original marriage certifiacte when we travelled to Thailand this past Sept...but never needed it to show any government official at airport...the airport offficials here in USA and over in Bangkok did want to see my wife's Green Card, also the airline company employee also wanted to see the green card before we checked in to fly to USA.

You've only got one copy of the original Marriage certificate? If so I can understand why you dont want to bring it along....chances are the green card will be sufficient but you never know...I would recommend you do bring the original just in case.

Hey have fun while you're back in Cambodia, travel safe and good luck to Mariya's aunt if she decides to apply for B2 visa

regards,

George

Anya

I have researched fares to both Bangkok and Phnom Penh and the cheapest flight I could find was with eva. http://www.evaair.com Go directly to their website and just keep watching because the rates change from day to day. You are on the right coast and we are on the left coast so the price wiil probably be more. Our flight is out of Seattle. We got tickets for $983 RT and it wend down $30 since. Flying to Cambodia is always more the Thailand.

Hi Anya,

I believe around the time you plan to travel, it will be a lot higher than 700-800 USD, I think because a lot of westerners want to leave cold winter for warm weather...

As Sam has suggested, EVA Air and also try China Air..they are the 2 airline company I always see having one of the lowest fares around.

Good Luck...

regards,

George

[BishopMnA 0]

Hello All, I have been using this board as reference for the past several months. Thank you all as it has been very beneficial!

On 10/27 (last Friday) the NVC gave me confirmation/case # that they have received my approved NOA2. If things go normal, it should be on its way to the Bangkok Embassy during the first week of November.

Here is my question, and I would appreciate your kind advice: I am traveling to Thailand to see Aam from November 17th-30th. If the Packet 3 has not been yet mailed to her house, can I go directly to the Embassy and pick up the Packet 3 Forms there, fill them out, and submit them directly to the Embassy as well? That would be quite a time saver/stress saver if it were possible. Also, I know that it is possible to download all forms as well from the Embassy website. If I were to do that, could I then fill them out in advance and take them directly to the Embassy while I'm in BKK?

Another question, now that I have the NVC case #, can I have Aam schedule her medical appt? I have the approved medical doctor offices from the Embassy website. I thought I could download those forms and get this out of the way as well while I'm there.

Peace to All,

Mark - N - Aam

[malydon 0]

Hello All, I have been using this board as reference for the past several months. Thank you all as it has been very beneficial!

On 10/27 (last Friday) the NVC gave me confirmation/case # that they have received my approved NOA2. If things go normal, it should be on its way to the Bangkok Embassy during the first week of November.

Here is my question, and I would appreciate your kind advice: I am traveling to Thailand to see Aam from November 17th-30th. If the Packet 3 has not been yet mailed to her house, can I go directly to the Embassy and pick up the Packet 3 Forms there, fill them out, and submit them directly to the Embassy as well? That would be quite a time saver/stress saver if it were possible. Also, I know that it is possible to download all forms as well from the Embassy website. If I were to do that, could I then fill them out in advance and take them directly to the Embassy while I'm in BKK?

Another question, now that I have the NVC case #, can I have Aam schedule her medical appt? I have the approved medical doctor offices from the Embassy website. I thought I could download those forms and get this out of the way as well while I'm there.

Peace to All,

Mark - N - Aam

I waited a couple of weeks for our case to get to the Embassy and then we mailed the packet 3 forms that we had downloaded off the web site. I am pretty sure you can not bring anything to them. They use the mail. I agree that you should also get the physical done. Also ask them for a copy.

Mike

Hello All, I have been using this board as reference for the past several months. Thank you all as it has been very beneficial!

On 10/27 (last Friday) the NVC gave me confirmation/case # that they have received my approved NOA2. If things go normal, it should be on its way to the Bangkok Embassy during the first week of November.

Here is my question, and I would appreciate your kind advice: I am traveling to Thailand to see Aam from November 17th-30th. If the Packet 3 has not been yet mailed to her house, can I go directly to the Embassy and pick up the Packet 3 Forms there, fill them out, and submit them directly to the Embassy as well? That would be quite a time saver/stress saver if it were possible. Also, I know that it is possible to download all forms as well from the Embassy website. If I were to do that, could I then fill them out in advance and take them directly to the Embassy while I'm in BKK?

Another question, now that I have the NVC case #, can I have Aam schedule her medical appt? I have the approved medical doctor offices from the Embassy website. I thought I could download those forms and get this out of the way as well while I'm there.

Peace to All,

Mark - N - Aam

I waited a couple of weeks for our case to get to the Embassy and then we mailed the packet 3 forms that we had downloaded off the web site. I am pretty sure you can not bring anything to them. They use the mail. I agree that you should also get the physical done. Also ask them for a copy. Take a look at my signature for more info.

Mike

[BishopMnA 0]

Good Monday morning to all,

Aam received her Thailand Police Report around September 15th. At that time, I had read that the police report was good for 6 months, so I thought that it would surely still be valid by the time we have our interview.

Now I read that this has changed, and that police reports are only valid for 3 months. If that is the case, there is a good chance that our police report will expire before Aam goes for her interview.

Can anyone tell me for sure the length of validity for the Thailand police reports? I'm going to Thailand in about 3 weeks, so I'll get a new one if it is required.

Peace to all,

Mark - N - AAm