SAWASDEE 3 (2009 Thai thread restarted)

[AaronLV 12]

VISA APPROVED!!!

She is going back to BKK on the 19th to pick up the passports..........FINALLY!!

Congrats!

[birch- phuk_beer 0]

VISA APPROVED!!!

She is going back to BKK on the 19th to pick up the passports..........FINALLY!!

Congrats!

Thanks

Not sure why so many days out. Kinda makes me nervous......

[AaronLV 12]

VISA APPROVED!!!

She is going back to BKK on the 19th to pick up the passports..........FINALLY!!

Congrats!

Thanks

Not sure why so many days out. Kinda makes me nervous......

Don't worry about the days. They probably only give them out on certain days and that is the day where they can have it ready. We went back in on Monday and then got the Visa on Thursday, so that was 3 days.

[scandal 951]

Congrats Birchbeer. Glad it all worked out in the end

[Thai family 0]

VISA APPROVED!!!

She is going back to BKK on the 19th to pick up the passports..........FINALLY!!

Congratulations! Now you can stop holding your breath. What an ordeal.

I haven't checked here for a while. My DIL will be applying for her AOS soon. We all went to Newport, RI for Naval OCS graduation and his commissioning last week. They were so, so happy to be reunited and on their way to Florida to live together as a normal married couple, well, as normal as the Navy will allow She endeared herself to so many while staying with us that she was given a couple of showers to help furnish their new home. Sunday they sent me a photo of them at the Statute of Liberty. We went to Plymouth Rock and toured the Mayflower II earlier in the week, so she is getting a good taste of American heritage.

Best wishes to all on their journey!

Thai Mom

[mommymeow 0]

uscandual, here is the experience of my interview

I got to the US embassy at 6.30am and the lady in front of the embassy asked me to come back at 7.15 since my appointment letter was still stating of an interview on May 4 because the embassy changed the date to be on May 12 and they needed to check with the people inside first. I got in at 7.30 and submitted all my documents at the Window 5. They called my name at 9.50 am.

Here are the questions that the interviewer asked me.

1. Who is in the US?

2. I assumed that you got the K-1 before in year 2005 then what happened?

3. When did you come back to Thailand?

4. Was your husband come back with you at the time?

5. When did he go back to the US after living in the Thailand?

6. Where is he now and what does he do?

7. When was your child birthday?

Then he said, it looked like there is no problem for this case so your visa is approved, please come back and pick it up on May 14. He gave me the small paper and the lady gave me back all the documents.

Birch-Beer, congrats on the visa approval.

I just picked up my visa today and will be flying to the US on May 18.

[Noi3125 1]

I have been away from this thread for a while and am so excited to see all the progress while I was away. Congratulations to K. Mommy, where are you headed in the US? And congrats to Birch Beer, glad that the letter finally met thier approval. I can't believe others of you still don't have your interview that's crazy. What on earth is happening there?

We flew out the night of the 30th of April. Arrived in SFO on the 1st of May. The POE was painless except being passed back and forth. We had entered the right hand side for visitors. I didn't realize on the far left there was a single line for new immigrants. So eventually we got taken there, and were the last people in the immigration hall and then were passed officer to officer because there were some newbies who didn't know what they were doing. Eventually we got to someone who did know, he was super nice asked if needed to change our address or if the green card could be sent to our app address. And then he said welcome to the U.S. Our bags were waiting by the time we got out there and we left. We haven't recieved the GC or SS cards yet but it is still early.

We spent our first couple weeks with my family in Northern California my husband got to enjoy a bit of the coast and loved seeing the redwoods. Then we flew out to Chicago yesterday and are here for a couple days before heading to Michigan next week.

I hope that people soon get thier interviews and that other's POE experiences are as easy as ours.

About flights Air China had one way tickets from BKK to SFO for 450 Mon - Thurs. I had checked at the end of April for many dates throughout May and that seemed to be the price so that might be an option for people... (oh it was available through u.s. websites not through the air china website) and then get a connection from SFO.

Take care,

Noi

[scandal 951]

uscandual, here is the experience of my interview

I got to the US embassy at 6.30am and the lady in front of the embassy asked me to come back at 7.15 since my appointment letter was still stating of an interview on May 4 because the embassy changed the date to be on May 12 and they needed to check with the people inside first. I got in at 7.30 and submitted all my documents at the Window 5. They called my name at 9.50 am.

Here are the questions that the interviewer asked me.

1. Who is in the US?

2. I assumed that you got the K-1 before in year 2005 then what happened?

3. When did you come back to Thailand?

4. Was your husband come back with you at the time?

5. When did he go back to the US after living in the Thailand?

6. Where is he now and what does he do?

7. When was your child birthday?

Then he said, it looked like there is no problem for this case so your visa is approved, please come back and pick it up on May 14. He gave me the small paper and the lady gave me back all the documents.

Birch-Beer, congrats on the visa approval.

I just picked up my visa today and will be flying to the US on May 18.

Wow! That's great. You must be so excited to be flying in just a few days. Good luck with everything at the POE and your transition to living in America

Thanks also for posting your interview summary. That's really helpful for those of us coming next in line. May I suggest that you also add it to your timeline? If you click on your Timeline, you'll see a link to add the Review of the embassy interview.

Once again, congrats!

[scandal 951]

I have been away from this thread for a while and am so excited to see all the progress while I was away. Congratulations to K. Mommy, where are you headed in the US? And congrats to Birch Beer, glad that the letter finally met thier approval. I can't believe others of you still don't have your interview that's crazy. What on earth is happening there?

We flew out the night of the 30th of April. Arrived in SFO on the 1st of May. The POE was painless except being passed back and forth. We had entered the right hand side for visitors. I didn't realize on the far left there was a single line for new immigrants. So eventually we got taken there, and were the last people in the immigration hall and then were passed officer to officer because there were some newbies who didn't know what they were doing. Eventually we got to someone who did know, he was super nice asked if needed to change our address or if the green card could be sent to our app address. And then he said welcome to the U.S. Our bags were waiting by the time we got out there and we left. We haven't recieved the GC or SS cards yet but it is still early.

We spent our first couple weeks with my family in Northern California my husband got to enjoy a bit of the coast and loved seeing the redwoods. Then we flew out to Chicago yesterday and are here for a couple days before heading to Michigan next week.

I hope that people soon get thier interviews and that other's POE experiences are as easy as ours.

About flights Air China had one way tickets from BKK to SFO for 450 Mon - Thurs. I had checked at the end of April for many dates throughout May and that seemed to be the price so that might be an option for people... (oh it was available through u.s. websites not through the air china website) and then get a connection from SFO.

Take care,

Noi

Hi Noi,

Glad everything has gone so well. Did you have any visa issues traveling via China? I remember some concerns about that. But if it's just as easy to connect via China as via other gateways, we'll definitely consider it.

We are still waiting to get our interview scheduled. It's literally unbelievable. We've now been in a holding pattern just to get an interview DATE (not the actual interview mind you, just the DATE!) for 36 days. They are no longer even responding to our emails. The last two emails Thanti sent to the embassy have been ignored. I'm planning to write the next email to them, probably tonight. Perhaps as the USC I'll carry a little more weight, but I'm doubtful. The word on usvisa4thai.com is that lots of people are still stuck in the same situation.

We are unable to make any plans at all like this. Thanti can't effectively plan when to give notice at work. We can't make travel arrangements. I am planning to take a week off in July to visit my kids in Brazil, and it's looking increasingly likely that Thanti won't be able to travel till late June, or July, or ..... and of course we don't want her to arrive at the time I will be in Brazil. We literally are just in limbo. It's frustrating and maddening.

Anyway, glad to hear that you guys are here in Chicago for a few days. As you know, I'm here.... if you want to get together for dinner or something, please PM me.

[ThaitoUSA 15]

We're in the same boat. Packet 3 was received just under 30 days ago and no word. We have not tried emailing, as I figured we'd get the same response if any. We have a tentative wedding date set for July 26th, which I had thought would be plenty of time, but am getting more concerned about it as each week passes. I keep checking the embassy's website daily looking for that updated interview schedule. As an optimist and a believer in karma, I trust that no matter what works out, it shall be for the best; although it may not be what I want or expect, it is in the highest good nonetheless. This affords a higher degree of equanimity in facing the vicissitudes of life.

[scandal 951]

We're in the same boat. Packet 3 was received just under 30 days ago and no word. We have not tried emailing, as I figured we'd get the same response if any. We have a tentative wedding date set for July 26th, which I had thought would be plenty of time, but am getting more concerned about it as each week passes. I keep checking the embassy's website daily looking for that updated interview schedule. As an optimist and a believer in karma, I trust that no matter what works out, it shall be for the best; although it may not be what I want or expect, it is in the highest good nonetheless. This affords a higher degree of equanimity in facing the vicissitudes of life.

I hear you. It appears that for the past month we've both been vainly refreshing the embassy webpage daily hoping for something new, and seeing only the same Apr 10 date.

[Danno2 0]

What have people done regarding shipping of clothes and personal articles from Thailand? On my Korean Air flights I see people with huge taped boxes but not sure what the cost is and wonder how to factor the ROI on her leaving clothes and personal items there vs. buying everything new.

Thought, Ideas, Plans???

[AaronLV 12]

What have people done regarding shipping of clothes and personal articles from Thailand? On my Korean Air flights I see people with huge taped boxes but not sure what the cost is and wonder how to factor the ROI on her leaving clothes and personal items there vs. buying everything new.

Thought, Ideas, Plans???

I found a place at MBK that sold very cheap large duffle bags (with wheels) for 600 baht. Filled up 4 of those to 25Kg each and we put them on the plane. I also got an extra 23Kg bag for being a Gold Card member on Eva Air. I checked into shipping and it was very expensive. The extra baggage, and over weight limit on the flight would have been cheaper to do then shipping. One thing you do have to think of is if there is a connecting flight to a domestic carrier, the weight limit and charges are different then the international. We landed in LA and then I rented a car and drove to Vegas because we had the large bags. It was much much cheaper.

I did have the advantage of flying back with her, so we got an extra 3 bags, that she would not have gotten going by herself.

[scandal 951]

What have people done regarding shipping of clothes and personal articles from Thailand? On my Korean Air flights I see people with huge taped boxes but not sure what the cost is and wonder how to factor the ROI on her leaving clothes and personal items there vs. buying everything new.

Thought, Ideas, Plans???

Thanti went to the post office to inquire about shipping rates to send packages by surface. She's planning to ship some packages to the states by post.The delivery time can take many weeks, even a few months, but if you're not in a hurry to get the goods you could consider mailing things. I don't remember the rates but perhaps Thanti could tell us what she learned at the post office...... she's working really long shifts again so not sure how often she's reading this thread.

[AaronLV 12]

Thanti went to the post office to inquire about shipping rates to send packages by surface. She's planning to ship some packages to the states by post.The delivery time can take many weeks, even a few months, but if you're not in a hurry to get the goods you could consider mailing things. I don't remember the rates but perhaps Thanti could tell us what she learned at the post office...... she's working really long shifts again so not sure how often she's reading this thread.

I had checked into the option of shipping via the post office. I did some research and had found a bunch of stuff never gets to where it is going. It wasn't much cheaper then DHL/UPS either. Of course DHL/UPS were quite expensive for 20Kg boxes, I want to say 5500 baht.