Visa application for Chinese wife

[subway_singer 0]

I am a USA citizen currently living in Thailand on retirement visa. I was married in April to a Chinese citizen in China. I am planning to bring her to Thailand to stay and start a visa process for her. I have no assets or job in USA except for my IRA account.

Questions:

- What kind of visa should I apply for my Chinese wife?

- I have not yet register with USA embassy. Do I need to in order to apply for visa?

- Given my personal financial/job status, do I need affidavit of family support in USA?

I am sure more questions will pop up as I proceed but these are all I can think of for now.

Thanks in advance.

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

Do you want to stay in Thailand and just visit the USA occasionally with your wife? if so, she needs to apply for a tourist (B2) visa.

If you want to move back to the USA, you petition for a CR-1 spousal visa for her. The process is here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

You do not need to register the marriage with the embassy, but if you petition her, you will need to send the marriage cert as part of the paperwork. You will have three options in terms of sponsoring her financially for the spousal visa: 1. If your retirement income is enough, you can sponsor her on that. 2. Sponsor her on assets (savings, second property etc) 3. Get a US based co-sponsor, like you say. This does not need to be a family member, it can be a friend, or a former co-worker etc.

[Ning 619]

I am a USA citizen currently living in Thailand on retirement visa. I was married in April to a Chinese citizen in China. I am planning to bring her to Thailand to stay and start a visa process for her. I have no assets or job in USA except for my IRA account.

Questions:

- What kind of visa should I apply for my Chinese wife?

- I have not yet register with USA embassy. Do I need to in order to apply for visa?

- Given my personal financial/job status, do I need affidavit of family support in USA?

I am sure more questions will pop up as I proceed but these are all I can think of for now.

Thanks in advance.

Penguin has great advise here as always.

If you are living in Thailand on a O visa as a resident you can file DCF case in BKK if you have lived there 6 months.

I agree that in this case if you just want to have come to the USA for short stays she should attempt the B 2. I think they would issue a 10 year tourist visa. She must make sure they know you are retired, living in Thailand full time with no intention of returning to the USA for long periods. The embassy must be convinced that she must return to Thailand.

[subway_singer 0]

Thanks for the replies. After checking out for more info, I think I will go with DCF route. Question: I have been in Thailand 3 years on retirement extension. Does this qualify me as a resident?

[Boiler 43,433]

I believe so but check with the Consulate.

I believe so but check with the Consulate.