ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Got our Advanced Parole documents today and at the same time notice of our interview for February 3rd. So seems things are moving along pretty fast. You would think that with all the documents we have sent in twice now that thke would not want to see them all over again, but the notice says to bring all that #######.

Any input on what to look for in the interview would be helpful. Thanks!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2011-01-06 16:27:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Teaw got her work authorization card in the mail today...nice New Year present!!! Not that she is going to work, but since it was free with all the other papers, why not? So now she has one official
government ID we can use when she flies.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-31 19:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Congrats to the newly weds!! Teaw was fine and then after awhile started feeling homesick so that may come a little later. But she does call her family and friends quite often. I found a card on ThaiTel, $25 and you can call Thailand as much as you want for 90 days after you activate the card. Teaw has been calling a lot so I expect I will get my money's worth out of it. You can buy more than one and use them as you need them. Seems like a good deal.

We have found two stores in Raleigh, NC that sell mostly Thai foods, which is good. Then we have a couple others that sell a mix of different Asian foods but one in Cary has a fresh meat/fish counter and you can buy live Tapia and they will scale it and clean it for you. So we have had fried fish a couple times already, which I love. One of my favorites when I am in Thailand. Teaw is a great cook so I have had lots of Thai food....but not too spicy. She has to tone my dish down and crank hers up! Now I was shocked to find goat ####### and beef ####### being sold in the meat section!!! That definitely won't be on my dinner menu!!

My daughter picked us up from LAX on the 19th and she was nice enough to drive us down to Thai Town in the rain so Teaw could buy a book and magazine. I never feel uneasy down there...maybe cause I grew up in So. Cal....but I couldn't believe that the books were $25 to $40 each!!! YIKES!!!! She bought one and one magazine and I told her when we go back next year to stock up on books to read!! That's a little much for a couple hundred baht book. There is a Thai bakery around the corner from the market too that has some nice stuff in there.

So life is good for us...right now we are helping my mom here in Ventura County and will fly home on the 29th. Plan to hit Disneyland on Sunday, the 26th, for the day so she can see it and have some fun. Hanging around my mom's house all day is not very exciting for her.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!! Have a good one.

Tom & Teaw
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-24 19:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Welcome and good luck. Hopefully it will continue to get processed fast.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-18 15:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Teaw had her biometrics yesterday. Turns out the USCIS office if not too far from where we live. But with the snow/sleet/freezing rain we had I left with plenty of time to spare. The roads weren't that bad so we
got there pretty quick and they took her right in and processed her. She was out in about 20 min with her paper stamped. So now we wait for the EAD, advanced parole and interviews!! And she wants to learn to drive!!!
Which is fine except she can barely drive a motorbike!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-17 08:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Thanks, John. I think they are about ready to file the AOS papers so I'll email him and make sure he does them all at the same time to avoid paying later. Even though she won't be working since she is pregnant it's nice to have the EAD and they can at least use it to get the SSI sooner.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-15 13:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Well, that sucks!! I don't get the distinction....if you are here on a K-1 and you get it right after you arrive or wait until later...what does it prove? Nothing. A person could stay here illegally and have a SSI card after the 90 days. Oh, well, I guess they shouldn't have waited so long to do it.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-15 08:11:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Kaiser, they probably sent it to Calif. so it could be worked up. The apparently do that when there are too many cases in one place. It seems to happen like that often. Then it goes back to the original office. Maybe they are so busy in BKK that they are sending some cases to CM to be processed to make sure everything is there and they need nothing additional and then they do the interview in BKK. That would make sense too. With the holidays and all, both Thai and US that they close for, that may be the reason. But hey, it's the feds so what do you expect???

On another note, a friend in Chicago took his wife to get her SSI and they would not issue it saying the I-94 was past the 90 days and they had to wait until she had a green card. I am wondering if anyone else had that happen. I would think you can get your SSI anytime as long as you show you were admitted here legally. Anyone know if that's true after the I-94 has expired? They waited to get married right before it expired.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-14 14:51:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Congrats Eric and Off. Just make sure she is very prepared for the interview. If there is anything you think you left out of the stuff you mailed in with the application, have her take it for the interview. Remember, you are not allowed to be there for the interview..you have to wait outside...so she is on her own.

Kaiser, does your fiancee live closer to Chiang Mai than BKK? Maybe that's why it was sent up there but good luck on getting a date soon.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-14 08:17:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
I can understand that but all the action with visas can't be that quiet!! We have our biometrics Thursday and then just wait for interview dates...again. That should be interesting. Look forward to your updates about your wedding, etc. We found the local Thai buddhist temple and the embassy people from Wash, DC will be there Saturday to do stuff for any Thais that need it.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-13 08:13:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Is this thread DEAD or what???? Nobody writes in here anymore?
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-12-10 19:57:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Was in Chicago for Thanksgiving week. When we returned we had a letter for Teaw's biometrics in mid December. So I assume it's just fingerprints and photos. Anything else they might do?

Around Thursday the week before we got and RFE wanting more proof of income. I guess they cannot read the K-1 income stuff and want all the same stuff all over again!! I sent income tax
transcripts with the I-485 and all that stuff. Geez, I guess it's asking too much for these people to read what they already have!!! They wanted a year of bank statememts, last year's tax
return, letter from employer with all kinds of stuff in it...although nothing has changed with our salary since we haven't gotten a raise in 3 years cause of the economy. So I have all the
stuff ready to go...except I have not heard back from the head honcho about the letter I need...arggghhhhh!!! Delays, delays. I am sure he was around all last week but he is supposed to be
in our courthouse Monday so I'll pounce on him and get his butt in gear!!!

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving!!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-11-27 10:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
The problem is bank fees for wiring money are too high. Western Union, which I have used a few times in the past, lowers the exchange rate but it's usually cheaper to send money unless you are sending thousands at once.
Sure, an ATM card with a bank that does not charge the fees or reimburses them is great but not easy to find and then you have to have an acct. with that bank.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-11-16 19:21:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Thai Town is not what you think it is. You think of it as an area that looks like Thailand or is full of Thai stores and buildings in one area. While there are many Thai stores and restaurants, if you didn't know it
I imagine you could drive right by it. But there is at least one great book store that I know of where you can get Thai books, CDs, movies and magazines. And there is a great Thai bakery that has tons of great Thai
desserts and stuff too. I plan on taking Teaw there when we head back out to So. Cal. in December so she can get some reading material to keep her happy reading Thai stuff.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-11-15 20:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Well, since the Thai thread had dropped off into obscurity I figured it was time to at least move us up to the front of the line for a short time. Everyone has been so quiet lately.
We are heading out to So. Cal in December to help my mom clean up more of my dad's stuff...mostly the garage...and Teaw mentioned she would like to go to Disneyland!!! So, weather
permitting....and knowing that it can be 80 degrees in Dec if the Santa Ana winds decide to blow in, I figure we ought to be able to make it for one day. I haven't been there for
well over 10 years so it might be fun.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-11-08 08:19:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
The check cleared the bank yesterday. Groovy!!! Now waiting for the notice in the mail.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-29 19:56:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Well, Teaw got like 6 text messages yesterday from USCIS telling her they received her AOS papers and she would be getting the formal notice in the mail soon. The texts were all exactly the same.
But it's been almost two weeks since being mailed and the check has not been cashed yet.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-28 07:13:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Anyone know who any of the Ops are for this site? They need to add Durham, NC to the USCIS offices in the timeline section. It's only been her for years now!!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-23 21:59:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Wait. Rangers and Yankees are not HOCKEY teams!!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-23 21:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Thankfully, Teaw said not to spend the money for Thai TV. She just watches US TV or Thai movies on U Tube!! What a good woman!!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-22 21:56:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Did everything with the packet that I sent in today. Yep, thought of it all!! And of course, I like to take advantage of anything that I can do for free!!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-15 18:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Toma, how long are you going to be there? We will be driving over to Vegas from LAX Saturday afternoon. Meeting up with Aaron and his wife. Maybe we can all get together if you are still there.

Teaw got her SSI card in the mail TODAY...two days after we applied for it. No stamps or indications of limitations on working stamped on the card!! But she isn't going to work anyway so I am
not worried about it. Sending in the work authorization with the AOS just in case she gets bored before her GC gets here.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-15 15:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Went by the SSI office today. Waited about 30 min. and got a paper that shows her SSI number. They stamped the paper saying that the printout does not establish your right to work in the US!!
She isn't going to work now anyway so it doesn't matter but I thought it was interesting that they stamped it with that.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-14 12:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Ya, I know, but since I can get it tomorrow, I might as well. We'll be in Vegas Sat night!!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-13 22:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
She has been here a month yesterday so she was in the system for the guy to find easily. So I am glad we waited a little longer. We will go by tomorrow and see if we can get her number
so I can use it on the AOS docs.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-13 17:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Got up early, got to the SSI office right about 8am. They opened the doors around 8:20 and let people in. A few minutes later you used a touch screen computer to get a number for the service you wanted.
We were the third to get an SSI card. Waited about 15 min for the people to start working and then got called to a window. Gave the guy her passport, application, certified marriage cert and just sat there
while he looked her up on the computer, entered a bunch of info. Then gave us a sheet he printed to make sure the info was good, another receipt showing that we had been there and applied stating we would
get the card within two weeks. I then asked him if we could get the number earlier. He stated that if we came back tomorrow with the paper and her passport they would tell us what the number was. Since she
is changing her last name on the SSI card to her married name he said to be sure to bring the passport so they can identify her. Went pretty fast, he asked no questions and we were outta there!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-13 10:41:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Don't have to work Wednesday so we are going to head down to the SSI office early to get her SSI number. I'll let you all know how it went and how long it took. I am hoping being there
when they open will get us out much quicker.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-12 17:34:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
I can understand that for sure. Sometimes they can be real buttheads but hopefully all will be fine and you won't need to butt heads with them. If they told her to come get the visa I am sure she will have it when
she gets there. But they are just being super sure like they were with us.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-09 22:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)

will be heading to Thailand on October 16th through SFO i am hopeful i will come back with Gif.Gif was told by the embassy to pick up her passport with visa on October 14th.Just hoping they keep their word as they had to keep her passport an additional week while they were checking my current marital status here in the USA. :whistle:



You might want to take anything you have that would show you are NOT married here in the US so if they still have a question you can show it to them when you are there. Never hurts to be prepared.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-09 14:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Does it matter where you get your SSI number? I seem to be having trouble getting off work to take Teaw down and sit and wait. But I will
be in Calif the week of the 18th and it might be easier to get it there. All the info on the app will just have NC addresses. In my mind
it should not matter, although I believe the first 3 numbers are an indication of where you lived when you got it.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-08 13:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)

I used her married name on all the forms.


Thanks. We are flying to LAX on the 16th and I think we will drive on out to Vegas for a couple days.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-06 21:13:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Filling out the papers for adjustment of status, etc. On the employment authorization form I used her now married name and put in (a)(6) as the eligibility category. So I assume that is right.
Yes, looking for confirmation from some of you that have done the AOS so I don't get anything kicked back.

On the I-485 do I use her now married name or her family Thai last name? I used her new name there also. Sigh..too many darn forms!!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-06 19:25:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
I filled out the form before we went and got married and stopped by the SSI office afterwards but they were too busy and I didn't want to wait as I was taking Teaw to her first ice hockey game this afternoon. So
if I get off work early one day this week we will go down and wait for a long time I am sure to get it done. Really sucks they are so slow there. Wish you could just do it online for K-1 people!!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-01 21:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Did the deed today. Now more money to USCIS for all the papers!!
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-10-01 19:32:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)

so the embassy in bangkok seems like they have put us in some kind of AP cos i was married one time and got divorced in the UK in 2001 they have tod Gif that she will need to come back on October 14th cos they need to check my divorce papers in the states but i was never married in the states which seems quite odd.i dont know what to think of this at all are they kind of doing a background check on me the petitioner.do you guys think that Gif is going to going thru another visa interview again :unsure:


You might go to your Congressman's office if you can, explain the situation to the person there than can help you and ask them to send a letter on your behalf with the UK divorce docs again AND a letter from you
explaining that you have NEVER been married or divorced in the US and only the divorce from the UK. After an explanation about my circumstance forwarded by the Congressman's office along with letters from her family
they took us out of AP and gave her the visa. I would NOT wait as AP will take several months while they take their own sweet time with it. If they have all that before Gif goes back for the interview they may just
tell her she has the visa then.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-09-30 18:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
No Hep vaccinations. The doc at the med exam says what is needed. You don't have to have the whole list that they put on the papers. She should be fine. Good luck.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-09-28 07:13:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Wife walked outside this morning and almost had a stroke. She has a parka on as we speak in the house and I am sweating since my Air con is not longer under my control.
[/quote]

Know what you mean. Teaw sleeps with a blanket over her and I am naked on top of the sheets with the overhead fan going!!! She gets close for a few minutes and I get too hot and
have to get her to move to the other side of the bed!! Go outside and she gets goosbumps and it's 90 degrees!!! But it's fun to tease her. We have down to 70 coming for the
weekend and it will be interesting to see how she copes!! It will feel wonderful to me....but she will probably want to go buy a ski jacket with a fur hood and wear that when
everyone else is in shorts. Maybe I should just buy her a ski outfit and she can wear that outside..hahaha!!!

Thanks Bless and KL. Bless, it gets easier as time goes on but you never forget and there will always be little things that remind you of them that pop up. But then again, you
have the good memories to think about too. I lost my youngest daughter two days before her 16th bday and there are good and bad days but lots of good memories to think about.
You never lose the pain but you learn how to cope and live with it and that's what you have to do.

Edited by Tom and Teaw, 27 September 2010 - 05:51 PM.

Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-09-27 17:48:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Yes, you surrender your phone and anything else they want and they give you a number so you can claim it when you leave. So she can call you right away after she walks out of the embassy.

As for spices, we bought a bunch of the spices in sealed envelopes at Big C and stuck them in the suitcase. Nobody said a word when we went through customs on the way home with Teaw. I also
had 18 Papaya scrapers that I got surprised with to bring back for the owner of the Thai restaurant I go to and I claimed them on the customs form and they just waved us through. So yes, you
can bring spices through but we found that when we went to the local big Asian store here in Cary that they had almost all the same things stocked. So you might check your local Asian store
and you might not need to bring too much back. You can also bring back some dried fish and stuff like that if you want to.

Sorry to hear about your sister, bless1010. My father passed while I was over to bring Teaw back and we had to come back early. Hang in there. Don't worry about the interview too much. If she
has all in order it should go easy. Sounds to me like they are not being as picky as they were when Teaw went for hers back in March. Good luck.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-09-27 07:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
What happened? Everyone is so QUIET in this thread now!! All the honeys in the USA so nobody is writing? LOL!! Teaw has discovered the Science Fiction channel (SYFY) and has been watching that all weekend now.
We will do the deed this Friday and then see about applying for her SSI card.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-09-26 19:25:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & ProceduresSawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)
Thanks, Adam. Welcome home.
Tom and TeawMaleThailand2010-09-19 20:31:00