Embassy Regulations

[RexT 0]

I keep ready bits and pieces of the US embassy in Bangkok not issuing K-1 visas dealing with co-sponsorship on AOS. Is this true? We have a pending interview in April. Does anyone have any real information on this issue? If it is the State Dept., how can some embassies play by their rules and disregard others? Thanks. RexT

[payxibka 10,044]

I keep ready bits and pieces of the US embassy in Bangkok not issuing K-1 visas dealing with co-sponsorship on AOS. Is this true? We have a pending interview in April. Does anyone have any real information on this issue? If it is the State Dept., how can some embassies play by their rules and disregard others? Thanks. RexT

yes, consulates pretty much have full control on how accept/decide/interpret financial information when processing non-immigrant visas.

moving to consulate forum as this is more a consulate issue than a K-1 issue

Edited March 31, 2009 by payxibka

[Noi3125 1]

It is true, this is a policy of the Bangkok Embassy. According to an email I recieved from the embassy regarding this they have stopped accepting cosponsors on all K visas which use the I-134 as it is not a legally binding document. The I-864 for IR1/CR1 visa is however a legally binging document, and therefore is accepted. Plus it is the NVC who approves the I-864, from my understanding, and the embassy has less power to act on the I-864.

THis is the quote from the email I recieved from the BKK embassy "The I-134 is not legally binding like the I-864 Affidavit of Support for immigrant visa cases, so you cannot have a co-sponsor for the I-134?

Take care,

Noi

[daboyz 36]

One thing to add. My wife is IR-1. I submitted the I-864 to NVC. They approved my case and sent it to the embassy in BKK. My wife was given 221g at the interview partly because they said I was not over the $18k for 2007. I was over the $18k by about $500. They said I owed the IRS $10k in taxes from 2006 so my 2007 income was actually $8k. I have been paying them $400 a month for about a year now. So I filed my 2008 taxes which was over $50k, gave them the 1099s and W-2s, and that satisfied them. I am still mystified that I was approved at NVC but denied at the Embassy. Also wondering how they even knew about it in BKK.

Anyway she was approved on her 3rd trip to the Embassy. I think partly because I went with her.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I keep ready bits and pieces of the US embassy in Bangkok not issuing K-1 visas dealing with co-sponsorship on AOS. Is this true? We have a pending interview in April. Does anyone have any real information on this issue? If it is the State Dept., how can some embassies play by their rules and disregard others? Thanks. RexT

It is because the State Dept.'s instructions to the consulates is very vague and open ended. The consulate must determine that the intending imigrant will not become a "public charge" and they are pretty much left to their own to decide how to determine that. Maybe not the best way as it results in uneven application of policies though a person from Thailand is n more likely to become a public charge than a person from any other country.

In fact, State Dept. instructions to the consulates do not even require an I-134 or any proof of income, per se. It seems most have adopted the standards for the AOS. Not a bad idea, really. If the intending immigrant will face the same requirements less than 90 days after arrival, why not?

The "problem" is a lack of regulations, or directions, at the state dept. level. There really are very few "rules" that are not made at the consulate level regarding visa issuance.

[pushbrk 12,287]

One thing to add. My wife is IR-1. I submitted the I-864 to NVC. They approved my case and sent it to the embassy in BKK. My wife was given 221g at the interview partly because they said I was not over the $18k for 2007. I was over the $18k by about $500. They said I owed the IRS $10k in taxes from 2006 so my 2007 income was actually $8k. I have been paying them $400 a month for about a year now. So I filed my 2008 taxes which was over $50k, gave them the 1099s and W-2s, and that satisfied them. I am still mystified that I was approved at NVC but denied at the Embassy. Also wondering how they even knew about it in BKK.

Anyway she was approved on her 3rd trip to the Embassy. I think partly because I went with her.

For clarity, simply owing taxes was not the problem. It was the IRS tax lien, that gives the IRS the right to simply levy the wages and/or bank account that was the problem. The cure is the same either way.