ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
ThailandTravel with Newborn
My wife and I are planning to travel back to Thailand in Nov. to see her parents and show them their new granddaughter. Has anyone traveled with an infant and what are the challenges? Right now we are looking to hold her in our laps for the flight, but its a long flight but it will save a $1000.00.
griz30MaleThailand2011-10-11 11:10:00
Asia: East and PacificOne Way Plane Ticket
So...its ok to buy a one way ticket for my fiancee? I wasn't sure if customs required a round trip or it didn't matter????
griz30MaleThailand2008-04-21 20:05:00
Asia: East and PacificBiggest adjustment for Thais coming to U.S.
Where are you living in Maryland?? My wife has been here about 4 months and its starting to get cold...I found a few websites for free thai tv, but she really doesn't want to watch too much Thai Tv, she rather watch TV here to help her learn english....I did find some free classes that the colleges are offering and she is doing well....The hardest thing for her has been the food...but there are few asian stores that she is happy with, and your right the temple thing is not a big deal for her. She calls her family once a wek and costs about about $2.00 on Pennytalk...pretty cheap..she talks for about an hour...biggest thing is once she is there you have too keep her busy..my wife is so happy to be working...make sure you get that EAD...NY POE was perfect..
griz30MaleThailand2008-10-02 12:35:00
Asia: East and PacificFlying From US to Thailand, what last name do you use?
QUOTE (anya-D @ Jun 3 2009, 02:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Us the name that match her passport.

To be sure, carry marriage cert. with you. But I've never have to use it.

Have fun in Thailand!!!!! it's fruits season.. i'm jealous!



Thanks, I assume we should change her passport when we get there? We haven't married Thai yet so we should do that first...
griz30MaleThailand2009-06-03 13:20:00
Asia: East and PacificFlying From US to Thailand, what last name do you use?
I am getting ready to book a ticket for my wife and I to go to Thailand, Do I book with her new married name? or the name that is on her passport? We are using an AP to travel. She has a drivers License with my last name, but her passport is still Thai with her Thai name...
griz30MaleThailand2009-06-03 13:05:00
Removing Conditions on Residency General DiscussionNo Green Card After Approval Letter
Its not 45 days yet..so I would wait...
griz30MaleThailand2009-08-20 13:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresOne Way Ticket Problem???? Help!
I am ok there...she printed out the itineray (spell) so she has all the info with the confirm numbers..
griz30MaleThailand2008-06-06 09:01:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresOne Way Ticket Problem???? Help!
No...its the same airline..thats whats confusing me. Right, if she was changing airlines then I could understand why just one ticket. I did buy the ticket all the way through and yeah..i'm thinking the same thing about their knowledge of the visa process...but all the same it is worrying her to death.....I wish I had the time to go with her..
griz30MaleThailand2008-06-06 08:53:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresOne Way Ticket Problem???? Help!
I bought the ticket on the Internet a few a weeks ago, she is at the airport now...it was the quickest and cheapest flight I could find plus it only had one stop in it. They did give her the ticket to dubai...so either way she can't fly back right??? I really think they want to just double check to see if she has the right paperwork and visa is valid..they did give her a note that says transfer to NY.....my poor girl...
griz30MaleThailand2008-06-06 07:53:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresOne Way Ticket Problem???? Help!
My fiancee just called me from Bangkok and they will only give her a ticket to dubai and not the connection ticket to NY....They asked her if she had $2000 on her so in case she needed to buy a return ticket back from NY to Bangkok. Will they give her the connection ticket once they see her passport again with the visa in it at the dubai airport?? I didn't think there would be any issues with a K1 visa and a one way ticket.......... Help
griz30MaleThailand2008-06-06 07:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresHelp with best way to bring filipina to the usa
There are a few unanswered questions...did she overstay her visa the first time? How did her father come to the states? The only problem with her coming over on a visa and getting married is she can't go back for about 1 year with all the paperwork, the K-1 visa is the right way to do it, but it will cost you a about $2000.00 with the medicals and forms. As for working as a nurse here in the states, make sure they will accept any type of certification taken in the Phills. As for the income its taken from your adjusted gross income....if you have another family memner they can be a co-sponsor...and showing support takes more than you paying for her test...
griz30MaleThailand2009-04-13 11:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresChange of address
Just go to the USCIS website and go into immigration, check status online and you will see a link to change address and just follow the instructions from there. (Takes 10 mins)
griz30MaleThailand2009-06-19 12:45:00
Asia: East and PacificIndonesian Fiance only has one name, how to fill out forms?
My wife is also Malaysian Malay, but we're using her name as Zainah binti Hashim (Zainah daughter of Hashim), because that is what is on her Malaysian Passport/IC/DL and such. Thus everyone here is treating the Binti as a middle name, which it is not. But in Indonesia (her family is originally from Sumatra) they only use the first name. You have to use what is on the Passport/BD, thus I would consider putting NONE down for the last name. I am sure this issue has come up before.

Of course knowing Islamic naming traditions this drives me nuts when people refer to Osama bin Laden as 'bin Laden', his name is OSAMA. The same is when people refer to my wife as Mrs. Hack is culturally incorrect as well. If you to call her Mrs Anything it's Mrs. Iskandar (Mrs. Hack under Islamic naming tradition would be my Mother (my father's wife)).

Another interesting thing is that in most Islamic cultures the wife does NOT take the husband's last name. That would not make any sense, because the husband's last name it his father's FIRST name. There is no family name as such since your father's last name is typically your grandfather's last name.

Just a little background on naming traditions in Islamic cultures.

Iskandar
ishack1956MaleMalaysia2009-03-24 14:03:00
Asia: East and PacificShipping Personal Effects to Thailand from U.S.
I can't recommend a company for Thailand. But I've used North American Van Lines several times to and from Malaysia. They have a local company they contract with in Kuala Lumpur and I know they also work with companies in Thailand as well. But I would shop around. Basically I selected a wooden crate of certain size, which the brought to my house. I filled the crate myself and filled out the customs papers and sealed the crate. In every case the same crate was delivered to my home unopened from what I can tell. If it was opened at customs I couldn't tell. But you have to be careful in packing, they ship them by ship and the crate is handled by forklifts, cranes, ... and not to carefully from what I can tell. In most cases there wasn't a problem, but one time a forklift poked a hole in the crate and some minor damage (expected it to be much worse) to one piece of furniture.

Some Malaysian students that used to rent a house from me actually shipped an entire container. I was only about half full, but it was cheaper for them to ship the entire container as a group instead of doing individual shipment. It was even large enough that almost 3 entire homes of furniture along with a motorcycle fit into it. Actually they could fit a small car in it as well if they wanted to. But they paid a flat rate for the container, and weight wasn't considered. I don't remember what they paid exactly, but somewhere around $2500 total. But they had to go to the Port to pick up their stuff. The price didn't include any delivery on that end. But the shipping company brought the container to one of their houses (actually my house where one of the students rented it) left it for 8 hours while they loaded it up. The other two families brought everything there to load the container. The process then was about the same, once they loaded the container it was sealed until they opened at the port.

This type of shipping appears to be the cheapest by far. That is you do all the packing yourself, and by ship. Anything of any size using air is very expensive. One other person said something about 1-3K for only 75 Kg. That much case could ship 3 complete household by ship.

ishack1956MaleMalaysia2009-03-25 12:28:00
Asia: East and PacificAsia travelers - I need your opinion!
You've received lots of good comments. Singapore, Hong Kong, Tapai and Kuala Lumpur all have their share of American type resturants and such. But from my experience Singapore is probably the 'westernized' of Asian cities. So much that I tell my students that I take to Malaysia every other year of so for student exchange that going to Singapore is a waste of money if they're traveling with me for course that includes a portion for cultural exposure. When I lived in Malaysia my son (along with a large number of expats living in Malaysia) would make frequent to trips to Singapore. I was living only about 2 hours from Singapore by car, train or bus, thus it was easy to go there almost weekly. There are a number of really good western style restaurants including a Denny's, Outback, TGIF, and such. My last couple of visits last year I couldn't find any really good Mexican food, but there is a Taco Bell.

I could say the same about Kuala Lumpur, but it's not near as westernized. It has all the major American places such as Outback, TGIF's, Chili's and such. And they do have some Mexican places, actually more than Singapore for some reason. But in general I've found that Asians aren't big fans of Mexican food. My wife complains that their is too much cheese, and since about 80-90% of Asians are lactose intolerant that does make some sense. I would say about the same about Tapai and Hong Kong. At one time there was a hugh British influence in HK, but that seems to disappearing and some of the western feel is disappearing.

But have you considered Australia? When I was living in Asia I took on trip to Australia and that completely cured my need for western culture for another year. I went to Perth on the west coast, much closer than Melborne or Syndney. The only problem I had there was that is so much like the US (actually more like Canada) that one of my friends kept wanting to drive on the wrong side of the road.
ishack1956MaleMalaysia2009-03-25 12:53:00
K-3 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresTripped at the finish line
Not to discourage you, but if you can't find a way to raise your income up to 125% of the poverty level should you reconsider this process. Is there a reason you can't increase your income?
ishack1956MaleMalaysia2009-04-01 14:28:00
Middle East and North AfricaAmerican women's PR husband deported to Pakistan
Hopefully this type of behavior of the govt improves without Bush as President. Despite what anybody think about Bush, treatment of Muslims in this country has gone into the toilet by the govt. Most ppl here haven't changed too much (there are exceptions), but the govt actions in dealing with Muslims (esp Pakastain, and the ME) has really changed.

Iskandar
ishack1956MaleMalaysia2009-03-25 13:04:00
Middle East and North AfricaIsraeli fashion
Not a surprise. If it wasn't for the internet this type of information would never been known.
ishack1956MaleMalaysia2009-04-01 14:58:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresLawyers?
I've been through the process twice already (once for my ex-wife and my ex's step-son (he came two years after her so a separate case)) and am currently doing it again for my current wife. I have not hired a lawyer for any of the three. But I also processed my last divorce without an attorney as well. My experience using lawyers has been horrible from my first divorce. I had two different attorneys during that case. Both were worthless. One even asked me if I had children on our way to a custody hearing. At that point I made a decision to fire him and to avoid ever hiring an attorney again if at all possible.

I've known several people that have hired attorneys for this process, and EVERYONE had mistakes on their forms. In one case the lawyer put the WRONG ADDRESS on the form to mail their childrens GC's and they were lost in the mail. That delayed their whole process by at least six months, and added about $500 to the total cost.

Thus my opinion is very simple I would not hire an attorney unless I felt uncomfortable doing the paperwork or the case was complex. You'll find that you'll save a LOT of money, have control of getting the paperwork done RIGHT the first time (remember any mistake will generate a RFE - which puts your paperwork back on the pile not to be looked at for 60-90 days), and nobody will know your case better than YOU.

If you have questions and want an attorney's advice you can always consult one with a list of specific questions for advice without hiring them to do your case. In that case you can hire one on an hourly basis just for consulting purposes.

Just my opinion.

Iskandar
ishack1956MaleMalaysia2009-03-25 16:58:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNOA 2 Approved from VSC
Ohh good for you Posted Image and hope to see more posts like this.. Can't wait to add my post but hey still have couple of months of waiting Posted Image
BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-02-02 20:01:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNOA2!!!!! Today!!!
Congratulation, great news for all of as at least we know they are doing something Posted Image
BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-02-02 20:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsThey are back in the game
1 More thing,, is there anything else that I have to do from here I do know that they will send the package to the Embassy.
Ohh and yes i do have all the other paper work and my entire folder (copy of it ;) ) that I will be taking with me for my trip back..
BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-02-14 23:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsThey are back in the game

Congrats BayChaser! :thumbs:

(don't forget to update your timeline)


hehe I sure wont doing that right now Posted Image Posted Image
BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-02-14 22:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsThey are back in the game

I'd say that's good! You were approved !! Congratulations!!! :lol:




Ohh so thats what it means Wooooooooooooooooo hahaha what a relief OMG and thats wasnt a long wait to Posted Image
Best part is no nasty RFE Posted Image
BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-02-14 22:43:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsThey are back in the game
This is what I got in the mail.. so is this good Posted Image



Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity


On February 14, 2011, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.




For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State. For denied applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include the processing of an appeal and/or motions to reopen or reconsider and revocations.

Edited by BayChaser, 14 February 2011 - 10:23 PM.

BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-02-14 22:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsThey are back in the game
Well just to let you all know I just got a message today saying that my case is been updated so I went to check it out and yep,,, it sure has been I guess that tells as that they are doing something.. Posted Image

Ohh and to add this,, my status has been changed to Post Decision Activity.... I think thats good right Posted Image
Last Updated

02/14/2011

Edited by BayChaser, 14 February 2011 - 10:18 PM.

BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-02-14 22:14:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsOne Minute for Us, Please


Just Hangin there and Believe in the WORKS of Miracles. GOD is keep on eying on us...
Patience is a virtue.... It will come Dear... were on the same pattern.


I could not have said it better...
Also I do hope and pray that you will be posting back in this forum with a good news in couple of days Posted Image
Just hang in there and I did see your time line and got to say that is been long wait. Posted Image

Good luck to you Posted Image
BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-02-14 23:21:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsBEST VALENTINES EVER!!!
Yep got my Valentines gift 2 hehe ,, I was at work when my message got through but i wasn't sure what it was until i read my mail and posted here Posted Image
BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-02-14 23:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresHey all I am back from my trip and with good news
Well it was a 4 great months spent in Europe with my baby I was with her all the time helping her get ready for the final interview.
It was short and awesome lots of good experience with Sarajevo Consulate.

Interview lasted total 0f 10 minutes and they told us that we can pick up the visa next day Wohooo.. So much happiness :)

So it was great to travel Europe with visa in hand just taking the time and enjoying every minute of it.

Now we are back in States time of Entry was 08-04-2011 and we are getting ready to send the papers for Adjustment of status.

I hope you all the best of luck and thank you for the answers and help when I needed them the most.

Bless you all..

Bay Chaser Posted Image
BayChaserMaleBosnia-Herzegovina2011-08-23 00:24:00
USCIS Service CentersCSC slow down and VSC speed up w K-1 apps...

It's very disappointing as I received my NOA1 towards the font end of May and seeing all these June and July approvals.. I mean I am glad that it is picking up again, I just wish in a more appropriate order of processing.


Jack&LenMalePhilippines2013-08-27 18:09:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress ReportsNOA2 08/19/13 CSC, still no case number. Is my case lost? Pls help

For some reason it is CSC that is the worst, I do not know why it is taking so long to send the application to the NVC. A friend of mine got his NOA2 on September 22th. He called yesterday and got his MCN from the NVC. His application was at VSC, this isn't the first case of this happening either I have seen this kind of thing posted on on many other forums I frequent about the lag at CSC. I called last night also and asked as to why VSC is getting there apps pushed as it seems ahead of CSC. All the person on the other end could do was stammer and stutter trying to make some sort of grouping of words that made sense, which they obviously did not.

 

It is very disheartening seeing others after you getting through faster. Do not get me wrong I am happy for anyone getting there approvals, it would be nice in a much more organized manner. I know of people that are still waiting and having been for like 6-8 months with no RFE's just taking a long time getting their NOA2's and I know 1 person that it has been 57 days since his NOA2, the NVC is now having to investigate as to where his packet is. I cannot wait for this part of the process to be over.

 


Jack&LenMalePhilippines2013-10-05 15:54:00