Visa Options and Questions: US/Thailand

[WhiteE30 0]

Hi all, I'm looking for a little bit of guidance on my situation. I am a US citizen with a Thai girlfriend, looking to get married and hopefully live in the US in the future. I am leaning towards the CR1 after reading here, but just want to make sure I'm not missing anything that would make the K1 more appealing. For background, I have lived in the US my entire life. I quit my job to travel extendedly in Jan 2023 and then met my gf. During this time, I have been quasi-living in Thailand on visa exemptions, but have maintained a residence at my parents' address. My income is currently under the poverty line since I have been mostly unemployed during this time, earning only around 1k monthly via investments. Prior to this, I was earning over 100K annually. My plan was to try to get married here before I need to leave on April 30th, then apply for the CR1 from the US, then return to Thailand in a few months while waiting for the application.

 

I understand the advantages of the CR1, such as: the spouse enters the US with her greencard and is able to start working immediately, open bank accounts, travel outside the US, cost is cheaper than K1, and currently timeline is roughly the same as the K1. Perhaps K1 is a good option if you are unable to travel and marry your spouse in her country, but that is not the case for me. Are there any advantages to the K1 that I'm missing? The only one I can think of is simply the reduced risk in the event she absolutely hates the US and decides she doesn't want to live there - then we don't need to get married at all.

 

A few specific questions:

1. For the affidavit of support, I understand I can supplement my lack of income with assets. After reading the instructions on the USCIS site, I am a little confused if I would need 3x or 5x of the difference? Is this 3x/5x rule the same for both the K1 vs CR1 (I know about the 100/125% poverty line difference). I have around 120k investments in a brokerage account and another 120k in retirement accounts. Based on this, would I have any issue if I only made 15k last year? Are stocks valued at their current price or is there some assumption of risk/depreciation?
2. If a co-sponsor is required, do they need to live in the house with me? It says I would need proof of their residency in my house, so I assume I would not be able to use my brother who has a different address? I'm confused because I've read elsewhere it could be a friend of other family member. 
3. If a co-sponsor is required, at what point in the process will I be asked for this and will it delay the timeline?
4. For proof of domicile, regardless of if I choose K1 or CR1, I would prefer to continue spending significant time in Thailand until the Visa was ready. If we got married in Thailand, I would likely continue living here full time until that point. Would this cause any issue with my proof of domicile, given I would still maintain an address in the US, have bank accounts, car insurance, storage unit, etc? Given that Thailand is so cheap for me to stay, I would prefer to remain together rather than be separated for 1.5 years waiting in the US.
5. Gf has a 7 year old son from a previous relationship (never officially married). I understand that he can come with us on either visa and it would increase the household size. If we chose for him not to come with us immediately, could he come a year of two later (due to school and other factors)? If so, which visa would we use for this and how would that process work?

[Boiler 45,585]

Have you considered Utah on line?

 

Joint sponsor needs to be a USC or LPR domiciled in the US.

 

You can probably fudge domicile, perhaps go back just before the interview with a job etc.

 

To sponsor the son is the same as the wife, file an I 130, you do not need to do both at the same time.

 

[WhiteE30 0]

How would an online marriage help me in this situation? I can marry her in Thailand. Is there some benefit?

On 4/7/2024 at 5:15 PM, Boiler said:

Have you considered Utah on line?

 

Joint sponsor needs to be a USC or LPR domiciled in the US.

 

You can probably fudge domicile, perhaps go back just before the interview with a job etc.

 

To sponsor the son is the same as the wife, file an I 130, you do not need to do both at the same time.

 

 

How would an online marriage help in my situation? Or do you just mean in the case I can't get married before I leave, it would save me a few months rather than waiting until I return to Thailand?

 

Upon further review, I guess there is a distinction between using a "household" member and a joint sponsor. A bit confusing. 

 

Reviewing domicile section again, I don't think I need to fudge anything. 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-864instr.pdf

From pg 5: "If you are living abroad temporarily" - tax records, bank account, address, etc. 

[Boiler 45,585]

I understood it to be a pain to matty in Thailand.

[Redro 4,611]

On 4/7/2024 at 5:59 AM, WhiteE30 said:

Hi all, I'm looking for a little bit of guidance on my situation. I am a US citizen with a Thai girlfriend, looking to get married and hopefully live in the US in the future. I am leaning towards the CR1 after reading here, but just want to make sure I'm not missing anything that would make the K1 more appealing. For background, I have lived in the US my entire life. I quit my job to travel extendedly in Jan 2023 and then met my gf. During this time, I have been quasi-living in Thailand on visa exemptions, but have maintained a residence at my parents' address. My income is currently under the poverty line since I have been mostly unemployed during this time, earning only around 1k monthly via investments. Prior to this, I was earning over 100K annually. My plan was to try to get married here before I need to leave on April 30th, then apply for the CR1 from the US, then return to Thailand in a few months while waiting for the application.

 

I understand the advantages of the CR1, such as: the spouse enters the US with her greencard and is able to start working immediately, open bank accounts, travel outside the US, cost is cheaper than K1, and currently timeline is roughly the same as the K1. Perhaps K1 is a good option if you are unable to travel and marry your spouse in her country, but that is not the case for me. Are there any advantages to the K1 that I'm missing? The only one I can think of is simply the reduced risk in the event she absolutely hates the US and decides she doesn't want to live there - then we don't need to get married at all.

 

A few specific questions:

1. For the affidavit of support, I understand I can supplement my lack of income with assets. After reading the instructions on the USCIS site, I am a little confused if I would need 3x or 5x of the difference? Is this 3x/5x rule the same for both the K1 vs CR1 (I know about the 100/125% poverty line difference). I have around 120k investments in a brokerage account and another 120k in retirement accounts. Based on this, would I have any issue if I only made 15k last year? Are stocks valued at their current price or is there some assumption of risk/depreciation?
2. If a co-sponsor is required, do they need to live in the house with me? It says I would need proof of their residency in my house, so I assume I would not be able to use my brother who has a different address? I'm confused because I've read elsewhere it could be a friend of other family member. 
3. If a co-sponsor is required, at what point in the process will I be asked for this and will it delay the timeline?
4. For proof of domicile, regardless of if I choose K1 or CR1, I would prefer to continue spending significant time in Thailand until the Visa was ready. If we got married in Thailand, I would likely continue living here full time until that point. Would this cause any issue with my proof of domicile, given I would still maintain an address in the US, have bank accounts, car insurance, storage unit, etc? Given that Thailand is so cheap for me to stay, I would prefer to remain together rather than be separated for 1.5 years waiting in the US.
5. Gf has a 7 year old son from a previous relationship (never officially married). I understand that he can come with us on either visa and it would increase the household size. If we chose for him not to come with us immediately, could he come a year of two later (due to school and other factors)? If so, which visa would we use for this and how would that process work?

Simple answer:

The spouse of a USC can naturalize in 3 years so you need THREE years of savings to support them until they become a citizen.

All other family members can only naturalize after 5 years so you need FIVE years of savings to support them until they become a citizen.

So, you'll need 3X savings for you wife to be

and 5X savings for her child. 

[WhiteE30 0]

On 4/10/2024 at 6:16 AM, Redro said:

Simple answer:

The spouse of a USC can naturalize in 3 years so you need THREE years of savings to support them until they become a citizen.

All other family members can only naturalize after 5 years so you need FIVE years of savings to support them until they become a citizen.

So, you'll need 3X savings for you wife to be

and 5X savings for her child. 

 

So let's say for example that my income is 15k under the poverty line. I want to bring my spouse and her child, so the family size is 3. I'm confused how I would calculate the assets needed based on your information. How do I divide the 15k deficit between spouse and son? 

 

(15k X 3) + (15K X 5) = 45k + 75k = 120k needed in assets?

[appleblossom 2,596]

18 minutes ago, WhiteE30 said:

 

So let's say for example that my income is 15k under the poverty line. I want to bring my spouse and her child, so the family size is 3. I'm confused how I would calculate the assets needed based on your information. How do I divide the 15k deficit between spouse and son? 

 

(15k X 3) + (15K X 5) = 45k + 75k = 120k needed in assets?

You don’t split the difference, each will need their own petition and so the amount will differ. 

[WhiteE30 0]

On 4/15/2024 at 6:11 PM, appleblossom said:

You don’t split the difference, each will need their own petition and so the amount will differ. 

 

I didn't split the difference in my example. In fact I doubled it. If I'm 15k under the poverty line, I assumed I need that number times the 3/5 multiplier, then doubled it for mom AND child. 

 

Reviving this thread as I am still unclear. Can someone provide me a clear explanation of how much I would need in assets, given the scenario above?

[appleblossom 2,596]

4 hours ago, WhiteE30 said:

 

I didn't split the difference in my example. In fact I doubled it. If I'm 15k under the poverty line, I assumed I need that number times the 3/5 multiplier, then doubled it for mom AND child. 

My point is you don’t split, multiply or do anything to the number as each person has a different application and a different amount required. 
 

So for your gf it would be $97,125 and if it’s 5 times for her son it would be $161,875 if my maths is correct. That’s pure assets as you say above you’ve earned $12k in the last year but also that’s from investments so depends on what those investments are as to whether they can be counted or not. 
 

Remember that for assets to count they must be able to be liquidated within a year - is that the case with your retirement account?