Siam Sam

Thanks all. Looks like I jumped the gun a bit, because the green card arrived today. Yay! It took 7-1/2 weeks from her arrival in the US. They misspelled our street name in the address on the envelope though, by one letter. The card itself is all correct, but I should probably let them know anyway.

I thought she could not travel until she had it. Now she tells me she knew she could travel but did not want to take the chance. That's not an issue anymore.

I wanted to check on how long it's been taking Thais to get their green card. My wife arrived here in the US on September 29 and was told she could expect her green card in three months, so about year-end. However, I know an English lady here in Hawaii who married her American husband here a year ago, and it took her six months to get her green card.

The situations do have differences. The English lady came in on I guess a fiancee visa and was married here in Hawaii, whereas my wife and I have been married for 22 years. My wife has also talked to other Thais who did get their green cards in about three months. The only reason I'm concerned is she's due back in Thailand for two months next year, in March and April, to collect data for a project she's on. But she can't leave the US until she gets her green card, so a six-month wait would delay her plans.

Anyone here get their green card in three months or so? Do different visas make a difference?

Thanks in advance.

It's Thailand where she files, as she's Thai and from Bangkok. We always file our Thai taxes separately these days, because now we have to. Thailand ended joint filing a few years ago. Filing my US taxes, it just seemed simpler for me to file one return for myself since I was subject to US reporting laws and she wasn't.

But thanks for the info that now she's a Permanent Resident in the US, her Thai income, paltry though it may be, needs to be reported to the IRS even if it's not enough to be taxed. I don't think we'll have to pay much in taxes at all this year, if any. She'll have the $6000 pension for the year. (And it'll amount to less than that if the baht keeps crashing.) My Thai income ended in early March, while my full-time US job did not start until the middle of last month. Between those two times, we lived on savings. But I want to be sure we file correctly.

I have an accountant in Thailand who is an American. But he never wants to give advice, just do as I instruct. I can tell him to file for us jointly now, and he'll know what to do regarding tax credits and such.

Thanks again.

I hope this is the correct forum. Please move it if it's not.

My Thai wife and I went through the process in Bangkok, she was granted her Immigrant Visa, and we now live in Hawaii. I arrived here on August 1 and my wife on September 29 after I found a home. We are settled in and awaiting her green card, which we were told would arrive about year-end.

My question is taxes. Our marriage has been recognized by the US government for decades while we were living in Bangkok. I always filed my US taxes separately but in listing myself as Married, I ticked the box that said my wife would be filing separately. She has a US Social Security number, so I included that on the tax forms. But since she never had any income taxable in the US and was not a citizen, she was never required to file, so I showed only my income. All right and proper.

Now however, my wife is living in the US as a Permanent Resident. As a retired civil servant, she has a small pension equal to about $500 a month, deposited automatically into her bank account in Thailand. She can pull the money out here using her ATM card. Since she is now living in the US and pulling out money and using it in the US, should she be reporting this on a US tax form? And should we now be filing jointly rather than separately, and if so, should this income be included?

I have a job here in Honolulu now but will also have to list my Thai income through March. That and my wife's pension are the only income we have.

Thank you in advance for any advice. We want to do the right thing but are worried about doing the incorrect thing and screwing up her visa.

A final update. My wife arrived eight days ago on Thursday the 29th. She took the flight for the 27th, but on that same day a typhoon hit Taiwan, where she was supposed to change plans, and her flight was canceled. Then she flew out on the 28th, but that flight was late, causing her to miss her connection in Taipei, in turn making her have to stay overnight in Taipei. Then she finally arrived on the 29th with less than 48 hours to go before her physical-exam results expired.

So we're all set now here in Waikiki.

I am shocked. I really did expect to read good news when I saw you had posted. But like they say disappointment is only equal to expectation. I am really sorry. I do wonder why they didn't inform you earlier that you had to do another I-864.

Well, I have good news now. My wife just called me with the news that her visa has been approved. She'll be here on the 27th ... or by the 27th, as she's also on standby for the weekend before.

We went in April, when anti-corruption signs were all over the walls and no one offered a special service. Typical Thailand. Problem returns after a certain interval.

You were certainly correct in advising me not to worry. Immigration just called her and said she had been approved. Yay!

The reason they called was because her medical exam expires at the end of this month, and they wanted to know if she could travel this month. Otherwise, she'd have to take the physical again, which would delay issuance by maybe a couple of weeks into October. She said she could travel. She'd already reserved a seat on flights for September 27 and October 9 in anticipation. The October 9 flight is now out, so it will be September 27, but she's also on standby for the 24th and 25th.

After my wife's first interview in April, we were given a list of items we were lacking. The main thing was my lack of a US domicile, which I've since remedied, but there were some other things too. On Monday of last week, August 29, we submitted the last of the required documents, and looking on the tracking website, it said my wife's case on that day was updated to "Administrative Processing." Nine days later, on Wednesday of this week, it was updated again to "Ready." It said to await further instructions if we had not yet been notified.

But here's an odd thing. My wife follows a Thai website for visa appliers, and one lady whose case is somewhat similar to ours in that she was lacking documents at her interview, on the website said she had submitted the rest of her stuff on August 24 and was immediately updated to "Ready." After two weeks, it changed to "Administrative Processing" and then a day later to "Issued." So while she went from "Ready" to "Administrative Processing," we have gone from "Administrative Processing" to "Ready." We don't know what to make of this.

We're a little apprehensive in that judging from that website, visas are being issued without a second interview. If a second interview does get scheduled, it looks like it's to tell the applicant what is further lacking. We don't know if our status updates being the opposite of that one lady's is a good or bad sign or even if it does not mean anything at all. Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

So we went in person yesterday for the Police Certificate.

They offered an "express service" for us to Pickup the certificate on Sept 9th rather than them mail it on Sept 21st.

The extra cost was 1,500 baht.

As this will save us an extra round trip flight from Hat Yai I agreed to pay the extra.

It seems as though it depends on who you see when you arrive if any extras are offered.....

Uh-huh. So things have gone back to normal. The government earlier abolished the bribe -- and that's all it is, a bribe -- but I guess they've moved on to other things, and it's back to normal now at the police. Did they also take down all those signs about not paying bribes that were all over the walls when we went in earlier this year?

The main thing lacking at my wife's interview in April was the absence of a US domicile. There were a few other minor things, but that was the biggee. So here I am now in Honolulu, arrived a few weeks ago, signed a lease on an apartment, sent a copy of the lease to my wife, and she sent it and the other documents lacking to the embassy. So should be okay now, right?

Well, not quite. We heard from the embassy that now they want a new I-864 from me. And I understand that I am also required to submit an I-865, Change of Address. However, the instructions for the I-864 say not to fill it and the I-865 ouut at the same time. ???

So am I supposed to submit the Change of Address first? To whom, still the Bangkok office? Then how long to wait before submitting the new I-864?

My wife had her interview in English, but she's fluent. My understanding is it will be conducted in Thai if necessary.

The "extra fee" is no longer an option. The government has cracked down on that. There are even signs up around the police station admonishing people not to give in to corruption.

The "express service" they're offering now I think may have to do with postal special delivery as opposed to regular mail. Unless it's changed drastically in the past five months, bribes are no longer accepted.

Takes five or six weeks. My wife did not have hers at the interview. They said she could submit it later.

Good Luck

I am sure the interview will go well as it seemed you had everything covered. She might not even need another interview. We lived out near Phimai and my wife got her PP back in about 5 days.

Thanks. Hope everything is going smoothly with you.

Unfortunately, we've got some new problems cropping up. I've reestablished my residency, am in Honolulu right now, but now Immigration wants me to fill out a new I-864. And I guess I'll need to submit a Change of Address form too. Just keeps on keepin' on.

The new passport will have a different number, won't it? I'm sure this won't be a problem since people renew their passports all the time, but is there a form to fill out stating the old and new passport numbers?

EDIT: Never mind. I see now that this is addressed in post #2.

Update: I have been back in Hawaii for 2-1/1 weeks now and signed a lease on an apartment in Waikiki. So I have reestablished my domicile. Plus I have opened a local bank account and transferred money to here. My wife will today submit this information and other documents to schedule a second interview. Here's hoping the second time's the charm. (Knock on Formica.)

It would be good if she could arrive by the end of next month, because that's when her physical-exam results expire. Anytime later and she'll have to retake the exam.

I received an answer from the embassy regarding this. They said just to send them an e-mail, to the Bangkok IV Unit -- the usual visabkkiv@state.gov address -- telling them the new address, and they'd update it into the system themselves. So that's good to know.

Actually, my wife's sister lives just a few blocks away, and my wife will still come over here to check mail once a week or so, more often if she's expecting something, so there may not even be a need to send a corrected address. We've put the condo on the market, but the realtor is reluctant to do much until we've both moved out completely.

Not only is the option of "expedited" service no longer available, the police office has signs on all the walls admonishing people NOT to give in to corruption. I have a feeling even just asking about is would not be welcome these days.

I'm not sure you need to worry too much about the police clearance. If I recall correctly -- and I may not in this case -- I think if you explain at the interview it has not come yet, then they'll let you turn it in later. Of course, you won't be approved until after you do submit it, but you won't be rejected on the spot either. If you ask the embassy, shoot them an e-mail, they'll tell you. They've always been helpful for us.

Next Monday I will leave to reestablish my domicile in the US. My wife will stay at our present Bangkok address for another month or so and then move in with her sister until we can have her Immigrant Visa finalized. She's already been through the initial interview, we've filled out all the forms, and we've rectified all the shortcomings her interviewer listed except for US domicile.

Is there a form to alert the embassy that she has moved? And does she have to send that to them before she submits the second round of corrected paperwork (which will include my residence info in Hawaii) for her next interview, or should she submit said change-of-address form at the same time she sends all the other stuff?

If you want to you can pay 1000-2000 for 3 day to 7 day service

That option is no longer available. As gradtaai mentioned earlier above, the new government has cracked down on that. Now it takes about five weeks or so for everyone.

My wife and I legally registered our marriage in Bangkok in the month of April one year, but her family didn't recognize that, so we had the religious ceremony a couple of months later in June. The April date is the one we've always used for her Tourist and Immigration visa applications, and it's the date recognized by Thai Immigration too. I'm not sure if any government recognizes only a religious ceremony. It's got to be filed on record somewhere.

Huh. Today, I received another tax transcript from the IRS. It came with a letter saying it's the one I requested on May 9. That was the night I called the IRS, and that was just over four weeks ago. So I guess the one I received earlier was the one I'd requested via the IRS website in April after all. So be warned, these are taking 4-6 weeks to show up.

I believe some fees are paid at the embassy so if this is the case in your situation then I doubt they would need this confirmation page since you should receive a receipt directly from the embassy. If this is the case then they might want you to bring the receipt. This is all pure speculation.

Ours is a spouse visa, but we still had to include the GSS confirmation page despite dealing directly with the embassy here.

Good luck. I won't be flying out until August 1.

Hotcha! My tax transcript from the IRS arrived today, just nine days after calling them. Who said these were bad people? That completes everything we need ... except for a US address, which will hopefully come in August. Plus there's a good chance my wife will have to retake her physical, as those are good for only six months. She took hers at the end of March, so she must be in the US by the end of September. That will depend on how quickly I can secure an apartment once in Honolulu and then how long until her next appointment. But no big deal if she does have to take it again.

So anyone who has not gotten theirs in a couple of weeks, call them. Don't wait four weeks like I did.