biggish data

then it sounds like you are in AP.............what is AP? I am sure it won't be until sometime after Songkran since they are closed 4 days next week.
She did take quite a bit of stuff Monday.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-07 09:32:00

Teaw got a call from the embassy Wed. afternoon to come and pick up her passport. She asked then when they would decide and they told her they did not know, that it will be awhile.
They are closed 4 days next week for Songkran...lazy govt. employees!!! But from what I am getting from Teaw as she is reading stuff on usavisa4thai it seems they are getting tougher
on the interviews and really looking at things before they issue a visa. Any input others can make as they are going through the process will help us all here.

There was also a lady that was asked to bring back more proof of relationship that Teaw talked to on Monday when she took all our stuff and the girl told her on the phone that the
embassy called her Wed also and told her they still wanted MORE proof. So that would be her 2nd trip after the initial interview.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-07 09:10:00

Haven't booked yet as I am waiting word Teaw has the visa. Then I will book. I use several sites to check round trip fares:

http://www.bt-store....ID=10&PageID=10
http://www.globester.com/
http://www.vayama.co...mmj&pdt=2347475
http://www.cheapflights.com/
http://travel.asia.c...esnID=173345477

The first three I have used before and can usually find a cheaper fare there. Or I book direct with American Airlines as sometimes they are the same price. But June is a time when airfare goes up. I know after this weekend the airfares increase quickly as I have been checking different dates starting this Sat. to go over for two weeks and the rest of April and May just sucks!! Good luck!!

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-06 16:28:00

No. But you have to remember this is from BKK to North Carolina so it is more expensive than going to Calif. or Chicago. Unfortunately Thai cut out their nonstop from New York years ago
and that was a sweet ride and took less time. I have checked the airline and it's not cheaper through them. I could go through HK on Cathay but I have to match up the return with the same
flight I can get for her on the discount site so we can fly together. It's a hassle but I don't want her on different flights than me. She has never been out of Thailand and I don't want
her to have any problems with immigration, etc.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-06 12:38:00

Yes, one way is not cheap. I did find it for about $1100 on AsiaTravel depending on the return date but I know going through
the airline itself will cost more. OH, well, if anyone thinks of another website that might help please let me know.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-06 08:33:00

I should have mentioned that I want it to be on American Airlines as that is what I will be flying to go pick her up.
Thanks.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-05 21:41:00

Teaw has been in usavisa4thai for some time now. She found it on her own, and I am glad she did. Kept her up to date on what was
happening at the interviews.

But a different question now. Can anyone give me some internet sites where they got real cheap prices for a one way plane ticket?
I found one...AsiaTravel...and it kind of goes up and down depending on the day I look. So I'd like to know if anyone has used
another site they can point me to so I can check it out. Thanks.

Also, I am not too worried about waiting 10 days after she submitted the other proof of relationship stuff Monday. They told her they wanted to clear everything out that they could by Songkran and they told her they would get back to her soon so I expect she will hear from them Wed. when to pick up the visa if she gets it. Thankfully I have many pics of me and both of us with her family on both our visits up to them in Buriram and I know she included some in what the took Monday Thai time.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-05 21:06:00

You can go to the embassy website and type in embassy holidays and find a list of all the holidays it looks like they take...22 I counted. What
a great deal that is!!! DHL told me it takes 3 business days to get to the embassy and figure one day to log it in before they will say it's there.
That's what it was for us. I wrote the duty officer an email, gave him the BNK number and our names and they notified me that it was there but said it arrived on day 4....that is why I suspect they get several packages and then it takes a day to log them all in and process them to work on Packet 3.
I am assuming they are not working tomorrow but I don't see why the American employees can't still work!!! What the heck, that's their damn job!!!
If it ain't an American national holiday they should be in there working!!! :rofl:

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-05 19:52:00

I was expecting them to spend a few minutes going through the materials and then approve the Visa. I am a little disappointed. I will make sure Audy goes in from the start with everything we have for the relationship.

I think it is a very good sign they took her passport and phone number. I am predicting nothing but the best coming very soon. Good luck.

I was hoping I'd hear something Tuesday but it turns out that it's a friggin Thai holiday...one of millions they seem to have...and it appears the embassy is closed that day!!! And then they are closed for 3-4 days next
week for Songkran. I know on the 24th the lady urged her to get her stuff in quick as they wanted to clear everything out before Songkran so I am expecting to hear something Wed (my Tuesday night) and I told her to call as
soon as she heard. I have been watching flight prices and I can still get over there by Sunday for the same price and I am going to check at work about taking off right away. Thanks for your support. I do think considering what has happened that you send all that you can for her to take to the interview. Teaw said there was another lady there from her interview day with the same thing...bring more proof of relationship. She said the girl's bf was some Thai guy who is a citizen here in the US and she only had about 30 pages of stuff and didn't have much on the interview day.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-05 18:21:00

@Tom and Teaw, Hey Tom,

I am waiting to hear some good news about Teaw's visit to the Embassy this Monday afternoon Thai time. I will keep my fingers crossed. She'll do fine.

Well, she went to the embassy and dropped off a ton of stuff for them to review showing our relationship...about 500 pages of emails and chats, a few more phone bills,
about 70 pictures of us together and stuff she wanted them to see. They took it all along with her passport, took her phone number and said they would call her real
soon and let her know. So now we have to wait and see what they do. I would think since they kept her passport it is a good sign, but I don't know what goes through
these peoples' minds. It would be real nice if there was some sort of actual guidelines as to exactly what they want so people would know exactly what to send in. So
as soon as I hear something I will let you know. Thanks!!

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-05 06:39:00

Teaw had her interview on 3-24 and they wanted more evidence of the relationship. You can only go back with the stuff Mon or Wed from 1-3pm so she is taking about 300 emails, over 140 pages of chats, more pictures or
everything she can think of and some other stuff to give to them so we can hopefully get her visa and get her over here.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-03 08:25:00

Ya, timer is good to use as long as some wiseass does not run by and snatch the camera while you are standing 10 or 15 feet away. While I have always felt safe in Thailand when I was wandering around
by myself, I know that not all is good and things can happen. It will be interesting to see what happens on Monday.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-02 18:50:00

Oh, I have plenty of one handed pics of us but when you take those they are usually too close to show the background that you may want to include in it. But when Teaw had her first interview on 3-24 there were three people there, two faranga...man and lady...and a Thai lady who was the interpreter. They asked her why she could not answer most of the questions in English since she apparently could type English fairly well and asked her who typed her emails for her. Well, gee, folks, I have talked online to many Thais who can type English much better than they can speak it. I think they are just not busy enough this time of year. She talked to them for 45 min. and they still wanted more evidence of relationship. She goes back Monday with a ton more stuff for them and hopefully they will be satisfied with it. It's been a pain for her to get 3 months of phone records
from AIS, which is as far back as they will go.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-02 08:17:00

Mine doesn't ever remember to take her camera but I always have mine and I take tons of pics. Problem is when it's just us two out and about it's not always easy to get a pic of us together and not always convenient to ask someone to do it for you.

Small argument,huh? Since when do most Thai ladies not get psycho mad? The ex has a temper that drove me away. Teaw is the most laid back woman I have ever known. NEVER gets mad at me and when I get upset about something she
just stays calm and I just can't stay mad more than a few minutes. It sure is a nice change!!!

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-01 18:31:00

"we did have about 2000 or more pages of evidence with her (phone bills, MSN, mail, etc"

So much for the Paper Reduction Act!! They should allow submission of all the supporting paper on CD or DVD and save all that paper and the cost of mailing it or printing it. Wouldn't that be so nice?

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-04-01 13:07:00

"The medical gets reviewed at the embassy, it cannot be opened by you prior to the interview. Once the visa is approved it is bundled into the package you bring with you to POE."

Thanks for the clarification.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-03-31 13:21:00

Teaw just went to that institute and told them she needed shots for fiancee visa. Apparently lots of the girls go there so they know what you need. She only got I think 3 different ones they felt she needed and then went back for the boosters a month later. She didn't take anything with her and we didn't have the NOA2 yet. She might have taken a copy of the NOA1 but I can't remember. I had her doing everything way in advance. She went and ordered her police report with the NOA1 that I had scanned and emailed to her. Took two weeks before she could go back and pick it up but they did it at no cost. They did ask for a picture of my passport and I heard others have been asked too but she didn't have one with her and did not take one when she went back to get the report. As far as I am concerned my passport is none of their business.

As far as the embassy, the whole med report is sealed and cannot be opened so they don't ask anything about vaccinations at the interview and stays sealed I believe at least until they get here and maybe until change of status. Not sure about that. Unfortunately for us, they wanted more proof of relationship so she is going back Monday the 5th with about 300 emails, 130 some odd pages of chats, a ton of pictures of everything imaginable...vitamins I brought her on a visit, keychains I got her at different airports....all with little notes on
them....and the receipt for the engagement ring I had made and gave her in Dec that she FORGOT to give them at the interview!!! I told her to put that on top of the stack Monday!!

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-03-31 13:12:00

Ya but she took it to the med exam just to be sure there were not problems. She had surgery for the third time last Feb to remove an ovary that she kept having cysts on so she gets checked every 6 months for HPV to make sure all is well. So I didn't want any problems when the doc saw the med records from the surgery and what they took out, which was quite large, and have a bunch of questions. Better safe than sorry.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-03-31 12:57:00

Have read some about medical exams and vaccinations. My fiancee went to the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute and got her vaccinations. She had no records from when she was younger. They have a service for travel vaccinations and it's not very expensive. Here is the link:
http://www.saovabha....linicpoison.asp
You can look under SERVICES and go to IMMUNIZATION and TRAVEL CLINIC and they list the shots and the price. She went back once for boosters and
that was it. They give you a card listing all the shots they gave her. When she did her med exam she needed no further shots.

She went to Bumrungrad for ther medical. I have read how much people have been charged, but she only paid 1950 baht for her exam. She had her shots, she had just had a HPV test negative and got the results from her doctor and took it with her. I had printed all the med forms out for her and mailed the with other stuff so she had those to take with her. They did the exam, told her to come back later in the day and pick it up, which she did.

Hope some of this info helps.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-03-31 12:47:00

Total overall costs for this journey (K-1)?

Oh, but you forgot the most important thing.....the cost of bringing all of her family and aunts and uncles and nieces, nephews, grandma and grandpa, neighbors, relatives she didn't know she had to their new life in the USA and they will all want to live with YOU in YOUR house so tack on the
additional expense of either buying a HUGE house or paying to add on lots of room to whatever house you have!!! Then the added utilities, food, clothing for them since they won't have jobs. Good luck!!!! :bonk:

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-08-09 12:12:00

Contacting a Congressman

Sounds like you are possibly in AP status if you had a second interview. We went that route and I stopped at my Congressman's office across the street from my work. They have their own special contacts that can update them
somewhat on what is happening with your case. They also sent more info via email to the embassy in Thailand and we got our visa shortly after that. They are required to answer them within 14 days but they just gave us the visa
and never gave a formal answer. Depending on what you perceive is the problem, they may be able to help. You should have an idea of what the holdup is by the questions asked during the second interview. Usually a second interview is done by the fraud unit because they are trying to clarify something. So try to figure out what it is and have an explanation that you can have the Congressman's office send with their letter.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-09-29 07:20:00

Internet Chat Logs?

I will tell you, when I first sent in my K-1 I included bits and pieces of the chats so as not to send 5 million pages. They wanted more evidence of relationship cause I guess they didn't think the chats were enough. So I then copied and pasted all the chats into Word, edited out stuff that I did not want in there....and you can't tell it's been taken out if you delete the whole line or two. I did the same with emails...sent in a few from every month and the dorks wanted more so I did pretty much all of them...but edited or blacked out small parts I felt were none of their business. So always err on the safe side and send as much as you can..although the shipping will be expensive for sure.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2010-11-30 13:24:00

Thailand interview timeline?

Please remember that the embassy takes not only US holidays off but Thai holidays off as well which causes more delays in processing cases and setting interviews.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-04-09 17:50:00

US Embassy Bangkok Interview Review for K1

When my now wife went for her interview she went to window 5 and it was an American male and a Thai lady. We still had hassles concerning her sending me emails in English and doing the interview in Thai. But my experience
has been that many people can type better in English than speak it, which was her case. There used to be a Sawasdee thread in here for people with Thai fiancees that had lots of helpful people and experiences at the embassy
posted. Don't know where it's gone. It was great. Needless to say, the Thai lady at her interview was basically a ###### but with the help of my local Congressman getting some documents sent to the embassy thru Congressional mail
to explain some of their concerns, she had her visa within a few days after they received the documents.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-07-25 19:00:00

New update for anyone who is following!! yOU GOTTA HEAR THIS

By Senators do you mean your local Congressman? If not, then go to them. They have a person that takes care of all this stuff and have channels to get a little more information through their diplomatic channels. The embassy is required by law to answer the Congressional inquiry within a certain amount of time. I had to have my Congressman get involved and they got a general idea why we were put in AP and that allowed me to write a long letter explaining what they were concerned about and then had the Congressman send it over to them. Funny thing but we got my now wife's visa within a week after that. Good luck!111

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-09-02 19:22:00

Hey, guys. I have not been in here for awhile since Teaw is here in the US with me. But, at the moment she is in Buriram on her one month visit and I am heading over at the end of the week and we will return together near the end of March. But, what I wanted to know is if any of you that are either in Thailand or have rented cars over there know of some good car rental outfits that are reasonably priced. We are going to do some driving around this trip instead of hanging in the village and BKK all the time. I enjoy seeing her family but I can't sit around drinking coconut milk too many days or I get crazy to do something!!!! So Teaw suggested that I post in here to see if you have any leads on a good car rental there. Thanks!!

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2012-03-06 09:36:00

Ann got her 30 day Russian stamp cause of the deal Thailand made with Russia that they don't need visas to enter the respective countries....hence all the Russians showing up in Pattaya, etc now and Russian writing on the businesses. So Thais can go to Russia with no problem.

UK is funny. Our flight to Thailand got cancelled because of the tsunami in Japan. We have a daily flight thru Heathrow so we had it changed to go that way...faster but usually more expensive...didn't have to pay anything extra but there is a 12 hour layover in UK. We wanted to go downtown and went to the immigration guy and he hassled us for about 10 minutes about why we didn't get a visa beforehand and I explained to him about 3 times that we didn't have time because the flight thru Japan was cancelled so we changed to go thru UK. He finally stamped Teaw's passport with a 24 hour visa. I felt like saying to they guy HEY, don't you listen to what I am telling you???? Dork!!! I just wanted to take her downtown during our 12 hours so she could see a little of London.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-09-15 18:13:00

Got a question maybe a few of you can answer. If I want to take Teaw to Europe or maybe on a Caribbean cruise...anywhere but Thailand...since she has a Thai passport but US green card, do I need to get visas for the countries we would visit or can we just use her passport and the green card? Thanks!!!

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-09-10 14:29:00

Yes, if you can get an original or certified copy of her birth certificate you will be better off. Here in the US they won't take a house book for any proof of birth. You should be able to get one through the Amphur's office where she was born without a problem.

On another note, I took Teaw to get her learners permit so she can learn to drive. She took a long time studying the materials which, of course, don't come in Thai and they give test in almost any language but.....what else?? Thai!!! Cause they said they don't have the money to translate it. Bull hockey!!!! That's down right discrimination!!! They guy asks, English, Chinese, Vietnamese.....and I cut him off and said she's Thai but you guys won't spend the money to do it. So she did it in English...25 questions and I thought she'd NEVER finish!!! LOL!! She did take her time but passed so now I will be looking at driving schools to teach her how to drive.

Aaron, if you are checking the forum, how's things in Chiang Mai???

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-09-02 19:32:00

Wow, took me forever to find the Sawasdee thread. Thought it had been put out to pasture...but then again I have not been in here for a long time either. Good to see it's still around.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-07-25 19:10:00

We had the same problem here in NC when I took Teaw to get here ID card. They would not issue it because the I-94 was expiring and they have to wait up to 2 weeks for Homeland Security to do a check on the person applying for it. That is the new rules for the Feds...all driver's licenses and ID cards go through HS before you receive it in the mail. We had her SSI at the time too. But as soon as we got her employment card in the mail from the Feds we got her ID card. What they want is some form of govt. ID with her picture on it OR a letter from immigration. I don't think it's easy to get a letter from immigration but if you filed for her work authorization at the same time you did the AOS you should get that first and then you can get her ID card.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-05-20 08:59:00

Yes, the embassy closes for the Thai holidays too. It's a nice job if you can get it...US holidays and the Thai holidays all paid I am sure. So that will slow things down a little bit.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-03-29 07:33:00

We would rather have gone to Phuket or Samui or someplace else, but could not get cheap flights so decided on Pattaya. I had not been there for maybe 3-4 years but don't remember Pats being so Russianized the last time I was there. The beaches are still a mess, the guys driving the boats still drive between swimmers instead of staying farther offshore and I hardly heard English being spoken anywhere we went!! We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe our first night there and some Russian lady at a table was so loud and obnoxious with her laugh that I couldn't wait to get out of there. She had to laugh as loud as she could at anything that her friends said. I would definitely avoid Pattaya on any trips to the beach and look for other nicer alternatives if you have time to plan for it ahead.

Just hit a big book fair here in BKK so Teaw could stock up on some books to read back home since we can't find any in NC and the ones you can find in Thai Town in LA, Calif are too damn expensive!!! So got to spread them around in the luggage to distribute the weight now.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-03-25 03:36:00

I can't BELIEVE IT!!!! Teaw and I zipped down to Pattaya for a couple days cause she wanted to go to the beach and there were no cheap flights to Phuket or Samui when were were going to be here. Now I have not been to Pats for 3 or more years, but I was totally shocked to be in LITTLE RUSSIA!!!!! It's 95% Russians now and everything has Russian writing on it. At the hotel we were at I felt like we were the only English speaking people there and we pretty much were. While getting a foot massage last night the lady we were talking to said she wished it was like the old days where it was all Americans and English as she did not like the Russians so much. It was really depressing to see the place change like that from what I remember it was. I sure won't be going back to Pats again!!!! Scratch that one off my list. I just hope the tour people don't screw up Phuket and Samui and other places with the Russians.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-03-24 03:06:00

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-03-24 03:02:00

Hard to believe, but after we got in today Teaw and I were walking through Siam to MBK and there was a table set up full of boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts with many in plastic covers on display. I sure don't know where they got them from but they looked like the real deal. I had to get a picture of it too!!

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-03-13 10:35:00

Yes, she is excited to be going back. Wanted to stay longer but we did not know if she would have her green card before we left and I didn't want any problems if she was alone. Maybe next time I will send her over two weeks
before me and then go over for two weeks. We have a lot on our plate with her friends from Western Digital and a cousin's wedding the day before we have our wedding party for the family in Buriram. I just hope the time doesn't go too fast because I will not be anxious to come back and go to work!!! HAHAHA!!!

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-03-09 22:26:00

Basically that is correct in concept but not in execution. I do not want to start a feud in here but in order to file as Married filing Jointly, you MUST file on your worldwide income. The first step is to add a handwritten letter signed by both USC and foreign spouse stating you will file as Married filing jointly. You cannot e-file because of the requirement for this handwritten declaration. You would include the foreign spouse's income on Form 2555 and take your one time exclusion of foreign income up to $91,500.

But that is the easy part.

If you live in a state with income taxes like California, they do not allow you to do this. I have to file one form which is California resident for me and one form which is California NR or non-resident for my spouse. This requires the additional calculation of two different federal forms not filed, simply calculated so the proper figures can be transferred to the California state forms.

We have our AOS Green Card interview April 7 and I have not put Audy's name on the Deed, the bank has not allowed us to put her name on any of my bank accounts, and I cannot have a CPA do my taxes until we get Audy's wage and income statement which she does not know when it will come.

I am concerned at this point.

Thanks Tom. Hope you and Teaw are both well.

Interesting. I will ask my acct. about it. We are on the way to Thailand saturday.

Edited by Tom and Teaw, 08 March 2011 - 07:39 PM.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-03-08 19:39:00

The documents should be certified translations to avoid any questions that they are correct.

As for the bank, Wachovia gave us no trouble adding Teaw but the state emp. credit union required a govt. ID to put her on the account with her married name.

Tom and Teaw

Male

Thailand

2011-03-08 19:34:00